Richard also noticed the warframes and realized that it is best that they don't stay there for a longer duration. He understood the restrictions of the alliance and the affair of the underworld quite well. If the owners of that place think that Robert was investigating them, they wouldn't think twice of putting a bounty on his head. So, he hurriedly took them out and called for Salazar to get his shuttle to pick them up.
"Hi! Salazar," greeted Balthazar. "Were you monitoring us from the sky all this time?"
"Of course, we don't know much about this planet. It would be stupid to let you two kids explore the place with proper supervision. By the way, you guys did far better than I expected. I guess you cleared the trial," replied Salazar.
"Do you know why they changed the location of the trial suddenly?" asked Balthazar in a whisper after he came closer to Salazar.
"It was nothing. Actually, the elder council was responsible for this change. It had nothing to do with other movements of the table of Ouroboros. The only thing that they had added was me and Lucius as your security," answered Salazar frankly.
"Come on, tell me the truth," persisted Balthazar as he found it hard to believe.
"Really! This was apparently prepared yesterday, even before the incident happened. Lucius and I are here due to the incident. We have no clue about what happened. Only Winston and other guys at the top have been informed of the truth. The rest are all just following instructions given to them. With the betrayal of Max, they are being very cautious about leak of information," explained Salazar as he drove the shuttle back to the main ship.
Once, they got onto the ship, they quickly changed out of their combat suits and decided to have a bath and a meal. After a meal, they were called to meet the evaluators along with Lucius and Richard to be informed of their performance. The three of them had already had a brief look at the recordings from Lucius and Richard. Only one of the evaluators remained while the other two left.
"Hello, my name is Harek. I am the chief evaluator of your trial," said the old evaluator with his hands behind his back.
"Hello, Mr Harek"
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Harek."
"We have gone through the tapes provided by your guardians already and have decent idea of the things that you went through this trial. Let me begin by informing you that this trial is not only a new experience for you but also for us. It is quite different from the usual trials undergone by the members of the family when they come of age. So, we had reduced the functionality of your suits, so that you won't get too far ahead."
"So, the suits aren't latest ones as we were told?" asked Robert in surprise.
"Well. They are made from the latest technical advances. They are sturdier than others, but as you later realized in the trial, we have restricted the tech support. Usually the combat suits made for exploratory purposes have much more features and with all the features of your suit enabled, you wouldn't need the help of your guardians to enter the smuggler's cache," explained Harek.
"We could have done better and gotten better grades if you hadn't restricted us," grumbled Robert as he began to think that the elder council had intentionally done this to hamper their performance in the trial.
"Haha, you probably think that we were dispatched here mainly due to some elders in the council who are against you, right? Even a majority can't change the usual trial without a good reason. The advances in tech and the recent war efforts have changed a lot of things and there have been talks of improving the nature of the trial to realize the shortcomings of the participants better and help improve them. The change in venue wasn't objected by the patriarch for the same reason and he had used this to implement his own plans to change the trial patterns," explained Harek.
"So, there was no intentional "
"None whatsoever, Master Robert. The three of us are known to be very strict but that is all there is to it. We don't let politics influence our decisions. It is a matter of our reputation and responsibility. Please, stop suggesting that. It is beneath us," said Harek in a serious tone.
He went back to the table took a few sheets of paper and walked to them. Having a look at these sheets one could easily see that the three evaluators were actually trying to create a new system of trials for the younger generation.
"The pair of you have managed to successfully finish your trial. Young masters, Balthazar and Robert are to be considered as adults by the elder council from now on. This trial is different from the previous ones due to unexpected circumstances. So, we will need further ponder over your performance to properly grade it. We also decided to suggest some training and learning work to the participants of the trial based on the things that we had observed today and also to increase the difficulty of the trial and put it in stages to better realize the potential of the other participants after this. So, even though you have been cleared we will need to create a proper structure and intend to grade you based on it," said the evaluator.
"If you want a grade immediately, we can provide you a temporary one right now for the purpose of the competition for elders. Young master, Robert, you have shown quite a good amount of knowledge of the nature and various species as expected of you but are inefficient in using this knowledge for practical purposes. We recommend you have some experience and training to compensate for that. Based on the previous grades that we have given to other young men of the family, you can be considered above average and I am willing to recommend you for position of elder if you take care to learn the things you lack. I will provide you a list of items for that," said Harek.
"Mr. Balthazar. You have been quite cautious and seem to have experienced some similar situations before this. That makes your performance much better than the others," he started. Even if Harek didn't specifically point to Robert, it was clear to all that Balthazar's evaluation was better than Robert's as he was the only other participant of the trial.
