New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



With Mr. Herman leaving the room, the ambience also calmed down a little, as his boisterousness left with him.

The remainder of the conversations would also be much tamer, as the military and political aspects of this transaction were much simpler.

But Killi was still very satisfied with how things went up to now. He had, after all, managed to get some goodies for the prince and himself during his negotiations.

Nothing came free, though.

After their back and forth, Astaroth had allowed Mr. Herman to promise a monthly allowance of ten thousand gold, to both Prince Nalafein and Killi, at the cost of erased taxes on future mercantile exchanges, and a part of their tax profit.

Of course, the allowance was never to be counted in the profit return and could be used however they deemed fit.

Now, ten thousand gold pieces might look like nothing. But having such a sum every month that could be used to invest in their own economy was no joke.

The profit return would still bring back more gold in the long term, but in the first year, Mr. Herman predicted they would be bleeding the gold before breaking even.

But it wasn't a loss, in the greater scheme of things.

Killi had also negotiated that the fee on inter-kingdom teleportation waved between the two of them, since they would soon be interconnected. To which Astaroth had gladly accepted.

Mr. Herman, on the other hand, saw it as a massive loss of money once more. But he kept reminding himself that in the long term, the relationship between the two countries would bring in much more gold than they would lose.

There was prosperity in sharing resources, after all.

Killi couldn't wait to start the next part of the discussions. But this time, Prince Nalafein insisted he take a back seat.

"If you don't mind, Sir Killi. You may be an excellent negotiator, but this concerns politics, and I would much prefer doing this my way."

Killi was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't get to argue again, but it wasn't his call to make. So he nodded and sat back, instead enjoying the luxury of the room to its fullest.

Over the next three hours, Astaroth, Phoenix, Nalafein and Gelum'vire went back and forth, discussing promises of edicts for their future relationship. Talks of political alliances were much slower and more careful since you didn't want to give either side free rein in your country, regardless of the side.

But Prince Nalafein was ready to give much, in exchange for getting rid of the scourge that now plagued his country and its leading cast.

Such promises entailed the leaders of Paragons and Stellar Woodlands to have total political immunity in the Ash Elf Kingdom. This was a big one, considering it meant Astaroth could barge in, commit murder, and leave scot-free of consequences.

Not that Astaroth would ever do such a thing, but the concession was still a colossal risk. If their relationship ever became precarious, it would be difficult to lock them out of the country.

But they offered the same courtesy to Nalafein in return.

In terms of military promises, Astaroth promised his kingdom would be there for any crucial battles if the need ever arose. He doubted it would happen since he had the feeling Killi would want to keep all the fighting for himself.

But with what Astaroth knew, there might come a time. And he had already gotten Nalafein to assure him he would be called for the last siege.

There was no way Astaroth was letting Killi and his Knights get the full glory of killing the demon infiltrator. That fight was one he would never pass on.

They made many more promises and concessions until they judged they had covered every aspect they could and notes were taken about everything. Now, Brienne only needed to pull out a complete draft, and for all parties concerned to sign, and Prince Nalafein could be on his way home.

The question remained on how to send him there, though. A question that some fooling around with his still unused construction of a special teleporter answered.

Astaroth went into the underground part of the palace, where they had closed the tear before the update, and started fiddling in the interface.

Phoenix was with him, just as curious as he to know what it did, and when he started the construction process, their curiosity was sated.

A large interface opened up to Astaroth, which was also visible to Phoenix, due to her queen status, and the amount of special teleporters they could choose from was insane.

Choices ranged from two-way teleporters, that could connect to the pre-existing network, and teleport a small amount of people covertly, to a mass teleportation device, that could teleport the entire kingdom, to a different location in a matter of seconds.

From the number on the top of the list, Astaroth could choose between close to fifty different teleportation devices, and when he scrolled through the entire list, he saw something that filled all the boxes he needed in this case.

One teleporter was a one-way teleporter, with a small amount of capacity, but could teleport you anywhere as long as you entered the coordinates inside it, and didn't cost too much mana, or make a big magic ripple when working.

The last part was good, since, this way, he could send Nalafein back to his new home without catching the infiltrator's senses. But Killi's guild would have to either come here, little by little, and pass through it, or travel the old-fashioned way.

Which would be terrible for stealth, since his guild already had close to a thousand players.

Astaroth didn't hesitate and used the instant build function on his selected portal, and a bright purple light flashed in the underground room. Once the light faded, he and Phoenix stood in front of something they felt was reminiscent of a portal they had seen on an old TV show.

Appearing on the same dais where the tear had been, a large loop, covered in strange runes, was now lying dormant. From this loop, Astaroth could feel a gentle pulse of mana, but it was otherwise undetectable.

Astaroth couldn't even scan it to see what its name was, not that it mattered.

Sliding his hand on it, the teleporter's interface appeared in his view. From there, he could enter coordinates and launch the portal whenever he wanted. This was exactly what he needed for Nalafein.

Silent, stealthy and efficient. An enormous grin formed on his face.

"This is perfect. We will even be able to go anywhere we want instantly, to help out members if need be, or even to make an ambush."

He couldn't wait to use this to its fullest.