Whiteflame Clan

The journey is about six hours. It was a bit long but the comfort their personal carriages provided compensated for the ardous travel.

Krios stared at the window of his carriage, soaking in the view of their clan grounds that streched for miles ahead. Their clan owned about ten thousand square miles of land. And although it is a significant amount of land, it is still one of the smallest in the south western region with sects and clans having more lands. And it is but a tiny portion of the entire continent of Keshvan which spans for tens of millions of miles in all direction.

The Whiteflame clan grounds is situated at the south-western part of the continent, at the foot of the Aldecian mountain range. sharing it with three other groups— the Lightbane sect, Riverfrost clan, and Divine Light sect. Together, the four of them make the Quadra-Star Union.

He was in the middle of his thoughts when the carriage suddenly halted.

"Master Krios, we are about to enter the clan gates." The attendant informed him.

'Finally, I can't wait to see what has changed in this place!' Krios thought to himself.

He looked around and saw the enormous gate. It was about fifty meters tall made of pure marble. It was painted with different pictures of events, some of which seemed too mystical to be true for Krios every time he sees them. This was only his fifth time being in the main clan grounds which is why he was so excited to be there.

Although he is the grandson of the clan head, he and his family does not live in the central area nor at its vicinity. They also very rarely visit which is why he was excited to come here.

After a few moments, the carriage continued moving and he can see that they were heading straight to the Palace. It's the place where the clan head, his grandfather lives. It's also where his father's eldest brother, his uncle Ikarus, the clan heir lives.

The reason why Krios and his family don't live here is because every child of the clan head, except for the eldest, must leave the palace and live somewhere else when they reach the age of eighteen. Only the clan heir, which is almost always the eldest remains to live in the palace, and stay with the clan head to learn the ways of being a clan leader.

Their carriages converged in a central avenue along with other carriages carrying other clan members and they convoyed straight to the majestic palace at the center of the grounds.

They passed by different shops, restaurants, and other establishments along the central avenue of the grounds. The street is lined up with pill shops, merchandise stores, weapon shops, accommodation rentals, and many other service providing stores.

There were also smaller streets that branched out from the central avenue with more shops and establishments lining them respectivey. Krios also saw the arena not so far away. It is a large bowl shaped arena that can sit fifty thousand people at once.

"Master Krios, we are now at the entrance of the White palace." His attendant informed him once again. He then started to disembark and went out of the carriage.

"Krios!" Shouted a familiar voice.

Krios turned towards the source of the voice.

"Uncle Jensen!" He beamed as he saw his father's other older brother. Like his father, his uncle Jensen also lives far away due ti the clan rules of succession.

"How have you been? I heard from your father that you have finally pushed into the Soul Defining Realm." His uncle talked as he walked towards him.

"Ah yes, you are right uncle. Unfrotunately, this is where my cultivation journey ends." Krios smiled bitterly.

His uncle didn't respond, but insted just ruffled his hair with an apologetic smile. He then proceeded to walk past him and go straight to Krios' father to talk with them. Krios also saw his brother talking to two people so he just stood there all on his own.

His mother then signaled him to come towards her and Krios walked towards her. He didn't want to dampen his spirits by his conversation with his uncle.

Yes, he can no longer continue toward the next realm which is the Core Reformation Realm because his fractured mana core won't be able to handle the pressure of core reformation. This is also the reason why he can't join the coming tournament. But he can still do some basic mana manipulation which is enough for him, atleast for now.

"Are we going to meet with grandpa now?" Krios asked his mother.

"Yes, we are to meet him and talk for a while, then we'll retreat to our accomodation to rest." His mother responded while holding his hand.

"When's the tournament going to begin?" He asked again.

"Tomorrow morning. At around eight." His brother answered. The three of them are walking behind his father and uncle.

"By the way, have you seen the twins? They're both at the late Core Reformation Realm now! They're both so freakishly fast in their cultivation." Keian said again.

"Yeah I saw them talking to you. And I know right. They're younger than me by a year and they're both in the late Core Reformation Realm already." Krios said with amazed tone.

This cultivation speed is considered fast knowing that kids at fourteen would would usually be at the early stage of Core Reformation as it is the norm in this world. The twins are his Uncle Jensen's children. They are Arkane, and Arkana. A boy and a girl both fourteen years of age.

They continued walking inside the hallway of the grand palace. The side of the hallway leading up to the throne room is lined up with fifteen meter tall pure white marble columns with golden accents. The place was also litered with marble statues depicting the likeness of their predecessors and ancestors, some of which, looked eerily familiar to Krios.

Krios is at awe with the grandeur of the place. He has been inside the palace for a couple of times before and it's beauty never fails to impress him.

After some time, the group arrived at the entrance of the throne room. They entered one by one and was greeted by the sight of an enormous circular room with a domed roof. It was even more grandiose than the outside with gold statues and blue ornaments decorating the surrounding.

And the most majestic thing inside was the Throne itself. It was a sit made from marble lined with pure gold, elevated in a pedestal. It's back rest carved like a blazing white flame. It was a seat worthy of a king. And there sat his grandfather, looking down on every one of them from his throne— Clan head Andreas Whiteflame.

"Welcome my children! I have been waiting for your arrival and I'm glad you all have arrived in one piece." The clan head's voice boomed. He looked regal with his golden white robes, his aura accentuated with the white fire blazing behind his throne like a ghostly inferno.

The white flames are a signature of their clan, thus their name. But this white flame can only be wielded by the clan head and his heir. This kind of flame can only be cultivated using a secret art passed down from clan head to clan head.

The rest of the direct family has blue flames, this includes Krios and his family, and his uncles family. While the rest of the clan members have the typical red-orange flames.

"Father, thank you for having us here. How have you been?" His uncle Jensen spoke.

"I have been well. I have been patiently waiting for this day to come as I have wanted to see the rest of my family." His grandfather smiled warmly while looking at each and every one of them.

"And I am also aware that your journey have been ardous and the kids need some rest for the upcoming tournament. So you may now go to your accomodations." He continued.

"Thank you father. We'll see you at dinner tonight." His father finally spoke.

"Ah, I will look forward to that then. Now go and rest." His grandfather answered and dismissed all of them.

They all bowed before going their separate ways. His uncle's designated rooms are in the west wing while his father and his family are allocated the east wing of the palace.

As they were walking, Krios suddenly stopped in his tracks as felt a faint, but distinct energy. It was different from the ambiant mana in the surrounding but he can't quite put his finger on it. His family noticed him just standing there and stoped as well.

"Are you okay son?" His father asked.

Krios continued to feel the mysterious energy but he was unsure about what it was. He took a few more seconds before he responded.

"Yeah, I just felt something." He told his father as he continued walking. He didn't tell his family about what he felt because he was sure they did not feel it.

As they kept walking, the faint energy slowly but finally went away. He kept thinkin about that faint energy as they arrived in their designated accomodation.

'What could have been the reason behind it?' He thought to himself.

'And why was I the only one who felt it?' The questions kept on coming as he bade his parents and brother goodbye and entered his personal room.