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Linda was a woman with curly, shoulder-length, black hair. She had blue eyes, thin lips, and issues with anger management. Currently, she was on her phone, and she was pissed. She wanted to find the target of her anger and throw them into a woodchipper feet first, and her emotions were perfectly understandable—for an unstable person. For the past few days, she had been dealing with insurance agents and their roundabout words, bullshit entering and exiting her ears with every call she made and answered. If she ever found the culprit who robbed her store, Treasured Crystals, she’d sue them so hard their next seven generations of kin would be working for her as indentured servants.
Linda’s eyes narrowed, and she slammed her phone on her table, a loud clacking sound ringing through the room. Her nostrils flared as she snorted. What proof did her insurance company want? If she had a video of the culprit stealing the items, what would she need them for? She’d directly identify the culprit and deal with them herself! However, all of her security cameras, which were placed in the best positions, failed to capture a single shadow. The items simply vanished from the shelves and storage rooms as if they were taken away by a ghost.
With anger still burning a hole in her chest, Linda picked up her phone and dialed the company that had provided her with the security cameras. They had guaranteed their cameras were capable of recording even those who’ve mastered their Sahasraras, those who had invisibility talents, and those who were capable of manipulating space, so … why had they failed? Obviously, she was going to request compensation from them; after paying so much for their services, they failed to deliver, and that was a big mistake in Linda’s eyes.
However, before Linda could connect with a human representative, there was a knock on her door. Nobody knocked on her door in this day and age unless it was an emergency. Linda put her phone down and closed her eyes before taking in a deep breath through her nose. She exhaled through her mouth and opened her eyes, staring at the door as if she could see the person behind it. “Come in.”
The door swung open, and a grayling bowed at Linda before walking inside the room whilst holding a tablet in front of its chest. “Greetings, boss,” the grayling said and flipped the tablet around so Linda could see the contents on the screen. “Someone wishes to sell a large quantity of crystals and ores, and the value of the transaction exceeds what I’m permitted to handle.”
Linda frowned. Her store was robbed of its crystalline valuables, and suddenly, someone was selling her a vast number of crystals? Was it simply a coincidence? The thief wouldn’t be so brazen as to sell her own goods back to her, right? She extended her hand, and the grayling passed her the tablet. A live feed was displayed on the screen, showing the image of a man sitting with perfect posture with a large barrel in front of him. Within the barrel, there were various ores and crystals inside. “I’ll meet with him,” Linda said and stood up, handing the tablet back to the grayling.
“Yes, boss,” the grayling said and bowed its head. “I’ll prepare some refreshments and snacks for the two of you. Do you have any preferences for today?”
“Oatmeal raisin cookies and green tea,” Linda said as she walked to the corner of the room where her jacket was hanging on a tall rack. She put on her outerwear and examined herself in the horizontal mirror on the wall before exiting the room. As she left, she examined the grayling; it behaved as advertised, and if it continued, perhaps she’d rent even more from Monarch and replace all her employees with them.
Linda walked down the hall, took the elevator, and made her way to where her guest was staying. She stopped in front of the door and took in a deep breath; she might’ve been mighty pissed due to the stress she was dealing with, but that was no excuse to take it out on a potential seller. Since her stock had been depleted thanks to someone’s thieving paws, she needed new inventory and having good materials to work with was a necessity. As the best crystal shaper in the city, it was easy to replenish her store’s stock.
Linda pushed the door open and smiled at the man before stepping inside the room. Her gaze went straight to the barrel of money, ahem, materials, and her eyes lit up. She couldn’t tell their quality from the live feed, but once she was in the room with them, she could practically feel the energy radiating out of the barrel from the vibrations of the ores. They must’ve come from a primordial dungeon, and those were usually highly ranked.
Linda took a seat across from the man and observed him from top to bottom. For some reason, she couldn’t really put a description to his face. It was … plain, and his features were hard to remember. Even his vibe was unremarkable like a white wall of drying paint. Likely, he had on some sort of disguise; after all, this transaction involved a lot of money, and there were always bad actors paying attention to the sizes of other people’s wallets.
Linda glanced at the tablet placed on the table. The grayling from earlier had identified the materials and written down their market prices, making her job much easier. Although it was a bit expensive, mostly due to the quantity of materials, she’d make everything back and more … provided no one stole her stock again. Her expression darkened as the mere thought of the thief entered her mind.
“Well, that’s not a promising look,” the man sitting across from Linda said. “If the price is too high, I’m willing to negotiate.”
Linda inhaled through her nose and exhaled through her mouth before making eye contact with the material vendor. “I’ll buy all the crystals at market price,” she said, narrowing her eyes at the man. “However, I’m not particularly interested in the metals, but if it’s easier for you to sell them to me than someone else, I’ll buy them for half of the market price.”
“It’s a deal,” the man said, not negotiating much. “I have a question though.”
