Chapter 314: The Fate Guild

There was a saying that businessmen were never happy. Maybe that statement was true. Think about it. To set up a business, you needed capital. But before you had capital, you needed to understand what kind of business you wanted to start. You first had to find a location for the business, then a name that would set it apart from other businesses.

Afterwards, you go to your product. There would surely be similar products in the market, so you have to get something that would make your product stand out from the rest. You would also have to take your customers into consideration.

For example, if it were ice cream, what kind of flavors would you have to integrate to make it special? Children will surely love chocolate; adults will have different preferences, among others.

This was the kind of dilemma Silas was currently in after waking up at 6 PM. He had slept for more than twelve hours after that steamy night with his four women. They’d really drained him dry to the extent that he still didn’t feel the urge to urinate. If it weren’t for him being Cupid’s heir, he would have sworn his little guy was out of service.

Back to his dilemma, Silas didn’t know what to do. He already had the capital, the location, the product, and even a building for his business all ready. But he was lacking the simplest, yet most difficult thing... A name for his guild.

***

Silas lay sprawled across his bed, staring at the ceiling as though the answer to all his problems would suddenly appear between the expensive light fixtures. It didn’t.

He turned his head toward the bedside table, where his phone rested beside a half-empty glass of water. He picked it up, unlocked it, and opened the group chat with his women.

Silas: ’I need more suggestions.’

The response was almost immediate.

Gromda: ’Dragon Slayers.’

Silas: ’You suggested that yesterday.’

Gromda: ’And I still believe it is a good name.’

Anna: ’It sounds like a guild whose members get killed by the first dragon they encounter.’

Gromda: ’Would you like to test that theory?’

Anna: ’No, thank you. I enjoy having all my limbs.’

Echidna: ’You’re all approaching this incorrectly.’

Silas: ’Finally. Someone sensible.’

Echidna: ’The name should reflect the organization’s purpose, its reputation, and the kind of people you intend to attract. A guild name is more than a label. It is a declaration of identity.’

Silas nodded to himself. That was exactly what he needed to hear.

Echidna: ’Have you decided on any of those things?’

Silas: ’I’m beginning to dislike you.’

Echidna: ’That changes nothing.’

Chloe: ’Pink Hair Guild.’

Silas: ’Rejected.’

Alpha: ’Pink Hair Guild of Eternal Domination.’

Silas: ’Permanently rejected.’

Alpha: ’You rejected it too quickly. It has a certain grandeur.’

Silas: ’The grandeur of a circus.’

Alpha: ’A very powerful circus.’

Alicia: ’I’d join.’

Silas narrowed his eyes at his phone.

Was everyone conspiring against him?

He had a vast estate, a fortune large enough to make financial institutions nervous, access to rare resources, and enough combat strength to turn most dungeon expeditions into glorified walks, but these people couldn’t give him one decent name.

Silas: ’I’m serious. Give me something that sounds powerful, memorable, and appropriate for a guild that could eventually become one of the strongest organizations in the world.’

For several seconds, nobody replied. Then Anna sent a message.

Anna: ’The Extremely Serious Guild.’

Silas tossed his phone onto the bed.

’I’m surrounded by idiots.’

He immediately picked it up again. He couldn’t afford to abandon his search, not when he had already spent so much money preparing the guild headquarters.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

There was someone else he hadn’t consulted.

’The System.’

He summoned the familiar interface.

’Cupid’s System, I require assistance.’

[Host requires assistance with what?]

’Choosing a name for my guild.’

[Suggestion: The Cupid Guild.]

Silas blinked.

’No.’

[Suggestion: The Love Guild.]

’Absolutely not.’

[Suggestion: The Guild of Love and Eternal Happiness.]

’Are you trying to ruin my reputation?’

[The System is merely responding to the Host’s request.]

’Then respond better.’

[Suggestion: The Host should choose a name independently.]

’You’re useless.’

[The Host’s opinion has been noted.]

’Don’t note it. Improve yourself.’

Silas dismissed the interface before he committed a crime against his own System. This was hopeless. Perhaps he was thinking too hard about it. A name didn’t necessarily need to describe the guild’s entire purpose. Sometimes, a name became meaningful because of the things associated with it.

Still, he wanted something that would make people pause when they heard it. Something that would sound impressive when announced across a battlefield. Something that could become legendary.

’Why is naming a guild harder than killing a monster?’

The answer was obvious. Monsters didn’t require branding.

By the time Silas finally left his bedroom, the evening sun had begun painting the estate in shades of orange.

He descended the stairs and found Alpha sitting in the living room with Alicia. They appeared to be watching something on television, although Alpha was more interested in teasing his girlfriend than following the program.

The moment Alpha noticed Silas, his eyes lit up.

"Look who finally decided to rejoin the living."

Silas ignored him and walked toward the kitchen.

"Have you thought of a guild name?"

"Several."

"Such as?"

"The Pink Hair Guild of Eternal Domination."

"I’m going to throw you out of my house."

