Chapter 19: "Intense Negotiations"

(This chapter was uploaded on Saturday 21/September/2024 8:00 PM, timezone GMT+3)

(This chapter was finished getting edited and reuploaded on Wednesday 13/November/2024 2:35 PM, timezone GMT+3)

So.... I seem to have forgotten to add the last chapter to its correct volume 😅

(Line Break)

('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the chapter's footnotes.

"..." small moment of silence.

"Talking"

[Different Language Dialogue (Different from the language of the PoV)] (What language it is: Accent if necessary)

"He-" Someone was interrupted.

'Inner Monologue' (I mistook this as dialogue, even though 'dia' meant that there was another side of the 'logue')

{Skills' names, chanting, spell keys and spells' names}

(PoV)

(Flashback, including the text)

Don't shy from commenting on typos and/or inconsistencies. That and/or suggesting a modification to certain things that didn't make sense to you.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

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(Thursday, 15/10/1058)

(Henryk's PoV)

"Come with me! Asshole!" A bratty werewolf said with a snarky voice, dripping with venom.

'I don't know why, but I feel like he's younger than me by a few years'

We were led in as I mentally relayed to Fey to stay outside and remain calm. I got her reply that she was going to groom her feathers and barge in if we didn't come out by the time she's done.

The manor was like a maze inside. Taking a left, a right, another right, then left, then lose it and start following him blindly. At long last, we reached the office in nearly 5 minutes of power-walking our way there.

'I'm sure he was salty and led us the long way around'

"Enter" His frustration made him petty, his words curt. I ignored him and entered, dragging Shira with me. She was being too quiet, silently observing the place as we passed by. I could see caution in her eyes.

We entered to witness a very, and I mean very, irate and incensed Loki. She was livid.

"First and foremost, allow me to apologise. I had to call you that to force that brat and his accomplice guards to allow us to talk" I apologised while bowing my head down to her. I hated doing this, and I hated her dress code even more. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and I'm desperate here.

"Wh-" "Bete, shut yer trap" Just as he was gonna complain about how I addressed him, Loki silenced him swiftly.

While bent over, I saw Shira do the same beside me, and bow her head in apology, even though she was the innocent one among the 3 of us.

"Explain, now. Where did you even hear that? And why did you want to talk?" She was still angry, but, as we raised our heads, I felt some of the anger being shifted away from us, what with her looking at a wilting werewolf behind us. All his front melted when Loki's eyes fell on him, prompting him to click his tongue and close the door behind him as he came in. He sat on the ground, in a corner away from us.

Now that I'm not busy worrying about being subjected to divine punishment myself, I saw a sighing elf, a grim dwarf, and a headful of blond hair that barely grew a face and was forcing itself to morph its face into an optimistic smile through all that's happened.

"Start before I start, kid" Loki turned to us with a face contorted in disdain. I saw the other 3 look amongst each other and collectively nod, presumably agreeing to keep silent for most of the conversation, and leaving everything in Loki's hands.

'It either has something to do with that goddess being the possible source for the nickname, or it's because she's being sensitive about her chest. I should be wary'

"For the nickname, I heard someone say it, a short woman with black hair that was arranged into pigtails" I wasn't lying there. I did hear her say it when Norman watched the episode in my cabin. "As for the reason I wanted to talk to you, I recon you'd know. It's out of spite for him and what he said" I nodded my head towards the werewolf.

"You... Weren't you here to apply to join my familia?" Loki looked upset. She got the gist of it by now.

"We were. Keyword, were. A familia where someone like him could act so arrogantly, brazenly so, without stopping for a moment to consider the consequences, that's not a place we want to be stuck in for any amount of time" Shira said. She started hitting deep with her first words. And to her credit, she told them the cold truth. Their methods of dealing with such behavior are flawed.

Looking at them, their faces tell me that their pride's been wounded by Shira's words. Or it could also be their memories of failed attempts at rehabilitating him resurfacing, reminding them of some bitter times.

