Chương 35: 034 Creating a Team
Both Mercury and Talon were shocked that James brought up the dungeon during the meeting. They both started sending messages in their group chat.
[- Mercury: Blaise, are you sure it was a good idea bringing up the dungeon to him? -]
[- Talon: I am also concerned about it. It is a high level dungeon and there is a good possibility we could reap huge rewards if we manage to clear it. -]
[- Blaise: I know and understand you two's concerns. I did some research on Totem. He is in the top three on the Alchemist leaderboards. He is also the only one within the leaderboard that is not in a guild. We need someone without direct ties to guilds. -]
[- Talon: He is pretty much a mercenary. He goes where he finds opportunities. What if he breaks the contract? The location of a level 35 dungeon would fetch a huge price. -]
[- Blaise: We have more to offer than any of the guilds currently. Especially since most of them just wasted their entire guild funds on my runes. I will also make a few more just to insure they won't be able to afford his information. -]
[- Mercury: What if they offer him a high position in a guild? -]
[- Blaise: I don't believe he had been anything but a mercenary in every game he has played, is that correct Talon? -]
[- Talon: Hmm, that would be correct. -]
[- Blaise: Perfect. Then if he wants to be a merc, we will treat him like one. -]
James continued to lure Totem in, "Yes we have discovered a level 35 dungeon a few hours ago. If you want to have more information about it you would have to sign the contract."
James paused to add dramatic effect and articulated his words to draw Totem in, "The final statement in my contract is that you will have access to the dungeon when we go for the first ever completion. On top of that you will get first choice on any magic equipment specific to your class. This will make up for the lack of salary; we will not prevent you from selling gear you get from the dungeon. This is a long lasting contract; as we find more dungeons we will offer you the same perks as we are now."
James then quickly turned to Talon and Mercury, "I know you two are wondering why I am offering him a slot in our first dungeon run. We won't be able to complete the dungeon with just the three of us, even if two of us have hidden classes."
James was telling them out loud rather than in a private message to lure Totem in further.
"You want to completely lock me down and take away all future business outside of your group. In return you will offer me dungeon runs and access to the look from said dungeons?" Totem was skeptical.
James confirmed that Totem was correct, "Yes, we are offering you a position in our dungeon runs. We won't require you to run every time we run a dungeon, but you will be offered a slot in all of our first clear attempts. This is to guarantee that you comply with the contract; loot from dungeons will be worth much more than the costs of your lost income that results from our contract."
Totem mulled everything over for a few minutes. "You are grabbing me by the balls here. Do you know how much the top guilds would pay for this information?"
James had one last tempting piece of information for Totem, "A lot. We plan to hold monopolies on any dungeons we come across for as long as possible. This would make the items we come across a very rare commodity . I believe you saw first hand what a rare commodity goes for when those Runes of Power appeared on the market."
Totem had a sour face when he heard James, "I didn't only see it but experienced it. I had to pay 10 gold to get a hold of a Rune. The known Rune Masters are also capitalizing on everything and are charging an arm and a leg to apply the Rune! They want 2 gold coins to enchant a weapon with the Rune and won't provide a guarantee about the outcome. I heard one of the guilds got the lowest enchantment possible from their Rune…"
All three of them also burst into laughter when they heard about one of the guild's misfortune. They had one less trouble since the Rune applied the lowest effect possible.
James thought of one last incentive when he heard Totem, "If you sign right now I will point you in the direction of a Rune Master who will enchant your weapon for free and guarantee a good result or you will get your money back."
"You're not lying to me are you?" Totem didn't believe him. It sounded too good to be true.
"How is this, I will give you half the cost of the Rune in good faith. When the enchantment is applied and shows good results you will return the gold to me. And if it proves me wrong I will give you the last half." James offered him a proposition.
Totem looked over the contract once more. While giving a big sigh he signed the contract. "You better live up to this contract of yours. I am taking a big risk with you; if I suffer I will make you suffer."
James was not phased in the slightest, "Good, you wont regret it. Now here is the gold I promised. Hand me the Rune and your weapon."
