Nightmare Realm Summoner

"You're kidding," Claire said, a grin pulling across her lips as Alex told her what he was thinking.

"Dead serious," Alex replied. "Can you think of any reason why it wouldn't work? The Outworlders know I'm an Evoker, but they don't know my abilities. They definitely don't know about the one that lets me take on the powers of my team after they die. That ability was a special one. It's not part of the normal loadout options… if that kind of thing even exists."

"I wouldn't know," Claire admitted. "That's beyond my knowledge. We'd have to ask Orchid. But I actually think that might work. It would be dangerous, though. You'd basically be magnifying the difficulty of everything we do. We'd also need a reason to break away from Bridget's group if we wanted to be able to make any real progress."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me you wouldn't be able to think of something? You?"

"Now you're just flattering me," Claire said with a small laugh. She paused for half a beat. "Yeah. I could totally think of something."

Alex grinned. "Perfect. Then that's what we'll do."

He didn't want to go patting himself on the back, but it really was quite an amusing plan. The Outworlders didn't know him. They knew his reputation. Maybe a few of them had seen his face, but none of them had any great amount of detail as to his abilities.

They would all be looking for an Evoker. So, if Alex killed every single one of his monsters before a fight started and showed up using only Armament Elegy and his other abilities… well, they'd have absolutely no reason to connect the dots.

He'd just have to wait until they could slip away from Bridget's group for the night and bring some manner of disguise along with him to prevent any of the few Outworlders that did know what he looked like from identifying him.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised this is the conclusion you've set yourself on," Claire said, shaking her head in amusement. "Leave it to you to somehow make an Ancestry even harder than it already is."

"Hey. I've held myself back from doing anything too stupid recently. I think I've got a few idiot points stashed up that I can spend. Besides, these dungeons are massive, right?"

"They should be." Claire nodded.

"Then once we've really broken away from the Outworlders, we only need to pause for a little while so my monsters can regenerate and then we can do stuff just as normal. It's not completely suicidal. I only need to pretend to be some sort of spellsword while they're watching."

"True. Well, there's no way we can just let the Outworlders harvest the Ancestry without tossing our own boot in the ring."

"Hat," Alex said.

Claire's brow furrowed. "What?"

"Sorry." Alex shook his head. "Just a bad System translation again. I'm starting to wonder how magic powerful enough to knit multiverses together can't get a goddamn language translation correct. I mean, sure, sayings have a lot of implied meaning, but why wouldn't the System translate the meaning rather than the literal words?"

Claire scratched the back of her neck. "Good question. I have no idea. If you ever figure out a way to directly ask it, let me know."

"I'll add that to the ever-growing list of other questions I have for it," Alex said. He shrugged and turned to look at the door. "Should we head out? Surely Finely and Bridget have finished up by now."

Claire caught him by the shoulder. "Whoa there. Hold on."

Alex moved to look back at her in confusion. "What is it?"

"We're in a bluff right now — or have you forgotten? Don't you know what the most important part of that is?"

Alex stared at her for a moment. Then he cleared his throat sheepishly. "No?"

Claire hooked a finger into his tie, loosening it around his neck, then undid the top button of his shirt with a deft flick of a finger. Then she grinned, moving forward until their faces were no more than an inch away from each other.

"Making sure it's believable," Claire said.

***

There was still a dazed look in Alex's eyes when he and Claire stepped out of the guest house, just in time to catch Alyssa heading down the path in their direction. The Dhampir had managed to read the other woman's timing perfectly.

Alyssa slowed to a stop several feet away from them. Her eyes flicked from Claire to Alex, taking in his disheveled appearance and the red spot on his neck in an instant. She hurriedly coughed into her fist.

"They're done," Alyssa said stiffly, doing everything in her power to avoid making eye contact with them. "I don't know how I got turned into an errand girl passing messages. We're equal partners at worst."

"Even kings have to relay information," Claire said. She gave her tattered shirt a small tug to adjust it. "There's nothing wrong with it. Besides, you're going to earn even more out of this than Bridget is. After all, you're not the one that has to pay."

A grin flitted across Alyssa's lips. "That's a good point. You remind me a bit of the River King. To be honest, I really don't have that much interest in being a merchant."

"Then…" Alex gestured vaguely around them. "Why are you here?"

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Alyssa laughed. "Because I didn't really love the appeal of setting out on my own. I'm not a loner kind of woman. Short trips — sure. But living isolated, fighting for my life every day until something gets the best of me? That isn't my style. I took the River King up on his offer to work together because I like traveling. It gives me a chance to see the world… even if it's completely different from what it once was. There's a lot I'll do for some good inspiration."

"Fair enough," Alex said. "So this is really the River King's operation? Is he an Outworlder?"

"No. I'm pretty sure he's from Earth. He's kind of like the uncle your family has that thinks he's a lot cooler than he actually is… but he's a terrifyingly competent merchant. He's also unbelievably rich. I don't know how he got so many Credits. I probably don't want to — but money is power when it comes to him. If you're thinking about trying to go for his Nexus Core Shard, I'd reconsider."

"We'll keep that in mind," Alex said. "As tempting as those things are, I'm in no rush to get them all. The System isn't going to turn me into some idiotic mindless killer that does its bidding. I'll fight the people I want to fight. Not the ones it tells me to."

