Chapter 125: Schmoozing

Chapter 125: Schmoozing

Are you sure you want to absorb Balmung into Old Reliable? Y/N

Isaac approved and the projected weapon vanished. He might not have been one hundred percent certain of the exact outcome, but he knew that it couldn’t blow up in his face too badly. He was still playing within the standard constraints of the [System], at least the [Skills] part of the [System], which had originally been intended to be helpful. Therefore, if he’d been about to fry his face off, again, he would definitely have gotten a warning.

Balmung has been absorbed into Old Reliable, taking up one of the two available slots. This slot will become available again if Balmung is unsummoned. While Balmung is absorbed, it can be wielded as if it were a regular form of Old Reliableand the upkeep cost needn’t be paid.

Perfect. Isaac grinned as he took his first few steps into the Dungeon. He’d managed to get himself the run of many of the city’s dungeons since he’d be leaving soon enough but still wanted to grab some XP, and well, his current status as somewhat of a folk hero made that an easy ask.

The first monster that lunged at him was an animated suit of armor that fell apart in two halves as Balmung passed through it, Isaac not even needing to apply [Piercing Strike] to enhance its cutting potential.

The monster fell to the ground with a clatter, but even as the last piece of metal came to a stop, two more creatures came charging out from the depths of the Dungeon. Like lambs to the slaughter.

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Half an hour later, Isaac waltzed back out of the Dungeon, not a hair out of place. The only thing that that gave away that he’d just spent thirty minutes tearing apart monsters were the spots of light-colored rock dust that starkly contrasted the dark clothing it had stuck to.

“Nice Dungeon run?” a voice called out as Yoo-jin got up from the small waiting bench near the entrance.

“Nice enough.” Isaac shrugged “After a while, every Dungeon just sort of blurs together.”

“That’s what, seventeen dungeons in the last five hours?”

“About that.” Isaac shrugged again “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to stop before the meeting and get cleaned up though.”

“That’s not what I was going to talk to you about.” Yoo-jin laughed “I’m pretty sure that you’re adult enough to not show up in ... that, let alone covered in monster dust while wearing those clothes.” Yoo-jin laughed “I just figured I should talk to you about what happened on October 3rd.”

“Do tell.” Isaac said.

“First of all, thank you. I didn’t really get the chance to visit you in the hospital, and I’m sorry about that ...”

“... but you were busy cleaning up after a massive disaster while I sat on my ass.” Isaac finished the other man’s sentence for him “I get it, no hard feelings.”

Yoo-jin let out a barely hidden sigh of relief before replying “Anyway, I was wondering what your plans were, going forward. You’re obviously going to stay until the award ceremony and are going to take advantage of the available Dungeons. But afterwards ... would you be amenable to, perhaps, staying?”

“I would be lying if I said it hadn’t occurred to me, but I’m afraid there’s nothing you could offer me to get me to stay, I believe my work is far too important. And after that [Raid Boss], I’m more certain of that than ever.”

Yoo-jin shook his head “I told them you’d say that, but they insisted I make an offer.”

“And if I say no to you, I’ll just get that offer again later?”

“Exactly. There are far too many factions that want to hire someone of our power and you’re the only one unaffiliated.”

“I have a job ...” Isaac trailed off.

“A job at the other end of the world, out of sight, out of mind and all that. The only other people with comparable levels of contribution are extremely high ranking members of the Guild or military. And the only ones who also got Aspects are myself and [General] Blockhead.”

“I’m guessing that’s not his real name?” Isaac asked with a slight chuckle.

“Nope, of course not. It’s just that [General] Park doesn’t like the idea of civilians with Levels in combat [Classes] and the Dungeon Guild as a whole. He’s also not shy about expressing that idea and now he’s acting like the Demon Lord could have been taken down without casualties if everyone involved just had a little military discipline.”

But that kind of response had probably been planned anyway, by a significant number of governments. The important part was that, well, once that treaty was signed, it wouldn’t matter who or what around the [Raid Boss]. The summoners would get blown up if they were still alive, but quite frankly, screw them.

