“How about we make a bet? I put 1000 gold on Selene Cross being the highest scorer.” The Obsidian Circle Member responsible for heading the army of the Consortium decreed boisterously.
“My 1000 gold is on Ice. The only reason she wasn’t higher than 4th ranked thus far was because she was conservative with her powers. She is a smart and cunning little lady with a derivative ‘mancer’ type class at that.” The old woman heading the human trafficking division – also known as the slaver division – announced. Ice was the Cryomancer who caught Quinlan’s eyes.
“You can’t go wrong with Whirlwind. He is the best offensive frontliner in my eyes. He will wreak havoc among the monsters and teams alike. His ranger is a stealth specialist, she can just hide while he does all the heavy lifting.” The man with a twirly mustache decreed. He was the head of the finance department and he referenced the twin-bladed swordsman.
“Better than Wrath? She was a real menace with her tragic class and we ranked her second while Whirlwind was only the fifth.” The mediator asked. He was the oldest and most respected member of the circle. Although it was a democratic organization, if one asked ‘who was the leader of the Consortium’ the most accurate answer would be him.
“The issue with Wrath is not an individual one… I just don’t think Devil is good enough. I still veto our decision to rank him first. It was straight-up dumb. He’s top 50 at best based on his feats, and he is just a hybrid warrior-mage who decided to put points into his physical stats to be a jack of all trades… But as you all know, jack of all trades are masters of none. His Wizard class is nothing special in comparison to the ‘mancer’ types and it also suffers from his lack of Magic stat investments.” The slaver woman replied.
“Agreed.” Both the army, finance, and intelligence heads decreed in sync. The intelligence head then continued, “I vote for Massacre. His big cleaver is perfect for cutting down dumb monsters. Unlike mana wielders, he will not run out of juice after casting a few big spells.”
The reason why they thought Quinlan to be a Wizard classed person was due to the fact that they only ever saw him cast basic-tier spells. The Elemental Sovereign class was not meant to be unlocked at his meager levels, so up until he unlocked the intermediate spells – which happened after he disappeared from the sight of Black Fang’s disciples – he was no different than a simple pampered brat whose daddy or mommy shoved a [Mystical Elixir Of Awakening] down his throat before he turned 7 years old, giving him the Wizard class.
The reason this anomaly with him occured was due to the fact that he didn’t drink a [Mystical Elixir Of Awakening], but one that Aurora’s parents found the recipe of, which required the ingredient from the Geim.
While Aurora also drank the same potion, she only got a Rare-rarity derivative of the Wizard class, which was also Rare-rarity. The outcome that occurred with her was completely normal for this boosted special concoction.
However, Quinlan was the first primordial to ever drink this elixir, so an unexpected result occurred that neither he nor Aurora could expect due to there having been no precedent, namely his race outright demanded to be given an Epic-rarity class. This was why he unlocked Elemental Sovereign before he had any right to.
“I have no wishes to bet on anyone at this time.” The logistics head murmured.
“I guess 1000 gold is too much for someone who specializes in hauling items from point A to point B?” The army head asked in a mocking leer.
The logistics head refused to answer, making the army head snicker victoriously.
“What about you?” The slaver asked the negotiator.
“I shall also sit this one out. My brain is telling me to vote for Ambition and Ice, but in my gut, I can’t help but think that Devil and Wrath will surprise us all. What about you, Black Fang? I assume your bet is on Devil since you demanded him to be sponsored by you if he becomes a Phenom?”
“I care not for such small-scale bets…” She murmured while playing around with the soul-destroyer serpent slithering around in her lap. It was a rather small monster as far as body proportions went, but soul-destroyer serpents had the highest concentration of poison in their fangs out of all poisonous species. Hence the name – if it bit you, not only was your body dead within a moment, but even your soul itself fell prey to its venom.
“Small scale?!” The army head asked with a disbelieving cry. 1000 gold was an incredible amount! If you told a count to gather 1000 gold, it might take them weeks, hell! Years! Even the Greenvale duke probably only had a couple thousand gold coins lying around in his treasury!
“What do you suggest then?” The woman heading the slaver division asked with a curious tone. Business was booming for her due to the fact that the Vraven Kingdom was at war with both the Beastman Confederation and the Alliance of Elvardia, so she had the spare cash to raise the odds.
“Old man, how much would you say my position is worth in gold?” She asked the mediator nonchalantly while not stopping petting the soul-destroyer for a single second. She didn’t even look up at them.
“The rank of an Obsidian Circle Member holds value beyond what money can convey, there’s no amount of money that-“
He was cut off when Black Fang interjected to clarify her question, “how much would you be willing to pay to have your yes-man occupy my position? For me to step down without a word and have him or her take the mantle of the drug trade?”
“…” The mediator thought inwardly for a few seconds before sighing. “I would be willing to take up a million gold debt which is to be repaid over the next 300 years.”
Black Fang’s distant, noncaring features melted away in an instant only to be replaced by the manic grin of a truly unhinged woman, who, at long last, looked up at her colleagues and decreed, “then my bet is a million gold on Devil.”
Five shocked pairs of eyes watched the woman. The sixth pair which belonged to the negotiator wasn’t shocked just exhausted. He knew where she was going with the questions thrown at him. He was honestly very tired of dealing with Black Fang and her disturbing personality. She was playing with a fucking soul-destroyer as if it were her cute little kitten, for Goddess’s sake!
“O-otrageous! This is not how the Consortium works! When a head steps down or is killed, the other heads vote on their successor! You can’t just appoint the one you want.” The intelligence head countered the crazy woman and her next outlandish idea.
“Is no one willing to match my bet? If there are four of us, the winner can place three of their yes-men in the ranks of the circle and we will have a majority vote while doing so.”