A "Conversation" and History Lesson

The morning came and went peacefully, and it wasn't until after lunch that Axum was requested to come to meet with the elders.

Walking into a vast room, which could have easily fit 100 people inside, the first thing he saw was a row of similar looking people. About 12 men, with the ones in the middle getting older as you went. The supporting beams and arches in the room were dark green, and the walls were painted with murals of mountains and beasts dotting the landscape. With the skylights showing the dust in the air and the paintings having some peeling paint, Axum could tell that this hall had not been used in a long time.

The second thing he saw was that he wasn't given a chair to sit in while he was speaking with them, unsure if this was a slight against him he raised his alertness to make sure that he spoke as fluently as possible. Thankfully Zhao Wen was standing next to him, just in case he needed help with translating.

"Axum greets the clan elders," he said while bent slightly forward.

One of the first things he learned when speaking with Zhao Wen was the basic greetings and social rules when talking with people below, at, and above, your social standing. She said that it is polite to bow to people considered elders, among other examples. And one thing he didn't want was pissing off people who decide his fate for no reason. But he couldn't tell if what he did was positive or negative because they lacked any reaction.

After a few moments of silence and Axum feeling his lower back starting to cramp, someone finally spoke up.

"Your name is Axum, is that correct?" one of the elders closer to the center calmly asked.

"Yes, clan elder," Axum raised his head and spoke in confirmation.

That same elder who spoke before slightly smiled and said "My name is Zhao Li, you may address me as Senior Zhao Li. You should understand why you are here today, is that correct?"

"Yes, Senior Zhao Li, I'm a person of mysterious background who was injured, and your clan healed me without regard to the consequences, and I am in debt for your hospitality." Axum tripped up some words, so he had to seek help from Zhao Wen twice before he could correctly speak, and this brought some frowns to a few elders who sat on the outer edges of the council.

"Yes, that is correct, as the saying goes 'No good deed goes unpunished' so we would like to know more about your background so we can find out our clans punishment." Zhao Li spoke without mentioning the stuttering, and he didn't seem to hold disdain for Axum and his language difficulties that some of the elders seem to feel towards him.

"I assume that Zhao Fang spoke about my background before, and that is why you have called this meeting so quickly, so before I answer, I'd like to know what conclusions you've already drawn." Stuttering less but unable to feel accomplishment because some of the elders seemed to want to throw him out of the hall this instant.

"We understand your name is Axum and that you were found with broken legs in a field in between our Clan and The Holy River City. And that you were wearing clothes that none of us have seen before, let alone guess at the cost of them. You seem to not be from the area, and possess strange abilities, that seems to be the basic understanding we have of you." Zhao Li spoke neutrally up until the point of the last sentence upon which his gaze sharpened. And with an increase in intensity in his speech, this conversation seemed to turn to an interrogation.

"We need you to tell us where you are from and how you ended up in that situation we found you in." Zhao Li turned from a friendly uncle who seemed sympathetic to a stern father, who found that you broke a rule.

"I am from the Aternic Empire, I don't assume you know where it is. As for how I ended up in that situation is a bit difficult to explain." Axum was debating in his mind what he should say, he already explained the situation to Fang, and he knew that what he was going to say would not be believed by the elders, so he instead settled on the middle-ground of half-truths.

"I ended up where I was found from a miscalculation, I was traveling from the Empire to Mornover, a city outside the Empire, and on my way there the transportation failed and I was dropped from the sky. Resulting in the injuries you see here." Axum weaved a rudimentary excuse that he could come up with that would not hold up under intense scrutiny, but Zhao Li seemed to have heard of his weird situation from Zhao Fang and didn't pressure him on that but instead on his background.

After an interrogation on his background that would have caught a few lies if Axum wasn't telling the truth. Axum started to calm down and realized that he had sweat pouring down his back. Zhao Li also seemed to relax a bit and returned to a more friendly attitude.

"Well, Axum, this conversation might seem intense to you, but you should understand that it is necessary when you consider that we are on the brink of war with another family. You should have noticed by now that our Clans manor is enormous for such a small amount of people living within, and that is because our Clan is mobilizing for war against the Bai family. Your arrival can be interpreted as suspicious."

'This doesn't feel like a conversation to me, but I do understand where his worries come from.' Axum remarked in his head.

"The tension in our state has been reaching a breaking point, and while we won't kick out an injured person without reason, we also would like to keep an eye on you while keeping you at arms reach. This is for our clans' safety and yours as well because if not, you'd have to leave." Zhao Li concluded with a certainty in his tone.

