Chapter 86 - A new problem

"I will be there in time," agreed Balthazar as he logged out of the game. Once, out of the game, he immediately ordered three somnium headsets from the V.R. website of the Metis Technologies. One was for him, the other two for Lucius and Salazar.

He needs a somnium headset for the days when he would be travelling. He can't keep moving the pod into a ship whenever he needed to travel. The headset was easily portable and that is the reason many people who could also afford to buy a pod, preferred a headset.

"Salazar, I might end up being busy in the coming days and unable to have time to join you guys in the gymnasium for our lessons. Though, you are a tough instructor and I get beaten up most of the time, training under you has been very useful to me. So, I am gifting you these helmets, so that we could continue our weapons training on the days, when I am not on Asklepian. Hope you can agree to this request of mine," wrote Balthazar on a mail to be sent to Salazar along with the helmet.

He did the same thing for Lucius. Though, Lucius' training focused on improvement of his body and good control over it by causing severe stress on his physique, this training also helped him improve his techniques.

Lucius wasn't involved in any research and from what he learned from Robert and Bolena, he was retired and an extreme fighting enthusiast. He was exactly the kind of person that vita-nova and somnium technology would appeal to the most. Balthazar was sure that once Lucius started using the tech and played the game, he would soon get addicted to it. He would be training him and when he is not, he could also have a job or a hobby he could spend time in. Vita-nova in his previous life had also attracted a lot of old successful people, who were bored and needed a way to pass time.

Once, he was done ordering the helmets, he got out of the pod and went for dinner. Even though he could get the required nutrients from the nutrient fluids, it was always considered best to use the natural biological way to feed as one needs to have their body acquainted to food from natural sources. Due to his experience in military, Balthazar had always been prepared for using food sources available in the form of natural vegetation. So, unlike many others in the core region who got used to depending on the nutrient fluids, he always preferred to consume his dietary needs in the solid form to keep his digestive system in good shape. Any organ without use would atrophy and that was the same for digestive organs and he, a military man whose job was to conquer and even explore new places occasionally couldn't afford that.

He also saw that he received a few mails from Robert and Winston. The mail from Robert just an invite to meet him at his room after dinner. He apparently wanted to discuss about the challenges they were going to face in detail and prepare for them. Winston just dropped in a mail to remind him that he makes the best use of the opportunity he was given today and contact him if he needed anything.

Balthazar replied to Robert immediately that he was now going for dinner and he would come to his room after it. He went to dinner and saw that Robert was also in the dining hall. He joined Robert and after dinner they went back to Robert's room.

"I already told you about the strategic tests and fight between individual representatives, right?" asked Robert.

"Ya, we just talked about it today. You already confused. Stay focused, dude."

"Yes, I remember talking to you about it, but I might have overlooked something small which might require a bit more participation from you," said Robert.

"What is it?" asked Balthazar in a serious tone. He knew from experience that Robert being this fl.u.s.tered implied that his cousin considered the issue to be a serious one but is deliberately trying to play down the issue so that he wouldn't get tensed or frightened. But the Balthazar in his second life hardly fears the things that his cousin might consider to be dangerous or harmful. He just wanted his cousin to be open and frank about it.

"Well it is like this. I told you that you have a good reputation as a commander. Your efforts have left a good impression and hardly anyone in the elder council or other would disagree. Even our excursion to the planet DG-105 is more of a formality. I already consulted with a few elders who support us and they all agree that no one who cares about their face or post would say anything else."

"OK. That kind of makes thing much more simpler doesn't it?"

"Yes and no. Let me give a clearer understanding of the situation of the family right now. Though I may be young, it isn't a disadvantage against the others competing for the post. There can be considered four main competitors. Me, Herbert, Jacob and Mary. Both Jacob and Mary are from a generation before us, more than 25 years older. They don't have much of fame or influence and they are already quite old. Most wouldn't side with them and I guess they don't have any decent chances of getting the post."

"What about Herbert? As much as I remember, he is about 5 years older than you and his father, Archie is already an elder, right?" asked Balthazar.

"Yep, he is the main headache. Moreover, unlike Jack and other idiots, Herbert had always been a responsible guy. He takes care of his father's businesses, manages all security, commands most of the forces and service chains of those businesses and is also a bit of an adrenaline junkie. He is considered to be already doing the work of an elder under his father."

"OK. I never kept much tabs on him, but from what you told it looks like he is very suitable for the position. So, I probably have to take the strategic command test seriously. Give me a detail of your forces too, it is best that we be ready for anything," said Balthazar. He could see that Herbert wouldn't probably willing to concede due to his own work and might be confident in himself.

"Apart from my representative who is considered my protector, they might say that the commander I chose isn't skilled in direct combat and that you need to prove yourself."

