Ryan reached into his spatial ring, retrieving and unfolding a document before turning it to face Lukas across the table. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"We’re ready to pay you five hundred thousand gold coins as a sign-on fee," he said. "The complete cash in full on the day you join."

"In addition, a monthly allowance of fifty thousand gold coins would be provided for you for the duration of your service." He held Lukas’s gaze. "All we ask for is five years."

Lukas looked down at the document, then up at Ryan.

He shook his head and laughed, the sound filled with amusement. He could tell both men weren’t joking but it might as well be a joke to him.

"Five years," he repeated. "You want five years of my time."

He leaned forward slightly. "Tell me why I should spend five years serving a guild when everything else I could do with those five years would benefit me more directly."

Dominik interjected himself into the conversation with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face.

"Because when you’re ready to advance to Adept, the transition to the Second Floor is not as simple as getting strong enough and walking through."

"You need maps. You need people who know the territory, who can tell you which zones are currently dangerous, which guilds are worth approaching, and which ones will kill you for your equipment."

He spread his hands. "The Iron Fist guild has been operating on the Second Floor for years. We can give you six months of that support while you find your footing. That should be worth something, don’t you think?"

Lukas glanced back at Melody and Akira.

"Look behind me," he said "Don’t you think I have all the support I need?" he said.

"Three people advancing together as new Adepts is pretty notable, yes," Dominik said, "but the survival rate on that approach is not encouraging. The Second Floor is not exactly the Green Forest where you can just stroll in and begin killing beasts."

"I’ll take the risk." Lukas said simply.

Ryan stared at him for a moment, then he reached forward, sliding the document back to himself.

"How about this? We can adjust the contract for you. If it’s the time you’re not approving of, we can decrease your service time to three years instead of five."

Lukas said nothing.

"And we raise the sign-on fee to seven hundred thousand gold coins."

Lukas tilted his head slightly, but still said nothing.

Dominik glanced at Ryan. Ryan gave him a barely perceptible nod.

"A million," Dominik said. "One million gold coins. Up front. Three years."

Lukas looked down at the document. Then up at the two men across from him.

Then he looked up at the ceiling as if he was running a calculation.

He could already tell that these two were determined to convince him to join their guild. He’d have to find a way to get them off his back.

He exhaled, looking back at them.

"I’ll think about it," he finally said.

Ryan’s expression shifted slightly toward skepticism. "You’ll think about it."

"You’ll have my answer," Lukas said, "when I have one worth giving."

He straightened in his chair. "If you want to leave terms, leave them. I’ll read them properly."

Ryan studied him for another moment, then nodded once. "When you’re ready, come to us with your own conditions. We’re not here to lowball an asset, we’re here to develop one. Whatever you need, that isn’t unreasonable, we’re prepared to discuss it."

"I appreciate it," Lukas said.

He stood. Ryan and Dominik took the cue, rising from their chairs.

He walked them to the door, exchanged a final nod with Ryan and a significantly more expressive farewell from Dominik, and closed the door behind them.

He turned back to the room.

Melody and Akira were both looking at him.

"A million gold coins," Akira said.

"I heard," Lukas said.

"I’m almost tempted, I’ll be honest." She shook her head slowly.

Melody laughed. "You’ve been S-rank for over a year. Are you not tired of it yet?"

"That’s exactly the problem." Akira pointed at her. "There is no version of me staying on the First Floor for three more years. None. I would lose my mind."

She crossed her arms. "So as appealing as a million gold coins sounds, the answer would still be no."

Lukas dropped into his chair. "I have no intention of staying either. The moment the tournament is done and we’ve helped me reach S-rank, we’ll leave."

"We find the nearest Tier 4 city and advance to Adept." He looked between them. "All three of us, together."

Melody nodded slowly, then she asked what was on her mind, "Is the Second Floor really as dangerous as Dominik just said?"

Lukas shrugged. "Every floor of the Tower is dangerous. That’s the point of it."

He looked between them. "But we’ve handled everything the First Floor has thrown at us so far. I’m confident in our capabilities. I’m sure we’ll be able to handle the Second Floor."

Akira nodded. "From what I’ve heard, the dungeons on the Second Floor operate differently."

"Some of them are large enough that parties can spend months inside, and the time distortion in certain rare ones means you could be in there for what feels like a week and come out to find a year has passed outside."

She paused.

"But with preparation, we should be able to handle most of that. The dangerous part should be whatever terrain we encounter and the beasts around it."

"As long as we go in with clear information, the right supplies and a clear exit strategy, we should be okay." She glanced at Lukas. "And we have something most parties advancing to Adept don’t have."

"What’s that?" Melody asked.

Akira pointed at Lukas. "A walking powerhouse with the stats of a veteran Adept, three classes, and enough skills to cover every type of beast we’re likely to encounter."

Melody laughed. "She’s not wrong. With that skill set, I genuinely struggle to think of a situation we couldn’t handle."

"Don’t jinx it," Lukas said.

They were still laughing when the knock came.

Lukas glanced at his wives. "This should be Morgana now."

Melody smiled, while Akira leaned slightly forward in her chair with an expression of open curiosity.

He stood, crossed the room, and opened the door.