Rejection

Zane just stared at him, his face was filled with shock. He completely understood how much authority the man standing in front of him held.

The words,' Mortem guild' was enough to leave one in absolute joy, add 'Alpha team'.It would be like a bowl of ice cream with the most incredible topping, chocolate chips. But understanding was the easy part, the main thing was understanding how a normal student would react to such an invitation and acting it out.

'Mom, I do hope I got your excellent acting skills.'

His body tensed and he gave a burst of awkward laughter.

"Sit down," Kaku said to the tense boy while rubbing his chin, was he too direct? He had not done a recruitment job before. He scanned his Atlas for the contracts his Captain had sent him. He looked up and the boy had not sat down.

"Why don't you sit, scared I'll bite you? Ha-ha..." The burly man started laughing loudly. The principal laughed with him and Zane sat gingerly on the chair with a smile.

Following the memories of the other members of his team when they were recruiting, "I really appreciate you and I think you have a bright future. I officially invite you, Zane Black to join my Mortem guild."

Zane let out a complicated smile and glanced at the principal whose very being was telling him to agree quickly as the offer would disappear.

"I...I already signed a contract with an organization," Zane said.

Kaku was unconvinced and he shook his head and said, "A contract? If it's a contract, it can still be broken! Are you saying that our guild is incapable of paying off the fees? Our Mortem guild will pay this price for you!"

"If you accept the offer, I will arrange a specialized mage pathway and a training contract for you in the headquarters!" He laughed, "Every year, only five students in the alliance would receive an invitation as part of the trainee camp for the Alpha team."

"We invite you to join us." 

"Sorry," Zane said as he slightly bowed his head and wrung his hands nervously "I am honoured by your invitation and I would love to thank you for appreciating me but I have already accepted and signed into another organization. I am truly sorry."

Both the principal and Kaku were shocked. Rejected. Is there a contract with higher offers than theirs?

"Mr Black, are you sure you don't need time to think about it? Perhaps you should call home before you decide." the principal interjected.

"No, Sir," Zane said in a clear tone.

The principal frowned. Truthfully, he had no idea about Zane's background. The city lord had asked him to offer a scholarship to Zane so he had always believed that Zane was perhaps an illegitimate child of the city lord or something of that sort. Was he mistaken?

"Which organization?" He asked the question that was on both of their minds.

"I can't say, Sir." Even though his smile was bright, his tone was sad with a tinge of helplessness.

Kaku raised his brows. Although he loved to stay away from the dirty politics of the capital city, that didn't mean he was unaware of them. He knew that there were many secret organizations, and the top families operated in the dark. He really hoped it was not one of the ones that were on his mind.

He stared closely at the bright boy in front of him and signed. "Remember to be careful. Mortem Guild would always be open to you. Contact me if anything happens." He waved him off.

"Thank you, Sir." He said and still stood there.

"What is it?" Kaku said

"Sir, your contact details?" Zane said and Kaku burst out laughing. He gave him the details and Zane thanked him before leaving the office.

Zane maintained his smile and headed for the library. Only after reaching his favourite spot did he relax and let out a breath of relief.

"What are you relaxing here for? What if there is a camera nearby?" The system quickly reprimanded.

"Relaxing after such tense moments is normal. Why do you sound tenser than me? relax a bit, would you?"

"The system is incapable of such emotions". 

"How was it?" Zane asked the system. He needed an objective audience's comment.

"Your performance was not bad. You intricately linked your false and true emotions. You played a good sympathy card and Kaku fell for it but that is not because your acting is too good but rather Kaku is a little gullible. Your principal for example didn't fall for it. Your network has increased so well." The system commented.

"However, if had gone with your real personality and done away with the schemes, you would have left the office, calling Mr Kaku, Big Brother Kaku. It seems like Mr Kaku has a subconscious resistance to such, probably from being exposed to it a lot. I recommend "How to influence minds and win friends'' by John Maxwell. 70 knowledge points."

Zane stayed a while digesting and reflecting on the words of the system, he had been preparing himself for the capital city where he would scheme and plot that he had forgotten that sometimes sincerity is the best disguise. 

His future self has spent the greater part of his life entangled with schemes and plots and he had such a miserable ending. Zane frowned, he had originally intended to be as sincere as possible but he had changed his front on instinct like he had done several times before. 

A slight chill went through Zane and his back drenched in sweat. It was a muscle memory. He shook his head, he was probably thinking too much.

"Do you wish to confirm your purchase?" The system interrupted his thought process.

"Confirm" 

Zane suddenly felt pain in his brain like a needle. With this pain, many unfamiliar words flooded his mind. The entire content of the book had been downloaded like his brain was a microchip. He sighed, another reason to look forward to his 18th birthday when he can fully synchronize with the system and this pain would finally be a thing of the past. 

He took about half an hour to fully digest the book. He considered what his next action was going to be. Should he go back to the Classroom? Scouts would have already entered the school to begin their recruitment. He did not want to go through fifty Mr Kaku in a day. 

He turned on the Atlas, switched to the audio function, he tuned into the Live streaming of the Alliance ranking. Each profile was much more detailed along with a picture to boot.

He pulled out a journal from his bag and then began to file a profile of Mr Kaku.

Name: Kaku Bungo

Potential: C

Age:

Physical Build: A 6 feet 4 tall man with tanned skin. He has two deep scars on his left arm and faded scratches on his skin. He is no stranger to close combat. Short blond hair with green eyes.

Class: Possibly a specialized barbarian pathway

Profession: Vice-Captain of the Alpha team, Mortem guild. 

Looking at the scanty details on the page, he signed. It is indeed hard to work in an information company, especially if you are the only employee.