Chapter 36 Plans and Conversations – Arianna

Arianna, Cassis, and Helen settled back into the couch and armchair, the tension from their previous conversation gone. She kept the privacy sphere intact—what they were about to discuss concerned their future plans, and it was best if no one else could listen in.

Her gaze flickered to Cassis. His eyes were still slightly red, as if he had been crying. Whatever he and Helen had talked about must have been deeply personal, but she wouldn’t ask. She respected their privacy and could only hope that one day, Cassis would trust her enough to share it with her.

Shaking off the thought, Arianna focused on their next step. “Helen, do you have any ideas on how we can make ourselves and Sapphire more well-known? Fame is influence, and influence is power.”

Helen nodded approvingly. “I’m proud that you’ve come to that conclusion. But I’m not surprised you couldn’t come up with any ideas. Cassis, you’ve always been the type to step in only when absolutely necessary, preferring to stay under the radar otherwise. And Arianna, you seem quite humble.” She sighed. “The easiest way to spread your influence is through social media and a dedicated website. Create pages about yourselves as Avatars of Sapphire and introduce Sapphire as a benevolent deity. You can use those platforms to share information about upcoming events—call them ‘Revelations’—which will not only make people believe in Sapphire but also help spread your influence and mitigate some disasters.”

Arianna’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. It was a brilliant idea. But… how exactly did one go about creating social media pages? Avaria likely had different apps than Earth, and even back home, she had never been very active online. One glance at Cassis told her he was just as clueless.

Helen noticed their hesitation and sighed. “Do you know anyone who could handle this for you? Someone young enough to understand how it works, but responsible enough to do it properly?”

Cassis shook his head.

“Then we’ll need to find someone later,” Helen concluded.

Cassis leaned forward. “What about gathering more information? We need a steady stream of current intel.”

Helen grinned. “That’s the beauty of fame. Once people know you, they’ll come to your website. We’ll create different sections—one for ‘Revelations’ and another for information. The information section will be divided into three tiers: free access, paid membership, and VIP.”

She continued, her tone brisk and confident. “Free access will include the basics—class explanations, system features, skills, spells, elemental affinities, basic training methods. You know that stuff better than I do so feel free to include whatever you think is necessary to help everyone getting started. The paid membership section will contain more advanced knowledge, like which gates are best for training, how to properly utilize elemental affinity, methods for creating new spells, and ways to acquire specific skills.”

Arianna nodded, impressed. “How will people pay for membership?”

“There will be two methods,” Helen explained. “First, they can pay with real money—weekly, monthly, or through a long-term subscription of at least three months to a year. The second method is through trade. If someone has valuable information, they can offer it in exchange for temporary access to the paid section. The information will only be shared if both parties agree on the value and the terms of the trade.”

Cassis’s brow furrowed. “And the VIP section?”

“That will be for you, your guild members, and select individuals—perhaps influential or wealthy people. You can offer VIP access as a bonus, a favour, or even as a bargaining chip. But this will only work once the website gains popularity.”

Arianna was in awe. “How did you come up with all this?”

Helen smirked. “It’s from one of the playbooks I studied in ‘School.’ These aren’t my ideas, but they are effective.”

Arianna nodded, still impressed.

Cassis, however, remained practical. “But we’ll need people to manage the website and gather information. We can’t afford to spend too much time on this ourselves—it’ll take away from training.”

Helen nodded. “That’s why finding these people and forming a guild should be one of your next priorities. From what I understand, a guild functions like a company. You’ll have three founding members, different tiers of members, and specialized divisions to handle various tasks.”

Arianna exchanged a glance with Cassis. The pieces were coming together. Their next steps were clear.

Cassis leaned forward, his voice serious. “Then, Aunt Helen, let’s table that for now and talk about the government and military before we run out of time. It’s still morning, but they’ll be here soon.”

Helen nodded. “That’s right. Even though the government we knew isn’t the great entity it presents itself as, it’s still doing a lot of good for a lot of people. Right now, the world needs a strong government. So, they’ll likely want you to work for them.” She shook her head. “That cannot happen. But we may be able to work with them. Cooperation is key.”

Arianna frowned. “How do we do that without telling them too much or losing our independence?”

