Healer Book 4 -- Chapter 12

Chapter 12

“Is this for real?” he asked as Corinna walked in behind him.  His mind was finally starting to catch up with what he was looking at, even if it felt like he had been transported back to Earth.

The Fighter barked out a laugh.  “That’s what everyone says when they walk in, but I guess I’m just used to it.  To answer your question, though, it’s as real as anything is in the world, I suppose,” she said cryptically in response. 

Thaden’s eyes roamed around what appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, what he would imagine a Fortune 500 head office layout would look like if it was created in this world.  Modern-looking chairs and couches were arranged around the perimeter near the entrance, with metal and wood coffee tables positioned here and there with what appeared to be some sort of primitive magazines arranged in a flared pattern.  Against the righthand wall was a station that appeared to have a drink station where a water cooler and what appeared to be tea could be self-served in delicate carved wooden cups stacked up in a short tower, and a tray of sweet baked pastries were arranged in neat rows next to the drinks. 

Looking past the furniture, the walls were painted a light beige color, which brightened up the space courtesy of the sculpture-like chandeliers that hung from the ceiling, which was higher than he expected it to be; it seemed as though they had taken out the second floor in order to make the first floor’s single room that much bigger-looking because of the high ceilings.  The magical lights on the chandeliers were just bright enough to illuminate the space without it being blinding, as if it had been carefully adjusted to the right hue and brightness to mimic a fully lit office building. 

Abstract paintings on canvas decorated the otherwise relatively boring walls, each of them looking like they had been painted by the same person using geometric shapes and a limited palette of colors.  Thaden never really understood how to tell if art was “good” or not, and despite his current high Mentality stat, it still didn’t add to his comprehension; for all he knew, a prominent artist on Tarth could’ve created them… or a small child who really liked to draw perfect circles and triangles.

 Directly across from the entrance, and dominating the room, was a massive reception desk made of dark, polished wood that stood as tall as his lower torso.  Arranged in connected steel letters that sparkled slightly in the light, as if they were covered in glitter, the words “Guilded Glory” were installed across the front of the reception desk, which he estimated to be a total of at least 30 feet in width.

Behind the desk were four Contenders sitting in high-backed leather rolling chairs, just like would expect to see in an office, and the two men and two women ranged from Level 145 to Level 155.  Three of them were busy doing something in front of them on the desk, which he couldn’t see from where he was positioned near the door, but the last one looked up when they arrived and flashed Corinne a smile when she was spotted.

Evan {Guilded Glory}

Human

Level 152

“Lieutenant!  Welcome back!” Evan, standing up almost immediately afterwards and bowing slightly before sitting back down.  Before he did, Thaden got a look at the man in what was in a button-down shirt and necktie, his broad shoulders hinting that he was also some sort of Fighter, but it was difficult to tell in the office-worker outfit he was wearing.

Hmm.  Lieutenant?  As in a lieutenant in the Guild?  Is that someone important?

“You know that isn’t necessary, Evan,” Corinna said in annoyance as she strode forward.  “How long have you been on desk duty?  Weren’t you supposed to be up north?”

“Just through today, Lieu—Corrinna.  And yeah, I was up north, but a lot happened since the new Rankings were released.  A lot of us were pulled off what we were doing and—” the man began, before he snapped his jaws shut as he seemed to see Thaden for the first time.

Glancing back at him, Corinna waved him forward.  “You can tell me about it later, Ev, but for now I have a prospective client,” she said, before leaning on the desk leisurely once she reached it.  “Is Rachel in?” she then asked.  When he seemed to hesitate, the Lieutenant hooked a thumb at Thaden and added, “He’s got a business proposal for her.”  When he still hesitated to answer, he heard her say softly, “Look at his Level, Ev; you know who this is, don’t you?  This is on me, so don’t sweat it.”

The Solitary Shaman wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean, but it apparently got the response she wanted.  He finally nodded as he pointed above his head.  “Just came back in this morning.  I have to warn you, though, she’s in a… difficult mood today.  I’d be careful, if I were you.”

As Thaden approached the desk, he could see for the first time what the other people at the reception desk were doing – or at least he could guess.  Familiar access points for the Contender Market appeared to have somehow been installed in the desk itself, and each of them had their fingers flying over the invisible—to him, at least—menus from the Market.  He hadn’t known it was possible to get access like this outside of the Coalition buildings, but he supposed that if they could put them in the high-Ranked rooms there, why not somewhere else in the city?

“Great!  Thanks, Evan.”  She glanced at Thaden briefly with meaning in her gaze, and he instinctively pulled out a small pouch of Gold coins, which he tossed to the man behind the counter as he nodded his own thanks.  The man smiled even as the tip he’d been generously paid disappeared into his Inventory.

Seemingly satisfied with what Thaden had done, Corinna beckoned him to follow her as she walked around the right side of the desk, which led to a cleverly hidden set of wood and metal-framed stairs leading upwards.  It didn’t take long to reach the top of the staircase, where they were met with a door that was positioned on their left, which would lead to the main area of the second floor – or so he assumed.  The Lieutenant quickly knocked on the door a few times, her hand positioned on the doorknob to open it immediately upon being given permission.

