Chương 16: Striking A Deal

[Main Quest: The grumpy Craftsman.

Elminster is determined to crush you but his malice is not totally without reason.

Find out what the reason is and use it to negotiate a deal with him.]

The notification floated right at the corner of Henry's eyes like a reminder.

'Alright, I now know the reason. What deal am I supposed to negotiate?' Henry asked himself as the notification faded away.

"Well?" Elminster said.

"Well what?" Henry played dumb to give himself time to think.

"What do you mean 'what'? Hand it over!" Elminster said.

"Hold on, this system of yours with the Invitations of death… How successful have they been?" Henry asked.

"I don't follow," Elminster said with a frown.

"Well earlier, you said 'Every few centuries' so I assume the Invitations haven't been that successful. And with all that white hair, you must be getting along in your years. I wonder if you'll live long enough to have it all recovered."

"I will," Elminster said with his brows furrowed, "But what are you getting at?"

"Have you ever considered contracting someone to help with the recovery? Someone that is not bound by your contract and can harass the Wielders in your place?" Henry said and with every word, he felt an assurance.

He felt so rightly that this was the way to go.

"My Automatons act on my command so they count as me. I cannot employ them for the retrieval."

"Your Automatons are not people so that's not what I was talking about," Henry said.

"Oh," Elminster said in realisation, "Oh, I see what you mean. Hahahaha, you must think me a fool. My last dealings with people is why I'm in this situation.

No one will take on such an undertaking without something to gain and I risk entering into another disadvantaged deal."

"I'd assume you're wiser now," Henry said.

"I would too. But people can be so crafty and I'm not very good at human relations," Elminster admitted.

"Wow, really?" Henry said in a deadpan tone steeped in sarcasm.

Elminster snorted in derision but said nothing.

"I'll do it," Henry said to break the silence.

"You'll do what?" Elminster asked.

"I'll help you retrieve your weapons…" Henry started.

"They're not all weapons," Elminster chimed in.

"… Whatever they are, I'll retrieve them for you and I get to keep 'The Hydra's Sting' in the meantime."

"Bah, why would I agree to that?"

"It's either that or you kill me and then wait another century for another to fall in your trap. I wonder how many more centuries you have left," Henry said. He couldn't give up the Gun even if he wanted to anyway.

"It's worked well so far," Elminster grunted.

"Has it really?" Henry asked with his head cocked to the side.

Elminster stroked his beard with his eyes narrowed and his mind worked furiously before finally he let out a sigh,

"Fine."

Henry let out the breath he had not even realised he was holding as he nodded enthusiastically and took more steps forward until he was only about two feet away from Elminster with the counter being the only real barrier still separating them,

"Good, good. I'm glad you see sense."

Elminster nodded,

"Yes, yes. I'm very open minded, aren't I?"

"So what now? We sign a contract?" Henry asked.

He noted that the System did not consider the Quest complete which meant the 'deal' had not truly been struck.

Elminster eyed him and then said,

"A contract will make my employment of your services official and count as you acting like my Proxy which will void my existing contract clause of harassment.

Let's just shake on it."

Elminster held out a hand and Henry looked from the hand to Elminster's face,

"Really?" He asked.

"Really," Elminster said with a nod and a smile tugging at the corner of his lips and lifting his stark while moustache.

"Alright then," Henry said as he took the hand with his right.

For a second, nothing happened. He noted the hard callouses of Elminster's hand as well how strong the grip was. It was so strong that Henry could not pull free. And then a sharp pain struck his palm and turned into a burning that seared his entire hand like the branding of hot iron. In a flash, Henry realised that was exactly what was happening. He was being branded!

"Arrgghhh!!!" He yelped in pain and his knees went weak.

He looked up into Elminster's face and saw the old man grinning at him with eyes bright with a sadistic joy.

"Yes, yes… Feel the burn!"

As painful as the branding was, Henry noted that he didn't lose any Hit Points. The System apparently did not count it as an injuring process which he disagreed with as the burning continued to sear through him.

And then, Elminster released his hand.

As the pain began to subside, Henry looked at his palm and saw a rune glowing a bright, almost wicked, red.

[You have received Elminster's Brand]

[Elminster's approval of you has risen]

[You have received 10 Exp]

'Getting branded makes him like me more? What a crazy bastard!' Henry thought as he got back to his feet.

He looked up and saw Elminster watching him with that sadistic smile on his face while still stroking his beard,

"That brand is a far more elegant approach to our deal. I have not officially asked you to track down my possessions and seize them for me so I have not broken the clause of my contract but if you don't do as our deal dictates, that Brand will bring you here to me to face the death you have only narrowly escaped."

"It's gone." Henry said while holding out his palm to show that the brand was no longer glowing on it.

"It would be inconvenient and unnecessary for it to glow all the time but it is there still. You will never be rid of it. Not until our deal is over, of course," Elminster explained.

"So we DO have a deal then?" Henry asked.

Elminster looked surprised that he would even ask,

"Of course. That burning pain was not enough proof for you?"

'Oh it is. I just wonder if it's enough for…' Henry started to say in his mind when an alert interrupted him;

[Quest Completed]

[You have struck a deal with Elminster]

[You have received 50 Exp]

*[Nyx has received 25 Exp]

*[You are now free to retrieve the magical weapon 'The Hydra's Sting' from within your Inventory.]

"Come on, boy," Elminster said with a gesture at Henry and he turned around as a section of the wall that was littered with unfinished products began to sport lines that met until they formed a door that swung open.

"So where will I find your creations?" Henry asked as he ducked under the counter and followed Elminster through the door that had just appeared.

Elminster shrugged.

"I have no idea."

Henry was about to frown at the unhelpful statement but paused as he gazed upon the room Elminster had just led him into. Unlike the one they came from that was littered with unfinished products, this room seemed only to show off the best of Elminster's creations.

Brilliants swords, staffs, Spears, Armor pieces and many more adorned the walls but even more were the shelves on which small bottles holding varying colours of liquids were arranged in impeccable order.

"Wow," he let out.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Elminster said proudly, "And these aren't the even the best ones."

"They're not?" Henry said, sounding doubtful. He saw a rifle hanging on the wall and rubbed a hand over it. His body tingled with the magical power sealed within the weapon just waiting to be wielded.

Elminster didn't mind that Henry was touching the rifle.

"All you see here are prototypes. Foundations for even better creations."

Henry reluctantly pulled away from the rifle and his eyes went to the shelf of bottles with all manner of colored liquids within,

"Those bottles?"

"Potions," Elminster said, "Brewed by yours truly."

"You make potions?" Henry said sounding surprised, "I thought you were a Craftsman."

Elminster shrugged and was stroking his white beard again,

"'Craftsman' is a general term for what I am but, if we're splitting hairs then I'm a Gunsmith, a Blacksmith, a Gold Smith, a Silver Smith, an Artificer… Hell, you'd be hard pressed to find a trade I have not dabbled in.

And, of course that includes potion making."

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