Birth Of The Crafts-God

Everyone glanced at Mr Jermaine including Orvel and Helnord. Some of them were hoping for Mr Jermaine to stand on the opposite angle against Lucas and interfere in his plans. Although Me Jermaine was merely the fourth largest majority shareholder, he had a sway among the others, excluding Vienna and Lucas. That tallied up to thirty percent of the team's stocks, and even though it still couldn't rival Lucas', it was enough to have a serious discussion over the matter and overrule Lucas' superiority.

Orvel faced Mr Jermaine with hopeful eyes because apart from the team's company stocks, he has also been eyeing the official sponsorship position for a while. But because he knew that it would affect the interests of the other vestige-smiths in the team, which meant that Vienna would most likely not approve it, Orvel never let his intentions be known by others.

Mr Jermaine was a natural businessman and could tell what the others were thinking, but that wouldn't affect his judgement. Instead, he prioritised profits and connections.

"The official vestige-smith sponsor of the team? You should know what that entails." Mr Jermaine narrowed his eyes.

"I do, which is why I want to do it. I might not be able to sponsor the team financially, but I can do so with my knowledge, skills and technology. I don't even mind having some others learn from me." Lucas said.

This was what he was willing to offer for that position. When it came to vestige-smithing, apart from the Tier 1 Grandmasters, Lucas was confident that there was no one else better than him. Even the Tier 1 Grandmasters were lacking, but they only held the lead now because Lucas had yet to attain stellar refinement. Once he does so, he would become the number one vestige-smith in the entirety of Eretre.

Hence, it was understandable why Lucas was confident that the skills and knowledge he could offer to the team was worth more than any amount of money a regular sponsor would offer in the same position.

"It would be much better if we talk about this in great detail some other time." Mr Jermaine replied.

He didn't refuse Lucas, but he couldn't side with him right away, at least not until he considered the future prospects. One should know that as the Versoa team performed better in the tournament, the requirement of the official sponsor would become higher and higher if the team wanted to profit.

Lucas nodded, showing no sign of arguing his way into this. He also knew that his goal was something that would offend a few people, and while he didn't care, it would be best to settle it amicably for the moment. Only if there was no other option would he then bare his fangs.

The contest was officially over and everyone could return. Lucas handed the storage drive to Lerman for the rest of the vestige-smiths to peruse before he left. They were all surprised by both his magnanimity and composure. Despite beating a high rank Tier 1 Master vestige-smith as a human, Lucas didn't rub it in or mock Orvel because he saw no reason to. This somewhat insignificant decision had raised his status in the other vestige-smiths' hearts.

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In a private room located on the thirty-sixth floor of the residential building of the Versoa team, a secret meeting was underway.

"Damn it."

A chair was flung across the room, crashing into the wall and leaving a dent before breaking apart.

"That fucking bastard. Who does he think he is?" Orvel cursed as he punched the table in front of him, leaving a hole on it.

Jovä, who was also present in the room, slightly frowned but didn't say a word.

"No use complaining now. He already expected this and brought up the bet. You can only blame yourself for falling prey to his trap."

Another man present in the room, the head of the Simulation and testing department, Poch, glanced at Orvel.

"What do you mean? Are you implying this is all my fault?" Orvel grimaced at him.

"There's no use arguing about things." Jovä said before the matter took another turn.

"What we should focus on is how to ensure he doesn't succeed in getting the sponsorship rights. After that, we can think of a new way to get him out and take his shares."

As it turns out, there was a cabal within the Versoa team. This group consisted of three department heads, two of whom held vital positions in the Versoa team.

On the outside, it looked as if Orvel was the only one competing against Lucas, but he was actually secretly backed by these two department heads. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Orvel to hold an incredible sway over the team. Even if he was a high rank Tier 1 Master vestige-smith, he was only one man. If the other department heads gang up against him, it would be difficult for Orvel to dominate the team. But with the backing of two of five of the remaining department heads, he was able to stand his ground; especially since he held a more superior position among the department heads.

When Orvel made the bet with Lucas, one part was due to his pride but another was that the group felt it would be beneficial to them. They could seize Lucas' stocks and split it amongst themselves, gaining real control over the team and its businesses.

But that all failed, and now, they risked losing a potential source of profit.

"It's easy to say that but difficult to figure out." Poch said.

"Not necessarily." Jovä muttered mysteriously.

"Huh? You have any idea?" Orvel turned towards him with an inquisitive look on his face.

"A strike. If he decides to push for the sponsorship position, we can move our men to go on a strike. We'll threaten him with that. No matter how talented he is, it's impossible for one man to do the work of three different departments, especially in the middle of the league."

Orvel and Poch hesitated after Jovä's plan was unveiled.

"Wouldn't we offend Mrs Vienna this way?" Orvel said.

Only two people could make him look differently at them, but only one could truly make Orvel hesitate and that was Vienna.

Whether it was her mysterious background, the wealth she possessed or the little display of power she had shown, it made everyone in the Versoa team understand that Vienna was a force to be reckoned with in their power struggle. It was best that they tried not to offend her, otherwise their ending might not be the best.

"I don't think so. From what I've learnt, he only got the shares for saving her life and that's wall. They've ever interacted with each other or spoken length before, so there's no relationship between them. If he loses his shares due to mismanagement, we can't be held responsible for that." Jovä argued.

He then added,

"Also, I've done an extensive digging in his past. He's just a regular human with some talent. Although a bit of his past is still dark, it's unlikely to be anything incredible. If Mrs Vienna had to choose between the two sides, it's obvious which one she would pick. The worst case scenario would be that she'd stay neutral, but that's already good enough for us."

Listening to his argument, both Orvel and Poch became convinced and they agreed to the plan. As long as Lucas kept pushing for the official sponsorship rights, Jovä and Poch would have their departments threaten to go on strike. Orvel couldn't do this because according to the bet, he had to stay away from offending Lucas or going against him. However, as long as Jovä and Poch raised the issue of a strike, he could join along under the guise of 'upholding the interest of the team and its members'.