Will of chaos

I see Guerra turning and leaving through the same portal he arrived through. Soon after, the Merchant, who had remained distant near the portal, finally steps forward. The entire space ripples once more, with the war paintings giving way to works of art and the weapons being displayed giving way to bookshelves.

Throughout my conversation with Guerra, the Merchant remained distant with a simple smile on his face, but as soon as Guerra left, he stepped forward.

“Now that your meeting with Guerra is over, I believe we have business to finalize.” (Merchant)

“…” (me)

He won’t interrupt beforehand to make a clear distinction as to why the two Entities are here.

“I’m here to finalize some open business.” (Merchant)

The merchant picks up a book the size of my head with thousands of pages, then waves his hand to the side, making a wall disappear and revealing a room where thousands of boxes of all shapes and sizes were stored, many resembling treasure chests or jewelry boxes.

“What is all this?” (me)

“The accounting book for the bets with your share of the agreement described.” (Merchant)

“In that other room is your payment due as promised.” (Merchant)

“Before we discuss other matters, as Merchant, I need to finalize our business as it was done.” (Merchant)

“I understand…” (me)

He wants to end all this before discussing the broken alliance, as well as other matters.

————————–

3 hours later.

As expected from a merchant, he was meticulous with details and wanted to make the entire process of dividing the winnings clear. The accounting book showed the bets and key names to keep the bettors anonymous, even detailing the division of the winnings.

In the end, I obtained over 800 varied Essences, also over 350 Divinity Fragments, and spoils such as dozens of Anomalous Beast Eggs, over 200 solar systems, 10 Origin Artifacts, and copies of thousands of books, scrolls, grimoires, and manuscripts that the Merchant had acquired.

It was an astronomical gain, and it seems the Merchant filtered out some items I wouldn’t want to receive, such as cursed objects, slaves, or adult monsters.

After finalizing everything, the Merchant moved on to a list of everything I received and his evaluations of all the items with detailed explanations.

Throughout this entire time, Urd and Lena were extremely helpful, being so organized; without them, it would have taken three times as long to finish all of this.

Freya and Cortana inspected each of the items. I asked them to do this because of their abilities. Cortana possesses knowledge of Death and can identify everything there, while Freya could perceive everything in the natural realm, which was the majority of the gains, and thus know their states.

Only Xerxes did nothing but watch, but I knew she was doing it because of the Merchant; she was watching him closely.

“Lena, can you and the others take everything to Tarzor?” (me)

“No problem, but we’ll still need your power for Tarzor’s evolution.” (Lena)

“Get everything ready, and I’ll be there to do my part.” (me)

I watch them leave after collecting everything that was mine, leaving only me and Xerxes keeping the Merchant company.

“What else do you have to say to wait for them to leave?” (Me)

“To my embarrassment, I broke an agreement; this isn’t the kind of conversation I’d like to have in front of more people than necessary.” (Merchant)

“If you’re talking about the alliance you requested, then just compensate me for breaking the contract and we won’t discuss this matter again.” (Me)

“I didn’t expect you to be so direct in asking for something, but I like your weakness; compensation would be exactly what I was thinking to allow us to resume our partnership…” (Merchant)

“Please, stop.” (Me)

“I think you misunderstood my words. When I said to let this matter go, I meant not holding a grudge about what happened and leaving it as just an unhappy memory in the past.” (Me)

“I have no intention of ever doing any business with you again other than a simple, occasional purchase or sale.” (Me)

“He understands your words very well; he was just testing to see where you drew the dividing line between you.” (Xerxes)

“You know, it wasn’t necessary to expose myself like that.” (Merchant)

“I prepared a compensation…” (Merchant)

“If possible, we would like to make a substitution in the compensation.” (Xerxes)

“…” (Me)

I didn’t understand where Xerxes was going with all this, but for now I allowed her to take the lead in the negotiation; I wanted at least to see what she was trying to achieve.

