The two of them walked through a double-door, leading to a meeting room like those in large companies, but with a lot more people than what he had initially expected. The room was large, and a long table was laid on its center. Around it, over a dozen people were seated neatly, only a pair of chairs at each head of the table empty. Around, there were two people accompanying each of the seated people, like bodyguards. Noah knew, those were all blessed, every single one of them.

  "I am sorry for our delay, however, this image will be our gift as a compensation," Marcel said entering the room and pointing his phone towards the wall behind the empty chair. Some people had made mentions to speak as the door opened, but were immediately shut down by him, and Noah could see who the internal enemies were from the subtle signs of anger and dissatisfaction in their smiles. And behind one such people with a clear opposition to him, stood a person Noah knew fairly well, Michael Khan. But their empty smiles and facades quickly came down, as the video footage of a local news station appeared on the tv.

  {We still don't know the circumstances behind the incident, other than the car seemed to have invaded the opposing lane, forcing the other car to make a daring maneuver and narrowly avoid a catastrophic front collision. Unfortunately, the car below lost control and lunged into the business below, injuring four people}

  Noah held himself from leaking a smile, as he saw the news broadcaster talk about his "feat" with such attention. Moreover, it seemed quite a few of the people around had recognized the wrecked car.

  "Wait! That car belongs to the—"

  "Hyu Family. Yes. After their utter defeat yesterday, and the financial losses from their aggressive bet, they tried to recoup the costs by targeting our people," the plump man is his fifties was interrupted by Marcel as he pulled his chair and sat on the head of the table, leaving Noah standing by his side. "The Khan Family is now in a position where we have the favor of the XXXX Family, and have proven to be a power to fear amongst the Nine Families. We have recovered our standing."

  Noah stared curiously at Marcel's odd behavior. His friend acted more like a salesman, telling a small story before throwing in his product in a way that would sell it best, and Noah wasn't quite fond of that, especially knowing he was that product in the first place.

  "And all that progress is all due to a single person, isn't that so?" a familiar voice asked from the opposite edge of the table, and Noah looked up surprisedly, to find the bearded warrior sitting there, accompanied by a hooded person, whom Noah recognized as being the scout, and another he had no idea who it was.

  "Precisely," Marcel's sales pitch gained momentum. "This person, alone, was responsible for our name appearing on headlines today and yesterday. Not once, not twice, but thrice! First, he wiped the floor with the Hyu Family, raising our family's name above what it was before the death of my father……" he paused for a second, as if bemoaning. "Secondly, he made headlines as the mysterious Khan Warrior who earned the largest individual price of the Arena in decades, making enough money to effectively boy a whole ten percent of our entire family in one fell swoop." He cleared his throat, taking a sip of the class on water in front of him, before resting himself against the chair, and pointing behind, where the TV was still showing the car crash, "And thidly, he managed to survive, unscathed, a pursuit from three cars from the Hyu Family, with a blown tire at high speed, and managed to lead one of the fuckers against a motherfucking wall!" Marcel punched the table angrily, panning his eyes over all people present.

  His hand trembling, he reached for his face, and covered his eyes, "And it's with a lot of anger and regret, that I announce that some of the people present here were involved in this attempted murder. Not just today, but also involved in money laundering, embezzlement, and the funding for the bribes involved in the hiring and utilization of B Rank Blessed in yesterday's arena, especially those of the Hyu Family. Although I am aware this incident caused more families to hire mercenaries, this is a disrespect to the family that cannot be erased." Noah wondered what exactly this meant for this meeting, since there wasn't much that could be done. "Those found guilty will thereby be…… executed," he said, in a low voice, making everyone wonder whether they heard it right. However, before they were sure, two people fell dead to the table, both with black needles pierced through their spine. "I hope this serves as a stern warning against betraying the family in the future." Marcel stood, looking down at the dead people sprawling on the table. "For the two positions that are now open among the elders, I have two names to appoint. Noah Stern, and Michael Khan. Does anyone on this table oppose the naming of these two people, knowing their feets and their creed" Marcel asked, but Noah realized this was, most likely, just for keepsake, and smothering down any embers heating up in the background.