"We are trying to rehabilitate him constantly" "What 'cha say?" "It's just not working with him. I can assure you that the rest are better people and that we take cases like his seriously" Loki glared at him. "And no, he can't reject people in my place. Only Finn could do that, and even he consults with me first" It was at this moment, I knew he was fucked.

"Then, can we go to try our luck elsewhere? We only have so much time" I said as I was ready to stand up.

"I'd have to stop you right there!" Loki's eyes became horizontal slits as they were closed. I wonder how she's able to see things with her eyes being like that.

"Why's that?" I asked, knowing why. I came here while purposefully walking around with The Arrow of Orion strapped to my back and covered with a cloth.

"You and I both know why. Also, I'm offering you both a spot in my familia. Consider it accepting two people who might have had the chance under normal circumstances, an apology from me personally" Loki said. She sounded somewhat apologetic but still had an air of self-esteem around her. She wouldn't go beyond a certain line.

'What the hell?!', is what the discontent growling behind us sounded like.

Suddenly, the room took a nosedive in temperature. It became spine-chilling cold. And the source was obvious for anyone who had eyes. Loki had enough.

"Bete, you better stop it. You're already gonna get disciplinary sanctions by Riveria, so spare yourself more of them" Her eyes were only slightly open, which seemed to startle even the other three.

The clump of hair gestured for the elf and she complied by standing up and having the werewolf, Bete was what she called him, to give him an earful and then some. We were left in the room with only the clump of hair, the dwarf, and their goddess.

'Papa~ Fey's done~' And at that very moment, chaos approached.

'Stay where you are, my daughter. I'll have them let you in now' I wanted to avert said chaos.

'No~' Chaos insisted on being known as such.

'I'll make them allow you through the door. Just wait' I still tried.

'Fey waits...' Fey sounded dejected. Knowing her, she might've wanted to smash through the wall. Yeah, not happening on my watch.

"Loki, can you let my daughter in? She might just smash through a wall if you don't allow it" I said, worried that Fey might do it regardless.

...

A silence descended on the room. Their faces were baffled.

"Hurry. She's strong enough to do so" I urged them, cutting the silence short. Loki's eyes widened as she herself smashed through the room's door. The door slammed into the wall, almost falling off its hinges. Some time later, the elf returned. As for Loki, she returned a moment later with Fey carrying her by her head, putting the goddess' head in her beak.

"Fey's here~" Fey announced cheerfully, unaware of how bad her current image is.

"Fey, put her down" I sighed tiredly. Fey's playful side, that which prompted her to lick people or learn and perform play-biting like the silver wolves, wasn't something others take kindly to from first meetings.

"It's fine, Finn. This harpy eagle's just playful" I turned to the clump of hair to see a little man under it... Or maybe a little boy? Either way, he and the other two were ready to attack Fey.

"Have I mentioned it yet? That I'm a tamer?" That seemed to calm them just a tiny bit, just enough for them to listen to Loki's words in spite of her seemingly unsafe condition.

"Fey, others don't like playing bite. Can you release her?" At my words, Fey released Loki, who limply fell to the ground with a disgusted expression. 'Eagle drool isn't pleasant to smell. I know how it feels down there, Loki' I sympathised with her current situation. She was sitting on the ground in an awkward position, examining herself and evaluating the effort it'd take to clean herself entirely.

After releasing Loki, Fey nudged her a few times. "Will Fey be able to play with lady fox again?" Hearing Fey's innocent comparison between Loki and a fox, we heard the first vestiges of a chuckle before it was suppressed. The source was one emerald elf, who was coughing into her hand and looking abnormally prim and proper.

"You two, you're in the familia as of right now" Loki said as she picked herself off the ground.

"Loki, we left it to you up until here. But you shouldn't invite just anyone, even with how promising they look" Finn said.

'Yes, I always knew who he was. I was simply making fun of him inside my head for personal reasons'

...

'Who am I explaining this to? Why am I talking to myself again?'

