Chapter 3: Clan meeting
I was let through several hallways, some gardens, then more hallways.
This is a freaking maze! I really need to finish absorbing the memory…or buy a map of this place, at least.
After a while, we arrived at the large and decorated hall, where people were standing in front of several big chairs. Elders of the clan were sitting on the large chairs, and the clan patriarch Xairar was sitting on the large and ornamental throne in the middle of the chairs. I saw my father Opar on the left of the Patriarch.
Some people were arguing in front of the chairs. On the left side, there was my cousin Xiar, son of disciplinary elder Tarah, with some of his underlings, the guard who pushed this body included. On the right side was my cousin Richard…
Oh, I think its time for a little bit of history lesson. I tough I quickly pulled the information about him from the memory shards...
Richard was the son Suer the youngest of three of patriarch sons. Since Richards's father Suer was young, he was a rising star in the Firestone clan. He was handsome, talented and full of courage. He conquered several different dungeons difficult for someone of his age...
Wait, there are dungeons? I really need to find more about this world…
…when clearing purple grade {strange} dungeon, he found an injured young pretty woman named Anlente. They quickly had fallen in love. The problem was that Suer was already engaged with the young lady of the Wind-Claw clan. It was arranged marriage by their clan patriarchs. The Wind-Claw clan let Suer off pretty much lightly: instead of whole week kneeling in front of Wind-Claw the main gate as an apology, they let him off only after a day kneeling, and they accepted just symbolic gifts and one small shop as compensation. They didn't want to antagonize potential future powerful persons, and the stain on the bride honour was not that big since they met like two times only on formal events. It was only a minor obstacle, and the young couple started to live happily. After a year, the young Richard was born.
It was all going well to be a successful love story, but sadly after another two years, a very powerful mysterious group of powerful cultivators dressed in black assaulted the Suer mansion within the Firestone clan. Almost all guards there were killed or badly maimed. Suer was badly hurt, and Richard's mother was kidnaped. Luckily, they seem to not notice Richard's existence. Firestone clan poured quite a lot of resources for Suer recovery, but it was useless, and Suer never recovered into his previous martial prowess.
The Firestone clan oppressed Richard since then. Maybe it was due to fear from the unknown powerful danger of his origin or that his mother was the reason the Firestone clan feel from 2nd city clan to 3rd. Where clan youngers at least received 3 x nongraded spirit stones, Richard received just one or nothing. Where direct line descendants received a luxurious meal, sometimes even from graded monsters, normal clan youngers received at least sometimes decent meal from spirit beast. Richard received almost nothing, and sometimes he even needs to hunt himself for his and his father's needs. Noreall knew this because he was the son of the treasurer Opar. Although all these injustices, Richard was still managed to keep a decent pace with his peers in spirit cultivation because he was quite gifted in fire arts.
Why only his name is normal in this damm world! WAIT! Isn't this like a typical hero template? I was quite shocked. I took a long look at Richard.
He was quite tall, had a decent lean build, charismatic face and aura around him radiating determination….
Yeah, this is a hero, alright. Maybe this is even an event where he is banished from the clan to find his first over powerful ability, something like quick cultivation, hidden ancient weapon or pocket teacher…or all of them!
For some reason, I was 100% sure that Richard is the hero, main character or whatever you want to call it. Maybe it was my gut feeling? Who knows...
"Richard, you tried to drown and rob poor Noreall because you were envious of all these resources he is getting where you are getting almost nothing." my other cousin Xiar, son of the disciplinary elder, continued accusing Richard without noticing my arrival.
"Noreall, good that you arrived," spoken clan patriarch Xairar with a smile.
"Dear cousin! Quickly, tell patriarch how Richard tried to rob you and kill you! Xiar rushed to my side and grabbed my fat arm.
Oh, he is trying really hard, ok let's consider my options: My mind raced surprisingly fast..
1)Tell, patriarch that Richard attacked me. That would earn some Xiar goodwill, and that would exile Richard out of the clan, and he would gain some supreme power-ups, return to clan and punish all who wronged him, including me….no thanks…
2)Tell the truth: that I was a victim of Xiar conspiracy. Tell that Xiar wanted to murder me and push my murder into Richard, killing two flies in one slap. That would probably earn Richard's favour but Xiar ire. And because of my low standing in the clan, it would not be enough to punish Xiar enough. Xiar will likely plot against me later, and because this body is damm useless, I would 90% die….NO, thanks even more! at the first option, I would have at least some time to prepare…or run away…
3)Play dumb….yeah be inconspicuous, this will work…
"I slipped on my own into ice water when I looked at the blue light there," I have spoken guiltily. "It was a dear cousin, Richard, who saved me, I think. I m sorry for the disturbance I caused."
Everyone was staring at me. The most shocked person was Richard because someone finally defended him. After some awkward silence, Patriarch spoke: "Richard will receive 3 good non-graded spirit stone, as a reward for his good deed … also like some compensation for this fuss. About Noreall, he was punished by his almost dead experience for his reckless behaviour. The meeting is over," he said with a deep voice.
Everyone started to go their way or chatting by themselves. I walked to Richard. "Thanks a lot, dear cousin," I once more thanked, still surprised Richard. He was even more surprised when I hugged him affectionately. "Meet me two days later in the evening behind my courtyard," I quickly whispered to Richard and quickly left.
