6

It had now been 20 years since the disappearance of Lightning and numerous people occasionally walked up to his statue to bow and confess their problems. One such person was a young woman, probably not much older than 20 years old, who had dropped to her knees and lowered her head before the statue of this great man.

With tears welling in her eyes, the woman spoke, "good morning, uncle Bolt. It has now been 21 years since you saved my mother. Unknown to you when you saved her without so much as a passing thought, you inadvertently saved this little life of mine. Please return soon, mother and I haven't properly thanked you for giving us a future."

Just as the woman was about to continue with her confession, her eyes caught sight of a pair of boots in front of her. Just as she was about to yell at this rude bastard for intruding on a confession, she realized they looked familiar.

Looking up she glanced between the pair worn by the statue and the man standing before her. After an internal debate, the woman raised her head fixing her eyes on the man in front of her. Once again shifting her gaze between the statue and the man, the woman found herself at a loss for words. While they were separated by years, the visage of the two was quite similar.

A deep voice reverberated in the courtyard, "you have your mother's eyes." His tone was one of reminiscence as he seemed to stare off into space recalling a certain woman whom he had saved from a wolf.

The woman felt the air leaving her lungs as she squeezed out some words, "clan head?" The woman had hope in her gaze as she looked at this mountain-like man before her.

Lightning let loose a toothy grin, "the one and only. How's my clan been doing these days?"

Numerous gasps and words of elation spread in the courtyard. Is it really him? Has he really returned? Where has he been? Many questions were being asked by the clan members in the surroundings.

Lightning looked at the people in the courtyard as he saw a few familiar faces, "send word, I wish to hold our second official clan meeting." A few people hidden amongst the masses retrieved a special talisman from their pockets as they spoke into them. As though a direct reply to this, numerous auras could be felt traveling at high speed towards the courtyard.

While this clan was small amongst those in the world, it still had over 10,000 members. All of these people had either been saved by Lightning or saw the clan as their only salvation from the strict opinions of the majority.

Within a mere 10 minutes, over 8,000 people had arrived in the courtyard with a few tens standing on the rooves of the buildings surrounding it.

With pride building up once more in his chest, Lightning spoke while looking at his clan, "it seems that the majority are here and I imagine the rest are living their lives or are on missions. First of all, hello everyone. I see a lot of new faces here and I welcome you to my humble clan, I hope you enjoy your stay. Second, this young man here is my son." Lightning proceeded to point at Alex. "I was a fool and fell for a woman at the wrong time, surely you'll forgive me. On the bright side, my humble clan now has an heir. Go on, introduce yourself." Lightning spoke those last words fully expecting they may be his last due to being so informal with the Great One.

Alex looked around with a curious gaze, he could feel the emotions of these clan members. This feeling was one of trust, one of pride, one of faith. These people truly saw Lightning as their leader and he was caught up in thought comparing this to the emotions he felt in the air when his father gathered the subjects to make a formal announcement. This was a truly eye-opening experience for the young prince.

"Ah, hello. You can just refer to me as Alex, my name. Unlike this old geezer here who likes his titles." Alex spoke with a smile as he appreciated the air filling the courtyard. This feeling was one he could get used to.

Those in the surroundings thought silently before kneeling, "greetings to the heir!" Alex looked at this sight in shock, this was an unbelievably honest display of loyalty that he had never witnessed.

In his shock, his dignified demeanor vanished as he stammered, "n-no need for t-this. I- my position does not deserve this respect..." His voice trailed off as he looked at the ground.

Everyone silently watched the heir, almost everyone, "the son of my benefactor deserves at least this much. Please take care of us." One man shouted out with tears in his eyes while looking at the two black-haired men.

As if a signal was sounded in peoples' ears numerous voices chimed in to show support for this new heir.

With a loud clap, Lightning spoke out, "alright that's enough, we won't be here for very long. Alex and I are going to be heading to the central kingdoms soon."

The crowd seemed to have got their words of joy stuck in their throats, "uncle Bolt, will you return soon?" The young woman asked with a soft voice.

Lightning thought for a moment, "at most I will be gone for 3 years, as for when Alex decides to return..." Lightning turned towards Alex, "that is his own decision."

Alex had thought this over many times either during or after his various adventures. Before, he would always decide against returning, but now he had experienced a truly new feeling and now had a connection to this world.

With a firm gaze, Alex spoke up, "I'm not sure when, but I will definitely return. Please continue getting stronger while you wait."