The Nine Lords Of Order - Chapter 18

A few minutes ago.

A young man was leading a 30 people group. He had long heard about the anomalies in the Lightning Valley. Unfortunately most of the powerful warriors from his faction were outside the city completing quests. So he had decided to wait for them before initiating the expedition. After a couple of weeks most of the people had returned so he immediately set out from the city. He had been looking for some lightning attribute users but he couldn’t find any. Most of them had already been scouted by other groups. Although his own group wasn’t among the strongest, with nine rank 4 and several tens of rank 3 combatants his group had enough strength to be influential.

Just as the young man was about to lead his group into the valley he saw three youths heading towards the valley in the distance. ‘They are going to enter the Lightning Valley just like that? Could it be that they are actually very strong’ But then the young man dismissed that thought, he could tell two of the youths had somewhat pale complexions. He got curious so he told his people to stop moving and decided to watch them for a second. He wanted to know why such weaklings were adventuring in this dangerous place.

Soon the three people group started to walk towards the valley, lightning strikes fell, each targeting someone within the group. However a white haired youth just waved his hands and caused all the lightning to be redirected in his direction.

Bang!

The lightning fell on him but the youth only smiled and continued moving forward, followed by his two companions.

“Lightning attribute user! No wonder they are so confident in coming here! Everyone come!” With two quick leaps the young man had already closed the gap between them.

“Friends wait! Why don’t you come with us?” The young man hastily said.

As soon as Mars, Ena and Louis heard that voice they knew something troublesome was coming. Most people who came here were either peak rank 3 or had already reached rank 4. Mars and Louis were rank 2 beings while Ena was still at rank one. Although both Mars and Louis could fight against weak rank 3 beings, they were far from being able to fight rank 4 beings.

“Not interested!” Mars responded without hesitation. He immediately grabbed Ena’s and Louis wrist with both hands and turned into a streak of lightning flying into the valley however before he could get too far, more people appeared before them closing all escapes routes.

“Fudge! We have not entered this place yet and there is trouble already!” Mars couldn’t help but curse at his luck. Without much choice Mars decided to stop. He was the fastest among the three of them so he had decided to make one last attempt to escape, unfortunately his speed was reduced by half when he tried to carry more people along with him. He didn’t doubt that even if it was just himself it would be very difficult to escape.

Soon the young man appeared before them with a friendly smile. “Friends just listen to me for a bit. My name is Eanred, I’m leader from the Battlecrest faction. I can clearly tell your strength is not that high. Why don’t we make a deal which can benefit the both of us?”

The youth was no fool either. He could use force to make these people come along with them… but if he were to do that, it would be very dangerous if the lightning attribute youth plotted against them.

Before coming here, they had bought many items which were good to resist lightning. However they each possessed a huge energy consumption. So while they travelled within the valley, their energy would continuously be depleted. If they couldn’t find caves to rest once they ran out of energy, they would be doomed. Not to mention they might find dangerous demon beasts. This was the main reason so many people died in this place.

However if they had a Lightning user That person could then redirect most of the lightning away from them! This meant they wouldn’t have to worry about running out of energy, therefore they wouldn’t be forced to seek shelters and could also be at full strength when fighting demon beasts. Less time to rest also meant more time to search.

Problem was Not many people had the lightning attribute.

They thought they were in for a hard time. But just as they were about to enter the valley they had the luck to find someone who could wield lightning. Recruiting this white haired youth to their faction wouldn’t be a bad idea either. All lightning users were geniuses without exception.

Boom! More lightning fell from the sky. The people from Battlecrest pulled out some weird umbrellas. As lightning fell on them, the umbrellas just shined with a blue hue but the people holding the umbrellas were unharmed. Mars on the other hand just pointed his finger up in the air and absorbed more lightning.

After finishing absorbing the lightning, Mars took a look at the young man and responded, “Not interested!”

He had his own plans, if he wanted to join a group he would have done that already.