The coal provided in winter has a double effect. Maybe I can use my DUPE ability to provide something for him…His resources should be pretty low now, and he will be grateful.
This action was an impulse of mine. But maybe it was the right one. Let's think about what to do now, what's my strengths and weakness?. For some strange reason, I remembered the SWOT table when I was at university. Well, why not, let's make it…
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S(Strengths)
1) DUPE, I can dupe everything I can touch(although I hurt)
2) I have treasurer as a dad.
W(Weakness)
1) I m VERY weak.
2) my reputation sucks inside clan suck
O(Opportunities)
1)Richard: I can capitalize on this hero and maybe take an easy ride for quick rare cultivation resources
2) FireStone clan: There should be some cultivation resources, and it has a quite high reputation in the Silverfall city
T(Threats)
1)Xiar: This sleazy bastard can be very dangerous
2)Richard: Some Hero bullshit like his mother's family coming of the clan or his getting his revenge for his hard childhood. Putting something like a meteorite right on the clan. Even staying near Richard can be dangerous
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First thing, I can use my dad to get to touch some precious clan resources and dupe them. Then use these resources to get stronger, maybe even build some reputation to cover my ass and to make it easier to move around in the Firestone clan?
The big question is what to do about Richard. Maybe give him some resources now and see how it goes? It's quite dangerous to get in contact with him, but I have a gut feeling I need to do it…
Never mind first thing first...
My father, Opar, the treasurer of the clan, was talking to me. "Norel, it is great you recovered!" He hugged me. It was quite a strange feeling. "Dear father, the fall in that ice-cold water and the near-dead experience was an eye-opener for me," I have spoken with a serious voice. "I think I realized I would never be a great warrior, but I think I found my life role," I continued. OK, now comes the hard part. "I realized I want to be an appraiser! I even think I will have a breakthrough in my Mind stat soon!" I said enthusiastically.
"Oh, really?" said my father and touched my forehead. "You are about to have a breakthrough in Mind! "Opar almost started jumping out of joy. "Don't try to breakthrough yet. We need to have a serious discussion about this. "Opar switched his tone.
The rest of the gathering ended almost peacefully due to the small confronting exchange of words between Richard and Xiar. Yeah, less attention to me now, the better…
In Opar's study, he invited me to the main table. "Would you like some sweets, my son?" Oh yeah, I would love to…wait Nah, I should not...
"Please, some fruits," I replied
Fruits…yeah, fruits are better for the body, right? Also, this new family will take a while to get used to it. I continued to watch Opar.
"Well, my son. Start from the begging of this episode," Asked me Opar.
Should I tell him? About the conspiracy against Noreall? What about being me, brand new person instead of his son? This is hard…well, at least, let's warn him. They could start plotting against him too…
I told him everything that happened to Noreall, not my transmigration, of course. I finished with: "Well, that was wake up call, I realized I would never excel at martial arts, but I feel I could be an appraiser and try trading. If I can just dupe some goods, hehe…easy work, a lot of free time to get stronger…
"Are you sure, my son? Let me explain a few things about stats, and breakthroughs asked me father Opar and started the explanation.
Although stats at the status screen just reflected reality and didn't have a real effect on the real world, the breakthrough in stats was a real thing.
It was really important the order in which you breakthrough in stats. For example, if you first breakthrough at body stats in tier1, you will be naturally inclined more to body strengths, and your Cultivation and Mind would more like support nature. It would be even more evident if at a breakthrough in your higher stats before your support stats catch up. For example, if I would reach Tier 3 in Body when my Mind and Cultivation was still at Tier 1, they could transform into something like totem spirit and blood power. Or, if will go ahead in Mind stats, my secondary stats would be transformed into something like tenacity and mindpower. All changes could be reversible somehow, but the road can often be problematic.
So basically, until I keep my stats at least a little bit balanced so they won't be more ahead than 2 tiers, it would be ok…
Power priority was the main stats, which reflected my overall power. It was 50% of my primary stat and 25% of the two supporting ones. Opar advised me to not focus on my stats, that it only reflects reality, not the other way around. The breakthrough in power level tier is quite a big thing.
Yeah, Noreall remembered that Opar had to tell him that many times…
But the power priority was somehow important. More at higher tiers, where mighty warriors could bend physic laws…
Opar continued to preach about some principles like perseverance and courage. Then we started to talk about the Xiar issue. After some contemplation and influencing from my side Opar decided not to press the issue but be on guard against the Discipline elder faction. I saw a glint of happiness in Opar eyes.
"You look more reliable now, Noer," said Opar with a trace of relief in his voice.
Noreall was quite dumb, and he was drowning himself in food and self-pity. Opar must be happy that Noer is finally starting to have some determination. This whole situation is starting to make me feel really guilty for taking over someone else body, although he died. Well, I promise to try to make our family happy, at least.
"Don't worry, father, it will be ok?" I said resolutely. "Is there any chance I can see glorious clan treasury to get inspiration?"
"Well, normally, you don't have any official position to go there…but for you, I can bend the rules a little bit," smiled Opar. "let's head there tomorrow morning, it's getting to get late."
"Thanks, father" I bowed my chubby body with respect and left to my chambers.
Let's try to a breakthrough in my power level tonight…