*BOOM* *BOOM*
At the moment the barrier was established, several tremors began to shake the entire village, and the sky darkened as if night had suddenly descended.
All of this happened in seconds, accompanied by the arrival of a smell of blood and death that affected everyone present. However, most managed to stay calm due to Chen Yu's explanation about the mysterious power that set up the barrier.
"Let's go, I want to check on that horde." Draconius runs to the village entrance from where the horde is approaching, making sure to hold Gold by the neck to prevent him from escaping.
*Plop*
"No! I want to stay here, let go of me!" The frightened rooster cries in despair, laying a golden egg that is quickly captured by Draco's hat.
Everyone followed the mysterious banker, who seemed strangely excited to see a horrendous horde of monsters. They also wanted to see if the barrier would really work.
Arriving at the peaceful village entrance, Draconius finally gets a better look at what caused the sudden darkness. In the middle of the massive forest, an imposing dark cloud rises, accompanied by thousands of monsters of various types and sizes.
"It might take a while for the horde to arrive. What is this cloud? I sense some kind of energy." Draconius points at the cloud in doubt.
"LET GO, YOU STUPID KID! LET'S RUN!" Gold, sensing the smell of blood, starts crying while yelling.
"This cloud is condensed demonic prana. When many monsters or people gather with active prana in their bodies, phenomena like this occur." Speechless at the contrast of the duo, Chen Yu steps forward to explain. It seemed that the dragon banker didn't have a refined common sense.
"I see, but I feel something strange..." Nodding in understanding, he observes the gigantic dark cloud covering the horizon while putting his hand on his chin, feeling something unusual.
"Lord Banker, will this barrier withstand such a massive horde?" Elder Xin asks with evident nervousness on his face. Despite witnessing the grand manipulation of energy by the banker, a hint of fear still ran through the bodies of the village elders when seeing this scene.
Even Elder Lin, who worked in his youth fighting against monster hordes, had never seen something of this magnitude and terrifying aura.
"I am completely sure of my services, sirs. You don't need to worry." Seeing that his doubt was hindering business, Draconius decides to set it aside and opens a comforting smile to everyone.
"Just to make sure everything is fine, we'll stay with you until the monsters arrive." Draco thumps his chest and lifts the rooster trapped by the neck.
"Speak for yourself, idiot banker, let me go! Wuuuu, we're all going to die!" Gold starts crying, remembering someone who assured them that everything was under control, but then they were attacked by mysterious creatures while flying in a barrier, almost dying in the end.
'Do we trust him?' That was everyone's thought when they saw the banker squeezing the rooster's beak with a slightly threatening smile.
...
Ten minutes passed while Draconius and Gold waited in a small wooden hall designed to receive visitors.
Sitting on the carpet, bored with just waiting, a notification caught the duo's attention.
Ding!
[Mission complete!]
[The Grand Opening!]
[It's a historic moment for any establishment to serve the first customer!]
[Objective: Close a deal with your first customer.]
[Completion Level]: B
[Reward: Access to the system store and creation of the banker's weapon!]
[100 cosmic coins acquired for completing the mission.]
"Why?! I completed the task perfectly." Draconius makes a sulky face upon seeing that he got a B, eagerly anticipating the additional rewards of the EX level.
"Of course, there are many flaws in your negotiation, scale head." Still angry, Gold speaks with a disdainful look.
"First, his numerous techniques are worth much more than just life expectancy and half of a mine of spiritual stones. Rookie mistake." Gold raises a feather from his wing while shaking his head disappointedly.
"But I don't have anything that's worth the price of so much knowledge, and none of his techniques would be useful to me anyway." He tried to justify his decision in a low voice.
"Equivalent or useful? Don't be naive, little lizard, this is real life! The system only cares about the value of the items obtained to determine the profit of the deals, This is the essence of capitalism!" Gold speaks as if expecting more from Draconius while walking back and forth in front of him.