Totem took the money and passed James his items. He assumed that the Rune Master would want to remain a secret considering his bold claims. If it was true he would be hunted down by the top guilds in a recruitment storm. James put on a gentle smile and both Mercury and Talon finally let out their laughs.
Hearing the two's laughs Totem started to worry. He saw the smile James put on and instead of seeing it as a pleasant and friendly smile he saw it as a devious one. He worried that he made a mistake.
James then held the Rune up to Totem's staff and started applying mana to the rune. Small wisps on mana floated around James. They started as all different colors then slowly turned into a soft red color. It added to James's devious appearance. Totem started to sweat.
The wisps slowly turned into small ribbons of mana and flowed over the Rune and Totem's staff. A small aura formed over the surface of the staff as the Rune started to disappear. Once the Rune was completely gone there was a small red flash around the staff. James looked at the staff and nodded with satisfaction.
"I'll be taking my money back." James then posted the staff's new stats page for everyone to see.
---------------------
Staff of Enchanted Earth
Level: 18
Grade: Rare
Description: A magical staff of earth, it can harness the power of earth easier than most.
Attack Power: 28 --- [20 + 8]
Enchantment: Power - + 8 Attack Power
---------------------
Totem's jaw dropped some, "You're a Rune Master?!"
James was happy about Totem's reaction. He knew that Totem would now work for their group without worry of betrayal. "Yes, in fact I am quite proud of my work. Here is your staff, may I have my money back?"
James returned Totem's staff and got his gold back. "Oh, by the way. There are no refunds."
Totem was confused. What refunds? He applied the enchantment for free. It didn't take long for him to understand what James meant.
James took out some Rune Crafting materials and started working.
[- Mercury: It is official, I might be the queen of PvP but you are far more evil. You already convinced him to work for us but now you're just adding insult to injury. -]
[- Talon: He will forever be enslaved to your work and our group. -]
Reading their messages James smirked in amusement, he knew they were right. Totem felt chills go down his back when he saw James work with that smirk on his face.
It didn't take too long until he finished a set of Runes. He was happy with how his work turned out. He used his best materials that he just bought from the auction house. Once he finished his work he posted the results.
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Minor Rune of Defense
Can be used to enchant armor.
Effect: 15 points to defense.
Creator Alias : Magicks
--------------------------
James had made 6 total Runes of Defense and 4 more Basic Runes of Power. He would give his friends the defense runes and sell the power runes.
Totem would never forget what happened today.
He felt defeated and lost his good sitting posture. He slumped down in his chair. "That is why you said no refunds. You ended up getting back all the gold you offered me when I bought that rune you posted on the auction house. Well, you got me. Well played. It is now clear to me why you were so confident that I would not break this contract."
It didn't take long for Totem to understand that he had just made the best decision of his life.
James took one piece of armor from Mercury, Talon, and even Totem then enchanted them. He also enchanted his new robe he bought from the auction house.
Totem, who now has accepted his fate, started to ask questions. "Now that you are done flexing your bait, what would you like me to craft first?"
James looked towards Mercury, who then put her recipe and it's material onto the table.
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Recipe for Anti-Venom Potion
Effect: Cures the Venom status effect; also grants a 20 minute immunity again Venom.
Materials Required:
3 Stocks of Devil's Root
2 Poison Devil Thorns
1 Water Vine Leaves
Results: 5 doses
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"Anti-Venom?" Talon had never heard about venom before.
James was blunt, "I have a hunch that it will be a requirement to survive in the Temple we found. There is a purple miasma involved."
Totem wanted to show off, "You are probably right. I have a cauldron I got from a quest that occasionally creates a few extra doses of potions" Totem did some math. "I can also get a temporary buff from my Alchemy teacher as well. I could probably make 30 doses in total. That would give us roughly 140 mins of resistance."
Talon was interested, "A teacher that can boost your production rate? Where did you find them?"
Totem was smiling, "Blaise and Mercury were not the only people to find hidden quests. I had a rank C hidden quest and got an excellent Alchemy teacher as a reward."
James had other ideas. "Excellent, however there will not be just four of us; there will be six in total so we would only have 100 minutes each."
Mercury tilted her head slightly, "6 in total? Are the other two those twins you were with?"
