8 Their Vision

Stephen was quietly walking behind Sofia. He was opening his unread messages. One was from Sofia and the other was from the school.

He clicked the one that Sofia sent him and stared at the content.

"This seminar has nothing to do with us. This is for our seniors." Stephen voiced out after reading all the content. It was the picture of the flyer that Sofia had seen on the bulletin board outside the headmaster's office.

"Anyone interested is welcome to join the seminar... That's tomorrow morning until 12 pm." Sofia responded emphasizing the note printed below the flyer.

"But why are you interested? Next year, we will also have this type of seminar. Besides, this is just boring discussions about how to spend our money," Stephen argued.

"Financial literacy is not just as simple as how to spend money. We will learn a lot. The investment planning, stocks and bonds... I'm sure the seminar will cover these topics," Sofia answered. But in reality, she already knew everything about financial literacy. The reason why she wanted to attend was to make her members know the basics.

"Why do we need to learn from this?" Stephen innocently looked at her. The frown on his forehead had creased deeper. He was not interested in the seminar at all!

"We will win that tournament and we will use our money to invest in things that are profitable. This way, our money grows. Time will come, we will become capable of forming a company." Sofia looked at him straight in the eye.

"Say what?!" Stephen was at loss. Perhaps, her way of speaking was too much for his teenage soul!

"You have no choice, tomorrow, I am forcing you to attend the seminar. If you do not attend, I will replace you," Sofia's sternly told the man.

Stephen sighed, "I didn't say that I won't attend. It's just that, we are probably the junior students who would attend that seminar. It would be awkward. And the speaker may place us in a hot spot."

"It doesn't matter. As long as we can learn," Sofia shrugged. They entered the convenience store and ordered a take-out. Chris and his group were trailing behind them.

"So, tell me which squad are you on?" Chris blocked their way out and stood at the door.

"Don't waste my time," Sofia looked at him as if he was in trouble. He absentmindedly took a step on the side and let the two exit the store.

"Bruh, according to Jasmine, that tank user did not apply for a squad. She made her own squad!" one nosy member told Chris after the two left.

"Really? How did Jasmine know these details? She had not attended school since yesterday!" Chris asked while he looked for a vacant table to occupy.

"Duh? her boyfriend was James. It is said that James wanted to join the new squad as a marksman," the member reported.

"What a loser! Does he actually want to change his squad? What's next?" Chris glanced sideways and hinted his member to continue. He was also careful that nobody could hear their conversation.

"So, James told his younger brother, Clark, to inform the squad. But for some weird reasons, his brother was recruited as the mage user. James was outraged and canceled his application to them," the member finished with a sigh.

"Ahhh... so, there are no special members in the squad that she created? What squad is it?" Chris clarified.

"In the forum, they have registered their group as The Chronos Squad. Well, for special member... there is her. Isn't she possess unparalleled tanking skills. She should count as a special member, right?" another member joined their conversation.

"Yeah, I guess. We need to get a tank killer to win the tournament. That tank user is a difficult opponent," Chris clenched his fist with determination. He was already bothered that Sofia would be one of their opponents.

Meanwhile, in the apartment of Sofia, the three members have long stopped playing on their mobile phone. They were having a movie play on one of Clark's mobile phones. They watched together in silence.

The movie was interrupted when Sofia's message was notified on the phone.

"Let me check the message," Clark extended his arms and took the phone. Joey and Claire stretched their body comfortably while waiting for Clark to finish reading the message.

"Sofia sent me a picture of a seminar flyer for senior high students..." Clark announced and showed them the message.

"Basic Finacial Literacy Seminar... Is she into this kind of stuff? This is like for business courses right?" Joey muttered.

"All I know is she loves playing on her phone. This sudden interest in business is also strange for me," Claire responded.

"Uhhmmn... she spoke about assets and liability last time. So, I guess... she is into with this stuff..." Clark commented.

While the three of them are discussing, Sofia and Stephen emerged from the door.

"We brought food! Help yourself... come!" Sofia announced.

The three abandoned members pouted. "Did you just bribe us with food for abandoning us?" Claire joked.

"Hehehe Let's not play anymore. Let's attend a seminar tomorrow morning. Just tell your teacher if you have a class, I'm sure she will excuse you," Sofia distributed the packaged containing their food to the group. Each was a meal packed individually.

"Oh, our teacher already announced this seminar before. She said that we can attend if we want to." Clark told her as he began chewing his food.

"Yeah, I also remember about this seminar being informed by our class president. There is no problem if I attend this," Joey seconded.

"That's great! Take note of the time. It's 7 am. Be sure to wake up early." For a moment, the four of them just stared at Sofia like she was an alien to them.

"What?!" she demanded after getting a weird glance from the group.