“Come!” yelled a voice, which he immediately recognized as the Guildmaster’s from when he’d met her outside the Devil’s Nail dungeon.  Unfortunately, as Evan had warned, she didn’t sound happy.

Pushing the door open, Corinna walked inside with Thaden just behind her, and she got out of his way while she closed it after him.  Again, the Solitary Shaman was taken aback when he looked around the room, which turned out to be the Guildmaster’s office; it wasn’t just a small portion of the floor, either, but the entire thing.  That might seem a bit ostentatious, needing an entire floor for an office, but it was also apparently a meeting room because he saw no less than 4 conference tables pushed against the walls along with dozens of high-backed, leather, rolling office chairs stacked on top of each other somehow.    

Unlike down below in the reception/waiting area, the walls in the Guildmaster’s office kept the natural wood of the building’s construction, but it was polished and stained a darker brown than normal, giving the room a darker, cozy feeling that accompanied the dimmer chandeliers.  Bookshelves filled with reference books and what appeared to be bound bundles of notes and paperwork were arranged on either side of the main desk toward the end of the room.  He also saw two decorative plants in the corners across from him, giving off a comfortable, laid-back vibe that was in complete contrast to the desk and the person behind it.

Paperwork was scattered around the top of the large wooden desk, and desktop file dividers were practically stuffed with even more, and more was seemingly about to be added to it at any moment.  A harried-looking assistant was doing his best to try and organize it in a separate section of the large desk, but was barely holding himself together at the overwhelming amount of work.  The reason he was overwhelmed?  That was all due to Rachel, of course.

The woman he remembered from outside The Devil’s Nail had bags under her eyes and her hair was a bit disheveled, but for all of that, she had an intensity to her actions that was hard to reconcile with her appearance.  The pen she was using practically flew over the page she was currently working on, the speed she was demonstrating indicating that both her Celerity and Mentality were quite high to be able to not only write quickly but understand what she was writing.  Within seconds, whatever she was working on was done, and she flung the paper aside toward the harried assistant, who barely caught it before it fluttered to the floor.

Rachel {Guilded Glory}

Human

Level 162

Still writing as she looked up from her work, Rachel grunted when she saw Corinna.  “Took your time getting back here, didn’t you?” she snapped out.

“Good to see you too, boss.  So, tell me, what monster crawled up your ass and died?  Or should I be asking how many?”

The scratching of the Guildmaster’s pen abruptly stopped as she froze and stared at the Lieutenant, before she dropped the writing implement and threw her head back with a roar of laughter.  The assistant, whose name was Michael, looked frightened by the exchange and sudden outburst, and he quickly scurried away toward the exit, slipping past Thaden as he stood there with a bemused expression on his face. 

Slamming her hands down on her desk, he heard it creak a little as Rachel stood up, stretching her back out even as she continued to laugh.  “Oh, I needed that, Cor.  Thanks.”  Rachel sighed, shaking her head as she stared down at the mess on her desk.  “Come, sit with me while I take my mind off of this crap for a few minutes, at least.  She waved toward a small seating area off to the side, with what appeared to be extremely comfortable chairs that put the posh living area of his Diamond-Ranked room in the Coalition to shame.  What was strange was that she didn’t seem to notice that Thaden was even there as she didn’t acknowledge his presence.

“Oh, she saw you.  But this is a typical negotiating tactic to stress the fact that she is in charge and you are coming to her for help.  It puts her firmly in the driver’s seat as you’re caught off-guard by her seeming dismissive of your presence, as if you’re beneath her notice.  I don’t know her background, as the System doesn’t record those types of things for general accessibility, but my guess is that she was some hotshot CEO back on Earth.

“And to answer the next question you’re probably going to ask, no, I can’t read your mind, but your body language was practically screaming for answers.”

Thaden smiled at the quip Sadia sent him, as he watched Rachel lead Corinna toward the seating area.  He followed behind the Lieutenant, now understanding what was going on – and not caring all that much.  It was, in fact, the kind of relationship he was hoping to establish with the Guildmaster at the end of the day, after all. 

As Rachel handed some sort of mystery drink to Corinna while taking her own, she sat down with a thankful sigh in one of the chairs while the Lieutenant did the same across from her.  Thaden silently took another one of the seats and sank back into the furniture with his own relief, finding it to be extremely comfortable – more than just about anything else he’d encountered in this world. 

Even while he was getting settled, he couldn’t help but notice the deliberately dismissive look that Rachel gave him before turning toward Corinna.  He refrained from reacting, as now that he knew what she was doing, it was almost funny the act that she was putting on.  He supposed that someone else might react with anger at being dismissed out of hand, or cowed by the intense and powerful vibe that the Guildmaster was giving off.  It wasn’t powerful due to a physical prowess or anything like that; instead there was a weight to her presence that hinted at the incredible competency and business acumen that practically emanated from her like a visible aura.