"I haven't thought about it that way before." A frown creased Alyssa's face. "Hm. That's something to consider. But maybe at a later time. Bridget and your merchant are done. I don't think we should just keep them waiting."

"Lead the way," Claire said with a nod. "There isn't much I dislike more than wasting time."

"So I can tell," Alyssa said, sending one final glance at Alex before turning to set back off along the path with them on her heels.

Bridget and Finley were both at the table in the center of the merchant's room when the three of them returned. They sat in relaxed positions at either end of the table, their arms resting on the wood and fingers interlaced in two perfect pictures of propriety and calm.

And all around them were the scattered remains of every single other chair that had borne the misfortune to be in the vicinity of the room. They'd been smashed to pieces. Fragments of wood littered the ground and deep scuff marks traveled along the floor to rise up the walls. There were even a few scorch marks on the stone.

What the hell happened in here? A minor war?

"Ah. You've returned," Bridget said, her tone even. "Your merchant and I have concluded our discussion."

"We came to an amiable agreement," Finley said in the exact same tone of voice. "It only took a little extra time than expected. I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long."

"No, you were just about on time," Claire said. "Care to update us on the terms of the deal?"

Bridget's lips thinned. "Let it suffice to say that we will be providing you the agreed upon services and I will be working with Finley to provide the resources you request. I will not inquire or attempt to determine the location of your town, nor will I share information that we are working together with any other party in any manner."

The woman's tone made it strikingly clear that she hadn't come out as far ahead as she'd have liked to in the negotiations. Apparently Finley was a hell of a lot better at negotiations than he'd let on.

Alex fought to keep a grin from his lips.

"You've got what we need, then?"

Bridget nodded. "He described the immediate requirements. I won't be letting him get commission from any of my more unique items, but you can count on me for the basics. But I have no desire to dally. I have things to do — and I believe there was a certain battery you needed to purchase for a building."

Finley gave them a slight nod.

"There is," Claire confirmed. "You have it?"

"I have access to it," Bridget said. "It's only a matter of Credits, really. How much do you have to work with? These batteries aren't too rare, but they're not the cheapest items. You'll need a significant amount of wealth to afford one."

"How much?" Alex asked.

"I'd say we can start at 50—"

"Which we can promptly drop to 30 to begin discussions," Finley cut in. "Since the standard going rate for an item like that should be much closer to 40, along with potential commission payments and accounting for the added convenience of dealing with you… I'd say 30 is just about right."

"35," Bridget countered. "I'm the only merchant here right now. That's more than just convenience — and your town was established recently. I couldn't find any information about its location when I looked into it… which means it's Enshrined. You're trying to keep people from finding it. That means this battery is worth more than normal, isn't it?"

"30," Finley countered before either Alex or Claire could respond. "You're getting sales from an entire town of people needing access to basic supplies. The key word here is basic. Not supplies. Every merchant has them, and you just happen to be the one sitting in front of us. The last thing you want us doing is going looking for more partners."

The two of them glared at each other.

Then Bridget inclined her head.

"32 and not a Credit lower. Good luck finding another merchant willing to work with you anytime soon. Time is still of the essence."

Finley considered her offer for a moment. Then he sent Alex and Claire a small nod. They hadn't even had a chance to try to bargain the price down. The two merchants had done it for them.

Well then. That's… something. I don't exactly have any Credits at the moment, though.

"32 Credits, then," Claire said. "We can do that. But perhaps we should turn to the other matter at hand. I believe Bridget was interested in buying a certain Riftwarped Core."

"You mean you're not going to sell it to your pet merchant?" Bridget asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"No need. This isn't the only one we have. It's just the one we're offering you," Alex said.

"If, that is, you can afford it," Finley added.

Bridget's lips thinned. "Who do you think you're talking to? I'm part of the Gentle Shadow Family. We can afford one little monster core, even if it's a Riftwarped one. How does 100 Credits sound?"

Alex had to keep his eyes from bulging out of his head. He'd seen just how far a Credit could go. The merchant from the Great Tide family had paid them 90 Credits for a weaker Core, but that had been because Orchid had bargained him up. Now they were starting at 100 Credits.

"That sounds like a good start," Finley said, a smile crawling across his lips. He leaned forward. "But do you really think you can get away with lowballing me? There's nobody that scrounges better than a Starlight Merchant — and you've got another thing coming if you can pinch one extra credit from anything but my cold, dead hands."

"Get off it. You can't afford—"

"125 credits," Finley said flatly. "That's where I start, and that's what I'll pay for the core without blinking an eye. You better beat that if you want to even sniff the damn thing."

"You can't afford that," Bridget said with a scoff. "You're in—"

"Debt," Finley finished with a crooked grin. "Yes. But debt does not mean a lack of liquid funds. It means a lack of sufficient funds. I have more than enough to invest in items that will sell for profit… such as this one. So — as I was saying — 125."

And, as annoyance played across Bridget's features, a realization struck Alex. The way he felt about a good challenge — that was exactly the way that Finley felt about a deal. Bridget had a lot to lose, but Finley had already bet everything he and his family owned.

Their survival was on the line. The Starlight family put themselves into enormous debt, one that required an enormous number of Credits to dig themselves free, all for one reason: to send a single unlucky merchant to 274-50.

Finley wasn't here by chance.

He'd been chosen.

And now, Alex was starting to see why.