  "I oppose the naming of Michael Khan," one of the men, whose face was easy to forget, rose his hand.

  "May I know your reasoning, Alferi Scoppo?" Marcel asked with a serious face. At this point, Noah was just thinking about who was responsible for those black needles, and how convenient that blessing would be. Especially since he had not even heard them use it. And beyond that, I knew the person responsible was inside this room.

  "You just condemned and executed his godfather, George Khan, for many crimes. How can we believe he is not involved in any of them?" the guy raised a solid counter argument against Michael's nomination, but three people raised their hands in unison, one of them, Noah.

  "I vouch for him,"

  "I put my word for him,"

  "I trust him,"

  The three voices, from two of the most respected individuals of the family, and the new guy they had no way to counter any argument in his favor, raised themselves at the same time as if it had been something arranged beforehand, but the three knew this was something they had no idea about, yet were happy it happened. The coincidence and weight of their words silenced any opposition, and with a snap of Marcel's fingers, four men entered the room to remove the dead people. The entire room was silent, as they watched Marcel play with his pen until they left the room, and the sound of two gunshots echoed.

  "You two, you may your seats around our table, but the one on the edge, that's for very specific invitees."

  Following Marcel's words, Michael and Noah took their seats, where the two others had been. "Now, to the actual meeting. Please check your Clan Phone Applications, some of you, whose finances were found to contain shady dealings and proven embezzlement funds will have received a notification on the amount that was deducted from your accounts and the reports. You may talk to me in person to try and recoup some of the fines, but don't expect me to be easy on you. Also, I seriously hope you do not attempt to betray the Family." Marcel's anger was almost tangible, and Noah wondered whether the two executions were just a way for him to ascertain his power. "The Khan Family has now officially gone through the restructuring process, and is now in a new phase. We will focus on Fortress Clearing and Blessed related activities, in particular, funding for Valorwatch tournaments and the sale of related merchandise and items for players and blessed alike. The Khan Family will slowly walk away from the other nine families economically, we need our own way to make money, else we'll be stuck in this city forever." While he was serious and calm, the contents of his words were daring and nerve wracking, in particular for Noah, who was a Valorwatch plater, and not exactly an unrecognizable face.

  "But before that, we need to reward some people. Let them in," he changed subjects, speaking towards the guards outside the room by yelling. With his words, the doors opened, and 8 people came in. Noah noticed a few people were missing, but it was likely the result of yesterday's fight. "You three, please move near them," Marcel spoke again, but the people he was talking to already knew. The scout, Michael, the Bearded Warrior and Noah walked towards the group, completing twelve people.

  "Those are the brave warriors who did not one, but two great feats for the Khan Family as a group. They defeated a C Rank Fortress which strangely had B Rank Bosses in it. Not only that, they are the people who won the Nine Families Arena. For those contributions, 5000 Contribution Points will be rewarded all of them, for their impressive results against all odds,"

  "Hey, are you okay?" While Marcel spoke the rewards, a small hand pulled Noah's sleeve.

  "Yeah, I'm well, did everything go well for you guys after I left?" he asked the healer who had called him out.

  "Yes, all thanks to you," she told him, letting go of his sleeve but still hovering her hand around, deciding whether to grab his hand. "I need to thank you for doing all that and talking to the people, they caught someone trying to meddle with my car and it could've been dangerous if they hadn't……"

  Noah sighed inwardly, knowing talking to her this closely right now could raise some eyebrows. "It's all okay. We can talk later and you apologize, but let's focus on Marcel's speech," Noah said, turning back towards the man's back.

  "—and likely are responsible for the increase in earnings from fortresses…… So I now declare them part of the Inner Circle of this family. And acknowledge their presence as one of the Elder Parties, since one in every five of their members is an elder of this Family"