Donatello(I)

That aside, currently Maximus lacked the certification to prove that he was an expert Runic Construct Creator, much less the reputation to receive legal commissions from commissioners that would seek him out for Runic Path construction. That was mostly because he was underage when he first started, but even though he was now at the right age to get his certification, he still chose not to for untold reasons.

As for the Runic Path engraving and imprinting process, one could generally conduct those processes by themselves without any assistance as long as they follow the right procedures. Even so, if one wanted to ensure their safety from unexpected variables that might harm them during the engraving and imprinting process, they must seek out a rune expert who is more knowledgeable about the engraving and imprinting procedure just in case in order to prevent that possibility.

Moments later, Maximus suddenly asked: "How much is the pay this time? I'll tell you this just in case, but I want the money before the commission. Last time, I was cheated and ripped off my own money by that ignorant fire kid."

[Fire kid? Oh, you're talking about Young Lord Oliver, aren't you? I heard what you said about not receiving your fees after your assistance last time. But don't worry, I will see to it that you get what you deserve this time. If you don't trust me, I can send the money to you right away.]

"Then do exactly that. Last time, I only received the commission fee but not the assistance fee despite my kind gesture at the time, and I made a great loss because of that. I didn't complain too much mainly because of that brat's background. As I hate unnecessary trouble, I decided to not pursue that matter any further back then. This time, however, I won't have any of it. I am desperately in need of money, after all."

[Huh? You're in desperate need of money? What do you need the money for? If you don't mind, I can lend you some. Why are you not seeking me out for help as if we are strangers? It's only right for me to help you out. We were once close friends, after all.] Donatello suggested to him.

"No need."

Maximus recalled how he was charged an exorbitant interest fee last time and couldn't help but bluntly refuse his aid.

'This Donatello guy is vicious and couldn't be trusted, not anymore.' He silently thought to himself.

"I will take the commission. Tell me the address for the place, I will head there right away." Maximus said a moment later.

[That quick? Isn't 11:30 pm right now? Are you that desperately in need of money? Why don't I lend you some? I promise to reduce the interest this time for old times' sake. What do you say?] Donatello brought up the topic about lending him money once again, seemingly haven't given up just yet.

However—

"Forget it." Maximus refused yet again and impatiently said: "Just tell me the address or forget about me accepting this commission."

[Alright, I won't bring it up anymore. As for the address, I have already sent it to your email. You can check it for other details you need to be aware of before visiting.]

"Why didn't you send it to my phone? Never mind, I will check it later."

[Alright, good luck, Maggie. Don't forget to satisfy the customer this time as well. Otherwise, my head would fly off my neck for giving the suggestion and entrusting you to handle this job. You don't want to see your old friend and brother die, right?]

"I told you not to call me, Maggie— This bastard, he hung up on me. I still haven't gotten an answer regarding the pay for the commission."

Maximus felt annoyed and wanted to call him back, but he disregarded the thought and instead decided to check his email for the relevant information about the commission. If the commission payment turns out to be too little, he could always call him back later for a proper compromise.

…

Inside a Luxurious Mansion, Somewhere in Mystic Runic City.

A tall bald man with a moderately muscular but slender stature, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, was standing by the window of this mansion in his white night robe while holding a glass filled with red wine in one hand and a phone in the other hand. He had just finished his talk with Maximus and decided to put his phone down.

At this moment, he let out a frustrated sigh and thought: 'That little bastard is still holding grudges over what he heard that time, huh? If I wasn't so drunk that night, he wouldn't have found out about my dealings and I would've continued to exploit him to make more money with his talents. Damn it!"

Donatello gritted his teeth, feeling exasperated. He greatly regretted his careless action back then which led him to lose an irreplaceable money-making machine.

While he was famous for his concept illustrations through his comics and visual arts using his illusory Runic Path as a foundation, he still had to rely on those top families to make ends meet most of the time during his career. After all, not many people can afford his work, and he has never been all that creative when it comes to imagination, so not many people visit him. He could only use overly common concepts, in other words, cliché concepts, and sell those at an exorbitant prices after slight modifications.

However, there are others who were like him that mainly sold similar concepts using preexisting ideas, so he wasn't able to make that much money as a result.

Thus, when he met the lost Maximus one day all by himself in the streets, he approached him and randomly showed him goodwill. Then, after discovering his talents later on after their exchange, he thought that he could finally turn his life around with his help. However, he ended up ruining that chance with his own hands by accident on one unfortunate day when he was intoxicated after a big success.

Moments later, he begrudgingly retired to bed, his face twisted in an unpleasant way as he carried an extremely ugly and unflattering expression on his face.

Donatello had been sleeping in bed with two seductive and attractive women cuddling each arm before he made the call to Maximus. He was in a cheerful mood today, so he thought he would get the matter with Maximus out of the way before having some fun.

Therefore, he left the two women to call Maximus. However, he came back to bed right after the call, seemingly to continue where he left off, but it seems like his mood was ruined, and he was no longer up for anything.

In truth, he had to call Maximus for an hour straight before he received a response. He could tell that Maximus was definitely ignoring him on purpose. Otherwise, he would have picked up his phone call much sooner, and he wouldn't have had to wait for him to pick up.

Unbeknownst to him, Maximus was simply rampaging at the time, so he couldn't hear the buzzing of his phone, let alone answer it. However, since Donatello did not know that, he could only assume that Maximus was blatantly looking down on him. Donatello couldn't take it anymore as he had been flattering Maximus all this time and yet he treated him like this. He was beginning to think of ways to get back at him and show him that without him, he wouldn't amount to anything.

At this point, one of the women who was sleeping on the bed with him noticed the look on his face as he laid on the bed and charmingly spoke: "Tello~ What got you all scrunching your face like that? Don't you know that you'll get wrinkles? Is this about that young man that you were talking about? What's so special about him that you'll spend an hour just to reach him? Isn't he too arrogant?"

Donatello wasn't in the mood for jokes nor was he in the mood for idle chatter, so he coldly glared at this woman and said: "Amanda. You think I don't know what you want by asking me such a question?"

"W-What do you mean by that?" The woman named Amanda was nervous when she heard this unexpected response from him.

Donatello scoffed and said: "Do you think I am a fool? You think I don't know that the two of you were sent by Young Lord Oliver to find out about the true identity of that young man?"

"Donatello, what are you talking about? Didn't we follow you here from the club of our own volition? How could we be sent by someone when we were with you the entire time back in the Club? Afterward, we even followed you here without telling our boss, so how could you doubt us?" The other woman beside him said to him as she stroked his chest gently with her soft hand with an allured expression.

Donatello pushed her hand away and coldly said: "Stop pretending in front of me! I already know the truth, but I chose not to care because you both have faces that are passable. Otherwise, I would've immediately killed the two of you when I saw you snooping around my stuff earlier!"

'C-Crap! We were found out!'

The two women were shocked when they heard this revelation, and they couldn't help but tremble on the spot a moment later when they felt the cold killing intent coming from Donatello's body as he spoke to them.