042 Failed Negotiations

Cain was standing where Scarlet died; his breathing was rough. The group could tell that there was something that drove Cain to kill in such a fashion.

Cain looked up and saw the inquisitive looks on the faces around him. He took a deep breath to calm down. "Sorry for the ugly show; she was Alexander's informant who leaked your whereabouts that set up the hit on you guys."

"So that was to show good faith or something?" Talon was questioning Cain's motives.

"No, that was for me and my brothers. She had someone following you all and knew that there were more people in your group then they let on. No one gets mercy when they plot against us." He looked back at where his outburst had happened. "I don't know what has been going on with me. Ever since the game it feels like I have been slipping…"

Mercury somewhat understood; she could sense a dark background coming from Cain. "No need to worry. How we are in the real world doesn't accurately reflect how we are in the game. At the end of the day this is a game where things are different from our previous day to day outside the game. I can tell you have professional experience outside of the game in the same field, that is why you are putting so much pressure on yourself. Lighten up and you will improve in game and your abilities in and out of the game will sync up."

They all could relate to Mercury's reasoning. James knew it the best; in the real world he was nothing but a cripple praying to be healed. The twins were aware that they lived a nearly infinite better life in the game. Mercury was able to vent her real life frustrations while living up to the persona they developed over the years. Talon felt like he would never live up the various expectations his friends and family put on him. Totem was like Cain, someone who carried over their profession from the real world into the game. It was the only thing he knew how to do.

Since they all shared the same feeling they did not commit how Cain dealt with Scarlet to heart.

Mercury did have more to add, "Scarlet is a petty person; she will go out of her way to get revenge and reclaim the face she feels she lost. I know from experience."

"I have also seen Scarlet's pettiness. You and your brothers should take caution when out and about. It appears that she can see through your stealth. She had a magical aura inside of her eyes while in stealth. While I doubt it is as strong as my ability, it is still troublesome for your organization." James warned Cain.

"I appreciate your concern." replied Cain. [He really is like his father, I can see why these people willingly follow him around.]

James noticed mana signatures approaching onto their location. "We need to move, Scarlet must have notified those investigating that battlefield that we were nearby. I will distribute the loot once we are safe.

He started a light jog and headed toward the deeper Zones. He knew that there wouldn't be many people able to follow them into deeper Zones

They avoided battle as much as they could, they focused primarily on getting to a safe location. They continued on until James saw that no one was following them anymore. "Okay we are far enough. I'll distribute the loot.

* Ding *

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Loot Style: Party Leader Distribution

Loot:

1 Gold coin

1 Unicorn Horn (Rare Quality)

4 Tungsten Horseshoes

1 Mane of a Unicorn

-------------------------------

.

"Not much but there are some interesting items in there." Talon wasn't completely impressed with the loot.

Mercury was numb to loot from an elite ever since she killed the Boss with James. "What can you expect, it was only an elite monster. It was also an easy one compared to what we are used to."

James divided the coins as evenly as possible between the group. He then gave Talon the Mane and Totem the Unicorn Horn.

James wanted to clarify his distribution criteria, "The Mane can be made into a magical bow string so it goes to Talon. The Horn is an alchemy ingredient so naturally it goes to Totem. I will be distributing the loot we get to those it best matches."

"What about the Horseshoes?" Karma was curious about what they were.

"I don't know how useful they are, my identity skill doesn't tell me much. It is telling me to take it to a beast tamer or a stable master for further information." explained James.

"Maybe we can get mounts?" Mercury gave her best guess.

James felt it was a good guess, "You could be right, if that is the case I will hold on to them until one of us gets a horse."

Since they had to flee from their previous location the group didn't have time to check their personal notifications nor the global ones. Now that they were safe they looked them over.

James had not leveled up but Mercury, Talon, the twins and Totem had all leveled up. Talon was now level 24 like himself. The twins and Totem went from level 18 to 20. James was however very close to leveling up.

Since Mercury had hit level 25 an announcement was sent to every player in the game.

**** ( Announcement ) ****

The player, Mercury, has been the first to hit level 25!

She has received 1 gold coin, 1 skill point, and 100 nation fame.

…

The first player has hit level 25! It has awakened dungeons all over the world; currently there are 3 level 25 dungeons and a single level 35 dungeons present in the world!

