A/N: WOHOO! That's Chapter 200!
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His son was Garlin's greatest disappointment, but it wasn't in the way everyone assumed. Garlin had grand hopes and dreams. He wanted to rise to a height deemed impossible for someone with his background. And he had reached the cusp of achieving it too, that time. Unfortunately, it all came crumbling around him in one fell swoop.
When it happened, Garlin cycled through a plethora of emotions. He felt rage, that his son failed him so spectacularly. Garlin sank every single resource in his employ for his son, yet the boy couldn't present anything in return. In simple business terms, he turned out to be a loss-making investment. He then felt envious of the offspring of other families and his competitors. Why were they so exemplary, and why couldn't his son perform similarly? Finally, he felt sorrow, witnessing his dreams shatter before him. Things weren't supposed to go this way. This wasn't part of his plans. Where did it all go wrong?
His first instinct was to bring the hammer down on his son - corporal punishment. He lashed the squealing boy a few times with a whip. Every time the rope hit the boy's flesh, Garlin's heart ached. His wife pleaded that he stop, but Garlin's anger overpowered his reasoning. Near the twentieth hit, he started to question why he was assaulting his son this way. He remembered that his father used to do the same thing to him. Garlin's father was a bullock-cart driver who would help transport the villagers from the village to the nearby town. Whenever Garlin disappointed or disobeyed the man, his father would rush outside, pick up the bamboo stick used to corral the bovines and hit him with it.
Just like Garlin did with Furion, his own father had high hopes for Garlin. He wanted Garlin to become a scholar and find a firm foothold in the public sector. The jobs were stable, well-paying, and reputable. But Garlin wasn't a particularly studious boy. His mind worked differently - he learned by application. Contrarily, the schools emphasised rote memorisation and hypotheticals. So, he would regularly skip school and roam around town observing the goings-on in the markets.
Inevitably, Garlin would get caught by his father and would have to eat a fresh serving of bamboo lashings. But it didn't dissuade Garlin from resuming his behaviour. Because while Garlin knew why his father urged him so vehemently to pursue a path of betterment, he also recognised that the path set out for him wouldn't make him happy. Besides that, he also realised that the reason his father chose this path for him was the generous boost in status that was appended to the family of the government official. His father didn't want to be affiliated with his own profession as a bullock-cart driver, so he used Garlin as a tool to that end. Much like how Garlin used Furion to achieve his own dream.
The twenty-first lash did not fall on his son's marred back. Because at that instant, Garlin realised a key fact, which was that when a person is born, an invisible line is drawn that demarcates how far they can reach in life with their autonomy. This may refer to their social standing, economic position, or even their martial strength through cultivation. To reach beyond this limit, they will have to inevitably rely on another. Just like his father did and failed, with Garlin, and just like how Garlin did and failed, with Furion. It is impossible to force someone to assist them in crossing this line without incurring some serious repercussions. Garlin's father applied force excessively, and Garlin ended up running away in the middle of the night one day. As Garlin gazed at his son's tear-filled face and his wife's grieving frown, his grasp over the whip loosened. Going down this path would guarantee that his son would resent him for life. Garlin did not want that. If he ignored this and kept on pushing, either the boy would run away just like him or in the worst-case scenario, die. Garlin did not want that either.
At that instant, Garlin's mind was set.
'Am I satisfied with what I've achieved by myself?' Garlin asked himself. To that, the answer was obviously, 'Yes.'
He was rich, and his business model was self-sustaining and brought in a steady and substantial income. Did he need to take that extra step to solidify his social standing?
'Not really.'
Garlin released a sigh that took with it all of his ambition and drive. He'd achieved a sobering conclusion, 'There is nothing that I can do anymore.'
