A day later Ves'ra approached the castle in a cheerful mood. While Arvog had yet to return - she didn't want to risk his life - she was confident the day would bring great benefits to herself. The humans wanted something from her, and while she planned to do some of the things the guildmaster wanted her to do eventually, she was happy to accelerate her plans if the humans would help her with the endeavor.

After a short search for weapons and check up on her identity she was allowed into the castle, as one of the servants led her to the council's chamber.

“I will announce your arrival, and call you in once the masters are ready to see you.” The young man said, smoothing his clothes.

“Sure thing. No need to be nervous, they are just humans like you.” She answered, grinning at him. The young man let out a laugh and quietly entered the hall. Ves'ra took one of the seats in the waiting room, and started thinking about all the rewards she'd be able to squeeze out of the humans, they were at a disadvantage now and she had every intention to use it to the best of her abilities.

There were several things she really wanted, one of them being the ‘teleportation’ magic the guildmaster told her about. In theory it was just another type of elemental mana, one that allowed you to connect two points in space with one another, but its use was heavily regulated, and only the most trusted enchanters were allowed to use the affinity. There were more things she wanted, but the young man had returned, so she hopped off the chair and confidently walked towards the now wide open doors.

“Ves'ra the high kobold is here on the masters request.” The young man yelled, quickly closing the door behind her. Ves'ra looked around the room, noticing it was smaller, more personal. It also lacked the high amount of energy, making it easier to keep her calm. She could easily pick out the faces of the seven guild masters, this time without helpers.

“Welcome young lady, I hope you’ll forgive us the incident yesterday. We already removed the person responsible for your imprisonment. We can discuss a sufficient compensation afterwards.” The lady next to the adventurer said with a calm, slightly smug smile. Damn, if she just agreed like that then she’d lose the advantage, she had to do something about that.

“Of course, all is forgotten, I'm sure you can add the compensation to the task you want me to perform. I have to apologize for my behavior too, but all the energy in the air made me excited. Who are you by the way?” She answered, smiling at the lady while tapping her claws on the armrest of her chair.

“Yes, that is no problem. I am Evelyn, leader of the merchant’s guild. Shall we start then?” Evelyn said, a bitter smile on her face as she slightly bowed her head.

“I have no problem with that, how about you start by telling me who you are?”

“That's a splendid idea, I will start then.” A humanoid lizard chirped. She was different from herself, taller than everyone else, blue scales, a very long neck and no sharp teeth. “I'm Khossez, a draconian and leader of the Alchemist’s Guild.”

A gruff voice spoke up next, a very buff looking dwarf with an impressive beard. “I'm Dhubok of the Stonear clan, blacksmith. The very charming lady next to me is me wife, Runsyl Stonear and leader of the Mercenary’s guild.”

Ves'ra looked at the indicated dwarf, noting that she looked nearly identical to her husband, except missing the beard. She looked mighty pleased with the introduction and smiled at her inquisitive look. A polite cough interrupted her inspection of the couple, bringing her eyes to the most massive person she had ever looked upon. He was nearly as tall as the draconian - who was two heads taller than everyone else - but easily two times as wide as everyone else. He was also completely green, had a pair of tusks as long as her hand sticking out of his mouth. The only thing not fitting his image were the expensive clothes and the strange metal and glass contraption on his eyes. “I'm Hrok, leader of the Craftsmen’s Guild.” He whispered in a deep voice, shrinking into himself, as if to hide behind the table. Ves'ra looked around, but nobody seemed to wonder about the huge being’s strange behavior, so she ignored it.

She turned to look at the last person in the room, an elf. She had never seen the woman, but seeing as all but the enchanter’s guild were there she assumed her to be an enchanter.

“I am Ayas Preslen, new guildmaster of the Enchanter’s guild.” She said, a look of contempt crossing her face as she talked. It seemed she didn't like being a leader.

