2. Spoils of War

After 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.