“You must understand, the only potential buyers for this beyond House Alluria are all local noble houses. Establishments such as the Antler & Ink, for all that they wage a fierce war for high-quality monster meat, lack the cash reserves to buy out that many matriarchs," Statius said, leaning back and re-reading the piece of paper Nick had handed him with his request.

“I’ve been given strict instructions to make this a profitable trade for both of us, but I need you to help me out a little. Paying full market price for a single matriarch wouldn’t be a problem, but for a dozen? I doubt that many have ever been sold at once.”

Nick nodded along. He’d expected that, but he still had a few cards to play. Him being here to make nice plays in my favor, but I also can’t push it too far, or it’ll look like I’m spitting on the Duke’s generosity. A compromise should be possible, though.

“I know that. Let me tell you, I was really surprised by the size of that herd, and I think it only happened because the chaos in the north forced several smaller groups to merge, and the other monsters rushing south to attack them only made the herd grow faster.” He said, exaggerating the story a bit more than he normally would to emphasize that this was a truly unique situation.

“And I’m sure some of the better preserved ones could be resold at the auction itself. Really, having this many preserved matriarchs at this exact moment is a chance like few others,” he pressed, and when Statius still didn’t seem that convinced, he went for the jugular. “Of course, we could commute the reward, and you could let me sell the matriarchs at the auction myself. I’m confident I could get a loan from a trusted bank with an official receipt, and I would be able to buy whatever I want without any rush to sell now.”

Statius didn’t seem offended, only tapping his fingers thoughtfully on the table.

The maid who’d greeted Nick at the door came in again, snapping her fingers to clear their empty plates and serving the final course, a kind of frozen sweet cream with local wild berries that felt oddly nostalgic.

Once she was gone, Statius sighed. “We could do that, it’s certainly within the authority given to me by His Grace, but I would prefer to keep the two rewards separate. Selling the matriarchs at the auction would surely bring in more money, but it would also mean foreigners could get their hands on them, and while their strategic value is low, they are considered a local delicacy, and the Duke’s mother has long fought to keep thunderhoofs within the Duchy. He would not like it if they were sold elsewhere.”

That didn’t make much sense to Nick, since he knew for a fact that merchants in Floria, Oakenhallow, and Honeyton bought large amounts of regular thunderhoof meat and sold it for a profit in the Sunlands, but he wasn’t about to tell one of the Duke’s men that the towns under his father’s authority were breaking some rule.

But Statius wasn’t finished. He flipped the paper over, jotted down something of his own, and handed it back before finally diving into the dessert.

Nick grabbed it, glanced at the number, and then put it back down, exhaling softly. Twenty-five gold per matriarch was still a very good deal, much more than he’d hoped to make through Mr. Bloom, but still less than the thirty-five he’d asked for.

He could have haggled more, but he knew that if Statius dug in his heels, things could drag on too long, and despite saying he could get a loan, he wasn’t exactly eager to do so.

Private banks existed in Alluria, and while they wouldn’t hesitate to lend to him, especially if he had an official receipt showing he’d put the matriarchs at auction, their interest rates were frankly outrageous for non-landed nobles or established merchants.

It might have been the Occultist in him, but he didn’t like entering a clearly skewed contract, and while he could significantly soften the blow by borrowing his father’s name through Devon, it wasn’t something he was eager to do.

The mere thought of the dark arts practiced by top-tier bankers made his attempts at demon summoning seem like child’s play.

No, if possible, he wanted to avoid debt, and being able to pay in cash would give him a level of freedom he couldn’t do without, especially if the auction had more interesting valuables than just the orichalcum.

I have about three hundred gold coins as of today after cashing in the last of the Alpha’s sales. It’s a ridiculous amount for a teenager to have, but it’s a third of what I need for the worst-case scenario. I don’t like the idea of going in without a plan in case someone with too much money and too little sense decides they need the orichalcum at all costs.

He’d still receive another cash infusion once they finished these negotiations and discussed the refund he was due for his ticket. That would bring in anywhere from twenty-five gold coins, the nominal price, to almost a hundred, which was the current selling price of the silver plaques in the unofficial market.

Nick would know; he had checked with One-Ear more than once to make sure he was tracking it correctly.

If he earned twenty-five golds per matriarch, that would total six hundred, plus the ticket. Still nowhere close to enough for the worst-case scenario.

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Can I be greedy and ask for more? I know for a fact that if I had a couple more months, I could sell the matriarchs for up to thirty-five, maybe even forty gold coins, given how rare they are. The price would go up as nobles buy one and show it off, and I’d become very wealthy.

Unfortunately, time wasn’t on his side for once, and he needed the money now.

“How about we meet in the middle?” he asked once Statius finished his dessert. For a moment, he felt as if he was standing before a deadly predator, one that had just sensed weakness and was ready to pounce, before a sense of duty washed away any aggression, and Statius was the affable man he’d portrayed himself as once again.

