Madman's deal

(Sorry for the late. In the previous chapter, I forgot to mention that the woman said the stats given range from 3 to 6. The mistake has been fixed now. Also, from now on, the word "stat" will become "attribute." Enjoy!)

There was an empty silence in the room. Frederick's gaze didn't move away from the woman momentarily. Thomas glanced at Frederick and then at the woman, waiting for her reaction.

After a while, The woman finally spoke, seemingly unsure of herself. "You know that you can die, right? And you are going to accept it anyway?" The woman stared deeply at Frederick with a questioning gaze. She could not believe that a candidate could be this reckless. It was a life-or-death process, after all.

She initially didn't want to tell Frederick that there was a risk of dying because she did not want to discourage him and have him refuse the offer. But after some thought, she noticed that Frederick wasn't stupid enough to trust her in her words. So, instead, she revealed the flaw of the process so he could refuse and would offer a post on the guild or just a gun of lousy quality.

Frederick turned toward the woman and answered. "I will do it." His gaze was calm. His voice did not have a trace of fear or excitement, and his demeanor was serene as always.

After hearing Frederick's answer, she was a bit conflicted. On the one hand, she was delighted that her offer was accepted this readily. To her, the purification process wasn't worth much at all; after all, there was the risk of dying. But on the other hand, she felt uneasy about it. She did not care about Frederick but couldn't comprehend why someone would voluntarily take such a risky offer despite knowing. It made no sense.

Thomas was utterly bewildered, too. "Hum, mate, I don't think you truly understand what is at stake here. You... You will die if it fails. I've seen people dying from the procedure, and It was not pleasant to see. Their cries of pain were unbearable." Thomas had a troubled look on his face when he was explaining it. It was clear that the procedure left an impression on him and made him extremely wary of this process.

Hearing this, the woman frowned a bit. She did not like Thomas's attempt to convince Frederick not to do it, but she ultimately kept silent.

Unknowingly to them, Frederick had already calculated the risks and benefits. It was some simple thoughts. He concluded that even if he hunted in Haven City until the start of the main story, he would get 1 to 3 levels at most. In the best scenario, it would mean three attribute points.

But if what they said was genuine, the rewards for surviving the process would be more than he could expect after hunting. The profits of the purification process far exceed the risks for him. Although there was the chance of dying, it would only mean he'd have to go through Dyrroth again.

The woman sighed again. "We can do it once you tell us everything about the authority."

"How about doing it before?" Frederick asked politely.

The woman looked annoyed, seemingly unhappy with Frederick's demand.

"We can't do that. What if you die? Even if you succeed, the high-tier authority may be gone when you finish the procedure. I won't change my mind on this. Don't forget that we can investigate on our own. We only want this information because it would save us time." She glared at Frederick, unwilling to compromise her condition.

Although he wanted more benefits in exchange for information about Blood Dominion, he knew that the moment he revealed that there was a high-tier authority within the city, it would only be a question of time before they discovered that by themselves. This means that he couldn't obtain much from this information.

Before asking them, he already knew they wouldn't do the process if he didn't tell them first. After all, if he dies before telling them anything, they wouldn't have anyone to complain to. This request was more to test the waters. It was just a little bet he made to obtain more information about the process, and it seems to have worked.

'...Gone when I finish the procedure? So, does it take a long time?' he thought. From everything he had learned so far, it seemed like the process would take quite a long time and would leave him in a weakened state for about a week. He wasn't even sure he could begin his first main story in his prime.

It would be risky to enter the main story in a weakened state. And if the woman were telling the truth, he shouldn't try to hunt in Haven in a weakened condition. Although hunting in a strained state would probably result in some experience gain, it would also slow his recovery for the main story, which he could not afford.

He did not even think he could fail. Such a bonus in attributes was worth dying for. Even if he had to die hundreds of times, he was determined to complete this process... If it was real.

