Eren's words struck like thunder in his audience's minds.
The pin-drop silence seemed to get more intense in the hall. There was a lot of mana fluctuation as the rankers were overwhelmed by their emotions. When Eren talked about kicking out the members, they looked at each other with weary eyes.
The White Raven guild had created plenty of enemies by now. And the only reason the guild members could still roam and take up quests was because of the protection provided by Levine's faction and House Derringer from the shadows.
If any of them got kicked out of the guild in this situation, nobody doubted in their minds that they would be targeted by these forces first and foremost. Eliminating any of the members was practically signing their death warrants.
Eren spread forth his domineering mana sense and forcefully calmed the agitated members down before speaking up.
"The other day, I got to know that the royal family of Edinburgh has something similar to this program of ours, sans the consequences. Of course, it has its limitations and they cannot overdo it. However, it still makes one wonder how blessed these people are to be able to do something like this.
However, it can only be used by the royals and their closest family members. So we can forget about ever having the opportunity to get to be part of their lot."
Eren was reminded of Rehaal Renar. It was through his memories that he was made aware that the royal family had access to an elemental pool of their own. It was most likely retrieved from ancient documents that were not made public.
Rehaal and most of his cousins had made use of this elemental array to advance in their respective ranks. Of course, Rodrick was strategically kept out of this arrangement after his temporary disengagement from the royal family.
This was the reason why Rodrick was hesitant in regressing in his rank to change his class. He had to give up his participation rights to use the elemental array when he essentially reset his ranking progress.
Rehaal and a lot of Rodrick's other cousins that were part of the royal competition got ahead of him using the elemental array. The gap between them only widened when that happened, forcing Rodrick to seek shelter in White Raven city.
Rodrick was also present in the hall. He pursed his lips when Eren let closely guarded information about the royal family out. But at this point, he didn't care two hoots about his messed up family either. He had already said "fuck you" to them once. And he wasn't about to suck it up to them.
Rodrick would rather be part of Eren's rank-up program and suffer any potential side effects coming his way. He was willing to play the gamble Eren was proposing.
Eren looked at Rodrick and smiled wickedly before speaking further.
"It's funny if you think about it. In life, some people get to play by different rules than others. They can do whatever they want regardless of the consequences of their actions. But one has to earn the right to do so. Now there are two ways of getting this privilege: you can receive it as an inheritance or you can earn it through your dedicated work.
I think it is safe to say that the ship of us earning that right through inheritance has already sailed past the horizon. So we are only left with one choice by default. And that choice requires your blood and sweat."
Eren snapped his fingers and a teleportation array appeared on the platform he was standing on. It led to the isolated space in which he had relocated the elemental array taken from Bigua's tribe.
The platform Eren stood on was the updated program's venue entrance. The butcher took a long breath and continued.
"Look, winning has a price. And leadership has a price.
I will pull my guild members along when they don't want to be pulled. I will challenge them when they don't want to be challenged. I have earned that right because I have suffered more and will continue to suffer more."
Eren's words made sense to his audience even when they didn't want to admit it. At this point, almost everybody was ready to participate in the program. It wasn't because they were motivated to grow. However, Eren's words inspired them to have a survival mentality. The butcher knew he had changed the crowd's mood for the better. He decided to give them one final push to pass through the teleportation array.
"Equivalent exchange!
There was a reason you were okay with joining this guild despite its shallow roots and the dangers it was surrounded by. You saw that my guild provided best-in-class resources and invested a lot of its revenue in-house for its members. You believed that it was all for your benefit?
The White Raven guild has a successful potion manufacturing line and Minerva's Utopia as its key assets. But all will be useless if we don't have the necessary force to back us up shortly. Especially now when the war is drawing so close.
Therefore, we came up with this ranking program. It may not be the right solution to all our current or upcoming problems. But it's a start."
Eren's words subtly predicted a doom's day prediction for all the White Raven members. But that's just him preparing his guild for the upcoming storm. He won't always be around. So he needed people who could manage things on their own.
The runes inside the teleportation array lit up, prompting the rankers to prepare themselves for sudden enrollment into the updated rank-up program. The butcher controlled the platform and made it land on the ground and spoke up.
"I will never ask you to do anything I wouldn't do. I also know that there were better ways of breaking this program up to you instead of creating peer pressure. You may label me as a tyrant even after completing the program. But let me make it clear that I am okay with being labeled as a tyrant if it gives me what I want in the fastest way possible.
Now… those who want to build their future with the White Raven guild– step up. And those who want to leave the guild and risk what's waiting for them outside– step back."
Eren made an announcement and observed the crowd. As expected, everyone was onboard with the plan. The butcher smiled brightly before starting the teleportation array for all the White Raven guild members.
