Agatha The Legendary Guild Master

Her words were really deep, and carried a lot of meaning. I just kept my silence, swallowed what I wanted to say, only glancing at her beautiful calm eyes.

"You should accept the truce, and you should focus more on building your strength, strengthening your guild, and adding more players to the mystic art society, instead of running here and there like a mad dog, unleashed without an owner!"

I knew she didn't mean to insult me, and I was already thinking about the same thing while I was coming here. "I know that, but I need to conquer that guild, so my enemy would be greatly delayed. I need that!" I added, with the calmest tone ever.

"You are still a child," she sighed, before returning her back to her seat, while waving her hands to the place we were sitting at, "look around you, is this a mansion of a conquerer? Or loser? How can you go and conquer other towns when your own can be conquered easily by any stray dogs passing by? Where is the garrison to secure here? can you guarantee that your players would secure this town while you are away?"

I swallowed my saliva, with the rest of the words I was preparing to say, and with it much of my pride. I had to be realistic, I wasn't fighting one person, ten people, I was fighting an organization, supported by very ancient, very powerful beings who managed to kill the ancient witch.

I had a lot on my shoulder, many things to handle, and I was really focused entirely over this hustle of the Trinity guild and its schemes.

"You have already stopped their schemes more than once, triumphed over the monster tide twice, conquered their town, smashed their players in the challenge, rescued the town from destruction and demotion, plus success in keeping your most important ally secured, was granted a guardian agent rank, saved your kingdom, had Trinity guild being expelled from here, and now you have an offer of truce with benefits that are really beneficial for you. Just accept the truce, and be humble and content with all you have achieved so far, as none of them is an easy feat."

I knew she was telling the truth, and despite the long list of my recent achievements, I didn't feel any pride of accomplishment at all. Instead, most of them I was only acting back, and only the invasion of here and the challenge I issued were the things of my doing.

I didn't need to be passive anymore, I wanted to be active, like my enemy. However, again, I was reminded by her words, warned by her eyes, and silently swallowed my words that I was about to argue her with.

She was right, I had a very weak base to depend upon, and my enemy just had a very mighty one. I needed first to secure my home, and make it invincible for others, so I could invade other territories with peace of mind.

"For the record, and for you just to feel more calm, that player you asked me to look for isn't anywhere to be found, and her guild isn't registered in any town at all. She just vanished, nowhere to be found, and her guild is only named on paper, with no actual existence anywhere on the real game."

"The guild isn't registered at any town? But she must have gone to some town's adventurer guild to register it, right?" I asked, as I couldn't believe this.

"Yes, she went to one town, and just hours ago she went back to the town adventurer guild, and asked to take all the guild documents with her. That means she is moving her guild, and right now no town in the game has the name of her guild yet."

Her remaining unspoken words were easy to ascertain, as this player must have been ordered to keep roaming the game, until this truce this would be decided between me and my enemies.

If an agreement was reached, then they would give her the signal to move towards any town and start her guild again there. if no agreement was reached, then they would keep her roaming like this, while amassing huge groups of players for her, and making her my always hidden, unpredictable threat.

I sighed, as even during defeat my enemy moves were really admirable and remarkable, always trying to corner me all the time.

"Do you think you are facing just a single mind?" Lady Nada suddenly asked, "you are naïve if you thought it like this, you are facing a large group of brilliant, very experienced minds of many nobles. While you are trying to squeeze your brain out for a single idea, they could easily amass a large number of already well prepared plans in a single brainstorming."

She then took a moment of pause, before seriously looking at me while adding:

"Don't fight the whole world alone, don't redo the same mistake of the old witch. You have the chance to rise up with many friends and supporters, don't lose them in the middle of searching for your strength. Eventually this path will lead to your failure and death, as it leads the witch to her failure and death."

Her words suddenly made me recall the recent challenge I was having, the choice I was forced to make, and I didn't make it according to the old witch's will. She was alone, acting all alone, sacrificing everyone for her own power, and as Lady Nada said, this path eventually ended with her fall, with no one there to stand for her.

I took a deep breath, a very long one, trying to clear my mind from any conflicting, revenge desire thoughts, as I then asked her, calmly:

"What should I do then?"

"You should lay low, focus everything on your own strength, don't be distracted by them, don't let them make you forget your most important and vital mission here," she paused, intentionally, as I was listening to her with my full attention. "What is it?" I asked.

"It's to revive the witch's legacy and be the new witch. A witch is an entity that won't be able to be threatened, above all. When reaching that goal, it doesn't matter who is your enemy, or what did he or she do to you in the past. When you are a witch, a real witch, nothing of this will matter, as you can simply annihilate any existence with a simple single word from you."

Her words were really remarkable, extraordinary again, as I couldn't refute her logic, or her claims. My mission was to revive the witch, and when I succeeded in doing so, no enemy would stand in my way anymore.

For the final victory, I had to work harder now, act wiser, and start to be the one to take the first move, not the second and third ones!

I glanced at her, and suddenly I realized how important it was to have such mentors in my life. I imagined that enemy of mine with many, much more mentors around him, advising him, warning him, planning things for him, and directing him to spots he couldn't notice before, and I finally realized why I was always on my back foot everytime I clashed with him.

I wasn't using my full potential, I was already fighting a losing war! It was really a miracle for me to act outside their expectations, gaining all the benefits I gained so far, and realizing that made me quite calmer, and more collected.

"Tell me then, what are these conditions and rewards for them?" I asked, as an indirect indicator for my approval on the truce terms.

"Good," Lady Nada just nodded, before she took out a scroll, unfolded it, and threw it to me as she added, "read the conditions yourself."

I caught the partly opened scroll in the air, and then I opened and started reading its content. The offer was simple, as the representative of the opposing forces of me, under the notorious name of the wolves, was proposing a peace treaty for one year inside the game, including all the game worlds.

The start had a lot of info, and some gains for me, as I could now develop my guild at other game worlds without any worry for one year. The rest of the treaty proposed that the empire would grant me with the title of an elder of the empire, which was one of the requirements for the runner to the throne.

The paper indicated this clearly, stating that this title is considered one of the hardest conditions for a runner to the throne to have. They also proposed to give me one million gold coins monthly for one year, plus the permission to recruit any player following the noble guilds and groups without any effects on his or her family and worlds.