Talon was not too surprised, "They are not bad picks considering they had the courage to fight Reaper. You have that much trust in them?"
"I do. They also have good coordination with one another and were easily able to adapt their fighting style when I was with them. They might be young but they are most likely moldable. If you two are worried I can have them sign a NDA contract." James gave his honest opinion.
Totem half joked, "It might be for the best, it would also give me some closure for the trap you laid for me."
"I will get in touch with them." James then sent them a message to meet them at the Tavern. It did not take long for Karma and Destiny to show up.
The twins entered the private room and looked around. Destiny saw Mercury and put up her guard. She obviously didn't trust her.
Her brother comforted his sister and waved her to sit down next to him.
Karma was also worried. "Blaise it is good to see you, my sister and I were worried about you. Did Reaper threaten you at all?"
Karma was not as worried as his sister. He figured that since Reaper and James killed a Boss together that everything was okay but he wanted to calm his sister down. James was unknowingly their savior and his sister had great respect for him.
Destiny saw that James didn't seem like he was in a bad spot and relaxed some. "Not at all, in fact we turned out to be a great team together."
"Really?" asked Destiny.
James smiled and nodded and Destiny finally fully relaxed.
When they first arrived Karma instantly had several questions. He had noticed several big names in the room. In fact there was not a single person in the room, apart from themselves, that had not made some sort of name for themselves.
"Blaise, what is going on? Reaper and Talon are both on the Leaderboards and Totem here is known not only as one of the top alchemists but known as an expensive merc." Karma, although young, was in the know. He believed knowledge was power.
James wanted to clear the air so that Karma was not worried that something strange was going on. "You both know how I met Reaper and also know our achievements together. I met Talon when I first joined the game, he saved me from some unwanted attention. As for Totem, he is now under my permanent employment."
"With so many powerful people here, why did you call us over? I am sure you four can handle just about anything." Karma was still looking for answers.
"Blaise sees potential in you two. I can also see it." Mercury answered in James's place.
Everyone was surprised that Mercury would compliment someone. She continued, "It takes guts to stand up to an undefeatable opponent. I am not just talking about me. You were ready to fight to the death when the Forest Guardian showed up. That is why I decided I wanted to fight you that day. It is not common to see that trait now-a-days.
This was Mercury's way of apologizing without actually doing so. Both James and Karma saw through her words though. Karma didn't want to call her out since he knew that she was a prideful person. Karma and Destiny thanked her for the evaluation she gave them. Destiny was surprised to hear Mercury's praise. She has adjusted her opinion of Mercury since then.
"Okay, now to explain why I called you here." James looked at the twins to make sure they were paying attention. "I want you to become part of our team for the clearing of the level 35 dungeon we found."
Karma and Destiny felt like a huge bomb was dropped on them. James decided it would be best to keep going before they would refute. "Even if you have not leveled since the last time we met you should be atleast level 18, which is the same as Totem. Since we have never teamed up before we would farm elites and violent monsters until you three are at least level 20."
James looked over everyone in the room one at a time, "I would like input on your thoughts. We are a team for now on out."
Totem stood up, "A team huh, I guess I'd rather be known as a team member than a worker bee. Send me a message when we are ready to grind. Until then I will make some potions and prepare some things."
James flipped a gold coin over to Totem, "As per agreement, get yourself the best workshop."
"I plan on it, I'll squeeze everything out of our partnership as I can." Totem left the room chuckling.
"Are we sure about him?" Asked Talon.
James was feeling good about the meeting, "You saw how he reacted to everything. I fully believe that he knows we will be the best assets for his desires. It is hard to pass up a strong dungeon team, Rune Master, and people to fund such an expensive profession such as alchemy."
"Are you sure about us?" Destiny asked.
James had a kind and caring look in his eyes, "Of course, you two are the full people I teamed up with and it was enjoyable. You two will fit in well."
"Blaise, we should split up again to prepare for hunting." Mercury wanted to head out; she had some things he had to attend to.
"No problem." James then sent a group message to everyone.
[- Blaise: We are meeting back up in two hours at the northern exit. -]
Everyone acknowledged his plan and went off to make preparations.
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