Frostbound

Chapter 256 - If you Call, I’ll Come

Marcus Shieldwell

The meeting he'd been nervously preparing for was going surprisingly easily. When the annoying light-thrower was here, he told enough stories to get a picture, but that wasn't enough to base anything on.

Being around family and a stranger were completely different.

Going into it, Marcus wanted to make sure this partnership did well. They had already helped more than any other Faction had, they didn't ask for much, and it would be a benefit to both Cities if they kept up their trade.

Letting them use the treasure freely hurt the mercantile side of his brain, but they more than deserved it after the amount of help they provided. Marcus wondered if he would've given them access if they hadn't.

If they heard about it after the fact and asked to use it, would he have let them? There'd be a price, of course, but that would be dangerously close to giving his enemies strength and the weapons needed to stab him in the back.

Those thoughts were unwarranted as that wasn't how it went, but it was food for thought. No one else had asked, and he tried to keep the existence of the treasure a secret, but Marcus doubted that would hold for long.

The dense waves of pure Water mana were noticeable. Extremely noticeable.

Marcus wouldn't be surprised if someone was plotting for it already. Yet another reason he needed this partnership to go well.

He held something dangerous in his hands that he would rather die than give up. Something that precious would be fought over. It was only a matter of time.

When the time came, if he wasn't enough, he'd need friends to call on. And the man in front of him seemed like the perfect friend.

Christopher was shorter than he imagined. Still above average, but a few inches shorter than himself. His facial structure and hair color matched the previous members of his family Marcus had met, but he was so much different than them.

The man practically reeked of blood. The vibe he gave off wasn't murderous, or demonic in any way, but it was clear that he'd spilled a considerable amount of it in his time. Mixing the fact he'd slaughter thousands, if not tens of thousands, with the fact he felt sturdier than a mountain, and Marcus had trouble thinking of ways he'd take him down.

Not that it would come to a fight, but matching himself up with those he met and evaluating the potential outcome of a fight was second nature by now.

He even did it to his own men. It was a habit that developed after so many brushes with death and Marcus would be surprised if Christopher hadn't done the same the moment they laid eyes on one another.

"Oh, before I forget, we've been trying to find a better way to communicate over long distances now that phones don't work but this is the best we've come up with. A bit primitive, but it works in a pinch." Christopher said while pulling out two objects.

"The rocks are paired through an enchantment. Break one and the other shatters." The man didn't demonstrate, but it wasn't that hard an idea to grasp. "Being so... binary, we set them aside for emergencies."

He then took one of the pair and slid it across the table toward Marcus.

"If you break it, I will come."

Marcus looked down at the unassuming rock with mixed feelings. He went into this meeting trying to draw closer ties to the man. Maybe give a few gifts, defer a few things in trade so Frostheim made it out on the better end of the deal, but all his plans were for naught.

He didn't even have to give the man anything and he was acting like they were fast friends already.

The doubtful side of him worried about betrayal, but everything he knew and saw told him the man would never do that. He wasn't sure what it was exactly that made him so confident, but that pushed him to take the rock and give his thanks.

"Thank you. The same for you, if you call, I will come." He said genuinely, "We've had the same issue but no luck."

Most of his Tinkerers, as they liked to be called, were on other more pressing projects. The boats chief among them. Finding a way to traverse the River was more important than a way to communicate.

"My brother's hopeful that someone at the meeting will have found a way by now," Christopher said.

Marcus shrugged, "They might've, but what's their incentive to share it? Having a superior communication network is a tactical advantage only a fool would give up willingly."

"Trade, money, materials, then, if all of that doesn't work, threats." The man said nonchalantly. Much too cavalier for what he just uttered.

"Threats?" Marcus asked, the man didn't seem like the type.

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Christopher shrugged helplessly, "The last resort for when all else fails. I'm hoping they see the futility in keeping it a secret. If they figured it out, others will too, and at that point, it's only a matter of time. But, if for some reason they hold fast and have a death grip on the information, I'm willing to loosen that grip with force if need be."

"I'm..." Marcus was slightly stunned, "I'm surprised, to say the least. You don't seem like the type of person to resort to threats."

The man sighed darkly, "I don't want to be, but I will do what I must and I've come to terms with that." The hesitancy made it seem like he hadn't, but Marcus wasn't going to say anything.

"Certain things are worth fighting for, even if it seems dishonorable" the way he said dishonorable was alarming, "I feel a swift means to communicate is worth that."

"Well, I hope it doesn't come to that," Marcus said, for both your sake and the person standing against you.

There was a break after that... announcement, and it gave Marcus a chance to think about it in greater detail.

Would he do the same?

He'd like to think he wouldn't, and that he was above making threats and resorting to something dangerously close to extortion, but he'd already done things he wasn't proud of.

When he first took charge of the City some were unhappy. He basically instilled martial law during the hardest times, taking charge of nearly every aspect of people's lives. Volunteers were abundant, but some had to be given a more forceful ultimatum.

