Chapitre 92: VOL 2 Chapter 37: Thanks for the sponsorship.
Seated to the director's right was Adrian, looking somewhat tired. He was a man who appeared to be around 30 years old, with olive skin, pronounced cheekbones, a well-defined chin, and a beard similar to the director's, though thinner. His slicked-back hair was black, as were his eyes, and he wore the university's white robe, although his seemed a bit more minimalist.
With great familiarity, Sigrún and Eleonora walked gracefully to the meeting table and sat together at the other end, facing the men who were waiting for them. They bore confident and cunning smiles on their faces, which seemed to enhance their already impressive beauty.
"Sigrún, I've already told you I won't tell you where Master Jessica is."
The moment the beautiful women sat at the table, Adrian commented with exhaustion in his voice while staring intently at the troublesome blonde in front of him. She responded with a playful smile as she looked at the director in the main chair.
"Hehehe, I didn't come for that; it's just that I received some information that might interest the old man."
"Oh ho, what's so interesting then?" Upon hearing Sigrún's words, the director, who was sitting relaxed in his chair, asked with some interest while looking directly into Sigrún's eyes.
"Hehehe, and you want it just like that, for free?" Sigrún commented with a bit of cheekiness and then added in an uninterested voice, as if she were talking about something unimportant.
"I heard that a couple of cosmic leviathans fell into the hands of the order; how about you give me one for the information."
"Don't exaggerate, Sigrún; you know that's out of the question."
Upon hearing the ridiculous demand, Adrian retorted with a bit of annoyance in his voice while massaging his temples, to which Sigrún smiled mysteriously while elegantly crossing her legs, then added in a slightly playful tone.
"Hehehe, don't be hasty in denying it. After all, what I have is information regarding a student with dual affinity in synergy and high possibilities of achieving perfect synergy."
"Are you serious?"
Upon hearing Sigrún, the director couldn't help but ask, a bit surprised. After all, those who achieved perfect synergy were very valuable, with Eleonora and Sigrún being the perfect examples. Despite being Masters who had ascended not long ago, they could already fight on equal terms with much higher-ranking Master-levels, relying solely on their affinities in perfect synergy.
"Fufufu, it's quite serious. Moreover, that student doesn't have a faction supporting him yet, so what we're offering you is the opportunity to invest at the best moment in a future major player." Eleonora added with a small, confident business smile, already planning what to give her beloved disciple for this lucrative commercial opportunity they had brought.
Upon hearing Eleonora and Sigrún's statement, the director and Adrian looked at each other and began to speak telepathically, trying to make a decision. Since that pair was saying it with such confidence, it must be true, and although a cosmic leviathan was too much, they could try to negotiate a bit. After a moment, Adrian commented in a serious tone.
"It's truly valuable information, but a cosmic leviathan is too much. How willing are you to negotiate?"
Upon hearing Adrian, Eleonora and Sigrún looked at each other with pleasant smiles on their faces, and then Sigrún turned to look again at the men in front of her, leaning back in her chair. She then commented almost disinterestedly, though somewhat reluctantly, as if assuming a significant loss.
"I'd be willing to settle for one of its leviathan hearts and about 200 liters of true blood, but that's the minimum. Anything below that would be too little for such an important investment opportunity we're offering you."
"As for me, I need about 300 tons of pure scales, one of its fangs, and a few tons of leather would be fine. Keep in mind we're talking about a young man with dual affinity in synergy." For her part, Eleonora commented in a more serious and formal tone, having a professional smile on her face, like a respectable businesswoman.
Upon hearing the demands of the most famous troublemaking duo of the Arcane Order, the director and Adrian could only look at each other with bitter expressions. After all, that pair was truly ruthless; basically, their request didn't change since they went for the most valuable parts of the leviathan without hesitation.
Despite a cosmic leviathan being a colossal beast the size of a planet, what was truly valuable were its true blood—which was the blood that accumulated in its main core and, at best, amounted to about 400 liters—and the pure scales, which were the oldest scales of a leviathan and were usually near its main heart. These scales received the most mana throughout the leviathan's life, which could span millions of years, and at best amounted to only about 500 tons.
The problem is that cosmic leviathans were terribly rare, and they weren't found in the galaxy. Usually, they could only be seen in very distant areas that were difficult to access, which made them extremely valuable and not something they could part with easily.
"Please, although that information is valuable, the price is too high. Also, keep in mind that now we know there's someone like that, so we could simply look for him." Adrian commented with a firm attitude, though open to negotiation. But Sigrún scoffed at his words and commented dismissively.
"And you could also alert the other factions in the process. Besides, why do you think no one has found him until now?"
