CEO in a Fantasy World 3 Page 7

  The clan leader with long flowing green hair launched up from his chair and slammed the table, "this is far too abrupt, clan head… The clan heads must pass all decisions. You don't have the authority to make such a decision by yourself, he said anxiously.

  A few clan heads nodded their heads in agreement and joined him in protest, none of them wanted to lose their position as clan head, in fact, some of the clan heads weren't incredibly strong; instead, they rose to prominence due to their parents.

  Faust suddenly stood up and silenced all of the other clan heads with a wave of his hand, he walked up to Musashi and looked him straight in the eye, fully releasing his aura in an attempt to pressure him.

  '

  "Since you want to replace the top, I assume that means yourself as well?" Faust asked chillingly.

  "Haha, I have sat on the sidelines for far too long, it would appear you youngsters have forgotten who raised you, I created this clan with my own hands and have stood at the top since the beginning, and you think you can challenge my authority?" Musashi spoke coldly and released a colossal amount of pressure, cracks appeared on the floor he was standing on, and a table located in the middle of the room.

  The clan heads gulped audibly and sweated profusely. Even Caesar was no exception. The amount of pressure that the old man released was immense.

  "Do you really think the reason that the trolls haven't already destroyed this clan is because of you?" Musashi asked while scanning the room.

  He paused for a second and continued…

  "Don't make me laugh, I have lived for over a thousand years, my body is deteriorating, senile, crippled and rusted. However, I am still confident that I can kick that troll king's ass, while also manhandling his son at the same time. That is the reason why trolls still haven't attacked us," Musashi practically roared with absolute confidence.

  Faust took a step back with an astonished expression, "I had thought your power had been greatly reduced?" he asked, confused.

  Musashi didn't reply immediately, he sat back down on his chair and rested his face on the palm of his hand, "It did" he responded curtly.

  Caesar, who was watching this entire scene, was shivering with excitement, his blood boiled, and an uncontrolled smile formed on his lips, 'he's stronger than me,' he thought inwardly while closely examining Musashi.

  Renee had a broad smile plastered on her face as she looked at Musashi proudly, she loved her grandfather dearly and had always hated it when he let the other clan heads take advantage of him.

  The entire room was enveloped in silence, and surprisingly the first person to move was the old kobold leader, he trotted to the table and looked a Musashi solemnly… "in this tournament… can anyone join?" he asked.

  "Of course. In fact, whoever wins will get a GRAND award…" Musashi replied while carrying a sly smile.

  Everyone in the room paid close attention to Musashi's next words… "Whoever wins will get the choice of either challenging me for the position of clan head or, taking Renee's hand in marriage."

  At his words, everyone sucked in yet another breath of cold air, which of them, excluding Faust, didn't want to marry his beautiful granddaughter with the legendary nine-tailed fox bloodline.

  Caesar looked at Musashi deeply, 'a tournament of this magnitude is surely going to make the troll's eyes shine with greed, is it a trap?' he quietly thought to himself.

  "G-grandfather, you didn't tell me something like this would happen? I thought you told me I could marry whoever I wanted," Renee asked in protest, her face flushed with anger.

  Musashi didn't answer her straight away and walked towards Caesar, "I permit anyone to enter the tournament, that includes you," he announced towards Caesar, making sure everyone around them could hear.

  Caesar slightly leaned down and whispered into Musashi's ear, "what are you trying to do, old man? If, by some chance, my powers are revealed to the other dark races, would it not cause trouble for you? We need to weed out the spies before we do something of this magnitude."

  Musashi's smile disappeared as he patted Caesar on the shoulders, "I'm not doing this for my clan or for you, I am doing this in preparation for the future… members of your race need the pressure to grow. I'm willing to bet you have never even lost before, haha, besides, I'm sure you can win the tournament without showing your bloodline," Musashi spoke quietly into Caesar's ear.

  Caesar wasn't surprised in the slightest that Musashi had known about his lineage. He had assumed this old man knew from the very start, especially since he was the same person who specifically sent Renee to Rahvin kingdom.

  Caesar frowned deeply, "why are you rushing this? Can't it wait until after we solve the problem with the trolls?"

  Musashi just slowly shook his head, and a barely discernible hint of sadness was reflected in his eyes, " I'm afraid that I need to find my successor much earlier than I had initially thought."

  This quiet exchange wasn't heard by anyone else in the room. However, they were all dying to know what the strange strategist and the clan head were conversing about that was so important.

  If the young maid were here, she would surely be ecstatic with a 'knowing' expression.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Musashi turned away from Caesar and walked back to his seat, where Renee was currently glaring at him.

  He didn't pay her much heed and simply sat down, once seated, the clan heads finally got ahold of themselves and almost instantly shifted their attention from Musashi to Faust.

