Clan affairs

I woke up from this strange dream and stood up from the cold stone bed.

My back felt sore from sleeping on that for… how long did I sleep?

Looking out the window I saw rays of light shining through the foliage onto a row of solid beds just like mine on top of which were my friends.

I'm happy to see that my comrades are all safe but I was especially happy to see Astrid.

She was laying on that stone plate like the sleeping beauty waiting to be freed, except she would probably kill anyone that kissed her that wasn't Matt.

"So you are awake." I heard a voice coming not far from me.

Turning around, my sight was greeted by another beauty.

I am obviously not talking about the old man that just talked but about the tree that was growing in the middle of this temple.

It looks like a young cherry tree except that it's flowers and leaves were replaced with dark silky feathers.

"Oh, you like the tree of Janus I see." The elder shaman snikered, "This tree has been here for countless years, I have seen it slowly grow over the ages, drinking the elixir from the divine spring below it to become the wonder it is today."

I looked to the side directly into the old man's eyes.

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Name : Richard Fayum

Age : 264

Mutation : Giant turtle

Power : 67 - 187

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'He's almost three decades old!? And a power level three times higher than mine? What does it represent?'

[The power level is a representation of an individual's natural strength without equipment or active mutation up to his strength as a Jaeger. An average human's strength is 10.]

'What is a Jaeger ? It was also written in my transmutation skill.'

[A Jaeger is a complete biological transformation, it's a state in which 100% of your human body is replaced with an animal body thus meaning you cease to be a demi-humans. Size and transformation time may vary depending on the Jaeger.]

'Thank you for your explanation Aiden.'

[You are welcome, host.]

"You still seem to be dazed from your sleep young Matt, please rest a while more." The elder said caringly

I wasn't really tired so I took a stroll around the shrine. It had a very celtic vibe to it, being built around a tree and being covered by plants on the outside just enhanced its rustic beauty.

The Janus tree that can also be called the raven tree was growing from a pond with an unnatural blue color.

It was a wonder that I had never found this place while adventuring, I mean I was always captured by Joseph whenever I entered the outer forest so it kinda makes sense.

…

After everyone woke up, the great elder congratulated us for passing the trials and becoming true clan members.

He called for one of the other elders to bring us back to the village center instead of our dorms where we had lived since we were born.

Walking through the forest and the tundra, we finally arrived at the town at noon.

I took this opportunity to check the villagers' information and was surprised when I saw that most had one or two mutations.

I thought that having multiple spirits was less common than I thought…

"As adults you are given your own house. Depending on your occupation and your points you will be given different treatments." the elder told us.

"So that's what Grimm meant when he said your points determined your standing, it all makes sense now." Falco understood immediately

Points were something a member of the clan could gain by discovering, inventing, creating, selling or anything that helped the village. You could also gain these points in tournaments, fights or the challenges we just passed.

You could consider them as an economy before currency was invented but we were never able to use them for anything.

"We have calculated your total including your last achievements and here are the results."

Matt 1522 points

Astrid 1298 points

Bohr 1036 points

Rhin 803 points

Falco 801 points

…

Astrid and I won most points in tournaments and fights or by helping the village by making things with our tradeskills. I Have more points since I found the archive and that Astrid insisted that I contributed the most in finding the energy thief.

Bohr is close behind but did the opposite, he was a giant, a giant teddy bear that loved to help the people.

His altruism kept him busy all the time, you could even say that the construction of new infrastructure in the town was led by his efforts.

The others all had around 800 points by making good efforts and progressing well during training.

"All of you will be led to your new lodging, you can obviously live in someone else's house if that person agrees." The Elder said. A few scribes asked each one of my comrades to follow them until only Astrid and I were left. "Both of you, the council of elders, wish to talk."

We guessed that it had something to do with the bugs we fought so we followed the elder again.

The council was composed of the eleven elders in charge of the village. Their assembly was a big construction made out of gigantic rocks that formed walls and an oak roof that was located at the top of the hill, perfectly in the center of the dome.

You could say it looked like what Stonehenge transformed into a house would look like.

Very few entered the assembly as only the elders and people that achieved something great were allowed in.

The inside was decorated in the same manner as the rest of the village, colorful clothes, animal trophies, hides, feathers and paintings.

The elders were sitting around a table shaped in a demi-circle with the great elder, also called elder shaman, seated in the middle.

All of them were wearing strange cloaks covered by trinkets like colorful marbles and feathers which made these important leaders kind of funny…

The most impressive part of this room was the big hole in the middle of the floor that was covered by a thick glass flooring revealing strange contraptions above a pit of bubbling magma.

"Yes this was the place you were in yesterday. The heart of Vulcan that keeps Valhala alive." The elder the furthest to the right said, "And thanks to your efforts it is heating the dome again, albeit its strength seems to have grown a little weaker."

"Please, tell us what you have seen." A rude elder said without showing any kind of respect for the two of us nor the great elder.

Causing a commotion here wasn't a bright idea so I smiled and explained to them what we had seen in the observatory.

The elders kept cold expressions and only talked after I had finished his report.

"Robotic bugs? We have never seen such a species outside before…"

"It might be a new one. We have already seen the Devil's Den create new horrors…"

"They were eating out the walls? This could mean that they can enter the dome. We need to increase security!"

The elders kept on discussing about the tersmiths' existence amongst themselves so I stepped in.

"If I may… While I do not know much about the outside, why are we letting this devil's den attack us ? Can't we destroy it?"

"Boy… that is not possible. " The great elder said, "The devil's den is a foe that our clan has been fighting against for centuries… Let me throw light upon our clan's past.

