On the top floor of the Adventurer's Tower, Rafael was looking at an old Asian man with a peaceful face sitting on a carpet in a meditation position. After introducing himself, he told Rafael to sit across from him.
"So, young man, what brings you here today?"
"Good afternoon, Vice-Leader Xu. Today, I have come not as a member of the Alliance but as a representative of the Order of Sages. I want to propose some agreements that would benefit both parties."
"Hm, please proceed…"
"One of them is about the new natural resource obtained from the Mage's Throat dungeon, and the other is about duplicating and cultivating the natural treasures that the Alliance possesses. I can assure you that my group is capable of reproducing the environment of the towers and increasing the scale of these benefits. Whether it's raising animals, cultivating roots, or even planting more trees of the fruit of immortality. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize the value of the Mage's Throat pools and the dangers that such a valuable resource could bring to the Alliance if the secret were to leak. Giving a small percentage of these pools to my group would guarantee our help in defending such a place in case of malicious groups…"
"I would need to speak with Vice-leader Liana about the new pools, but what do you want by replicating the natural resources? We already have a good reward on the quest board for members who can do such a thing."
"I'm sorry, Vice-Leader Xu, I wasn't clear enough. I'm sure I can duplicate these natural treasures. I say this based on my abilities as a Blood Mage. However, I'm not interested in the position of Vice-Leader of the Alliance, nor in the gold and small percentages that I'll earn upon completing such a feat. Furthermore, disclosing the secret of cultivating such treasures to you would only cause more of these items to appear on the market, causing their value to drop greatly. At this point, would they still be treasures?"
"Kid, do you know the benefits that come with the position of Vice-Leader of the Alliance? We're talking about exclusive natural resources and treasures, we have our own high-level body refinement recipe and a powerful ritual to learn spells quickly... In addition to an extra percentage of all the current existing resources."
"If you're not clear about these exclusive treasures, I can't consider accepting the mission... How about this? I'll tell you my proposal, and you take your time to decide and take the opportunity to see what Vice-Leader Liana might want in this bargain."
"Alright, no problem."
"Our Order wants the 2 lower floors of the Mage's Throat permanently for our use. This includes the two pools and even the total percentage of the soul stones from those 2 floors. In exchange, we will protect the tower from hostile attacks from other groups and ensure that it always remains in the hands of the Alliance."
After a pause, Rafael continued: "As for the animals, roots, and the fruit of immortality, my group will work to replicate their environments and cultivate them. After that, we will pay 15% of the natural treasures to the Alliance for 100 years. In addition, we will sign an agreement not to cultivate anything beyond the number specified by you. In other words, you will determine whether your percentages will be low or high. Of course, we want the recipe for the potion made with the roots as well. For Vice-Leader Xu, we will give valuable information about the future that could greatly help you or even save your life, but the information will belong only to you and cannot be shared."
After I explained everything in detail, the old man looked very serious and said he would give me an answer soon. I said goodbye and left the room, returning to the Tower of the Sages to meet with Henry. The man seemed a little older than before and had been traveling for over 2 years. This time, he asked me for a break after returning to Pentos, which I answered with a smile, saying that he didn't even need to ask.
Our 2 ships had now become 4, Henry had bought an additional sailboat along with his first mate, and the other was taken by pirates. I took the opportunity to give him a shadow bag that contained all the profits from the crew's items that were sold in my store. Inside was a list with names and values. As for the bag, it was a gift from me and Omar to the old captain. After that, I informed him that I would send 10 men to Pentos on a mission over the next few years. I also warned him that there would be someone going to Dragonstone to keep an eye on my old man and bring him some items. But Henry wouldn't need to accompany him, and just Will and the First Mate who was now the captain of the new ship, would be enough.
"Sir, do you think you could put at least 2 mages aboard our ships? Or put in a few more of those scorpions? Piracy has increased a lot since the end of Valyria, and the sea around that place has become extremely dangerous, besides, there are many riots and skirmishes in the Essos area and larger groups of pirates are working together, we have been attacked three times more since the last time we came to Asshai."
"I can put some apprentices aboard the ship, but it would be better if they were together on the same boat. I think it's time we abandon these 4 sailboats and get our hands on 1 or 2 warships... That way, I can put more scorpions without the risk of them being stolen."
I remembered that the Sigh of Valyria only had 2 of the 3 scorpions since 1 was left in the Sage's Village. Henry placed a hand on his chin as he pondered and said:
"It should be possible to use the price of 2-3 sailing ships to buy 1 medium-sized warship. This will help to fend off most of the smaller pirates, and we can concentrate the force on a single ship. The profits from the next voyages should be enough to make up the cost of the second warship, even if it is a smaller one."
"Well, I'll leave this matter to you when you return to Essos. I'll issue the mission to the people who will accompany the ship. Remember to use our flag, and if someone too strong causes you trouble, talk to that group in Pentos that I warned you about last time. They are now basically a branch of our Order and will help you if you need anything. In the meantime, take the time to rest and get anything you need from our store." Henry thanked me and said goodbye. At the end of that day, I also received a reply from old Xu and a message from Zhang.
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan!
Magic Apprentice: Parsa, Pato Senalima, Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Vinnie, frimorigo, Scott Robertson, Takatchi, Leery Falcon, Austin, and mandeep singh!