OverXelous
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2. Spoils of War
🕑 Added 2024-12-23 14:56:31 +0000 UTCAfter the fight, Alex was approached by many of the Guild Members and Recruits. He was surprised by the number that seemed to know him from one thing or another and the fight seemed to solidify his strength in their minds.
In truth, he’d been a bit embarrassed by the whole thing, but he couldn’t deny that the recognition felt good and rewarding for everything he’d been through in the last two months.
When most people continued on their way to the dining room, ushered by the house staff to the free food, Alex was left with his three friends in the outdoor training area. The heaters were blasting to keep away the winter chill, and various bits of trash littered the ground where people had left cups or plates. It reminded Alex of how a baseball stadium looked as everyone left the stands.
“Good fight,” Elana said as she approached their group. She had two men following behind her, who Alex didn’t recognize.
“Thank you,” Alex said while stepping forward from his group. “Your brother was a much tougher fight than I had expected him to be. That was a close fight.”
She smiled and thanked him, saying that Rylan would be pleased to hear him say so.
Doubt that.
The conversation quickly changed to her purpose for approaching their group. “I was hoping we could chat in private. This is Derrick Holloway, executive coordinator for the Guild’s Rifts.” Alex shook the offered hand before Elana continued, “And this is the Guild’s contract lawyer. He’s helped us write up all of the contracts for those who sold us Rift information.”
Ah, now I see.
“Oh, you want to exchange the details now?”
“If you’re open to it. The sooner we can begin to capitalize on such a Rift, the more the Guild will benefit.”
Alex looked at his friends and shrugged. Mark and Sarah smiled and waved to him as they ushered Sam toward the food.
Valtherion refused to leave his side after the fight, and as Alex followed the trio toward the Voss estate, the growing mana wyrm curled around his shoulder.
It was a short walk through the house and down a set of steep stairs for them to reach a large, comfortable room.
“Wow,” Alex said.
“Please, make yourself comfortable. Would you like a drink?” Elana gestured toward the room.
His teeth clicked as he forced his jaw shut. Unused to the wealth the Voss family had, he had expected the negotiations to happen in a room meant more for business or conferences. Something similar to the ones that he’d sat in on during his time with the ad agency.
The room was spacious and cozy. Leather and wood covered most of the room, softened by various red and black carpets. The far wall was lined with an enormous bookshelf, and to the right was a well stocked bar. Elana poured herself a drink and stopped the bottle as Alex shook his head and moved toward the leather sofa in the center of the room.
“Shouldn’t I have a lawyer too?” Alex asked, feeling oddly confident despite being out of his depth in this situation.
Too bad I can’t reach out to Dad or Jake.
While he didn’t feel as meek as he once did, they could handle the situation better than he could. He had to acknowledge that their jobs made them, even Jake, much more equipped to handle something like this.
Elana waved her hand in the air, “No, it’s really nothing that serious. You’re a Guild Member, and we want to take care of you. He is a lawyer for you as much as he is for us. Normally, we offer the same contract to anyone bringing us information on a new Rift. But-” She stressed the word and raised both eyebrows, “Well, this isn’t just another Common Rift. We want you to feel good about giving us this information.”
She looked to the man who’d been introduced as a lawyer, and he nodded at her before reaching into a briefcase and laying a packet of papers on the table.
“I’ll be very honest with you, Alex. If this is truly an Epic Rarity Rift, we probably don’t even have enough funds on hand to pay you an equivalent value. The eight-times time dilation alone is worth an absurd amount of money.”
Alex wasn’t sure what to say, so he remained quiet.
“Think about it this way. There are billionaires across the country who have open contracts to purchase slots in a Rift that will let them live eight times longer than they would on Earth. Most of these contracts start in the several million dollar range. It will be up to us to make that Rift feel livable for them and have enough amenities that they’re interested in giving up their current lives of comfort, but the allure of living eight times longer is very strong for some people.”
Damn, I didn’t even think about that.
Alex’s mind had been engrossed in the idea of training in an area where he could make more progress than others. But of course, there would be people willing to spend money to live longer, even if they had no desire to level up or fight in the Rift.
