The Heavens Shall Fall

The Stone Ward Collective's personal meeting hall was carved directly into the mountain’s lower base, pretty much deeper than most outer disciples have ever gone or explored, as it was part of the massive mine complex that was running under the Hollow Song Sect. The air was always dry down here, with a stable temperature that never let the people guess whether it was winter or summer on the surface. Of course, the Stone Ward was not the first disciple-made association to work these mines; they were just the current ones in absolute power, inheriting and seizing the tunnels and their walls, reinforced with iron-braced beams, long before their appearance.

At the center of their main chamber, the association's leading council was holding its quarterly meeting at an early morning. There was a long granite table that they now surrounded, holding up so much CC that would make anyone salivate... but most of them were not for the Stone Ward's use. They may have been mining it, but it was the Hollow Song's property, and even if greedy, none of them were stupid enough to try and pocket it. Or... pocket it all, that is. The first half of their meeting was spent counting their monthly yield, after which all of the CC would be placed in the remaining boxes waiting in the mining shafts and then handed over to the Elders. Bren stood at the head of the table, his arms folded behind his back, as one of his core members read aloud their latest reports, bringing them to an end.

“Lastly, there is the last ten-day cycle yield from the eastern, B07 shaft: We mined fourteen thousand, eight hundred Ember Crystals. We also extracted sixty-three Flame-grade and two Sun-grade pieces.”

“Wrong,” Bren spoke up suddenly as the disciple froze, blinking his eyes in confusion.

“Pardon?”

“Fourteen thousand, seven hundred eighty-two Ember Crystals,” Bren corrected without looking at him. “One hundred and eighteen were reassigned to tool damage compensation as per our right.”

"Um..." The disciple swallowed and checked again. “…Yes.”

He wasn't informed of any damages, which, of course, would be something they could deduct, but... He wasn't in a position to ask, so he simply corrected the math and the logs, then stepped back and ended his report. It wasn't a big number anyway, so... it should be fine.

As he fell silent, another core member of the Stone Ward Collection had stepped forward, clearing his throat.

“Elder Faliah has sent word that he will arrive in two days to collect this quarter's yield.”

“Make sure that from today on, we rotate over to the next quarter, and all the new yields are documented properly." Bren acknowledged the news with a simple nod, looking over the people, and deep down, he was holding back a satisfied smile. Because it would mean two days' worth of... pure profit. "The sect receives what it demands, of course."

No matter how stoic or calm he looked outwardly, deep down, he felt himself to be on top of the world. Yes, they did not own the mines, and more than 90% of what they extracted was handed over, but even the ten percent of their yield was more than any mission would pay out. Not to mention that, since he took over and made the Stone Ward what it is today, every crystal that flowed through the outer disciples' hands, in some way, originated in or ended up in the Stone Ward's pockets in the future.

And after years of expanding, mining was only one of the businesses they pursued; the other was, of course, loaning their wealth to others... with proper interests. Unlike the Golden Scroll, they didn't deal with anything else but money. Owning a favor was, in Bren's eyes, less than owning a bag full of CC. The latter was needed for cultivation, while the former was just gambling on future prospects that might never bear fruit.

“Boss, here are yesterday's three requests for delayed credit,” one lieutenant reported, stepping up to him, “Two of them are affiliated with the Ember Circle, and you told me to pull them onto the top of our lists.”

"I expected them to be like this," Bren’s eyes shifted slightly over to the note as he took it from his subordinate, “Any specific reason they came up with why they can't pay?” He asked with a sarcastic smile on his face.

“Both of them claimed it's because of their injuries, from the stag-hunt.”

“Deny them.” He snorted, "Not only that, make sure that they raise the amount they owe us because of their delay. Their group just made the biggest haul in recent memory, and they can't pay? No. They will pay, and pay more than they owe; it's their price for thinking they can just pull away."

"Boss," The lieutenant hesitated. “That may push them toward others and... Not to mention, we are already on bad terms with them.”

“And?" Bren asked flatly, "There are no other options besides us. We have the contracts they signed, even if they are unhappy, the Sect's laws are on our side.”

That was the truth... No matter how anyone felt about what the Stone Ward was doing, it wasn't anything that would go against the rules. Some had tried to prove otherwise, but no matter what they pushed, they had not lasted for long enough to threaten his work. And... The best proof for that was exactly the next report, coming from another core member of the association.

“The Iron Pike group has finally dissolved this morning." One of the female members stated with a proud smile, "They exhausted their emergency funds, and with this, we can move in and claim their territory within the mines. I had received the news from our sources that their access was also revoked after they missed their sect quota once again.”

“Good job.” Bren nodded, also smiling, hearing that their cover sabotage finally borne fruit. "I told them to simply merge with us, or they will end up like the Silver Syndicate... Well, at least they lasted longer than they did, I will give them that.”

