Frostbound

Marcus Shieldwell

The meeting he'd been nervously preparing for was going surprisingly easily. When the annoying light-thrower was here, he told enough stories to get a picture, but that wasn't enough to base anything on.

Being around family and a stranger were completely different.

Going into it, Marcus wanted to make sure this partnership did well. They had already helped more than any other Faction had, they didn't ask for much, and it would be a benefit to both Cities if they kept up their trade.

Letting them use the treasure freely hurt the mercantile side of his brain, but they more than deserved it after the amount of help they provided. Marcus wondered if he would've given them access if they hadn't.

If they heard about it after the fact and asked to use it, would he have let them? There'd be a price, of course, but that would be dangerously close to giving his enemies strength and the weapons needed to stab him in the back.

Those thoughts were unwarranted as that wasn't how it went, but it was food for thought. No one else had asked, and he tried to keep the existence of the treasure a secret, but Marcus doubted that would hold for long.

The dense waves of pure Water mana were noticeable. Extremely noticeable.

Marcus wouldn't be surprised if someone was plotting for it already. Yet another reason he needed this partnership to go well.

He held something dangerous in his hands that he would rather die than give up. Something that precious would be fought over. It was only a matter of time.

When the time came, if he wasn't enough, he'd need friends to call on. And the man in front of him seemed like the perfect friend.

Christopher was shorter than he imagined. Still above average, but a few inches shorter than himself. His facial structure and hair color matched the previous members of his family Marcus had met, but he was so much different than them.