Ah, politics. Jake hated doing it with a passion which is why he always outsourced it whenever possible. He hadn’t liked it before the system either. He wasn’t talking about the large political things like elections and such, but the small political maneuvering everyone did in their daily lives.
One example was making friends with certain other employees for their positions and then leveraging that friendship whenever needed. Jake knew it was almost expected that managers made friends with certain people in the HR department, so they had an ally to back them up on most issues.
People also did this with their bosses. In fact, the best example was how everyone was always way nicer to their boss than any other “equal” employee. How if the boss didn’t like anyone, everyone else also ostracized that employee to stay in the good graces of their glorious leader. Anyone who chose to show sympathy would naturally fall into the same camp as the pariah and be shunned themselves.
Jake had always hated this with a passion. Ass-lickers and sycophants who he didn’t doubt would throw their own mother under a bus for a promotion and a pat on the back from boss almighty. He knew their look, and as he saw the approaching crowd, he recognized it all too well.
Many plans were being formed in his mind on how to handle them. On the one hand, he knew offending them could lead to trouble down the road, not just for him but Miranda and others too, but on the other hand, he really didn’t wanna deal with them but set a hard line in the sand.
Luckily for him, Draskil didn’t have any of Jake’s reservations.
“The fuck you two want?” he aggressively asked the collection of humans, elves, and a few beastkin who went over.
“I apologize, Lord Draskil. We did not mean to disturb you. We merely meant to ask if we could borrow Lord Hunter for a minute to discu-”
“No, fuck off, we’re busy,” Draskil sneered as he stared them down. Jake just kept his mouth shut, and when they looked at him, he just shrugged powerlessly while inwardly wanting to give the dragonkin a high-five.
“Please, I promise to be brief,” the human insisted again, but Draskil was having none of it.“Are you blind? We are drinking, so if you want to talk, grab a drink and sit down or leave us be.”
Well, okay, that wasn’t exactly what Jake had planned, but he guessed it would be an okay compromise. Also, he needed an opportunity to give his gift, so maybe it would work out? His only problem was that he hadn’t really seen anyone give anything either – besides the boot-lickers – so he wasn’t really sure if he even wanted to.
The human and elf pair exchanged a glance before eventually moving to sit down. However, behind them, an early C-grade elf suddenly stopped them by raising his hand.
“Young man, showing courtesy is a virtue. There is no need for such an attitude, and you would do well to correct it,” the elf said, not to Jake but Draskil.
The dragonkin stood up and stared at the C-grade dead in the eye. “And you would do well to know when you are out of your league.”
An aura descended as Draskil let his presence loose, and Jake had to raise an eyebrow and keep himself calm. He clenched his fists a bit as his instincts made it clear… Draskil had gotten stronger. If Jake saw him as only slightly stronger when they entered the Order, he was now far more powerful… and he even had a feeling that initial evaluations had been slightly off.
“Oh yeah… I guess I never told you, ” he suddenly heard Villy’s voice. “The dragonkin killed his version of Snappy, and he isn’t really an alchemist at all. He is just a being of pure slaughter.”
Jake didn’t react outwardly, but inwardly he processed the information. Draskil beating his version of Snappy meant he killed one at level 190, 30 levels above the one Jake fought. Even if Jake believed he would have a chance now against the 160 one, he knew he would be utterly outclassed against one at level 190.
And Jake was also very sure that a level 190 Snappy would have been able to utterly destroy most early C-grades… especially if they were someone clearly not combat-focused like the C-grade attendant that had come with the human and elf.
Killing intent mixed with an odd feeling of emptiness rolled across the hall from Draskil as he towered over the elf who had seemed so confident before. However, the moment Draskil released his power, the elf clearly realized he had fucked up.
“Please do not misunderstand; I merely meant tha-”
A claw flew out and grasped the C-grade by the face before he could react. The moment he did so, Jake felt another presence appear that had been observing them from the start as a scaled figure teleported into his sphere.
Draskil looked over at the newcomer and let go of the stupid attendant who fell to the floor with blood running down his face from the claws digging in. The scaled figure saw this, nodded, and was gone as quickly as he appeared.