  They knew that without Faust's influence, they would never be able to change Musashi's mind. However, contrary to their expectations, Faust didn't attempt to help them, but instead, he stood up and walked to the door.

  "You better keep your promise old man, If I win the tournament, I want the right to challenge you for the position of clan head," Faust spoke solemnly and left the meeting room without waiting for Musashi's reply.

  The door closed and an awkward silence erupted, the clan heads were either too scared to talk or knew that it was pointless to try and persuade Musashi any further.

  "I don't believe we have any more topics to discuss. Thus, I will end the meeting here, and the next time we meet will be on the tournament grounds" Musashi's deep voice rang in everyone's ear.

  "If I may ask, when and where is the tournament being held?" The man with long green hair asked curiously.

  "That depends on the thirteen of you. I want you to inform all of those under you about the upcoming tournament, as for the date, it should be within the next two weeks," Musashi replied and waved his hand as if to signify he would answer no more questions.

  "Very well, I, Sylvian of the wind clan shall take my leave then," he announced while bowing respectfully and turning towards the door.

  The rest of the clan heads, including Charlie, followed in suit, leaving only Caesar, Renee, the kobold, and Musashi left in the room.

  "Grandfather, you didn't tell me about this?" Renee spoke with closed eyes and a broad smile, her anger and killing intent was permeating out of her body.

  "Haha, don't worry my daughter, I did you a favor… with this, your relationship will have fewer hurdles," Musashi tried explaining with a soothing smile.

  "That's on the assumption that Caesar even wins! And besides, wouldn't it better if trolls had no idea regarding the strength Caesar possessed? Now he is going to be an open book…" she asked in a slightly frantic tone.

  Musashi shook his head and stood up, "this isn't just about your marriage, it's also about the clan… our soldiers are losing their confidence and will to fight. Perhaps with this tournament, our clan will once again be revitalized," Musashi responded as he reached his hand out to rub Renee's hair.

  "The trolls wouldn't attack while all of the fox-kin men are prepared for battle and warmed up. It should be relatively safe," Caesar commented from where he was sitting.

  "Exactly, you don't have to worry, sweetheart, the two strongest, besides me of course, are probably Faust and Caesa
r, if Faust wins, he will challenge me and if Caesar wins, well, isn't he the one you wanted to marry anyway?" Musashi asked.

  "Sigh, I understand your line of thought grandfather, I would just like for you to ask me before using my marriage as an incentive for people to enter your tournament," Renee sighed in exasperation.

  "It was the only way to create a chance for Caesar to take your hand in marriage without angering the entire clan, this way. No one can complain if he wins," Musashi spoke with a broad smile as if saying 'praise me.'

  "If I did indeed win the tournament, wouldn't it be just as effective to challenge you for the position of clan head, no one would dare question me if I ask for Renee's hand in marriage as the clan head," Caesar asked with a smile.

  Musashi suddenly jolted his head towards Caesar and looked at him with realization, "you're right! Alas, if you want to beat me, you need to get much stronger," Musashi spoke with excitement clearly discernible in his voice.

  The corner of Caesar's lips twitched. He had initially thought that the old man was wise and had everything planned out… but now, it seems that he was just trying to make way for Caesar to gain a stronger position in the clan.

  "Now is not the time, I would rather solidify my position in your clan before ruling it as clan head. Besides, once that troll prince hears of the marriage, won't his eyes shine red with anger?" Caesar asked playfully to which Musashi nodded his head with a sly smile.

  "I cannot deny that half of the reason I want to do this tournament is to enrage that troll prince…" Musashi spoke honestly, which caused a vein to appear above Renee's right eye.

  "Ugh, both of you always have that expression as if everything is going to go according to plan… Have you ever thought what would happen if both Caesar and Faust lost?" Renee complained.

  Both Caesar and Musashi snorted as if they were in synch "as if that would ever happen," they both said at the exact same time, which enraged Renee even more.

  "Haha, well, although he is quite strong, I will personally train him in these next few weeks to further guarantee his victory," Musashi comforted Renee.

  Caesar raised his eyebrow and looked at Musashi with a baffled expression, "you're going to train me?" he asked curiously.

  "That is correct," Musashi responded curtly.

  Caesar chuckled and nodded his head in acceptance, although he was hesitant to acquire training from someone else, he wasn't so conceited that he would deny it.

  Musashi slammed the table and abruptly stood up, "alright, you had wanted to advise our farmers, right? Let me lead the way" Musashi suddenly changed the subject and walked to the door.

  Caesar shrugged his shoulders, and both he and Renee followed after him. In the corner of the meeting room, a very short and old creature was standing there with an expression that said, 'I have seen something I shouldn't have.'

  The kobold elder frantically rushed to catch up with Caesar and the rest. He didn't want to be left behind in the meeting room.

  While Musashi was leading Caesar, he couldn't help but ask a few questions that had been on his mind for a while.

