"What the hell do those big, ugly bastards even think they're going to get out of this?" Heath asked as he forked the largest mouthful of mashed potatoes into his maw that Eik had ever seen. "Iph wike, wha hoo gey even ekpek hoo gek au oph ik?"

"I can't understand a word you're saying, dude," Eik said, taking a sip of a drink he had completely forgotten the name of. That was a frequent occurrence. Almost every day he ate at least one thing he had never tasted before, either on one of his many trips to Gimleh or because Ihasu cooked traditional cuisine. What a life.

"I said," the smith began, swallowing so much at once that he nearly looked like a cartoon character as his throat expanded to accommodate the food. "What do they even expect to get out of it?"

Eik shrugged. "Shit if I know. Looking at how that asshole acted back at the Alchemist Guild, I'm guessing they think they can intimidate me into setting up some kind of exclusivity deal."

Heath stopped eating and shot him a side-eye, hesitating. "And can they?"

Eik raised an eyebrow and stopped eating as well. "Are you kidding me, man?" he asked incredulously, punching his friend in the arm with as little power as he could. "I'm a total paragon of power and righteousness. Ain't no way I'm going to let them do that kind of crap!"

"Are you sure you can oppose them?" Michael asked.

"I'm a pretty imba guy, you know!" Eik whined.

"But this is a whole civilization," Michael argued, clearly concerned.

"For now it's just a representative, probably. Plus, we have both the Ougi clan and the house Dayarunar on our side. Not to mention that I can pressure, well, anyone I damn well please by threatening to withhold access to my super duper amazing pills if they don't support me against the Gohkamorians."

Michael didn't say anything but didn't look convinced.

"I'm not going to let them have any, Michael. I'm not. They've done too much bad stuff to us. Killed my brother, my mom, all my friends, your family, your friends, nearly everyone we've ever known. And now they want to take part in our prosperity? Fuck that.

That seemed to stir something in Michael and his jaw tightened, his fingers digging into the table as the wood creaked painfully.

"And I'm not going to let them do anything to us in retaliation either. I'll reduce them to rot before I let that happen."

"Just…" Michael trailed off, searching for the words.

"And I hear Heath has something prepared for you," Eik said, Heath nodded without speaking through a full mouth this time. "Let's go to his workshop together when I'm done with this hassle."

***

Eik had already forbidden all travel to Earth for any Gohkamorian. The fracture specialists in Gimleh had been a little reluctant to allow such a restriction, even if temporary, but once he explained to them the relationship between Earth and Gohkamoria they accepted it on a temporary basis. They already knew what had transpired at the announcement at the Alchemist Guild where Eik had argued with the Gohkamorian representative.

In practice it wasn't like Earth could not categorically deny travel documents to Gohkamorian to whatever degree they wanted on an administrative level. That should be enough for everyday travel operations. But just in case, today Eik wanted to make sure that even the portal mages knew that Earth was a no-go zone for the big, lumbering bastards.

He sat with his back against the hard wall, waiting in the fracture hall where the permanent fracture to Earth was located, when the Gohkamorian delegation walked in. Twelve individuals had shown up to pressure Earth into a deal.

Eik had a difficult time telling Gohkamorians apart but he was pretty sure that the person walking at the front of the delegation was not the guy who had stood up to make demands during the announcement at the Alchemist Guild. But if he wasn't mistaken, he was among them on the right.

Standing up slowly, Eik strolled leisurely toward the group as they stopped to talk to the fracture specialist on duty. He chomped on an apple as he watched them. They only spoke for a few seconds before the leader of the delegation became visibly agitated.

"Barred from visiting?" he asked the mage indignantly. "On whose authority have such discriminatory regulations been introduced?"

The fracture mage, having been gifted three glazed cinnamon rolls just minutes earlier already knew the drill. He pointed at Eik. "That guy."

"Eik Magnasen!" the dumbass who had stood up at the Alchemist Guild hissed. The leader scowled at Eik with palpable disdain.

"Sup, boys and girls!" Eik said through a mouthful of apple. A little bit of fruit was ejected from his mouth at a speed sufficient to land on the leader's polished boot. But since Eik had just eaten, he didn't really mind losing that little bit of food.

A vein popped on the large man's forehead but he somehow managed to keep his voice under control when he addressed the little insect who had just spit on his shoes. "Greetings, Eik Magnasen. Am I to take this," he said with a gesture at the fracture. "as your refusal to let us through to Earth?"

"Obviously," Eik said nonchalantly, taking another bite of his apple.

"And in extension of that a refusal to do business with the Gohkamorian civilization?"

"Did your buddy there not tell you? I've already told you that it's not going to happen."

Blatantly ignoring Eik's words, the Gohkamorian leader swept a hand toward the exit. "If you are afraid of letting us come to Earth, why don't you come with us to Gohkamoria and we can speak properly there?" the man jabbed.

