( Luke's POV )
It took Luke a good five minutes to calm down and organize his thoughts, as the bombshell that Cervantez dropped on him was too heavy to handle.
Thankfully, Luke had a strong mentality and adjusted to his new reality pretty fast, as if he were a weaker man who was easily stuck in the past, he would have suffered a total mental breakdown by now.
"So the aliens are just playing us?" Luke asked, as Cervantez scratched his chin and seemed to ponder about that question.
"Well, in a way yes- But in a way not anymore than how our own politicians play us…." Cervantez replied as he tried to articulate his answer better.
"We shall get better bodies…. Much better than this trash we have right now and we shall be able to perform abilities that seem humanly impossible.
So in a way we get superpowers, the kind that humans before us could only fantasize about, however, with those powers we also get dragged into a conflict that's not exactly ours.
The only false promise sold here is that of a fresh start on a new, green planet without any problems.
Only if you believed that your new life would be sunshine, rainbows and farming potatoes are you really in for a big reality check, as if one's expectations are reasonable then Terra Nova is a fair place.
According to my Intel, the planet we are heading to is a war-torn planet and the aliens helping us escape Earth represent one side of that war.
They send their scouts all across the universe with the purpose of bringing fresh fighters and laborers back to their home planet, however, they don't treat them any worse than how we treat immigrants in different countries.
Our top management knew the end-game of the aliens when they asked us to get on the ship knowing full well that we will be turned into fighting force, however, our top brass still accepted the proposal because the fact of the matter is that Earth won't survive another five years.
Our planet is dying and we were running out of options.
There is no simple answer as to whether or not what the aliens are doing is nefarious or not, but here's how I see it.
We get trained to fight through their game, giving us more than a fair shot to survive.
We get land, we get money, we get rights as their citizens.
Of Course what we get is based on how we perform in the game, but it's then a fruit of our own efforts.
So I say it's fair, rather than dying miserably on a dying planet, I'm more than willing to forge my future through combat on a new one" Cervantez said, as Luke let out a deep sigh.
Cervantez was one optimistic lad for sure and being around him made Luke feel more confident for some reason.
" I guess there's no point in me asking how you know so much, correct?" Luke said as Cervantez shrugged his shoulders and replied " Think of my ability as being able to see hidden information in the game. I know more than I should and plan to use it to my advantage-"
Cervantez was clear with his words and actions.
There was no hesitation in what he did and this sure-fire way of carrying himself was what instilled confidence in Luke to view him as a trustable leader who knew what he was doing.
" Ayy, then. You said 40% of your plan relies on me? What do you want from me-" Luke asked, turning serious now that he understood the real stakes of this world.
"One, you won't be able to share the information that you have learnt with anyone.
Most won't be able to handle it and even if they can, we are not saints.
I intend to exploit my information advantage as much as possible and the more clueless the common masses are, the better it is for us" Cervantez said without any shame as Luke nodded in understanding.
While noble men would think about the salvation of their species as a whole and along the lines of being a messiah if they had access to hidden information, Cervantez was a practical man who put his own self interests first.
" Two, for us to be in the position to influence our fates, we need to be strong.
I need to be strong and as my vice guildmaster, you also need to also be a cut above the rest.
The knight's academy is the perfect place for you to become as strong as you can and I expect you to absorb everything that you can there like a sponge.
Don't learn from skill scrolls and grind the training hall like a madman.
I don't care that you don't trust yourself to be special, that you're worried about your in-game identity being exposed.
In the grand scheme of things, none of that matters.
What does matter is that you improve, because someday your real life will depend on it" Cervantez said, as he revealed how many fucks he gave about Luke's self doubts.
" Three, we need you to get closer to the West Duke's son.
My plan is to occupy a territory within his land when the time is ripe, and your connection with him will be the key to it.
This event at the end of the year, the grand tournament, it's a fight I'll be participating in myself and if everything goes to plan, I'll be bringing atleast 5 guildmates with me.
We have to win that tournament anyhow if we want to establish a massive advantage for our guild, as the winner of that tournament will have one wish of theirs granted by the Emperor himself. " Cervantez said, as Luke could finally see his future goals becoming crystal clear.
" I say that 40% of the plan will be dependent on you because the connections you build at the academy will become the foundation of the NPC army we shall recruit to maintain our territory at later stages of the game.
Also when things get tough, it will be your connection with the Duke's son that will keep us in the loop regarding the most important developments in the game, giving us the advantage we need to come out on top in year two" Cervantez said, as Luke understood the full weight of responsibility on his shoulders.
" Your future guildmates will include one expert mage, one berserker, one tank, one archer, one tracker and one necromancer.
We already have Amanda as our blacksmith, and hope to recruit an inscription master as well, however, if everything goes to plan this will become our core guild team.
My biggest aim, it to recruit the number one player 'TheBoss', however, he's an elusive legend that seems to exist outside the loop as he's the only individual that I'm not confident of recruiting" Cervantez said
" Will we be okay with so few members?" Luke questioned as Cervantez nodded his head.
" We will have thousands of members, but this will be our core team.
But even amongst our core team, it's you and me who stand on-top as it will only be the two of us that understand the full picture" Cervantez said as he revealed the full plan he held for the guilds future to Luke.