Outworld Liberators-Chapter 196: Contract of Opportunity and Skills

Back on the Radeon Terraces arena, the ones who had won big drifted toward the banks with their sacks held tight.

They deposited fast on Radeon Bank, eyes moving, mouths closed.

In Radeon Terraces no one dared make trouble.

It was not Eldric alone.

People were beginning to understand what necromancy meant when it was done well.

A skeleton of stone that moved at an owner’s whim, patient as a tool, and the leash on it might last centuries, might last longer.

The thought made men feel two things at once.

Fear, because no one wanted to be reduced to that fate. Some would not even wish it on an enemy.

Relief, because it turned rebellion into stupidity. If you tried to hamper the Terraces, you were not being brave.

You were being meat volunteering for the grinder.

Merchants still wracked their brains over it. Radeon Terraces made money in every direction without squeezing a single market into monopoly.

That was why the city lords nearby felt oddly grateful.

With just a few adjustments, their trade flourished like Radeon Terraces was not a behemoth.

So instead of hate, they grew comfortable with Eldric’s presence, as if he were only a stern grandfather who had opened a convenient shop beside their meat stall and vegetable market, close enough to profit from, close enough to keep trouble away.

That same old man would even keep your money safe. What more could a city lord demand than that?

The people filing out of the arena seats were getting used to how Radeon Terraces worked.

Instead of asking around, they watched the array boards, waiting for the lights to tell them what came next.

[Notice to audiences:]

[With heightened demand for honesty and fairness, Radeon Terraces will release a new product that will be widely available.]

[To learn more about the new product, return to the arena in three hours.]

People only shrugged at the notice and made their way back to the arena with calm feet.

So far Eldric had only produced useful things. If you asked them whether they wanted to go, the answer was automatic. Yes.

The announcement flashed on the boards again, and the tournament participants saw it too.

This time they were allowed to loiter across the wide arena grounds while ghost attendants rolled in food and water stations.

Some participants wandered. Some sat in clumps and traded.

Up on the audience platforms, the ones who stayed in their seats looked smug, as if the chair itself had become a prize.

Bread and water for a few copper felt close enough to lodging, and nobody wanted to give up a good spot.

The seats filled fast. Eldric’s face appeared on the screens, sharp and too calm.

In the last five minutes before the three hour mark, he even joked.

"Do not stare at this old man’s face too long," Eldric said, preening like a rooster. "I am already aware that I am handsome."

People shook their heads at the shamelessness, but it landed the way Radeon meant it to.

Familiar. A little warmth carved into their chests, the sense that this terrifying place could also be a place with a human connection.

Then the sky went dark again. Audience and participants were submerged in it, as if someone had thrown a blanket over the world.

"What I present needs darkness to be clearly seen," Eldric said. "Bear with me."

From the bottom of the stadium, rectangular papers began to fly upward. They fluttered like white moths, then spread out and hovered.

Each one was edged with a different border. Yellow. Orange. Red. Blue. Purple. Gray. Brown. Then black, the darkest of them.

"I do not want to act mysterious," Eldric said. "So I will go straight to the point. These are Life Bane Contracts."

The name alone pulled a gasp out of the crowd. Unease rippled through the seats.

Even so, most people leaned in and listened, chewing every word like it might turn into profit or survival.

"As the name suggests, these contracts can kill," Eldric said. "However, not everyone can use them."

He let that sit for a breath, then continued, voice steady.

"Through our array boards and linen screens, I will show you the features of these Life Bane Contracts."

[Life Bane Contract information:]

[1. This contract can be used to write deals with consequences for both parties.]

[2. To use it, two parties of interest must have pure intention and clear willingness to enter the Life Bane Contract.]

[3. The Life Bane Contract can assign death to one party, both parties, or multiple parties, as long as the written agreement states it.]

[4. Keep in mind that if you use a Life Bane Contract, you are also using the name of Radeon Terraces as guarantor.]

[5. Using this contract for malicious intentions is forbidden. Punishment extends through eighteen generations of bloodline, and death will be given to those who do so.]

[6. Using this contract under any hex, charm, hypnotism, or coercion that affects mind, body, or soul will automatically consume the contract and leave a small red paper marked with black words that read. Contract invalid.]

"As you can see, it is a fair contract," Eldric said. "Yet if one party is too clever and the other too witless, the fault lies there. A contract is no guarantor of perfect fairness."

Eldric flapped one of the contracts.

"This is, at the end of the day, a paper."

Then Eldric started pointing into the audience.

Lights glimmered above selected seats. Footholds manifested in midair, stepping stones of pale glow.

Everyone knew those faces.

Mortal magnates with fat rings and thin smiles. Tycoon cultivators with calm eyes. City lords. The Five Summit Emperors.

Eldric looked at them and smiled like a man about to make trouble in public.

"Now, would you mind participating in this old man’s little charade?"

They agreed at once. Everyone knew the rule by now.

If Eldric called your name, there was benefit attached. Simple as that.

Each of them looked eager, some more than the last.

"My lord Eldric, surely you jest. It’s all nonsense. A trifling matter, truly."

"Senior Radeon, do not concern yourself with the looks of us juniors. We shall comply with your arrangements in full."

"If we may help the common folk understand good business, then let us not sit here like ornaments in the crowd."

The linen screens zoomed close on his eyes, making it feel like he was staring at every soul in the arena, audience and participants alike.

"Listen well," Eldric said. "This will serve you. Such events come but once, if they come at all."

"Perhaps your son or daughter at home will be the next Goldman... and even the next Gregodor is not beyond imagining."

People perked up. Gregodor flushed at the edge of the platform. He had bad habits when doors were closed, but he wore dignity like a coat when eyes were on him.

"Alright," Eldric said. "This will not challenge them. These people know business. Still, I will pair them at random."

The platforms shifted. Some mortals found themselves facing emperors. Some cultivators were paired with strangers they would never choose.

The movement alone drew a murmur from the seats.

"Now these are only draft papers," Eldric continued. "What I need is simple. Try to trap the other person with a binding agreement. Outwit them."

The chosen ones nodded. They understood his meaning. He did not want them exposing their true tools.

Eldric wanted them demonstrating how a clever agreement could hide a knife without the spear underneath.

"I want an agreement drafted for the supply of fifty slaves, a hundred swords, and a ton of grain, delivered each week," Eldric said. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"The party on the left shall supply. The party on the right shall receive."

"Lastly, understand this. These are ordinary papers, for now. This is a demonstration. We are showing what comes of putting a Life Bane Contract to use without true expertise."

Eldric’s gaze swept the room, calm as a judge.

"You have one hour. Begin."

They began immediately. Charcoal scratched. Voices dropped low. Some smiled as they proposed traps that sounded polite on the surface and brutal underneath.

They did not want Radeon to see their real habits, and this suited them.

With a public demonstration, they could later cook up stories if asked, and the stories would hold because everyone had witnessed the same harmless charade.

Another reason so many people loved doing business with the old man. He gave cover when he gave profit.

Minutes slid into an hour. By the end, Goldman and Tiberius had a draft between them, papers passed back and forth until the ink looked tired.

The audience watched in awe as true moguls worked. Some looked almost enlightened.

A few even muttered vows to change their own methods, as if they had just discovered that words could be weapons sharper than swords.

"Allow me to explain a few points," Eldric said, pausing to let his gaze travel the crowd.

"These are but a handful of loopholes our esteemed merchants and lords have uncovered through long experience in trade."