Veena wanted to take me directly to talk to her father, who was the governor of the archipelago. Naturally, I declined and went to find Danek. I wasn’t dealing with this brat. I told her I needed my people, which apparently annoyed her, because she wanted me to speak to her father now and not later. This damn brat…

Ultimately she told us directions to the governor’s house and told us to call for her at the gate.

After that we went back to our lodgings.

Fortunately mother was there and I told her what happened as we went to find father and Danek. 

The harbor market was a sight to behold. There were six trading ships docked and in front of them was a long row of stalls with white canvas covering them. There were fruits, drinks, potions, lotions and knickknacks and trinkets of all sorts. Steel weapons seemed to be in high demand from the warriors of the city. They were traded by green haired people of fair white skin who were startlingly tall and skinny. 

“Those are the Jammi,” mother said as she saw me looking. “They live in Jamania, which is a land covered entirely in swamps and mountains. They have many mines there and are expert smiths.”

“Are they from the mainland?” I asked. “Are they from tier one?”

“I think so,” mother said. 

I looked around and saw blue-skinned people dicing in front of a run-down ship. All of them had a hardened look to them, with tattoos on their arms and gold rings hanging from their droopy, long ears. They were trading in wooden effigies and strange carved items I didn’t know. But when I used my Mana Sight, I saw that the effigies were magical.

“Who are those people?” 

“They are the Trola,” mother said. “They are seafaring folk from the Pirate Islands.”

“They are trading in something magical though… I want to go see.”

“Later, little gem. Let us go find your father and Danek.”

The local merchants were on the city’s side of the harbor, on a row of stalls in their own right.

While the merchants from faraway lands might have more interesting trade, the stalls of Aligapa competed with size and show. Shouting merchants in all kinds of ridiculous colors in front of stalls that were creaking with the weight of all kinds of pots and plants and whatnot. In the corner of a street Danek had his own little stall. It was much more modest than the stalls around him, but he had no shortage of customers. 

His four helpers were busy shuffling about with the potions, putting them in crates and managing a small crate of copper and silver coins. My father stood by the stall imposingly with a spear in his hand.

I spoke with my father and asked how he was doing. He said that apart from a few thieves he had to deal with, he was having a good time. He asked how my training was going, and I told him about Ranok. 

“Can you defeat him?” father asked.

“It might be difficult,” I said. “I need to get stronger.”

Father mussed my hair. “So by the tournament, you’ll do it easily!”

“Daaad,” I said and swatted at his hair. “It’s not that simple. I don’t have a way to improve fast enough right now.”

“Hah,” father said. “I know you will figure it out.”

Soon Danek was done with the customers.

“Ah, my benefactor!” Danek said and smiled widely at me. “You have no idea how much fun I have been having. And look. Look Luka! Money! Coins!”

He grabbed my hand and took me to the chest which already had a hefty sum. “Thirty silver and eighty-two copper in total! Your potions are so powerful that people come back for them eagerly.”

“I’m glad you’re having success, Danek,” I said. “But the potions are mostly done by Elder Piraka.”

“Peh,” Danek said and waved a hand. “You haven’t been infusing Piraka’s potions since the third village we visited on our journey here. I made sure to trade all of the infused ones to uninfused ones to increase profits. And now I have enough money to expand our sales. I understand that you have been busy training, and cannot spare time to infuse the potions.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Danek said. “That is why I am diversifying. You have already given me a lot.”

“I’ll find some time to infuse another thirty,” I said. “But I can’t do it reliably right now.”

“Of course,” Danek said. “But what did you want to see me for?”

“Can you take a break here?”

Danek looked at his stall operation longingly, but then reluctantly nodded. “For you? Of course.”

Then he turned to his helpers and told them to keep the stall running. 

“And you had better get the count right if any customers come,” Danek said and wagged a finger at them. “Or I will dock it from your debt again.”

“Yes, Danek!” the goons said and bowed sullenly.

I chuckled at the sight and one of them glared at me with red cheeks.

Soon enough Alik came to join us. Then we went off to have lunch with my little strange family. 

The food was some exotic meat of a jungle beast with herbs and seaweed. I preferred the fish father caught, but this was alright. We ate while Alik explained the situation with the tournament and the noble house tension.

“Ah this is an opportunity,” Danek said and rubbed his chin. “A dangerous gambit, but all the good ones are.”

“Whose side do you want to take?” father asked.

I shrugged. “I doubt Belator wants any help. Ranok is the favorite to win.”

“We should help the governor’s daughter!” Alik said. “It is only right. Their family has treated our islands well.”

I gave him the side eye but said nothing. Mother smirked.

“We will gain better leverage from the current governor,” Danek said. “But the risk is greater. Will you be able to defeat this Ranok?”

Father slammed his drink on the table. “Of course he can!”

“If I can figure something out. I still have time.”

“Then it is simple,” Danek said and clapped his hands. “We will speak with the governor. And we offer simple terms: they will offer to help grow Luka stronger in preparation for the tournament. And after we win and secure their power, they will help us make a connection with the main family on the continent.”

“Us, is it?” mother said and smiled warmly. “Are you implying you will join our journey?”

Danek blushed and stuttered something about weighing his options.

I smiled widely. This was exactly why having Danek along was great. All I needed to do was to infuse some potions and he would take care of these sticky situations. He was such a good friend.

