Crimson Castle (2)

[Island of Bones, Dwarven Mountains Underground Entrance, Crimson Clan Castle (building site)]

Inside the biggest tent of the building site settlement, Janna was sitting on chair that looked like a throne. It was truly a nice wood art piece, as it was decorated with wooden sculptures of various weapons like axes and spears, a symbol that was quite befitting Janna herself and her records of being a warlord.

In front of her laid a huge map of the underground. The Blue wolf mercenary group would kill to have such a map, but it had not come easy. It was the result of years of being stuck and lost in the City of Steel when she was younger, as she cartographied the entire layout of the labyrinth with her party. Tyrius, the old necromancer, a core member of the crimson clan, was one of her party members at the time, and still walk by her side, proof of his loyalty.

'According to what she told me, her party had been sent to investigate something in the underground, under the order of the arcane faction. After weeks, they expected some reinforcements as the entrance was blocked by a colony of Steel Giant Spiders, but the reinforcements never came...', Lewis remembered, ignoring much of Janna's past.

In his previous life, Janna had been his mentor, but their relationship stopped at that. She was very secretive and seemed to hide a lost, especially when it was about her past. Although he did not know why, Janna had some dealings with the arcane faction, and the fact that the latter had sent five golem masters to help in the construction of such an outpost was proof of that.

Without them, the project would be impossible to complete in times of war.

Yet, not even a month passed and they had successfully trapped a significant portion of the blue wolf mercenary group within the underground. It was only a matter of time before their forces would weaken.

Though Lewis' reputation soared in the building site, Janna was frowning. Godwin and Tyrius, the two most loyal crimson clan elite beginner rank acolytes had dumbfounded faces.

"Fifteen magic crystals", Lewis spat, not budging

"Listen, you little brat. The market price of a steel-tail scorpion is 12 magic crystals, so we will buy it at 12 magic crystals, not a gold coin more!", Janna retorted

"If I wanted to sell it at 12 magic crystals, I would go to the Magical Court by foot and sell it at a price, if only to not sell it to you! But since I am genuinely good and a loyal member, I will sell it to you at 12 magic crystals, the three extra magic crystals being fees for my presence in the battlefied!", Lewis said with a smile, fully knowing that if he left, Raon would be left unprotected.

Just as Janna was about to lose patience and scream, a voice calmed the conversation: "I will buy it as fifteen magic crystals, young human"

Janna turned her head in annoyance, while Godwin and Tyrius were a bit surprised of hearing the deep voice. It was after all, none other than Lord Ignis, the lord of the City of Steel and one of the strongest blacksmith in the island.

Lewis smirked like the old man he was, he who had gotten what he wanted. Although his soul was more than a hundred years old, there was a childish insanity that allowed him to prevail in negotiations: "See? Now we are talking!"

However, Lord Ignis' words quickly made him feel like he had gotten cheated: "I managed to take a good look at the corpse, and it is in absolutely pristine condition. The eyes and core are destroyed, but the value of the steel-tail scorpion are the scales, that are undamaged. By refining them into alloy, I will be able to craft high-quality armours and shields"

Janna coughed, seemingly amused by Lewis' ugly face upon hearing those words. He might have underestimated the price of alloy in times of war. He could have raised the price to sixteen magic crystals if he knew Lord Ignis would be interested in buying it. 

Of course, it was already more than what he could originally hope for.

"Now that you have successfully made your deal, why don't you tell us a bit more about what happened in the underground", Janna spoke with a hint of fury, "You lost one of your party members"

Lewis bit his lips in annoyance. Despite being weak, Jack possessed goodwill and a rare mindset to improve, one that matched with Lewis' expectations of the acolyte path. He was also very hard working and possessed potential, being a grade 2 talent. Dying as a nameless soldier in such a battlefield was a shame.

It was Orianna who answered, a bit annoyed that Lewis was getting interrogated despite his contributions to the war: "We encountered the Ice Countess Sheila"

To the mention of the name, Janna and her two loyal subordinates Tyrius and Godwin gasped.

Ignis titled his head, and asked: "Who is she?"

Janna quickly explained: "She is a battle mage with ice affinity who terrorized the orcs during the invasion of the East a decade ago. Her reputation matches with her strength, and she should be ranked 4th in terms of strength in the wolf mercenary group. Her party is well-balanced, and she is a tactician who knows when to take risk and when to retreat. All in all, she is a fearsome opponent"

The old man Tyrius nodded, and could not help but question: "How are you even alive?"

Lewis sighed: "I wish I could kill her, but I prioritized Raon's survival and did not chase after her"

"What do you mean chase after her?", Godwin titled his head, not understanding

Orianna explained: "In the skirmish, we managed to kill her five subordinates, but she entrapped us with the spell [Ice Nova], before running away. At the time, Lewis was still fighting against her subordinates and prevailed. Jack died because he was targeted during the ambush"

"..."

A silence emerged, quickly broken by Lewis who started to list a couple of demands: "Since we managed to deal a crippling blow to the Blue Wolf Mercenary group, I think it is only fair that we get a couple of days off as well as some rewards. I was thinking that two barrels of Dragon Beer. What do you think?"