A DAY LATER...

Isaiah yawned, his body was in pain with each movement he made, but he still sat up on his bed and focused, a warm gentle light covered his body.

Isaiah had already cleaned and debrided his wounds, now he was stimulating blood flow to help the wounds heal better. While light magic didn't have innate healing properties, it still helped a little. At the same time, he used his vortex technique.

His wounds were already looking a lot better. He hadn't slept last night, instead choosing to tend to his wounds due to their severity.

A few hours passed as he opened his eyes. He squeezed his fists, then got up and jumped around, testing his body, "Yep, still a mess," it was hurting all around.

But he was still satisfied. If need be, he was in a condition to fight, be it not in top condition. He wanted to be in top condition before he acted once more.

He put on a sleek all-black suit which covered up most of his wounds. He took a look at himself in the mirror, "Not bad." Unless one looked closely, they wouldn't know about his current condition, which was great as he had a feeling this would be a busy day. But as an extra precaution, he used illusion magic to hide his barely visible wounds too.

He made his way to the top of his casino through the stairs. The usual sounds of gambling weren't present, instead replaced by construction sounds. He looked around observing it, "Sigh, I keep wasting money on rebuilding," he shook his head and continued walking up to the corridor that led to his office. "Whatever, now that I dealt a large blow, it should take some time before it's destroyed once more."

He saw Lily, who had arrived earlier today. He smiled, "You missed all the fun," he said with a laugh. Lily turned to face him, but before she responded, she took a good look at his body, her eyes searching every inch of him. "Wow there, workplace harassment?" Isaiah said as a joke, causing Lily to blush on her ears. "I-I was just checking to see if you were fine." She pouted, adding, "It's not my fault I have a boss who keeps getting wounded each day."

Due to his illusion magic, she couldn't tell his severe condition. "Well, I'm glad you are fine, or else who would pay my salary?" she joked. This caused Isaiah to burst into laughter while walking to his office. "Good one, Lily," it was not that the joke was funny, he just hadn't expected it.

He walked to his seat, taking his place. SHOO! CRASH! Terry came in from the sky and landed on his office, half of his office was still open to the air, having been the place the battle started. "You know there is a door, right?" Isaiah asked. Terry ignored his remark and took a seat, his eyebrows raised when he saw Isaiah's condition. "You healed already?" Even if Isaiah was using illusion magic, which he knew he could, it was still surprising he wasn't bedridden after participating in a battle that involved three Rank 2s going all out.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Of course, I'm not called Light Savant for nothing," he boasted. Terry's face was impassive as he listened to Isaiah boast about his made-up title. He put the newspaper in his hand on Isaiah's desk, "You might have confused your title, Money Devil."

Confused, not having yet checked the newspapers, Isaiah peeked at the title of today's newspaper, "Isaiah Dominus, The Whealth Devil Survives A Rank 2!? All For Money!" Isaiah raised an eyebrow, "Whealth Devil? What's devilish about protecting your business?"

"Probably because your business is in Second Emperor District, you should know the reputation this place has to other people," Terry explained. Isaiah nodded but was still confused about one thing, "Did you tell them this?" He was wondering how they acquired this information, while their fight was public, no one who stayed to witness it rather than flee would be able to survive.

Terry shook his head, "No, but they most likely learned it from the report Jax sent in. Royal Guards are required to file each fight." Isaiah was surprised by this revelation. He hadn't expected the battle reports to be so easily accessible. He would keep this in his mind for the future. While he had been here for about a month now and learned a lot, there was still a lot he didn't know about which he would learn with time.

"Well, enough of all that. I understood why you were so silent till now, but I'm sure we can talk about the plan now, right?" Terry asked, having understood Isaiah's prior mysterious vibe. "What plan? Now that the biggest trouble is gone temporarily," Isaiah's smile widened as he said the next part, "We just have to wreck this place down."

"You sure we can just wreck the entire district down?" Isaiah looked at Terry as if looking at an idiot, "Of course not, neither do we have to. We will just take down a few gangs here and there, then take over the rest of them." Terry's eyes widened, asking, "We will run gangs?"

"We won't, I will." Isaiah told him very clearly. He didn't have anything against running these gangs, but he actually had plans to turn them into legitimate businesses in the future. He didn't like running illegal businesses for various reasons, but the most important reason in his decision was that businesses were only illegal until laws changed, and with enough money, all laws were subject to change.

And even if it proved unprofitable to lobby the government, which he doubted, he could still use them as a workforce. There were quite a number of Rank 1's in the gangs, with the right mind leading them. They could work legitimate jobs and, most importantly, earn more money than doing things the illegal way.

Another reason and the main one behind Isaiah's decision was that he wanted influence more than money. While illegitimate businesses did bring loads of money, so did legitimate ones. The main advantage of the latter was that your face could be public, your power known, and you could spread your influence without worrying about your back 24/7.