Shaking his head, Bren allowed himself a satisfied exhale, as he did enjoy crushing the smaller groups, bringing him closer to his goal. It was best if there was only one disciple group doing the same job, rather than having a dozen different ones. That was how he saw it since his arrival in the Hollow Song. Before he stepped up, it was nothing but chaos, driving ingredient prices to fluctuate wildly with how many disciple groups tried to work the mines, with no coordination... This way, at least, there would be a unified cost for everything, now that they would be the ones setting the price by supplying the market with their money, and through it, they could streamline the disciples' cultivation and advancement. It was all for the benefit of the Sect, and, seeing that nobody stopped him from establishing his monopoly since he began this adorous work, he felt that everything was justified by the Elders, too.

Maybe that was why, by now, most of their issues were coming from the outside, one of them being the 'Ember Circle problem.'

“Let's hear the reports of the Ember Circle." He said sternly, looking at his people gathering at the table.

“They processed the Icecrown Stag entirely,” the one who previously mentioned the two Ember Circle members, continued from where he had left off, “As you already said, Boss, we know that they had sold the antlers through their Inner Disciple channels. We tried to learn how much they got for it, but Cal'Fia handled it personally, and we couldn't find the exact amount. We only have the numbers for the materials they processed here, amongst our ranks.”

Bren reached out, taking the reports from his hands, running his eyes through the numbers, his previous smile quickly disappearing.

"Even without knowing the full share they got for the Antlers," He spoke up after reading it, "They could dodge us for a good amount of time, or even a year if they are smart enough. This is why I said that if they want to renege on their debts, we will squeeze them dry!" He snorted, shaking his head, "Run through the ledgers, find every Ember Circle member with whom we had dealings, and blacklist them all. I also want names for those who are on friendly terms with them, and we will make our people stop doing business with them. Make sure to pay our associates to botch their work on every beast they bring back, grade their resources lower than usual, and do everything we can to suppress the bastards."

“Speaking of names," his lieutenant continued, "We confirmed the source of the firebombs.”

"It was Siu," Bren said without looking at him, "But yes, thank you for your work, it is best if we know for sure than just rely on conjectures."

“Boss... Knowing that he sold them the bombs,” the lieutenant continued. “Without them, the stag would likely have escaped. We have to do something about it, because we can be sure now that he isn't joining us; more than that, he has a friend in the Ember Circle. His name is Tian, not to mention, he has a good rapport with Cal'Fia and Kae'Lin.”

"..." Bren said nothing for several long seconds before finally nodding, “You are right... We didn't take any real action, in case he would be pushed towards them or any other group, but yes, we can't ignore him anymore."

“Then, do we make a move now?” someone asked.

“Not directly,” Bren replied quickly, "Learn from Nue Toah's recklessness. The boy is good, we all know that, so we will find another method to force him into compliance. Contact the Golden Scroll, and buy all available information on him, from his morning routine, to how many times he goes pissing."

"Yes," they nodded and listened as their boss continued his speech.

"After we have enough data, raise any fees that we can when he interacts with our people. More than that, deny him access to most missions when he is looking for work.”

"By our observation, he usually speaks with the Twins." One of his men spoke up, making Bren cross his arms, holding his chin.

"Really? Hmm... They are not that different from me," He muttered, thinking, "They are profit-oriented, simply lazier than anyone else; they could have been inner disciples already, if they are not that focused on pursuing pleasure over progress. We can pay them well enough to cut ties with the boy, see to it!" With a wave of his hands, it was clear that the issue of Siu was now put away, as his focus was still more on the Ember Circle. "Even if he is then pushed towards the Ember Circle, by then we will have weakened them considerably.”

“Should we go with the usual options?”

“Yes," Bren agreed after a momentary pause, "Start with outbidding them on missions and make sure our people take most Sect-issued slips. The rest can choose from those that go through independents or us. For the second step, start purchasing the most used resources and begin reselling them at a higher price. I don't care if it's expensive, use our funds, it will come back to us anyway."

“What about rumors, Boss?”

“Spread whatever we have.” He nodded, looking over his people, "Including Siu and his beasts. We can use his attitude when he entered the Sect, when he kept refusing everyone and acting as if he were above us all. Also, let's add that the first hunt for the Icecrown may have failed because of his indecision. Make it spread that he shows himself to be more than he is, ending up with the fact that almost twelve disciples died in one hunt."

“Um, Boss..." his lieutenant spoke up again, "What... What if the inner disciples take interest in what is happening?” he asked cautiously. "We have rumors of them interacting with Siu..."

“They won't.” Bren shook his head, confident in it, "Even if they have interest, we are two different worlds, and that will not change. Just do it... There is too much chaos amongst the outer disciples, and without proper order, most of you will never make it. Don't forget our goals!"