RD 2 Ch 5 (Patreon)

Chapter 5

“So if  you had all the power in the world, what would you do with it?” This wasn’t the first question Circe had asked me over our pottage.

Yet, it was probably the most interesting.

I leaned back to give more room for my stomach. My bowl having already been filled twice. “Well, my mother told me about the clan’s prophecy so I thought it would be interesting to prepare for the eventual demon invasion. Seems like something to work towards. Long term goals are good.” I approached the topic with a casual air that an eighteen year old might.

Yet, it was hard not to keep a little steel out of my voice. Because, in fact, it was my life’s purpose to kill the demons and protect those I cared about.

Circe put her head in the palm of her hand. She hadn’t eaten more than a few bites, like she was only remembering the flavor before putting it back down. “No women, wealth or anything else?”

“Those would be nice. I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t want them, but I don’t think they should be the goal. Survival comes first, and survival of those you care about comes second. After that, then you get to the good stuff.”

“Such a simple goal. Survival.” Circe smiled wide enough that her eyes pinched into two delicate crescents. Not a wrinkle to be seen on the ancient woman in front of me.

This conversation felt like a gauntlet of tests.

“You know, we’ve been living with the prophecy for years and years. If you spent your whole lifetime preparing and then it never came, wouldn’t you be disappointed?” She poked at her pottage.

“Not at all. I’d have all the preparations built and I could hand them off. And perhaps I would  provide my family with peace of mind.” I replied.

“What if they didn’t care and wasted it?” She continued.

I tilted my head. “That’s getting rather specific.”

“Well.” She waved around. “That’s what these islands were. A safe place for the Heros Clan. We stepped away from the world, hidden here to prepare. Yet you know the largest conflict in the Clan, right?”

I shook my head. This had never come up in my past life.

“The Hercules Branch wants to go public again, become the heroes of a modern age. Meanwhile, Olympus wants to hold to tradition and remain here on the island. You see, more than a few of the more powerful members of the Hercules faction can’t go out in public without causing alarm.” She explained. “Not to mention the older generation like myself has no where to train and continue to grow restless.”

Thinking about that, I laced my fingers together. “If one and two are fighting, then where does three stand? From my point of view you’d be the one to decide everything then.”

Circe smiled in such a way that made the hairs on my back stand on end. “I just want to prepare for the prophecy. The two of us are more alike than I think either of us realize.” It was like she wanted to gobble me up and force me into her faction.

“Maybe that’s why the wind blew me your way, to find a kindred spirit.” I smiled.

“Perhaps, but I think the wind is more fickle than that. Fate however is more kind than most realize.” She pushed her bowl back. “Let’s continue your tour. If you would?” She held her arm out for me.

I took her arm with plenty of eyes watching me as we moved. “It would probably be nice to meet up with the others?”

She waved away the thought. “They’re getting a tour of the island. I guarantee mine is better.” She walked me onto the bridge and pointed over to the central island. “That’s the coliseum. The one in Rome is a replica of ours.”

“Never seen it.” When I went to Rome in my past life, it was completely gone along with everything else fun. “It’s big.”

“You could fit a football field in the fighting pit. We used to do some mock battlefield fights down there. Back when we focused on fighting demons more.” She clicked her tongue. “There are also two permanent instances on the island for use by valued members of the clan. We use the coliseum for most important things, like your induction to the system.”

“Any tips there? Sounds like that decides everything. A cheat code would be nice.” I glanced at Circe.

She smiled. “Sadly no. Though I do find a general trend between people’s personalities and what they receive coming through initiation. Like, those Borrson’s are all brought up rough, having to fight for what they need. It’s no surprise that they get berserker and other brawling classes at a high rate. Though, some compare it to genetics. All the clans seem to believe the same thing, that coddling their children leads to poor classes and far poorer performance after you get your class. The Ennead Clan sends their children to survive in the desert for six months prior to their initiation and their kids are parentless, raised as servants.”

I blew out a breath. Living a relatively normal life was far better. While her words made sense to me, there was another thought.

Life, in particular hardship, seemed to generate the qualifications for many classes. Thinking of the sheer volume of classes I’d gotten in this life’s initiation spoke to that fact. Later when people took an academic approach, they would find that there were quite a few classes that just had hidden requirements to unlock.

Who knew, maybe it just took getting your face beaten in a few times to get a berserker class.

“Compared to the Ennead Clan, I suppose I had it easy.”

“Hopefully not too easy.” Circe laughed. “Around the coliseum are going to be most of your initiated related shops.” She gestured over the side of the bridge. “You can see them all huddling by the bridges. Not all the bridges there have the same shops so it’s good to poke around when you have some time.”

She pulled me back to walking. “The clan is fairly simple. Become stronger and then make the clan stronger. All of the branches spend time clearing out instances. It's really the best way to grow. From Portugal to Russia we have carte blanche to clear instances.”

“Nothing like the Free Player Alliance?” I asked.

“Oh, they exist in Europe for sure. Just stay out of our way. We even venture to the America’s for instances. They aren’t really claimed by any of the Clans.” She shrugged.

“If you travel that much, I don’t know how the internet isn’t full of your photos.” I noted. She was devastatingly attractive, and it wasn’t an illusion or Soul Gaze would have pierced through.

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Bran. That’s because I move fast and travel privately. Oh look, there seems to be the group you were separated from. They’ll walk the coliseum and hear the rich grand history of the Heros Clan.” She sounded bored already.

Simone, however, was like a beacon for me and turned to see me, bouncing on her heels and moving towards me as soon as she saw me. “Bran. Where’d you go?”