"Then, let's start the usual interview" Loki suggested as she wiped a few globs of eagle saliva off her neck. She saw the futility of it and left the rest where it is, clinging to her. She'd probably wash it off later anyway.

"What should Fey do, Papa?" Fey walked up to me and sat on the ground beside the couch we sat on.

"Fey should listen carefully like a good girl" Shira answered her instead of me. To prevent Fey descending into a cataclysmic tantrum, I started patting her head, prompting her to rest her head on the couch to make it easier for me to give her more.

"Now, normall-" "Sorry for the interruption, but I need you to consider something" I cut Finn off quite rudely. 

"I will let it pass this one time. Go on, as it should be something important to cut me off like that" His smile didn't fade, nor did it falter. Another reason to believe that it was a fake smile.

'I wonder, how does his actual expression look?'

"Like my wife said before, we don't wanna be stuck with that raging teen. I'm sorry, but we won't be joining" I said as I stood up, Fey following suit with a tilted head. "Can we go now?" I asked while stretching a hand to help Shira up. She gratefully took it and we were all standing now.

You see, body language's a very expressive thing. By standing up simultaneously, we told them that there was no changing what I said without a sufficiently heavy promise.

"It is regrettable you feel that way, but I insist that you join, along with your wife and daughter" Finn said firmly, his right hand's thumb twitching so little that it was almost unnoticeable.

"And I insist that we don't, Braver" I said.

"Is there no way to convince you to join? A tamer is a desired addition to any capable familia, one that's sadly monopolized by that buffoon, Ganesha" Loki asked me, not sounding desperate in the least.

It's either that she thinks she isn't losing much if we don't join, or that she doesn't want to give us an advantage over her in the conversation. But, knowing that she's the goddess of trickery, one'd assume the second option rather than the first.

"There doesn't happen to be a system in place to legally deprive familias of their adventurers, is there?" At that, Loki's eyes shined, still closed as the light escaped her foxlike eyes.

"War games exist! Those allow a god with a stronger familia to obtain any adventurer they want regardless of the adventurer's will, nor that of the adventurer's god!" She brightly stated, with Riveria sporting a face that's hellbent on holding back a facepalm.

'Another person I knew the name of but refused to call her with it. Why do I do that again? Anyway, war games... Just from the name, we could be in trouble if we joined a small familia. And by how demanded a tamer is among stronger familias, according to her, it's gonna be troublesome and burdensome to both us and our god/goddess. So, we either join them or another strong and established deity. And from the strong ones, it's either them or Freya, as Ganesha's familia's heavily involved in the city's security' I brainstormed with the information I was given. And although I didn't want to admit it, she had an advantage in being able to protect us from other familias. 'I'll need to know how she's so sure that she could take me by force if I already need to wait a year after joining another god's familia. But that's for later, for when I get the chance to'

"Henry, I think I know a certain god that can better protect us. Not to mention, the longer route, where we were led through by the werewolf, allowed me to learn something" Shira revealed something I omitted from my complaint, seeing as it was too petty to take all my frustration out on a teen. I could see a vein pop in Riveria's forehead as she smiled menacingly. Bete Loga was screwed over and done for, forever more. "The rooms here are segregated to male rooms and female rooms. We won't be in the same room, should we join their familia" Shira's eyes glinted. She wanted to share a room, and I agreed with her. I'd much prefer to share a room with my marriage partner.

The sudden bit of panic appearing on Loki's face, oh, how sweet it looked to see the trickster panicked. Regardless, this was only possible because Shira phrased it as a possibility, and not as a fact set in stone. Warning her of the gods' ability to tell lies from truths, and possible ways to bypass it, was a good move.

"Fey wants to fly outside~" Fey waddled her way out, completely breaking the mood and forcing Gareth to follow her to ensure no familia member was hasty to attack her. I thanked him for his effort.

"Now, where were we?" Loki sighed. She was shocked that a better familia than hers existed, besides Freya's. But no sane person chooses to go there willingly.

