Elite 9 Meeting (Civ)

"Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to the handsome Luc and the mighty Garren" said Garren enthusiastically with a big smile while opening the door to my work room.

"What? Why am I only handsome but not also mighty?" asked Luc while he looked at Garren, wanting an explanation

I looked up from my table, laughing at my third and fourth seat bickering like some kids while they take their seat beside Ivy. Everyone is greeting everyone, asking about things and news, about what had been, what could have been and what should have been, because after all we do not hold this kind of meeting very often. After everyone is finished with their greetings and pleasantries, now then we can start the official elite 9 meeting.

"The elite 9 meeting, officially starts" I announced, signaling for the importance to my aides so that recordings and minute of meeting can be made for future references.

"Good, so the agenda I want to present toda-" said Connor suddenly but somehow, someone cut him straight when he was talking half-way

"Please report your lastest missions, progress, and damage including if any, casualty reports, starting from the 9th seat" said one of my aides, Fred, whom is well known for his wit and efficiency, as he deliberately cut Connor's sentences

"My last mission finished awhile ago, I was tasked to summoned several Cerberus to help with the battle in Luminaire. The citizen of Luminaire requested help from Arcadia when they noticed a nearby dungeon might break and we deemed that my summons are the best to deal with the monsters from the said break out. The damage and casualties might be better explained by Hestia as I received her help with the purification and healing of the area" the ninth seat summoner named Hao explained shortly.

"I was called in a bit later than Hao, so when I arrived it was pretty much a done job. I might be able to heal, but I can not resurrect. The casualties are about 60 people and the damaged land are restored and purified. The injured were treated quickly since Luminaires had expected the dungeon to break sooner or later. From what I gathered, it had showed signs of breaking long before and they did sent help requests to several towers but was ignored since Luminaire's nearest tower is Arcadia. They probably thought we would take care of it, and luckily we did" Hestia, who hold the eighth seat as Arcadia tower's strongest healer continued

"Luckily we did. Now that we have the Luminaire's gratitude, I am sure we could get some benefits from this. Maybe from the toll tarifs? or even from trades" Connor suddenly chimed in, as if he is really considering to maximize all these benefits not for himself, but for the good of the tower. If I had not known any better, I might have the believe he would. But from what I conclude, Connor has no ability to trigger a dungeon break, at least not yet, and will not do anything that does not benefit him.

"I have read the report, well done. Good job in making it on time and while I am definitely not very happy abut the dungeon break, I agree that we do benefit from this. Now that the resources from that dungeon ceased, at least for some time we could rely on trades with the Luminaires. I will leave the rest for you to handle, Fred" I said as I passed on the job onto Fred

"Yes, sir" He replied respectfully

"You can collaborate with Hao and Hestia, just make sure not to take up too much of their time. You can also appoint someone as emissary to help you to make some arrangement if needed" I add

"Thank you, Sir. I will do my best" said Fred, this time I can hear gratitude in His voice.

I then turned to Antoine- the seventh seat, a Monster Tamer whose body rival of those with the gift of beastification. Even with his muscle and peak physical body, he is somewhat lacking in mental and brain department. Which is why he is backed by Connor, the self-proclaimed mastermind. I would say they'd make a great team, the brain and body. If only the brain is not such a greedy bastard and the body is not so kind that he forgot to be smart.

"We were uh.. we were mapping Dolores' unexplored area. By we I mean me and uh… Connor, and the monster we tamed along the way. They helped with the pathfinding since they are the most familiar with it, right, Connor?" Antoine nervously reports as he forgot to mention his most crucial part.

"It that your mission? and did you managed to finish it?" ask John my aide from beside me, asking the for the point in reporting such thing in an elite 9 meeting.

"Oh yes, we were tasked by the research team for a full map, so me and Connor went with a few members of our team" Antoine answer back

"So can I expect the report of this so called mission on my desk by dawn?" I asked

"Oh, the uh.. I gave the report I wrote directly to the research department, but yes, I could ask them to return it to me and I can have it on your desk by dawn yes uh… Sir" Antoine adds.

I hum as I said okay. I can see Connor rolled his eyes, probably ready to plug all his hair out due to the frustration of how ridiculous Antoine sound.

"With all due respect sir, the report is not done. On our way mapping Dolores' unexplored area, we have accidentally found a new dungeon. By the size of the portal door, it seemed like a habitat of Giants, thus I would like to ask for permission to command an intelligence team for another exploration" said Connor the sixth seat eloquently. While you can see his frustration, he is still calm and rational despite his manic a few days ago saying this is time sensitive. His glib tongue might be one of his strong point, but it is his mind control mastery that is quite exceptional.

Luckily everyone above the sixth seat has a capable enough mentality as mind control will not work on someone who has higher mental force than the controller. It is especially true since our fifth seat, a dispeller named Gale proofed our theory by blocking and dispelling all skill towards us, including mind control.

"Why would you need permission for an intelligence team? Didn't you have your own intelligence team?" asked Gale

"It would be suicide to explore a new dungeon with only a team of 5 or so intelligence. We would need at least 20 of them for information gathering, and we need it fast" Connor replied


"What? you want to take the entire tower's worth of intelligence to explore a new dungeon?" Garren snaps

"It is necessary. If the other tower catch news about this and get a head start of it, we will be losing a lot" Connor insisted

"And if our whole worth of intelligence team is gone, we would not be losing a lot?" Luc asked mockingly this time

Ignoring their bickering, I glanced at Ivy who has a faint smile. Honestly, I would pay unimaginable amount of gold just to be able to see a glimpse of what is going on inside that pretty little head of hers. Her silver hair frame her small face as she tucked some loose hair behind her ear. Noticing my stare, she looked my way asking why am I looking at her. Hearing this, the whole table now turned to me as if waiting for my decision regarding Connor's request.

"I will have to listen to the opinion of the rest of the elite 9. I take that Luc and Garren will not be supporting the suggestion, but I have yet to hear any of your choice" I said finally

"I say we allow it. Not all 20 of of them, of course. Let's leave those poor souls who dedicated their life in the tower alone. I can provide 5 of my own intelligence plus I will throw in some poison and potion in the mix, so I think 10 should be enough?" said Ivy suddenly.

Everyone turned their heads towards Ivy, mine included. I wonder what plan is she cooking up this time, not that I will object anything she said. If she could make Connor's face distorted this much without sacrificing any of the tower's exclusive intelligence team, I will be very happy to oblige.

As soon as she said that, everyone is silent because they know it's a done deal. While not many can match Connor's wit and glib tongue within the elite 9, Luc and Ivy are well known to be extremely well versed in the tower's politics. Luc is smart but deadly quiet, and on the other hand, Ivy is cunning and extremely doted by me. So if asked who is the real power behind Arcadia Tower, the core members would probably know and speak the name of Ivy Steele. The only name I would not take offend if anyone said I am within her grasps. I will honestly be more than happy to put her on the first seat, but then I won't be able to protect her will I?