“As long as it’s within the acceptable limits of this compensation, I don’t mind if you have a more specific request.” (Merchant)

“I want a safe item that allows two individuals to spend months or years together while in reality only a few hours or days have actually passed.” (Xerxes)

“Let me put your requirements in order.” (Merchant)

1. At least 2 users.

2. Accelerated thinking.

3. Mental or spiritual environment.

4. Ability to be safely deactivated.

5. No side effects, I imagine.

“Those would be the characteristics?” (Merchant)

“Yes, that seems acceptable.” (me)

“I have the perfect item, but for it to work, both individuals need to agree, and it would also be a smaller compensation than what I previously prepared.” (Merchant)

“…” (me)

“…” (Xerxes)

I exchange a glance with Xerxes; she sends me a thought about how to use such an item. She wants to accelerate my time with Hana to help achieve Entity Transfer faster.

“You can supplement what you believe is below with seeds of edible plants, trees, or vegetables.” (Me)

“I will also add some rarer Essences, such as the Essence of the Soul, Essence of the Night, and my own Essence of Commerce.” (Merchant)

“That seems acceptable.” (Me)

“It was a pleasure doing business with you.” (Xerxes)

Xerxes reaches through the space, his Concept pulsing in his hands as he pulls out 3 boxes from within the space. One of the boxes had a seed design, another had a drawing of a planet with a ring around it, and the last had two connected rings.

“I hope this bad moment doesn’t dictate our future. I will be available if you wish to resume business someday. With your permission… I take my leave…” (Merchant)

The merchant bows slightly as a gesture of greeting before exiting through the portal, which disappears along with the entire room around us. Soon, the field of flowers and the Temple of Urd were in sight once more.

———————-

A few minutes later, I was alone in a room with Xerxes. I wanted to talk to her about some things away from the others.

“Do you want to use that item with me and Hana?” (me)

“Yes, your development with her is slower than I expected, so it will take months if it’s fast and years if it’s slow.” (Xerxes)

“She is the trial that is still holding you back from achieving Transference. I was supposed to be freed at the same time you became the new Entity of Chaos. You already have everything you need to achieve Transference.” (Xerxes)

“I am capable of controlling my own emotions, I just need more time.” (me)

“We don’t have time, and it’s not about controlling emotions, it’s about eradicating those emotions.” (Xerxes)

“You can’t even look at your daughter without seeing that woman who abandoned you!” (Xerxes)

“…” (me)

“You need to see her for who she is now, you need to put an end to what you feel for that woman who no longer exists!” (Xerxes)

“I know that, but it’s not easy to achieve.” (me)

“That’s why I traded the compensation the Merchant wanted to give you, I saw the opportunity to get what was missing, time.” (Xerxes)

“You are too attached to your family, sooner or later you will become attached to the girl and see in her what makes her unique, I know that and that’s why this item is so important.” (Xerxes)

“What will happen when I become an Entity?” (me)

“I don’t know, your path was strange, there are many connected to you, linked to your stellar paths…” (Xerxes)

“But the most likely outcome is a general increase in strength for everyone, I just don’t know how that will translate into reality.” (Xerxes)

“Very well, I’ll try…” (me)

Xerxes was right, I wouldn’t be able to connect with Hana so quickly. I still see the shadow of that woman in her; I can’t even tell my daughter that I love her.

“(Why does everything have to be so difficult…?)” (me)

“Are you sure it will be safe?” (me)

“Yes, the Merchant guaranteed it, and it’s also his form of compensation. Believe me, he can’t lie about that.” (Xerxes)

“Even though your Avatar is the one who formed the Alliance with you, it was on his behalf. This agreement is treated like any other and has a high level of importance due to his involvement. Remember that your Concept integrates alliances, contracts, and guarantees.” (Xerxes)

“He went against his own principles this time. It may not seem like it, but he was hurt by it. It was a minor injury since his intentions were partly for you, but because you felt wronged and his action went against the terms of the alliance, everything led to the current situation.” (Xerxes)

“So the compensation is just another way for him to stop the bleeding?” (me)

“Exactly, that’s why security will be guaranteed this time. He wouldn’t dare try anything regardless of the reason.” (Xerxes)

“At least I won’t have to worry about that…” (me)

“Call Hana here, let’s finish this as quickly as possible.” (me)