"So this is your last job, huh?" Suki asked,
"Or more like the second last, I kinda own a favor to my contractor for this whole deal of setting me free."
"So this job isn't a favor enough?" Suki seemed offended by this so-called contractor of his, "It seems you've been owing too many favors to people."
"Seems that way." Bruce said shaking his head, "But the one I made with you is not something I'll ever regret, I'll make sure to keep up with any favors you ask of me."
"I like it when you look at me with such an honest expression," Suki smiled while holding his cheeks, "So do you have any plans after all this is over?"
"First of all, I'll take you out on a really nice date, but after that, I am not too sure." Bruce shrugged, "It's not like I am a man full of plans, but something akin to a job is a must, and other than that, I'll just roll with whatever comes at me."
"That seems pleasant." Suki nodded hugging him tightly.
She knew from the first day that the man she was holding was trouble, but she couldn't help but want to stay beside him. Was it physical attraction? Was she falling in love?
She didn't know, but things seemed pleasant when he was around. She always had a thing for adventures and doing crazy shit, but with Bruce, even the mundane things like just sitting around seemed enjoyable.
Unlike what most people believed, she didn't have a good life growing up so she wasn't a stranger to pain and suffering. She had to face a lot of things alone to be where she was, and being a woman at that made it more so difficult.
But nothing was worse than loneliness, struggling alone and struggling with your family or friends were completely different things. Loneliness was a baggage, that got heavier every day and the longer you had the baggage on the more people around you pushed away.
It is a curse, that doesn't get better with time. Sure you could learn to live with it, but you'll never be able to accept it. And fighting it is a whole another thing.
And she could see those lonely eyes in Bruce too. He could maintain any expression he wanted or act like he didn't care about anything, but eyes never lie. Maybe that was the reason she wanted to be with him.
She didn't want to see someone else go through the same things she did. That's why she didn't want him to be alone.
But she never expected the baggage he carried would be so heavy. It was difficult to imagine the Bruce who was always joking around with a bright smile that cheered her up even in her bad days was hiding so much guilt.
It was easy for some people to be evil and not care much about their actions, but when you are in a struggle between good and bad, the path of darkness keeps pulling you towards it while the light begins to get further and further.
She knew she couldn't do anything to console him of his guilt or get rid of his problems, after all, he was a smart man and if it was easy to do so he would've already done it. So all she could do was stand by his side and support him when needed, and she made up her mind to do so.
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Back in his hotel, Bruce was fiddling around with the screen in front of him. The event earlier today had surprised him as he never knew the function of it ever existed or to be more specific he hadn't unlocked it yet.
His system needed to recognize someone as a potential team member to give him the option in the first place. Due to the life he lived, it wasn't hard to figure out why no one had satisfied the system's condition.
But now with Suki, those conditions were met.
[Condition's met for user to establish a guild.]
[Suki's trust level is 68%]
[Does the user want to accept her as a guild member?]
The whole thing was akin to a shock to Bruce, who never knew that this was an option in the first place. The whole detection method of someone's trust was already good enough for him, just to make sure he knows who the trustworthy people around him are but the function provided much more.
Reading through the explanation of the system, the whole thing was quite simple.
The system didn't have a 'Party' function unlike most games but instead had a 'Guild' function where he was the boss rather than someone equal. He controlled everything related to his guild including the guild member.
The way he could control a guild member was quite useful too, it was basically a system-like function for his members that only he could control. He could manage their stats, pass on skills and upgrade them, it was basically like him making a sims character however way he wanted to.
He could allocate their points and make them stronger and faster, however, he so desired and the member wouldn't be able to change or undo any of it as they didn't have the system themselves.
The only part that didn't make this function a bit evil, was that it was built on trust and the upgrades only had positive effects. And the whole point of the guild function was the make a team, an army for yourself and not sabotage your own comrades.
For one to be a member they needed to cross the 60% threshold in trust level.
Though 60% doesn't sound that much, the threshold wasn't easy to reach but once crossed, their trust in the person would be irrefutable. So unless he betrays them and breaks their trust like trying to kill them for no reason, the trust level wouldn't go down.
With Suki, when he revealed his past and his vulnerability to her, her trust in him increased. It wasn't to the point where she would die for him, but enough for him to know that she had his back.
The other uses of the guild function included him knowing the whereabouts of his members as a connection would be formed between them with the link being the system. So he could sense them regardless of where they were in the world.
The most attractive function of the guild was the quests. He could accept quests on behalf of his guild members and as long as they completed it, the experience point would be earned by Bruce. Whereas, depending on the level of the quest the members would be awarded Attribute points and other items that would upgrade their skills.
Meaning as long as he had a large network of guild members who could go around the world and complete quests, he could grow stronger basically doing nothing.
There seemed to be furthermore to the guild function but he needed more than 10 members to upgrade it further to access its other uses. So for now he was stuck with what he has, till he gathered more members for his guild.
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A/N:- Extra chapter for all the supportive peeps out here. I couldn't wait to get to the heart of the story, as the title of the fic suggests, it's finally time for the system to be useful.