Chapter 180: The Offer

As always, they sat around the table, with the two third-rankers seated at opposite ends in comfortable, padded chairs, much nicer than the rest. Aramis was beside Bonecrusher, and Tristan sat next to Vidalia. The pugilist remained neutral, seated between the two groups.

There were many empty chairs, but to complete the balance, Damian took a seat directly opposite the pugilist, who smiled in welcome.

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"What happened? The Kiyama said you blasted the forest with Ashenvale soldiers in it. Does your mana sense work on them?" Tristan asked. He and Aramis managed most of the camp's daily affairs, especially in Vidalia's absence.

"They can't fully hide their mana. They've managed to mask it to a considerable degree, though. I had to get close to confirm what I was sensing," Damian replied.

Bonecrusher's face twitched slightly at the revelation, while the others seemed either proud or pleased for some reason. Weird bunch.

"Even our best sensory experts struggled to detect them. Even when stationed at the camp's perimeter, they barely gave us warning before the enemy got too close. The Ashenvale soldiers have some kind of tool that conceals their mana," Aramis explained.

"Cool.. Can I see the tool?" Damian asked, receiving a range of reactions, from Tristan's approving smile to the pugilist squinting at him. Bonecrusher and Vidalia just stared at him blankly.

To Damian's surprise, Tristan retrieved a bracelet-like accessory from his storage and tossed it to him. Catching it, he examined the runes etched on its surface—it was a runic device. The most surprising part was that whatever method they used to become invisible also concealed the runic circles the device should display when activated. That was troubling.

If their invisibility was also due to a runic tool, and there existed a spell that could hide runic circles, it would make things much harder for an honest spell stealer like Damian.

Pouring his mana into the bracelet, Damian activated it. A pitch-black, average-sized space-time runic circle formed slowly. Once fully activated, Damian immediately felt the tool absorbing the excess mana that naturally emanated from his body. He had better control over his mana than most, yet even he couldn't completely stop the involuntary leakage.

Damian, of course, memorized the runic circle in seconds.

"These Ashenvale guys sure have some nice trinkets. What are your people doing? Don't you have a research department or something?" Damian said, tossing the bracelet back to Tristan.

"Brat, do you not understand who you're talking to? Or are you so eager to die?" Bonecrusher asked, seemingly fed up with Damian's casual attitude.

Damian glanced at him but chose not to respond, trying his best to ignore him. Responding would only dig grave deeper. Instead, Vidalia spoke on his behalf.

"Ignore his rude behavior slide. He's done enough for the army for us to tolerate it."

"Can you periodically use your sensing ability around the perimeter couple of times in the day for few days? That would be a huge help.." Tristan asked, making it sound more like an order than a request.

"I'm not the gracious a person. I don't care for your 'Noble cause.' The only reason I did anything was to ensure my own safety. Don't expect me to do it again out of the goodness of my heart," Damian replied bluntly.

"You...!! How dare—" Bonecrusher began, but Vidalia cut him off.

"About that. How about we officially hire you? You'll be well-paid with items you won't find anywhere else in the world."

"You mean those 'Credit list' things?" Damian asked, intrigued.

"That, and more," Vidalia said, locking eyes with him. S~eaʀᴄh the novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"I'll do it until tomorrow morning. After that, I'm leaving. How much would that earn me?"

"Do it for two days, while we prepare to launch our attack, and you'll be rewarded with any two items from the public credit list," Bonecrusher offered, softening his tone when he realized Damian wasn't entirely unwilling.

"I'll give you another, more private list for nobles," Vidalia added. "You can request things from it and earn even more if you consider staying with us afterward. I personally hope you'll think it over. If you join us, I'll ensure you have unlimited research supplies and an official title as a researcher hired by Eldoris royalty. The title will offer protection like no other in the kingdom.

You'll have your own land in the capital and complete freedom to pursue your work without interference. I promise not to call on you unless it's absolutely necessary. You won't even have to fight for us if you don't want to. But your knowledge and skills will be invaluable to us when the time comes and you will provide them."

Her expression was serious yet half-friendly. The others were just as surprised by the offer as Damian was. He had half expected her to threaten him or give him some kind of ultimatum seeing his memories to force him into staying, but it showed just how far of she schemed.

She wanted him to stay with her and fight for her now, and once everything was over, she likely hoped to bind him to her homeland through connections, ensuring he'd defend it when necessary. Had to give it to her she was pretty smart, and played the games better than anyone when she wanted to.

"Of course, we'll recognize your efforts up until now and reward you appropriately, even if you decide to leave after two days, as Lord Bonecrusher said," Added Tristan with a wistful smile, full of quiet encouragement, as if to say, 'It's okay, you can go, even though part of me wishes you'd stay'.

Damian's mind raced. He didn't want to tie himself to these people, especially since he wasn't sure he trusted them. Vidalia promised freedom, but titles and fame always came with limitations, there were always limitations. The titles would also make him an enemy of the kingdoms in conflict with Eldoris.

But then again earning trinkets working like a mule, staying hidden from nobles and other powerful figures to further his research, would also be time-consuming and filled with uncertainty. Without the right connections, he'd never gain access to the best resources. He did not want to fight for them though.

He did not believe in their ideals, their ways of life, the way they treated average people, but those... also felt like excuses to stay alone and disconnected from this world.

Specially after hearing what his inner most thoughts had revealed about him, Was he really just a boy who wanted nothing to do with people and just wanted to watch everything burn from the sides or even worse burned their flimsy beliefs with his own hands..? Why did he care so much for such things..?

He had morals no doubt, and it was hard to see injustice, even more so in this world than earth, but he was no messiah. He was just as selfish as the rest of them.

Damian opened his mouth to speak, however before he could decide what to say, his mana sense detected three very familiar mana signatures at the edge of his mana sense range. He stood up abruptly even pushing his chair back a little, throwing his decision making in the back of his head for some other time.