This gave quite a shock to Balthazar. He was thinking that he didn't need to fight any contenders. He managed to defeat Max by pushing him out of the ring, but this wouldn't probably be a similar situation.

"I just managed to defeat Max because he was negligent and didn't put me in his eyes. I can't do the same with other contestants," said Balthazar quickly. If it came to situation that he needed to fight physically, it would best that Robert chose someone else for the commander stuff.

"No, you misunderstand. I told you he is an adrenaline junkie, right? You won't be in the fighting competition, but Herbert is representing himself as the commander and you being in the same generation as him, he could technically ask you for one on one," said Robert hastily correcting Balthazar's thoughts. He needed Balthazar to stay cool on this one. Though he has other candidates for it, they were all people who worked in secret and their achievements can't be shown to the elder council openly. This position required men of fame and experience, so his best bet was Balthazar. If he could contact Walter, he might actually find another solution, but no one has a decent clue on his whereabouts.

"Haha, you mean I just have to fight Herbert? Why did you sound so serious about that? I am sure I could take him on," said Balthazar as he realized that his cousin had him worried about a simple issue. He was only against fighting elders and men who were in a generation above him because they definitely had more experience in fighting than him and probably were stronger and completely mature. But he was sure that he had learnt a lot more than Herbert in his past life. At the worst, he believed that he might end up in a draw in a fight against Herbert.

"Don't consider him so lightly," said Robert as he realized his cousin wasn't putting Herbert in his eyes at all. "As I told you before, he is an adrenaline junkie and has been involved in few explorations and other things. Moreover, he manages the security personnel of his father's businesses and also was a champion in his college at boxing and mixed martial arts. He isn't an easy one to handle."

"So, you are saying that he is strong at close combat?" asked Balthazar understanding that it might be better if he researches his opponent properly. "I can't take anyone lightly. That would be my own undoing," he thought reminding himself of how he underestimated Jane.

"Yes, of course. He is very well known for his fights. He had been one of the top contestants three times for the annual tournaments held at the stadium in Entora. What rock have you been living under? You used to be in the mansion at that time," said Robert angrily. He couldn't believe that his cousin didn't know this about Herbert. This was the main reason that he was afraid of the possibility of a fight between them.

"It is all right. It isn't as much of an issue as you are considering it to be. I am sure there will be recordings of his fights. I will look through them. That would give a basic idea of his foundation and tactics, but it wouldn't be enough," said Balthazar as he was think about how to counteract this scenario when he realized that the fighting is still considered of the most crude ways to determine ones capability. The answer was in the problem itself.

"You are worried that the opposition would say that your commander might not be able to protect himself and they would use this chance to request a combat. This is an opportunity for them to at the very least humiliate me. But if they do this, they are digging their own graves. Simple close combat hardly ever happen in real life, we can also ask them to conduct a competition for shooting and use of warframes," said Balthazar giving him a hint on how to handle this scenario.

"Are you crazy? This is just something that would be requested on the spot. A simple direct combat is easy to arrange and that is the reason they have the advantage. Otherwise, me and others supporting this would have already thought about this option and simply informed you," reprimanded Robert harshly in a loud pitched voice. He felt his cousin's suggestion to be entirely ridiculous.

"Under general circ.u.mstances, I would agree with you. A shooting contest long distance or a large number of targets can be quickly arranged, but he might be pretty good at that. War frames or combat suit training would take a bit of time to set up and are quite dangerous. The same goes for using weapons, which Herbert wants to use to his advantage," said Balthazar unaffected by his cousin's rebuke.

"I am pretty sure that I would ace any shooting contest. That we can use to show them up. I said the other things as we have a way for it too, but it might require some effort from a few others," continued Balthazar.

"What?"

"We can use the somnium technology, the samsara framework to develop the scenario for war frame and many other combat scenarios. It can be not only used for this, but also for competition and to test the eligibility and capability for any recruitment scenarios. We just need to be prepared and you should pick the proper time to suggest this in case Herbert and others play this game," answered Balthazar.

"That might be actually possible," said Robert as he fell back on his bed. He was looking at the ceiling, thinking about it and realized that as his cousin told, he could actually use the same kind of tests for recruitment. It would save a lot of resources and also time if they used this method. The tests could also be much more comprehensive.

As soon as he realized it, he started to create a mail and sent it to Richard Shrike. He was someone that Walter recruited and became one of the few knew about the secrets of the Blyth family and the table of Ouroboros. He was never usually at Asklepian, but after the near death that Robert suffered at Max's hands, he came back to guard over Robert.

Richard was Robert's representative for the fight and had been following Robert in secret daily. He was always monitoring Robert and also had his room bugged. He was listening to everything that the two cousins were talking about. "Hmm, that boy is surely adapting fast to technology. A good trait for an agent," thought Richard as heard them.