Child of Destiny

……

Falcon City, one of the main cities was built by the Wing’s Alliance. It was currently an Advanced City and was about to be promoted into a Capital City after meeting a few more requirements, making it one of the front runners for building such a high-rank city.

This city was situated in the middle of a mountain and a dense forest. This spot was specifically chosen by the higher echelons of the guild as there were a lot of high-level maps nearby. The region right behind the mountain was just one of them.

The guild had also built a simple stronghold right above the mountain and sturdy walls that would guard them from any kind of invasion. It also served as a form of watchtower that would oversee their territory. It was just a pity that they had yet to own this land since they had not met all the requirements to own territory.

The streets of the city were quite busy as a lot of players visited this place due to the high-level maps nearby. This almost endless flow of visitors generated quite a lot of profit for the Wing’s Alliance, especially when all the shops, inns, restaurants, and other forms of business establishments were owned by them.

They also had various virtual shops set up in different places in the city that were connected to the real world. This generated another form of profit for the corporation behind the Wing’s Alliance.

Since this place was owned by one of the Powerhouse Guilds within the game, there were a lot of players, who visited this place to apply as a member. Quite a lot of experts also visited this city to test their luck and challenged other elites in the Battle Arena, especially when it was connected to other cities owned by the Wing’s Alliance.

These were just a few of the advantages of being a powerful guild with a solid foundation.

In the headquarters of the Wing’s Alliance, a lot of their higher-ups were gathered due to the emergency meeting that the Grand Elder had issued.

“Why did the Grand Elder call us here? Don’t tell me he is finally revealing his fangs.”

“You should be quiet, what if the others misunderstand your words?”

“What’s there to hide? Isn’t everyone new that the Grand Elder is challenging the authority of the Alliance Leader? It is no secret.”

“That’s right. He is even getting bolder each day as if he was saying that he will take over the entire guild.”

“He even timed this one perfectly as most of the leaders working under the direct orders of the Alliance Leader are currently in an important expedition.”

“I can tell that he is waiting for this opportunity to arrive.”

“I wonder what the Alliance Leader and the Lawrence Family will do.”

“What else? Of course, they will fight back and declare a war if necessary.”

The people who were gathered in the conference room chatted among themselves in whispering voices, afraid that the loyal supporters of the current Alliance Leader would go crazy after hearing them.

Clank!

Not long after, a group of people entered the room. There was a man, who looked like in his early thirties leading the group while the rest followed behind him with arrogant looks on their faces.

“Tsk! Look at those faces. They sure come here fully prepared.”

“I wonder what plans the Grand Elder prepared this time.”

As the whispers continued, the Grand Elder, who was leading the group took a seat right beside the head seat that was supposed to be for the Alliance Leader.

Across him sat another man in his thirties, slightly older than the Grand Elder. This person glared sharply at the latter. “You sure have become bolder. What kind of scheme are you plotting right now?”

“Scheme? What are you talking about, Second Elder? People may misunderstand your words if they hear you,” replied the Grand Elder with a smile.

The Second Elder did not buy those words as he knew that this sly fox was plotting something once again. It had been a while since the Grand Elder revealed his ambition, and he had been doing everything he could to weaken the influence of the current Alliance Leader to allow himself to snatch that seat.

The Grand Elder smirked before continuing. “I just want to propose a very rare opportunity to the Alliance Leader. My people happen to stumble upon a very interesting quest this time. And from the looks of it, the quest is at least an Empire Quest that can allow us to set up a territory.”

He did not bother to hide his words and even said them loudly so that the other people in the conference room to go crazy.

What was a territory? It was an important resource that the guild could use to gain a lot of profits!

To these people, who came to represent their respective factions within the corporation, such an opportunity would be welcomed by them.

But despite how alluring those things were, the Second Elder could not help but squint his eyes as he could feel that there was a scheme hidden somewhere in those poisonous words.

And the answer immediately came.

“It is just a pity that the Alliance Leader does not have enough people to proceed with this Empire Quest as most of them are busy with their respective promotion quests and the expedition that is currently going on.”

“I wonder if he can let me choose the people, who will be doing this quest,” added the Grand Elder as his lips curved into a devious grin.

‘I knew it!’ thought the Second Elder as he could already see what this sly fox was plotting.

This said Empire Quest would make the other higher-ups be swayed. This would make these businessmen gain more confidence from the Grand Elder, making his influence grow stronger.

