After everyone sat down, we could start talking.
~"I'll call you all by your names directly. I hope you don't mind."
Everyone aside from Umi nodded, only she lowered her head with red cheeks.
~"You already know me and Elysia, next to me in Astraea and Ningguang."
Two of them nodded in greeting.
~"I know that you still have some questions about this whole situation, so feel free to ask them."
-"Then allow me to start. You spoke about those 'quests' before. Do we have to participate in them, and what are the rewards?"-Kirari Momobami, who had the nickname First to Bet, spoke first.
~"While I won't force you, I advise you to strengthen yourself as this might prove useful. As for rewards, you will test the system we plan to implement for minor members of Hold in the future, earn points for service, and exchange it for techniques knowledge or special access."
-"Can you show us an example of those rewards?"-This time, it was Arisu Sakayanagi, aka Little Lyliac Girl, who spoke.
-"We prepared access to the Akasha System with the access rank of a normal Hold member. We will also teach you some techniques so you can get a grasp of the value of said rewards."
Ningguang explained some more details about what they can expect from the Hold.
-"Tsk. I can't feel any strength from you, yet you speak like that."-Accelerator showed why his nickname was Number One Tsundere.
-"You are indeed correct that I'm not a strong warrior, but not all strength comes from personal power."
-"Heh! All that matters is killing before you are killed. All that bullshit about other types of power is meaningless."
-"If you are alone, then you are correct, but when it comes to fractions and organizations, I dare to call myself one of the most powerful people."
-"How so?"
-"I'm in control of the economic aspect of the whole Hold. The whole world moves according to interests. How high a bounty placed on your head will have to be to attract even gods?"
-"..."
~"Don't mind him, Ningguang."
-"Excuse me... Miss Astraea, are you a goddess?"-The Princess of Destruction, Rias Gremory, asked a little daunted.
-"I indeed am a goddess. Have you ever met other gods?"
-"I did, but few of them could compare to Miss Astraea's aura."
-"For gods such as I, most of the power comes from age, so those who you had met might be young compared to me."
-"I heard that youngest of gods had lived for ten thousand years, while older might be even double that."
-"Then they are indeed young."
~"Right, Ouranos, who is one of the older gods on your side, had lived for hundreds of millions of years."
This visibly shocked those present, as they still had limited perspective on the power in existence.
-"Can we truly become strong?"-Spoke Umi Sonoda, the Lily White Lyricist.-"I mean, I'm just a normal high school student..."
~"I can assure you that no one who was picked by the Chat Group is normal. You might doubt it now, but many among Hold members were, as you called it, 'normal' people, and now some of them are true immortals."
-"Can we also do the same?"
~"It only depends if you want to use this chance to improve."
-"Right, let's end this nothing talk and start with the main subject."-Interrupted Tsunade, one and only Drunken Medic.
~"Sure, first I will teach you some basics of Cultivation, and after you have a solid foundation, we will move to more personalized abilities."
I taught everyone how to Cultivate, and soon, all of them were sitting in deep meditation.
While they were at it, the four of us watched them while talking about some work matters.
-"Nobu is almost done with the Hell, clearing the last nests here and there."
~"Until the passage between the world is fully opened, we will focus all forces on training."
-"Yue, we have to start putting greater importance on the government and financial part of the Hold. Our economy is stagnant. Around two-thirds of the total capital of worlds under our control is in Hold's hands. We have to invest and kick-start the flow of assets, or we risk an economic downturn."
-"Ningguang is right. For now, Hold is purely militaristic in nature. We have to change it."
~"I know, but this is beyond my expertise. Do you have an idea how to start everything?"
-"There are three ways we can go. The first is to simply implement capitalistic ideas into our market, but that would remove power from our hands. The second is to become part of a healthy market, but that also makes us vulnerable. Last is to take over some markets."
~"I don't mind allowing capitalism, but certainly not in the Realm of Hold. Our vassals are free to implement them."
-"That won't be enough. Right now, the only vassals we have are the Terra, Nobu's Japan, Ionia, Soul Society, and Elyia's world. Even if we are to count some planets from your birth world and Orario, none of them fits our needs."
