“Young Master Guso, surely your arrival to this City has been Martial Citadels great fortune, speak what is it that you want and it is yours as long as it is within my ability to grant it.”
Guso had been watching the whole exchange in amazement and amusement, Old Man Yupow really was scary.
He never thought he'd see such a group of powerful individuals humiliate themselves in such a way.
But such were the ways in Potestera, those who had power were to be respected and acknowledged.
But now the time had come, for him himself to make his move.
It was time to set his plan in motion.
“Indeed I know the secret to the advent of the Focus Shards. In fact it was me, with the help of Yupow, who created them. But they’re not as convenient to make as you guys may think. Regardless, since you guys value them so highly I'm willing to negotiate. In the end I'm no Saint, I can't give away my creation method for free. Let me hear your offers.”
“Young Master Guso truly is wise, then let’s get straight to business, with me I bring documents granting you Nobility, and a special position within our Citys’ decisión making Council, with these you are officially a powerful Elite City Official, only equaled by me and the Head of Unyielding Dojo. You are a respected Ranker, so it's no problem for me to give these to you for your astounding contributions. With the badges, certifications, and titles you will receive you will have access to all of the City's resources, power,and secrets.”
Everyone heard the Mayor's offer, and even they were astounded with what he proposed.
Even the influential men that accompanied him, didn’t have such powerful perks and benefits, and they were also part of the City Council.
Perhaps Lofen was being too extreme?
But at least now they could be assured that Guso and Yupow knew that they didn’t come here to play any games.
Guso inside his mind was in shock to what the Mayor offered him, but made sure to remain calm on the outside and to stick to his plan.
“That offer truly is good, but what i'm worried about is my safety, my good will towards your citizens has been repaid to me in violence and threats. What are your thoughts?”
“Within the protection of these City Walls, I will make it clear that you are to be respected and left alone. None shall dare break my order within my domain, I have held power within this City for a reason, my arm of justice is swift and mighty, to have my backing is to be unafraid of danger within my domain. You have my word.”
“ Good, I accept your offer, I will allow you to bear witness to my Focus Shard making process. But that only includes you, Mayor. The rest of you will have to show me your sincerity.”
The Mayor was beaming with joy, but felt a little nervous realizing that Guso’s agreement only included him.
He had promised these men results, but at this point there was nothing he could do.
The fate of these gentlemen's organizations rested upon their own abilities.
Dirgen, altough he felt a little vexed with the kids fickleness, saw his opportunity and stepped forward.
“Young Master Guso, if you grant me the honor of watching your Focus Shard making process, I will immediately give you whatever is within my grasp and abilities. Be it my most powerful weapons, money, even my own Daughter!”
Guso almost spit out blood at the Clan Heads bold offer.
He had to admit he was caught by surprise by the Clanheads commitment to strike a deal.
“Clanhead Oldman, I have to admit your sincerity truly is admirable, but as of right now my interest hasn't been piqued by anything you have offered. To me those are things that will come to me in time. But now that I think about it, I really can't be too demanding, since the truth is, that in the end it was thanks to your product that I was able to create the Focus Shard. Grant me 10% shares in your company’s stock, a 30% cut of whatever revenue you make out of the Focus Shard, unlimited access to your Martial Iron, Bronze, and Steel, and the ability for me to make the Focus Shards in one of your facilities, and we'll call it even.”
Clanhead Dirgen was aghast at how thick faced and sly this young Ranker Guso was, he had basically asked for the same things he had offered except in a more binding form, and told him his own product helped in the creation of the Focus Shard, yet he acted as if it was nothing much.
But he didn’t care, this was the nature of business in the end, he was well accustomed to it, this could even be a good way to tie this young genius to his Company’s and Clans future.
The choice was clear; there was no hesitation in his mind.
“ Deal! All that you requested is yours, as head board member of Great Inner Fire Weapons Company allow me to officially welcome you to our Business Family Young Master Guso! Today is a day of great festivity!”
Guso was surprised at how readily the old sly Clanhead had accepted his offer, especially after Yupow had told him, of how this individual was the one who had had i’ll intent towards him in the past.
But it seemed the item he had created had such great bargaining power, that part of his fate in Potestera was now inextricably tied to this shady old Expert.
He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.
Citum the Old Practitioner Master, Head of the newly created Inner Focus Alliance was next to step up.
