Having turned Peter's life upside down for attacking him, Ghost was honing his fighting skills back in his room. After Lailah's visit, the mirror in his room was gone. He didn't buy a new mirror but bought a few punching bags and freakishly sturdy Wing Chun.
The punching bags were laying on the ground, broken and scattered. The punching bags contained pieces of stones that were similar to granite on earth. Still, they were no match for Michael's anger. The anger wasn't toward Peter but Thusia. Ever since he saw Calvin Howard, the representative of Thusia, he was burning with fury.
Chuk!
Chuk!
Chuk!
Chuk!
His punches to the Wing Chun became more and more violent as the wooden dummy began to vibrate violently despite its sturdiness. He never even used any Arch energy to power his punches, he just used raw strength.
"Thusians… Victoria Barnes…ARGH!"
CHUCK!
CHUCK!
CHUCK!
CHUCK!
He violently punched the Wing Chun as the wooden dummy began to form cracks. Soon, pieces of wood crumbled down. After the Wing Chun lost its shape, his punches became more frantic, they contained no techniques or finance, just random frantic punches.
"ARGH!"
Boom!
Finally, Michael roundhouse kicked the wooden dummy as it exploded into nothing but splinters.
"There are many ways to destroy an enemy. The first, forgiveness" Elder Wright's words sounded in his mind.
"They don't deserve it, when I'm done with Thusia, there won't be any signs that there was a kingdom called Thusia. I am gonna massacre them" Michael breathed heavily. He sweated as he was inside an oven in anger.
Knock!
Knock!
"Master Ghost" Michael heard Ricky's voice coming from the other side of the door,
"What is it?" Michael tried to sound calm yet it was possible Ricky might have sensed the anger in his voice.
"There is someone who wants to meet you"
"That someone have a name?" Michael wiped off the sweat before using Arch energy to clean himself.
"Lord Calvin Howard, Master Ghost"
The moment Michael heard the name, his calmed anger exploded in his heat yet again. He clenched his fist as he began to shiver.
"Send him in" His brain overpowered the anger in his heart.
"Yes Master Ghost" Ricky left the area to bring Calvin to the room while Michael entered the system's interface to buy a couple of sofas. He knew this was not the time to be impulsive and make an enemy out of Calvin. Hence he bought furniture for Calvin to sit on instead of beating the crap out of him.
Michael then put on V-neck black long sleeves and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows. He plunged into the sofa, giving some rest to his body. After waiting for five minutes, Michael heard loud footsteps and metal clanking sounds. Soon, the door opened to reveal Ricky and a blue haired youngster who had a feminine feel to him. He walked towards Michael with a wide grin. He even walked like a female while fanning his face.
"Ghost, it's a pleasure to meet you up close" Michael stood up and shook Calvin's hands. It felt like he was shaking a girl's hand, it was so soft.
"Pleasure is all mine, Lord Calvin" Michael gestured at Clavin to take a seat in front of him. It took an immense amount of effort to keep his anger contained.
"Aww, call me Calvin, Lord title makes me feel old" Calvin pouted. Michael couldn't help imagining dashed at him, ripping off his throat with his bare hands and showing it back into his mouth. He was starting to get really creative.
"Calvin it is" Michael let out a friendly smile despite the burning rage in his heart.
"I liked what you've been doing in the competition so far. Letting everyone know you're not to be messed with. That's how the enemies should be dealt with" Despite the feminine look, gentle voice, and lady-like softness, Michael could see the cold murdered hiding within Calvin.
"Kill one enemy, I have rooted out one enemy. Torture and destroy one in front of the world, I have rooted out many" Michael said,
"You can leave the room now, Ricky" Michael sent Ricky outside with a wave. Calvin's armored escort remained outside without getting inside the room. It was obvious Calvin had no idea who Michael really is. IF he had seen Abras before, Calvin would have recognized him by now.
Still, this meeting reminded Michael to change his appearance. Although Michael looked way different than he did when he first got Abras's body, he decided to buy something from the system that would quickly change his face when needed.
"I heard you travel a lot and love making new friends, have you ever visited Thusia?" Calvin asked,
"I haven't got the pleasure yet. But I heard it's a beautiful kingdom"
"And powerful" Calvin smiled but the pride and arrogance were pretty visible in his eyes. Michael sneered inside. They weren't powerful before the king pimped his daughter to Abras, betrayed him, and acquired the Cosmic stream.