Evelyn clapped her hands. “Now that we all know each other how about we start. Hendrik told me you already know the plan we had for you, and are willing to do it, is that correct?”

“It is. I have to ask you though, why don't you just sent out a bunch of adventurer's to patrol your borders?” She asked.

“We will do that too, but most adventurer's won't be fine with living in the wilderness for a significant amount if time.” Hendrik answered with a sigh.

“So you think I am because I was born in a primitive village?” She asked.

“We did, yes. Are we wrong?” Evelyn asked, worry in her voice. Ves'ra didn't understand why, she already agreed she'd help them - for the right price - so they didn't need to worry.

“You are not. Now, if the plan has not changed then we can talk about what I get to do that?” She asked with a devious smile.

“We can. We are prepared to pay you with a thousand silver per month, until completion. You will be paid for five months in advance, and supplied with everything needed to complete the mission. Any questions?”

“Yes, can you pay me in something other than money?” She asked.

“And what would that be?” Hendrik asked back, looking surprised she didn't want their rocks.

“Knowledge. And one other thing. I want to know how you humans do your magic, all I've seen of your casters makes me believe you know something I don't.”

“That's all? We can have a few books on magic here tomorrow. What is the other thing?”

“Not all, no. I want a certain type of elemental energy as well as a book on advanced enchanting and the knowledge how to make crystal spheres.” Her audience were stunned in silence, Ayas paled slightly.

Being a merchant Evelyn was the first to recover from her demand, and spoke up with a shaky voice. “You know what you are demanding of us, aren't you? Enchanted goods are the prime export of the Free Cities, because no one but a select few have access to that knowledge.”

“Yes, but if you lose then that secret won't be of any use. I have no interest in human money, so I would be fine with swearing myself to secrecy, not to use that knowledge against your financial interests.” She said, she really didn't care about human currency. The guild masters looked at each others, before Ayas spoke up again.

“We would like to talk about your offer between ourselves, can you leave the room for a little while? Please.” She asked.

“No problem.”

---

“So what do you think? Should we accept her proposal?” Hendrik asked, turning towards the only elf in their midst.

“There is nothing wrong with it, if she’s really as talented as Estrum seems to think she is then she would get taught about the secret in time anyways.” She answered, “We would have to take some measures of course, see if she really doesn't want to sell it once she left our sphere of influence.”

“What about the rest?” He asked.

“Well, be can copy all elemental mana indefinitely, so that won't be a problem. Any ideas what she’d want?”

“That's easy, she asked me about teleportation yesterday, so I’d wager she wants spacial mana.” He answered.

“She won't be able to use it to break through the wards, so I see no problem with that.” Evelyn said. “It's quite fortunate really, she only wants things she could freely get with a little effort, things that aren't even worth half of what we would pay her. I take it you will have everything prepared in an hour?”

They had some of the servants ready a table while Ayas and Evelyn designed the contract, clearly stating the terms as well as the offered compensation. The contract was written on a magically enchanter paper, one they couldn't produce themselves. It was split in two, each half meant for one signature. Ayas, as the guild that would take care of most of those, signed one side, and the paper lit up green.

Once done they called in the kobold again.

“Have you come to an agreement?” She asked.

“We have, there is a contract on the table in front of you, it’s enchanted and will glow green if the people signing them intend to keep to the terms. As you can see we already signed it, so you just have to do the same.” Ayas explained.

The kobold nodded, before sitting down and reading through the whole paper. He approved, it would be foolhardy to sign a contract without. Once she read the whole contract she signed it, it lit up green just like before. Hendrik let out a relieved sigh, he hoped that would happen but wasn't sure until now.

“We will need a while to set everything up, so you’ll have more than enough time to learn.” He explained.

“That's no problem, I still need to wait for my armor to be finished anyways.” She answered.

“Good. You can follow me, and I’ll start teaching you, as we agreed.” Ayas said, standing up and walking towards the door.