Wager

The present members headed towards the source of the sound, and to everyone's surprise, the origin of the noise seemed to be the administrative center of the complex.

Nora hurriedly ran towards the building, while James stood with the other masters and waited outside. Soon, their doubts were cleared.

Although the people from Earth had formed a unified camp for the expedition, they were far from being a unified force. There were many factions, and while it was true that the American faction had secured more spots by receiving a portal much earlier than others, allowing them to send more people, portals had also started to appear in other parts of the world. As a consequence, the number of Americans as a percentage of the total was decreasing.

Currently, there were only two major competing factions, and the other faction was a coalition of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans, who surprisingly put aside their differences to reap the benefits of this new world—well, maybe not that surprising, considering it was all for the benefits.

When Nora came out, Marcus the Arcanist was the first to ask, "What's going on, Boss Nora?"

Nora sighed under Marcus's penetrating gaze and replied, "It seems there was a small clash between the forces of our camp."

For natives like Marcus, the different nationalities of the Earth's forces were insignificant. What mattered more to him was whether they would cooperate during the expedition or have more problems like this in the future.

Nora could read Marcus's expression, which was very similar to the rest of her companions, so she quickly assured them, "Don't worry, there may be some friction between our forces, but it's manageable. We will organize internal competitions to foster internal exchange, so things will improve."

As they didn't know the meaning of internal competitions at the moment, it was evident they were fighting for dominance within the group. Marcus and the others understood it, but James lagged behind, unable to grasp all the available information.

Nora took some time to smooth things over with the other masters and then took James to her office.

In Nora's office, occupying her chair, was a young and beautiful woman.

"Finally, you arrived. Thank you, Nora. I'll take your office to speak with the blacksmith for a moment," the young woman said.

"A pleasure, Miss Jasmine. Do you need anything else?" Nora asked politely.

"Arrange for some tea and cookies for the servants. I know you're curious about the conversation. It's not ultra-secret, and it will help you deal with him, so you can eavesdrop from a corner," Jazmín instructed Nora before turning her attention to James.

"As for you, very well-played during the negotiation. You almost fooled me, but I know where you got the runic information you sold us. After all, there is no other James in runic blacksmithing," Jazmín crossed her legs on the desk as she leaned back in her chair. "In some way, you managed to become a disciple. I'm really intrigued since I haven't heard of any other local taking an Earthling as a disciple," she said, now with a serious tone, with a subtle threat that James was able to pick up on.

James's brain went into overload mode. He didn't understand the situation well or why he felt so much pressure. He quickly dissected the information he had and came to an answer. There was only one possible connection between Jazmín and selling information.

"Well, I must say you fooled me. I sold information to a spoiled brat, and here I stand before a mature woman," James replied after a few seconds, recalling the tough guy facade from that encounter and clinging to it.

"Also, it seems you haven't learned anything. You checked your merchandise, and once again, you were scammed," James added as he leaned back in his chair.

The first comment had already irritated Jazmín, but according to what James could truly understand of her, although insults regarding her appearance didn't affect her much, attacking her effectiveness was a big issue. She took great pride in how she did her job.

"You know very well that we have no way to avoid it," Jazmín said in a fit of anger. "Earthlings don't have access to most system functions during our first year."

For James, this was the first time he had heard that. He had access to all functions from the beginning and continuously. He didn't know why the rest of the Earthlings wouldn't, but he knew he had to keep some things secret.

"So, what does the lady need from me?" James asked.

Jazmín sat properly, still angry, but she was able to quickly change her attitude. After all, it was about business.

"There's a rival group that has been overestimating itself recently. They obtained a particularly troublesome runic weapon capable of breaking our best weapons after a certain number of strikes. If you can provide a solution to the problem, we will reward you handsomely," Jazmín finished. She gestured to Nora, who got up to pass some documents to James on the desk.

James took the file and started reading it. His superiority smile quickly faded; this time, the enemy actually had a functional runic weapon. They weren't being deceived with some magic or anything like that. Worse, James didn't recognize the rune.

He closed his eyes and started mentally tracing it. Although it was difficult, he managed to do it, but he discovered a problem: even though the rune was traced correctly, it didn't seem to work. There was nothing.

While James traced the rune in his mind, Jazmín and Nora glanced at each other for a few seconds, and then their perplexed looks fell on James. They didn't know the process of creating a rune, but they had heard rumors and bits of details. Apparently, a runist had to be able to trace the rune in their mental space with their own mana. This rune served as a sort of mold and had to be kept in mind at all times from its creation to be inscribed.

When they saw James open his eyes, Nora couldn't hold back from asking, "Could you draw the rune?"

"Yes, but it had no effect. There's something different; I'm missing some technique to really make this rune work," James was in a bad mood. He had recently grown complacent with the superior knowledge he possessed and believed he was a pretty good runist. Yet, this rune, which was no more complex than basic, rendered him completely useless.

He took out a book from his ring and started reading a segment he thought might hold the answer.

"Clearly, it's a double stroke," James finally said. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks, and he felt so stupid.

James began to pack his things and take the reports to leave when Nora finally snapped out of her contemplation. Although the situation had caught her off guard, she managed to stop James before he left.

"I need you to offer a solution that won't leave me at a significant disadvantage against my rivals, James," Jazmín told him.

With little patience, James said, "I'll give you a winning card in a month."

"Are you sure you can guarantee that? After all, you didn't even know today's rune," she replied, poking his pride once again.

"Do you want to bet?" James said.

"Oh, I quit that vice a long time ago, but well, a little bet from time to time won't hurt anyone," Jazmín said, interested. If her other secretaries were here, they would furrow their brows. A little bet could be anything from a car to an apartment in the Empire State. "If I win, you'll have to forge basic runic weapons for me without stopping, just like the simple blacksmith you are." Jazmín couldn't resist poking the wound again, mentioning the humiliating contract her master had.

"Fine, but if I win, you'll have to treat me to the best restaurant on Earth with all the luxury services and all the damn details that disgustingly rich people like you love," James calmed down, thought for a few seconds, and then added, "And $20,000 for Emma."

Jazmín was taken aback by the request. Not because it was unattainable—she had spent more on other bets—but because of its randomness. She asked her out on a date and money for her ex-wife. Was he trying to flirt with her, or what was he trying to do?

"Whatever. I accept your conditions. I'm looking forward to your results," Jazmín said finally.