"Second, you accepted a job that is clearly beyond your capabilities as a stage 0 mortal, being forced to spend much more energy than you should. Useless losses like this are a huge flaw! You could have simply taken the village to the city, which would be much cheaper than this expensive barrier." The rooster seemed to pull out from his inventory a paper with complicated charts, but clearly indicating a loss.
"Yeah, I can't deny that... I really messed up." Draconius scratches his cheek, somewhat embarrassed for not thinking about it. He was new to this job, and the nervousness of dealing with the first customer clouded some of his judgment.
"And lastly, to conclude the contract, you used dirty tricks to obtain the spiritual stones from this village, partially deceiving your client by not making your plans clear. Deplorable!" Gold throws the papers on the ground and points to his host.
Draco lays on the floor, feeling dejected after seeing so many flaws in his first job. He certainly had the ability to do better, but it seemed like treasures were waving at him inside a barrier that he couldn't break.
'Did I talk too much?' Seeing this, Gold becomes a bit embarrassed and says with a cough.
"Cough Don't be so down, the system has existed for a long time, and this was the third EX rating issued in history. It's not as simple as it seems to get that rating because there are many more criteria used for that evaluation, I just mentioned a few. I personally liked your decisions." Gold tries to cheer him up by patting Draco's arm.
"You're right, it shouldn't be so easy to get treasures. That's what makes the journey exciting! We learn as we go." Hearing this, Draconius tries to uplift himself and becomes determined to improve in his new profession. The first step is to understand how the system's new function works.
[Welcome to the Primordial Cosmic Bank Store!]
...
Time passed, and the horde finally arrived at the village. The sky darkened, and it seemed like night had come earlier.
*BOOM* *BOOM*
"THIS IS A MIRACLE!"
"Mom, are we safe?"
The monsters simply ignored the village, there were several demonic beasts of various races that made up the majority of the horde frightening anyone who saw.
It could be seen that they even showed a bit of fear as they moved as far away as possible from the barrier while continuing in the same direction. Ten minutes passed, and the entire horde passed by, ignoring the village full of potential prey.
"Lord Banker, you're amazing!" Chen Jun praises the man who set up the barrier. Everyone was gathered at the village entrance, observing what could be called a miracle.
"Truly amazing." Even Chen Yu was surprised. In his entire life, he had never seen a barrier that didn't emit an aura like this and still repelled monsters.
"Now that everything is settled, it's time for me to leave. Mr. Chen Yu, you can come personally every month to deliver half of the extra spiritual stones mined through the power of the contract. But remember that if the contract is broken, I will have to take action, and nobody wants that, right?" Draconius opened a playful smile that seemed quite threatening to everyone. No one wanted to be an enemy of someone capable of establishing such a defense within minutes.
"Rest assured, I am a man of my word." Chen Yu nods with a serious face, holding Lin Mei's hand. The news of his death shook the woman and brought the two closer. He was a man of his word, and making a mysterious enemy like the banker was not a smart move.
"Relax, Lord Banker, I will personally ensure your share at the time of mining. I give you my word." Chen Jun also confirms. A small village like theirs being able to enjoy such a mine that was monopolized by major forces was an immense blessing. Perhaps they could even become a small power after growing stronger.
"Thank you very much for saving my son, you can visit us anytime, and we'll always be open-armed." Chen Li kept thanking him every moment she saw the banker, leaving him even a bit embarrassed due to such gratitude.
"Alright, I like people like you. Take this token as a freebie to make another deal. In the future, we'll have many service options, and you can buy tokens to bring other people. If you find something valuable, you can visit me. I might even personally arrange a wedding. It was a pleasure doing business with you, until next time!"
While Draco spoke, he tossed a small token into Chen Yu's hand, a regressor should have many treasures to negotiate in the future, and he gave a wink to the couple. Lin Mei may not know, but she and Chen Yu should have had a deep relationship in the future.
*SWOOSH*
As he bid farewell with Gold on his shoulder, Draconius took off his hat and made an elegant bow to his first clients, and with a sudden burst of purple smoke, he disappeared from everyone's sight.