Thaden just gave back his own appearance of indifference, as her games didn’t affect him. 

“To answer your question, the Market has practically imploded after the new Rankings came out, as people scrambled to try and match up to those higher than them in their categories.  High-Level equipment that had been languishing on the Market for weeks because of their outrageous price tags were snatched up by the desperate, leading to supply crashes as everyone else tried to keep up by buying everything they could get their hands on.  Previous suppliers have reneged on their deals with us as they’ve been posting their junk themselves, cutting us out, while they attempt to capitalize on the price fluctuations.  Therefore, we’ve all been scrambling to figure out a solution that won’t crash the entire Market, while also punishing those that left us high-and-dry.  All of which you would’ve known if you had returned yesterday like you were supposed to, Cor.”

Taking a sip of her drink before putting it down on a side table, the Lieutenant shrugged.  “Couldn’t be helped.  We had a lead that I couldn’t pass up, so I had to deal with it.  Turns out that it should be a lucrative project in the future – after some serious investment, of course.”

“How much we talking?” Rachel asked, taking a sip of her own drink, though Thaden was fairly certain she hadn’t actually drank anything.  This whole charade was, apparently, just for show.

“Oh, somewhere in the realm of two… possibly two-point-five if we run into any speedbumps along the way.”

For the first time, the Guildmaster seemed affected by what Corinna said as she winced slightly and her eye twitched a single time.  “Hmm.  Well, set the proposal on my desk and I’ll see what I can do to make it happen.”

“Either she’s a fabulous actor in addition to being a business savant, or that was a major indicator that something is wrong.  My guess, based on her comments about the Contender Market, is that they’ve shifted most of their liquidity toward the Market to stabilize and dominate it while it’s so volatile, so they’re strapped for cash.

“Again, your body language is betraying your curiosity.  You want to know how I know all of this, don’t you?  Simple; I know everything that you do, plus most of the knowledge that the Assimilation System acquired of Earth prior to interacting with the Contenders.  Of course, I don’t know everything, but I can extrapolate the likely outcomes of certain situations based on the knowledge that I—oh.  You don’t need to know all that, do you?”

He was starting to zone out a little at her explanation, and apparently Sadia could tell that; he was more focused on what the Guildmaster and the Lieutenant were talking about, which was more important to him at the moment rather than the intricate details on how she was extrapolate the likelihood of certain scenarios.  He could always ask her later if he was curious.

“I definitely get it to you as soon as I’m finished knocking out the details,” Corinna said, before she seemed to remember why she was there in the first place.  Gesturing toward Thaden, she said, “Oh, yes, this fine gentleman said that also has a business proposal for you, though I’m afraid that I’m unaware of exactly what it is.  Why don’t you introduce yourself,” she added, looking at him with an encouraging smile, as if he was nervous to speak.

If Sadia hadn’t been there, he might’ve been angry or hesitant to speak, but with her periodic commentary of the situation, he felt much more comfortable in his position.  Leaning forward was a struggle because his body wanted to continue sinking into the squishy chair, but eventually he was looking at the Guildmaster eye-to-eye – or as eye-to-eye as could be, as he still had his glowing Divine Mask of Healthful Protection covering his face.  Instead of taking it off completely, he lifted it up so that it was still on his head, only perpendicular with the floor, exposing his face while still maintaining its connection as a piece of equipment.

“It’s good to see you, Rachel.  It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” he asked with an easy smile.  “I hope you haven’t forgotten me after all this time.”

Somehow, he could tell that she was about to respond with some sort of vague recollection of him to further throw him off-balance, but instead she just sighed.  “You seem… different.  More sure of yourself now.  I didn’t throw you off at all, did I?”

“At first, I was confused, but with some help I was able to figure it out,” he replied.  He might be a bit more open with who he was and what he could do, but he planned on keeping Sadia a secret a little longer; it might be selfish, but he didn’t want to share her existence with anyone quite yet.

“Help?  What do you—?” she began to ask, but Thaden held up his hand to cut her off.

“I came here with a business proposal for you, or more specifically, your Guild.  If it works out, it could be very lucrative.”

She was silent for a moment, visibly taken aback at being interrupted.  “What did you have in mind?” she asked cautiously.  Before he could answer, she added, “I have to warn you, Guilded Glory is not looking for any outside projects to invest in at this time, at least until the Market stabilizes.  At that point, we can certainly consider any projects you might need help with.”

Thaden was already shaking his head halfway through her warning.  “This isn’t an investment opportunity and I’m not seeking any type of loan or payment from you; on the contrary, I simply want to make your Guild, and subsequently you, money.”

Rather than be dismissive of the claim, she leaned forward a little in her own seat, clearly interested but still being cautious.  “And how do you propose to do that?”

Here goes nothing.  I sure hope you’re right about this, Sadia.

“Simple.  I would like to establish and, at least temporarily, lead a subordinate Guild branch under the authority of Guilded Glory.”

As a strained silence met his proclamation, he wondered if he’d just made a huge mistake.