"We were talking about that god that may be able to better protect us" Shira reminded Loki, much to Loki's disbelief.

"No. No. Wait a second. You're phrasing it in a non-direct way!" Loki pointed accusingly at Shira. "Your ruse's up!" She smiled victoriously.

"I know a god who can better protect us" Shira restated, this time as a tested and proven fact. It was her turn to smile victoriously, as Loki's closed eyes widened in shock once more. If I'm right, she meant Ouranos. Being the leader of the guild as a whole, few legally stable familias would ever want to cross him. Or so I'd like to think.

"NO WAY!" Loki held her head as she screamed out in despair, comically falling to her knees. She was playing, wasn't she?

"Enough playing, Loki" I said, bored of her cheap play. Actors hit and miss with their acts, and hers was a miss this time. I was proven right as she froze for a split-second before standing up properly and returning to Finn's desk, leaning on it like when we just arrived.

"Enough playing around, then. For starters, it's that you believe your words to be a fact. But, realistically speaking, if you meant Artemis, then she won't be able to protect the two of you for long. Orario's familias are ravenous by nature, and they get what they want by force. If you took refuge with her, then you'll be tracked down to the edges of the continent and back until you're caught" Loki said as she shook her head. "And if you meant Ouranos, that old fossil won't be accepting anyone into his familia. Give that one up, kiddos"

'I don't think there's room for thought. It's either join them or watch them observe as we're hunted down by others. We should just join them for now'

I looked at Shira and she understood my intent. She nodded defeatedly.

"Leaving the comedy skit you had with Loki just now, can we assume that you are joining us?" Finn asked, his smile seeming wider if that was possible.

"I think we will, for a year or two until we could stand on our own" I sighed as I said that.

"How selfish, child" Loki smirked. She's probably forming a plan to stop us from converting. "Then, let's lay our offer bare, no veils, no takebacks" She stated, surprising me. I thought she was gonna trick us into something.

...

Actually, scratch that. I still think she's gonna trick us into something.

"Please, do be honest" I said. I tried to sound polite but I think the request itself was rude.

"Then, for starters, we would give you a room for only you. It could house your daughter as well, if you wanted it to. During your first month, you will be taken to the dungeon almost daily, testing and verifying your abilities in the field. During that timeframe, you may undergo a course on how to be a better adventurer by Riveria...." Loki proceeded to list the things expected of us if we join her familia.

To summarise, we were expected to be present during breakfast, to follow a regime that will assess our ability to stay alive down there, being shorter than a whole month if we were capable enough already, to study some lectures with Riveria, then to report back on our excursions to the dungeon before resting. We were also told to take at least a single day off to do something for ourselves, to relax.

(3rd person PoV)

Our protagonist was now standing in the front yard of the Loki familia's home. After agreeing to join, noting loudly how forced he felt, he was to be tested in his handling of his chosen weapons.

As he stood in the middle of a clearing, the Loki familia members who got some free time gathered around it, bustling with excitement. It was not often that someone's admittance necessitates everyone gathering.

"Tsk... Asshole! Begin!" A grumpy werewolf stood in front of Henryk.

Henryk looked at him in confusion before turning towards Loki, who was standing to the side. Loki was calm. Too calm, in fact. Though, to her credit, she got herself all clean and smelt of flowers after exiting the bath moments ago. She was allowed to feel satisfied after cleaning herself this well, right? ... Right?

'She orchestrated this, huh? This's either a test for me or a measure to keep me in check early.... Hey! Let's use this!' Henryk got a metaphorical 'light bulb' moment.

"Loki, if this is how you want it, then we're leaving" Henryk shook his head as he lowered his greatsword. He gestured for Shira to follow him, which she did under the belief that he got a plan.

Henryk's actions baffled everyone present, and also puzzled them greatly. Only some of them knew of the altercation between him and Bete, the latter of whom was fuming now. Henryk's complete dismissal of him, someone who saw Henryk as a weakling, beneath him at all accounts, struck Bete's ego, making him almost snap. He gnashed his teeth so hard they made small screeching sounds.

