Chapter 426: Getting the Mercenaries an Upgrade

Joshua spent a little time explaining to Vince what he needed their help with. The entire time his four companions were listening into the conversation, but for the most part they seemed fine with letting Vince decided whether it was worth it or not for them to join in on the mission that Joshua was trying to give them. This fact alone let Joshua know that Vince was use to negotiating for his group which meant Joshua wasn't likely to pull one over on the mercenary even if he didn't plan to do that in the first place.

By the time Joshua finished giving Vince the run down on what he was therefore Vince had lost a bit of the seriousness in his look before smiling once again. It was clear to Joshua that the man was interested in joining in on the expedition. "Well it seems like a hell of a task that you have laid out for us, but I can see why you'd want my help in particular. My illusion would go a long way in helping us avoid dealing with large groups of powerful beast at once."

"That's what we we're hoping for." Joshua said as he laid back in his chair a bit after the long explanation he had gone through. "Plus your group is strong enough to be involved in such an expedition. Anyone that hasn't reached level seventy would be completely useless against the types of beast that we will be going up against in this expedition, so we didn't want to bring along the weaker members of the alliance if we could help it. Your abilities help us deal with that problem, plus having some more strong companions along with us for the ride could only end up being a good thing."

"Well I've got a good idea of what we're in for now, but the most important part comes next." Vince said as he cracked his neck and moved forward to look up towards Joshua's eyes. "What's the reward? From the details I've heard so far this might as well be a ranked S mission from the simple fact that we're going into the highest level territory that anyone has been in up to this point. Plus if we find any dungeons while going through the area I'm certain that will only make it even more of a challenge. We'll need a little bit of incentive for such a challenge."

Joshua nodded at that before looking at the paper that Vince had sat down on the table between them. It was a file that would explain the mission that Joshua had in mind along with the rank of the mission and the reward given at the end. If it wasn't a mission that was being specifically given to Vince and the rest of his group then that paper would be set up on the mission board for all to read. The information would also be put on the site set-up by the Mercenary Guild for distributing missions online.

"Well you already know that you will get a fairly good amount of system points, gear, and possibly skills just from going on such an expedition in the first place." Joshua said as he crossed his arms and started thinking about what would be a decent reward to gain Vincent's interest. Vince only nodded at Joshua statement while urging him to continue. "There are a couple other rewards I had in mind that should get you interested. One that you will get before we even go on the expedition and the second one shall be gained at the end of it."

"Go on then. I'd like to know what kind of offer that the Alliance will give me that no other guild or group can match. I only work for the best after all and even though that territory war against you guys was a lost cause the rewards were well worth it." Vince said with a smirk as Joshua gave him a look that told him to go on. "That asshole offered us quite a bit of system points along with some top dollar items that are hard to come by for something as simple as a territory war with no real danger involved. At worse we might have gained some bad relationships, but that would have been worth it. What you're asking for is a hell of a lot bigger deal."

Once they had started talking about the actual contract that was being offered the rest of Vince's group had stopped talking amongst themselves and were paying attention to the deal that was forming between their leader and Joshua. Cinderella seemed to be the most interested in the conversation amongst the group of women, but they were all listening in now.

"That's why I'm giving you an offer that will be worth the risk. The first part of the offer we can already get done today if you are all willing to spend the afternoon with me getting it set up." Joshua said feeling a bit more comfortable after seeing what kind of offer that Vince's group had gotten in the past. Although it was a decent offer it was something that anyone could give them and they still took it. "I was planning on bringing all of you over to the Alliance's leading work shop to get specialty gear made for you all before we go on the expedition."

"You must be talking about that shop opened up by Vivi's Guild. The one run by those twins right?" Vince asked with a thoughtful look. "I've been there before and gotten some fairly decent gear, but nothing that's all that much better than anywhere else."

"Of course. You're not a part of the guild after all." Joshua said with a shrug. "We don't exactly give out the best gear to people outside of the alliance. What I'm talking about is bringing you guys to have Naomi herself make you all some new weapons and armor made from the best materials that we've come across in all of the dungeons that we've cleared. Then after that Nathan can enchant them with runes that will fit each of your styles of combat. That's something you can't get anywhere else in this hub city. Especially at such high quality."

By the way that Vince's eyes seemed to light up at the suggestion Joshua knew that he already had more than just his interest. "What about the latter half?" Vince said while keeping as much of a straight face as he could. "There must be a reason why you want to wait till after the expedition is over for that part of the reward."

"You catch on quick. Well the second part of the reward might vary depending on what we end up getting out of the expedition in the end so it wouldn't be as good if you got it beforehand. I planned on allowing you guys pick out from the blue prints that we have in the alliance to see if you want us to make any of the items that can be created from the blue prints for your group. Seeing as we might gain more blue prints on this expedition we figured we'd offer such a reward for after we finish the expedition."

Vince took a moment to think it over as he gave looks to the other members of his group. From the eye contact Joshua was fairly certain that they were communicating through party chat and discussing if they were ok with the deal. After a while Vince turned his attention back towards Joshua and grinned. "I think we have a deal. Besides I don't think we can pass up such a good chance to gain some levels. If we're lucky we might even get to the point where we can match the strongest mercenary group in the guild by the time we're done."

"Sounds good to me." Joshua said with a smile. "Are you guys all free to head over to the blacksmith shop I was talking about earlier? It would be best to get your gear all set up now so that it'll be ready by the time we start up the expedition."

"Alright, but we have to get the mission set up fully through the Mercenary Guild first." Vince said as he got up from the couch with everyone else in the room soon following his example. Vince lead Joshua back down to the receptionist counter on the first floor and they both explained the terms of the mission to the receptionist who put it under file for the guild and for the system. After a few minutes it was all set up and Joshua was free to lead the group to Nathan and Naomi's shop.

When they reached the shop it was as busy as usual, but Joshua just ignored it all and walked to the back of the place and lead the five mercenaries directly towards Nathan and Naomi's private workshop. Since it was early in the day Joshua wasn't surprised to see both of the twins there hard at work on something. Joshua was sure there would be a lot of upgrades going on for the key members of the guild so the twins were going to be extremely busy for the next week. Nathan was the first one to take notice of Joshua and his guest making their way into the workshop.

"Josh it's been a while." Nathan said with a grin as he waved them all over. "You here to upgrade some of your gear for the upcoming expedition?"

"I don't have much that needs to be upgraded for myself at this point, just a few side weapons, but I'm really here to get this group all sorted out." Joshua said as he motioned towards Vince and his group. "They'll be joining us on the expedition."

"I've been hearing a lot about the high quality work you and your sister have been doing. It's nice to get some personal gear made from you two." Vince said with a smirk as he turned and gave Naomi a wink which only got his four partners to sigh at his antics.

Naomi stood up as she set aside the greaves that she was working on before making her way over to the group and looking over all five of the new comers. "Hmm, the annoying playboy seems to be a swordsman of sorts, but not quite specialized for it, my fellow shorty here is clearly a hand to hand fighter, the black haired girl is a true swordsman, while the other two seem to be mages of sorts or healers. I think I've got a good idea of what I need to build for your group." She said surprising all of them before heading off to another section of the work shop. "Oh and keep your idiot of a leader in line or else I'll stick one of my spears through one of the holes on his body that doesn't do a lot of talking."

With that short exchange Vince was left wide eyed with a cold chill going down his spine. On the other hand his partners couldn't keep themselves from laughing at his reaction. In Joshua's mind it would at least be an interesting upgrading session.