In partially cloudy skies, we soared at top speed, silent in anticipation of what could turn out to be a weird confrontation. I told the party we were going to have to be ruthless. Send a message. But don’t be an asshole and kill them. Of course, they knew that went without saying, and I wasn’t about to hurt Nuwa’s dad. Rough him up, but not hurt.
Although they’d probably kill us if the roles were reversed. People in this world were quite selfish, mostly nobles, but you get the point. I didn’t want to resort to violence, I really didn’t, but the academy trio didn’t take no or fuck off for an answer. They truly forced my hand. I had no choice but to cheat with a certain prompt, one that I put off for some time now due to the lack of fucks to give. Man, maybe I should work on that. Start caring a tiny bit more. Biggest challenge of the year.
I brought the prompt to the front view.
[Master Nate Sullivan, will you accept the hero’s party as disciples? You have rejected their apprenticeships, as it would require them to learn your trade. Discipleships, however, are followers of you, your ideas, your law to say the least. You do not have to answer this prompt now, but accepting this could mean becoming an unofficial clan. If so, contribution points will no longer be tracked by your system, but each individual. They will also become automated, awarded for achievements only. You become only partially responsible for a few rewards.]
“Listen up,” I said. “We’re approaching the trap in a bit, but before we dive in headfirst, I need to know something. Are you willing to become my disciples? Feel free to say no. Lord knows you’ll be helping me out.”
They didn’t hesitate. All four of them, Ronica, Iris, Nuwa, and Maxus said yes and even spoke for Ramon and Kelvin.
“Do you mean it? You’ll take us as your disciples?” Nuwa asked, overly enthusiastic. The only thing I felt was sorry for them. What kind of fucked up nonsense had the kingdom put the hero’s party through?
In a fairytale, heroes were selected at birth or by some deity. In the Kingdom of Merridon, the church saw some kind of profiting opportunity and branded the group. Even two married men, likely with families.
There wasn’t anything as unrealistic as love or lust, nor were they playing the same games as the nobles were. The hero’s party searched for hope, help, guidance. Hope, because they stood no chance whatsoever against this Peace Spawner guy. They were scared. They clung to me probably because I was the first person of power to so much as speak to them without expectations. But I had known that for a while, which made it easy to befriend them. They had no malicious intent.
When I first arrived in this world and read some of the history books, I thought they were actually stronger. A black and white thought.
I selected yes on the prompt, adding the entire hero’s party to my discipleship. I minimized the new notifications except one.
[You are now the leader of an unofficial clan. All disciples, apprentices, and those who work at your shop have been notified. Clan options are now available.]
[Disciple or clan initiation needed for further benefits and bonding. They all need to hear from you.]
[Warning! Your disciple, Ramon Thunderblade, is in trouble. He has no training for situations like this and as a result, cannot follow a protocol. Improvision isn’t an option due to Headmaster Titus outclassing him in realms.]
Eventually, we came upon the scene from above. Ramon barely standing as the headmaster casually walked toward him.
“You really didn’t have to make this difficult, lad,” Titus said. “Your deception was good, I can admit to that. My two students aren’t trained enough to avoid such a trick. You were spotted leaving town with a traveler’s bag. Perhaps to catch up with the others?”
Titus shook his head. “To go on a quick trip? Or to draw our attention for some other purpose? Either way, you will tell us where Raider is, or we’ll just wait for him to show up. I’ve tried to be patient, offer opportunities to such a talent, but when you’re too rude to so much as talk to me, I’m afraid I have to take drastic measures. Luna, Simon. Prepare to take him in.”
“Yes, headmaster,” Luna said, her voice nearly sing-song. The woman was too excited, likely from getting to see the headmaster fight for the first time. Judging by how terrible Ramon looked, Titus was no slouch.
But he wouldn’t be a match for me. Even worse, I was pissed. Very pissed. Nobody made demands of me.
I blasted my aura to the limit. All of their heads snapped up to the sky, eyes in awe and probably in horror. Because all they saw was a giant red star falling down at them. It moved slow enough for them to dodge, but too fast for any trap to be executed, likely some kind of binding spell.
I hopped from Beakwing, landing at Ramon’s side.
“Forgive me. I underestimated their persistence… stubbornness,” Ramon said.
Technically those words meant the same thing, but now wasn’t the time to be an asshole. Actually, yes, yes it was, but not to my allies.
“You’ve gone too far, academy headmaster,” I said, power carrying through my voice. “You fucked up badly, attacking my disciple.”
The headmaster’s danger sense could not prepare him for the fist that knocked him through a few trees.
“Raider, stop it!” Luna cried. “We only wanted to talk, present you with a better way of life, an oppo—”
“Shut it, kid,” I said. She closed her mouth immediately. “You nobles are all the same. If you don’t get what you want, you throw a tantrum.”
