Limits

After a few days of working and waiting, Lazar came by to the tavern, and told me to meet with Harlin and the officials. I followed him to the meeting place, which was at the Upper part of Olrad. The guards didn't question me or Lazar, when we went through a checkpoint. We arrived in front of a large building, the same building that could be seen from pretty much any location in Olrad.

He said "Go in, someone will take you to the meeting. I will wait here for you, and escort you back when the meeting is done". I nodded my head, and entered. Inside, I noticed that the design was much different, compared with other buildings from the Lower part of Olrad. Not only the interior was lavish, but it was clean. Clean in a sense of whiteness, to the point it was glaring. I saw another Lizard, standing in a large reception area. 'He seems to be waiting for me' I thought, and walked towards him.

When I stood in front of the Lizard, he said "I've been waiting for you. We will head straight to the meeting. Follow me". I nodded my head, and followed after the Lizard. I thought about asking some questions, but then I figured that, the Lizards inside that meeting room, would be much more informed.

We soon arrived at the large door, where he stopped and said "This is the place of the meeting. You can continue through this door alone. I will wait for you outside". I again nodded my head, and entered through the door. The room behind, was very spacious. There was a large table in the middle, with chairs surrounding it. On the sides, there were some bookcases, as well as sofas and other comfortable chairs.

There were couple of Lizards dressed differently inside that room. Not only were those Lizards dressed differently, their colour was black, with golden stripes on some of their body parts. Harlin was also there, but dressed in his usual attire. He came forwards and said "Have a seat, the Members of Royal Family, will discuss the trade deal with you". I nodded my head and sat down. 'This explains why they look so different. It's because those Lizards are part of the Royal Family' I thought. Harlin took a seat next to me, while other Lizards sat in front of us.

One of the three Royal Lizard, started the conversation. "We heard about your ordeals, inside the Vulture Cliffs. We are really impressed, by that weapon of yours. To be able to destroy such an army, this is a weapon anyone would like to get their hands on. Can you show us that weapon?". I nodded my head, and said "I can show you here, because the quantity I will use, will be small".

I retrieved about a handful of the Yellow Dust from my bag, and then placed it on top of the table. The Lizards inside the room were stunned, and confused. No surprise, anyone would be, when someone claimed to have a destructive weapon, and then took out some yellow powder. I explained "Yes, this is it, and before you judge, have a look". I took out a torch, and lit it. When I placed the torch on the Yellow Dust, "Boom". A small explosion sounded inside the room.

I could then see astonishment, on all Lizards faces. They couldn't believe what they saw, and none of them spoke for a while. I decided to interrupt the silence, and said "This is of course a small quantity. With a few kilograms of this stuff, I could blow up this room and anyone inside. This Yellow Dust doesn't spoil, as far as I'm aware. So you can keep it for a long time, before you decide to use it".

One of the Lizards asked "How much of that do you have?". I said "I have enough to sell you. I would like to know your price and the amount you want". The three Lizards talked with each other for a while, then turned towards me. One of them said "We of course would like to buy all of it, but we understand that you want to keep some of it for yourself". Then another Lizard continued "We heard that you require a lot of Iron Spider Thread. What is the amount that you require?".

I responded "50 metres". They were visibly shocked. Again, anyone would be, when they head that kind of amount. I then continued "I also want ten lengths of that thread, which measure 5 metres. In other words, ten threads, each 5 metres in length". They started discussing again, while I could see Harlin sweating buckets. I knew that there was a possibility, of them trying to forcefully take away my Yellow Dust. I wasn't weak thought, and the fact that I was in possession of that dust, would also deter them from making such moves.

After much deliberations, one of the Lizards said "We will provide you with the thread, in exchange for 80 kilograms of this dust". I thought for a while, and said "This is not a bad offer, but I think my dust is worth much more, than money can offer. I will give you 60 kilograms, in exchange for the thread". They discussed that for a while again, then one of them said "We understand that it is a great weapon, but we can't go lower than 70 kilograms".

'I was prepared to give them ⅓ of what I had, but I even managed to give away much less, than I was prepared. This is already great, but I can't accept it that easily' I thought, then said "If you throw in some materials to make Azurite Ingots, we have a deal". The didn't even discuss that, and said in unison "We have a deal". They told me that, they will need to go back to Arangard, collect the thread and come back here. It would take them couple of days. Before they left, I asked a question, that bothered me for a long time. "How strong is the thread?".

One of the Lizards said "Very strong, that is why it's so rare. You would need a very good blade, from very good material, and a lot of strength in order to cut it". I nodded my head in satisfaction, and said my goodbyes. I also returned by following the Lizard that stood behind the doors, and then Lazar outside the building. Lazar asked me a few questions, and I simply answered that I made a deal.

Although the Royal Lizards asked me, if I wanted to stay in the Upper part of Olrad, I declined. I wanted to freely go to workshop and the tavern, whenever I wanted. I also had those things close by, when I stayed in the Lower part of Olrad. I later split up with Lazar, then went to workshop and did some work. 'I still need to practice my dagger smithing. Besides, smithing is a good training for my body as well' I thought.