Helen’s eyes gleamed with approval. “Good question. It will be difficult. Each new collaboration will have to be negotiated carefully. No long-term contracts.” She exhaled and leaned back. “Now, I’ll tell you what they’ll want if they can’t have you directly. Their first demand will be for you to train their forces. Cassis, they’ll want you to teach their warriors and rangers. Arianna, they’ll want you to train the clerics and mages. After all, they’ve seen your talents in the Hall of Fame videos.”

Cassis scowled. “That sounds like a waste of time.”

“Exactly,” Helen agreed. “So, here’s what we’ll do instead. They can select a group of talented individuals from each class. You train them, and then they train the rest of the soldiers. That way, you’re not wasting your time on hundreds of recruits. It’s far more efficient.”

Arianna nodded. That made sense. “And in exchange?”

Helen smirked. “You insist on payment—not money, but access to dungeon gates. You both need to get stronger to found a guild, and dungeons are the best way to do that, aren’t they?”

Cassis nodded, and Arianna agreed. This seemed like the best solution.

Helen continued, her tone sharp. “Their next move will be to recruit you into the ‘Awakener Bureau.’ You will not join.”

Cassis raised an eyebrow. “They’re really going to push for that?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Helen said. “But we already have the perfect excuse. The Bristols have agreed to join the bureau, and you have connections to them. That’s actually an ideal setup for both you and the government. You’ll have indirect access to the bureau without being controlled by them and the government can have those two deal with you knowing you are friendly with each other.”

Arianna perked up at the mention of Luke and Nadine Bristol and immediately thought of their daughter Violet. She really wanted to help them some more. They were good people. Helen must have noticed her interest, because she added, “The bureau will also want to open training facilities for civilian awakeners. Later, you can talk to Luke and Nadine about how to help them.”

Arianna felt a warm rush of gratitude. “Thanks,” she murmured.

Helen and Cassis both smiled at her. Then Helen smirked. “If you want, you can also give me some training. I’d like to gain more skills and spells. And, of course, I want to go into dungeons with you and reach level ten.”

Arianna tilted her head. “What direction do you want to take with your class?”

Helen’s smirk widened into something almost predatory. “I plan to become some kind of Thief.”

Arianna blinked. “A Thief?”

Helen nodded. “Cassis’ student—Ben, I believe—explained that in video games, rangers usually branch into two paths: long-range archers or close-combat fighters who eventually become assassins.” Her expression turned sharp, almost bloodthirsty. “I have plenty of experience with both. I love unarmed combat and knife play.”

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Arianna swallowed. She was suddenly very, very glad that Helen was on their side.

Cassis broke the moment. “Ben!”

Both women turned to him in confusion.

“My student Ben,” Cassis explained. “He’s great with computers and would probably be interested in social media.”

Helen raised an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”

Cassis chuckled. “He got in trouble for hacking the school website and posting jokes and memes with the teachers’ pictures on it.” He shook his head, laughing. “He got into so much trouble. But he’d be perfect for us. We already know him, he’s competent, and he’s a good kid.”

Arianna smiled. “That’s one less person to find.”

Now that Cassis had mentioned Ben, Arianna’s thoughts drifted to Janice and her younger siblings. Then, inevitably, to Violet and Cassis’s cousin’s—Selena’s— children Matteo and Felicia who were currently at the Walkers’ family home. She couldn’t help but feel bad for them, but also for all the other orphaned children.

Her thoughts brushed on the experience-sharing bracelet, the one they had all received after overcoming the first trial and making the world announcement happen. That could be the key to helping the children.

But how? She had no idea.

So, of course, she asked Helen. “On another note, Helen, you know about the experience-sharing bracelets. How can we use them to help the children? We can’t do it ourselves.” Her voice was laced with sadness.

Cassis agreed. “We need to focus on ourselves. Our popularity, our position with the government, and our ability to make sure more people survive the dungeons and the next waves all depend on us being the strongest.”

Helen nodded. “Yes, that’s true. For this issue, we could contact a non-profit organization— or even better a non-government organization, an NGO.”

Arianna tilted her head. “Why not the government? I know they aren’t completely trustworthy, but they can reach the whole world.”