“That’s not even the most valuable part here, though. The fact that this is a D Rank Rift means it’s one of the few out there that anyone knows of. Most Rifts appear as E Rank. If there are other D Ranks, the government is likely keeping them under lock and key. This could give us a huge advantage in terms of a place to train our Peacekeepers or get our hands on a steady supply of those purple D Rank Mana Stones you showed me.” She shook her head and took a sip of her drink.
Alex laughed and adjusted the Celestial Robes he was wearing from the fight. “Am I selling this thing to you, or are you selling it to me?”
Some of the tension eased out of the group as they all laughed.
“Ms. Voss is just attempting to let you know that the Moderators of the Guild all recognize the potential value you are giving us. We appreciate that, and while we want to give you something of equal value, that just isn’t possible right now.” Derrick spoke up for the first time. He had no hair and a white beard. While the man wasn’t overweight, he was clearly someone who either hadn’t Awakened yet or hadn’t begun to increase any of his physical stats. His smile was genuine, and he seemed excited by the possibility of being offered to the guild.
Alex nodded before accepting the paper that Elana slid across the wooden center table.
He was immediately glad that he didn’t have a drink in his hand, or else he might have spit it across the beautiful couch and carpet. It took a conscious effort to keep a mostly neutral face.
Even though Elana had hinted at a large sum in their previous talks and she’d been willing to help him get a few items from the Auction House section of the AG App, he hadn’t anticipated the numbers shown in the contract.
“The lump sum is more than we originally spoke about,” Elana said, noting his raised eyebrow. “But the other Moderators assure me that this is still not a fair sum. We’ve added additional stipends to allow your account and payment to grow as we pull benefits from the Rift.
Even with the mask on, he had to keep his face neutral as he stared at the first line. Val stirred on his shoulder, drawing the eyes of those sitting across from him.
50 million dollars? Is that for real?
He looked at Elana and then back down at the page.
20% of all Mana Stone entry fees collected from those entering the Rift.
5% of the value of all D Rank Mana Stones harvested from the Rift.
5% of the value of all other resources extracted from the Rift.
Alex coughed and skimmed the lines several more times. The amount of wealth being offered immediately and even over time seemed completely unreasonable to him.
“Because the monetary value isn’t as much as we’d like to offer, we’ve added a few additional benefits. You’ll have personal and exclusive access to enter the Rift for at least 24 hours each month, and if those hours aren’t used, they can accrue to a maximum of 72 hours. The Guild will allow you access to any of the trainers you want to learn from or some of the training material we’ve acquired. Lastly, you’ll get the first right of refusal to purchase any items of exceptional value that come from the Rift. You would need to offer a fair market price for the item, but we’d reach out to you first before putting it up on the Auction House tab.”
Alex sat in silence for a few heartbeats, scanning further down the page.
Several more sections related to duration and contract renewal allowed him to renegotiate after five years and ensured the contract would last for a minimum of ten years. The Guild was also willing to offer him liability protection and protect his information if he agreed to sign a nondisclosure agreement on the Rift information.
Makes sense. Guess it wouldn’t do them much good if I turned around and tried to sell this to someone else as well.
“Sorry, this is pretty crazy.” He laughed once again and had to rest his hand on his knee to prevent it from shaking with excitement.
Elana smiled at him, “Is there anything that you’d like to negotiate?”
The Guild lawyer spoke up before Alex could respond: “Please keep in mind that this contract is very generous. We don’t want to close off any additions you might want, but please understand that we could not offer much beyond what is already on the table.” He smiled apologetically, and Elana smiled as well, acknowledging the point.
Alex skimmed the lines again before speaking up, “This is honestly more than I would’ve thought to get. I don’t want to cause any offense, so please don’t take it that way, but there is one thing I’d like to change. I have no desire to return to the rift any time soon, but eventually, I’ll want to bring my friends in there for their benefit. Could I lower some of the monetary incentives to get more slots?”
The three of them exchanged looks, and Alex wondered if they were speaking in some way similar to his mana threads.
“Interesting…” Elana said.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No, not at all. It’s just surprising.”
Alex just raised his hands in question, looking between the three.
Derrick coughed. “Well, it’s just odd that you wouldn’t negotiate for more money. Instead, you’re trying to get spots in the Rift for your companions.”
Alex scratched his head, “What’s wrong with that?” He asked, a bit defensively.
“Nothing,” Elana answered. “It just reveals something about you, at least in the professional, negotiator sense of speaking.”
