DD5 ~ Chapter five!!

Hours of negotiation had finally concluded, and luckily, I had Dani and the Bobs to help me think things through, or I would have been steamrolled and shafted by this deal. 

<So, here is the final proposal from my end. Everyone that enters my soul space needs to offer all of their power. I will need it in order to form everything as it needs to be formed. Mages are going to be entering as weak as kittens. Cultivators are going to basically be humans. Until that point, I’m going to be offering token rewards in my dungeon that will let people get ahead in my inner world. If they want a house, they are going to need to have that token ready, or build it when they get there.> I paused to let the gathered people keep up with Dale’s translation.

<The more tokens you enter with, the better the options you are going to have. You want to build a Kingdom? Get your current power back? Have basic tools or food and water? Either get the tokens, or start from zero. Every bit of material, knowledge, tools, curios, everything anyone has… it has to be given to me, there is no taking it with you. There’s no point in leaving it here, it’ll just be destroyed or lost to time. I’ll give some basic tokens for this stuff in return, so they can re-accumulate wealth. Make no mistake though, it’s going to be tough times for people for a long time. I haven’t had enough time to make a huge amount of land or stuff in my world. My rules will need to be followed, or the offenders will be punished.>

By the time Dale caught up with what I was saying, the majority of people looked somewhat sick. Yikes, sure seemed hard for them to give up things that were meaningless in the long run. <As for your requests. I will give you a place where you can live and thrive. I will do my best to let you continue to grow, and as people bound to me, you will never permanently die while you are in my care. Not unless you want to. When the world is safe, and I am able, I will return you here if you want.>

The perks I was able to offer weren’t insubstantial. They knew it, and it was the only reason that a deal was struck. The conversation dragged on, and all of the topics were refined. They got a slightly better deal, and seemed pleased with the results. Once everything had been discussed, the group broke up and the various groups dispersed. They were off to tell their people about this deal, and to convince them that it was the most likely option to succeed. That said, I had no doubts that there would be a lot of casualties from the incoming moonfall because of stubbornness and the unwillingness to let go.

Still, I could see that I had rekindled hope in a good amount of people. Frankly, I knew that they were desperate, and I used that to get better terms on the agreement than I probably should have been able. As I was thinking about this, I watched as Tom walked over to Dale and pulled him out of the conversation he was having.

“Dale, I need to ask for your advice and help.” Tom took a deep breath and stood straight. “My people don’t have anyone here. There is no delegation from the Northmen, and I doubt that many people would be willing to go out of their way to attempt to rescue them.”

“Whatever I can do for you, Tom, you know I will do my best.” Dale slapped the massive man on the shoulder, sending him tumbling away. He was caught by Artorian, who shook his head at Dale with a smirk he couldn’t quite contain. “I am so sorry.”

Tom stood as soon as the dizziness wore off. “No, I’m… I’m fine. *Hurk*. I’m fine. Listen, my brethren will be preparing for this in their own, flawed way. They will likely see this as some form of ultimate battle against nature and attempt to attack the moon as it ‘attacks’ us. Even in dying, they will find satisfaction. But they will die.”

“What would you like us to do?” 

Dale raised a brow as Tom once more straightened to his full height. “The portals into the North are sealed. The Wards are in place, and winter has blocked foot travel over the great barrier mountains. I doubt that there is anyone willing to fly me there, with as everyone has their own issues to solve in order for their own people to be saved. As this is the case, I formally request your assistance in convincing the dungeon to bring me to my homeland.”

<Well, that wasn’t what I expected to hear.> To his credit, Dale no longer flinched when I spoke. Perhaps he had gotten perceptive enough to know when my mind was present? <Ask him why I should bother to alter my flight path.>

“Tom, why would the dungeon agree to do that?” Dale quietly asked his friend and teammate, not bothering to mention that I was really the one asking. “It’s already fairly begrudging about this whole process.”

“That's a simple question to answer, Dale.” Tom looked around, and then realized the futility of keeping his voice low around Mages. “The Northmen have progressed further in Rune magic than any other race. Inscriptions, Wards, Ritual magics. Dwarves have better material and physical defenses, Elves have potent techniques and abilities, Humans and Gnomes have innovations, Amazonians have total pigheadedness… but the Northmen… the Northmen have the most advanced Rune magic.”

<Well, I’m sold. When do we leave? Oh right. I get to choose.>

Dale ignored me. “Tom, are you sure they would even be receptive to this? At all? Would they listen to you? Would they pay the debt that you would be incurring?”

“They…” Tom swallowed deeply, and a sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead. “I would need to do a few things. I’d need to have my banishment revoked. Then I would need to fight for my inheritance… and then I would need to challenge my brother for the position as the leader of our people. Any one of those steps… well… it will not be easy.”

“How not easy?” Dale questions, a dark certainty appearing in his mind.

“Each one of the steps is more likely to result in my death than in my success.” Tom reluctantly explained with a sigh. “Getting my banishment revoked. That means that I need to prove that I am no longer a bloodfire Berserker. That means I will need to fight against an unknown number of enemies that are strong enough to defeat me, for an unknown amount of time. I will also need to sustain enough damage, lethal damage, so I can prove my claim.”

“If I manage to survive that, I will then need to fight everyone that has a claim to my inheritance, and chooses to fight against me. As my position would be an enviable one, I have no doubt that the fights will be… extreme.” Tom looked around, noting that he had the attention of everyone in the area. He hung his head. “Then, I would need to either fight my brother, or convince him that my plan is the best for our people. As he is at least a Mage by now, I truly hope that he will listen to my words.”

Dale looked over his friend, a man who planned to knowingly go into an area that would likely kill him. A man who would risk himself for his people when they would not thank him for it. Dale found nothing but respect for the Northman as he looked at him. “How quickly would you winning be known, and what sort of timeline would you have from that point forward?”

Tom waved his hand back and forth in a ‘who knows’ motion. “When last I was there, I would need at least a week for my people to be assembled. I know they had been working on increasing the efficiency of communication before I left though. The actual trials… I am uncertain. I do know that everyone would know the outcome immediately, as everyone in our nation is invited to watch as these things happen.”

<Yup, I’m in. End of the world entertainment is best entertainment!>