"You sounded like a mother, Sof!" Claire giggled and the rest laughed.

"What mother?! Hmmp, if you don't show up tomorrow, I will replace you in the squad. If you show up late, I will still replace you. This seminar is important." Sofia scowled at her team.

"But this is for our seniors. We are still juniors though. The school will conduct the same seminar next year. And it will be our turn to attend on that," Claire complained.

"You and Stephen think the same. While there is an opportunity to learn, grab it. Learning has a phase. Next year, our learning would not be the same as this year." Sofia told them.

"Say, why do we need to attend this seminar?" Claire probed.

"I want our group to prosper in the field of earning money. Our goal right now is to win the tournament. But if we don't know how to handle the prize money, it would be wasted. This seminar will serve as our light to the path of making profit," Sofia directly told them.

"Yes, I want to surpass my parent's money!" Clark joined her.

"Okay... I don't know. If we get there... like we become insanely rich. I will write a book about my life with a title, I sign up as marksman, I end up becoming a rich man," Stephen playfully suggested.

"Hahaha, that's a good one bro!" Joey was amused by the idea. But Sofia just stared at Stephen.

"Then start plotting your storyline! We will get there..." She smirked and focused on her food.

"I might!" Stephen beamed.

"This is also good. We have the vision that is more than just winning a competition. A vision that would cater to our future. We are still young, but it's not bad to plan our future early! Okay, I am in! Let's go to that path." Claire nodded her head and clapped her hand.

"But the prize money is just hundreds of thousands. When we split these... or what is our plan for the prize money?" Joey asked.

"Just now focused on enhancing our skill to get the prize money. We cannot count the chicks if the eggs are not yet hatched. Otherwise, we are setting ourselves for disappointment. We will go one step at a time. The first step is to win.... and win more. The many tournaments, the better. Let's have fun while doing this," Sofia stated trying to lessen the pressure of her group. She realized that if she pushed her ideas at them, her members may get overwhelmed.

"Right. Pass me a cola, Sof." Stephen pointed the plastic beside her. He was the first one to finish his meal.

"Here," Sofia casually handed the cola before they continued to eat in silence.

"Sof, the FAB_Gamers may watch the tournament. Depending on their leader." Claire opened up to the two who were not aware.

"It's good to maintain a good relationship with them. As long as they do not cross the line or put us at a disadvantage, we can be friends with their members. But our loyalty must be in our squad." Sofia could somehow guess why the squad was interested in the tournament. The Fab_Gamers may be looking for potential members to add to their squad. And district tournaments are a great place to see potential candidates. This is why she reminded them about being loyal to their squad.

After eating, the group decided to leave Sofia in peace.

A driver picked Clark from her house. Stephen was just living nearby, so Joey accompanied him to his place. Claire was just in the same building. She was just a floor below the unit of Sofia.

~

"Heh, here is the son who hangs out with the thugs!" James announced as Clark returned home.

Instead of getting angry, Clark smiled at his brother. "Dad, I will sleep early. Tomorrow, we will be attending a seminar..." he told his father before walking towards his room.

"Dad, why are you not scolding Clark?"

Clark heard James' voice questioning his father before he closed the door of his room. He could only shake his head.

"It's also good to hang out with friends, son. Socializing is important in business..." James heard his father responded to him softly.

"You are so lenient with Clark, dad. You are unfair!" James yelled angrily.

"How so? How did I become unfair? Since when did I treat you two without fairness... Both of you have the same access to a personal driver. Anytime you want to go out, you can. Money was the same. James, isn't you who always makes your brother's life hard? I have been silent of you looking down at him. But it might also be better to confront this behavior once and for all!" his father turned away from the report that he was reading and focused on his eldest son.

The boy was short-tempered, unlike his brother. But his attitude reminded him so much of his youth. He could not blame his eldest son if he had inherited something troublesome from him.

James went silent and his eyes were planted on the carpeted floor of their living room. He did not know why he was so angry. Perhaps, it was plain jealousy.

His brother had genuine friends but he could only hang out with the people that wanted him for his money. There is no one that he can hang out with just for the intention of having fun. All of his friends are eager of taking advantage of his money and use him for their own fun.

"Yeah, it's my fault. I don't know why I said it, dad." James apologized. Despite his short temper, he knew that it was his fault and he does not have a problem admitting his mistake. One quality that made his father admired him.

"I understand that you are concern with the safety of your brother. But he is old enough to make his decisions. As long as he is not doing illegal things to be happy, we should respect the type of friends he wanted to hang out with," his father patted his shoulder.

"The two of you are siblings. You should share mutual respect. Don't pick on your brother anymore. If you have time, must apologize to Clark." The old man added before turning his head to the company report showing on his laptop screen.