"Going home with a guy whose name I don't even know? You must be out of your damn mind!"

"I apologize," the Gohkamorian said with a bow. He seemed to have gotten his temper under control. "My name is H—"

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"Yeah, no. Your world could literally be one big, fuckin' ball of milk chocolate and I would still never go there."

Twelve powerful auras suddenly crashed down over Eik's body, driving him down as if gravity had suddenly intensified fifty times over. The whitish transparent haze stirred the air visibly. But Eik didn't budge.

Instead he took a step forward and laid his head back to gaze up into the leader's ugly mug, arms on his hips, eyes steady and relaxed. There was no indication that he was being affected by the immense aura pressure whatsoever.

"Did you have anything else you wanted to say, hmm?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I've been courteous. And I don't like to make a request twice," the Gohkamorian representative growled and turned his aura up even further. Eik still didn't appear to care at all, fishing for wax in his ear with a pinky.

"Hey! Gohkamorians!" the fracture specialist shouted, stomping toward them, looking pissed. "Are you out of your minds? What the hell do you think you're doing right now? People are coming through here all the time and you wanna sling around high-rank auras like insane people? Get the hell out of here right this instant!"

The Gohkamorian leader glared down at the much smaller man, his nose twitching. The man didn't back down. He had probably dealt with crap like this many times before. "Leave or I'll call the guards. I'll make sure you're put on a travel ban, and not just to Earth!"

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, the leader spun on his heel and headed for the exit, followed by his entourage. When Eik didn't follow as well, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "What? You think we're done talking? Don't tell me you're afraid of even just a tiny, little meeting," he mocked.

Eik arched a brow, giving it a few seconds, but eventually started walking. He glanced back at the fracture specialist and grinned. "They did invite me to go, didn't they? Even after doing all those mean things to me. I guess I should go since I got an invitation, don't you think? I just hope I won't have to defend myself." A couple of the Gohkamorians scoffed at that.

The fracture specialist nodded slowly, confusion painted on his face as clearly as a single black stroke on a white canvas.

This was a good opportunity. Just showing that he wasn't afraid of them wasn't enough. He needed to show them that he could fight back. That their tactics wouldn't work against Earth. That he could annihilate them. And that he wouldn't hesitate to act on his capabilities if they stepped over the line.

They walked through winding streets in silence until Eik spoke up. "Are we there yet?"

"No. I figured it would be better to go somewhere with a bit more privacy. We don't want anybody to… hear what we are discussing, do we?" Oh, how confident these guys were. And why wouldn't they be? They were dealing with a single person. Even if he had shown himself to be exceptionally powerful—and nearly everybody knew of his records in the Crucible by now—he was only one man, after all.

Eik grinned from ear to ear. "Couldn't agree more."

***

The place was a large compound on the outskirts of Gimleh. Eik had begun to noticed that while much of inner Gimleh consisted mainly of stores and smaller residences, there were whole areas dedicated to larger businesses, clan homes, and big areas reserved by the different civilizations.

A fracture brought them to the entrance. The large gate swung open and the Gohkamorian representative led them to a parlor near the entrance. They sat and offered Eik refreshments. He happily accepted.

"Surely you must realize what an amazing opportunity it would be for a fresh world like yours to be supported by the Gohkamorians. We have money. We have influence. We have power," the leader said, lifting a tightly clenched fist to emphasize that last word.

Eik looked at him like he was an idiot. "We already have the support of the entire Alliance. I alone am capable of creating a pill unlike anything anyone had ever seen. We don't need the Gohkamorians. But you need me."

"Hoh? How so?"

"You have to establish favorable ties, and you have to do it quickly because you've noticed how quickly I have propelled Earth into cosmic relevance," Eik said. Several of the Gohkamorians behind the primary representative stiffened at that. Nail, meet head.

"I'm not quite sure what—"

"Oh, please, mate. I went over this in a very public setting with that guy earlier," Eik sighed and pointed to the guy who had stood up at the announcement in the Alchemist Guild. "As I also said back then, we have plenty of evidence to show that it was a Gohkamorian hand that orchestrated the decade-long assault on Earth. And while we can't directly invade your home world, just like you couldn't do to us, we can make life difficult for you. Nobody's going to complain when we pay back a little of what we were given."

That pesky, bulging vein was back on the leader's forehead, exposing his mood yet again.

"You're desperate to get something in writing that you can cling to when I inevitably become aware of my own influence. Well, unfortunately I already am aware. And you ain't getting' shit from me, except for a kick in the ass when I toss you back out on the street," Eik finished, leaning back and sipping whatever he had been served. It tasted pretty good.

All of the Gohkamorians, and especially the leader, looked ready to squash him.

"You're playing with fire right now, whelp," the big leader growled, leaning forward in his seat. The auras were back, crashing down over Eik like a waterfall.

He sighed and downed his drink. "And it was going so well too," he said and got up slowly. "Well, then, fuckers. Shall we do this then?"

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