For others, Thusia was waging war on nearby kingdoms and forging alliances with powerful organizations to defend themselves from invasion. That was the story Maxim Barnes, the king of Thusia spinning. However, Michael knew the truth. They were waging war to make sure could take the Cosmic Stream from them or know the existence of the Cosmic stream.
People like Lord Information would eventually sniff out the existence of the Cosmic stream if Thusia remained doing nothing. The Thusian king was gambling with the Cosmic stream to ensure the future of Thusia. Many would become suspicious if Thusia grew powerful in a short amount of time but if they waged war and swallowed nearby kingdoms, people would think winning wars was the reason for the rise to power. IF Michael's guess was right, only a small group of people in Thusia would know about the Cosmic Stream's existence and those few would be insanely powerful. The void event that took away people's ability to see someone's cultivation level added extra protection to them. They didn't need to worry about powers like the Guardian guild questioning how they suddenly became so powerful.
"I'm really surprised to see a representative of Thusia here, Calvin. I mean, the ongoing wars might keep your schedule filled right?" Michael asked without showing a shred of his true emotions on his face. He sounded like he's really surprised to see Calvin here.
"It's a messy business but Thusia won't back down to war-hungry kingdoms. In fact, we are winning the wars in all directions"
"Is that so?" Michael nodded, pretending he doesn't know this. The book he bought from Lord Information might not contain information about Cosmic Stream but it contained everything that's happening in the world right now and the rumors surrounding each kingdom. Unlike Calvin said, Thusia wasn't just winning, they were destroying kingdoms. According to the rumors, Thusia was looking to shift its capital to the Ozer continent and announce itself as an empire soon.
"Despite our victory in the wars, His majesty Maxim Barnes has ordered his subordinates to strengthen the kingdom further so we won't be vulnerable to wars in the future." Calvin paused for a moment to see the reaction on Ghost's face. After seeing Ghost still listening to him with curiosity, Calvin continued,
"Part of our strategy was getting new talents and self-sustaining our kingdom"
"By self-sustaining, do you mean starting your own guilds?"
Michael read something about Thusias starting their own merchant guild from Olivia's father. Connecting that with Calvin's words, he could guess where is this going,
"Exactly and that's why I am here. We want you to offer the Guild Leader position of TAG, Thusian Alchemists Guild"
This time, Michael's brows raised up in genuine surprise. He expected Calvin to offer some shitty position but never expected him to offer the position of Guild Leader. Like a spider web, new plans to get revenge formed in Michael's mind.
"Man of your caliber should be leading a guild, not competing in silly competitions to prove your worth" Calvin rolled his eyes. IT was evident he was talking about the Alchemists Guild and the upcoming Alchemist competition organized by them. Michael didn't need Calvin to tell him what those old alchemists did was rude and insolent. They should have invited him to be the judge of the competition except they invited him to compete in the competition. Since Michael was hiding the fact that he's the number one Alchemist in Elon, Gabriel could think of judging him. But what about the rest of the guild?
There wasn't a single person in that Alchemy Guild to judge him.
"I can't say I'm not tempted but I need to know more about this before making my decision" Michael already decided to take on the position yet still didn't want to seem like he's too quick to take the job.
"I did my research Ghost, you value your freedom and hate being tied to a place.That was why you rejected the Guardians right?"
Michael nodded as Calvin continued,
"We are still in the first phase of building the guild. Wherever we build the guild, you don't have to stay there twenty four seven. You will be the guild's leader, appearing only to make important decisions. Day to day activities and small matters will be taken care of by the elders and your assistants if you choose to have" Seeing the interested look on Ghost's face, Calvin let out a grin, showing his pure white sparkling teeth.
"If you choose to take the position, you will be granted access to the Herbal garden we are planning to build, twenty million gold coins a month and the banner of kingdom Thusia as a sign of friendship and protection and many other benefits" Calvin could see the temptation in Ghost's eyes.
"Hook, line, sink. Too easy" Calvin thought to himself. Anyone with half a brain could see Ghost would take this offer by seeing the look on his face.
Calvin was an expert in acquiring talents for Thusia. Therefore he could tell when someone is thinking about taking the offer.
However he had no idea that it was not a fish that bit his hook but a bloodthirsty shark.
*******************************
If you like this chapter,
Please comment, send power stones.
If you really really like this chapter and my novel,
Consider sending me gifts as it would motivate me to put out more chapters.
Any criticism,
Feel free to bash me in the comments
Discord link: https://discord.gg/yMCZbVNbpC