If the Grand Elder gathered enough people and managed to successfully clear the quest, earning them a territory, the other elders of the guild would most likely see him in a new light.

Their decisions would also be swayed by these recent successful events, affecting their votes for the next internal competition.

If the Grand Elder proposed to change the leader after that competition, then the current Alliance Leader would be most likely to lose in the election.

The situation was not in their favor, especially when the opposing side seemed to have gained a lot of mysterious experts somewhere.

Their faction was clearly in danger.

As the tension between the two elders was getting stronger, the door suddenly opened once again followed by the entrance of the Alliance Leader along with a pair of hooded individuals. One of them was familiar with everyone within the room as he was the leader of the Golden Feathers, but the other person was quite a mystery to them.

As the Alliance Leader sat on his designated seat, the two hooded individuals stood on each of his sides, right behind him.

“Alright, let’s begin. I heard the rough details earlier on my way here, but I want to hear everything,” said the Alliance Leader.

Hearing that, the Grand Elder stood up and started presenting his proposition.

Everyone within the conference room remained silent, especially when the leader himself was not saying anything. But deep inside, these people were thinking all the same. They could see that the Grand Elder had prepared everything, wanting to show his intention to the Alliance Leader.

They all were thinking that the Grand Elder had come fully prepared for this, and even brought a couple of experts with him, saying that these were just a few of the people that he would be bringing to the mission.

Arthur, who was silently listening to everything, could not help but smile as he watched this fool of an elder lay out his plan. He might not be the smartest, but he could at least see that this Grand Elder was trying to plot something.

The Grand Elder was trying to grow his influence within the council of the guild while the Alliance Leader was powerless and could not do anything due to his lack of manpower.

It seemed like this elder was trying to pressure the Alliance Leader with the number of people on his side. Most of the elders and other leaders on the side of the Alliance Leader were currently not present due to important missions that they had.

Adding the current update of the game, where they had to discover more maps and explore the new contents of the game, these people were currently busy with their respective businesses.

From the look of it, this Grand Elder had plenty of time on his hands to play politics.

Arthur continued to watch from the side as he was quite interested in what this elder was trying to do. He felt that taking over the entire Wing’s Alliance was just one of his goals, but he could not tell what the others were.

***

After the meeting, Arthur and the Alliance Leader were back to one of the secret bases of the latter.

“That is not a bad plan for that old fox. It seems like he is trying to play aggressively on the surface, but I can smell that he is hiding something underneath,” said Arthur as he took a seat.

“Heh! That’s new. You are not someone who likes to stick your nose into something like this. What’s gotten into you?” asked the Alliance Leader as he sat across Arthur.

Arthur shrugged his shoulders and pursed his lips. “I am not sure either. But I feel like something fun is going to happen soon.”

“Whatever,” the Alliance Leader shook his head. “But are you sure that it is fine for you to stay here? Are your friends not looking for you?”

Arthur waved his hand and said. “Nah! I still have plenty of time on my hands. It is still not the time for us to gather since the rest are still busy with their respective promotion quest.”

He then paused and looked at the Alliance Leader before saying. “Speaking of which, you should start doing yours too. You will be left behind if you delay it a little longer.”

The Alliance Leader could not help but smile bitterly when he heard that. “What can I do? This is one of the responsibilities of being a leader. I can’t do things that I want if it is meant to affect the guild.”

“If I suddenly get busy, those hyaenas waiting in the dark will bare their fangs and bite me from behind,” he added with a sigh.

“Tsk! Tsk! This is why guild with politics has never been good for people like us,” commented Arthur as he felt relieved for not ending up in the same situation.

He then thought of something before asking. “So, what are you going to do with that quest? Are you going to leave everything to that sly fox? I can see that he is trying to use this opportunity to weaken your influence within the guild.”

“You may have delayed it a little earlier, but the pressure on your back will only grow after this,” he added, warning the latter with a solemn tone.

The Alliance Leader sighed when he heard that as he also recalled what happened. “It is not like I can do anything at the moment. Well, it is true that I don’t have enough people for that quest.”

“I am sure that my family will be swayed by the Grand Elder sooner or later if this continues to be like this,” he added in a helpless tone.

Arthur stared at the Alliance Leader for a couple of moments before mumbling. “I do have some plan myself, but it is not related to this issue.”

The Alliance Leader raised his head and looked at Arthur confusedly as he heard those words.

Arthur, on the other hand, waved his hand and shook it off. “Forget it. I’ll tell you when the time comes.”

……