Two Deals in One Day

'Fuck me.'

Null would not let himself botch this attempt at freedom.

"No way I would leave you behind to collect dust on this greedy bastard's crummy planet," he slyly tried convincing the spirit.

"I only wanted to wait until I was strong enough to defeat him so I could take you with me no problem."

Null and the spirit were face to face now that the new form of the spirit was mimicking his size.

The spirit sat in thought for a moment; no traces of distrust could be gleaned from its warped thinking face.

"I got it," the spirit chimed.

'Got what now?' Null absently thought.

"You can just use the yellow drippy stuff to break me out," the spirit said while grabbing and shaking Null's hands.

"I can do what now?"

Null foresaw the next event unfolding exactly as it did and he did not like it.

"Just touch my body exactly where I tell you to and let me do the rest. I promise I'll give you as much of my cleansing water as you want if you take me with you."

"You'll do what now?!" Null beamed.

He was elated to hear the benefits of the vase-napping that he threw all of his common sense out the window.

'Forget it. The cleansing water is just the starting point I need to gain some footing out here.'

Null was already designating some of the cleansing water for Theef to use— as a good friend would— but he needed a way to reach the designated areas of the map unobstructed.

With the cleansing water, he had a monopoly over a ridiculously practical item that could ease one's mind, body, and soul all within a few moments.

All he had to do was take the vase from Barter's Ruler without him being the wiser, and he had would have an infinite pool of resources at his disposal.

Null was hardly able to wrap his head around the value of such a resource at first, but he must have been infected with a greed of his own from hanging around Barter for too long.

"Fine! Just get me out of here, alright," he assented to the spirit's scheme.

"On it!" 

And with that, the spirit reproduced the portal out to which Null leapt through immediately.

....

Back in the Wanderer's Guild, the receptionist was thrilled to the core at the sight of Null's cosmic aura being released ever so slightly.

She assumed he had awoken some power from observing the Soul Soothing Vase exactly as Barter's Ruler had.

Unbeknownst to her, he was immersed in the realm of consciousness of the infant artifact spirit trying to find his way out.

Things were as silent as they had been before afterwards until Null finally crossed the gate out of the spirit's mind.

His eyes quivered as they slowly opened to reveal that he had indeed returned to his body. 

'I don't fully understand it, but this vase is really something else to be able to pull me into its mind space before even fully forming its spirit.'

After waking for what seemed to be only in a brief moment of thought, Null secretly reached for the vase on a particular spot and released some of the yellow energy inside.

As it turned out, the slimy yellow energy had to seep into the object of Null's desire.

Since the vase was non-porous, Null could only utilize an incredibly minute crack that was unnoticeable to the naked eye.

Hence, when the yellow energy seeped within the vase Null could feel a connection with it.

In reality, he could only regather the energy which would in turn bring the vase along with it.

'Okay. Done with the easy part. Now time for-"

A face full of Barter's Ruler obstructed his thought.

"I see you've finished 'observing' the vase," Barter's Ruler said as he eyed Null like a raven.

Null 

His eyes were coated with greed the more he looked; a keen eye would notice the slight twitching of his fingers.

But with none of those in the room besides his own, Barter's Ruler resumed speaking.

"Let's move to my office now to officially settle matters betwixt ourselves." 

He gestured to the stairs and began walking up them without bothering to check if Null was following. 

He knew he would.

And that's exactly what Null did no questions asked, because he knew the atrocious act he committed was still fresh on everyone's minds.

Meanwhile.

'It's really happening!' 

The receptionist was still in her own little world.

The moment she caught the hint of sarcasm on the ruler's voice, she knew that Null had definitely gained something from the process.

'I've been sitting here staring at that thing for hours on end each shift, but he only looked for a few hours and has already gained enough to become the ruler's apprentice.'

She couldn't help but squirm in her seat at the thought of seeing her colleagues' faces when she told them about the hottest gossip since the last guard's murder.

'I'm so excited, I'm about to pee myself.'

She smiled to herself as she put the 'On Restroom Break' sign up before scuttling away.

.........

Inside of the ruler's office, Null stood opposite of the seated ruler.

"I'll make this whole ordeal really simple for the both of us so that we can get back to our lives, alright?"

Null nodded in response.

"All you need to do is answer another few questions of mine and you and your friend can get back to that journey of yours."

"That's really it," Null had thought that there had to be a catch with this sort of person.

"Unless you have something of value you want to give me, this is your only way out."

'Definitely not a good thing to show more value to a guy this greedy.'

And so, he asked, "Can I write down my answers before showing you?"

Barter's Ruler simply opened a drawer and gave Null some kind of paper and writing utensil.

"Shall we begin?"