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The Undying Magician - Book 3 - Chapter 13 - Delegates Arrival

Added 2023-08-25 22:14:12 +0000 UTC

Outside of the Undying Caverns
Year 2850 | Month 4 | Day 20

Claire puts on a perfect smile as she greets the guests of the Baron in front of the Undying Caverns, “Welcome, delegates! My name is Claire Taylor, and we’ve been expecting your arrival!”

But despite the face she puts on, she can’t help but feel disgusted simply due to speaking to the man in front of her. A man she recognizes as a Class C magician, just like Nathan. But instead of the kind and distant leader she’s grown to like over the past months, this Class C magician is known for killing anyone who disobeys his orders, including his own subordinates.

He has on a perfect, political smile of his own as he flashes his pearly whites at her, his black hair nearly a foot long on one side and only a few inches long on the other side with the long side falling into his face. Meanwhile his eyes are a clear blue and he’s wearing a set of outdated Arcadian armor. Much worse than Nathan’s old armor that he stopped wearing due to it constantly getting damaged.

“It’s a pleasure to be here, miss Taylor, my name is Antonio Velac,” the man says without either him nor Claire reaching for a handshake, leading the atmosphere to be icy and uncomfortable for the subordinates on both sides.

Several tense seconds pass in silence as the two continue smiling at each other before Claire angles her body to the side and tells one of the guards stationed around her, “Please inform the Undying Magician of Mister Velac’s arrival.” She then turns back to Antonio and continues, “Tell him we’ll be in the newly built guest house, in the meeting room.”

The guard quickly nods his head and escapes from the area as the two representatives return to smiling at each other.

This is going to be a very unpleasant day. But at least Nathan said he would be there.

Despite her desire to prove herself to him and the people of the Undying Caverns, she can’t help but feel a lot more safe with Nathan watching over the negotiations.

“Well then, shall we?” Claire asks, still smiling, and Antonio responds with a polite, “We shall.”

Then the group including Claire, her guards, Antonio, and his own guards all begin to make their way to a large building that was built over the past two weeks since Nathan came back with news of the delegates arrival. And throughout the entire trip there, neither party says a word.

Once the groups reach the meeting room, a long room with a single long table and screens shown on each wall. Albeit outdated screens compared to what Nathan was apparently used to in his classes back in the Republic.

The two groups each move to different ends of the table with Claire sitting at one end and Antonio sitting at the other. Then Antonio looks around with his smile stretching slightly as he asks, “Do you know when the Undying Magician is planning on joining us?”

Claire’s smile grows as she responds, “He should be here soon, but he won’t be directly participating in these talks unless he wishes to.”

Antonio’s smile grows even more strained. Meanwhile the room grows tenser and tenser.

No one says anything for nearly three minutes, leaving the guards in the room sweating from nerves.

Eventually the door to the office opens, revealing a man that has Claire’s smile growing far more pleasant and real instead of the political smile she has had since seeing Antonio. And his entry instantly attracts the attention of everyone in the room including the Class C magician delegate from the outer ring.

The Undying Magician simply looks over the delegate once with his eyes before moving to the back of the room behind Claire without saying a word, his swords hanging on his hips with one of his hands resting on the pommel of one of the swords. Meanwhile he is wearing a deep black set of armor made out of a fabric type armor that leans more into comfort than defensive prowess.

Claire immediately feels her nerves draining away, leaving her a lot more confident and comfortable dealing with the Class C magician across from her. Because while she may be a Class D magician bordering on Class C herself, her set of spells focus more on healing than on combat. So having Nathan standing behind her is a huge relief for the woman as she begins speaking, “Now we may begin.”

Antonio shifts slightly, his irritation showing only mildly as he looks at Nathan and asks, “Will you be participating in the discussions, Mister Fox?”

But Nathan just says, “That’ll depend,” without saying another word. And Claire can almost imagine him raising a brow as he says this.

Meanwhile Antonio actually grits his teeth for a second before relaxing again immediately, making Claire’s smile grow even wider.

“Why is it that you’ve come to us, Representative of the Outer Ring?” Claire says, her voice sounding clear as it resonates through the room. And to her joy, the man shows a very slight tick of his jaw in response out of anger.

After a second though, Antonio subtly takes in a deep breath and calmly says, “I have been sent by Baron Henry Cavendish to negotiate a trade route between our people.” He turns to look at Nathan as he continues, “My name is Antonio Valec and I go by the title of the Arctic Magician. It is a pleasure to meet the Undying Magician.”

Claire glances backwards to find Nathan simply nodding his head in response without saying a word. So she turns back to Antonio and says, “And what would you have in mind to trade with us?”

The man makes eye contact with Claire, seemingly having given up on attempting to attract Nathan’s attention when he answers, “Knowledge on fire spells, on the fire element, blueprints for weapons, buildings, and other appliances, and food from outside of the inner ring.” Then he smirks as he finishes it off with, “We also have devices created by His Majesty before the fall that eliminate miasma from an area.”

Then several seconds pass in silence before he realizes that no one in the room reacts to his last statement at all, clearly unlike what he was expecting.

“The blueprints and food would help, but we can get those from other cities as well,” Claire says only to shake her head. “But we have no use for such devices as the Undying Magician can already clear the miasma himself.”

Antonio blinks, a stunned look on his face as he utters, “What?”

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