Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 472: The Silver Coin Consortium

The crew of the boat was in a total tizzy after a mysterious beast had killed most of the skarn and seawomen, so they didn’t notice Thalion appearing on the railing. After it became clear that he wouldn’t get all the skarn, he had decided to get a closer look at the crew he had just saved. He had also done another minor test—teleporting out of the water with his bloodline skill—which had worked without a problem but did consume easily double the amount of mana.This was when he noticed another new trait of his divine class. Mana problems weren’t a thing anymore. Teleporting upwards from fifty meters under the boat had taken about seventy percent of his total mana. That was only the moment when he appeared on the railing, and good thing he hadn’t blinked, because that mana bar was racing. In mere seconds, it was fully filled again.

This was also when Thalion realized what kind of stupidly high mana cost the Scarlet Maelstrom had to have to slowly drain his mana given that insane recovery.

Now to the crew. All in all, they looked decent and were roughly on the same level as the slaves he had saved before. Not bad at all given the time and everything, but no threat to him. He was wondering, though, what they were doing out here with a ship. Not that he thought traveling by ship was a bad idea, but many on board clearly had nothing to do with the water, judging by their bows and arrows. So why travel by ship when you don’t even want to go fishing?

The first one to notice him was the woman who had fallen into the water. That had come in very handy, since she had been the perfect test subject to see how good Camouflage of the Depths really was—and by the look of her, she had lost sight of him very quickly. Now she had already been looking in his direction, which was the only reason she was the first to see him.

Thalion decided to take the more casual and relaxed approach with this group and not spook them too much.

“Hello everyone! You can relax, my buddy has killed all the predatory fish for you,” Thalion announced while waving toward the woman, who with her wide eyes and open mouth reminded him a bit of a fish too.

Hearing his loud voice, everyone spun around, a few of the archers drawing their bows on instinct.

“Easy. Didn’t you hear what I said? My little friend saved you from the ship. Also, I’ve noticed that water is leaking inside by the sound of it, so you might wanna check on that if you don’t want to swim to shore,” Thalion explained. To be fair, he didn’t need to hear the water—he had already seen the hole from under the ship before he teleported upwards.

In that moment, he had been proud of himself and how strong his abilities were, but now he felt a bit bad since they all relied on that boat. Hopefully they had enough with them to do the repairs, otherwise they would have to go for a little swim.

It took a moment until they realized that Thalion was no threat and that they were safe. They commanded the water mages to go down, pushing the water out of the ship while the repair runes they luckily had slowly fixed the hole.

“Ehmm, thank you for saving us. Is there anything we can do to make up for your trouble? I am Lora, a merchant from the Silver Coin Consortium,” Lora introduced herself, bowing deeply toward Thalion, and the others followed with quick bows. She spoke with a rough Indian accent.

“Sure, I’m Thalion. What are you doing out here with this ship, and what is the Silver Coin Consortium?” Thalion asked. How had they managed to start something like a Consortium in such a short time since the tutorial? Or was it just talk with nothing behind it? Given the ship and crew, they couldn’t be that strong.

“Of course you don’t know. I’m very sorry. We are an incursion from integrated space and are here to sell our goods,” Lora explained with another bow.

“Okay, first stop the constant bowing, and second—aren’t those water mages from the tutorial? I remember their insignia,” Thalion said, pretty sure those water mages had been former blue robes.

“Oh yes, indeed. They are natives to this world. In exchange for powerful equipment, they agreed to a contract and are now working for us for the next four months. We are currently mapping out the lands around us,” Lora explained.

Mapping out the lands—that was interesting. He was also a bit curious what the blue robes had gotten in exchange for four months of service. It had to be something really good, right?

“A map, huh? Would you mind if I take a look at it?” Thalion asked. Right now, he only had a rough idea where Eric’s base was and that elves were nearby—which honestly wasn’t good. If those merchants could give him more information, it could really make a difference.

“Of course. We are merchants at heart. Maps are highly sought after these days, and we can give you one for an item of similar value or eight months of your service. The longer you work with us, the higher the discount we give you on your purchases. Eight months of service would grant you a five percent discount on your next buy,” Lora explained proudly.

“Well, I saved all your lives, so that must have some value to your guild, right?” Thalion asked, a bit annoyed if he was honest. He had just saved their lives, and they couldn’t even show him the map? Seriously?

“Oh no, not at all. We are totally replaceable. If you don’t want to enter a contract or pay for the map, then I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do for you,” Lora answered quickly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Somehow, that reply gave Thalion the sinister impulse to try out a few new blood techniques—but he reined it in.

“This is really unfortunate. In that case, I think it’s time for me to leave. I wish you the best of luck getting through the territory of the skarn without my assistance,” Thalion said, nodding as if deep in thought.

That did the trick. The woman’s face turned pale as snow.

“Please, do not leave. What about a special discount for our future partnership? What do you say to two months of service, until the end of the mission?”