The most extraordinarily part of the whole affair, however, was the idea that it needn’t be the nation on whose land the monster had been summoned which destroyed them. If the monster was close to a border, endangering another nation, they too could engage. The particulars involving how much firepower could be thrown how deep into foreign territory and what kinds of safety radii needed to be given for what protected areas still needed to be discussed, but at the end of the day ideas were unlikely to change.

In the other timeline, there’d actually existed a similar creation, but it had been a hasty, twisted thing created in the wake of a true tragedy, a city of millions razed and appropriately messed up. No proper discourse to discuss the parameters under which actions on foreign soil would be alright had occurred, and several wars had nearly broken out as a result. Hopefully, this time around, it would be a fully mature creation which allowed the signatory nations to destroy the [Raid Bosses] without nearly sparking World War 3.

Yet even with a world class, [Skill]-strengthened poker face, his personal nigh-bottomless well of patience and the serenity of an ancient warrior at his beck and call, the constant barrage of political [Skills] and occasionally stupid questions managed to wear him down.

“First time at one of these places?” a voice rang out from beside him as a field of mana enveloped the table he was standing at, preventing the words from being heard by anyone other than him.

“Mostly.” Isaac sighed “A few symposiums, a big discussion at a police precinct during a massive inter-agency manhunt for a serial killer, but nothing like this.”

“In that case, you’re in for one hell of a ride. Or were, I suppose. You lasted longer than I expected.” Professor Kim told him.

“Thank you.” Isaac said as he snatched up a couple of hor d’oeuvres and ate them “It’s fascinating being here, but I’m practically exhausted. Everyone wants something, and so few of them really know enough about me or the subject matter to make the right kind of proposition.”

“You think it’s bad now, just wait until the third Evolution powerup becomes common knowledge.” Kim told him with a dark expression that was at odds with the joking tone of her statement.

“You’d think people would have the maturity to turn down those advances if they’ve got the maturity to wield third Evolution power without immediately getting themselves arrested and/or executed.”

“You would be wrong.” Kim said “Just like you’d be wrong to assume that people would know better than to make indecent proposals to people who could turn them into a grease stain with a thought.”

“Levels aren’t usually visible externally. Intellectually knowing that someone is that powerful doesn’t elicit the same fear as facing, say, a dragon.” Isaac suggested.

“It’s a tale as old as time. If it doesn’t look scary, it can’t hurt you.” Kim said, her head suddenly snapping around and zeroing in on a person in the crowd, Yoo-jin.

“What’s up?” Isaac asked.

“Oh, I was just wondering if one of us needed to drag that kid over into a corner by the ear and give him that talk we just had.” Kim sighed.

“That ‘kid’ is almost half again my age.” Isaac pointed out.

“And yet in a way, you’re older.” Kim told him “I realized it shortly after we met, Dr. Thoma, you are an old soul. It was obvious even then, but it’s grown far more pronounced since the fight against the [Demon Lord].”

“Noticed that, did you?” Isaac chuckled wryly.

Kim raised an eyebrow as she looked back at him “I’m guessing you hold an inheritance [Class].”

He nodded “Hildebrand, a hero from Germanic mythology and the Song of the Nibelungs.”

“Who was he?”

“The teacher of a great king, an old warrior who fought to alongside a great hero.”

“That ... that would explain a lot, actually.” Kim nodded.

Aaaaaannnd there it was. Someone with the right knowledge to understand the impact that kind of knowledge might have on a young twenty-something man knew about the inheritance [Class], and would make some assumptions from there. Those assumptions would be wrong, but they’d provide a perfect explanation for Isaac’s weirdness.

Now, Professor Kim was hardly a gossip, but that knowledge would still spread. And back in Germany, something very similar would happen once more as Isaac organically brought his status as an inheritor up in conversation with the right person.

“Anyway, I’m heading back out there, wish me luck.” Isaac bade her goodbye and left the bubble of isolated space. As much as he would have loved to continue having an intelligent conversation with one of the most interesting people in the room, this gathering represented an opportunity he couldn’t afford to waste. Sigh.