The tightness in his chest eased as he realized they were just surprised he was looking out for his friends and he hadn’t slipped up or offended anyone.
Well, of course- who wouldn’t do that? They probably need to get in there more than I do.
“Unfortunately, that’s probably the one point in the entire contract that’s most difficult to negotiate.” Elana continued. “You see, those slots have an extreme value right now, and likely even more so in the future as we get more Guild Members who reach the high levels of E Rank and are looking to push into D Rank. Giving more slots means less eventual profit and growth for the Guild. That’s especially true if monthly availability is left open for you to use.”
I guess that makes sense.
“What if,” the lawyer spoke up while flipping through his own copy of the contract. “instead of dropping your own benefits, we just add an addendum that states you can give your monthly slot to someone of your choosing if it’s assigned through the AG App?” He looked at Elana and Derrick.
Alex watched as they both nodded and agreed to the change.
While part of him was sure that there were some different areas where he might be able to gain more from the Guild if he had a lawyer present, he didn’t feel any pressure to push back against the generous offer. Especially with the ability to renter, gain more money over time, and renegotiate if needed in a few years, Alex was happier with the offer than he felt he had any right to be.
It’s not like I had to work for the Rift or anything. Val just chased the mana through the forest. Entering that damn place may have been the biggest mistake of my life, but it also seems to have made the biggest payoff of my life.
The group exchanged a bit more talk, and Elana had another drink as Derrick asked Alex about his time in the Rift. After a bit of time, Valtherion uncoiled from his arm and flew around the room to investigate.
Elana was fascinated by the mana wyrm. When Alex had told her to hold a Mana Stone in her hand and Elana did so, she had laughed like a little kid when Val happily curled up in her lap and began to siphon the stone.
Fuck. I’m rich. Like… filthy rich.
Comments
Dennis Hornsby
I dislike how low the collection profits are. It should be 30 10 and 10
Neil
While I am sure he will share resources, I was surprised he didn’t directly include Sam in the benefits, considering he found the rift first technically. Neither would have successfully escaped/survived without the other probably either.
The Human
"The Guild lawyer spoke up before Alex could respond: “Please keep in mind that this contract is very generous. We don’t want to close off any additions you might want, but please understand that we could not offer much beyond what is already on the table.” He smiled apologetically, and Elana smiled as well, acknowledging the point." That's shady as hell!! I feel like even if he's previously had trouble standing up for himself and maybe still doesn't recognize being kept off balance he should have at least a cultural awerness from stories or TV or whatever about this being him getting handled (who knows if it's to his benefit I doubt it but even if they really are trying to be generous to him, (I doubt it, but you could argue they are since otherwise they could just cut him out altogether by doing a search all along his transit back since they would know he was traveling from her place back home when he found the rift, let alone whatever info Sam being in there gives them, let alone if his car was ever reported.), but he's definitely being manipulated). Side note, I feel like it's less believable to just trust the guod so much when we've already seen the guild doing shady stuff like scraping and manipulating posts on nexus, and the Mc is aware of it. He should have a little more skepticism.
The Human
How can it be open for renegotiation in 5 years but guaranteed to last 10 years? What's the fall back if negotiation fails? Another 5 years of the same? If so, why would they agree to any new deal - they'd only do it if they wanted to butter him up beyond the 10th year, but if they want rhst then they don't need to put renegotiation in 5yrs into the contract they can amend the contract any point if they both agree. All that to say, he should absolutely have his own lawyer there. The second they ambushed him immediately after a fight with a 3 on one, lawyerwd up negotiation he should have delayed and brought his own representation. He has no concept what this stuff is worth, so how can he know what's going on in the meeting?
The Human
I was also coming to post a comment about why would the slots matter and what's the big deal about 24hrs per week of access. I got the impression when you talked about slots earlier it was a guild imposed limit of 100 not a system imposed limit of how many people are allowed in.
SoJoe
Wouldn't the value of the rift be exponentially more if they knew sentient beings were in the rift that crafted things and could teach people who entered? Should he use this to see additional information from the guild like preference on skill books or something?
Thomas V.