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Before the Mayor’s group had reached Yupows home, Yupow had told Guso all the information on all the people who had requested an audience.
This old man was the one Guso was most excited to negotiate with.
He knew he represented the top Inner Energy Practitioners in the City, and so as an Inner Energy Practitioner himself, he wanted to make the most of this opportunity.
“Young wise Guso first let me acknowledge and congratulate you as a fellow Practitioner, on your achievements in the Experts World. Regardless of what happens from here on out, you have already cemented yourself in the annals of history of not only Volunterra, but Potestera as a whole. I bow the Knee to you Practitioner Guso creator of the Focus Shard.”
“Thank you Old Man, I appreciate your sincerity, but truly it was nothing much there is still much more to be achieved.”
Guso had gotten a good impression of the Old Man, he knew he wasn’t trying to flatter him for a better deal, he noticed the sincerity and gratefulness in his eyes, and Guso being a Practitioner himself had a feeling of why that was the case.
Old man Citum was humbled yet once more, the kid had planned all of this!
They were being played like a fiddle, and they had no choice but to comply.
It seemed he still had many more things he wanted to achieve.
He suddenly felt a feeling of wanting to witness the kids growth.
He was honored to have lived long enough to witness the advent of a new age.
“Very well then enough pleasantries i've come here to negotiate and give you the best offer on behalf of not only Bursting Vase Dojo, but of Inner Focus Alliance. Young Guso if you allow us to witness your genius in action, our Association offers an Honorary membership and title as a Head Representative in our Alliance, in consequence this gives you access to all of our Organizations disciple level Martial and Inner Energy knowledge libraries, resources, and facilities. As a demonstration of our sincerity, each one of us Masters from the Organizations that make up this Association, is willing to give you a high level secret technique from each of our Organizations Foundation Heritage in the form of a Mastery Pack, the next best thing after a mystical Inheritance. We also swear to offer you backing in whatever matter you get involved in in the future, as I'm sure you’ve found out these things are unavoidable as a Ranker. It is always good to have friends. Lastly all breakthroughs we make in regards to Focus Shards and our Inner Martial Arts are yours to access at any time. Is this a satisfactory offer Young Guso?”
Guso was excited most of what the Old Master put forth, was exactly what he had had in his mind and then some.
But in the spirit of negotiations he decided to make some modifications.
“Very good Old Man. I very much like your offer, but at the moment I don’t have the time or ability to study any of your secret techniques. How does modifying the Master Pack to include all of your Organization's fundamentals and a special technique of my choice, while saving the secret techniques for later sound?”
“That also sounds manageable. I'm sure the other old coots won't complain a bit. So do we have a deal?”
“You have a deal Old Master Citum.”
Master Citum let out a breath of relief, he had managed to accomplish his mission in the end.
The kid in front of him was a much wiser eminence than even the rumors described.
Gladness and excitement apparent in his face Citum made way for the others.
Afterwards the Head Bank Executive and Head Engineer of the Energy Union all gave their best offers.
Other than the amount of money the Head Bank Executive had offered him, Guso didn’t really feel too excited about what they had put forth.
Besides, his parents had always told him never to trust Banks and Utilities, so he took longer to make a deal with them.
In the end Guso took a deal with the Banks that included 5 great properties in the City, increased benefits on all the accounts he currently had, executive rights that gave 10% share ownership over whatever investments or actions where made with Focus Shards within the City Branch of the Association, and a specialized Ranker Investment Account that would aim to aid him on his Ranker journey.
He was hesitant to accept anything from the Bank since their offers felt dirty, so he measured what he asked for from them, but he was satisfied with the deal.
He had basically assured himself a prosperous future if ever he felt like entering civilian life again.
From the Energy Union he was even more clueless what to accept from them.
They were only a local power that were nonetheless very important for Martial Citadels development, so he felt bad in asking anything too extravagant from them.
In the end he accepted an executive membership of their Union Board, free utilities to the land he now owned, and bonds in whatever industry Focus Shards were involved in.
Guso felt overjoyed with the deals he had made.
Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine the Focus Shards would bring him this amount of benefits.
In regards to residency within Martial Citadel he was basically made; all his needs being met and then some.
But his plan of action was still not done; he still had to go through with the deals he had made with the Gentleman and see what would arise from its aftermath.