"It shouldn't be a problem..." Exile grinned to set their minds at ease. It was important that they did not have any doubts. After all, they do say to fool your enemies, you must first fool your friends. As long as they were confident in him, then nobody should want to test his new power.
"What about the other orbs?" Winter suddenly asked, interrupting the atmosphere. "Shouldn't you absorb them as well to further increase your strength?"
Exile frowned as he glanced towards her. "I'm already Tier 1. It would be better for those who died to use them now."
Another discussion broke out, but this time the majority sided with Exile's claim. They had already reached their goal so it would obviously be better to fix the slight damage that had been caused by the battle with Kaleidoscope.
As the orbs were handed out to those who had died, Old Un decided to ask a question. "Who'll be going with you to this meeting? Clay is an obvious choice, but who else?"
Exile scanned the faces of those seated at his table before attention shifted out to the room in general. "Midas. He'll come with us..."
Several deep frowns appeared, but before they could say anything, Exile held up a hand. "This meeting will probably involve negotiations. With his Authority being what it is, I'm hoping he can get us favourable terms. Do you think you're up to it?"
Midas seemed hesitant as he considered it. Sure, he enjoyed playing a merchant type class in most games and was even rather good at it. However, it was a lot of pressure to be put under. "If I can use my spells... It won't be an issue..."
Exile cocked an eyebrow at that remark. He had basically suggested that his spells were not combat orientated, but he could not help but wonder how they would be useful. "If they're not offensive spells, then they should work. I don't think the Civil War will restrict them being used on our 'allies'."
Midas nodded at Exile's judgement. He had assumed the same thing, but then again, there was still a lot he was unsure of. "Count me in then."
"Good, it's settled. Everyone make whatever preparations you need to. I don't know how this meeting will go, but we should assume we may need to act right away. Take care of any business with your Oracles in case we become unavailable for a while." Exile commanded as he glanced around the room. "Clay, Midas... Let's go meet our new friends..."
The atmosphere inside Jarxos' store was tense as twelve Pantheon leaders were gathered with their companions. Jarxos was busy trying to convince them to look at his wares, but they just ignored him.
"Beartooth... Do you think they will come?" A woman with waist-length red hair and green eyes asked as she cast a frown towards him.
"I'm certain they will... They can't win this war if they cut themselves off from both sides." Beartooth chuckled in response as he looked at the gathering of leaders.
"I say to hell with them... They've already caused a lot of trouble. Working with them will just make things harder on the rest of us." An older man with grey streaks through his hair grumbled. "I don't get why she wants them to join us as well. Are we not enough? Everyone but Ragnarok on our side of this war has already joined this alliance."
"You're missing the point. We're completely outnumbered..." Beartooth sighed as he met the man's stern gaze. "Even if all of our Pantheons were full on this side, we still wouldn't match up to half of our enemy's numbers. Exile has already shown us that they are divided and confident in winning the war. We have to work together to take advantage of that..."
Before the man could respond with a few choice impolite words about what he thought of Exile, a suffocating pressure descended on them as a group passed through the barrier of the store's entrance. Subtle gasps escaped from everyone as they studied the newcomers in shock. 'How?' Beartooth trembled as he stared at Exile with wide eyes.
'So, these guys are the Alliance.' Exile frowned as he turned his gaze from one to the other. 'Where's this leader that Beartooth mentioned?'
He could not help but feel that none of them present were capable of controlling the others. Not a single one of them stood out more than the others, which left Exile feeling confused as he led Clay and Midas to join the gathering.
"Is this everyone?" Exile asked curiously as he glanced around. He knew that the game was quickly filling up with players and the number of leaders present only confirmed how fierce the competition would become. However, it shocked him to discover how few of these leaders were on their side in the Civil War.
"Ah..." Beartooth coughed as he came out of his stupor. "We're still waiting for someone. She'll join us shortly."
Exile could sense the wonder emanating from the others as they stared at him. 'It seems they don't have any information on Tier 1.' He let out a long sigh of relief. 'That's good. The less they know, the better.'
"So, do you want to fill me in on how this alliance can benefit my Pantheon? If you haven't noticed, we've been doing fine on our own so far." Exile frowned as he glanced at the group in an intimidating manner. He did not want to give them a chance to study him too much or to get any ideas. 'It would be best if I keep them on the back foot. Don't give the chance to think too much.'
"Yes, of course... I'm sure that would be fine to pass the time." Beartooth nervously smiled as he glanced at the other leaders. "But... I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell us about your... condition first?"
Eager heads nodded at Beartooth's counter-question. However, before Exile could rebuke them, a sudden change happened. Everyone in the room froze except for him. With a slow movement of his head, he glanced towards the barrier that led upstairs as a figure descended.
"Tier 1..." Clay whispered in shock as he wondered how Exile would handle this development...