Actually, the more I think about the implications, the worse it gets: - If the goal of the Guild is long term farming (let alone long term habitation), that means they cannot allow the Rift to close, which means the Guild would go to great lengths to prevent the Rift Quest from being completed - indubitably at the expense of the Celestial Lotus sect, let alone any other sapient beings in the Rift… - What happens if and when some sociopathic asshole of a billionaire decides that it doesn’t want spiders in its future home? No matter that they’re non-hostile, no matter that this Rift is the size of a fucking continent? I’ll tell you what happens: genocide on the Mana Weavers is what. Fucking hell, I’m assuming the government won’t be perfect either, but the Guild is gonna be responsible for *a lot* of atrocities, isn’t it? And I’m probably forgetting like two thirds of what’s relevant in this chapter…
Thomas V.
I’m not surprised, especially with the fact that Sarah is now working for said government, and Alex signed a NDA *after* telling her all about the Rift… This should be really, really interesting, and a very good learning opportunity for Alex and friends. I feel like he’ll come to regret signing this thing sooner rather than later.
OverXelous
'Money makes the world go round!' Money and politics are huge points of this entire Volume, so don't worry- it'll come back up plenty :) And yes, good catch with Valtherion! That comes up more later as well.
Thomas V.
Bleh, of course the non-government Guild would be sucking up to billionaires. I don’t know why I’m surprised, but the fact that it’s just glossed over is a mite disappointing. Good job, Alex: you’ll be a patsy for the global elite soon, if you don’t get stronger faster than their own goons do lol On a different note, Valtherion became insanely valuable just now: the ability to detect Rifts within X distance is absolutely overpowered, if this chapter is anything to go by. Let’s hope Alex keeps that a secret for now…
OverXelous
Yeah, they're mentioned from the start, but haven't been explained in depth yet. If you feel like you want reasoning behind why there are Rift slots, I can make a note and potentially add it soon. There is System logic behind why there are slots, but also I feel like there's a lot to explain, haha. Trying hard not to info dump everything, so just had slots remain as a consistent factor rather than something explained yet. Mainly because it's not a huge limiting factor in almost anything else, other than this sort of large-scale coordination. It won't be an actual barrier-to-entry in most Rifts.
Rip Woodham
I just must have missed or forgotten something about rift slots before. It's basically another world so once you're on the other side I guess I don't understand the limitation anymore.
OverXelous
Glad to be back! They use the items going forward and will mention what they were. Mana Pearl is also brought up and used in the first or second act of this book!
OverXelous
What's confusing about the Rift Slots? The rest of this is talked about in the first paragraph of the next chapter! This whole talk was going to try and be in one chapter, but it was over 5k words, I had to split it up.
Rip Woodham
I'm a bit confused about the rift slots and that what is actually on the other side of the rift seems to have no relevance; Alex doesn't seem afraid sharing will raise or lower their interest and they don't seem to care. I feel like conditions should matter, they'd normally just expect monsters but even then info on that, the climate conditions, etc. The fact that it's a higher level human world essentially at war seems important.
Ron
Welcome back. Will we ever get to see what the Christmas presents were? What about the mana pearl?
OverXelous
Hahah, love that.
small_brain_boy
HA!
nathbregou27
Why was the guild so unwilling to give the slots? Is there a limit to the number of people able to enter a rift? Glad to see the story back! I'm already imagining Alex pulling over to the next family dinner in a ferrari lol
TerrestrialOverlord
Makes a ton of sense. This is why I'm not an author, never occurred to me in the slightest. The confidence needs an anchor. There's always been an anchor for each part of his growth. You could say I was OverXelous....I'll see myself out
OverXelous
He's getting there! I've seen some people mentioning his confidence, even with his interactions with Olivia. While Willpower affects a lot of things, I don't think outright confidence would be one of them. It would increase the conviction that's there, but this is a new situation for him (as is being confident in a romantic setting). We see him gaining more confidence in combat, partly because of his Willpower, but also because he's actually lived and fought through these situations a few times now and is realizing he's good enough to have that confidence. The more of these sort of situations he gets in, the more I would see his confidence growing. And it would likely grow faster than others because of his Willpower, but I can't imagine him becoming confident without something for that confidence to latch on to.
TerrestrialOverlord
Love it, thought I wish Alex had more confidence in himself. They clearly said that they could not pay him its fair value and just like they said the value would increase as time goes on. Asking for 3 slots is totally not too much to ask for, especially for this level of 1st in world contribution. With the 50 Mil he'll at least be able to build a secure base that naturally has to be around another rift.