“Yes?” Linda asked, raising an eyebrow. She hadn’t expected the man to be so agreeable. Then again, she didn’t have many expectations for someone who was doing their best to not attract attention.
“If I make this deal with you, how much candy can I buy?” the man asked.
Linda’s face remained unchanged. She wasn’t sure if the man was testing her, and if he was testing her, what kind of answer he was hoping to seek. “You could probably buy out a store’s inventory depending on the type of candy you’re purchasing,” she said and kept her mouth shut. Remaining silent had never hurt her negotiations before.
“Alright,” the man said. “It’s a deal.”
Linda raised an eyebrow. “I feel like I’m making too much of a profit off of you,” she said. By sacrificing a bit of her gains now, it wouldn’t hurt to establish a working relationship with someone who could bring in such high-quality ingredients. Also, for some reason, she was feeling generous. “Why don’t I craft you an accessory as well?”
“That sounds like quite a bargain for me,” the man said. “Since we’re coming to an agreement, why don’t we introduce ourselves to one another? My name is Sam, and I’m an S-ranked awakened.”
Linda nodded her head. An S-ranked awakened, that made sense. “My name is Linda,” she said. “I’m a crystal shaper, publicly known as the best. I’m the owner of Treasured Crystals, and this little exchange store.” The woman’s blue eyes narrowed. “Would you mind showing me what you look like?”
Sam wasn’t sure what kind of game the twin-headed snake was playing, but he allowed it to do whatever it wished. After all, it was through the snake’s abilities that everyone around him was oblivious to the animals attached to his body. Besides, it wasn’t like the snakes had made a bad choice for him before, and he let them make almost all the decisions. As for the materials, a lot had been swallowed by the snake and used to reforge his bones, but he spent the rest of the time in the dungeon wandering around while practicing his All-Seeing Gaze, having Raindu dig and pick up the crystals he located. Of course, the ferret demanded payment, and as such, Sam was here, selling the ores he had looted from the dungeon.
Linda raised an eyebrow as Werchbite’s illusion dissolved, revealing Sam in all his glory: a bird on his head, a two-headed snake wrapped around his face, a ferret’s head sticking out of his shirt’s collar, and a sloth wrapped around his waist. She blinked and leaned back in her seat, watching Sam’s fingers scratch behind the sloth’s ears. She didn’t have any expectations, but she was still a little surprised; it was rare to see a summoner-type awakened. “Shall we form a lasting partnership?” Linda asked. “I’ll supply you and your familiars with custom accessories, and you’ll help me out when I’m in need.”
“That sounds great,” Vercedei said as Werchbite’s illusion resumed once more. Although the twin-headed snake could devour crystals, digest them, and reshape them, it could only replace rather than create. Replacing Sam’s organs, replacing his bones, that wasn’t difficult, but creating accessories for external wear, well, it was difficult without thumbs. “Also, I’ve noticed you seem a bit stressed about something.”
Linda exhaled through her mouth. There was something about this animal-covered individual that made her drop her guard around him, and what was even odder was she knew it was strange, but she didn’t care. “My store was robbed. There’s no culprit to be found, and my insurance provider is giving me the runaround.”
“Oh,” Vercedei said. “Your store, Treasured Crystals?”
“That’s right,” Linda said, nodding her head. She exhaled and turned her head to the side. Where were the oatmeal raisin cookies she had requested? To her surprise, the grayling she had rented was standing beside her with a tray in its hands. She hadn’t even noticed it sneak up on her. However, she wasn’t going to show that in front of Sam. Linda grabbed a cookie off the tray and held it out towards Sam while raising an eyebrow.
“I’m good,” Vercedei said. After a protesting chatter by Raindu, the snake’s blue head spoke again. “Actually, I’ll have one if you’re offering, yes.”
Linda flicked her wrist, throwing the cookie like a frisbee. Raindu stretched its body and reached, grabbing the cookie out of the air, but all Linda saw was the illusion of Sam catching the cookie before nibbling on it. Linda picked up another cookie and snacked on it before exhaling. “So, yeah,” she said after eating the cookie. “Why’d you ask? Are you planning to offer some help now that you know the situation I’m in?”
“I don’t see why not,” Vercedei said. “You’re in the right, aren’t you? You paid for insurance, and the insurance company refuses to fulfill their end of the bargain. If you asked me to help you rob someone, I’d demand more than a cookie to help you, but if it’s simply pressuring someone into giving you what you deserve, I don’t mind taking a few minutes out of my day to help.”
“Is that how you’re going to do it?” Linda asked. “Pressure my insurance company? I already have people doing that.”
“Well, if they were doing a good job, you wouldn’t be so stressed, no?” Vercedei asked as the illusion of Sam stood up. “Let’s go.”
Linda blinked. “Where are we going?”
“To pay your insurance company a visit,” Vercedei said.
