"I'm sorry, what?" Laura said, turning to face the president before either Pryte or I had a chance to respond. She wasn't the only one who looked caught off guard by his words, either. Both of the other members of his delegation were staring at him, confused.

"Dave, as you can see from the reactions of those around me, my next offer is going to come as a bit of a surprise. So I feel like I need to give you a little background to explain how and why I am making it." As the president spoke, his head swiveled to me. He was no longer speaking to the rest of the room. He wanted my permission to continue on. What game was he playing?

"Alright, let's hear the explanation then," I said, not sure what else to say.

"As I said, we've found more and more of our infrastructure destroyed by the Orcs. We're having trouble even getting crops to grow in many of the farms they set fire to. The current assumption is some sort of magical effect, but it's not something we are remotely equipped to have real answers to. I'm sure you know what that means," he said.

"Even if, and I'm guessing from your look it's still a big if, you get a complete return of supply lines across the globe, the loss of arable land is something you have no solution for," I replied. So this was worse than we realized, but that still didn't explain why he was happy with our declaration.

"Correct, and it goes even further than that. Some of the world's major water sources have become tainted as well. We are seeing new diseases spread at a rapid rate. Dave, the planet is in far more trouble than I had realized the last time we spoke. So the fact that you said the possibility exists for alliances with other species, ones who may be able to help us, well, that means I'm willing to give you whatever you want here," he finally answered.

"Can you explain to me exactly what kind of devastation you are seeing in your crops?" Connie asked, speaking up suddenly.

"From what I've been told, we can plant the seeds, they will even sprout, but within days they turn black and wither away." This answer came from the senator.

"Damn, sounds like a death curse. It was probably on the leader. Some of the more terrible factions love to do that," Connie replied, shaking her head with a look of disgust.

"Why aren't we being affected by it? Considering the brothers and I killed him, shouldn't it be the worst up here?" I asked, looking at her confused.

"If Connie is right, and I think she likely is. The Orc faction that invaded here wasn't all that strong. While it is entirely possible a higher-leveled member of the faction or an allied one placed the death curse on their leader, I think it's unlikely. Which means our mana flow, and the power of Cecile, is very likely combating it here," Elody answered.

"What does that mean for the rest of the planet, though?" Laura asked, the earlier shock gone from her face.

"It means we need to find a way to increase the productivity of our own agricultural efforts much faster than I realized," I answered, entirely unsure if that was even possible.

"Unlikely, without Cecile's constant presence, I'm not sure anyone else we have would be capable of maintaining the growth without an active mana flow around, and the one here is still far too small to support the world even if we plowed this entire area." The look on Elody's face was not one of happily answering a question this time. No, she instead looked ready to bolt from the room at having been forced to give that news.

"The truth is that revelation changes nothing. I already didn't know it was even a possibility, so it hadn't entered my calculations. Which means we are back to the possibility of an alliance," the president said, sounding confident he had found the solution. Dave wasn't so sure. Their alliance play had mostly been a bluff, not that they weren't already considering the giants for a gate, but what did they have to offer for anything else?

"Pryte, what precious metals hold value in the Spiral that we actually have access to here? There has to be something," I asked, doing my best to keep any desperation from my voice. If the president was really willing to work with us to this level, maybe, just maybe, it was possible to find someone willing to trade.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"You've got a lot of raw minerals that might be worth something, but we'd be trading a lot just to buy a few months' worth of food, if even that. Do you have a stockpile of platinum by chance? That one at least takes some skilled specialists to create," Pryte asked.

"I'd have to check the exact amount, but yes, I believe we have around ten tons, and if this is something we can just recreate in the future that can buy us the food we need now, I'm entirely willing to give it all up," the president replied.

That one surprised me. I had honestly expected the man to be a standard self-serving politician. But it seemed he actually cared to keep the people fed. Maybe Laura had chosen her loyalty for a reason. I suppose in the grand scheme of things, betting on the experienced statement she knew well versus her ex-husband, who had run off to Alaska years ago, was probably the smart choice, even if I didn't like to admit that to myself.

"Okay." Pryte sighed loudly after saying that, paused for a second, and resumed speaking. "We are going to have to leverage a lot for this to have any chance at working. I want you to prepare all the platinum you have and get it here as soon as possible. I'm going to figure out when the Golden Mountain Hammerfists have their next Arena floor scheduled. I want Laura back here as soon as we call with that information, as I need a trained human diplomat for this. Make sure she has a list of everything you are willing to give up, and a list of everything we need. And keep in mind this deal will be with the Empire of Dave, not your government."

"Yes, I figured it would go that way. I'll get everything you want ready," the president replied, relief flooding his voice.

"Quarilyn, Connie, I want both of you to accompany them back. The transport gate you were working on, make it connect to their capital instead. We will rebuild the other one later. Connie works with the president to determine everything you think is valuable for trade, try to keep anything that would be more useful for us to keep long-term here, but we need to secure six months of food supplies and enough funds to hire couriers for distribution as well," Pryte said.

"Sounds fun," Quarilyn replied as she stood up and walked to the table. "Hi, I'm Quarilyn, nice to meet you all." Connie just shook her head, but stood up nonetheless.

"Alright, then, since we are on a timetable, let's get back and get to work. Let us know the second we need to be back," the president said as he stood up and offered me a handshake. I accepted it and walked them to the car alongside Pryte before we both quickly returned to the hall.

"Maybe I'm missing something here, but how do we plan to handle it when the food runs out in six months' time anyway?" I said, once we were back in the privacy of the hall.

"I don't know, I just doubt we have the supplies needed to push much beyond that without stripping the planet of everything. We can discuss that problem once we take care of this immediate one, though," Pryte replied.

"You are going to have a tough time convincing any giant to come here just to discuss trade," Trolke said casually while he examined a bent saw blade.

"I know. That's why I needed Laura to be ready. Once I know when the giants are going to be in the Arena, we will go register for the next floor ourselves, and hopefully we can make an arrangement after some floor celebrations." Pryte's reply had less of the casualness to it. He was actually worried.

"Probably the most likely way for this to stand a chance. Still, and understand I like you all a lot when I say this. Even with your offer of trade, the negative ramifications of allying with you might far outweigh any gains. Remember, we are still a new faction. I could be wrong, though. I don't know how the king really thinks here." Trolke had set down the saw blade before he replied. This time, his eyes were focused on Pryte.

"I understand, but unless anyone else has any other ideas, this is what we are going with." There was complete silence in the room until Pryte started talking again. "Okay, then I'm off the Arena. Dave, go tell Mel we have to do the next floor. I should be back in a couple of hours."

"The Arena, huh? Can I come?" Yorela asked with a gleam in her eyes, just as Pryte vanished.

"Probably yes, hell with the Reltleons here, maybe we can actually fill out the squad," I said.

"Plus Grant," Alex added.

"Yeah, him too," I replied. He was likely one of the better people to add to the squad.

Guns are a weapon utilized by many different ranged classes. They can be an excellent way to equalize a battle against far more powerful opponents, assuming the wielder can afford the ammunition needed to bring that equalization about. This is why many of the classes that begin to specialize in the gun find themselves dual-classing into a crafting class as well. Making their own ammunition is both safer and far cheaper than the alternative. Many gunners have died from poorly crafted munitions in the past.

One of the more interesting classes I've witnessed was the Mind Bullet. They strangely didn't use any ammunition within their guns, and instead fired pure manifestations of telekinetic energy. This had the benefit of bypassing most magical resistances as well as saving on supplies.

The Gunner Classes by Zolinjar

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