“Deal,” Bal smiles at me, causing me to come to a stop and narrow my eyes. For a moment, I want to glance at Tess in search of help, but decide not to show any weakness.
Quickly, I type into the community and decide to resend the message until Lily notices it.
Nathaniel Gwyn (Hell, group 4) - Grumpy, I do not like this guy. When it comes to trade, give him healing mark number 3.2
Outwardly, I just ask, “How many corporations are on Xyphos?”
“Aurate Consortium, Novus Venture Corp, Meridian Alliance, Questionable Assets Group, and Coda Collective.”
The asshole does not answer more than he must, and I know it is on purpose. Still, I ask, “Questionable Assets Group?”
“Yes, that is their legal name,” he confirms.
“So you are all here to harvest talnium?”
“Most of our main objectives are this, yes, though some have a side project observing the Labyrinth, but that is highly regulated, and the permits are rarely given.”
“Under whose control is this planet? Or was, you know, before all this stuff.”
“The Ruler of Diligence currently, though the Rulers often coordinate on that and make changes to the overseeing structures.”
I pause and blink a few times, but just in case, I ask, “Tell me, this talnium, is Diligence getting a good chunk of it?”
“As per my knowledge, the Ruler of Diligence, not personally of course but via his vessels, is buying and, through centuries old deals trading for more than 40% of the talnium harvested on Xyphos, yes.”
I rub my hand across my face and allow myself to have fun in my thoughts, imagining things like: So the Ruler of Diligence didn't find 40% of the talnium on Xyphos sufficient, so he manipulated the system to make Xyphos part of the tutorial, allowing him to seize the rest while masking the move as an unexpected occurrence through fake system messages.
Quickly, I shake this thought off and curse in my mind at Lily for not reading my community message yet. Our group has long since been drilled to keep checking the messages often, as it allows for hidden conversation, but the petite healer is clearly slacking.
So I resend it again, for like the tenth time.
Nathaniel Gwyn (Hell, group 4) - Grumpy, I do not like this guy. When it comes to trade, give him healing mark number 3.2
Esos (Hell, All Business) - Oh, shut the fuck up finally. People here are trying to organize, so go fuck yourself, you and this Grumpy!
“Why does so much of talnium go to Diligence?” I ask Bal.
“The Ruler of Diligence is one of the very few in the universe known to be capable of reliably creating Spatial Caches within his World Forge on Domus. Talnium is one of the extremely rare materials used in the process.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I agree with him. “How many can he create?”
“At the smallest size of a cache, probably one or two per millennium. The highest quality ones often require tens of thousands of years.”
Once again, I blink a few times and ask a bit more carefully, “Is that not being a bit too lazy? Or is he maybe not making a few of them for the other ones to keep the value ridiculously high?”
Bal smiles, and for the first time, he almost looks condescending, but not in a truly arrogant way. It is more like he got a sort of question from a child asking a parent if it can go and pet a cute baby bear outside near its momma bear.
“I personally can barely fathom the sheer effort, thaumic mastery, and complex processes that go into the creation of a simple spatial cache, Mister Gwyn. We are talking about folding the very fabric of reality into a non Euclidean manifold and pinning that fold to a physical anchor. This anchor must be calibrated to resonate perfectly with the structure of a spatial cache, otherwise, the inner space of a cache effectively detaches the moment it is moved, leaving the inventory floating at a fixed set of coordinates in the void."
It seems to be something he likes to talk about, like someone admiring a great car or talking about insane theoretical technology that would take humans to travel between stars. So I just nod and listen as he talks.
"Furthermore, there is the issue of maintaining the structural integrity of the inventory space. Reality has a natural and aggressive tendency to equalize, so creating a stable, isolated volume of space should be impossible. I cannot imagine, I can not fathom what it requires to prevent the construct from unwinding or, worse, collapsing. Then you must consider the concealment of the spatial cache. Left alone, it radiates a signature that is as bright as a beacon to anything sensitive to spatial anomalies. Masking that is an art form in itself."