Alik looked uncomfortable at the prospect of leaving the archipelago but said nothing. My mother hummed thoughtfully. “But isn’t this asking too much?”

Danek shook his head and shoveled food in his mouth. Had he gotten fatter lately? 

“They are desperate enough to approach Luka directly like this. He has a good reputation because of the monster incident. We have the high ground in negotiations. Although you shouldn’t have agreed immediately.”

I rubbed my neck. “I couldn’t help it. She offered to show me magic stuff.”

My strange family laughed, and I wasn’t sure what was so funny about that.

Danek nodded enthusiastically after our table calmed down. “It is no worry. It will be interesting negotiating from this position. I shall ask the sun to receive the moon. I have found this to be a powerful technique.”

“You are both scary for your age,” father said and chuckled.

“I will need you present during the negotiation with the governor, though,” Danek said.

I groaned. 

Mother and father went to spend some time together, while the goons and Alik stayed to man the stall. Me and Danek went to talk to the governor. 

The governor’s villa was a two-story building with a beautiful yard. The house even had windows, which was completely unheard of in my home village. We were received by a guard and escorted upstairs to a study.

In the room waited Veena in a blue cloak and battleskirt with her hair braided. The governor himself was leaning against a table. He was a tall man with blonde hair and broad shoulders. Handsome with a severe face, but the crow’s feet suggested he was quick to laughter. He addressed us with a booming voice.

“I am Jakhor of House Salakin and governor of Aligapa.”

“It’s an honor to meet you,” I said and bowed as Danek had told me to do. “My name is Luka.”

“Oh?” the governor said. “You speak for yourself, even if you are so young.”

“I had the fortune of awakening my System early.”

“So I gather,” Jakhor said and spread his arms. “The young sorcerer. Little God you are called in taverns, you hear? My daughter speaks highly of your abilities too. But I have to admit, the rumors are hard to believe.”

I prepared a quick kinetic spell and aimed it behind me. The door of the study slammed shut. Danek gave me a quick appreciative nod.

“Well, well,” the governor said and loosened his collar. “I am sorry for speaking hastily. Please sit down.”

It was mostly boring. After I introduced Danek as the one the governor would be talking to, they engaged in negotiations.

Danek smiled pleasantly and talked up my achievements, making them such unbelievable fables that I had difficulty maintaining a poker face. Immediately following this, Danek asked for a ridiculous amount of refined mana, introductions to the head of the mainland family, and free passage for our entire group.

The governor laughed. Then Danek laughed.

Then they started bargaining. I stopped paying attention at some point when they started to talk about numbers.  Honestly, it was fascinating how much fun Danek seemed to be having. But I quickly grew bored of listening to them.

Then after a moment to my delight, Veena did the first pleasant thing yet. She grabbed my arm and said:

“Come. I want to duel you.”

“You were supposed to show me magical artifacts,” I reminded her.

“Hmph. Only if you beat me.”

“Fine…”

She led me down the stairs into a backyard with a garden.

The backyard had a small dueling ring with a training weapon rack and a small medical station. One of the guards was there to watch in case something went wrong. Veena walked to the middle of the ring and cast her cloak aside, which the guard picked up as he handed her a training sword.

I walked into the ring and waited. We just stood there for a bit, so I used this time to prepare a spell and infuse myself with Mana Augmentation. It looked like she was waiting for something.

“Well?” Veena said and pointed the shortsword at me.

“I already have a spell prepared,” I said. “I was waiting for you to attack me.”

“Hmph!” she said. “You are open!”

The girl lunged with a speedy thrust towards me and shouted. “Sword Charge!”

Must have been an Ability she was still learning. Either way, I released the Water Bullet I had been preparing and aimed it directly between us. This exploded the soft sand everywhere and blasted her backwards. While she got back on her feet, I gave my new continuous barrier spell formula its finishing touch. I was really hoping she would test its limits.

She did. She slid to my side using a movement Ability, and sliced horizontally at me. The barrier stopped the blade and didn’t break. I grinned. That was the best I’d conjured so far in combat. 

If given time, I could conjure a barrier that could even take a thrown spear from Alik. But in combat time was short, and I could only cast simple spells. Now that the spell didn’t break, I could also immediately pour mana into it to reinforce it again. 

“Wha—”

She took a few steps back to create space. That was a mistake. Another hit and the barrier would have broken. Now I had time to use a Water Jet mostly created through my cultivation. 

After she was blown out of the ring, she glared at me from under her soaked bangs. I smiled and bowed. 

“Good fight.”

“Screw you!” she said. “I was holding back to test you. I wasn’t really trying.”

I only grinned at her. “Neither was I.”

“How are you doing that anyway? Do you have a cultivation method or how do you have so much mana?”

“That’s a secret.”

“Hmph! We are helping you. You should tell me your secrets.”

“I don’t think that’s the way this works.”

“We are the governing family and you are our subjects.”

“But you came to me.”

“How else would you know to help us?”

“I don’t think this conversation is going anywhere.”

“Shut up! Duel me again.”

“Absolutely not,” I said. “You promised to show me magical items to study.”

She glared at me, clearly unhappy about being rebuked. But despite her pride she nodded.

“Fine. I made a promise, and I keep my promises.”

Then she turned and almost smacked me in the face with her long braid. I idly wondered if that was intentional.

“Follow me!”