บท 26: The executives meeting

The three of them stood in silence, their gazes locked in a silent exchange of understanding.

Ronald remained stoic, his expression showing nothing as Julius reached behind himself to retrieve a black shirt for Raian. It was a simple gesture, but one filled with significance.

Raian rose to his feet, brushing a hand across his face and removing some leftover sweat before striding forward to accept the shirt without hesitation. There was a sense of purpose in his quiet stride.

As he wore the black shirt, Raian felt a sense of camaraderie wash over him. It was a small gesture, but it meant the world to him, a reminder that he was not alone, renewed with newfound energy he left the training room leading Ronald and Julius.

Their steps synchronized as they made their way towards the upcoming meeting.

The upcoming meeting held immense importance, marking the culmination of months of preparation for significant changes.

Unexpectedly, a minor disruption of Raian's flaw threatened to undermine their carefully laid plans, akin to a crack in their solid foundation.

Whether they could fix it or not depends on this meeting.

Leaving the training room and opening the door facing it after a dozen steps, Raian entered the meeting room.

The room struck a balance between simplicity and shabbiness, featuring a clean, single-colored wall complemented by white ceilings. 14 chairs were arranged around a large rectangular table at the center 15 if you included the leader's char, illuminated by a single light overhead only when someone squints, they would see the small mishaps on them, the atmosphere of the room carried a palpable weight, setting a serious tone.

When Raian entered, followed by Julius and Ronald, every single executive in the room turned their heads, one man's head turned sharply with sudden killing intent.

Meeting their gazes and understanding the killing intent Raian inhaled softly as he spoke "All right let us start the meeting." An awakened was in the room and he greeted Raian with wariness.

Sitting at the head of the table as a leader, Raian asked for recent information about his territory and business in the upper district alongside their welfare help towards the weak while he read the documents explaining the numbers.

Time passes as Raian finishes reading the documents, pressing his glabella between his eyes cursing inside.

The numbers were good, and it was improving day by day. The restaurant followed by his bar generated much more revenue than he had expected.

Things were looking good on paper but that was only on paper the world didn't revolve around paper.

Letting out a sigh he placed the final document down, Raian turned towards the executives as they were still reading.

'Wonder how I should deliver the news, Jay would be furious as he is the one working the hardest, Claire probably won't care, Julius will be saddened, Ronald won't be happy, and Beth might start making a scene.'

Imagining the reaction of his executives, Raian let out another sigh.

Looking up, Raian saw Jay staring at him from the middle of the table.

Raising one eyebrow, Raian mentally communicated with Jay 'What?'

Jay silently coughed and guided his hand toward an unknown man sitting on his left.

'Oh' Raian looked at the guest; he was an awakened Raian agreed to buy memories from after he conquered his first nightmare.

With the help of his executives, Raian had chosen a sword and armor with decent attributes with matching price but if he could go back in time and meet his past self he would have warned him with a soft slap. He should have negotiated after getting the aspect, preparing for everything was just simply impossible.

But the past was in the past and there was no reason to mull over it anymore.

With a motion of his hand, he told Jay to stand down and wait a little bit.

"Ahem" after gathering everyone's attention "I have good news and bad news, …so?"

"Good news first," Julius answered.

"The good news is, the numbers have significantly improved, and the time and resources dedicated to the project have paid off big time, now not only our whole gang is improving, but you guys can spend more for your personal use as well."

"Now the bad news," spoke Ronald as he locked in.

"The bad news is quite a tricky one, you know how after I was infected with the nightmare spell the plan changed to me quickly becoming awakened and staying as one."

Ronald: "Yeah?"

"It has changed again, my chance of survival decreased."

Before Ronald could inquire more, one of the female executives sitting beside him stopped him with her hand sharply gazing toward Raian.

"How much?"

Raian awkwardly smiled. "From their beginnings, Humans and Nightmare creatures had massive differences, not counting the creatures who didn't use unique powers like mind manipulation or parasites, etc. The difference in strength, size, and durability outweigh humans many times over. "

Looking up Raian continued to explain, trying to soften the blow.

"Weapons and armor were the tools used to bridge that gap and support humans as they stood against those monsters, so my estimated number is" taking a pause.

"Around 60-80 percent."

The executives slammed the table simultaneously, almost breaking the table with their shock.

"What?" "How!!!" "Why?" "What the hell!!!"

The female executive asked sharply. "Reason NOW!!!"