"Oh? And you know that I could always acquire you through a wargame, right?" Now, the puzzled eyes of the familia members were stuck on Loki, who displayed what she normally did not. She did not get any of them into the familia via threats, not a single one. Everyone here was invited or accepted, and it was a mutual agreement of them joining the familia's ranks.

Then comes Henryk, someone who Loki threatened to take by force if need be. The crowd started buzzing with critical comments, making Loki feel bad. 'I'll need to explain myself to the children after this' She thought.

"You'll still need to wait a year, right?" Henryk said. Maybe because he was not interested, but he never remembered Norman mentioning anything related to war games and how they functioned. He did not remember that Norman told him once while he was cooking their lunch that war games, bypassing the one-year rule, allowed the gods involved to change the status of any familia member involved as they wanted.

"I have two things to say to you" Loki stopped as if letting the thought sink in for a moment before continuing. She raised a finger. "The first thing is that you aren't tricking anyone with that act" Loki's smirk widened as she raised a second finger. "The second thing you should know is how unlucky you are! A war game allows us deities to get any adventurer we want! Any time of the year we want!" Loki smiled toothily in a predatory manner. Henryk looked at her, mildly disappointed.

"Should I go all out?" Henryk asked. 'Still, I'll mislead their understanding of my skill. They think it's a taming skill. And while that's a way to use it, it needs some preparation before being used in this indirect way'

"That's what you're supposed to do, kid" She shooed him back into the middle of the clearing.

Henryk walked and stood in front of Bete, raising his left hand, empty. And when he put it to his mouth, he whistled, calling Fey and the wolves without his skill's mind linking effect. He was aiming to confuse the Loki familia members and have them believe that he was not able to influence them without a sound that everyone could hear.

"Awo!!" The wolves howled as the 3 young ones raced each other to reach Henryk first, while Futura took her sweet time.

"Ouros, that's our target for today. We need to defeat him without killing him" Henryk said as he pointed at Bete.

"Kill me? You think you could even dream of that, weakling? Huh?" Bete was frustrated. He was tasked with testing this bastard who was wasting his time. And more frustrating than that, he was especially asked to let Henryk initiate the bout.

Henryk ignored Bete as Futura approached him, asking him why he was talking to Ouros and the other two but not her.

"Oh, Futura. An old lady like yourself should sit on the sidelines and watch us treat him like a chew toy!" Henryk grinned as Futura bit his arm lightly while growling.

'Fey, remain out of sight. They wouldn't expect you to attack if you weren't present at the start of the fight' Henryk directed special instructions to Fey, who listened for once. All the training they did, being drilled into her mind before she began changing, took effect and let her follow what he told her to the letter. This was a hunt to her, and she was not losing it to some random intrusive thoughts. She could always have fun between their hunts.

'All of you, I'll coordinate our attacks from here on. Listen to my instructions and follow them closely' Henryk shared through their mental link whilst unsheathing his knives, leaving the greatsword behind since it was too large not to accidentally hit one of wolves, or at least risk to do so.

(End of Chapter)

Greetings, dear readers

This chapter is finally done. Though, I need to go deal with reediting the next two chapters.

Now, into the questions.

How well did I execute the events leading to Henryk and Co. joining Loki's ranks? Is the reason well thought out in your opinion? If not, how do you think I could improve on that in the future?

How do you see Shira's part of the conversation? Did I manage to portray her as being thoughtful/good with her decisions?

Before reading the next chapter, tell me how the ending of this chapter comes along.

What does it convey to you? Why do you think Bete was the one who was chosen for this? I want to know if my intentions came out clear to an acceptable degree, or if I need to adjust my writing to be more discreet.

Lastly, the next chapter is the first fight where I will be writing while taking more than physical prowess into account. I want you to analyze it critically, if you have the time of day.

Then, be well, ladies and gentlemen.