An Underdog's Ambition

"Sorry!"

Arash placed the teacup down and bowed sincerely. He had no other way to express how sorry he was. He knew Boss Alan's time was extremely precious, more than his. Anything could happen to the company when a key management figure was absent for so long.

Arash couldn't explain what really happened. Tok Silihan had made him promise not to divulge the Reawakening Ceremony to anyone, even to those within the tribe. He had no choice but to comply.

"What really happened out there? Are you alright?"

"Err... This and that. In short, Tok Silihan was trying to help me with something important. A little accident happened, and I got seriously injured. Tok wasted a lot of time nursing me back to health. I'm somewhat okay, although I need more rest to slowly recover to normal."

Arash decided to mix some truths with half-truths. Technically, he didn't lie. Only, he didn't go into the specifics.

Alan narrowed his eyes and smiled plainly. His subordinate's sincere apology, he could accept. But, even he could see how reluctant the man was in providing a proper explanation.

"Alright. If this is what you say, I will not pry to respect your privacy." Boss Alan responded calmly after a short uncomfortable silence.

Arash blushed in shame. Boss Alan saw through everything and chose not to pursue the matter. He was genuinely thankful for Boss Alan's magnanimity. 

Who said that his Boss was a mean person?

...

Butler Miles was sweating profusely within. 

A thin layer of invisible flame was enshrouding Arash's whole body, seemingly docile in nature at the moment. The source of the flame was the soil Arash was stepping on. However, the flame flared and reacted aggressively just now when he put up a defensive circle to protect the Young Master. He knew if he attacked, the flame would definitely burn him.

Blood flame.

An insidious mana flame derived from nature's wrath. In the records, a carnivorous tree used this ability to drain its prey's life essence without making a single open wound, making the prey felt being burned alive. The victims who fortunately survived the encounter still died later on, albeit a few months later. This was because the flame was inextinguishable. Even a tiny spark could eventually kill a high-ranked Specialist. However, this species was nearly extinct and was very hard to encounter since a hundred years ago. 

To those who lacked information, Blood flame was very suitable as a tool for assassination!

The oblivious Mr. Arash wasn't affected by the flames as they acted like protective barriers covering his whole body. Mr. Arash was discussing animatedly with Young Master Alan, not noticing that he had been a proxy of open assassination. 

From the depth of the village, Miles could feel strong killing intent broadcasted by none other than the Tok Batin! Although the Tribe Leader wasn't physically there, he was exhibiting a clear warning and provocation signal saying, 'I am watching you!'. 

Miles knew, if he took action and touch Arash, the flame will infect him and the Young Master immediately. There was never a need for the Tribe Leader to be close to the young man to protect him at all.

He was shocked and impressed by the Tribe Leader's ability!

Truly befitting a level five!

If only Arash could persuade this Expert to side with them!

...

"Do you have anything else to say, Arash?"

Alan raised a question, breaking the awkward moment between them. His subordinate was too naive; although he didn't explicitly explain what they did for days, Alan could make an intelligent guess. 

The Tribe Leader might be trying to forcefully stimulate Arash's potential to make him able to use mana for whatever reasons. It was a stupid and dangerous thing to do. He had learned all his life that the ability to use mana was heredity, known as Origin. As a result, all Specialists' lineage could be traced back to similar ancestry of a few ancient families. In another word, most Specialists were somewhat related. One couldn't force someone who didn't have the aptitude to master the usage of mana.

Even he, someone who had heredity Origin couldn't activate his blood, what of a civilian without any blood lineage?

It was a miracle that his subordinate survived the ordeal. Others died prematurely with much less. It would be a big loss if this new subordinate with great potential died before he could advance Alan's cause. 

Arash took a deep breath as he saw a large amount of Soul Energy Particles entering both Alan and his butler silently. This was the chance to make things clear! He needed to gamble! After this, it would be hard to sit so near to Boss Alan and Uncle Miles together since he could ever meet only the Boss at work on a very rare occasion. Arash could see that Uncle Miles was more than just a normal employee to Boss Alan after a few days of interaction. If he can't get enough information from Boss Alan, Uncle Miles was there to fill in the gap.

"I do. I would like to ask again, why do you specifically need me. Yes, it was the same question as before, but I really wanted to know what is your expectation of me. Additionally, Tok Silihan told me you people are dangerous people. Why is that? And please don't lie or skimp on the details this time."

...

Two hours later.

Butler Miles watched Arash walk away in silence as he contemplated the previous discussion. Rather than a pledge of allegiance to the Young Master that he preferred, it became like a transaction; he was having mixed feelings over it. 

However, he did feel relieved that it was finally over. The soaring Blood Flame billowed gently as Arash talked and smiled at them, making his nerves taut for the whole duration. The gentle smile didn't look so gentle anymore in his eyes. It looked like a demon's condescending smirk, just waiting for the right time to pounce.

Miles disliked the way he felt. He knew Arash wasn't at fault, but couldn't help it as it was a natural instinct of a seasoned Specialist he cultivated for years. In fact, he was very fond of Arash since the first time they met. The conflicting emotions burdened his mind, which never happened before.

"Yes, Miles? Care to share your thoughts?"

