Black String of Fate

Inside a dining hall arranged by the training arena, 2 old men and a little boy were having their lunch. More accurately, the two old men already had their fill, and they were watching the little boy somehow devour the 7th plate of dish that was enough to fill a whole family.

Finally, after finishing that plate and chugging a jug full of fruit juice, Xavier made a content sigh and looked over at the two guests.

"Sorry for the delay, the food tasted especially great this time."

The older of the two laughed and said,

"Of course it would, you had burned so much of your energy that even shit would taste good to you."

"Haha, who knows? I've never tried it."

The two swordsmen lightened the mood with such a disgusting joke during lunchtime that Zorak felt weirded out. He cleared his throat to grab the attention and began by introducing himself.

"Greetings, Xavier. I'm Zorak, the master mage who came from the Mage's Association regarding the artifacts of the Elemental King. This gentleman here is Arkham, a Crafted Grandmaster."

Xavier raised his eyebrow after hearing the rank of the old swordsman. He could tell that he was a Grandmaster but didn't know that he was a Crafted one.

"Oh wow, Crafted? That's impressive. How many stars do you have?"

Both the men were surprised by the nonchalant way Xavier received this news. It was like he already knew that Arkham was a Grandmaster.

Arkham was also surprised by another fact.

'He knows the concept of stars? What an interesting boy.'

"I'm a 3-star greatsword practitioner. Out of them, I'm an extreme star in Strength."

Xavier was impressed after hearing this. Swordsmen with legitimate stars were rare, and extreme ones on top of that were great geniuses rarely found. He was now sure that this swordsman was a big shot.

"Of course. The utter ease you carry that behemoth gives it away." Xavier commented after glancing at the massive sword that was more than thrice his size.

"Hoho, I still have a lot to learn."

Arkham was pleased with talking to this youngster. Weirdly enough, the child seemed much more mature than his age would suggest, so much so that he felt like he was talking to his equal peer.

"Now, I won't bore you with this casual talk, Master Zorak."

Xavier smiled as he got up and brought out a stack of books and a chalice from a storage pouch he was lent by the adventurer's guild.

"You can take a look at these, they are all authentic."

Xavier passed the stack of books and the chalice to Zorak, who held them carefully and began to carefully inspect them.

"I sense time magic to preserve the condition of the books. Based on the potency of the traces of that magic, this definitely belongs to the era of the Elemental King. Most probably, he himself cast this time magic.

I'll be direct, we, the Mage's Association, want to buy all of this. It is a priceless treasure for us."

Xavier closed one eye and made a sly smile.

"I know, that is why we're here. State your price, let's begin the negotiations."

Zorak, like Arkham, did not feel like he was talking to an 8-year-old child. The expressions, the tone, they all seemed like he was an old fox.

"12 million Roubles. I believe that is enough for all of these."

Hearing that amount, even Arkham was surprised. It was a huge amount to go into the pockets of a small child.

Xavier made a small sigh, showing his disappointment openly.

"Master Zorak, when I asked for the price, I expected something more than just monetary compensation. I'm talking with a representative of the great Mage's Association, not the Merchant Union, am I not?"

Zorak was speechless at the daring contempt displayed by a mere child to a mage who could obliterate his existence easily. Was he bold or foolish?

Arkham was thoroughly amused by the boy's attitude.

'Hah, Zorak came here thinking it was a mere chore to "negotiate" with a kid, but he had his ass handed to him right now.'

"Xavier, be careful about your comments. Not everyone is as forgiving as I am." Zorak said in a stern tone, trying to intimidate Xavier a bit.

"Let's drop the pretenses, Master Zorak. I know that every single article with any relation to the Elemental King is a great priceless treasure that the Mage's Association would do anything to collect. The only thing stopping them from using violent methods is their reputation.

Now, ask the question I've been waiting to hear."

Xavier devilishly smiled, and Zorak had his words stuck in his throat.

'Heh, this kid is too young to scare an ex-demon king.'

With dissatisfaction, Zorak asked the question.

"What do you want?"

Xavier's eyes lit up at this question, he had long thought out what he wanted from a powerful entity such as a Mage's Association.

"Master Zorak, look at the sixth book in the stack of books. It talks about the perfect magical foundation."

Zorak grabbed the book and started skimming through it. While reading through, his eyes widened with disbelief.

"My god, Lord Salazar really created this absurd potion. This can shake the magical world…"

"Yes, what I want for all of this is the potion mentioned in this book. I want the Mage's Association to get the best alchemist they can get their hands on and create a vial of that potion. That's not all, I want a favor from the Mage's Association that I can cash out at any time."

Zorak thought about this deal proposed to him carefully. While the conditions imposed by Xavier were much more expensive than his 12 million Roubles, the book of perfect foundation alone made up for it. It was a good deal, but he had a lingering question.

"If I may ask, why do you need the magical foundation potion? You are a swordsman, this should be useless for you…"

Xavier smiled as he replied,

"I plan on walking the path of the magic swordsman. I might as well use this opportunity to get the best start."

This statement shocked not only Zorak, but also Arkham who spit out the wine he was casually sipping.