His face contorted in panic "Beth calm down, I will get to it in a second."

Raian raised his right hand "When humans conquer their first nightmare they gain an aspect, it is not just an ability that augments the user, it's personally tailored for their user, some people gain simple flexible power useful for every situation while others gain a very specific power that is very powerful under some conditions."

"And mine is the prior."

"Isn't that good?" an unnamed executive asked from a distance.

"Well yes, most of the time simple yet flexible powers are often better, but aspects don't come alone, alongside great power Flaws arise with it, my aspect is pretty useful."

His raised hand clenched into a fist as the first glowed golden, Raian continued to explain.

"I can reinforce my body with my aspect making it overall stronger, before the meeting I did some tests, the equipment was not heavy enough so I couldn't find my exact limit but it's safe to say I have become at least 2-3 times stronger without my aspect."

"And the flaw?"

Raian's response dwindled into silence with each fading word. "Well, my flaw is the restriction of weapons and armor."

The room turned silent the executives instantly understood the weight of Raian's flaw.

They were veterans who grew up in the slums, the guest awakened was greatly shocked. He agreed to trade some memories as he owed them from a while back, but the mention of this sleeper's flaw shocked him greatly.

Feeling the weight, few did not care while other executives tried to think of a countermeasure to it.

Julius asked breaking the silence "Boss, can't you not enter the dream realm?"

"Unfortunately, not, staying as a sleeper is dangerous because they have not formed a stable connection between the real world and the dream world. They are also destined to be transported there on the day of the winter solstice. The exact location where they will appear can't be predicted in advance." The guest awakened and answered for Raian.

"Thanks for answering Awakened Bard, while I am afraid, I can't trade the weapons I am willing to trade for memory clothes if you have any," Raian asked.

"Garment-type memories while rarer than armor and weapons, there are few I currently possess, even if I didn't have it the academy would possibly give you some but don't hope for it.

"Great, it seems like we can still trade," answered Raian as he turned to the executives.

"Now now... enough with the silence, I can do it, I will conquer it and come back in one piece so have some faith will you." While he told them all it was mainly pointed towards Beth.

"Sorry boss," The executives apologized for doubting him in similar ways, but Beth refused to back down.

"It's a big deal, we all know how important weapons are, how are you going to do it, what is your plan?"

Cutting Beth abruptly Raian answered

"Beth calm down, I already have a plan, there are things called martial arts, even if it won't work out, I can receive help from the academy, I'm sure they have cases like mine between the cases of thousands."

Beth turned towards the awakened Bard to receive confirmation.

Awakened Bard coughed lightly "When I studied for 2 months in the academy, there were bare-handed classes and martial arts classes, even if there aren't many qualified awakened and few Ascended working will be of help, the academy is a bastion inside a bastion you will understand if you see it."

"See Beth, I will be fine," Raian said with confidence

Beth clutched her forehead as she sat back down. "Oh lord, he is so going to die."

Words of awakened Bard helped the group calm down even further.

Using the chance to lift the mood, Raian called for a makeshift banquet to begin.

While dining Raian continued to ease his subordinate friends by sparring, showing them his increased strength, he was finally able to calm down Beth.

Raian didn't want the women who practically raised him to be burdened when he was away.

Satisfied with his strength the executives mostly Beth gained some hope.

Raian could only shake his head at that, if they knew about the dream realm and its dangers their protest wouldn't have ended like this, but it was for the better this way.

Before they could leave for their duties the next morning Raian had some parting words. "This might be the last time we meet in 6 months to 2 years, every moment in the academy would improve my odds of survival, so I hope you all can fulfill and exceed my expectations and when I return, I will be expecting a surprise."

"Jay, Julius, Ronald keep doing what you want."

"Beth don't worry too much it will reflect on your skin I don't want to see a wrinkly hag when I return." Turning towards the other executives.

"Well for you guys, we aren't that close since you guys joined recently but our ideals match so whether you stay here or start your organization, I hope you keep this in mind, in the slums most of us don't see our parents ever. Let's change that shall we?"

Executives cheered as they left, Only Raian stayed with Jay and Julius.

Facing awakened Bard after that they re-negotiated their trade.

The previous trade was nulled but after a few sentences they reached an agreement

Raian traded his morning short sword for some leather pants and a robe.

While inexperienced with memories Raian knew the garment memories would come in handy. He wasn't planning on entering the dream realm bare-assed after all.

Now all he needed to do was enter the academy and go with the flow.