Alan noticed his butler's uneasiness; he finally asked with concern once Arash was gone. After nineteen years of growing up under his butler's care, Alan respected Butler Miles like a father figure, replacing the one that was never there in his life. Besides protecting him from numerous assassination attempts, the butler was also his personal teacher, his martial arts instructor, and his advisor. Miles' opinions were important to him. 

Alan's query woke Miles up from his deep thoughts. 

"Is it alright to tell him the whole plan?" He was not doubting the Young Master. It was an affirmation to appease his heart. 

Finding talented subordinates for Young Master Alan had been Miles' life-long personal mission. It was to fulfill the late Madam's dying wish of helping Alan to obtain what was rightfully his in the end. 

It was tough since the especially gifted ones with great prospects had already sided with the other candidates; they had an obvious advantage over Young Master Alan. Hence, when one appeared, besides recruiting him or her, Alan will always ask him to prepare a Blood Pact, a binding contract that could kill the new recruit if he divulged secret information or acted against the Young Master. It was an act of weeding out spies from other candidates in the Family, besides for protection from assassinations.

Alan understood Butler Miles' concern.

"No matter. Like what you said, for someone like him, it is better to be clear. Let him know what I want, and what he wants in return. You have investigated his background thoroughly, right? I did some background checks too, before recruiting him, just to be sure. His life had never crossed path with the Family. It would not be too late to implement the Blood Pact once he settles down and earnestly starts to work for us.

Let's give him some time to wrap up his personal issues."

"How about his conditions? Could we even fulfill them?"

"Who do you think I am? Once I become one of the candidate heirs, we will finally obtain jurisdiction over a region of Godfrey's restricted business sector. At that time, Arash will get what he wants. I don't give out empty promises."

Alan was brimming with confidence. He always had a strong unyielding personality since he was a child, especially after the late Madam passed. Miles believed in the Young Master's tenacity and drive; he will surely succeed once the biggest hurdle passed. 

"Will he be able to convince the Tribe Leader to have a look at you? Be very cautious, Young Master. The Tok Batin is very powerful in his area. If he decided to harm you, he will be able to do it." 

"I believed in Arash. Or rather, I believe that he loved his family very much. He knows what to do once he sees the plushies."

 The silver teapot Miles was carrying paused midair. He closed his eyes and sighed a little. He thought that the Young Master had cultivated a soft side after mingling with Arash and the children.

He was wrong.

The long years of living in oppression in the Family, and being overtly cautious from multiple assassination attempts have shaped the shrewd nature of the Young Master. Without them, he would be easy prey. Miles appreciated Young Master Alan's cautiousness but felt somewhat sorrowful about his upbringing.

...

"The illustrious Godfrey family. Truly didn't expect that."

Arash shook his head in disbelief while he walked back hurriedly toward his haya. It turned out, the truth was a bit too much to handle, even for him. 

After listening to their side of the story and striking a win-win deal with his boss, he was now more composed and felt relieved. Right now, he couldn't wait to return to civilization to double-confirm all the details. A simple search through the web engine would clear everything up since the international news on the Godfreys was abundant. The Godfreys were treated like celebrities in the business world.

Boss Alan, or his real name, Alastair J. Godfrey, was the only surviving son from the deceased first wife of the current Godfrey family head. That was why he never heard about Boss Alan before; he was too low profile. The Godfreys had many candidate heirs from different leaders on the Board of Directors. Even the current head himself had remarried, and had two more offspring; he couldn't remember their names, but he distinctly remembered that it was a handsome young man and a distinguished young lady who just graduated from posh universities. The candidacy for an official heir was a heated, sensationalized news in the business world.

Arash finally realized that he had really been interacting with a true blue prodigal son of an elite family. Though, in this case, from how Boss Alan explained about himself, he was considered as an underdog in the Family. He couldn't understand why his boss had been marginalized; his status and position in the family were already set in stone. Yes, granted that the mother's influence couldn't help him anymore, but he still has a father who was supposed to be the head, right? Or was the father busy with his new family and was oblivious about Alan's wellbeing like a classic Cinderella tale? 

The global engineering company he had been working in, GfE Corps., was one of the hundreds of subsidiary companies owned by the Godfreys, an elite family-owned multinational mega-corporation. GfE Corps. had been performing well for a couple of years straight, before a sudden drop early this year due to the political instability of the country it was based. It was normal for an elite from the main company to be dispatched and to come up with a solution to rectify the afflicted company's problematic areas.

Little did he know that the elite sent wasn't just a talented nameless member of the family branch, but a direct descendant of the corporate world's top dog! 

As someone who reads a lot of online novels as a stress reliever, although a modern business-oriented drama wasn't his cup of tea, he had read quite a few to somehow imagine the walkthrough of the whole corporate world rivalry drama.

Will it be as cliche as the rest? 

The only two different points were the keyword 'Specialist' and 'Origin'. What was a Specialist, really? What was the 'Origin'?

From how Tok Silihan reacted to them, Arash had a few bold guesses which excite his heart, like a reader anticipating future chapters.

Somehow, Arash was slightly interested in his boss' future development.

For the mundane, it's hard to observe something like this closely. Only by being marginally connected to the main 'characters' will one be able to 'see' a lot of interesting scenes.

Additionally, by steeping his feet into the murky waters, he could hug the thigh of a nouveau-riche into expending resources in his quest to find his beloved wife. It would be worth it! 

...