After a short silence, Frederick agreed with their request and decided to tell them first. It wouldn't impact Frederick much if they did not respect their part of the deal or even lied about the purification process. In the worst case, he would resume his initial plan.

"It is a deal then."

Thomas and the woman were slightly surprised to hear this. They did not expect Frederick to trust their words this easily. They expected a bit more resistance from Frederick.

"The authority's name is Blood Dominion. I heard from one of the mayor's men that it can control blood. It is probably still with the red-haired woman as we speak. And no, I do not know where that woman is or any other information about her except that she was one of the mayor's mistress." Frederick was meticulous, not to mention too many details, while not lying.

Thomas' authority was a real pain to deal with. Although it was useless in combat, it was another story in diplomacy or negotiations. Everyone, including the mayor and other guilds, sought lie detection authority. This kind of utility authority was highly precious for organizations. Just the fact that it would prevent spies from infiltrating their ranks was already highly beneficial to any group.

Truthfully, even Frederick was highly interested in this kind of authority. Having a way to detect lies would make everything easier. However, Frederick did not absolutely need it either.

The woman smiled as she heard Frederick's words. Her expression relaxed, and her aura no longer emitted the cold intent she displayed before. "Controlling Blood... What an exciting ability. What about the other man? The one with green eyes and a scar on his left side. He was also wanted."

"He doesn't have the authority orb and nor know where it is."

"...I see."

The woman said those words slowly. She was lost in thought and didn't seem to be speaking to anyone. Gazing at nothing in particular, her mouth forming a smile, she appeared to have just discovered the key to something bothering her.

As if she had suddenly returned to her senses, she turned around and faced Thomas with a more serious face. "Thomas, inform the guild about the high-tier authority within the city. We must obtain this authority no matter what."

"Madam Sainclair, I don't think telling everyone in the guild is a good idea..." Thomas said, worried about the potential fallout that this action may bring.

Sainclair paused a bit. Thomas was right. If the information about the authority is leaked to other guilds or organizations, Aegis may fight them over it. After some thought, she looked at Thomas.

"Thomas, just tell Markus about it, and he will take care of it."

"Yes, ma'am, I will immediately go to guildmaster. " Thomas nodded before walking away and soon left the room.

Sainclair stayed silent for a bit before speaking again, facing Frederick. "Let me be honest with you. Your authority has a lot of potential. Are you sure you don't want to join us?"

"I have no desire to join your guild," Frederick said without hesitation. He did not forget that one of them had an authority capable of creating contracts. By being bound to this guild, it may not be beneficial for him at all.

If he ever tried to break a contract they created, it would cost him a lot of attribute points. Fortunately, this loss of attributes was not permanent as it would gradually and eventually fade, but he preferred to avoid this.

"I thought so. Well, follow me." Sinclair led the way. Without saying anything, Frederick followed Sainclaire.

"I will take you to meet with her and let you see how the process works. This is your last chance to change your mind," said Sainclair while leading Frederick.

"I am ready."

"... Alright."

They walked through the hallways and descended to the lowest floor of the building, where an enormous black gate appeared before them. Sainclair put her hand on the scanner on the side of the gate, and soon, the gate opened, revealing a long white hallway with multiple automated white doors.

The place gave Frederick a cold and mysterious impression. It reminded him of an underground secret organization. This kind of place was truly advanced, to say the least, for Haven. In fact, he was pretty sure this technology didn't come from Earth since some doors seemed to be levitating. 

At this rate, the overall technology of the Main Hub World would soon surpass Earth's. This was something both good and bad for Frederick. In the short term, he would probably be overwhelmed. After all, he couldn't defend against something he didn't know about. But in the long term, he could probably abuse the Forgotten Times' ability to exploit this technology to his advantage fully. But that was a concern reserved for his future self.

As they stepped in, Sainclair stopped before a specific white door. "This is where we perform the purification process."

As they went through the door, Frederick couldn't help but widen his eyes.