Rising Against Fate

March 5, 3064

Wealth, power, and fame, in the past 13 years, Villous Grace acquired everything. He was a former military magician who rose up to the rank of colonel after displaying remarkable might in the battles.

After retirement, he started a tech company, and now in just 13 years, it became one of the biggest companies in the nation. This was all possible because of the superb planning and negotiation skills that he acquired during his military service.

For him, every minute was worth thousands. But oddly enough, today he was visiting Caelum district orphanage despite the tight schedule.

"Razak, there's someone here who wants to meet you. Can we come in?"

The lady staff at the orphanage asked after a knock. But despite her words and action, her eyes were fixed on the celebrity standing right next to her.

She herself was once a beauty who caught the eyes of most of the men around her. There were men who couldn't take their eyes off her alluring figure. But her beauty degraded over time, and now that she was a mother of two kids, men no longer had eyes for her.

Villous, who was already fed up with these looks of admiration, just ignored her. Even though he was in his late forties, he looked younger. This was because of the attention he paid to his fitness.

"Yes."

When she heard the response from inside, she slowly opened the door and both of them went inside the room. The boy was sitting at his study table, reading a book.

Even though most people preferred reading on screen, paper books weren't that uncommon. Considering the fact that many research showed the speed, accuracy, and comprehensiveness to be better in paper than on screen, some still preferred paper over screen.

It was a small room with a well-made bed, a study table, and a closet. Looking at the perfect condition of the room, it was hard to believe a kid in his teens was living there.

"Sir, he speaks very little so ask me any questions that you have."

"No, I was hoping that I would be able to talk to him a little more privately."

She looked a bit disappointed but she understood what he was trying to say.

"O-oh if it's like that then please excuse me. You can take your time."

"Thank you."

After hearing that, she nodded a little and got out of the room and closed the door.

After she left, Villous walked to the windows and looked outside. He could see some of the orphanage kids playing outside in the garden.

"It's a wonderful weather outside. Don't you feel like playing with others?"

"No."

Razak just kept on reading his book as he replied. He hadn't taken his eyes off the book even once. This made Villous a bit disappointed since his attempt to attract the boy's attention ended up in failure, but he didn't show it out.

"Is there anything you like?"

This was the most basic and one of the most important steps of negotiations. If you know what the other party wants, you could move to the next step.

When he saw Razak flip the page without saying a word, he understood that he won't be getting a reply.

"Or hate?"

"Fate. I hate fate."

Villous's eyes widened. Despite the childish voice, the heaviness those words carried made him realize that he wasn't dealing with a normal 13-year-old.

'I was fooled by that appearance and voice,' he thought.

If the child was just a normal child, he wouldn't have been here in the first place. But what he found was beyond his expectations.

"Looks like I don't need to beat around the bush with you. You say you hate fate, but I am here because you are one of the luckiest ones out there. Your potency with magic is probably the rarest find of the century."

Razak closed the book and looked towards him. Even though he didn't show it out, he was surprised by those words.

He remembered people calling him poor, unfortunate, or even miserable. But this was probably his first time hearing someone call him 'lucky'.

"The clans have access to the central database of MRS. And whenever they come across anyone with potential, they use their influence to bind them to themselves. So, our only option was to find those people before the data gets into the database."

"And what makes you different from them, Villous Grace, owner of Grace Corporation?"

Villous smiled when he heard that response. Hearing that from someone who was younger than his daughter, he couldn't help but smile.

"You know boy, I came here expecting to meet someone useful. But you are beyond what I expected. You ask what makes me different, right? It's simple. The clans, they will only try to use you, but I am here to offer you a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yes, I want to enter the world of politics. The current national assembly is made up of 108 clan heads and 7 people's representatives. I want to become one of those representatives and for that, I will need your help."

"My help?"

"Yes, you will need to rise up and become one of the top magicians of the younger generation by becoming my adopted son. And in return, I will do everything in my power to take you to those heights. You see, even fate bows down to strong."

"Alright, I will help you build up your influence until you become one of the people's representatives and in return, you will help me rise up."

"Perfect."

He was surprised when the boy agreed this easily. Usually, in this kind of negotiation, the other party wants some time to think before reaching an agreement. But this confidence made him even more satisfied. He was every bit of a person that Villous was looking for.

After the conversation, Razak slowly pushed his chair back and stood up.

On the surface, they were helping each other. But deep down both of them knew that they were only using each other.

"But let me warn you, you believe in people too much."

"Yes, but that's the risk I need to take as a businessman. The higher the risk, the higher the profit."

Razak just carried the book that he was reading and both of them walked out of the room. On their way out, Villous asked, "Don't you have anything else that you want to take with you?"

"No, there's nothing that I will need."