Circe clearly stopped to inspect Simone.

[Simone Sweet

Level: 99

Class: Lilim Saint SSS

Status: Overjoyed, aroused, pregnant

Strength: 580

Agility: 605

Vitality: 655

Intelligence: 629

Spirit: 641

Skills:

Soul Absorption Arts F

Blushing Phoenix Bloodline SS (Awakened)(Claimed)

…]

“Wow.” Circe stated calmly, but there was a touch of something in the tone that said more. “You are a very lucky man.”

“Bran! Your mother is looking everywhere for you.” Simone was worried yet at the same time came up, ignoring my arm in Circe’s and kissed me. “I’m so happy I found you.”

“This is Circe.” I introduce the woman on my arm. “I think there’s probably some appropriate title that belongs there too. Circe, this is Simone.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” Circe shook Simone’s hand. “I knew this one was destined for good things, but you might have used up all his luck.”

Simone laughed. “You should see his fiance. She’s a knockout. Besides, we both rely on Bran. When situations get tough, he’s levelheaded and very capable.”

Circe gave her a light smile, probably thinking it was minor things that I’d been involved in to date. Or she was wondering what could trouble Simone with her stats and skills. “Two already. Truly Heros stock. These men are all insatiable.”

Simone giggled. “I know. That’s the best part.”

“Simone, this is the leader of the Odyssey faction, some decorum please.” I urged before she said anything too inappropriate.

“Oh. That’s the one you were talking about joining on the way here, right? I would love to go on adventures with you, and I know Gloria would be all over it too. Maybe we could be your muscle out near Vein City.” Simone shifted to Circe.

The older woman laughed. “You are good. Casually slip that in there while seeming so innocent? I almost feel like I’ve led two foxes into the hen house.”

“It’s not that bad.” I tried to play it off. “Simone is just trying to help.”

Circe looked Simone up and down. “Why the illusion?”

Simone blinked and popped out of her illusion, wearing the habit she’d gotten from the instance and a slinky black dress. A pair of horns tried to poke out of the habit. “I worried a little about the whole demon bad thing and these.” She touched the horns. “That, and I feel a little more blonde around Bran.”

Circle laughed and reached out to grab hold of one of the horns. “Yes, demons are a big dangerous thing. However, they aren’t nearly as cute as you. Have you seen a real demon?”

Simone resisted looking at me. I could almost feel the shift in her attention, which meant Circe did too. “Yes, I have. Twice.”

“Your Soul Absorption Arts tells me where one of them might be. Did you know that technique is quite famous among the clans and unfortunately lost to time?” Circe was still smiling, but there was a tension in the air as she still held Simone by the horn.

Simone shook her head slightly. “No, I did not know that.” She pulled on my arm.

“Good thing you’re attached to this one.” Circe let go of her horn and patted me on the shoulder. “I have high hopes for him. Seeing you, I thought for a second his luck was all used up, but tell me truthfully, he wasn’t lucky was he? No, he made his own luck.”

Simone glanced at me.

I shrugged. “You can tell her.” I was fairly certain I’d failed to fool Circe entirely.

“He saved me from the demon that tried to possess me.” Simone answered suddenly.

Circe smiled. “Then, Bran, what will your class be when you go through initiation?”

I wasn’t sure if she could actually see through my talismans. There was no skill I could see on her list that would actually pierce them. Was she just guessing? “S Rank Vampire.” I said, playing the game with the old woman.

“Only S rank?” She asked, tilting her head. “There are a few very powerful hopefuls going into initiation this year. S rank might not be as impressive as you hope.”

“Who said I needed to impress anyone? Sometimes it's the nail that sticks out too much that gets hammered down.” I replied.

Circe smiled. “I hate to tell you Bran, but you stuck out to me. At least awaken a SS Class. If you do, I’ll take you and Simone under my wing and give you some preferential treatment.” The woman wasn’t exactly putting off a dangerous aura, but I realized that she could tell something was wrong. “You held my arm, Bran. I can tell your physical strength doesn’t match your stats.”

I closed my eyes.

Damnit, I had thought I had moderated myself quite well. Then again, even with my past life, Circe was still several times my age. Fucking old monster.

“When I first caught you.” Circe said, patting me on the shoulder and giving it a squeeze. “You flinched hard enough for it to be clear. Yet your stat sheet told another story. Not to mention, you clearly were able to get a detailed view of my stats.” She smiled a little too bright. “Bran, you have my interest, but understand that after initiation you’ll be put in one of our open instances. It won’t let you in if you are over level one. I cannot protect you from those consequences.”

“That won’t be a problem.” I said sharply, now that my guise had been pulled off. I straightened up and stared back at her with the eyes of a veteran of three demon wars.

Her smile became genuine. “There. That’s the boy I’m interested in. I’m very happy that you passed the test and weren’t a demon. However, I can’t say I’m not curious, oddities are always fun. SS Ranked class Bran, and I’ll swoop in and scoop you up. At that point you’ll explain to me your goals. If I like them you’ll have a very comfortable ride in Odyssey.”

“I just want to awaken the best bloodline that I can. Perhaps come away from here with some tactics to improve other people’s bloodlines. I have a small organization of less than fifty initiated working with me in Vein City. We’re building a fortress for the demon invasion.” It was time to be honest with her. There was a good chance she was going to investigate me before we next met.

“Let’s talk and walk. I’ll show you the rest of the clan and where you’ll be staying.” Circe hooked her arm in Simone’s this time and walked beside me.