He didn't wait for long, as in fifteen minutes, they all came in.
The first three to enter were Omgalden, Amelia, and Lendy, who just jumped into the tent, grabbing a chair and sat beside him. The others followed, Torend, Omar, Randy, Volren, Celi, Silver Falcon, and lastly Madly leading Ouly into the tent.
Arthur just glanced at his pillars, feeling somehow proud of what he managed to achieve in the short duration he had in this world.
"Are we going to discuss the plan of invading the black raven clan now?" Silver falcon, who was so eager to fight, asked, opening the discussion in this first grand meeting ever.
"It will be part of the meeting, but the most pressing issue is about the arrangement of this clan after I go to the academy," Arthur said, while looking at the three guild leaders, "Do you know the academy inner system? Can I leave there at any time or not?"
Omgalden took the responsibility of answering him, as he said:
"The academy had very strict inside rules, and very loose outside rules. As long as you go to participate in the competition, you will take one month there, then after the competition you will have to stay in doors for one year.
Learning, attending classes, doing missions for the academy, until you rise up one rank there, be a senior disciple, not a freshman, then you can ask to roam the world for specific durations only. such requests must be approved by the high council of the academy, and you should prepare for some rejections if your name isn't well known inside."
Omgalden words had hidden meaning to Arthur, who nodded in understanding. "What about these outside rules?" he suddenly asked.
"The academy had mages from many clans in the area around it. many are already enemies in the outside world, and the academy can't interfere in the business of the clans, or this will affect its reputation. So, outside the borders of the academy, any conflict can erupt, and the academy doesn't hold anyone the responsibility for that," Omgalden said, explaining this important rule.
Arthur felt some ease, as he planned to expand his territory after solidifying his handling over the current territories he just conquered. If he wouldn't be held responsible for his clan' actions, even if he was the clan head, then everything would be fine.
"Good, now I want to know more about the real situation inside the black raven clan," he shifted the topic towards the issue that kept bothering him, "I met the black raven leader, Noura, and she seemed stressed by something to do this whole quest thing. So, what is the real deal here?" he asked, expressing his own doubts.
Noura seemed to be pushed over the edge by something, and he needed to know what it was, or else the idea of her surrender wouldn't be realistic or achieved at all!
This time, Lendy, who was sitting just next to him, caressing his thigh with her hand under the wooden table, not caring by the side glances others were giving to her, said:
"The leader isn't Noura, it's her grandfather, Hoff!"
Arthur glanced at her before saying:
"No, she was called by everyone as the leader."
"Strange," Lendy muttered, "last time I heard she wasn't the leader, right Omgalden?" she asked Omgalden, as this was the clan he once lived inside.
"That's weird, that old man wasn't in any bad condition the last time I saw him."
Arthur was feeling more odd with these replies, so he finally said:
"We will wait until Iman wakes up and asks her, she was so close to Noura and was asked by her for help in this campaign."
"Noura asked for outsider's help? That's more strange," Omgalden simply commented, not adding more, as the whole situation seemed not right at all to him, and to the others as well.
"Anyway, we need to prioritize knowing what is happening behind the curtain, so we can wrap things here without fight if possible," Arthur said, before turning his eyes to Silver Falcon before adding, "but if there is no solution, then I think she will retreat to her clan, and fortify herself there. we will have to go to her place and knock her door hard enough to drive more sense in her."
Silver Falcon just smiled, in content, as he was anticipating this fight from the beginning. In fact he didn't know why Arthur was trying to avoid fighting her, and so the others. Arthur didn't explain, but how he would fight his own girl? He wasn't the violent natured man, and besides forcing the hands of his woman wasn't a good approach to any girl!
"Now, let's discuss the arrangements after I leave here," he finally came to this sensitive important matter to all, "I plan to take only the best of mages here, who wanted to follow me to the academy, however that didn't mean I will abandon here," he added, before looking to Madly, "I want you to teach as many mages as possible how to do the cooking, creating the meat is very essential in future growth of our clan."
"Our mages can be satisfied by the number of chiefs we have right now," Madly instantly replied.
"No," he shook his head, "you misunderstood my meaning," he said, "I don't want just mages to eat meat, I want every single child in the clan below the age of fifteen to live on meat," he corrected her, declaring his intentions.
"That…" she stuttered, stopped without midway in her words.
"I know, hard, but it must be done," he said, while shifting his gaze to the three leaders of the guild, "I want to ensure that the future of our move can't be secured only by the mages we have now. we need fresh blood, and we need to ensure that each year many mages will be able to join the academies and the guild," he stated, expressing his decision and vision.
The three leaders just exchanged silent glances, before Lendy said:
"Dear, this will be quite hard. We will need all the mages to work hard, kill monsters all day long, and that might not satisfy the new villagers' needs!"
She expressed it best, as this was what was going inside each one's head.
"That's why we need to find other ways to hunt monsters, where normal villagers can participate," he finally came to the main issue related to this matter, "the weapons, traps, and elixirs are the main three pillars of our foundation," he declared.
"Weapons I got it, but what is about traps and elixirs?" Torend, who kept his silence till now, asked.
"Weapons I mean aren't the one you already know, and for traps and elixirs, I plan to do a demonstration now to all of you," he said, while he took out three bottles of the fire and ice potions he previously made.
He had many of these two now, but he didn't intend to make mages learn the craft of potionology to make them, but to make simpler elixirs, much simpler than these two. "Here, who wants to try these two?" he asked.
"What are these?" Lendy's eyes shone brightly, as she sat straight on her chair, while observing the fluid inside these bottles. She wasn't alone, as everyone here was doing the same.
"This is the fire elixir, as for this one it's called the ice elixir," he said, while explaining, "the fire elixir works best for explosive mages, those who love to deal huge damage on using very strong attacks, while the ice elixir works best for those mages who used tactics and calmness in their fight. Both can greatly boost everyone's abilities, but I strongly recommend only high leveled mages to take these elixirs I have."
His words seemed vague to them, but he tried to simplify things to them. The concepts of his cultivation knowledge seemed quite complicated and advanced to be explained simply by mere words to them.
"So, I can take a fire bottle, right?" Silver Falcon asked, as he pointed to one of the three fire elixir.
"Sure, it suits you," Arthur honestly replied.
"What about me, my dear?" Lendy leaned again on his shoulder, while asking in a very seductive tone.
"I think ice potion is best for you," he said, despite now knowing her fighting abilities, he knew she must be a manipulative type.
"Great, then I will take one, and Silver Falcon kid here can take the fiery one," she chuckled before jumping over the table, snatching one ice bottle, and then asked:
"How can I use it?"
"Just drink it," Arthur simply stated the obvious for him.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om