10 Protection and Arrival

The last few days of the month flew by. Aser had spent all his time repeating what he had done before. But he had no idea the storm that his appearance had brewed up among the aristocracy and higher ups of The Guild in the Southern Seas.

In the Northern district of Shelfield Coast City, in a large dignified mansion that radiated a presence of grandeur and arrogance, an argument was in the process of boiling over among several renowned individuals. Each of the people seated in the lavishly decorated hall of the mansion gave off a sense of pride, but at the moment almost all of them looked like a boiled tomato.

Seated at the head of the hall was a dignified middle aged man with a fierce glint in his eyes, looking at the seemingly calm young man standing across from him. A few days ago, the people in this room had been notified by The Guild that they had presented the last Gold Standard scholarship to a new student. At first they were bewildered with joy as they thought one of their sons or daughters had been presented the honor. But after multiple inquiries by the families, they couldn't figure out who had received the scholarship. Until today, and the moment they found out it was an orphan from the Southern District, most of them couldn't take it.

Right at this moment, the young man standing across the well dressed middle aged lord continued speaking.

"The Guild headquarters in Las Island have confirmed their decision. Aser is the recipient of the final Gold Standard Scholarship, and they have also confirmed his potential after repeated investigations into his exam. He is a variable knowledge type S Rank talent. That means with proper nurture once he arrives at the Initiate rank, he can turn into an SS Rank talent, and there is a slight chance of his talent increasing to SSS Rank, the highest standard in the current known world. Even the Sage Empire hasn't received an SSS Rank talent for more than a few centuries from our intelligence." the young man continued with a smile, contempt towards all those in the room hidden behind his gaze.

"If all of you are unsatisfied with this, there is a chance for you to solve it though. He is going to the First Son's Guild School this coming term, in fact he should be moving into his dormitories tomorrow. The Guild has agreed that if there is a peer that can surpass him during his six years of mandatory education, they will receive the scholarship instead. But, and let me make this crystal clear, only if his peers are the one that surpass him. If any of you here or anyone among your families, even a servant's brother's friend interferes with his growth and development, then The Guild will deem them unfit for aristocracy and we will use the harshest of punishments.", the young man said with a hint of ice cold ferocity. Even if The Guild mostly stayed true to bring a neutral all encompassing enterprise, they would still protect the ones they deem fit. If any of these individuals laid there hands in any way on their potential members, they will know that the punishment he just spoke of was the lightest.

The atmosphere in the room darkened and grew tense. When these lavish businessmen and overlords heard the young man's words, they were filled with anger deeply laced with a trace of terror. They knew that The Guild was serious this time. All these people had plenty of shady dealings and blood on their hands, and The Guild would either turn a blind eye or let them go with a slap on the wrist. But this time they knew how serious The Guild was, and especially if this young man had come to announce it to them.

Although the man looked younger than most of the people in the room, he was actually older than the wizened old men in their families by a few decades. They knew that the level of cultivation of this man was far above what they could imagine and the splatter of blood and indistinct hint of a charred figure of man on one of the walls proved that they shouldn't have even tried to argue before.

The middle aged man sat in his chair languidly and finally let out a sigh. "We of the Shelfield Coast City aristocracy agree to The Guild's conditions. Aser Scholt will not be harassed by anyone that is not his peers from the aristocracy. But, I would like to confirm if what the honorable representative said regarding his peers surpassing him to be true?"

"I appreciate all of your understanding in this matter. Yes, if any of Aser's peers surpasses him during their graduation tournament, then they will receive the award. And you are allowed to spread this information as well. The Guild will not protect those who are not worthy of its efforts, so please all of you, do as much as you can to announce to your sons and daughters who are among his peers to give him. As. Much. Pressure. As. They. Can.", the young man pronounced each of his last few words to them in a manner that would raise a turbulent wind in each of their minds.

None of the people in the room were fools. They knew this was a game The Guild was playing. An open intrigue, an unguarded gate. They knew that The Guild wanted them to do this so that they could enforce the losing grip they have recently had with these families. They wanted to use the pressure of the younger generation competing to show them their power, but the aristocracy couldn't do anything against it. They couldn't just sit by and watch even if they knew it was a trap. They couldn't just let the opportunities of the Gold Standard Scholarship slip by and not get a grasp on it. The last two scholarships had produced marvels that stood on top of the whole Southern Seas currently and this last one was so close to their hands. They also knew that The Guild wanted to use them to help mold Aser into a worthy individual, and they would help them even if they had to wade through the poisonous swamp. Since if they successfully left the swamp alive, it could mean a gigantic opportunity for any of these families to improve their standing to the top.

Seeing the various expressions of these arrogant aristocrats, the young man put on a smirk and slowly walked out of the hall. Just before leaving he turned his head around and looked at the forlorn middle aged man and with a fading voice reminded him, "The Guild is always watching."

…

It was a sunny day, the warm sea breeze and the summer island weather left Aser feeling rejuvenated. Aser was standing in front of a large white and gold gate. It was designed intricately, and had the words "First Sons" engraved into its structure. The feeling of intellect and nurture that were reflected off of the design conflicted with the pride and arrogance of the words themselves, but melded together in an indecipherable way.

Aser had already left the orphanage earlier with Sasha. Sister Tully couldn't go with him as she didn't find anyone to look after the kids in the orphanage. Aser had felt sad and heartbroken as he left and continued on to the Northern District with Sasha, but upon reaching the gates, he reigned his sadness into his heart after looking at the words. That's right. He had just left because he needed to get stronger. It was necessary, and it wasn't like he could never go back. He looked at those words a while longer then gripped the dainty hand beside him, looking at Sasha with his bright onyx black eyes and nodded.

Sasha couldn't help but release a chuckle when he saw how cute Aser was acting. Sometimes she would forget that this little child was just 7 when he spoke and felt like she was speaking to an adult. But now she could see the youthful anticipation shining in the child's eyes. She looked at his gleaming new clothes and combed up hair and led him through the gates to help him start his journey.