Helen pursed her lips before giving an unsettling answer. “Because they could start making child soldiers.”

Arianna felt a chill run down her spine.

“They already do that with the Shadows,” Helen continued, her voice grim. “So, it isn’t much of a stretch to assume that some politicians would want to level up thirteen-year-old orphans to level 5, brainwash them, and then mold them into their own personal soldiers once they turn fourteen.”

Arianna shuddered. She hadn’t even considered that.

Cassis added, “It’s good that the children can’t interact with monsters at all. I was worried that they would only be shielded from attacks but could still attack themselves. That would have led to children being used as shields and forced to fight.”

Arianna froze. “You didn’t say anything about that.”

Cassis gave her a sad smile. “I wanted to confirm how the system protection worked before worrying you.”

Arianna’s eyes narrowed, anger simmering beneath the surface. “I don’t like being left out of the loop. If we’re going to work together, we need to be equal partners. I demand that you worry me with these things.”

Cassis shifted, looking slightly nervous. “Alright, sorry. I’ll be better in the future.”

Arianna folded her arms. Was there more he wasn’t telling her? Suspicion crept in, but before she could press further, Helen interrupted.

“Okay, nice communication there, you two.” She smirked. “But for now, let’s talk about how you should present yourselves to the government and military.”

Cassis got back on track immediately. “How?”

Helen turned to Arianna, looking almost apologetic. “Sorry, Arianna, but it’s best if you don’t say too much. Please be silent for most of the meeting.”

Arianna blinked. “What…?”

“It’s not because I don’t trust you,” Helen said quickly, “but you’re too nice. And I can read your face easily enough. Any skilled negotiator will be able to do the same. They’ll try to use your weakness—your goodwill toward people—against you.”

Arianna clenched her jaw. “So what? I just sit there like a decoration?”

Helen smirked. “No. You smile. Don’t react to anything they say—just smile. It’ll work.”

Arianna felt offended, confused… but determined not to show it. Instead, she lifted her chin and smiled.

Helen’s smirk widened with approval. “Just like that.”

Cassis added something else. “And can you give yourself a blessing? Do you have something like Intimidation?”

Arianna was more confused than ever but she was slowly getting pissed off. Still, she looked through her blessings and there was actually one called intimidation. She nodded, now refusing to speak.

Cassis smirked as if he knew of her childish protest. But then he told her to put that blessing onto her and to just continue smiling silently. Not about to ask why he wanted her to do that she just silently gave herself the blessing. Cassis’ eyes widened, then he looked at Helen. Together they started smirking, looking just like two villains.

Before they could make any more plans, the doorbell rang.

Arianna quickly put the privacy sphere, the mana contract, and the Ring of Veritas back into her inventory. She prepared herself to just sit there and smile, still feeling offended by Helen’s instructions. Cassis stood up and answered the door, while Helen made eye contact with Arianna and whispered, “Don’t forget. Don’t react, just smile. We’ll do the talking.”

Now Arianna was really insulted. She could do that.

Cassis returned with five military officers, one of whom was Dan Brice. The moment Arianna saw him, a wave of disgust washed over her, but she forced herself to keep her expression neutral, well to keep her smile on her face. Cassis motioned for one of the officers to take the armchair, then quickly fetched the two chairs from his kitchen table, apologizing for the lack of sufficient seating. Brice and two high-ranking officers took their seats, while the other two remained standing.

“It’s fine,” one of them assured him.

Cassis sat back down on the couch beside Arianna. With all three of them squeezed onto it, the space felt a little cramped, but she remained silent, keeping her polite, unreadable smile.

Brice was the first to speak. “Thank you for having us. I’m Dan Brice, commander of the military unit at Fort Vallen, not far from here.” He introduced the other officers before continuing, “First of all, the government and the military wish to extend their deepest gratitude for your extraordinary contributions during the recent attack. You have become true heroes.”

Arianna’s stomach twisted at the word hero, but she maintained her smile. She shuddered internally at Brice’s presence. Knowing what he would do in the future made her skin crawl. She had no idea how Cassis could keep a conversation with him going.

