Meeting The Clan Head

The morning came so soon and this time, it wasn't just the lady who came to the room. Standing before her was a brute who happens to be half naked, he was just wearing shorts made from some animal's skin with a deep scar running down from his neck to the chest.

Just seeing this man, the two could not help but shake in fear as they watch him get closer by the second, and although he was not carrying any weapon, but the way he carries himself, tells the two he's not someone to be messed with.

The lady could not help but let out a chuckle when seeing the look on their face before turning to the man beside her as she gave him a slight nudge.

"You are scaring them Marcus" she said with a frown.

All the man could do was let chuckle before keeping his aura in check as they approached the kids.

"Hello boys, how are you feeling today?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"We're okay ma'am, who is he?" replied Alden before asking his question while turning to the man.

"Oh, he's here to take you both to see the clan head" replied the lady with a smile.

"Alright, that's enough talking already. You would rather not keep the clan head waiting right" said Marcus while giving the lady a knowing look.

"Sure" she replied before instructing the two to do whatever Marcus said.

With that, Marcus begins to exit the room without saying anything to the two but knowing what might happen if they refuse to follow, Ethan quickly drags Alden by the hand as they hurry to catch up to him.

After leaving the room, they were surprised by what they saw, and it's like all this while, they were kept in a small house. What they saw outside were more bigger houses with people carrying around tending to their stuff and occasionally, they would come across some set of people sparring in an open field while hitting each other with strange powers similar to the power they saw the lady did with the bottle.

They couldn't help but have their eyes glued to the set of people sparring until they heard the voice of Marcus calling ahead of them.

"Pick up the pace boys".

Taking their eyes off the fight, they began to follow him from behind while at the same time, they were observing their surroundings. There they saw a blacksmith hammering a material, while there are some places where people could be seen taking care of some wild beasts which they have never seen before.

"This place is astonishing" Ethan was forced to say.

"Compared to our home, this place is just full of wonders. I wonder what those guys are doing over there" asked Alden while looking at some men throwing leafs into a big cauldron.

"They are known as alchemists and what they are doing is simply making potions and pills that could be useful to us" reply Marcus as he continues to lead the way.

Hearing the explanation he gave, the two could not help but be amazed at what those in the ironwood fortress clan could do. It didn't take long before they arrived at a house that seemed to be bigger than the other houses with four men keeping watch of the surroundings. And unlike Marcus who was half naked, these men were wearing a green robe while holding spears in their hands as they continued with their patrol.

"The clan heading is waiting inside so get moving" Marcus said to them before heading inside while ignoring the guards.

Staying close to him, they went inside the house only to see how big the place is and the wonderful thing about it is that there are fewer people residing inside. Following Marcus from behind, they went through a door that took them into a room where they could see five men sitting down while facing each other except for one that seemed to be a bit above the other.

Seeing this, they didn't need a reminder about whom the old man sitting above the others is as they quickly bow when seeing Marcus bowing.

Watching them from above, the clan leader orders them to rise before asking.

"What are your names"?

"I'm Alden, and he's Ethan clan sir" replied Alden who seemed to be more composed than Ethan who was trembling in fear.

"I see Alden, what brought you two to my territory and where are you from?" the clan head asked again.

"We came from the whispering pine village which happened to be attacked, and we decided to leave to search for a better place to live and that's how we came to find this place" replied Alden.

"Now I understand why we didn't get any quota from the whispering pine village, looks like they were eliminated," said one of the men sitting below the clan head.

"Who could have the guts to attack the whispering pine village, don't they know it's under the protection of the ironwood fortress clan?" said another elder as he slammed his hand on the table before him.

When he slammed his hand on the table, Alden and Ethan could not help but jolt in fear. All this while the clan head didn't say a thing as the elders continued to vent their anger before he finally spoke up.

"These people who attack your village, did you happen to see their appearance, especially what they were wearing or did you hear the words they say" asked the clan head and the moment he asked this question, the elders all calmed down.

"We were hunting at the bamboo forest and didn't know what was happening in the village until returning to meet the mess they have made, but I found this on the body of one of the villagers that was killed" replied Alden before showing the red tag that has the image of a snake with is jaw opened wide.

When they all saw the tag Alden showed them, their expression all changed with the vein popping out of the clan head hand as he slammed his hands on the hand rest while scattering it in the process.

"So it was the serpent eye sect doing all along" said the clan head with anger written all over his face.