Their group entered the office building stepping into the air-conditioned space. By now they were twelve people strong, including Boe. So entering as a group was noticeable, though they were quickly dismissed by passers. Approaching the front desk Mark could see that this was a fully functioning business with workers occupying the space and seemingly very busy. Though with what, Mark didn’t know.
Ethel walked up front and paused for the briefest of moments next to the reception desk. Whereupon a young eastern woman got up and bowed towards Ethel, who nodded in turn.
The young woman then moved to the front of the group and began leading them towards the elevators, all without saying a word.
When they arrived, they stepped onto the lifts and the woman produced a card, which she used and pressed the top floor.
They rode up in silence, but Mark took the time to use [Telepathic link], connecting with everyone, unfortunately, his limit meant they were not all in but it couldn’t be helped.
The elevator dinged and opened out onto and large open floor plan.
Strangely enough, there was another smaller reception up here and a small waiting room. Beyond that, a set of glass doors opened to a large office.
Floor-to-ceiling windows gave an unobstructed view of the whole of New York.
The woman with them bowed as they got out of the lift and the door closed behind them.
Another woman got up from the small reception area and opened the door for them to enter the main office.
Ethel just walked forward resolutely.
The office itself was decorated with fine-looking art, such as calligraphy and pottery. One of the walls were taken up with a library of reference books and small expensive tchotchkes.
A centerpiece drew Mark's attention to one of the shelves. It was a delicate-looking flower in a crystal vase, that had to be from the system by the way it was giving off Mana. Black petals shone with a supernatural vibrance.
Tearing his eyes away Mark turned to look at the rest of the space.
A large desk sat near the center of the room so as to see people coming but offer the person seated there, protection from a direct line of sight.
A man was sitting at that very desk, looking over documents as they entered. He was a middle-aged gentleman, with a receding hairline and a small set of delicate glasses on his face. He gave off an air of dignity and poise.
The room itself was quiet but not empty. Eight assistants stood around his desk offering him documents when requested. Along with two powerful-looking bodyguards standing just far enough from the desk, to not get in the way of their work.
As the man looked up from his desk and polite smile slipped onto his face and he stood from his chair. With just a gesture of his hand, the assistants scattered as if he had cast a spell, but Mark knew he had commanded no Mana. The men and woman were out of the room in a couple of breaths, leaving through a side door Mark had not seen when he first entered.
“Ethel, back so soon. Are these the pillars you spoke of?”
His accent was thick but he had clearly been living in the States for a while because his English was as refined as the man himself.
He had a sleek-looking cane next to his desk which he grabbed now, though Mark could see he hardly needed it—only putting minor pressure on it– as he walked around his table towards them. The smile on his face changed to an amused grin.
Ethel nodded, bowing slightly
“Mr. Xiaolan, you should know me by now. When I want something, I move to strike. Hesitation only clouds judgment”
Mr. Xiaolan nodded fondly.
“No mercy for yourself or those around you. I’m glad to be able to return a favor, even after all this time Mrs. Wilson”
Mr. Xiaolan looked over everyone in the room and his eyes stopped on Mark for a moment and then moved on, coming to rest on Jonathan.
“And you must be the one grandson she actually likes. It’s an honor you meet you, Mr. Jonathan Wilson. One day soon I look forward to introducing you to my daughter”
Jonathan seemed to take the greeting in stride and bow in response.
“The honor is all mine Mr. Xiaolan, I’ve heard much about you from my grandmother, I’m glad she has such a close friend we can rely on”
Mark blinked slowly, the Jonathan he saw right now was completely different from what he was used to. His speech, posture, and even the way he had bowed, shifted to a well-trained upbringing. It was like Mark was watching a completely different person.
Mr. Xiaolan seemed pleased and taped the cane softly on the floor.
His gentle smile was replaced by a businessman’s poker face. Not a single emotion moved across his mask.
“Right, then let's get through the formalities. Ethel has asked me to call in some favors and get your faction request moved forward in the queue but before I do any of that. You should know this is not an easy task. The structures in this city were just barely put in place, and I’d be pushing you to the front of an already long queue, this will have its own downsides for you and me. So now I ask, why should I help you, what is your goal? What type of faction are you creating? Do you even have a plan in place?”
They had spoken on this during the car ride over here. There were several types of factions out there. Some produced goods and services while others fought the Corrupted by working to expand the walls. Apparently, there were a few factions that even made jobs out of farming the system items and reselling them to the public. It was on a first come first serve basis, so the competition was steep.
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Their group was bathed in flames as it were, so a combat faction matched them well. Mark felt a couple of answers jump around the network.
But it was Karter who answered the question.
“Greetings Mr. Xiaolan. While I’m aware it does not exist for the moment we wish to create an entirely new classification… Exploration. The plan is to make long-distance trips into the now unexplored areas and bring back things so that we may learn from them. All while training our people. Of course, eighty to ninety percent of our forces will normally remain within the city. I’m of the mind to offer crafting and protection services, as I suspect it would be best to have a diverse range of jobs ”
This was the first Mark had heard of any of this but it was not a bad idea at all, and well thought out too. The only way they could grow was to experience what the end had to offer them and gain strength from it. Having a place to retreat to was key to this plan and those who remained here would continue to work and grow their skills by tackling a whole other aspect of the system. It seemed that Karter was hitting the ground running with his promise of change.
Mr. Xiaolan seemed to think Karter's statement over.
