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Part Forty-Two

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. was not only where the president was located it was where the leaders of the ten families gathered. They had meetings every few months to give a status update on the situation in the USA.

Today they were holding another meeting, this one was a bit special. The highest ranked general of the military was present.

Why was he here? To discuss the future.

Inside the conference room sat elven people. Behind each person was another figure, most of them were males dressed in suits with their arms crossed behind their back. They were bodyguards, not that the people in the room needed them.

“Mr. West, I see you’ve decided to join us today. I’m assuming everything has been settled with your family matters?”

“Yes, things have been… quiet lately. However, now is surely not the time to discuss this Mr. Scott. We should focus on the matters at hand.”

The people that sat in this room called each other by their last name. While calling each other by your first name was a norm in the USA, they decided to do otherwise when they were in this room.

In front of each person was a document that contained information on the project they were working on.

“Right, Ms. Garcia how much progress has been made so far, concerning the buildings?”

“Don’t worry about the buildings, they’ll be finished before the year is out. Might even be done right after the twelve god tournament if I rush everyone. I’m more worried about the system that is being made. Last time there were concerns about it, this time i’m not too sure. Care to explain Mr. Maxwell?”

A man nodded his head as he crossed his arms while placing his elbows on the table.

“Once registration is finished, the person will then be given a rank. No matter who it is they’ll start at the lowest rank until they advance and rank it. Training facilities are available as well, as for the information gathering and workers that is still being worked on. Naturally, the rewards for each task will be determined by the employer. We’ll make sure it is suitable.”

“Mr. Jacob, how long until the troops return? I know it was a sudden request but with all the noise going around, I fear we need to be prepared for the worst. If we do not have the support of your troops we’ll lose the confidence of the citizens.”

“Sadly i’ve been in a struggle, pulling the troops back now would cause major casualties in the war. If we lose the stronghold then all our effort will have been for naught. There is no telling when i’ll be able to have them return. I need more time.”

“Time is not something we have. We’ll just have to deal with the situation when it occurs and hope for the best.

The conversation in the conference room continued as the members began discussing politics, war, and the new project they were working on. Before any of them knew it, four hours had passed by.

There were no breaks during those four hours, the members continued to talk. The mouths were dry as they ordered their bodyguards to fetch them water.

“Right, before we call it a day what should we name this project?”

“Adventurers Guild.”

“Explorers Guild.”

“Explorer? No, we already have a profession called that. If we name it that people will get confused.”

“Naturally since it is a part of the military, we’ll call it Mercenary Guild.”

“How about, we just call it…”

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Nick stood by the side of his bed as he placed his clothes neatly inside his suitcase. He needed to pack ten days worth of clothing, enough to support him on his trip.

It’s been a month and a half since the freshman competition. With Alex’s transformation, the competition was cut short. This caused the students to be upset as they never finished their ranking.

Once Alex was put down for good, the high ranking staff members decided to host a small match between the participants that were left. Isabel was in critical condition at the time, so she could not finish her matches.

If it wasn’t due to the speed at which she was brought to the infirmary, Nick feared she would have died. She was extremely lucky to survive.

With the medical support of healing EXO users, she recovered in a month. Recovered was a bit too big to call it, but she could stand up and walk around for a bit. Her body was still damaged and she could not do anything too strenuous.

When Nick, Freya and Matthew paid her a visit she continued to cry. Nick was surprised because she was not crying due to the pain. She was crying because of the long scar that ran down her chest. She feared she would not find a husband who would accept her with this default.

It took a long time before all of her friends convinced her otherwise.

With Isabel out, and the competition continuing inside the school a winner naturally emerged.

Nick met Arthur in the top four, which surprised Arthur. He couldn’t believe the loser in front of him was actually powerful. Arthur had this pride that he couldn’t let go of. He felt himself above others, but he had reasons why.

Their match brought the respect of the upperclassman, as both fighters were skilled. Arthur with his lightning strikes and Nick with his swift movements, the battle went on for a while. Finally, Nick won.

Arthur did something different than usual as he congratulated Nick. No longer calling him a loser. He thought Nick was a worthy competitor and did not look down on him anymore. Still did not change his opinion on most of the support division members as he found them lacking.

Arthur felt if he faced Matthew his chances of winning would be higher.

After Nick and Arthur’s match, Matthew faced off against Scarlet. The two of them had a heated match as Scarlet talked the entire time.

The topic of their conversation seemed a bit personal, but Scarlet did not seem to mind the surroundings. Matthew felt embarrassed as his cheeks were red the entire time.

He wanted to keep their relationship a secret, but she talked about it out in the open. Now everyone knew about their engagement. At first, he was happy as it would help deter the females that always wanted to talk to him. Then he realized the hardship it would bring.

The match ended in Matthew’s favor.

Finally at the finals, Nick versus Matthew. The matching surprised everyone as both of them came from the support division. Matthew was already known as a freshman royal, so him reaching the top wasn’t unexpected. It was Nicks appearance that really surprised them. Him beating Arthur revealed his own power and status. There was no denying he was the other freshman royal.

While this match was longer than the two prior, Nick ended up winning.

Nick smiled as he remembered the match against Matthew. He hoped to face him again next year on a much larger stage.

The reward for winning was Nicks position in the twelve god tournament. He had a special seat as he would be the leader for the freshman competition. The most important matches would be left to him, in hopes he would help their academy secure a good ranking.

Thinking of the challenges he would have to face next Nick clenched the shirt in his hand. Rachel’s image popped up in his head, but she was not the only one he had to look out for.

All ten families would be present, each one of them had someone they were raising to take over next. Those people would be powerful, maybe more powerful than Nick.

The challenge excited him.

Not to mention, there was something he needed to finish at the competition.

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A day later at Nick’s home, Oliva just finished putting on her makeup as she rolled into the living room. Three bags were packed and ready to be taken out.

Charles was standing in the hallway with his hands behind his back.

“Charles, don’t just stand there like a statue, come help me.”

Olivia said.

She’s gotten use to the extra help around the house. Charles did mostly everything so she barely had to lift a finger and his cooking was superb.

Her and Celia were getting along just fine. It was as if she had a daughter in the house.

While Nick did visit on his break, she missed her little boy.

Olivia checked her wrist as she looked at the time. They needed to get moving if they were going to make it to the twelve god competition. She wanted to support her son as much as she could, so she was going to do it in person. It was her own little surprise she had in store for him.

‘Geez, what is she doing?’ Olivia asked herself as she wondered what was taking Celia so long.

She soon got her answer as Celia appeared. Her long blonde hair was wrapped in a ponytail, and she wore a beautiful blue dress. Yet, what got Olivia’s attention was none of that. Instead, it was Celia’s azure blue eyes. Yes, azure blue! Her eyes that were usually closed were now open!

“Celia! Your eyes.”

Olivia nearly jumped up from her wheelchair when she saw Celia.

Celia blinked and nodded her head.

“My sight has returned, although my vision isn’t the same as before…”

Charles raised his eyebrow, he knew what the return of her vision meant. She wasn’t born blind, her blindness was due to another matter. It was not permanent either, but when it would return no one knew.

It’s been ten years since she was afflicted with blindness.

“I’m sure Nick will be shocked as well when you see him.”