  "Renee had once told me that Faust was her uncle, meaning that he is your son, correct?" Caesar asked Musashi quietly, and almost instantly, a weird expression appeared on Renee's face.

  "Adopted son," Musashi replied without a hint of emotion, it was clear that he didn't want to delve too far into this conversation.

  Caesar nodded his head and asked another question, "I've heard that you have lived for a very long time and are quite knowledgeable about the many different races in this world. Do you happen to know about a race that could inherently charm others on accident, even being capable of charming goblins and orcs," Caesar asked curiously. He was, of course, referring to Elizabeth.

  Musashi squinted his and stroked his long beard, "ah, there are two races I can think of."

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Musashi halted his footsteps and turned around to face Caesar. He had a contemplative expression as he stroked his beard.

  "Hmm, there are many races that can charm, such as a vampire, succubus, incubus, siren, and many more. However, there are only a select few races that can involuntarily charm others."

  Both Caesar and Renee urged him to continue with their eyes, even the kobold elder that joined their group late was looking at Musashi inquiringly.

  "Both the Valkyries and the nymphs are well-loved races. The Valkyrie have a strong holy affinity, which naturally attracts others with it's warm and loving energy, while the nymphs are forest-dwelling girls that love attention and familial love. Both attract others with a different sort of charm. Consequently, both races have unfortunately gone extinct."

  Caesar stroked his chin in deep thought, 'Elizabeth could be either one, I had never actually tested nor sensed the mana within her body, so perhaps she is a nymph?'

  "You have never told me about these two races before, grandfather, how did they go extinct"? Renee asked curiously, she had wanted to know which race Elizabeth was, but there was no way they could tell without the person in question being present.

  "Haha, the story behind the Valkyrie and the Nymphs are quite tragic, why would I have told such a story to a young girl such as yourself" Musashi chuckled dryly and explained.

  Renee rolled her eyes and Caesar's brows furrowed, "please do tell us more about them, I would like to think that they are no longer extinct…" Caesar asked. The more information they knew about both the Valkyrie and Nymph, the better.

  "Oh, you say they are no longer extinct, huh? Interesting…" Musashi spoke with a strange smile.

  Caesar couldn't help but roll his eyes in annoyance 'this old man is purposely making it suspenseful...

  "Well, long ago, both of them belonged to two separate factions, the Valkyries sided with the church while the nymphs sided with the fallen angels, or as you know them by, the four progenitors… you see, the nymphs may not sound all that powerful. However, they were the only race to have possessed the very rare nature affinity, which makes it possible to create forests in mere minutes, and while it is capable of creating life, it is also capable of healing. Because of this, the Nymphs were the first priority to be annihilated in the great war."

  Musashi paused and opened up one of his eyes to observe both Caesar's and Renee's expression, seeing that they were still amused, he continued.

  "The nymphs never killed others and were mostly a peaceful race, so because of this atrocity committed by the church, the first progenitor was enraged, alas, this was also about the same time his wife was brutally murdered and conspired against by his own kin. Thus, a rampage ensued, with the Valkyries being the first progenitor's priority to slaughter."

  "I'm a bit confused, although Renee has mentioned some of this before, I was wondering why the progenitors had betrayed the first progenitor, furthermore, you had referred to them as the fallen angels?" Caesar blurted out a few questions once Musashi paused his story. He was very intrigued by the history of this world.

  "No mighty man wants to be ruled over, but, with the first progenitor being stronger than the other progenitors, they would never get the chance actually to stand on top. Thus, their greed took over them with the promise of strength. Even I am not certain as to what they were promised. However, one thing is for sure. They were not given it," Musashi calmly explained and continued his footsteps.

  Caesar followed closely behind him and tilted his head, "I see, but why do you refer to them as the fallen angels?" he asked, and Renee nodded her head from behind him, she was also quite curious.

  "The myriad of races in this world are generally created from reproduction. However, according to legend, there needed to be a beginning. In this case, the 12 apostles, or angels, were the beginning. They were the strongest and holiest of races, alas, many of the angels wanted absolute order while Lucifer, the oldest angel, and also the first progenitor, prided freedom."

  Musashi paused for a second and continued… "So, a separate faction was created. Luc
ifer, along with his three younger brothers, created the vampires, while the remaining eight angels created the humans. The four fallen angels sacrificed their ability of light for darkness, the only ability which can kill an immortal"

  His words were cut off as they reached a ragged looking shack, on top of the cabin was a wooden plank with two words etched into it 'Farmers Foundation'

  "Ah, it would appear we have arrived. By the way, take everything I just told you with a grain of salt. Although I am quite old, I am not old enough to the point of knowing all of his information for certain. In fact, most of this was told to me by my very own grandfather," Musashi said with a wry smile while opening the farmer's foundation door.