“That could work. I’d need one of my men to inspect the matriarchs to make sure their condition is as good as you said, but if that checks out, we can close at thirty per head.”

I'm really glad the rules set by the Duke restrict him. It almost looked like he was about to bite my head off. I guess having a high CHA doesn’t necessarily mean I can negotiate with experts on equal grounds; I’m just more resistant to their charms.

With the ticket price being negotiated between the official value and the current market rate, Nick ended up leaving Antler & Ink with a check he could cash the day after tomorrow, which put his wealth at more than seven hundred gold coins in his spatial ring. Enough to buy a mansion in Alluria right now if he wanted to, but still not enough for the highest value of the orichalcum.

And with the Duke’s men swarming the docks, I can’t even go look for easy marks or join some cliché underground fighting ring. I’m sure I would have made my money quickly…

In the end, there was only one way to earn three hundred gold coins in the limited time he had left.

“It’s time to reprise a family tradition.”

Nick’s last session with Lasazar started much like the previous one, with him facing a screaming abomination trying to feed on his soul inside an enclosed space. However, unlike before, he was able to take control of [Corruption’s Bane]’s runic scheme more easily, thanks to his studies of the Irvinic language. Through sheer repetition, he managed to reach a state of unity with the World’s power in as little as ten seconds.

Still too slow to be practical outside controlled environments like the summoning chamber, where he had an arcane master ready to step in at the first hint of trouble, but still a very encouraging sign all the same.

It was two hours in, while he was battling the fifth demon, when Nick reached his sixty-fourth level after raising his [Air Step] to the [Expert] level through constant dodging and reorienting, and he felt something change.

He hadn’t reached any major milestones or achieved great feats. Yet, the stubborn energy of the world, which had fought him at every turn and made it nearly impossible to find a sense of unity with it—if not for Nick’s admittedly unfair advantages—suddenly settled down. The surge of power that accompanied it was so intense that he didn’t even get a chance to limit the output, and the [Screeching Fiend] was instantly erased from existence.

“What the fuck?!” he shouted, almost terrified by the amount of power surging through him.

Lasazar was next to him in a flash and tapped his forehead with a glowing finger.

Nick barely had the wherewithal to let himself be affected, lest [Blasphemy] activate and make things worse, and the World’s power slipped away from him like a blanket, leaving him feeling strangely energized despite the absurd amount he had just unwittingly used.

“Congratulations,” his teacher said, beaming. “Check your notifications.”

Nick blinked owlishly for a few seconds before obeying and bringing the pinging at the back of his mind to the front.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your spell [Air Step] has ranked up to [Expert]!

+100.000 Exp

Level up!

You have achieved a Minor Feat! [Harmony with the World]

Rid the world of That Which Does Not Belong.

+10 Mana

+10 CON

+10 INT

+500.000 Exp

You have developed a new Trait! [Pact of Harmony] [Beginner]

+100.000 Exp

You have defeated [Screeching Fiend - Lv 58]

+197.450 Exp

Level up!

NICK CROWLEY

LEVEL

MANA

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

Occultist/Human

65

233

81

85

94

170

225

159

“What the fuck?” Nick repeated, softer this time. He was genuinely confused, as he hadn't known a Feat was coming.

Having achieved them twice before, he was pretty sure he understood how difficult it was to reach that point, and the System certainly didn’t seem too generous in handing them out. Still, he had just earned one, and it brought him many gains.

Bringing up his Traits, he immediately went to look at his newest entry.

[Pact of Harmony] [Beginner]

All creatures of the World are connected to it, whether they realize it or not. And when the howls of hell are heard on Its soil, all shall be called to fight, and Its voice will be raised to aid the most worthy.

It was by far the most poetic description of a trait he could remember receiving, and it didn’t do much to explain what benefits it would bring, but Nick didn’t really need that. He had felt the change with his own senses.

What had been a constant tug of war with the World suddenly became very easy, giving him enough power to quickly overwhelm the Screeching Fiend.

It wasn't as if he had suddenly started using his own mana, but the resistance that had kept him from affecting the energy with [Parsimonia] was suddenly gone, and the difference was like night and day.

The Feat's inclusion of a much-needed boost to Constitution, Intelligence, and Mana was beneficial, but it paled in comparison to the impact of gaining the Trait.

“Now you are a proper demon hunter,” Lasazar said, glancing away while twirling his mustache, clearly pleased. “It might have been a bit rushed to pit you against so many of them, and in such quick succession, but you proved remarkably resistant to their corruption, and we got here well before schedule. From now on, you'll be able to hunt demons as if they were just monsters.”

Nick knew for a fact the expression he was making wasn’t one for polite company, but he was too excited to care.