Garlin had reached the line and was ready to settle. He stopped nitpicking over his son, he stopped caring about what the boy did after that day. It wasn't because he despised the lad. Garlin was just disappointed. He realised that if he had approached the situation differently, he could have achieved a different result. Maybe if he was a bit more hands-on and stern with his son, the boy would have a sense of responsibility. Maybe if he took the boy along with him during business trips and ventures, the boy would become more intimate with the family's occupation. Maybe if he had moderated the boy's friendships and connections, the boy would have more experience socially. Maybe, maybe, maybe... There were a lot of them, each as viable as the other, each adding to his growing disappointment.
Life had reached a standstill for Garlin.
This was until his stationary cart was given an imperceptible impetus, by his son. Suddenly, the boy started to produce results. His coursework in the Academy improved, and so did his performance. Just recently, he was listed amongst the top 10 of his cohort with three of his friends who Garlin had written off as worthless.
It did nudge Garlin's depression away just a little, maybe even spark an ember of hope. It definitely got him curious to see what motivated such a change. If Garlin had learned anything in his career, it was that nothing good came for free. His son was acting differently, for which there had to be a motivating factor. More often than nought, the root cause for a youth's change was someone of the opposite sex. Surprisingly, it was not the case in this situation.
The cause for Furion's change in personality was the boy currently sitting before him, named Markus Reva. But what intrigued him more was the identity of the person sitting beside the boy, named Guy Larks.
This Guy's identity was a bit more obscure. All Garlin was aware of, or whatever he was able to unearth from his memories, was that he was a Teaching Apprentice. But the last thing he could remember was that the man was culled from his post as part of the regular process. Once that happened, both Markus and Guy disappeared. This information was obtained directly from Furion's mouth. And now, they've returned about a year later, having made significant advancements in their cultivation.
This discrepancy was setting off his innate instincts, which had turned dormant as of late. An opportunity had come knocking.
"It's nice to finally make your acquaintance, Mister Dune," Guy greeted with a smile. Garlin examined his posture and body language and determined that it wasn't a facade. Although it wasn't wholehearted, there was a degree of sincerity in that remark and that pleasant veneer.
Garlin returned the smile and said, "It's unfortunate that I know very little about Mage Larks. Although I am informed of Markus and his achievements."
"That's good enough. I haven't done anything to warrant such attention," Guy replied with a chuckle, "Not yet anyway."
"So, what can I help you with?"
Guy appreciated the no-nonsense attitude and went straight to the point, "Dune Caravan Management. I require the services of your company to help store, transport and deliver stock for my company."
"If that's the case, you could have applied directly through our managers," Garlin retorted casually.
"Because that would have missed you the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a business unlike any other," Guy responded with a mysterious flicker in his eyes.
"If it's a business unlike any other, what guarantee would I have that my investment would return a profit?" Garlin challenged.
"Touché," Guy admitted. "You must have heard a tonne of ideas that start like this from many upstarts looking to squeeze you of your money. But you see, I'm different."
"How so?" Garlin smirked back.
"Because I actually did the research," Guy declared as he dropped another copy of the business proposal with a dramatic flair. "You asked for guarantees? Well, Sir, I've done my due diligence and can declare with a high degree of certainty that you will not be disappointed with this investment opportunity."
Garlin furrowed his brows and pulled the proposal towards himself. Although Garlin and Karmin were similar, as they were both successful businessmen, there was a key detail that set them apart. Karmin, at heart, was a creator - his primary affiliation was as a blacksmith. Although he had a strong business sense and insight, in some cases where his creative instincts combated with the objective market trends, he would defer to his instincts. That wasn't the case with Garlin, as he was a capitalist through and through. He built a transportation company from scratch which now encompassed warehousing and storage as well, all using his business acumen which he cultivated through repeated failures and successes. Thus Garlin's nose followed the money, in all ten out of ten cases.
Therefore, compared to Karmin, he was quick to grasp the key details listed within the extensively documented report. No claim was left unsupported - there was a wide range of research and legwork put into this document which provided robust guarantees. Garlin's eye's sparkled as his finger drifted along the paper and turned the pages one after another. Within a stimulating half-hour, he had finished the report and his eyes darted over to Guy, with a reignited fire of passion burning within.
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