Chapter 176: Negotiations With A Sect Elder

The girl led us to the room in the large building where the Elder Abrunn resided, one of the many Elder that made up the Ice Moon Sect.

I could already tell he was strong from the outside, his Aura exuding the power of a Rank 3 Magus.

The world is sure small if I can find a Rank 3 Magus so easily, thinking how long it took me to reach this stage, and I already find someone with it!

Wait, wouldn't that "much time" for them would be like nothing? After all, they probably took many years to reach this high...

I guess I should consider that.

Well, for me, it felt slow, I have to admit it.

When the door opened, we were greeted by a tired-looking Ice Giant Man, he seemed like a middle-aged man with short black hair and pale white eyes. Very unusual features for an Ice Giant.

"Welcome, I am Elder Abrunn... Who of you have the highest authority?" asked Abrunn.

"Me, my name is Drake. Nice to meet a fellow Elder," said Drake.

"Oh, sir Drake, could you be an Elder of your Sect? That should make negotiations easier..." said Abrunn.

"Indeed. I believe so," I said. As the rest of my party stood behind me silently. Benladann was rather nervous.

"Hmm... Rank 3. No? Way higher... You seem to release the faint presence of a higher strength than Rank 3, Elder Drake. What is your Cultivation Rank?" asked Abrunn.

"Rank 3, the other power might just be your imagination," I said.

"...I see," said Abrunn.

"Anyways, let's get to business right away. It is rare to see another Sect around this region acting so friendly with us. Usually, they want to wage war against us and steal our territory and the Dungeons that maintain our entire economy, but that's not something we can let happen. However, I am relieved to know that you and your Sect want to do friendly negotiations, Elder Drake," said Abrunn.

I hate these formalities, can't we go to the point?

"Indeed, I am not interested in fighting anyone. We just want to go to the Dungeons," I said.

"I see. That will be quite an easy thing to do. However, there are things we need to do. One of them is to sign a contract. You see, these dungeons belong to us, so letting other Sects get inside and harvest their own resources would be like letting someone get into our rice fields and take as much rice as they want just because the rice is growing in the open wild," said Abrunn.

"Oh... So it is essentially robbery because you consider the dungeons as your property, and taking resources from them is like stealing yours?" I asked.

"Exactly! I am glad you were able to understand quickly, Elder Drake, this will make things quicker. Now... Due to this, we cannot let someone that is not from our Sect just enter and make money and resources for their own Sects, even less if we are risking these Sects gaining power from our generosity only to try to attack us and gain control of our territory... This world is vast and dangerous, so these things are a big possibility amongst the many there are," said Abrunn.

Did this happen to them before? Oof...

"I see how it is. Fear not, we have several friends that live in this place, so we wouldn't ever want to do such a thing," I said.

"I see... Phew, that is really a relief. However, we cannot do it with us words, we must proceed with a Magic Contract, a Contract that prohibits both Sects from taking aggressive actions against one another, this thing just requires to be signed," said Abrunn, giving me a magic pen and showing me the paper.

"I am sorry to be so ignorant over this but... What is this Contract? How do they work?" I asked.

"Hm, there's no problem in trying to know. Understandably, you might have not seen them where you come from, after all this is an invention not from this Continent but from Midgard, which was brought here a few thousands of years ago by our Venerable, Lady Ice Queen, although they had not been as widespread as she would have liked, they are still very useful," said Abrunn.

Wait, Ice Queen brought them here?! I see...

"Anyways, these Contracts let two people or even two whole organizations make a contract. Not a simple contract but a magic one. Both parties are bound with a special rune infused into their souls after signing the document, the one that violates this document will be punished with a wound into the soul, and the rune will break, communicating with the other party about the violation," said Abrunn.

So that's how it is, interesting... But it seems that this thing might be bad for me...

Wait, not really.

Can't I just cut the piece of soul? Oh... I guess I can find a loophole to this quite easily.

"Remember that a wound in the soul would not only cause tremendous pain but also agony and weakness," said Abrunn.

"I see... Well, I am still willing to sign it," I said.

"Very well then! That will make things easier then! Now, please, sign it," said Abrunn.

I made sure to read the damn document several times until I was convinced that there were no weird requirements, and then signed it.

The contract included a fee that we needed to pay, which was 50% of our earned income through the dungeon something that would be not so hard to give away. I can always eat anything I don't want to give away anyways inside the dungeon, as long as it is 50% of what we get by getting out.

"Excellent. Now, it would be nice if we could register your Sect here as a guest, what is your Sect Name?" asked Abrunn.

A sect name...

"Our Sect name is... The Winter Dragon Sect," I said.

"Oh, an interesting name..." said Abrunn.