"Then you’ll have to explain to Alicia why you’ve thrown her boyfriend into the street."

Alicia smiled sweetly. "I’d probably help him pack."

Silas slowly closed the refrigerator, his expression blank. Traitors everywhere! He grabbed a bottle of water and returned to the living room.

"Fine. I’ll ask someone who actually has a functioning brain."

"Who?" Alpha asked.

"The children."

"..."

"Exactly."

The children’s section, which they’d monopolized from Silas, was considerably more peaceful than the living room.

Kassie, Alpha’s younger sister, was sitting on the carpet with a collection of toys spread around her. Chloe’s twelve-year-old little brother sat nearby, engrossed in a thick book he had apparently borrowed from the estate’s library.

The boy looked up when Silas entered.

"You’re awake!"

"Unfortunately."

Kassie giggled. Silas walked over and settled onto the sofa beside them.

"I need you two to help me with something."

Kassie immediately abandoned her toys.

"Are we going somewhere?"

"No."

"Are you buying us something?"

"That depends."

"Can we have ice cream?"

"Potentially."

Kassie raised both hands in victory.

"Then I’ll help!"

The boy closed his book and looked at Silas curiously.

"What do you need?"

"A name."

"For what?"

"My guild."

Both children stared at him. Silas nodded solemnly.

"This is a very important matter. I need a name that sounds powerful, memorable, and cool enough that people will want to join."

Kassie immediately answered.

"Dragon Guild!"

Silas closed his eyes. Why was everyone obsessed with dragons?

"That’s already been suggested."

"Then... Ice Cream Guild?"

"That is not a guild. That’s a business."

"But you said we might get ice cream!"

"I regret involving you in this discussion."

Kassie pouted. The boy, however, had grown thoughtful. He glanced down at his book, tapping his fingers against its cover, before blurting out.

"The Fate Guild."

Silas froze.

For a moment, the entire room seemed to fall silent. The name was simple, but the moment those words reached his ears, something deep within him stirred. It felt like a string inside his soul had suddenly been plucked- a faint resonance spread through his chest, so subtle that he might have dismissed it as imagination if he hadn’t felt it so clearly.

The Fate Guild.

Silas stared at the boy in surprise...

"What did you say?"

The boy blinked at his reaction.

"The Fate Guild?"

"Say it again."

"The Fate Guild."

There it was again. That strange sensation. For the briefest instant, Silas felt as though the name had touched something hidden inside him, something older and deeper than his memories. Then it vanished. He lowered his gaze, concealing the sudden seriousness in his eyes.

’What was that?’

He had experienced countless strange things since obtaining Cupid’s System. His evolution into a Heartweaver Fae had given him abilities he was still learning to understand. The Tower had recognized him. Ancient entities had shown an inexplicable interest in his existence.

And now a name suggested by a twelve-year-old boy had caused a reaction he couldn’t explain.

Coincidence? Perhaps. But Silas had learned that coincidences in his life were rarely as innocent as they appeared.

"Why that name?"

The boy shrugged as he answered casually.

"I read about Cupid in the school library."

Silas’s expression remained unchanged, though his attention sharpened.

"Cupid?"

"Yeah. There were some really old books there. The pages were thick, and the covers were hard. Most of the other students didn’t read them because they were boring." He scratched his cheek. "But I remember one book saying Cupid wasn’t just connected to love. He was also related to Fate."

Silas said nothing. The boy continued, completely unaware of the atmosphere that had settled over the room.

"It said that love could bring people together, but fate determined which paths crossed. Something like that, anyway. I don’t remember the exact words." He shrugged again. "So I thought the Fate Guild sounded cool. Besides, if your guild becomes famous, people might say that joining it was their fate."

Kassie nodded enthusiastically.

"That’s cool!"

The boy smiled.

"Right?"

Silas stared at him for another few seconds.

There was nothing unusual in the boy’s expression. He seemed pleased with his suggestion and perhaps a little proud that he had offered something better than Kassie’s Dragon Guild. Still, Silas couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this than the boy understood.

’An old book about Cupid and Fate...’

He knew Cupid was associated with love and desire. His System was practically built around those concepts.

But Fate?

His Heartweaver abilities included Fate Thread Vision. He could see the threads connecting people, perceive bonds, and recognize things that ordinary awakened individuals couldn’t.

The Eye of Fate had also shown him connections that made little sense, and then there was the System’s hidden record.

He had never seen that record himself, of course, but he had already learned enough to suspect that the System was concealing information about his origins.

Was the name Fate connected to all of this? Was that why he had felt something resonate within him? Or was he simply overthinking a name suggested by a child?

Silas leaned forward and smiled at the boy.

"That’s actually a pretty good suggestion."

The boy’s face brightened.

"Really?"

"Really."

Kassie immediately raised her hand.

"Does that mean I get ice cream?"

Silas laughed.

"Yes. You get ice cream."

"Yay!"

"And you," he told the boy, "get to suggest the first flavor."

The boy thought for a moment.

"Chocolate."

"Excellent choice."