-"Terra and Elysia's world are in the process of reconstruction while the rest are too backward or too small to kick-start our economy."-Suplemented Ningguang.
~"What do you propose then?"
-"Bring some modern mortal worlds into our influence, establish ourselves with advanced technology and mystical capabilities as their overlords, and absorb their markets."
~"War will destroy their economic output, so you have to have a solid plan on how to achieve that."
-"We do. We will do so by using our technology to establish ourselves economically inside there and manipulate governments to prepare for absorption. At the same time, we will spread our religion inside with mystical powers for our believers and slowly make the population convinced of the coming of gods to lead their way."
~"This will take years."
-"Yes, between five to ten years, according to our plan."
~"I thought it would take longer."
-"It would, but we have an ace in our sleeve. A false flag attack."
~"You want Hold to become a savior?"
-"Yes. We thought of creating some plague or calamity that would not impact the economy as much but would threaten the world. That way, our position in the hearts of the people would be as guardians, not conquerors."
~"I see. We can do so. If I were to prepare some formations beforehand, I could revive millions or even billions of mortals. This would for sure fit our needs."
-"That way, we can even shorten the time needed by our plan."
~"Then please prepare everything. After da Vinci is done with current matters, ask her to seek some mortal world to start."
-"We calculated that five mortal world size of Terra would be enough to create a market rivaling IPC economic power. The flow of people would also give us more talents."
~"If that solves the economic side of the matters, what about governing one?"
-"We need to hold a court at least quarterly with all vassals present, and in addition, we have to finally complete the founding of those cities. More so, we have to revise some of the laws and power structures as the amount of work starts to overwhelm people working for Duty."
~"True. Right now, I operate a total of seven puppets to deal with documents and other daily duties that don't require me to represent Hold."
-"We need to recruit people for positions that, until now, Duty has taken care of. Even in the Hold, I don't have enough people to efficiently take care of the matters."
~"I think we need to have another general meeting."
-"I'm for it."
-"Me also."
~"Next week, we will gather and discuss all matters that need more detailed addressing. Now, they are about to finish, so let's stop for now."
Getting up, I canceled the protection that isolated sound inside from outside and walked to where others were still meditating.
~"How do you feel after starting on the path to immortality?"
-"To think I can become even faster."-Spoke a Yellow Cthulhu called Korosensei.-"Right, can you make it so I won't explode after a year, Yue?"
~"You don't have to worry. I stabilized your physique while you were meditating. On the subject, Shinobu, I can also heal your body, but I think that studying poison Cultivation techniques could be more beneficial to your power, so I stopped myself."
-"Thank you for your thoughts, but I will continue studying poisons."-Spoke Poisonous Butterfly Shinobu Kocho.
-"Nice! I will no longer have to waste time sleeping, truly the most useful of the powers. I will have to teach this to my sister later."
This outburst from Sora, the King of NEETs, reminded me of an important matter.
~"Right. While you are free to share the basics of the things you learned, more advanced techniques will require a vow not to share them. Be mindful of that."
-"It is already generous to share such a powerful ability as this. I will certainly bring this to the attention of Ancient One."-Words of Not The Doctor, Stephen Strange, expressed thoughts of most of them.
~"Feel free. Now, let's start with personalized training. First, Vladilena, your strong points are commanding and data analysis. As you are on the Path of Preservation, I suggest you learn golemancy and defensive techniques."
-"Please instruct me!"-Responded nervous Handler One, Vladilena Milizé.
~"Next, Korosensei, your speed is powerful, but you lack strength and defense. As Elation can easily manipulate senses, you should try learning illusions, but also don't forget to try some martial arts focused on that."
-"Sure."
~"Sora, as a person on the Path of Enigmata, your greatest power would be to make the enemy unsure of what is true. While Illusions are a great start, you should focus on manipulating the enemy directly. We have some techniques that bend reality. You should check them out."
He nodded in agreement.
~"Aletia, you need to learn more about your inborn power. I will ask Arcueid to instruct you later."
-"Yes."