“Friend why don’t we talk about this a little more? In the valley, lightning is not the only threat. If you find a powerful demon beast wouldn’t that be troublesome? We can give you protection from the demon beasts and you can give us protection from the lightning. Furthermore, you will receive 20% of all our profits. How about it? Not a bad deal right?” The young man kept insisting.

Mars was about to refuse again when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Louis who approached him, “Mars, accepting is not a bad idea either. If you have plans that require you be alone, you can return afterwards. However you should try to get more benefits from them.”

‘As expected of Louis, he is very useful.’ Thinking for a bit, Mars agreed to the suggestion.

“Alright I agree, but I want 50% of all profits.” Mars arrogantly declared.

The young man was already smiling when he heard he had agreed but when he heard his condition he was startled, “50%? That’s too much. We are 30 and you guys are 3. 20% is already a lot.”

“3 is the half of 30. So it’s fair!” Mars retorted.

“3 is the half of 30? That doesn’t sound right” Eanred did not think this guy would be so shameless to declare something like that with a straight face.

“30 consist of two numbers, 3 and 0. How is 3 not the half of 30?” Although Mars did not blush when he said that, Ena did.

“Leader, this guy is a troublemaker. Why don’t w” A yellow clothed middle aged man was already annoyed and decided to step in. However before he could finish speaking Eanred gave him a fierce glare. The yellow clothed understood and stepped back begrudgingly.

The young man then turned to look at Mars, “I can give you 25% and resources that are worth a total amount of ten thousand merit points.”

“45% and resources worth thirty thousand merit points.”

“30% and resources worth fifteen thousand merit points.”

“44% and resources worth thirty-five thousand merit points.”

The negotiation went on for a few minutes. Eanred’s smiling expression had already darkened and he was sweating bullets.

“Alright! 35% and resources worth thirty thousand merit points. Final offer!”

Mars thought for awhile before nodding his head. He knew he was asking too much in the beginning. He was just trying to get the best deal. Then he looked at Eanred “Don’t worry brother Eanred, now that I’m in your group the benefits will be far greater than you can imagine! I’ll help you with the best of my abilities.” Mars had a serious expression as he said that. Since he had agreed, he was not going to do a half assed job. Mars was naturally very handsome, so every time he had a serious expression he looked incredibly dignified and dashing.

Eanred saw how this person had transformed from a stubborn youth who was not willing to join any group into a shameless businessman and now he looked like honorable and dignified gentleman who would die before going back on his word. With his eyes twitching a bit he took a deep breath. “Friend, since we are working together shouldn’t we know how to address you?”

“Ah! Yes, my bad! My name is Mars” Then he pulled Ena over “This is my girlfriend, Ena. That guy over there is Louis” When Ena heard Mars she couldn’t but smile and blush a bit. She shily hugged Mars’ arm.

“Alright, got it. Mars, as a lightning user you will stay in the middle of the group along with your friends. That way we can protect you in case anything happens and you can protect the whole group from lightning strikes with greater ease.”

“Mars, I hope we can be friends in the future. Considering you came here alone I assume you don’t belong to any faction. After this expedition is over you and your friends are welcome to join our Battlecrest faction. Although we are not the strongest, we are still influential within the city. Having a strong backing in the city will get you many benefits. It is also a form of protection so think about! Even if you don’t join us, you should consider joining one.” Eanred looked very honest as he made the suggestion. Then he pulled a spacial bag and gave it to Mars. “In this bag are resources which are worth thirty thousand merit points. You can keep them or exchange for merit points in one of the exchange centers within the city”.

Mars who had been displeased with the whole situation since the start couldn’t help but think this guy wasn’t so bad. He was quite nice actually. Although he did not know how things might have developed if he refused Eanred did not seem like a bad person.

“Alright, let’s go!”

After many delays, Mars was finally heading to the Lightning Valley. Although things were not going as he expected. It wasn’t so bad either.

Three chapters today!

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