“Hmm, a general faction huh… It’ll be a hard sell, even once all the documentation is completed. Re-exploring our changing environment is an untapped vein of riches to be sure. But I’m not entirely sold you can pull that off, I need a reason to take a chance on you. In the meantime, why not stay behind the walls where it is safe? Ethel, I had my people write up an agreement, here take a look”
Mr. Xiaolan pulled a neat stack of documents from his desk and handed it over to her.
Ethel didn’t seem bothered by his words taking the pack and tucking into the pages, reading it right where she stood.
Mr. Xiaolan looked at the rest of them as if waiting for an answer.
Sam was the one to speak up now.
“Safety is relative, strength is not”
When she offered nothing more, Jonathan then built on that.
“I’ll be honest with you Mr. Xiaolan, it's a mess out there. This city may be safe for now but that may not always be the case. We need to prepare for all possibilities…”
Mr. Xiaolan paused once more, mulling over his words. This time though there was a hint of an approving light in the man's eyes.
“I should warn you, a faction that does everything like you intend to is not a new idea. It’s incredibly competitive and expensive to tackle so many different avenues at once. You’d be taking a huge bite, I hope you can swallow it.”
The words were well-meaning yet cold, though none of them flinched. Nothing of what they did so far was easy, why should this be any different?
Mark's eyes were drawn back over to the flower in the room when its Mana became slightly stronger for an instant. It gave off calm pulses of Mana, but there was something else mixed into it. Like a little heartbeat of warmth.
Suddenly Mr. Xiaolan spoke once more, only now it was directed at Mark.
“Want to hazard a guess as to where we found that Orchid?”
Mark looked back at the man.
“Some janitor had kept it near a boiler in the basement of a school. Apparently, it glowed with flames when the person who found it arrived. Sadly I could only get this one clipping. I bought it because it intrigued me as to how a living thing could survive in such an environment. Why do you think that is Mark?”
Mark glanced at the plant and back at Mr. Xiaolan.
“I have a theory but, out of interest, how do you know my name?”
He had not given his name and he had a sneaking suspicion.
“Mmm, right now the name Mark Young is on a lot of people’s lips. Your file found its way across my desk less than a couple of hours ago.”
Mark scratched his chin and then reached out a hand toward the distant plant, casting [Nature control]. Creating an entirely new organism was incredibly hard but nurturing an already existing material was the same as a seed. Mark could see the flower's tapestry, and fed it power, letting it direct its own growth.
The small clipping shuddered as it soaked up Marks Mana.
“Hmm, call it adaptability or evolution, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that this flower is alive. In my mind, it's that life that brings about change. This flower could survive in that environment because it had to adapt the circumstances. Mana probably helped this process along, but at the end of the day, the organism had to strive for more than survival, it had to change. What we see here is the result.
Our ‘reason’ is the same as this flower, we need to change. Whatever we come out looking like at the end, probably won’t be the same as we entered, but we will last.”
The small flower soaked up huge quantities of Mark’s Mana sending out tiny roots in its vase as its leaves began to fill out. Petals perked up and if one looked closely, they could make out the faintest dull flame issuing from the tips of its flower.
Mr. Xiaolan looked at Mark with a hungry grin and then at the rest of them. Slowly the mask dropped, replaced by a genuine smile.
“Alright then, I think I can see where you are all coming from. Apologies for that but drive is one of the things I look for in my allies and you all seem to have plenty”
Mr. Xiaolan was still l admiring the flower when Ethel finished reading the document in record-breaking time.
“I’ve looked over the agreement and we’ll accept four percent not ten”
Mr. Xiaolan took his eyes off the flower briefly and waved dismissively at her.
“Just checking to see if you were still sharp, it’s been a while. Right, let's get those signatures and decide on a name. Seven leaders, seven pillars”
As he said this a single assistant came back into the room with another small stack of documents and several pens.
After depositing it she left the way she came.
Ethel passed out the pens, keeping one for herself, and handed the rest off to Jonathan, Samantha, Karter, Chloe, and Daphne. All of which accepted it.
That's when Mark figured out why Ethel had insisted Daphne come with her, she needed leaders to fill the requirements of the faction creation.
Daphne hesitated, staring at Ethel and finally turning to look at Mark, who nodded for her to take the pen. After a breath she did.
Then Ethel offered Mark the last pen.
Mark blinked at the pen in surprise. He understood why all of them had been offered a pen, they all had forces, they brought to the faction. Mark had no such resources.
Jonathan looked up at Mark and saw him frozen.
“Stop overthinking it. You made your choice a while ago”
Mark's mind began to move once more.
Jonathan was right of course, but that didn’t mean Mark would admit that it to that smug face.
As far as he could tell it would just be in name, but it was about time he picked a side, and this one was probably the best chance he was ever going to get. With people he could trust to strive for everyone's best interest.
It was time to let go of his neutrality, it had served its purpose.
Mark had always said that if he was ever asked to lead then he would. He didn’t directly want power just the best for people. Now the offer was being extended to him. There was no reason to hesitate.
Well, there were plenty of reasons, but none that mattered to Mark.
He was the last to accept the pen and sign his name at the bottom of the page. It sat neatly with six others.
Below that, an open space, left for the Faction’s name.
Going with any of their old faction's names felt wrong. They were more than their past, and they needed to have a fresh start.
This step took considerably more discussion but eventually by Taking all the different group's concepts and putting them together they reached an accord.
Finally, Sam picked up her pen again and filled in the last field.
There, at the bottom of the page were the words
“The Order of the Sage”