Two of the dungeons have permanent locations! The remaining dungeons will be on a weekly rotation with a small pool of other dungeons! Get them when they are around!

Anyone above the level 20 may enter a dungeon but will find the difficulty significantly harder if they are below the recommended level!

***********************

"Looks like dungeons are officially unlocked now. Are we still going for the level 35 dungeon?" Talon asked.

Everyone turned to James. "Naturally. Of the four dungeons we know where one is; the other three have unknown locations. We may be able to finish the level 35 one before the others are found."

Everyone was pumped up, they wanted to tackle the dungeons!

Cain was standing with the group with an awkward expression. They forgot he was here, he even got a split of the coins.

* Cough * Cain tried to bring attention to his existence. It worked; everyone turned to look at him. "Did you mean to give me a split of the loot?"

Instead of answering Cain's question, James asked one of his own, "Why wouldn't you get a split?"

"I am not a member of your group." Cain replied.

The others laughed and James gave Cain an answer, "You helped kill the boss and also took care of the unwanted guest. Even though you are not officially one of us, you were part of the battle at the time. It is only right that you get a share."

Everyone knew that James was a generous person. The twins knew it best. James unknowingly gave them the support they desperately needed when he let them have the loot from the wolf they killed together.

James wanted to quickly get back to farming but first he needed to finish the business with Cain.

"Alright Void, what are your thoughts on the treaty?" he asked.

"Well, it will be a no-conflict treaty. Neither side will attack or interfere with the other's business. If there ever becomes a time where our interests intercept we will discuss it to come to a compromise." explained Cain.

"Doesn't sound bad. It appears to be a win-win situation; there is a problem with the premise of the agreement. Yes, you could target our members individually or in small groups but as long as I am present your attacks will fail." James, as always, was blunt.

"Yeah, since you are coming to us that means you know that you are on the losing side." Mercury pointed out.

"What is in it for us?" Talon asked the question they all wanted to know.

"We would not interrupt you in the slightest. If you have a need for our services it will either be at a reduced price or depending on the target it may even be free. As for a sign of good faith, I have a stockpile of alchemy materials. Originally we were going to do our best at interfering with Totem's ability to grow as an alchemist. We bought out the auction house of all the alchemy materials. We also 'kindly' asked the typical material suppliers to only sell to us." Cain came clean.

Talon frowned, "That's quite the low tactic."

James agreed, "Yeah, but it would have been very effective. Even with my capital it would have been hard to find new resources that way."

"That was my thought exactly, I knew that we had a real disadvantage with face to face conflicts so we were going to use our position in the underworld to indirectly get involved with you all." Cain didn't deny anything they said.

"Since you are giving us the materials, does that mean you will also release your stronghold on the future supply?" Totem was still worried about his future.

Cain gave an answer Totem didn't want to hear. "No, my organization will maintain our embargo of alchemy materials."

James was not impressed, "How does that help you sell this treaty?"

"We will control the supply and demand of alchemy materials and potions. There are many alchemists, especially inside the guilds. Without a constant supply of potions the guilds will struggle with some of the game's content." Cain explained.

"So you plan on targeting the top guilds with this move?" James understood Cain's plan.

"Where do we come into this?" Mercury asked.

Cain smiled, "We will not give you future materials for free. Instead you can buy them from us at their current market price. In other words you won't be affected by the prices we will determine."

"That sounds like a threat…" Karma read between the lines.

Cain noticed that he messed up, "No no no. Regardless if you accept this treaty we will still sell you materials at market price."

"This sounds more like a business deal at this point." voiced Mercury.

"You can see it that way. We also are doing the same with rune materials." Cain fully came clean.

Just as someone was going to complain Cain spoke before them. "Just like the alchemy materials, the same concepts apply with the rune materials. In fact, I plan on controlling the supply and demands of every profession. Everything we control will be offered you at market price. Others will have to pay our markup prices."

James thought about it for a while. "It is an interesting idea. Do you actually have the funds for it though? Rune materials are very cheap right now due to the lack of successful Rune Masters, I dare say I am currently the only one capable of making Runes. The other professions have more expensive materials due to their popularity."

