Arthur sat in an office, his office, to be precise.
He had bought the building before the announcement.
Since he expected a few people at least to show up, looking for work. What he didn't expect was the dozens of masters flooding in, some secretly sending their "resumes" from clans.
Needless to say, Arthur was swamped with work.
At least he had Caera helping him, who had gotten the secretary as well as the co-founder position.
Arthur was very serious about this idea after all, and he would be foolish not to learn from his mistakes.
He couldn't save humanity alone, so he wouldn't be alone.
It was a simple way of solving a complex problem.
Suddenly, Arthur's communicator buzzed.
Checking it, Arthur saw it was Saint Cor, his previous boss.
Arthur immediately answered it, eyes gleaming.
Immediately, the video call started, and both people stared at one another seriously.
Then Cor smiled, his eyes squinting.
"I suppose I should congratulate you"
He mused, rubbing his chin.
Arthur wanted to laugh, but he couldn't. The price for his Transcendence still weighed heavily on him.
"It wasn't without a cost"
Arthur answered simply, his amusement vanishing.
Cor nodded, his own amusement gone.
Then the old Saint cleared his throat and got to business.
"I'll cut straight to business then. I want you and, by extension, your organization to sign the neutrality pact. Just as the government and clan night had done"
Cor studied Arthur's expression with every word that left his mouth. But surprisingly, Arthur didn't even blink, didn't raise an eyebrow, nothing. It was almost as if the man truly lost his emotions. Suddenly Cor felt a deep nervousness. He knew how people could become after their nightmares, no matter which one. Any nightmare could make you mad, arrogant, or straight-up cruel. And with Arthur's power? It would be a disaster.
Then, finally, Arthur spoke.
"I will not". It was his simple and crisp response.
Cor sighed, clearly expecting this outcome, yet he rallied, he wouldn't give up so easily.
"You must understand, if your organization gets attacked, no one could help you without the contract".
Yet Arthur remained unmoved, his eyes started glowing and he stood up from his chair.
"Let them try then, I will not show mercy"
And then he ended the call, his mind spinning with plenty of ideas on how to deal with these so-called threats.
But in the end, Arthur only sighed, sipping some of his tea.
He could finally not worry about any Saints. Only the Sovereigns could now cause him trouble.
But Arthur had learned something perhaps no one in the two worlds knew. Grey had told him secrets, terrible secrets. Arthur was surprised he hadn't been corrupted on the spot. But among those vile truths, Grey had also told him something far more valuable than those secrets, at least for now.
Grey told him, no ordered him, to get a citadel. Saying it was his ascension path.
And Arthur knew better than to doubt Grey. And so he would aim for nothing less.
Arthur himself figured out the lesser details of what Grey meant.
A Citadel was just a cornerstone. What he really needed was the people in it.
He had to have followers, believers.
Luckily, that wouldn't be a problem; he had plenty already.
The real problem was getting a citadel without the Supremes targeting him.
Surely they knew of natural Supremacy.
Arthur pushed away those thoughts, such things only caused headaches and wasted time right now.
Arthur needed to focus on recruiting; he needed people who could hold blades and not tremble.
He let out a sigh; he wished that Sunny had joined him. But Arthur respected his friend's decision to wait till he became a Saint.
Arthur also needed more capable hands for a simple reason, Caera would leave with Sunny for the third nightmare. And who could know how long it would last. It could take months, perhaps even years, after all.
Arthur sighed once again, he picked up his tea and stood up. He needed to relax and think clearly, the coming struggles could not be solved hastily.
Suddenly, a knock rang out from the door, Arthur turning and meeting eyes with Caera.
She smiled, holding several documents softly in one hand, the other carrying two coffees.
She opened her soft pink lips,
"I have found some promising masters"
[A/N: I know I know! Not 1k words. Bur frankly I couldn't think of anything else to write without shifting several topics of povs. I'm also increasingly becoming more busy. And I had to upload something, it's been like three days since the last update.
So yeah, bye bye!
Thanks for reading and support!
[Dreamers! I order you with my divine power to leave power stones!]