"It sounds like that." I nod again.
"Right!? And worst of all, you have to mitigate the effects of spatial radiation. When you compress space to that degree, the friction between the inner space of an inventory and the external world generates static that can crystallize the mana channels in not so rare cases! There are great masters who have dedicated entire lifetimes to understanding spatial caches, and yet, most of them ended up at theory, not able to take even a first step. It is a miracle anyone can craft them at all!”
“I see,” I nod, and can't help but feel Bal's excitement. Maybe Diligence is a bit cool after all. Still, I send it into the community.
Nathaniel Gwyn (Hell, group 4) - Grumpy, I do not like this guy. When it comes to trade, give him healing mark number 3.2
Esos (Hell, All Business) - Oh, not again. I’ve had a shitty day already without this dumbass being annoying. This is like the 30th time, you fuck. You'd better pray I will not meet you somewhere.
Lisjek (Normal, Rat Buds) - There is no need to be a bitch, he probably spams it to get an answer from his group members, and with so many people chatting here, it quickly gets lost.
Esos (Hell, All Business) - As if I care.
Sset (Hell, group 4) - Group 4? Isn't the current guildmaster of the Primordial Knights also from group 4?
Piere (Hell, 123456) - Nyssa Volare? Is she even still in the tutorial?
Treeson (Hell, S.T.A.R) - No, they had a new coronation. The new guildmaster is that mana lunatic, but I don't remember his name.
Piere (Hell, 123456) - Oh… that guy.
Lisjek (Normal, Rat Buds) - Sset, aren't you also in group 4 according to your alias!?
Sset (Hell, group 4) - Hehe.
When I glance at the blonde, she is smiling, and after making fun of me for a bit longer, she leans closer to Lily and very quietly whispers something into her ear.
“How many Adjudicators does the Aurate Consortium have?” I ask Bal and check the community, where Lily finally answers.
Grumpy (Hell, group 4) - Got it!
Then there is a bit of a pause as she reads the older messages and a new one.
Grumpy (Hell, group 4) - I offer a healing mark capable of restoring limbs in exchange for the location of this annoying guy called Esos.
Treeson (Hell, S.T.A.R) - I think I know where attendees from his planet are gathering. I can share that information, but for free. I have met you in the Beyond, and you healed my friend.
Esos (Hell, All Business) - Hey, what the fuck is this?
I ignore the rest of the conversation and listen to Bal, who says, “The number of Adjudicators is unknown. If you offer a second healing mark, I am willing to share the way we categorize them and our theories as to how the Aurate Consortium creates them.”
To that, I shrug, “Isn't that obvious? They are where they are, around what they are, and have access to what they have in exchange for what they must do.”
Bal's smile widens, “You are very well informed for a tutorial attendee, Mister Gwyn.”
For a while, I wonder what face he would make if I told him who I learned it from and that I also met the real Kindness, not some crappy clones of her that the Aurate Consortium is clearly creating from her flesh. But seeing how they do it without much hiding, Kindness likely doesn't care, as most of their budget goes into trying to find ways to kill her.
I'm once again reminded how ridiculous this is. 90% of the Aurate Consortium's budget goes into finding a way to kill her, and even with the remaining 10% of it, they are still the most powerful corporation.
Weapons made of the flesh and body of a Ruler with level 99 skill, clones of her to be used as their warriors, and god knows what else, they truly know how to get the most out of it in a way I even have to admire.
“I just overheard some B ranks talk about it somewhere in the Beyond,” I say to Bal, “how much more do you think I can ask?”
“I'm sure you did hear it there, Mister Gwyn. As for the number of questions, this is open to negotiations where both of our sides will agree. After all, we aren't shameless enough to try to trick you or Lady Healer.”
“Sure. Want to ask them a few things?” I look at Tess, who just agrees with a nod and moves ahead.