It appeared that even Draskil would back down when a random A-grade pops in.
However, even then, Draskil had established himself as the dominant party. Jake got up and put a hand on Draskil’s shoulder. “Chill and sit down. Ignore the morons of the world.”
Draskil turned his head and looked at Jake before just smirking and sitting back down casually like nothing had ever happened. Jake followed suit, but not before telling the elf and human pair: “I have no interest in aligning myself with any faction. Oh, and trust me, the competition you would have to beat if I was interested isn’t in your league. As for your whole idea of an alliance, I shall let time decide if that ever becomes a necessity. However, as things are back on my homeworld, things are a bit too complicated for the likes of you two to get involved.”
The two of them looked at him briefly before nodding in understanding before turning to leave again. The C-grade representative also left in embarrassment as Jake sat his ass back down and turned to Draskil.
“See, that is how rejection is gracefully done,” Jake scolded the brute dragonkin.
“Words when actions are more effective,” Draskil just shook his head.
Jake just smirked as he held out his hand towards a bottle of beer on the table and spoke: “Come.”
The bottle moved on its own as it flew into Jake’s hand. Jake was still far too weak to use Words of Power for anything useful in combat, but it was still a fun technique. “Behold, the power of words.”
“Words of Power,” Draskil corrected.
“And Words of Power is the power of words,” Jake countered.
The two of them chuckled a bit as they each enjoyed their drinks. Jake finally decided to ask something he now wondered about after seeing the display against the C-grade:
“You killed any C-grades yet?”
Draskil looked at Jake as he raised an eyebrow. “Plenty.”
“At what level were you when you killed your first?” Jake further asked.
“173 or 174. Why?” Draskil asked a bit suspiciously.
“Just curious. Relax, I am not looking for a dick-measuring contest,” Jake laughed it off.
“Why would the size of one’s genitalia matter when killing?” Draskil asked with genuine confusion.
Jake just shook his head in response. “Not going to explain that one to you.”
Mainly because he couldn’t. Who had even come up with such a stupid saying and concept anyway?
Poor Draskil looked confused for a few moments before just shrugging it off as he kept drinking. The two of them relaxed a bit more and just talked about good fights they had in the past, and Jake came to learn that he and Draskil both had in common that they were sole survivors of their Tutorials, though for different reasons.
In Jake’s, everyone had been officially “killed,” and it was a shitshow while Draskil had killed everyone else in his Tutorial. One thing was for sure, Draskil was not a kindhearted dragonkin, and his path so far had been one where he killed most others who got in his way. He did own a Pylon and had a position similar to Jake’s, but he apparently had to go through three City Lords so far before he got one who didn’t get ambitious or tried to backstab him. Jake had really gotten lucky with Miranda now that he thought about it.
As they talked, more people kept arriving at the gathering, and political maneuvering was ongoing all around. They just had their own corner where they chilled with other scalekin who sometimes joined in, and Jake learned a lot about the different kinds of scalekins – a race far more diverse than humans.
This kept on until Jake felt a familiar presence approach. Two of them, in fact. One was Irin, but she looked a bit nervous as she walked beside another figure Jake had met with not that long ago. The dragonkin Helen had also decided to pay a visit.
Jake glanced at Draskil to see if he would toss them away again, but he just stared at their approach. He seemed almost transfixed and was still just staring when they made it over and greeted them.
“Lord Hunter, Lord Draskil, I have brought Lady Helenstromoz Emberflight, who decided to grace this lowly event with her presence,” Irin said. Jake at first thought it was done sarcastically, but she was one hundred percent sincere. The dragon lady had some social standing, that was for sure.
“We meet again,” Jake just greeted her with a nod.
“Indeed we do, Patriarch Hunter,” she greeted him with a meaningful smile.
Jake’s smile instantly faded as she had spoken loud enough for Draskil and Irin as well as several scalekin to hear. Irin looked at Jake with surprise, and Draskil looked bewildered for a moment before it also clicked in his head.