Not death, he wouldn't go that far, but exile was firmly on the table when it came to the City's survival and everyone knew what exile meant at first.

Gregory signaled a knock at the door which meant his attention was needed.

"It's unfortunate that we have to end on that note, but it seems I am needed elsewhere," Marcus said while standing up.

Christopher did the same and they said their goodbyes.

As he left, Gregory slipped in the door and stood in front of his desk.

Marcus internally knew that they wouldn't come to blows. His glaive wasn't even in the room and the hammer he heard so much about was left elsewhere as both men didn't want it to come to that.

Still, it set him on edge to be next to someone who threatened him. He'd gone without that feeling for so long that its resurgence made him raw. He had to take a deep breath after the encounter was over to calm himself.

"Sir, your estimation?" Gregory asked.

As his right hand, Gregory was privy to a lot of information and his inner thoughts. The years together had only had them grow closer and he knew exactly what Marcus was thinking about right now.

The question was left unsaid, but it was implied.

"Did Bernard manage to get a level?" Marcus asked. Bernard had been instrumental in the evaluation of outsiders. The Ranger had the best skills in the City when it came to identifying threats.

"Level 93 Class and 87 in Profession," Gregory answered.

Marcus had to hold back a whistle. That was nearing D-rank but it felt so much more than that. He'd faced D-ranks before. D-ranks that were significantly weaker than the man he just met with.

"Alone? Highly doubtful." Marcus said ruefully, "My fighting style relies on my water staying in motion. His affinity would ruin that."

The words hung there for a moment, "What about with Clarissa."

If they had her, and could somehow keep the area from freezing his Water, the fight would be a lot closer but even with that advantage, Marcus wasn't hopeful.

"I wouldn't go into it with weekend plans." He said.

Gregory nodded stiffly. "Sir, there's a problem down by the docks that needs your attention. Something happened to one of the piers."

Marcus sighed. If it wasn't one thing...

Austin

"Come one, little man. You can do better than this!" Austin taunted.

It was always fun to get a few pointer sessions in. His latest victim was doing far better than he'd estimated.

"You have a fancy new Bloodline yet you still can't hit me." he goaded.

The next volley of icicles sent at him had some power behind them, forcing him to pull on his Anchor to evade the attack. It was closer to hitting him than he cared to admit.

If he was going all out, they wouldn't come close to even hitting his shadow, but they had agreed to keep the spar even.

Gabriel didn't have an Anchor yet which made it hard for him to compete against a person who did. Austin agreed to use it sparingly, as being forced to not use it was pointless. No enemy would hamstring themselves in a real fight.

Another round of spells was fired from the mage and Austin continued to dance around them. He shattered some with his spear but his speed was enough to force most of the spells to be wasted.

His stamina was a lot higher than Gabriel's mana, of that much he was sure.

Mages were all the same to fight. They stayed mostly stationary, which made the origin of their spells fixed. All he had to do from there was keep his lateral movements erratic and they'd struggle to land anything.

Only those with devastatingly widespread spells or insane manipulation and accuracy could hit him. Or the few who actually moved and could launch spells from further away, but those were rare.

Most weren't up to snuff and the fight usually ended when Austin got close enough to spear them through. It was sad how many people thought being able to shoot off spells made them invincible.

A spear through the throat ended them no matter how amazing their spells were.

Gabriel's power spiked and three phantom tails sprouted from his lower back. The ice took on a new form and all of his spells became increasingly harder to dodge.

Somehow, it felt like they were launched in tandem with one another, like they were somehow linked, but that was insane. Austin could barely link four skills together, and at the rate Gabe was firing them off, he'd long surpassed Austin's limit.

Is it his Bloodline?

No, that wasn't it. It improved other aspects too much for there to be another thing it did. It was already a stronger boost than Austin gave it credit for. Boosting skills like that was too much, even for that.

Sparring took his mind off the fact he wasn't at the meeting with Chris and Marcus. He so wanted to see how the two interacted, but he was shunned from attending.

Well, he wasn't shunned, just asked not to go. Which was essentially the same thing. Chris wanted to form an unbiased opinion of the man without Austin there to derail the conversation.

Not like I'd do anything too bad. Knowing the both of them, they were probably talking about something stupid.

Gabriel couldn't keep his Bloodline burning for too long as he was still new to it. He hadn't had the chance to strengthen it yet like the rest of them had.

After he ran dry, there wasn't much he could do and the spar came to an end. Gabriel still had mana in the tank, but they weren't going all out to begin with.

After they ended, Austin had a thought. A cheeky thought. The last time he was here, there had been some... fun to be had. Gabe was a strapping lad, a bit booky, but that was what his older cousin was for.

Chris would be a spoilsport and say no, but young, oblivious Gabe would be up for it.

Maybe.

"Gabe, how do you feel about going out with me? It'll be fun." His grin was wide and inviting.