"You have good capabilities in being a leader, basic understanding of few groups and security constraints involved, decent physical skills for someone your age, but could still get to know more if you wish to pursue a life similar to that of Walter, probably learn to get through obstacles without use of technology so much. Sometimes the technology which you depend on so much might fail badly," he said looking at the sheet in front of him.
"Nevertheless, you are among the best of all young men and women that I have evaluated in my life. Frankly, I think we need a better trial to get to know your limitations and probably need to conduct these trials in stages separated by some time," he continued. "You are being given the topmost grade of having surpassed our best expectations for the present youth. I would recommend you take the post of the elder that has recently freed up, if not for the fact that you have a successful career in the armed forces."
He put the papers in his pocket. "That is all that I am willing to inform you now. You will be given your proper evaluations along with your pitfalls and strengths and suggested methods to improve yourselves in a few days. We plan to create the new system proper and then include your results in the manner so that the new system will not be delayed. I hope you are fine with it?" asked Harek to which the pair nodded as they didn't really care much about it at that time.
Done with the trial, the pair of them were much more relaxed as they had successfully made the first step in getting a proper say in the works of the elder council. Robert considered it important for getting power in the family and Balthazar wanted to have a source of information in as many places as possible. He already started thinking about contacting the underworld acquaintances that he had in his past life as he they walked back to their room.
"I am glad that it all went well. With him having already mention that I passed with a performance better than the average, the first step towards a seat at the elder council is successfully taken," said Robert as he lay down on a sofa. "I will contact Elias about the progress of the other thing. I was informed by Richard about your deal with Elias when you were bathing. I will keep a close eye on it from now on."
"Thanks, that would be very helpful," said Balthazar. It would be better for him if his cousin took some of those responsibilities from him. He didn't want to completely trust Elias with it, and he believed that it would be better if Robert participates in it and gets a decent understanding of the usage of warframes too. With the war with the apes which he knew was only going to intensify, it is best if his cousin knew how to use some tools of war. He didn't have much trouble with his sister as she is already researching on warframes and she would probably know to use it enough to at least escape an attack using it.
"Fine, you keep an eye on that. Also, do you know how to operate a warframe?"
"I am surgeon at Asklepian. So, no," replied Robert.
"Well, it is not necessary, but it is good to get a good handle on the basics. It is an extra skill that will definitely be useful if you have your own territory later as an elder," suggested Balthazar as he put on the somnium headgear. He couldn't do much about other things, but he could play the game while on the ship.
He found himself in the White Heart City. He quickly contacted Rudra and the other for the latest information in the game. He came to know that the team of Blazing fury managed to get the first clear for the hell mode of the Bungar's Keep without him. It was a good thing for the team. A team can't have a sense of dependency on a single person for it to flourish and such a feeling would arise, if the team would only get achievements when led by the single person. It is fine if he was going to allocate all his time for the game, but that wasn't possible either.
Apart from that, a good amount of the players had now reached level 15 and the top few are already at level 16 including Merlin and few others from his team. As expected, he was losing his level advantage and he needed to do something quick if he intended to maintain that advantage.
He came to know that Merlin's group managed to get another dark gold forging design for the first clear of the hell mode but was also informed that they have already sold the designs through the Crimson Realm shop auction already. So, he headed to the shop to see if he can get anything from the shop or even Hammer so that he could use it get experience faster. Trade profession players find it hard to increase levels in the game, but Balthazar had the experience of his past life which made it much easier to gain experience and increase levels through forging and engineering.
"Hi Bel," greeted Lizzie as he got into the Crimson Realm Store.
"Hi Lizzie," responded Balthazar. "Where are Slaine and others? I am unable to contact them."
"Oh! You haven't heard. Rudra and Slaine were talking with their previous employer. He is claiming the ownership of Crimson Realm name and called for a meeting with them," said Lizzie.
"Jack?! Didn't he already agree to leave you guys alone. What is his problem?" he thought out aloud.
"Yes, we did make the severance pay and Rudra was always the guild leader in other games, but Jack is claiming ownership of the guild as he had been providing all the monetary support and funds for the team. He brought lawyers and stuff. Rudra also called someone from his family to help with it and they are having a virtual meet," said Lizzie.
"You know the details of the meeting?" he asked her.
"Yes, I was also sent the invite, but Rudra insisted that he and Slaine along with his lawyers are enough to represent the guild. They are frequently on some quest or something, but I am always at the shop. So, they didn't want to let him use my absence to spread any kind of rumors or gossip about the guild losing its name. That would be a big mark against the reputation," explained Lizzie as she forwarded him the mail invite to the meeting.
"Ok! Let me go talk. I don't understand how that idiot thought of only talking to Rudra and others behind my back when I am the majority shareholder having 50% of the shares," said Balthazar with a creepy smile as he logged out of the game to get into the virtual meeting.