'So, while I won't be kicked out, I will be isolated. That's not that bad considering my situation. And while I'm still injured and have a lack of understanding in this world, I can't afford to leave yet.'

"I once again thank your clan for your hospitality." Axum made sure to get this point across.

"You're welcome, while you're here you can do as you like, but there is no fighting, and your meals will be delivered to you. You may also train with the other members of the Clan and receive instruction, but we won't tell clan secrets." Zhao Li wanted to make sure he had an understanding of Axum's position in the Clan while making sure where to draw the line that he shouldn't cross.

After a few more words of discussion and feeling, mixed emotions from the other elders seated Axum finally left the hall.

Understanding the clans' situation better, Axum asked Wen to help him in his studies of this world.

(info dump)

The country that the Zhao Clan resides in is named Zhe; it is not ruled by a single person; instead, it is run by The Eight Great Clans situated alongside The Holy River that flows into the ocean. The history of the region was that it was unified under The Grand Emperor 1000 years ago, who created the Holy River City where his Empire was run from. After a few generations had failed in producing a competent heir that lived up to the Emperor's expectations, he instead left control of his country to his trustworthy court and military instead of having an inadequate ruler threaten the countries stability.

The factions that ended up forming were the Zhao Clan, the Bai Clan, and the most powerful faction of the Zhe. The Zhe Faction was named after the Emperor's family name and the name of the country. They are the most powerful faction, not because of being a grand clan but because they are a conglomerate of 4 clans.

The Zhe faction represents the Emperor's court, while the Zhao and Bai Clans are the remnants of the military. The Li family is a sister family to the Zhao's whose relationship is held together by their close familial relations. At the same time, the Bai clan has recently made the Tang clan subservient to them, and this is where the Zhao Clan believes the Bai have the confidence to take on the Zhao's.

Axum asked why the Emperor had such strict requirements for the heir when most rulers just wanted their kids to have as much power as they did. Wen replied, saying that the forest to the south is the reason why.

"The basic geography of our region is simple; our country of Zhe is centered around the river that flows in from the mountains in the west. So from the mountains in the west to the ocean in the east is all under the control of Zhe, but in the south, which is estimated to be the same size as Zhe, the forest is controlled by spirits." Zhao Wen gave some necessary information but eluded to something that Axum never expected.

"Spirits?" Axum quickly asked.

"Yes, after the Emperor finished his conquests, he turned south. A place no human has ever recorded being conquered. And anytime he tried to send scouts or armies into the forest they would not return, or for the few that did escape, they talked about the trees attacking them or being attacked from shadows. So the Emperor's fear of being invaded by these unknown enemies made him re-evaluate the succession."

(end of info dump)

"How long does it take to go from the Zhao Clan Manor to the Holy River City?" Axum asked.

"It is about a 2-3 day travel from here to there on foot, depending on weather and the roads," Wen replied.

Axum decided to switch to talking with Wen about his experiments with Qi after he had his history lesson. Because of his small success from before, when he was in his room, he decided to ask about the results of his experiment. Axum explained it like this, instead of Qi acting as an extension of his body and moving like water, it instead concentrates where he intends the Qi to be.

Zhao Wen was quite confused, but after a long discussion and showing her this ability, she was shocked and said that she had never heard of something like this before.

"Whenever Qi is leaving the body, it has intent and is enriched by our personality and experiences, that is why you can tell a lot about someone based on their Qi. But from what you're saying instead of it being altered by your body and soul, you instead draw upon it from the environment, completely bypassing using your body as the medium. Instead of the Qi being an extension of your body, it seems that your Qi seems to be an extension of your mind." Zhao Wen explained to him but started mumbling towards the end as if talking to herself.

While Axum didn't completely understand what she was saying, he thought he got the basic gist of the content.

When he was viewing the classes, the students were able to make the Qi flow from their bodies to the air with the intent of punching, which made the Qi turn into a punch. While Axum uses the air itself as the medium instead of his body. He tested why he can't use Qi from his body, and the result didn't surprise him that much. He didn't have any Qi channels in his body, and while it made sense to him because he wasn't born here, he was pleased that Qi was able to respond to some of the essential magic techniques he learned that can summon and move magic.

'Well, let's see how far I can take Qi-bending and see if it's going to help me' Axum quickly decided to try to improve his understanding and proficiency in the only thing that would save his life in this world.