Thalion definitely had better things to do than babysit some merchant group for two months just to get a look at a single map.

“Woman, do you think I’m stupid? I’m not paying for a map when I don’t even know what’s on it. And second, thanks to me, you can all continue your work for the Silver Coin Consortium, which is definitely worth more than a two-month contract,” Thalion hissed.

So this was what you got for being nice? He had thought about checking in with a few sailors, having a casual talk, maybe getting some valuable information—or maybe not—and then leaving again. Instead, this woman wanted not only to scam him but also bind him with a contract for a map that might be completely useless, all after he had saved everyone on the ship from a terrible death. He was this close to using them for experiments.

“Okay, okay, please—there’s no need to get angry. Here, take a look at the map we are currently working on,” the woman said with a sigh, motioning for one of her comrades, who quickly disappeared below deck to retrieve it.

When Thalion finally took a look, he had to admit it was definitely worth it. They must have already made contact with Eric, who was marked on the map. It wasn’t just humans—there was also a settlement of elves. The elves and Eric were very close to each other, especially considering that no other faction was even remotely nearby. There were a few incursions, but otherwise, the area was mostly empty.

Only after traveling for what had to be weeks or even months, depending on speed, did another human settlement appear on the map. It covered a wide area and even included mountain ranges and a black forest where vampires were supposedly located, though that was marked with a question mark since no one had dared to enter or establish contact with the undead.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on NovelFire. Report any occurrences.

There were also two danger zones marked far away from everyone else. Thalion guessed that extremely powerful beasts—or something worse—resided there.

The map was quite large, and it took him a while to get a proper overview. From what he could tell, Eric was surrounded by elves and one unconfirmed vampire base. The distances were significant, so Eric had plenty of space to maneuver.

Looking at the map, Thalion began to wonder whether a war would even break out anytime soon. Fighting each other would be a difficult endeavor, and if someone started losing, they could simply run.

“Say, what does your merchant clan think of the current situation on this planet? Do you think it will come to a war?” Thalion asked, still studying the map.

“Yes, of course. This will be a very lucrative time for our clan, and we are very thankful that we landed on this planet. But it will take time. At the moment, the powerful beasts in the area are the bigger threat, and the chosen need to reach D-grade. The territories also need to expand further, and teleportation circles must be integrated.”

“But then war will rage until a single winner is decided. Have you thought about buying an anti-vampire weapon? Vampires are our biggest threat, which is why we’re offering a ten percent discount.”

Given the distances, this sounded like a reasonable outcome, which was good because it meant Thalion had more time. Even if he didn’t need to fear old age right now, that didn’t mean he could take things slowly. It was actually the opposite.

The part about buying anti-vampire weapons from them, Thalion completely ignored. Every word coming out of the woman’s mouth made him dislike her and that merchant clan more and more. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be necessary to interact with them too much in the future.

It was a good thing he had been wearing the mask from the treasure hunt, because keeping a poker face wasn’t something he would have managed otherwise. A class for anger management would also be a wise investment.

Thankfully, his thoughts were interrupted by a more pleasant notification.

Greetings, newcomers,

In two months, it is time for the second system event

The entrance fee will be five hundred years

To enter, you only need the ring, just like in the first trial

You will be informed again in one month and in the days leading up to it so you can make the best decision

Thalion had anticipated that it would take much longer for Lyrian to launch his system event, based on what he had said. He had also mentioned that the date could often be postponed or even accelerated. From what Thalion had gathered from the gods’ discussions, Ratgul’s event had been especially long, while Lyrian’s wouldn’t last more than a week.

All in all, these were good developments, and since Thalion didn’t need to worry about losing time with his divine class, he would gladly join. He would also definitely search for clues in the first room, just to be safe—assuming there even was one.

For the merchants, this was also very exciting.

“Oh, the new system event. This is earlier than expected. Quick, turn the ship around—we need to head back, and fast! Hey, what are you doing? You can’t leave! What if the fish attack us again?”

Thalion had already stepped back onto the railing. For him, it was quite clear what to do next. He would travel to the mountains, where he could hopefully get used to the wyvern. In the nearby dark forest, he would hunt the vampires with the Eclipsari. After that, it was time to pay his friends a visit and hammer it into their heads that if they joined the next system event, they had to search the first room for any clues—and that under no circumstances were they allowed to enter the third system event.

When R-87 had said it wasn’t made for groups or friends, Thalion had taken that seriously. He would, of course, enter—but he wouldn’t risk the lives of his companions.

“Well, I think that’s your problem.”

And with those words, he jumped overboard, diving beneath the ship. There, he shifted into his serpent form and shot off into the distance.

There simply was no time to waste.

<--

Three days passed until they came within range of the hidden teleportation circle on the ship, allowing them to return to their small city built around the incursion. After spending three days afraid they might get attacked and killed, Lora was more than happy to leave the ship behind.

