Skill Creation in the Fantasy World

Sitting at the table while being stared at by the members of the Underworld Council like a sheep between hungry wolves, Howard tried his best to relax.

'Am I in trouble?!'

He gulped hard before eyeing Mr.Dealer with a forced smile.

"Haha, this....Can I....Umm....Ask what's going on?", he stuttered while sweating.

Mr.Dealer had his signature smile on his face as he pocketed his silver clockwatch.

"This is what I was talking about. A better deal than the one before, with lowered risks and more company. Quite expensive if you'll ask me though, but fret not..."

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He gestured his hands around the table, a tone of confidence in his voice.

"....because we're more than enough to get this work done."

Glancing at the people in front of him, Howard sensed their power from just sitting in the same room as them, making him take a deep breath.

'This is not trouble....this is a chance!', his eyes lit up at the thought of using them as pawns for his goal.

Even though his initial objective of coming here was to seek help in stopping the dark guilds, the current opportunity present in front of him made him think twice.

'As long as they accept this deal and help me, I'll be the hero of Edenmont City....Maybe I could even step up as the Duke after Theodore loses his reputation and support, then later it doesn't matter if I promise them money and treasures....'

As his greedy thoughts reached here, Howard smiled widely and changed the way he was looking at the people in the room.

"This is amazing, Mr.Dealer. You're truly brilliant from the rumours I've heard of you. With your help, I'm sure-"

"

Bang!"

Suddenly, a fist slammed on the table as Howard jerked back in fear while looking to the side.

A tall woman with neck-level blonde hair and sharp features, wearing a tight-fitted black gown and purple lipstick on her lips, stood up from her seat and narrowed her eyes on Howard.

"Cut to the chase. Deal or no deal?"

Staring at the woman in slight shock for making a scene, Howard didn't know what to say as he looked at Mr.Dealer as if he was his saviour.

"Now now, don't be so hasty, Viona.", Mr.Dealer smiled calmly at her and placated.

"I'm sure Sir Howard has a lot to think about. I mean, he has not even yet been introduced to the other partners in this deal. So why don't we start by introducing ourselves to him?"

He then gestured at Viona with a nod.

"Why don't we start with you, Viona?"

Viona glared at Howard for a few seconds before sitting down and shrugged.

"Introduction? Well...fine. I'm Viona Frawley. Is that enough?"

Mr.Dealer nodded with a smile, but Howard on the other hand finally remembered who she was as he became shocked.

'Viona Frawley!? Isn't she the dead sister of Vincent Frawley, the guild leader of Crimson Dawn guild?! How is she alive and what's she doing in the Underworld?!'

As curious as he was of her situation, he couldn't ask anything as a man wearing glasses and sitting beside her leaned towards the table with a chuckle.

The man was middle-aged and a bit chubby, with a bald top and thin hair on the sides of his head, reflecting the light in the room.

He was wearing a huge brown suit and a plethora of accessories on him, including rings on every finger, a few necklaces and some bracelets on his arms too.

"Ah, it's my turn I guess. Hello there, I'm Oberon Westha. Although I may look like this, I'm actually the overseer of the Underworld's Black Market, it'll be a pleasure to work with you."

Getting an enthusiastic introduction from the other person, Howard nodded politely before taking another glance at the man who was basically the boss of the famous Black Market.

'This bald guy? Really? But he does seem wealthy though...'

Sitting beside Oberon was Mr.Dealer, who coughed once and smiled.

"As you already know, I'm called by the moniker Mr.Dealer by the people around me, so you can call me the same. And I'm the Head of Foreign Affairs for the Underworld."

He then looked to his left side where a buffed man with shoulder-level thick black hair, wearing torn clothes was sitting with his arms crossed, a stiff expression covering his face.

The man let out a low growl from his mouth as he eyed Howard with a dark look.

"Me...Shura....The Arena....I...Work..."

Feeling the man staring at him intently, Howard felt goosebumps on his skin as he quickly turned to the last person in the room who hadn't yet introduced himself.

"Hzzzzz....hzzzzz....."

But he could only open his mouth wide in surprise at the man with an eye patch, who was sleeping with his legs still on the table.

Just when he was about to call out to the man, the other four people in the room suddenly raised their hands towards him to stop.

"Huh- What happened?", Howard asked in confusion.

"Shhhh...", Mr.Dealer hushed at him quietly with a sweat drop falling on his forehead.

Oberon, who was sitting near to him, whispered with a scared expression.

"Don't make any noise, that person is Graham.", he introduced worriedly.

"He's the strongest person in the Underworld, and if you disturb or wake him up when he's sleeping....then he'll destroy everything and everyone around him in anger."