She starts with some pleasantries before rapid-firing plenty of questions I bet she has been preparing. She asks if there are Absolutes present on Xyphos, and there are only two, as limited per contract. One of them hired by the Corporation, and the other one as an overseer from the Rulers. She asks about Champions, and the answer is a limit of two per corporation. Then she gets into what territories the corporations have and how they split where they influence stuff, and many such questions.
I already told her about what happened during the Game, so later she asks them about it as well.
“What can you tell us about Starless Sky?” she asks directly.
But to that question, Bal instantly shakes his head, “Any information on gods is extremely valuable, and I am afraid you likely have not much of such value to offer. Though, Mister Gwyn, it was seen that you were given the dagger previously owned by Absolute Candidate Euris by your sister.”
“Out of the question,” I just say, and it seems the selari man had expected it.
For a bit, I wonder how they would behave if not for Diligence threatening everyone present to not mess with the attendees. Would they try to steal it? Would they try to kidnap Lily or even me for my traits? And lastly, I also wonder what they think of Tacita just disappearing.
Of course, I and likely Tess saw her sneak inside, but they do not seem to notice, so do they think she left? Or maybe they know she is there and hope to trap her?
Shaking these thoughts, I ignore it. Tacita knows her abilities better than I do, and she is someone who has been clearing tutorial floors on her own.
“That much should be enough information for the value of a single healing mark from the Lady Healer, do you agree?” Bal says after Tess gets a few more answers from him, and in the end, we agree.
I can almost see the greed in Bal's eyes as they bring out what feels to be a level 150 monster that reminds me of a monkey, but with four arms, a single long horn, and a tail ending with a bony, mace-like appendage.
“Be careful with the mark I am placing. It is a single-use, and it activates automatically when the host takes damage,” Lily says.
“What scale of damage are we talking about?”
“A scratch,” Lily says, working on the mark so she does not notice how wide Bal's eyes get at that moment. His two assistants begin to whisper excitedly, and that causes him to frown at them, but it is already too late, and when he turns back, he must have realized Tess and I noticed.
Bal gives a polite smile and calls inside, causing another selari to come out, this one clearly combat-oriented, likely one of the guards. Then they take the monkey away very carefully, moving it back in a cage and even restricting it, likely so it does not damage itself by mistake and cause the mark to disappear.
“Lady Healer, if you would be willing, I believe we could make a deal for a second healing mark,” he says shamelessly. It is just so obvious, even to me, that he thinks they overwhelmingly came out on top from this exchange.
Meanwhile, Lily looks at Tess, who shakes her head, and Lily straight up rejects the disappointed selari.
Still, they do not interfere as we begin to move away, towards the closest member of group 4 that the compass is pointing towards.
Tess sighs and scratches the back of her neck when we are further away, “I just heard them laugh, and one of the assistants called us dumb attendees,” she says, showing off her talent at strengthening her senses.
Meanwhile, I open the community and check the messages, where I find a few interesting ones.
Sset (Hell, group 4) - Tacita, on your way out, can you scratch that monkey they keep in the cage? They should be passing by. I think Nathaniel and Grumpy would appreciate it.
Barely two minutes later, Tacita steps out of her field near us, slowing down her run to a walk to match ours. Even then, her walking speed feels like she is annoyed at us for moving so slowly.
She throws something at me, and I catch it automatically. After glancing at it, I see it is a mana stone serving as information storage. There are still a few connections hanging from it, meaning she likely just pulled it from somewhere. Seeing the level of encryption, which will likely take me days or weeks to break through, so it must have been from an important place.
When I lift my eyebrow in a question, asking what she might want in exchange, she draws into the air.
(‾꒳‾ )
It makes me realize that she is buttering me up for our deal with the dagger, and for some reason, I do not doubt that she has scratched that monkey, causing the healing mark to trigger and leaving Novus Venture Corp without anything.