Cassis responded, his tone cool and measured. “Thank you, but we only did what was necessary to survive and to protect our friends and family. We never set out to be ‘heroes.’” His voice carried an unmistakable rebuke.

Brice smiled, unfazed. “Yes, I imagine no hero ever starts with that mindset. Still, we wish to publicly recognize your bravery by awarding you the Civil Courage Medal—one of the highest honours a civilian can receive.”

Cassis raised an eyebrow.

Brice continued, “This would, of course, be a public affair. Even if you do not seek attention, please understand that the people need heroes right now. And the system has made it clear—you are those heroes.”

Cassis nodded but remained cautious. “We have no desire to become soldiers. I’m aware that recipients of this medal can be conscripted in times of emergency. We do not want that.”

Brice didn’t even blink. “Of course, the government has no intention of doing that. This is purely an honour, meant to inspire hope.”

“We’ll need that in writing,” Cassis said smoothly.

Brice maintained his pleasant demeanour. “Naturally. We anticipated your concerns.” He gestured to one of his subordinates, who promptly handed Cassis a document.

Helen chose that moment to speak, her voice carrying an almost admiring lilt. “You’re so prepared.”

It sounded like a compliment. It wasn’t.

Brice smiled, unfazed. “Yes, after speaking with Mr. Walker’s parents and you, it became clear what kind of people you are. Very humble, very private. That’s why we’re taking every precaution to ease your concerns—so you might agree to this.”

Arianna almost laughed. What a skilled manipulator. If she hadn’t known about his future actions, she might have believed he was a good person.

Cassis didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he smoothly told Brice that they would need time to discuss it and would contact him with their decision.

Then, as if following Helen’s predictions to the letter, Brice brought up the topic of military instruction. He acknowledged that Cassis and Arianna likely didn’t want to fight as soldiers but suggested they could serve as instructors instead.

Cassis shot the idea down immediately. “We don’t have the time to train an entire army,” he said bluntly. “However, we can offer something more effective. We will train a select group—five warriors, five rangers, five clerics, and five mages. These twenty individuals will be responsible for disseminating our teachings among the rest of the soldiers.”

Brice almost leaped at the offer but managed to contain his excitement. His gaze flicked toward Arianna, likely hoping for a read on her emotions.

She just kept smiling.

Brice looked away quickly, seeming… nervous.

Why?

Helen handled the next part seamlessly. When Brice brought up the Awakener Bureau, she casually informed him that Cassis and Arianna would be coordinating with the Bristols instead.

Arianna found herself thinking that this would likely put Nadine and Luke in quite a high position. She smiled a little wider. None of the soldiers looked at her.

In fact, they seemed uncomfortable. What is going on?

Brice moved on, asking for confirmation on the number of trainees. Cassis reiterated: twenty in total.

Brice nodded and reached out his hand. Cassis shook it to confirm the agreement, mentioning that a written contract would follow.

Then, Brice extended his hand toward Arianna.

A wave of revulsion crashed over her, but she kept her serene smile in place as she shook his hand.

The moment their hands touched, Brice’s looked her in the eyes again—just for a second. Then, he let go seeming unnerved.

Arianna tilted her head slightly, still smiling. What was that?

Brice quickly wrapped up the conversation, the soldiers saying their goodbyes before Cassis escorted them out.

As soon as the door closed, silence hung in the air for a moment.

Then Helen burst into laughter.

“Good job, Arianna,” she gasped, holding her stomach.

Cassis didn’t just chuckle—he let out a deep, belly laugh.

Helen was wiping tears from her eyes. Arianna, still standing there with her perfect, unreadable smile, was utterly baffled.

“What…?”

Cassis took pity on her, catching his breath enough to explain. “Not saying anything and just smiling like that made you look like the evil mastermind behind everything. And the intimidation blessing gave your smile something terribly sinister. Like you’re the one secretly in charge of our little hero group, letting me do the talking while your plan unfolds perfectly.” He grinned. “It completely unnerved them. They had no idea how to handle you.”

Helen cackled. “Especially because you look so sweet doing it!”

Arianna blinked. Mastermind?

She couldn’t understand these people.

Then a system message made even fun of her:

[+250 CP (for being chaotic and consequently confusing professional spies)]