"He hasn't awakened his second affinity?" the director asked in a more serious tone, to which Eleonora nodded and replied with a small smile on her face.
"Fufu, you're absolutely right, Director; he hasn't awakened it yet, but it shouldn't take more than about 20 years for him to do so naturally."
"Then how could you detect it?"
Adrian couldn't help but ask, a bit confused. After all, although Master-level individuals like them could determine a person's affinities from the residual mana unconsciously released by a mana user, that only worked for awakened affinities. To recognize unawakened affinities, a fairly expensive magical artifact was needed, and although Eleonora had one in her possession, it's not like that pair would have gone around testing random people to discover it.
Moreover, that artifact had a significant flaw: it was difficult to detect a second unawakened affinity through it since the awakened affinity would influence the reading, causing it to go unnoticed in the vast majority of cases. It would only start to become evident when the examined mana user was about to awaken it.
"That's a trade secret." Sigrún replied with a mysterious smile, but the director commented with a small grin.
"Little Erik is really surprising, isn't he? Hehehe."
"Was it that young Erik who discovered it, Director?" Adrian turned to look at the director and asked, a bit surprised, to which he nodded and replied with a small smile while looking at Sigrún and Eleonora.
"Yes, it must have been him; just look at their expressions."
Adrian turned to look at Eleonora and Sigrún, quickly noticing their bitter expressions, which greatly surprised him. After all, just that ability would make the boy with iconic starry hair immensely valuable to the Arcane Order, and that's without mentioning his terrifying talent or inventive capacity—which couldn't help but make the second-in-command of the Arcane Order a bit jealous of that troublesome blonde's incredible luck.
"And if Erik says so, it must be true, so..." The director commented thoughtfully, with a hand on his chin stroking his beard, then asked in a more serious tone while looking into the eyes of Eleonora and Sigrún.
"What do you say we offer you half of what you came to ask for?"
"No way! If you're going to negotiate like that, then we won't tell you anything." Upon hearing the proposal, Sigrún retorted angrily while crossing her arms and giving the director a piercing look.
"Don't you think we could then ask little Erik directly about it?" For his part, Adrian tried to join the conversation, commenting in a defiant tone, but to his surprise, what he received were mocking looks from Eleonora and Sigrún.
"Fufufu, I'd love to see you try that, just to see how you end up..." Eleonora commented with an elegant and malicious smile, which made Adrian's hair stand on end, since nothing good ever came when that woman said something like that.
"Hehehe, really, it would be entertaining to see you try, whether by fair means or foul; you'll have very interesting results." Sigrún added with disdain and an evil smile on her face while staring intently at Adrian, who began to break into a cold sweat. He quickly coughed a bit and commented seriously.
"I was only speaking of a possibility; of course, we would always negotiate with you, his Masters, first."
"Hahaha, Adrian, you really dodged a bullet there, hahaha."
The director laughed heartily, genuinely amused at Adrian, who had a bitter expression on his face, although at the same time he felt curious about what that starry-haired boy had. That even the director thought he had dodged a bullet by backing down.
After a while, the director calmed down and then added in a firm tone while looking at the pair of troublemakers in front of him.
"As for you two, I'm interested in the information, but the most I'm willing to pay is 65% of what you asked for—not a millimeter more. Take it or leave it."
"As always, it's a pleasure doing business with you, old man." Sigrún commented with a pleased smile on her face, to which the director commented sarcastically.
"You mean scamming me."
"That sounds very unpleasant, Director; it's simply a business where both parties benefit. That's the basis of the prosperity of our Arcane Order—the win-win." Eleonora commented elegantly while looking at the director, who couldn't help but roll his eyes, then commented in a sarcastic tone.
"Yes, whatever you say. Better leave the information before you go; I'll send you your share in a few days."
"Hehehe, thanks for the sponsorship, Director."
Sigrún commented with a mischievous smile and quickly took out from her storage ring a beautiful crystal tablet with intricate runes carved all over its surface with surgical precision and placed it on the table. She then added cheerfully.
"Here is all the relevant information we gathered—detailed observations, background, and several affinity tests that were done without alerting the target."
"We trust you'll find the information as valuable as we believe." Eleonora added in an elegant manner, at which point the director took the crystal tablet and activated a holographic screen, which he casually reviewed, then nodded.
"The information looks really interesting. You can go now; I'm not giving up anything else today."
"Hehehe/Fufufu"
Still with 'evil' smiles on their faces, Sigrn and Eleonora disappeared from the place surrounded by runes and a beautiful magic circle, looking quite satisfied with the lucrative gains they had achieved. Leaving the director and his right-hand man alone again in the conference room.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone