Excerpt from The Profound and Pretty Princess' Ultimate Guide to Cultivation, Captivation, Cuteness, and Carving Your Way to the Top, English Edition (the worst-selling guide in the history of Putijama)

On Essence Donation

Essence donation can be a wonderful thing. There are painless and relatively safe ways to do it and it's a nice boost to your income. Donation is certainly the wrong word but we'll let people have their euphemism!

The Safe Way:

There are essence donation centers all across The Kingdom of Verdant Earth – most cities of ten thousand people or more have enough of a delving community to enable them.

Many people will enter rifts with essence allocation bracelets for the express purpose of collecting essence to 'donate' it. These are usually referred to as 'essence sponges', so named because they soak up the essence, only for it to be wrung out later.

Some people also use the more derogatory 'essence rags' but don't be a meanie like them!

Strong delving teams – usually called carriers, porters, or guides – will kill the rift's monsters and let those sponges soak up the essence for donation.

It costs money to enter the rifts and there is some danger so it so it's not for everyone! Also, unless someone is 'a sponsored sponge', it can be pricey to go in those rifts! People usually need to have close to an entire rift's worth of essence to donate and that can take a lot of shared delves. Most carried delves have five or more sponges. It's a big upfront investment!

The actual donation procedure is done by a licensed technician who will slowly extract the essence. The rule of thumb is to never extract more than 60% of someone's current essence as more than that can completely collapse their essence channels. That means they can't absorb any more essence and it's very painful.

The facility will take that donation and then return about half of what was taken – again, to prevent essence channel collapse. Most centers also concentrate the returned essence slightly, strengthening the channels of the donor against collapse and not blocking off that returned portion of their essence channels.

Like with any essence allocation – to a spell, item, or otherwise – donation blocks off the portion of your essence channels that was removed. That means someone can't be a sponge for life, you'll run out of capacity in a few years. The essence donor also loses the general 'power' they received from said essence, which can be a big bummer.

It's not a decision to make lightly!

Donation centers closely monitor when people donate and generally have a lower – and upper – limit to how much and how often someone can donate. If someone only has 20% of one delve's worth of essence, it's not worth it for the center.

The Unsafe (Or Unscrupulous) Way:

There are of course, far easier and more lucrative ways to donate. A shady group will take essence either willingly – which usually has some amount of safeguards – or, more rarely, unwillingly. Without the safeguards, it is frighteningly easy to collapse someone's essence channels, crippling their body and sometimes their mind, leaving them wracked with pain.

The amount of money a 'donor' gets for unlicensed donations can vary wildly but is often three to ten times as high as the safe route.

Sometimes risks just lead to higher rewards!

But the risks are sky high. You better think if it's worth it!

Once properly seated after seeing the AAI packet, I took a moment to gather my thoughts. "Wait, so Barry was testing some kind of mind-altering potion on Lazar? Or his new body? My body?" I asked rather stupidly.

"Yes, that is the conclusion from what Joakim sent. Barry was working on an experimental and very long-lasting potion that suppressed emotions and possibly impaired judgement. In a few of these messages, it's not clear if he was working with Lazar to develop the potion and the impaired judgement was a side effect or was the point."

"Yeah, I can't see any way Lazar knew. Or he definitely didn't know the full details," I said definitively. She waved for me to go on so I explained my reasoning. "There's a document that mentions a phrase Joakim thought might translate to 'a stash' or something similar. I'll have to review it later but I'll trust Joakim's interpretation for now."

I got up to start pacing. "Let's lay out the situation first. You are Barry and you clearly have no morals. Presumably, this powerful and rich person – your patient – has something you want, whether that is material goods, information, or both. The patient is also going to be at your mercy in a way. That all makes sense, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, if Barry was making a body for Lazar, he could absolutely dose it without his knowledge. He might even have planned to kill his own team no matter what to cover his tracks," Jasna said, looking angry.

"Good point, yeah. So again, if I'm Barry and I like experimenting on people and this person has something I want, why wouldn't I dose them to try to get it? If it fails, they die and I flee. Not ideal but also not the worst outcome presumably," I said, feeling sick at the thought of it.

Steve took that time from lazing on the bed to crawl up my pants and shirt to try to hug my neck, though his little arms hardly reached a quarter of the way around.

It still had the intended effect as I calmed down and started to think.

Is this why I've not tried to hammer out any and all potential loopholes in agreements? Trusted that people were acting on reasonably good faith when they hadn't earned it? Why I haven't fought back at all the injustices and slights? No, some of that is Earth me, and I don't want to lose that. Not going to go psycho mode – that's not a life I want to live – but also no more Mr. Nice Terry? No, not that either… god, this is a mind fuck.

I missed about two minutes of Jasna talking to me as I evaluated my decisioning, looking at what I had done so far in my time on Putijama as dispassionately as possible. I tried to push my mistakes off onto the potion and, in little ways, I could see and accept I wasn't as sharp as I should have been.

But it was still on me. I made those calls, under the influence or not. My calls, my bad. I knew my emotions were wonky and didn't press on it.

At the affinity change treatment, I felt something snap. Like I was finally free to stop being rolled over. I attributed that to the Council 'using up my last fuck', but what if it was something more?

I guess now is the time to start going after what I really want.

I apologized for being lost in thought and Jasna shrugged. "I'm not upset as long as you won't be if I do the same to you."

I laughed. "Deal! Thanks for your work on this Barry stuff Jasna, I couldn't have done it without you. And for all your work on everything, being so patient with it all and always being ready to help without complaint. I sincerely appreciate it. You are a great friend."

She gave me a genuine smile, one of the first I'd seen from her towards anyone but Tiesa.

Heh, she looks pretty cute.

Throwing caution to the wind, something I rarely did on Earth, I asked, "Hey Jasna, would you want to get dinner? Like just the two of us?"

Her head tilted at an odd angle and she blinked a few times. "No, that doesn't make sense."

Crap, did I just ruin it?

A million thoughts ran through my head as to why I thought that was the right moment – probably not great to ask someone out right after discovering you've been mentally manipulated… – or what I could have done differently.

She didn't seem to notice or care at my internal panic. Instead she gracefully rose from the bed, giving me an awkward half hug before leaving, taking Steve to 'joey-sit' while I went to the merchant's dinner with Nikolaj.

***

Jasna Zupan

At her goodbye to Terry, Jasna headed back to her own room in the inn, the sugar glider riding her shoulder and chittering softly by her ear.

That was weird. He has dinner plans with Nikolaj, why would he want to have two dinners in a night?

Shaking her head slightly, she shrugged, reaching up to stroke Steve's soft fur.

Maybe Steve is rubbing off on him and they're now both always hungry?

As Jasna started reflecting more on the day, she decided to send an AAI message to Tiesa. While the two of them were often apart, Tiesa was her stabilizing influence, serving as both her rock and her sounding board.

Always has been, always will be.

While considering what to say to her best friend, she looked at the cute sugar glider lounging on the small table while nibbling on a plate of breads and cheeses. "I guess Terry does this and it helps?"

Jasna looked at the bond who was paying her no mind. "Steve, I'm not sure what to do here. Is this silly? No, Tiesa says it doesn't matter if others think something is silly. It's not silly if it helps…" she said, balling her hands into fists.

Steeling her resolve, Jasna took out the chair to look the sugar glider more directly in the face. "I thought I had things figured out. After it all came crashing down when I was a kid, being a delver was all I ever wanted, to follow in Tiesa's footsteps, at least the non-military stuff."

She got up to pace around the room. "But I'm at the top. There are only a few Tier 6 rifts on the continent and I can conquer them as a Tier 5. I have and regularly do. So do I just wait around for a few months at a time to delve, not doing much else?"

As Steve indicated he wanted to be picked up, Jasna obliged, tossing him to within an inch of the ceiling each time as he screamed with joy while floating down – though mostly falling as his gliding skills were still nascent. Between tosses, she nuzzled him lightly.

After talking her heart out to Steve for over an hour, Jasna decided to not send a message and wait until she could gain a bit more perspective over alcohol with Tiesa. She took out a book – a steamy romance novel Gabor recommended that had decent enough writing – holding it with one hand and tossing the small bond up and down with the other.

***

"Bwahahahaha, Terry my boy, what a wonderful story!" A loud and rotund man whose name I couldn't remember – and wasn't currently worth looking up in my AAI – was laughing like what I said was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

It wasn't.

Ugh, I hate these kinds…

We were on the second course of eight of our 'Caravanner's Cuisine and Chat' – or three 'C' for short – a very specific tradition merchants used to welcome someone into the fold. I was honored Nikolaj thought highly enough of me to arrange it.

There were four small dining tables for two in the center of the private backroom room of a nice restaurant. One large round table currently sat empty in the corner for later.

To signify no one was above the others, the first seven courses were one-on-one with each of the other merchants. It was supposed to represent 'travelling like a merchant of old' to do deals and forge relationships as we moved tables throughout the meal. The eighth course would be at the large table, as if we were all coming together as one community.

I thought it was actually pretty neat in theory. In theory.

In practice, it meant possibly being trapped with an annoying person for fifteen to twenty straight minutes while eating a small amount of food.

At least it's tasty?

I had a very nice opening appetizer course with Nikolaj. It was simple; a few wooden skewers grilled over a wood fire that had some vegetables, a couple of small mushrooms, and a few pieces of a crocodile-like rift beast. The subtle citrus marinade made it light and refreshing, especially after a long day.

But my fruit plate was currently at risk of being sprayed with spittle as the man prattled on about how he was almost a delver but figured it wasn't challenging enough intellectually.

Slightly testily, I said, "My primary focus right now is delving." At his blank-faced response I decided to see if I could get useful tidbits as payment for my building headache.

Isekonsultant Tip to Thriving #45: Make the best of bad situations if possible. If you're forced to be around someone you don't like, at least get good information from it.

Is that too mercenary of thinking? No, it makes sense…

I started with my biggest question. "How are Tiers treated in business? I would think that since the higher-Tier people are the ones getting the best rewards from rifts and also the people who can bully others around, they would run the show. But I think maybe two of the people here feel like a Tier 3 or higher."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"What kind of uncivilized world were you living in?" he said, recoiling.

"One without personal physical power. In some ways it was better than here and in some worse. But there wasn't any essence so no Tiers or rifts. Physical prowess generally meant little to someone's wealth, at least other than those competing in sports."

"Then why the question?"

I shrugged. "Might makes right. It was always something we theorized about if people gained personal power like here. If someone can physically force others to do what they want or kill them, what's to stop those high-Tier delvers from just ruling things?"

"Oh, the Royals keep people in line. They have enforcers who can take care of any troublemakers and that filters down through society. If someone tried to use their cultivation to force others to do something, it would be reported and dealt with," he said as though it were obvious.

I think I have to speak slowly with this one…

"Okay… so the Royals have the highest Tier cultivators. Why don't those people turn on the Royals if they are stronger than them?" I really didn't know how to be more obvious.

"Why would anyone want to turn on the King and his family?" he asked laughing.

I looked hopefully at the restaurant owner who was keeping the event organized despite some strong personalities.

Please tell me it's almost over…

By the end, I realized he really hadn't considered the idea at all and decided to ask someone a little more curious. I knew AAIs at least would report if someone killed another person of a lower Tier – they had automatic detection capabilities for that – but it still felt mostly like he believed people behaved because they were told to.

That only works if all the people with some form of power follow the rules. If even a few percent don't…

I had two more unremarkable courses with mostly unremarkable people.

The third course was a light soup with a woman from The Monetary Might Kingdom. She seemed far more interested in money laundering techniques from Earth than I was comfortable with. She also attempted to sell me a massive quantity of a bitter fruit that also spoiled quickly – 'It's a delicacy!' was not a good enough pitch.

My fourth course – a salad that was misted with the barest hint of a bitter dressing – was with a merchant from the southwest coast of the Verdant Kingdom where they had a large fishing empire. He was nice enough though didn't ask questions and only gave three-word answers.

Per Nikolaj, both were interested in our debit card machines after we ran the proof of concepts in Velez and Struva but they didn't ask me a single question about it.

They must want to only work with Nikolaj. I get it but you're both getting put to the back of the line.

The fifth course was with Oleg Butkus, a well-dressed travelling merchant with headquarters on the northern coast of the Verdant Kingdom in Dobojna. Instead of sitting down immediately, he asked me to stay standing so he could teach me 'the dance of greeting' of his people as he said he was originally from a small village. It was a bit silly but also quite fun to do something different than the last few rounds of moneybags speed dating.

"Dammit Oleg!" Nikolaj yelled, throwing a coin at the man who deftly snatched it with a speed that almost matched Jasna.

At my confused eyebrow raise, Oleg laughed deeply and winked. "Bet him a gold I could get you to 'do a funny dance' and he said no way."

Without thinking about it, I folded my arms. Everyone was now looking our way as we took our seats.

"Oh, don't look so grumpy about it, it's something my daughters and I do whenever I come home or leave, so it has actual significance to me. I try to teach it to as many people as possible though none of these stuffy people will do it. It spreads joy! That's part of why I do this, to help my customers find the things that will spark joy for them, now and into the future."

"Yeah, that sounds like a really bad pickup line or something for new merchants…"

"Ha, I knew I'd like you. Nikolaj said you're a bit green around the gills but with a good head on your shoulders. Even if you have that awful haircut."

"I know, can't believe they made it so it sticks like this. I have an enchantment enhancement on my scalp to keep it from growing. I just haven't had time to fix it," I said laughing despite myself. Even if he made me look a bit the fool, he was genuine and had a casual charisma.

"Oh, I'll have an elixir sent over, my treat. Should get that growing out right quick." He took a bite of the roasted ostrich and gave an appreciative nod. "Now, enough about all that, let's get down to business. Tell me all about this debit card thing Nikolaj was going on about. I was more interested in some of the other things he mentioned but it's a good start."

We discussed my goals for helping the 'underbanked', a term he found hilarious.

"I am still confused, what kicked this off?" Oleg asked.

"The Purveyors of Platinum moved in to Velez and screwed over the existing banks, forcing them to close. Then, they started charging crazy fees, like only giving 90 silver for a gold or requiring 110 silver to change to a gold."

Oleg shook his head. "That's… only going to hurt these underbanked the most. I'm all for making coin but, I get it, that's too far."

"Yup, and like you said, it's basically a tax for being poor. Many vendors won't even accept bronze anymore so people have to pay the exchange fees to get the silver to buy goods. It's squeezing money out a region of the Kingdom that is already hurting. I've seen the impact of that, in my old life. I've even helped companies do it sadly. I won't again."

One of my first consulting clients was a bank trying to figure out how to do essentially payday loans – short-term loans with incredibly high interest – to unsuspecting clients. At best, it was shady and I thought likely illegal. I reported the activities to my company and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The only outcome was me being fired for unspecified reasons three months later.

Another client was a large retailer that opened huge stores specifically in smaller towns in economically depressed areas. They'd offer very low prices for the first year so the mom-and-pop shops in town couldn't compete and closed, after which, they'd raise prices. By then, I was a bit numb to some of the more banal issues with capitalism and so I kept my head down, did good work, and collected a nice paycheck.

Not looking to fall into that trap again…

"Those are some great morals but they won't last," he laughed. "Eventually, the call of the coin comes for us all, sadly."

"Bet you twenty gold they will," I retorted.

"Eh, too subjective but I like the confidence. So, I want to hear about the economic incentives angle behind deposits. Most banks have interest on large deposits but not for smaller customers. And tying it to their local stores sounds interesting."

I explained my plans for enabling people to deposit money with their favorite vendors – ones that had our debit card system – and how we'd pay them to leave it there. It was essentially a Certificate of Deposit, plunking down coin now under the agreement that if they didn't touch it for a few months, they'd get a bit more back.

Most banks in the Verdant Kingdom – or especially The Monetary Might Kingdom – didn't work with people dealing in bronze and sometimes even silver.

"But how are the vendors going to use that money? Just pool it and deposit it in a bank and split the difference?" Oleg asked.

"I've got a better idea – I think – but wanted to get your thoughts because it will put the money at risk for the people who deposit. I was thinking that the vendors could use up to maybe 60-70% of the deposits to buy more inventory. It would mean they can get better bulk rates, expand into new offerings, etc. They can do more by borrowing from their customers. But it could also mean the depositors lose their money. There's risk there I don't want to gloss over. And do we have to audit and monitor every business' books?"

We discussed the puts and takes, not noticing that everyone else was long-done with their fifth course but still politely waiting on us to finish up.

Finally, the woman hosting the event came over. "Sirs, I know you are enjoying your conversation and I hope you do not mind the interruption but…" She gestured around to everyone else.

"Oh, sorry, I get a little too excited talking about this stuff," I said with a laugh.

"As we all should. Also, I vote strong yes," Oleg said, getting up.

I looked to Nikolaj for context but he shrugged and the event resumed.

The sixth course – a medley of pan seared vegetables from across the continent with a series of eight dipping sauces, representing eight nebulous 'economic regions' – was a nice conversation with Halyna Fink, a young woman that had just taken over the family business from her mother.

Her company had been around for over a century and was quite well respected. They mostly focused on weapons and armor, especially for delvers though they had a few city guard contracts. She let slip that her mother ran away with a Merchants of Might – one of the ruling council of The Monetary Might Kingdom – but she wasn't sure if it was business, pleasure, or both.

The seventh course was a series of eight very small deserts to be eaten in a specific order. The first was quite tart to represent the bitter beginning on the road to success and got progressively sweeter before the fifth was extremely sour, representing that even on the journey to wealth, there will be great setbacks. After that, the last three were a very nice combination of sweet and slightly savory, like a nice apple pie.

My dining companion literally didn't say a word the entire time, only looking up to scoff in disgust every few minutes. I tried to engage her in conversation a few times but gave up soon after. She was an older woman that was draped in brightly colored shawls, one each for the colors of the Kingdom: brown, green, blue, yellow, and red.

By the time we hit the eighth course – one focused around a slightly bitter drink with a floral and sweet aftertaste – Nikolaj and I had secured four tentative deals to use our debit card machines should they prove successful in Velez and Struva.

Well, mostly Nikolaj. I think I helped on Oleg and Halyna at least.

As our cups were cleared away, Nikolaj looked around to everyone seated at the table. "Well, as is tradition, it's time."

Together, the seven merchants intoned, "Such is the merchants' way. Let greed not hold its sway." Then everyone either held up a closed fist or an open hand. Nikolaj, Oleg, Halyna, and the annoying man from the second course all held up an open hand while the other three held a closed fist. The woman from the seventh course – who I found out was called Ludmila Arpa from Nikolaj – looked furious.

Nikolaj smiled and said, "About what I expected. He's new but has a bright future. I'm sure you'd all vote in favor if we did this in a year or so."

Ludmila got up and swept from the room, all a flowing mess of shawls, as Nikolaj directed me again to one of the smaller tables. One by one, the rest of the guests welcomed me as an official merchant in what seemed almost like part of a ritual. Even those who voted no were – at least the two still there – were extremely friendly.

"What the hell was that Nikolaj?" I asked, half in confusion and half in frustration after everyone left. I wasn't truly angry, just peeved.

Wow, this is exactly what I'm not angry, just disappointed feels like?

"Ha, it's part of the tradition. I even gave a little AAI-backed guarantee about not telling you. If you knew to be on your best behavior, it wouldn't have been a real test. I was slightly surprised at Auntie Ludmila being so rude but it's because I don't pay attention to the family gossip. She had a small run-in with Cornelius is the only thing I got out of my second cousin…" he said with a wry grin.

Ignoring the implication that she slept with my body double, I asked, "That's your aunt? Pretty weird way to behave at your nephew's event."

"Honestly, I have no idea how we're specifically related, just all us Arpas are generally in commerce. Some are shopkeepers, some are merchants, others do accounting, you get the picture. I think she's my dad's second cousin once removed?" he said, more asking than telling.

"Okay, let's go over what this all means later but you mentioned AAI-backed guarantees. I was hoping you could help me go over the guarantees I've been involved with. Basically, help me look for loopholes and the like. And maybe give me some lessons on exactly what they cover and don't. You owe me after this little event," I said, using my most winning smile.

"Ah, that is a weird look. But sure."

We headed back to his more spacious room in the inn to chat.

As we went down the agreements one by one, he called out a few things. "Uros, err, Councilor Barno's agreements, I know they expired but man, he clearly thought you didn't trust him."

"I didn't and I don't."

"Fair, yeah I've heard some things," Nikolaj said with a laugh. "Okay, I am looking at the ones from Katarina and her household advisor. That neither had and also wouldn't disclose your bond's Cap. You and that little rascal seem to have lots of intrigue around Innate Capabilities, don't you," he laughed.

"Uh, aren't they incredibly private? I got yelled at on about my second day for asking someone about theirs."

Nikolaj shook his head. "Nah. I mean, sometimes they are private or if you're talking to a delver, that's like asking 'hey, do you have anything up your sleeve that makes it harder to kill you?' And that's not something a lot of them will disclose. Keep the air of mystery or whatever. It's a deterrent."

"Do people tell each other then? Still seems private," I said.

"I mean, they rarely impact day-to-day life unless you had your Core Ignited with essence with no affinity like in the big city. Then it's more random and might matter. I'm a green essence affinity boy so I got green powers. I can help plants grow a little better if I use my mana on the soil. Nice for my small home garden but that's it. Healing and regeneration too but that's really only good for making a cut heal a little faster, can't use it at all outside my body without a spell."

"Huh, thanks. That's really good information." I noted down to start trying ask people about the various Innate Capabilities as for all I knew, mine or Steve's weren't that rare.

"Good enough to up my cut in the business?" Nikolaj laughed while saying it. I rolled my eyes and he got back to our reason for chatting. "So Katarina and her head of household can't disclose Steve's Cap to anyone, these are pretty ironclad. Does anyone else know?"

I thought for a while and almost yelled out loud. Katarina and her advisor both swore they told no one.

But Maksim was in the room too… Ugh, I'm going to have to make up with them somehow, aren't I? Need to make sure he hasn't told anyone. And won't.

At my dark look Nikolaj asked if everything was all right but I just waved him on to the next set.

I didn't even dig into how AAI-backed guarantees truly worked. They are agreements with people, not magic!

Nikolaj moved on to the agreements with Ervin and Milenka, the people Uros Barno set me up with to learn my own Innate Capability and also to analyze the items we found at the torture facility and my ring.

My merchant friend moved his head around for a bit like he was debating with himself as he reviewed them on his AAI. "Why did you want me to review these agreements specifically?"

"You already said: I don't trust Barno. Just, can you tell me if they're standard language? Am I missing anything? It feels like there's a gap I'm not seeing," I replied, running my hands through my hopefully soon-to-be-fixed hair.

"I mean, look at Ervin's, he'd have to be insane to violate it," Nikolaj said as I brought it up in my own AAI.

[Incoming AAI-Backed Guarantee from Ervin Hasani: 'I, Ervin Hasani, swear to provide the energy to enable you, Terry Carver, to learn your Tier 1 Innate Capability. I also swear that I will not disclose said Capability to anyone and shall not do anything to allow for the disclosure of said Capability knowingly through any actions. This guarantee lasts until my death and shall come with a 25,000 gold fine, to be paid to Terry Carver, should I break this guarantee. I also swear to immediately inform, to the best of my ability, Terry Carver should anyone else come to know his Innate Capability through my actions or inaction.']

"Right but he still gave me this incredibly creepy leer when he found out my Cap. I almost felt an evil chuckle in his gaze."

Nikolaj nodded. "AAI-backed guarantees, unless stated otherwise, have pretty darn steep blowback. If the AAI detects a violation, they are usually reviewed, especially if something is a bit funky, to prevent people from getting jailed for something minor or shouldn't be in a guarantee anyway. The software that tracks the guarantees has lots of safeguards but it's not perfect…

"I guess if he did something to you and didn't let anyone know about your Innate Capability, he could get away with it? It would be absolutely against the spirit of the agreement so he'd be jailed at the least if someone found out but the AAI software can't really monitor the spirit of versus the terms… But unless you are like some kind of essence fairy, I can't see why he'd take the risk."

I laughed a bit nervously as that described Steve better than me.

Nikolaj continued onto the next agreement. "Look at Milenka's. This is pretty standard for enchanters identifying objects. Wait, the provision about items sold to her is a bit oddly worded. Did you pay for her to analyze them or was she looking to buy?"

[Incoming AAI-Backed Guarantee from Milenka Koleva: 'I, Milenka Koleva, swear to analyze, to the best of my ability, any items you present to me today or in the future. I also promise not to share the abilities of any items which are not sold to me with anyone that you have not given me permission to share. These terms expire either three years from today or upon your death, whichever is sooner.']

"Uros made the deal with them so I don't know how they were paid. But yeah, the language has been bugging me. There are some crazy ways to get around those restrictions like having someone steal any of the items and then sell them to her for cheap. Am I being paranoid here?" I asked.

"Well, if Ervin violated his, I don't see how he could do it and not get caught. Like he'd need to be perfect for now and into the future. I guess if he wanted to have you killed, that's another thing but otherwise, it's such a narrow window for acting against you. Milenka's isn't as bad but it's still relatively standard. Unless they want to start a huge incident, you're fine."

Lastly we looked at Ratmir's guarantee about not disclosing Steve's Innate Capability. Nikolaj gave it the thumbs up but still looked mighty suspicious.

"What, we're private people," I lied.

[Incoming AAI-Backed Guarantee from Nikolaj Arpa: 'I, Nikolaj Arpa, swear to not tell anyone you don't authorize that there is a lot of secrecy around both your Innate Capability and the Innate Capability of your bond.']

We spent the next twenty minutes tearing apart his guarantee – such as 'both' meaning that he couldn't tell anyone about both of us but could tell people about one of us; or the use of 'authorize' instead of something like 'directly approve' as authorize can have a vague meaning, at least in English; or especially the 'a lot' portion as he could mention there was some degree of secrecy and still be in the clear – until we got it perfect.

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