Contract with the Viper

Mark stood in front of a large over twenty stories high building. This time he wasn´t wearing his robe, he wore a suit. However, the grimoire was still firmly gripped in his hand. Mark wouldn´t leave the house without that book.

As the automatic doors opened he stepped inside heading to the elevator. It took him all the way up to the highest floor.

After a few minutes of wandering through the halls, he arrived near the guild master´s office. Mark ringed on the bell next to the doors and when he heard the bell buzz he came inside.

A large office revealed itself behind the doors. An unfamiliar man was sitting behind a table right in the middle.

"Good afternoon, my name is Robert, I´m the guild master´s assistant."

"It´s pleasure to meet you. I´m Mark Williams."

"I have to apologize. Although you had a scheduled meeting at this moment an unforeseen circumstance appeared so please wait a few minutes." Robert motioned to one of the chairs in his office.

"It´s not a problem." said Mark and sat down

'Hope it won´t take long. I´m already sweating.'

Behind the closed doors was Alexander talking with his daughter.

"I just think that finishing school would be a big waste of time if I still end up working in the guild. It´s not like it was preparing me for the job." Lucy told her father

Alexander was listening to her with a calm expression.

"Three years of your time, is that so much to ask for? You are just lazy and impatient. This job isn´t easy nor is it fun. Gates could one day suddenly disappear the same way they appeared and then you would be jobless. Also, the work of a non-awakened guild member is about sitting behind a desk all day. What if you aren´t suited for this?"

"I am suited for this. I´ve seen you manage the guild countless times. If you let me join you´ll see."

"You know what? Alright, I´ll give you any job you want in this whole building, but I have a condition."

"What is it?" asked Lucy squinting her eyes.

"You have to successfully lead a guild for a year. It´s less time than it would take you to finish college and you´re saying that you are fit for the position."

"Are you joking? How am I supposed to find such a job?"

"I paid for your college and you dropped out. You need to feel the consequences of your actions. It´s not like I´m throwing you out on the street or anything."

"You´re really something, dad."

"Look who`s talking." Alexander smiled at his daughter. "Sorry, but I have a meeting scheduled for this time. If you want to talk more then after work, okay?"

"Okay, I´ll show you what I can do."

"It´s not about showing me anything. It´s for you to learn about responsibilities." Alexander commented, but Lucy was already on her way out.

While all this was happening Mark was watching the floor, waiting. As Lucy exited the office she immediately noticed him. Seeing the opportunity she did not hesitate and walked up to him.

"Can you give me your number?" she asked.

Marked looked up confused and asked. "Wha-Why?"

"You remember me, right?" she swiftly said.

"Well yeah, but-"

"And you don´t have a guild, right?"

"I don´t."

"Great, so give me your number." she said with a smile.

"Okay, but I´m not joining a pyramid scheme or anything like that."

"Don´t worry this is much worse." Lucy said jokingly.

Mark told her the number, which she promptly saved in her phone.

"I´ll call you in a day or two. Bob, have a nice day." she waved to Robert behind the table.

"Have a nice day, miss." Robert said in turn. "You can go in." he told Mark, who quickly stood up and walked into the guild master´s office.

"Hello, Mark. Please take a seat." Alexander told him.

"Thank you." he sat down in the armchair opposite Alexander.

"So I have a few questions for you regarding our cooperation. The first question is kind of personal. You don´t have to answer this if you don´t want to. It´s just to satisfy my curiosity. Why do you refuse to join a guild and rather prefer to do all this?"

"Ehm a friend of mine told me about his contract with the Zeus guild so I looked into the terms other hunters receive. Even S-rank hunters are restricted quite heavily by their contracts. For example, traveling abroad and responding to the guild´s call to action."

"Yes, I know the contracts that our hunters have." Alexander told him with a smile. "However, doesn´t the money and fame you can receive by joining a large guild tempt you in a way?"

Mark looked at him a little bit confused. "Not really, I make enough money as it is and fame, what for? I don´t care about that. I just like clearing dungeons and making new spells. It is that simple."

"I hope you stay that way. Can you elaborate on the making new spells part, though?" asked Alexander intrigued.

Mark put his grimoire on the table and turned it around for Alexander to see. He then opened it on the first page.

"You probably don´t understand what is written in there, but when I pour in mana like this." A red magic circle appeared around his arm. "I can use the spell written on the page."

He then fired off a little flame as a demonstration.

"What about when you are not in contact with the book? Does it still work?"

"Not really, but when I activate another spell on the seventh page then I can use spells without touching it." The grimoire started floating above the table. "It establishes a connection between me and the book. It´s like a thin string of mana and with that, I can control its movement."

'I should make this spell permanent and combine it with magician´s eyes. It doesn´t cost more mana than I generate anyway. I should probably remake the grimoire altogether.'

"What happens If someone tries to snatch it from you? Wouldn´t you then be defenseless?" asked Alexander squinting his eyes.

"Could you please try to do so? I myself am not sure how easy it is to take it away and you are an S-rank assassin so you should be the one to judge."

Alexander threw his arm at the grimoire faster than Mark could follow with his eyes. However, the book simply floated a little bit to the right. This surprised the S-rank assassin who was quite confident in his speed.

'It is nothing special. I just copied the moving pattern from Illuminate I made in the past.'

"I´m sure after more tries you would have taken it away from me, but now you understand that it isn´t an easy task."

The guild master cleared his throat and told Mark. "I see. We got a little bit off-topic. So I presume you´d want our contract to be non-restrictive."

"Yes, please."

"Then what position would you like to act as a back-up for?"

"Magician and Support-type."

"What would the number of raids you participate in a month be as a maximum?"

"As much as I would be able to handle."

"A very important part is your share from the raids. Normally we as the Viper guild pay a fixed amount per gate cleared and a small share from the profits we receive from the said gate. On the phone you told me you don´t need the money so does that still apply?"

"Yes, I want to be paid by the resources that you receive from the said gate only. Essence stones, magic crystals, and gear made from the monsters."

"That´s not very common, but I see no problem in that. Let´s say you´d receive 5% of the resources? How about that?" Alexander suggested.

"That sounds good."

'I think I´m getting better at this whole negotiation thing.'