~"Kirari, your strength lies in Order and control. Sealing techniques, formations, and other abilities focused on making enemies play on your rules would be best suited. Aside from that, don't forget to learn some martial art or weapon style."
-"Certainly, making others act as I wish sounds delightful."
~"Shinobu, as I already told you, training in poisonous techniques is an obvious path for you, but as a person on the Path of Hunt, you should also polish your sword art. Try speaking with Tsunade later, as your breathing styles are the basics of using chakra, so you might learn a lot from her."
Shinobu nodded and looked at Tsunade, who also nodded.
~"Rias, you are too skewed to the magic side. Pick up some direct fighting methods to learn. While perfecting your power of Destruction is not bad, try some aggressive sword or spear styles to support it."
-"I will try."
~"Arisu, your Path is Erudition, and while I still strongly advise you to pick some direct fighting method in the future, for now, you should try to learn as much about technology and mystical arts as you can. Find something that you wish to pursue. And I also healed your heart condition."
-"Thank you, Yue."
~"Tsunade, you need to either pursue greater heights of internal power and chakra or focus on the body. Abundance can help you in both, but take one step at a time."
-"I'll think before deciding."
~"Umi, I know you are afraid of battle, so for now, try to learn supporting techniques, as those are the strong points of the Path of Harmony. Aside from that, your archery is also not a bad avenue to train in."
-"Yes, Sir Yue."
~"Accelerator, you are too weak physically. Train some sword art, especially the flying sword styles that could fit your existing skill set. Aside from that, you need to understand more of mystical powers to utilize your power."
-"You don't have to tell me that."
~"Lastly, Stephen, you also should learn some weapon art, but aside from that, learn some runes to strengthen your power. You are almost strong enough to comprehend basic Soul Language, so I will advise you to look into that."
-"Soul Language? I will certainly look into it."
~"I already gave you access to the Akasha System to relevant information and basic techniques that I advised you about. I will not take away your ability to teleport here and train, but I might not be free to help you."
-"I wanted to ask you for something. Can you show us some strong people in Hold so that we can understand the difference in power?"-Asked Arisu.
~"Sure. Stephen, Accelerator, Tsunade, Rias, Aletia, Shinobu, and Korosensei want to try your hand?"
After a short hesitation, they agreed, so I prepared the arena for the fight.
~"Maiev, pick two Shadows to fight them."
The next moment, Maiev and two Shadow Guards appeared next to me. This surprised members of the Chat Group, as they were unaware of Shadows being nearby.
Two Shadows knelt before me while Maiev saluted.
-"Your Majesty."
~"I want you two to show the strength of Wardens."
-"Yes!"
Two of them took out their Umbra Crescents and entered the arena, where seven members of the Chat Group were already waiting. As there was no need for preparations, I signaled for the start right after the Shadows entered.
Korosensei was first to rush at the Shadows, but before he could reach them, he found that the whole area became covered in darkness while two Shadows disappeared from view.
Stephen and Rias tried to restrain the approaching darkness but were unsuccessful. Suddenly, a clash of iron sounded. Tsunade reflected glaive flying their direction.
Despite their cooperation being lackluster, seven of them quickly formed a defensive circle with two mages in the middle and tried to catch Shadows during their attacks. While not a bad idea, they couldn't compare to experienced Elves.
Two Shadows quickly started to exploit weak points in their formation, keeping them occupied with the defense, unable to react when darkness suddenly surged and enveloped them. This spelled the end of the battle.
I quickly released them from the seal and healed any wounds they had incurred.
~"How do you feel?"
-"We couldn't do anything."
Rias summed up what had happened.
~"All my Shadow Guards are Wardens who are one of the strongest Elven warriors, so don't feel down."
-"How do they compare to the strongest people?"
~"They can fight with weaker members of Hold, but they would be at a disadvantage."
-"I see..."
~"Just take one step at a time."
-"Everyone! Let's eat now! You must be hungry after the training."
Everyone agreed with Elysia's words and once again sat around the table. We continued to talk while eating, but as they had already spent a few hours here, they needed to return to their responsibilities, so after a quick meal, they returned to their worlds.