It was necessary to bring back all the information they had gathered. Lora added a large question mark on the ocean with a short description of the Skarn and those ugly women. Hopefully, those fish were valuable so they could assign hunting quests for those horrible beasts. With the next system event coming so early, everyone would want information about the locations of other Chosen. Depending on placements in the first event, even a few of them might participate—but the difficulty wouldn’t be nearly as extreme as the first one.

“Lora, good that you came back so fast. How did it go with the map?” Kaskar, the leader of the incursion, asked with a genuine smile.

“Oh, I tell you, Kaskar, it was horrible. There were those fish—the Skarn—and some other humanoid creatures that specialize in sinking ships. The ship got trapped in a whirlpool and was spinning while we were being dragged down. The scales of those fish were so tough that the water mages couldn’t do anything. The archers didn’t stand a chance either, since I didn’t give them specialized arrows for underwater combat at the start of the mission—but who could have known?” Lora explained loudly, her voice breaking from time to time.

Kaskar was fully drawn in and asked with deep concern, “Then how did you make it out alive? The ship and the goods—are they okay, or damaged beyond repair?”

“No, no, they’re mostly fine. The ship needs some repairs, but otherwise everything is intact. Listen, Kaskar, there was this man—no, this beast. A sea serpent, a massive one, emerged from the depths and wiped out all the Skarn without any effort. Just a shockwave from an attack that wasn’t even aimed at us jerked the ship more than a meter out of the water while cracking the hull. Can you believe that? I was so surprised I got thrown over the railing by the impact. I fell into the water, but the shock was so overwhelming I couldn’t move. Then I saw how the serpent was killing the big Skarn and those females like they were nothing. Its long, streamlined body moved effortlessly through the water, reaching speeds I’ve never seen from such a large creature before.

When I finally got my shit together, I climbed back onto the ship. A moment later, a human jumped aboard and asked if we were okay—but then he asked to see the map after I told him about our mission. Of course, I didn’t give it to him without payment, but he pressured me, saying he controlled the serpent and had saved us, which meant we owed him. His name was Thalion… and then he just left us there, diving back into the ocean after checking the map,” Lora said, panic and anger rising in her voice with every word.

“Eh… is something wrong, Kaskar? Why are you looking at me like that?” she added, confused as she noticed him standing frozen, staring at her with wide eyes.

“What was his name again?”

“Thalion? Why is that so important?” Lora asked, now equally perplexed by the sudden change in demeanor.

“Later—quick, tell me what level he was. How strong was his aura? Was he friendly or evil? No… he saved you without really asking for anything before he saw the map…” Kaskar rushed out.

“No, no, no—first you tell me why this is so important. What am I missing here?” Lora replied, a bit annoyed that this was what he cared about right now after she had almost been killed.

“Okay, listen, Lora. We were informed only a few hours ago about the outcome of the first treasure hunt. Do you know it was ranked as level seven difficulty? There was also an anomaly. First place in that treasure hunt wasn’t taken by a Chosen or anyone tied to a faction. The name at the top of the leaderboard was Thalion. And it can’t even be argued that he won by accident—he had more than double the points of second place, who was the Chosen of Tenebrice. Do you know what that means?” Kaskar explained so quickly that he stumbled over his words several times.

Of course she knew what that meant, and she tried to quickly recall everything she could about the man.

“Eh—he was level 84. Class… probably some sort of beastmaster. Eh—there was this sword. Eh—he was wearing a red robe, like some kind of ritualist…”

After stumbling through her words in panic, Lora stopped, and the incursion leader continued instead.

“LEVEL 84?! Do you know what this means? Chances are high he was still at F-grade when he won that trial. We have valuable resources that show the Chosen are only now approaching level one hundred seventy. Quickly—did his robe look similar to this one?”

Kaskar pulled a red robe out of a small spatial chest he had been carrying on his back.

“I bought this from a trial taker who competed in the last stage. If it has the same design as the one Thalion wore, then that confirms it. No one will be able to argue it was a different Thalion with the same name—or that the man you met lied to you.”

Lora’s eyes widened when she saw the robe. It was clearly inferior to what Thalion had worn, but the design was identical—something she immediately recognized. Her heart began to race as excitement and panic rose in equal measure.

“Eh… eh…”

“God damn it, just nod or shake your head, woman—I can’t stand this,” Kaskar snapped after she failed to get a word out.

She quickly nodded, almost like she was headbanging to a metal song.

“Oh… oh, this will change everything. We need to send you back so the elders can recreate your memory of Thalion with an illusion. After that, the truthseers will confirm that everything you say is real. This will be our biggest product by far. Even gods will be interested in this information. Do you understand what this means for us? Th—this changes everything.” Kaskar’s voice rose sharply toward the end.

He had already started pushing Lora toward the incursion pillar to send her back to the sect.

Now their clan had a product that could shake the universe—valuable enough to even impact the most powerful of gods.