***
Linda stood beside Sam, looking up at the tall building with a glossy exterior. The blue-eyed woman turned towards Sam. “You can still back out now if you want,” she said. “SAT Group might not care if you’re an S-ranked awakened.”
With his All-Seeing Gaze, Sam examined the building. It wasn’t that long ago he had come here to negotiate a business deal regarding the rental of graylings, but back then, he didn’t have a twin-headed snake blinding him. “I wasn’t aware SAT Group offered insurance.”
“They’re one of the six big companies for a reason,” Linda said. “They might not specialize in any field, but they’ve dipped their grubby paws in every industry.” A sigh escaped from Linda’s mouth. “They’re the only ones who were willing to insure my shop.”
“Because you have a bad reputation?” Vercedei asked.
Linda rolled her eyes. “Because the items I make sell for millions, and no company wants to fork out a billion credits if my store is robbed.”
“Your premium must be quite high,” Vercedei said as the illusion of Sam looked towards the front of the building. “Well, let’s go.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re going?” Linda asked as she walked alongside Sam. The doors to the building opened automatically, but there was a second set of doors inside and a man sitting at a counter.
“Good afternoon,” the seated man said. “Please, sign in. For what purpose have you come to SAT Group today?”
“You know,” Vercedei said before Linda could speak. “Regular business. Why don’t you let us through?”
“Sure thing,” the seated man said.
Linda stared as the so-called security guard pressed a button, unlocking the doors blocking their way. Clearly, Sam had used some kind of bewitching technique to fool the guard because this was not how things were supposed to go. For a brief moment, she wondered if Sam had used a bewitching technique on her as well, but she forced the thought out of her mind as she followed Sam into the building. Did he even know where he was going? He was walking as if he did. Linda remained silent as she walked alongside Sam, entering an elevator with him. “How do you know where to go?” she whispered once the elevator door slid shut.
“I’ve been here before,” Vercedei said. “We’ll head straight to the CEO.”
Linda raised an eyebrow. Well, as long as Sam knew what he was doing, it was fine. She wasn’t sure why he trusted him so much, but it was probably related to why the security guard had let them through. “Can I trust you?”
“Shouldn’t you have asked that before we came here?” Vercedei asked and let out a low chuckle. The elevator quickly climbed up to the top of the building, and Sam stepped out.
Linda blinked before following Sam out of the elevator and into a long hall. At the other end of the hall, there was a set of double doors with two armed guards posted in front of it. She glanced at Sam, but his expression remained unchanged, his vibe still muted.
“Hey!” one of the guards said and raised his weapon. “What are you doing on this floor? The boss didn’t say he was meeting with anyone.”
“Maybe he forgot to inform you,” Vercedei said.
“Huh,” the guard said, lowering his weapon. “You might be right.”
Sam couldn’t help but examine the sloth again with his All-Seeing Gaze. A thick, gray haze was constantly being emitted from the creature’s body, and the haze was mingling with the auras of the people around it, rendering whoever it affected complacent and lazy, willing to listen to whatever words Vercedei suggested. As for why Sam was helping Linda, well, he felt bad for her especially since Raindu was the source of her troubles. Also, Vercedei basically led the charge, and all he had to do was follow the snake’s whim. If he didn’t, the snake could ruin his life, so he really didn’t have a choice.
“Yeah, it should be fine,” the other guard said and stepped to the side. “They wouldn’t come up here to make trouble with just the two of them.”
The illusion of Sam nodded, and Sam walked forward, ready to use Toughen in case the guards suddenly came to their senses and opened fire on him. They didn’t. He pushed open the door to the CEO’s room and stepped inside. Sam might’ve been blinded by the twin-headed snake, but he saw more of the room with his All-Seeing Gaze compared to the last time he was there. There were crystalline structures embedded in the walls that were similar to the Joe the sloth, emitting colors—mostly purple—into the room and subtly influencing everyone inside.
Linda nodded at the two guards before following Sam inside the room, a bit surprised at how easy it was to meet the CEO of one of the six big companies. He was a blond man with a groomed beard and mustache, his facial hair making the edges of his face look like a polygon.
“Mr. Hoffman, hello,” Vercedei said. “My friend here has encountered a bit of trouble with your insurance agents.”
The sharp-faced man raised an eyebrow. “And who are you supposed to be?” he asked. His green eyes shifted onto Linda, and a wrinkle appeared on his forehead. “Miss Linda, I wasn’t aware I’d be meeting you today.”
“Neither was I,” Linda said with a wry smile on her face, “but my friend insisted on taking me to you after hearing about my troubles.”
“Really?” Mr. Hoffman asked, his expression turning dark. “I see how it is.”
Sam used his All-Seeing Gaze to focus on Mr. Hoffman. The sloth’s haze permeating the room didn’t seem to be affecting the blond man at all, the gray color kept an inch away from Mr. Hoffman’s aura. Since the CEO wasn’t affected by Joe, Sam couldn’t help but wonder what Vercedei’s next move was.