Melinda could have gone and on and on about bringing back the real reason behind the creation of student guilds in the first place and the reason they were still so predominant in the grand structure of the Royal Academy but while those would be true, she knew the real reason she was creating her own guild was pride.
Her major motivation was to not be under anyone.
If she would be in a guild, then it will hers completely which would be impossible if she joined a guild, especially since she had no intentions of working her way up in the chain of command and 'proving' herself.
Targeting those who were tired and done with the idea of large guilds recruiting as many members as they could for the sake of farming miscellaneous points was a strategy.
It was a strategy Melinda had thought up which guaranteed that the established guilds could not lure her guild members away because all they would have to offer is all that her members have already turned their backs on in the first place.
Making sure the targeted potential members are talented and strong like Suri or even more so would further strengthen this strategic approach and make it so the Sapphirine guild would never fear opposition which Melinda knew would surely come.
She had also been right when she said Suri would resonate with what she and in turn, the newly formed Sapphirine guild had to offer.
As they shook hands after she accepted joining the guild temporarily to see if Melinda's advertised guild values will be available long term, Suri joked on if Melinda would go about dueling potential guild members to get them to 'respect' her.
Melinda had chuckled and said,
"No. I dueled you and earned your respect specifically so you could become an advocate for the legitimacy of my ambitious unambitious guild idea."
Placing one hand on the smiling Suri's shoulder, Melinda added,
"Take it as the first directive you will receive from your Guild leader"
...
The next month was dedicated to recruitment that, as Melinda had predicted, was significantly easier once they had Suri Hander on board.
Melinda had a list of potential guild members and none of them included new students who were all still filled with a new student craze and all about joining the already established and powerful guilds.
Other than Melinda, Nicole and Valerie, there was no first-year Royal Academy student in the Sapphirine guild, and other than the still-absent Hal, there was no male.
Once the recruitment was complete, and they had moved on from those students who adamantly refused to be a part of the guild, the Sapphirine guild could then truly be considered to have been established.
While the recruitment process had refrained from being a public announcement and was more about personal one-on-one meetings with potential members, news of what Melinda was attempting still spread.
Many laughed at what they thought was a foolish idea but certain 'top dog' guilds, namely the jade foxes guild, the Flame guild, and the Sensual Guild saw the potential danger the Sapphirine guild could pose.
They realized that the newly formed guild that was quite well managed (at least so far) by the best among the new students, Melinda Dane was unsaturated with 'garbage'.
Yes, that meant they would not be able to farm miscellaneous points, but it was hardly something to worry about in the face of the talent they had bolstering their numbers.
Worse yet, their usual tactics of breaking new guilds down would be unsuccessful with the hard-faced and fairly battle-hardened 'new' members.
Funny enough (funny because it was not usually the case with Student guilds within the Royal Academy), the potential weak links were not the recruits who were all long-time students but instead the founding trio.
None of the emissaries made an attempt on Melinda as it was clear by now that she was quite a hard nut to crack.
Hell, she formed a small numbered but talent and capability concentrated guild rather than join an established one.
No, there was no path with her.
The only possible hope of a breakup was Valerie and Nicole.
The Sensual Guild, which as the name suggests is a guild that had been created by the first Sensual Palace disciples to attend the Royal Academy, was especially focused on bringing Nicole over to their side.
As a way of continuing the tradition and fairly deep-rooted dominance the dual cultivating guild had so far had in the Royal Academy.
Alas, they might as well have tried their luck once again with Melinda rather than try with the duo of Valerie and Nicole.
Nicole belonged to Hal and was not about to turn her back on the one who was clearly number one in Hal's court of women.
As for Valerie... She admired Melinda to the point where it resembled obsession... Nuff said.
Not to mention, there was a limit to the level of oppression they could impose on a guild formed by a personal disciple of the Principal who also happened to be the Empress of the Haron Empire.
Sure, the principal was even more bound than regular elders of the Academy from interfering but there will always be caution on the mind of anyone thinking to cross Melinda as they knew very well the knowledge the Empress would impact in her disciple would surely be on another level compared to the average Elder's disciple.
And that was caution they were feeling without actual knowledge of what Melinda was being taught.
Without Actual knowledge that the Dane beauty was spending her private lessons harnessing the little bit of divine energy within herself to read through the divine scripts, the Empress had on her bookshelves.
She was making considerable progress and was finding the scripts easier to read the more she tried.
Anyway, the Sapphirine guild, over the next few months after its creation went through its fair share of 'situations' that helped put the finishing touches on what was sure to eventually become known as an example of a well-structured Student guild.
And as it went through all those situations, the guild members got more and more used to the idea of being led by Melinda who proved over and over again that she was as good a leader as they could possibly ever hope to get.
***
Three months after Hal left the Royal Academy and went off to Doxon, at which point the news of the incident at the Tomb had reached her ears, Melinda was cross-legged in a spacious cultivating room.
The room was one of the many that the Empress had in the Principal building and was one of the few rooms not to be filled with bookshelves.
Speaking of the Empress, she was in the room with Melinda.
She was on her feet and eyeing Melinda with the stern expression of an instructor,
"Any news of your little fiance? Any idea when he will return?" she asked.
Had it been early on in this Elder-disciple relationship of theirs, Melinda might have commented how the Empress was sort of quick to mention Hal but now she was much wiser and much more understanding of the fact that the Empress' interest in Hal was not going away any time soon.
"I don't know where he is and I don't know when he might be coming back. Besides, weren't you going to guide me on the subject of Dao comprehension today?" Melinda said.
"I am. We are going to start in a second but I just can't help but comment on his disappearance.
He was barely on Academy grounds for three days and now has been away for three months.
That kind of absence comes with consequences."
Melinda, whose eyes had been closed, opened them suddenly as she asked,
"What sort of consequences?"
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