James called Cain's bluff. He did want to do as he said but currently his group did lack the funds to do so. It would be a slow execution. He kept his thoughts to himself and his facial expressions and his tone of voice remained the same. "Capital is no issue, it won't take long for us to be in full control of the auction house."

James noticed a big smile on Mercury's face. "You're lying."

James believed Mercury, he too suspected that Cain was bluffing. Cain kept his cool.

"My organization has more influence than you think." Cain maintained his bluff.

"You might have the influence, but the capital? I don't believe it." Talon called his bluff.

"The capital will bring itself over time. We will be cornering the market one profession at a time." Cain kept his confident voice.

"Not good enough," said James.

Cain frowned, "The plan might be a slow burn but once profits come in it will speed up drastically. We will target the most common professions and go from there."

"We accept the treaty, but there will be more. I will be an investor in your organization; you will give me a percentage of your profits and will sell me goods at half of the market value." said James in a commanding voice.

Cain almost unconsciously agreed. He caught himself moments before he said anything. [John had the exact same tone when commanding Black Death… I almost instinctively followed it out of habit…]

Cain wanted to probe James, "What makes you think I will agree to such a heavy price?"

** Group Chat: Blaise - Mercury **

[- Blaise: Loan me money, repayment terms will be the usual. -]

* Mercury sent you 5 gold. *

[- Mercury: I knew you couldn't help finding more ways to spend time with me ;p It is a pleasure to do business with you ;) -]

"15 gold plus more later, while you want to be able to corner everything instantly you will be able to get a firm hold on the market. That is my final deal. There are guilds that specialize in buying merchants; I could easily go to them with the same deal and quickly sign a contract with them.

James was playing hard ball and Cain knew it. It was a tough decision. The agreement with Sebastian was to report on James's actions and if needed protect him. But to Cain it was obvious that James had no need for protection. At this point reporting was the only thing that he needed to do for Sebastian.

[Just because we have ties with James's family doesn't mean I have to go along with everything. My brothers and I entered the game to make money and to stay retired in the real world. Being hitmen in the game had reignited our souls as well. In fact, James was the one to do it. Now that I think about it, we can keep that passion going even if we can't directly battle James. Instead we can battle him through the market if we need.] Cain finally found his determination.

"Here are the alchemy materials I promised." Cain kept his word.

James and his group thought that Cain agreed to James's proposition. However, Cain quickly burst their bubble. "I will have to decline your investment offer. I believe you are too busy at the moment with leveling and preparing for dungeons to follow through on your threat of getting a merchant guild to beat my organization to the punch."

"What about the no-conflict treaty?" James was ready for battle at this point.

Cain saw that James's group was armed and ready for battle, "That is still in effect but it only covers physical battles and conflicts. It will not cover marketplace or other intangible topics, fair?"

James extinguished the flame above his hand and extended his hand for a handshake, "Deal."

Cain left the area and made his way back to town. James and his group waited a while before they started talking.

"Better than nothing." Karma was the first to talk.

"At least I don't have to worry about looking over my shoulder when I am out of the city." Totem felt some weight lift off his shoulder.

"Aren't you afraid of them limiting yours and Totem's profession?" Destiny was concerned.

James shook his head, "Not at all, he severely underestimates my ability. Talon I assume you already started asking around?"

"Yeah, I will let you know when I find a willing guild." Talon was already messaging a few guilds.

"Also look for two or three life skilling guilds to partner with. Ideally they consist primarily of gathering professions." James wanted to be one step ahead of Cain.

"Got it." Talon expanded his efforts.

Now that their guest was gone Mercury could continue teasing James. She leaned her back onto James's chest and looked up at him. "Having fun?"

James looked down and looked into her eyes and smiled. While he could see some cleavage in his peripheral vision he didn't let it distract him in the slightest. "Things are starting to get interesting, no?"

Mercury only smiled back and closed her eyes. She was enjoying the feeling of resting on James.

"I found a merchant guild. The gathering guilds are being more difficult; it appears that Harbingers did in fact threaten some of the guilds and the others are spooked. Currently I only found one guild willing to go against them." Talon reported his findings.

"Schedule a meeting with the two." James had a mischievous look on his face. If Cain wanted to play hard ball, so be it.