There was once a time when a threat befell on our people, the water of the dome became polluted which poisoned our people and killed the animals living within…

To overcome this threat, a leader blessed with three spirits was born to rule over our clan…

He was the first to adventure into the ruins of the old ones to solve this danger, it was also at this time that he discovered the exit to the outside.

We were greeted by a dangerous world, very different from the comfort of the dome…

The greatest foe that he discovered was the devil himself residing in his machine den.

It seemed that it was searching for a way into Valhalla and the chief unknowingly opened a way for it.

An army of machines assaulted the holy mountain… We have been fighting against this fiend for three centuries now but we are still unable to exit the holy lands safely… "

This was another incredible revelation, our clan was at war… against a devil?

Since the dome's AI are called God's does it mean another AI went rogue and is killing humans?

And there is that thing called the devil's den… is it some kind of machine assembly line or 3D printer that creates machines?

It would make sense…

"I think I get the jist of things. We are at war against an army of machines that keep on coming out of this devil's den." I said, ridiculing their way of thinking, "And you are waiting for a Valhallan with multiple spirits to magically appear and save the clan?"

"How dare you talk to us in such a tone!?" One of the elders shouted, smashing his fist into the table. "

Looking to my right I saw Astrid's cold eyes almost piercing holes in the elders head before she noticed my glance and stopped glaring.

"I am merely stating a fact. If you expect someone else to lead you then you are not worthy of leading the entire clan." I responded calmly, I currently had the upper hand as I knew they were waiting for someone like me or Astrid albeit I wasn't knowledgeable about politics.

"Hmm, then please tell us young Matt… who should lead the clan?" The old woman sitting to the left of the great elder asked calmly. She was about to continue speaking but was cut off when Matt did so.

"We are." I responded, "You seek a leader that has the power to defeat the devil, someone with multiple spirits like me or Astrid…So following your stupid logic just make us the leaders."

"Hoho. In that case you would indeed be suitable as a War chief, but tell me, why would we need you?" A skinny elder with a bell adorned walking stick was the one that spoke this time.

"You just said that we have been imprisoned here by an enemy that keeps on improving and evolving. Letting it slowly eat away at our home and take our future from us should not be an option. We have to do something!"

The elders looked at me but stayed silent, until the great elder spoke up.

"I can understand your concerns. First off, let me explain a few things. It is not because someone is blessed with multiple mutations that he will become the village chief. It may have been this way before but the council will not allow for an imbecile to take charge over the clan. We have had a candidate like that previously… and he died during our first crusade against the metal devil.

You may be regarded highly by Oslo for your great intelligence but that does not mean you have the qualities to lead." He started, "As for the devil… we have tried to learn more about it from ancient records and even to launch an attack on its den but both resulted in failures. It is impossible for us to enter, the only time when we were able to advance was when a horde of machines exited the den's gate."

"And then?" I asked.

"We fought the army of machines but were met with another impenetrable gate after the fight, the loss of half the fighters resulted in nothing." The rude elder said with a bitter expression.

"Then let me try." I said

This probably sounds like a righteous knight willing to venture into the danger to save his allies but nope. I want to save Astrid from that ticking time bomb that Wendigo or whatever hacked into her nano robots and for that we had to meet 'it' face to face.

I also want to create a foothold for myself in this world and starting by becoming the leader of my clan is an obvious choice.

It took me a while to find what my purpose was. At first I wanted to rule the world, childish, then I wanted to collect beauties like one of those horny protagonists, adventure the world or become the strongest so that I could… do something great?

I could easily live peacefully within the dome but I'm not a bird locked in a cage, at least I'm not that kind of person anymore.

Since I decided that I would enjoy life and do everything I can… I decided to do all of the above... in well balanced proportions of course.

And I must finally admit that taking all the profession training wasn't a bright idea, you have no idea how much I suffered…

"You are a very brave young man, but I cannot allow this. There is no way for you to win against the fiend. We can accept your challenge again once you have grown older and stronger… Then I will allow it, if you win, it would mean that you are a born leader blessed by the gods and we, the council, will accept your ascension as our leader." the female elder voiced her proposal.

'It sounds like a good deal, but we don' t have a lot of time… Aiden, can you project a hologram outside even though I don't have an actual focus? '

[I can. It is one of your recognized skills after all. What do you wish to project?]

'Show them an image of Megatron threatening to invade the clan.'

[Sure thing Host.]

A bright yet dark silhouette appeared above the glass floor in the middle of the room.

The sudden Apparition startled the elders making them stand up from the chair and either backed off in fear or got ready to fight.

Even Astrid took out her battle axe in worry but quickly calmed down as she saw that Matt wasn't surprised at all.

"I am Megatron, prepare yourself as I am coming to crush you."

The hologram then disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the elders both apprehensive and scared of what was to come.

"It seems you don't have a choice anymore." Matt took the lead after indirectly threatening his own clan with an invasion.

The elders stared at him until the elder shaman calmly moved his seat and quietly sat back down.

He fixed Matt with a little smile and said in a charismatic tone "We have neglected the gods will. Not one but two challengers to the title of chieftain have appeared before us. This blessing by the gods was not without reason, the gods have given us a new hope to slay the devil and have prepared our two champions for the devil's arrival." he took a little pause and turned to his fellow elders, "We will send the chosen ones to the devil's den to liberate the clan from its evil influence and welcome their triumphant return with the chieftains throne."

The elders were speechless so Matt gave them a little encouragement.

"ALL HAIL VALHALLA."

The elders, albeit a little forced, followed with the chant

"ALL HAIL VALHALLA!"

2590 words