Howard took a deep gulp in fear as he eyed Graham grimly, before slowly adjusting in his seat in an attempt to lower his presence.

Mr.Dealer looked at the man who had fallen right into his plan, all the way from the beginning to the end, which turned him from an authoritative person to a mild sheep.

In a hushed voice, he asked the man with gestures.

"So tell me, Sir Howard. Do you accept this deal with us? We can guarantee to work this out just the way you want..."

This was the last nail that needed to be hammered to manipulate the man, into accepting his deal without raising any unreasonable demands.

Howard who was on the verge of crumbling down rapidly nodded as his eyes lit up when the talk of the deal was brought back again.

"....yes..yes. I accept...I accept the deal."

Mr.Dealer smiled widely as he took out a paper from his inner suit, giving it to Howard as he stated.

"This is the contract for the deal, please sign it here.", he pointed at the end of the long page.

Howard was a bit surprised when he saw that even the contract already ready, but when he started reading the things mentioned on it, he almost let out a shout in disbelief.

"Shhhh.....Keep quiet. We don't want to wake up that man.", Mr.Dealer reminded as he looked at the restless face of the man.

"What's there to think about? Wouldn't this be pointless after you get what you need from the deal?", he winked with an understanding expression.

Howard let out a low cough and hid his smile as he turned back to look at the paper, before signing it off with the pen Mr.Dealer was ready with.

After keeping the paper away, Mr.Dealer and Howard stood up silently as they shook each other's hands, keeping their voices still low.

"It was nice doing business with you, we'll see each other again after our victory.", Mr.Dealer whispered.

"Yes, I can't wait to hear the good news."

After smiling at each other, Mr.Dealer accompanied Howard outside of the room, ordering the gray-robed man to take him to the surface world.

Entering back into the room, Mr.Dealer and his colleagues smiled at each other as he walked over and patted Graham's shoulder.

"Wake up, buddy. The deal's done, you can stop acting now."

There wasn't any reply from Graham as he kept snoring lowly, making Mr.Dealer raise his brow in surprise.

"Hmm? No way. Did he really fall asleep?", he chuckled with a small smile. "Well.....Maybe we should let him rest for a bit then."

Unfortunately, the other people in the room weren't that kind as they smirked mischievously.

"GRAHAM!! WAKE UP!!"×3

They shouted and banged on the table, making Graham jump up in shock as he glanced around with his one eye.

"H-Huh? Why are you guys shouting? What happened?"

The one sitting nearest to him, the buff man wearing torn clothes named Shura, smiled shyly as he scratched his head, a completely different attitude than the one he had shown before.

"Graham....It's done.....The deal.....You slept...Haha....", his words made Graham rub his nose awkwardly.

Viona yawned as she stretched her body lazily.

"Even I'm feeling sleepy now. By the way, when are we supposed to go there?"

Oberon sniffed the rings on his fingers as he let out an aggressive breath.

"We should do it soon. I can't wait to test out my new babies..."

As Graham took a comfortable seat on his chair, Mr.Dealer walked over to sit on the chair Howard was previously sitting on as he narrowed his eyes.

"Not yet. We'll have to wait for the perfect chance. Just like how we waited for Howard. Getting impatient will only fail us."

All that happened today, from Howard arriving here, making a deal, and letting these other four join, was all within Mr.Dealer's plans.

He had already started devising plans and thinking of all the possibilities from the time the dark guilds were brought into the picture in Edenmont City.

'I won't make it easy for you....', he thought as he narrowed his eyes, hiding the madness and anger that was behind his calm facade.

'.....I swear.'

*****

Edenmont Dungeon.

The cavern tunnel reeked of blood and dust as huge spider corpses lay unconscious in a pool of their own blood.

Deep within the tunnel amongst the dead bodies, a boy with silver hair sat on a rock holding his sword tight in his grip, his clothes smeared with the monster's blood.

"Haaa....haaa....", Felix gasped as his body was at its limits from the bloodbath he had caused in here.

As there wasn't much time left for the skill Battlefield Awareness, he had pushed his body to fight and kill until there were no more monsters around him, making him exhausted.

But there was still an unhealthy and weird unsatisfied look on his face as he gazed into the air.

[Skill Points: 4110.]

'I killed around 13 of these spiders and it's still just this much? This isn't enough...I need... more....'

Felix slowly stood up with the help of his sword, using another skill to help him.

'Terra Drain.'

He stood there for a few minutes, allowing the energy from the earth to replenish his strength and stamina.

When he felt like he could start fighting again, Felix stopped and turned to look at the dark tunnel ahead.

'Time to find some more monsters...'