Chapter 86 86 Macrae Family

Moreover, Barry wasn't someone who did business in such a deceitful manner especially when his future business partner didn't even demand anything too selfish or materialistic. He even slightly admired Bruce for protecting his sister so thoroughly.

"That is more than enough. I will hold you to your words then. BUT rest assured that if you and your family turn back on your words or even if you fail to keep this promise to me, my Luther family will not hesitate to fight till the last man to wipe out your family in order to send you all to accompany her. Take it as a threat or anyway you want. But this is my conviction; the resolve of a big brother who is willing to raze the world to the ground to protect his little sister." Bruce's voice was uncharacteristically calm as he delivered his final threat to the representative of one of the most powerful families of Elizabeth city. But the threats made their way into the heart of Barry who had given his words to him already.

Barry paused for a minute to reconsider whether he had made the correct decision. Only after he had reconsidered it twice did he nod in understanding of Bruce's words. It was the moment when the deal for the business cooperation of the two families got finalized. Both Barry and Bruce got their desired outcome so both parties were naturally satisfied.

Since his purpose was already fulfilled, Barry was about to get up and take his leave when something that short circuited his brain happened right in front of him.

The man who had been sitting on the wheelchair like a helpless cripple who could barely move around without help STOOD UP before him.

"Whaaaaaaaaat?"

Barry's jaw struck the ground and no sound came out of his mouth even though it was wide open in surprise. The man he had been treating like a cripple had stood up on his own two legs.

"BUT how can that be possible?" Barry thought to himself as he calculated the possible implications of this fact that had remained hidden from the world for who knows how long. If that was the case, Barry felt that he had truly underestimated the man in front of him. The man had the whole world fooled and yet no one knew about it at all.

From what he knew about Bruce, his feet had definitely been cut off due to some rape incident concocted by the usurping families back then and no matter how great the Luther family had become, they weren't at a level to get some S rank healer mage to regenerate Bruce's limbs. Barry couldn't understand how such a thing was possible.

Barry stared at Bruce who was looking at him with a smile on his face. As soon as Barry's gaze met his, Bruce winked triumphantly with an enigmatic smile covering half his face and left on his feet. Barry couldn't take his eyes off of the fading figure that had walked off from in front of him. There was nothing wrong with his gait. It was as if his feet had been perfectly regenerated and there wasn't a single defect left.

Barry couldn't come out of his daze for a long while. He felt as if he had been played by Bruce instead. This wasn't a feeling that he was very comfortable with considering that he was already quite proficient in business negotiations. And this time was the first in a long while that he had failed to properly get a read on the opposite party. He couldn't help but feel that Bruce was truly someone who had hidden himself too deep. Not only was his personal information botched but even his disability seemed to be a pretense. The fact that Bruce had revealed all of this after the negotiation was proof that he was sincere in keeping his end of the deal and a slap in Barry's face at the same time for not being able to figure it out until the end.

Barry vowed to figure out his truth in the future. But for now, he needed to get this information out before more mistakes were made. His father and his sister needed to be given the news regarding this dramatic change of events as soon as possible so that they can amend the evaluation of the Luther family. After all, it wasn't just the dark mage that needed to be kept an eye on in the Luther family but the family head as well.

…

Even though Elizabeth city was named after the Elizabeth family in the past, it didn't mean that they were the absolute top power in the city. It just meant that they were especially respected and privileged in the city for having been the greatest contributors towards the development of the city towards its current state.

Elizabeth family had long since steered away from the war for power. They had established their roots in business and now held the economic lifeline of the city and by virtue of that they were able to keep their position afloat amongst the top powers of Elizabeth city.

However, whenever the top family in the Elizabeth city was discussed anywhere, the name of the Macrae family stayed at the absolute top like it had been glued there for a long time. Absolutely no one had been able to threaten their position in Elizabeth city due to the difference in power.

However, the current leader of the Macrae family was especially notorious for making things go his way in any way possible. Calvin was a strong leader; there was absolutely no doubt about that. His strong grasp over leadership fundamentals, the way he treated his subordinates, his information network regarding the rivaling families and the social network he had received in inheritance from his father and the network he built up himself made him an inevitable force of nature for the other families. He was someone who never feared anyone from the bottom of his heart and moved forward with his schemes regardless of the consequences. He didn't believe that success could be achieved by doing the right things. Rather he believed in forging his way forward using any means necessary and made them into the right means.

Despite having been at the top of the city for a long time, Calvin hadn't grown prideful. He was still monitoring the emerging families with the help of his information network. To exploit any and all opportunities was his motto in life.

And when he didn't have any opportunities to exploit, he created those opportunities all in an attempt to expand his sphere of influence and create a myth of transcendence surrounding his family that no other family would dare to challenge in times to come.

It hadn't been very long when Calvin had received the news regarding a certain dark mage named Zach who had come out of nowhere and was helping the Luther family fight against the Sosis family. At first he hadn't paid much attention to it since there were too many families involved in underhanded activities for him to bother about them.

But today he received another piece of news that boggled him a bit. The fallen Luther family was not only able to make a comeback by relying on this dark mage but had eventually exterminated the entire Sosis family from the face of the city. Even the estate of the Sosis family was left to burn to a crisp as if in a show of power to the whole city.

But Calvin had very little interest in the dark mage himself or the Luther family that was just beginning to rise among the lower families. What made him pay attention to this information was the destruction of the Sosis family.

He was one of the vultures who were eyeing the Sosis family fortune following their demise.

Instead of making good relations with Zach and the Luther family like the other elite families of the city, Calvin wanted the Sosis family fortune that was ownerless after the demise of Frederick and Raisman rather than the friendship of some unknown dark mage with no or unknown backing.

The reason for this was mostly the elemental attribute that the Macrae family had inherited from birth; the light attribute.

Normal elemental magic like wind, fire and water was easy to come about in the world but special attributes like light, shadow and holy magic was very rare.

And with the light attribute came an inherent repulsion towards all the darkness which was the reason that Calvin didn't want to associate with Zach who was a dark mage well versed in the opposite attribute. Calvin was sure that they wouldn't be able to get along no matter what. Therefore, he didn't care about befriending him and put his utmost effort to suppress the Luther family instead.

Whether he wanted it or not, Calvin had made enemies with the Luther family as soon as he began to covet the timber business of the Sosis family. The forestry surrounding the Sosis family estate had long been the earning source of Sosis family. The timber produced by the forest was strongly suitable for making luxurious furniture and wooden art pieces which was quite in demand in the business market. But the fact that there was high demand but very low supply for the products made with this timber, helped market the products as luxuries which skyrocketed the rates for these products. The profit margin of the Sosis family was always on the rise due to that very reason.