Calling out his Bloodline like that was honestly a bit of a dick move.
He looked at her as he shook his head. “A bit petty, isn’t it? Just because I rejected you once you come to cause trouble like a little girl who didn’t get what she wanted the first time around?”
It was entirely possible she wanted to keep up a façade of ignorance, grace, and civility, but Jake didn’t. He knew his Bloodline would be shared eventually, but to openly out him like this just wasn’t okay and wasn’t going to fly.
Helen frowned a bit at Jake’s word but chose to act ignorant as predicted. “I am uncertain what you mean? If I remember correctly, our last meeting ended with you taking time to think about the offer.”
“You got a Bloodline?” Draskil butted in before Jake could answer Helen.
“Yep,” Jake quickly answered him before turning back to Helen. “And that thinking period is now over. I honestly liked the straightforward approach the first time around, but this manipulative bullshit isn’t acceptable.”
Helen looked a bit surprised at Jake’s outright refusal and attitude. She stared at him in disbelief for a moment and decided to leave. “Very well, I can see I engaged you at a bad time, and you seem to have had a bit too much to drink. Let us have this discussion in a more private setting the next time? We could even go to the local Emberflight Sanctum to-“
“I think I made my answer clear?” Jake asked.
“I shall choose to allow you to keep considering the offer,” Helen just said as she promptly turned and teleported away as she turned into flames and disappeared through a gate.
Did she just run away to get the last word? Now that is petty, Jake scoffed internally as he shook his head and took another drink of his beer.
Irin and Draskil both stared at him a bit towards the direction Helen had gone.
“Uhm, Lord Hunter…” Irin began. “Do you know who the young mistress is?”
Jake shrugged. “A little girl with personality issues because daddy gave her everything she wanted growing up?”
Draskil chuckled a bit as Irin looked grave. “She is the young mistress of the Emberflight Clan, born with a unique and very powerful Bloodline. She is already being nurtured by several S-grades, with even some gods paying attention… offending her and making an enemy of a Dragonflight isn’t wise. I would try to mend the relationship if possible.”
“While I appreciate the advice and understand it comes from a place of concern, it is unnecessary,” Jake answered.
“Did that lass want to have your hatchlings?” Draskil suddenly just asked out of the blue.
Jake and Irin were both taken aback, as Draskil looked like the question was completely innocent. Jake wasn’t sure what to say but chose to just be honest. “There indeed were talks of “procuring” my Bloodline, and that she would be involved isn’t out of the question. But I have no interest at all, not with her or anyone.”
“A shame; she looks very breedable,” Draskil shrugged. “But seeing as you aren’t going for her, can I? She looks like she would give powerful hatchlings. Don’t worry, wouldn’t go for it if you had already claimed her as your mate.”
Jake looked at Draskil for a moment as he decided then and there to never talk relationships with the guy. “No comments.”
“Great,” he smiled, but it quickly turned to a frown. “Not that I know how to contact her.”
He then looked towards Irin, who shook her head. “I do not have any way of contacting her. I only met her just now as she arrived at the venue.”
Before Draskil even looked at Jake, Jake answered. “This is your issue to deal with, buddy.”
While Jake didn’t care about Helen, he wasn’t going to just give out the contact information of others without consent, no matter how little he liked them. Besides, he now knew he had a whole other problem to deal with as Irin finally returned her attention to him.
“So… a Bloodline?”
“It is what it is,” Jake shrugged.
“A beneficial one too based on the actions of the Emberflight.”
Jake knew he didn’t need to answer as the actions of Helen had all but confirmed it. He also knew denying he had a Bloodline would be a waste of time as someone present was bound to report it to some superiors or backers or something who could send someone to check. Instead, he decided to just own up to it and go with the old illusion of it being a presence-based one.
Through his Sphere of Perception, he had already seen several individuals take out their tokens after Helen had arrived and outed him. Many reports had already been sent out, and Jake knew that before long, the existence of his Bloodline and the fact that the Emberflight deemed it valuable would be spread far and wide.
I need some more beer…