I looked at Nuwa. “He’s fine, but that had to be done.”
The nun-like girl only nodded, but the worry still radiated from her like the sun’s heat. I couldn’t blame her. I could easily kill her dad and there wouldn’t be a damn thing she could do about it.
But in the time that they’d gotten to know me, she wasn’t worried about death, just him getting heavily injured.
She healed Ramon the minute Beakwing landed. Titus burst from the trees, struggling through my aura to walk over to me.
“Speak your next words carefully, Titus,” I said. “A war with our clan will result in you not leaving here.”
I held a hand up to Nuwa, not in the mood for her goody-goody soft approach to this situation. These people needed to be reminded that they weren’t invincible, that they couldn’t bully everyone into following their commands.
“C-clan,” Titus said, eyes widening. “Were you a clan the entire time?”
“A hidden clan,” I said. “For now, you will only refer to us as the Cheat Force. Not a group of heroes as you’re imagining, just magicians living among the common people as common people. But if you want to make an enemy of me, then I—”
“No!” Simon said, his voice nearly a whine. In fact, the elf looked as he was about to sob. Maybe that was because Ronica had a dagger at his neck. Maybe. Good job, twerp.
“We didn’t come all this way to fight, Sir Raider,” Titus said.
“Of course you didn’t, and you threw me the academy sales pitch, which I politely declined,” I said. “Listen, it’s time to open your eyes. Think about—”
I blurred in front of him and grabbed the man by the throat, lifting him in the air. “Had I not come after my disciple, you would’ve killed him, yes?”
Titus furiously shook his head. There, seeing raw fear, I dropped him. He collapsed, coughing multiple times. Nuwa looked as if she was going to have a panic attack, but Maxus placed a hand in front of her.
“I need you to get this through your head, Titus. No one here is interested in attending your academy. At least not yet,” I said. “If you weren’t being an asshole, I’d probably recommend a few promising people your way. But this, attacking mine will not be tolerated. And just because you’re a headmaster of a famous academy does not mean you’re above the law. If you attack my disciples again, so much as scratch them, I will come for you.”
I shook my head. “What do you gain from this? For every student you forced into that academy, a dagger may be stabbed into your back in the future.”
“We’ve never forced anyone,” Titus said as I started to walk away. “This… this is a misunderstanding. I… Please, accept my apologies. I mishandled this greatly, gave you the wrong impression.”
“Perhaps we will speak again someday, Titus,” I said. “But not today. My patience can only be stretched so much before I have to take the law into my own hands. Go back to the capital. If you’re not gone from this area by tonight, I will make you regret ignoring my mercy. This goes for your two little pets as well.”
“I don’t want to die!” Simon snapped.
I released my aura’s grip on the two, allowing them to collapse. They were sweaty and breathing heavily, as if running a ruthless marathon. But hostages were hostages. As they were going to do the same with Ramon.
I walked without saying another word, the Cheat Force following me. I could tell the defeated Titus would not take any chances and leave.
“Academy of Ascension,” he called after us. “We will always accept your enrollment or anyone you recommend. Give us a chance one day to buy you dinner and talk.”
I said nothing and continued, until we disappeared into the deep woods, making sure he didn’t follow us.
“I fed the lightning horses something that will take their magic for an hour,” Maxus said. “We’ll get back to town hours before them.”
I nodded. “Good shit, Maxus.”
Trembling, Titus collapsed to his knees, heart slamming against his chest. Sweat dripped off his face and tears threatened to fall from the older man’s eyes. Raider did all of this without the slightest bit of killing intent. Not even true killing intent.
He stared at his terrified students, the feeling of shame dawning upon him like the explosion of a heat mountain.
Perhaps the most humbling thing he witnessed was seeing his daughter, well, healthy, and alive. He didn’t recognize her until she healed the decoy Raider. He searched and immediately felt her familiar presence. Saw her prepared to defend him should Raider go too far. The mannerisms of his sweet little girl were all there in front of him. Somehow the hero’s party had become disciples of the Raider, a master magician.
“Come on you two, get up,” Titus said. “We’re going home. I… I am sorry I put you through this. But don’t hold it against Raider. Wanda’s rear, he’s right. We received just a warning this time. Pushing him further wasn’t our purpose for coming here. Besides, I confirmed something that’s nagged me for a while now. And I have to thank Raider for his generosity.”
The two students looked at him, but the headmaster continued toward his horse without elaborating anything.
The prompts would not leave me alone, so I gave in, reading them along the way.
[You are now the leader of an unofficial clan. All disciples, apprentices, and those who work at your shop have been notified. Clan options are now available.]
[Disciple or clan initiation needed for further benefits and bonding. They all need to hear from you.]
[Due to an… interesting start, your clan will start with a ranking of D instead of FFF. You’re welcome.]
One of these days, I was going to learn how to slap the system or its administrator. Seriously, another thing to manage. Well, at least I didn’t have to manage the town, right?
[Clan: Unnamed. Rank: D. Clan Standing: Hidden. Sects: Off. War: None. This is a peaceful clan… for now. Peace bonus: 2%. Crafting fame: 0%. Combat fame: 0%.]
[For actually starting a clan, you have received 1,000 spirit coins. +20 spirit coins as a 2% bonus. The longer you remain at peace and the more good deeds your clan accomplishes, the higher the percentage. You know by now that spirit coins aren’t the only rewards. Dungeons could become very interesting should your clan enter with a high peace bonus. Note: calm your nerves, for there is a flipside to this. A war bonus. You will lose all acquired peace bonuses should you go to war with another clan, or even a sect. Why do that as a crafting family is anyone’s guess, but stupid people are ineligible to receive a prompt like this. Perhaps that’s saying something. Make the universe proud, clever man.]
If there was a voice to that prompt, it’d probably be mocking or at least in the town of smartassery, with a punchable face behind it.
As we approached the farm, I felt… something.
“Beakwing, go up! Now!”
The griffin didn’t hesitate and just barely missed Mandi who was practicing her flying.
“Sorry!” the redhead shouted. Opal chased after her, giggling.
When we landed, I scratched the griffin beneath his chin. “Thanks for the ride, buddy.”
Beakwing purred.
Cheetara seemed to appear out of nowhere, leaping to my arms. She made some meowing noises, perhaps even scolded me with, “Where have you been? I was worried about you.”
I was ready to get onto Wolverine’s upgrading, right here, right now, and had no intention of delaying it any further, but first needed to address what the hell just happened.
The hero’s party, having received the prompt and all accepted the invite into the ranks, were looking at me with anticipation. Thankfully, Kelvin and Iris were already walking down the path, which meant I didn’t have to send anyone back to fetch them. I didn’t enjoy treating another grown adult like some damn fetch boy and often told them that, despite them not minding.
“There’s a lot we’ve got to go over, but for now, let’s wait for those two,” I said.
The excitement blasted through their eyes, but to make sure no hugging could start, I turned toward the shop, gesturing for them to follow.
The flower nymph stared at me… with anticipation as I walked in. I looked at Milia. She smiled sheepishly, pulling the sigh from my lips.
“You didn’t,” I said.
“It slipped,” Milia said. “And now she wants to try it.”
I looked around for backup from Chenzu, but he was out on the farm with Alexander and Mazu assisting him, so I turned to Lucas, her friend. He simply shrugged.
“Before I consider making that, we have to talk about something else. Lucas, gather the apprentices. Try not to get runover by Mandi.”
Milia looked at me curiously.
“It’s probably as weird as you’re thinking,” I admitted. “But in short, I decided to make the hero’s party disciples.”
She looked at them. “Well, congratulations. It’s not exactly easy to get his acceptance. Somehow you did it.”
Ronica and Nuwa became giddy. I cleared my throat, calming things down, eyes strict. Unfortunately, they couldn’t stay strict since Cheetara nestled against me adorably, meowing.
“Sure, we can make a few potions,” I replied.
They all looked at me.
“No, I don’t speak cat, but I can… somewhat feel her intent and emotions. I think,” I explained. “I’m usually in the lab around this time. Sometimes she joins me.”
“You… have your cat in the lab, creating potions,” Ramon said, his voice a deadpan.
“She’s my best apprentice,” I said truthfully. “Don’t judge me. The kitten’s a potion maker. Get over it.”
Everyone gaped at Cheetara. She meowed proudly.
“Don’t underestimate Cutie,” Milia said. “She’s far more powerful than all of you, and twice as cute.”
Cheetara leapt into Milia’s arms to give her some cat loving before returning to me. When Kelvin and Iris entered, I addressed them.
“So,” I began, “through some miracle and perhaps the potential, I asked if you’d like to become my disciples. You’re still free to leave—”
“We will do our best not to let you down!” Kelvin said, bowing once.
I sighed. “Good. Well, the weird news, depending on the perspective, is that taking you in formed an unofficial clan. The good news is that this clan will protect you. Titus will pass through here without stopping. Oh, and he probably discovered your identities.”
I looked at Nuwa. “He knew the moment you healed Ramon.”
Nuwa paled. I waved off her concern. “It’s alright. He probably gained a lot more understanding upon that realization than he had since you first appeared here.”
A few minutes later, the apprentices were also gathered.
The flower nymph pouted. “What about the blueberry pie?”
I glared at her.
