[Thanks chrono, rot--I mean love you, boo <3]
There was a flash in the Leava Patriarchâs eyes. He, of course, had thought of this. It was just that he didnât want to say it. The fact that Furon stated it so bluntly went to show his potential, but also his boldness.
It was a good combination to have as a youth. Not so much as a Patriarch.
Even if the Leava Patriarch knew this, he still had to make a show of continuing to search within the Clan. If he went to look outside too soon, then it would reflect as though he didnât even believe in his own people. At that point, some of his enemies might deem it necessary to try and hit him while he was down. And that was simply unacceptable.
"Yes? And what do you think we should do if that was the case?"
"If that was the case, then whoever it is has to obviously be a resident of our Sector, but theyâre unlikely to be from one of the major powers or Clans."
"And thatâs because?"
"It would have likely been announced already. Itâs a way to snatch glory from us and elevate their own. You can almost certainly scratch the Venom Clan off the listâthey wouldnât hesitate to offend us. The Mancha Clan as well.
"The Beast Warlord Sanctum is practically scratching and clawing for any glory it can get these days, especially after Glarithâs most recent disciple showed such promise. They wouldnât hesitate to make it known either.
"That leaves the medium-sized and small-sized powers that might be hesitant to reveal such a thing so easily.
"For the same reasons, you can probably dismiss any C-Grade hermits. C-Grades that have families to protect might be more hesitant, but there are other reasons to dismiss them as well.
"In order to claim that Title, you need to perform an enormous feat thatâs recognized by the system. Often, that requires a masterful stroke in an event that localizes a great amount of karma in a single area. Or, you need to have made a breakthrough in an important path of some sort heavily reliant on the Mental Stats..."
The words of Furon fell like perfectly laid bricks.
"...If it was the latter, such a thing would have been sensed. Breakthroughs on that level would definitely shift something in the air and the Sector itself would react. Plus, there would almost certainly be a System-Wide Message to accompany it.
"That means the odds that itâs the latter are also far lesser. Which leaves an event that localizes a great amount of karma."
"Oh?" The Patriarch raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be? Wouldnât we have heard about such a thing too?"
The Patriarch allowed his great-great-grandson to speak as though he didnât have the intelligence to piece these things together himself. But when Furon got to this point, he too was intrigued... because he had likewise gotten to this point in his thoughts before he stalled out.
As Furon had said, if there was something that happened on such a large scale, it would already be known. So how was it that something so big could happen without them knowing?
It didnât make any sense.
"Havenât we already?" Furon asked with a smile.
With a wave of a hand, a marble table between the two gained a star map. Furon pinched his fingers together and then snapped them apart, causing the image to zoom fast and in a hurry until it locked onto a particular part of the star map.
Skai Galaxy 11331.
There was a flash in the Patriarchâs eyes.
"I know that itâs hard to believe. I didnât want to believe it either. But the simplest explanations for things are often the correct answer. Iâm sure Clan Patriarch doesnât need a junior like me to explain that.
"I took the liberty of contacting the Petals of the Seeing Thorn and only asked them a simple question: that being if there was any correspondence between the Kaelthar Clan and their subordinates within this subordinate Galaxy of theirs."
"And?" The Patriarchâs eyes sharpened.
"It was too expensive for me to buy."
The Patriarch fell into silence, but so too did Furon. It seemed that he had already said everything that needed to be said.
There was a glint in the Patriarchâs eyes as he stood to his feet many minutes later.
"Youâve done well, Furon. You will be rewarded properly. Do not worry about the resources you need to reach the E-Grade. Youâll have the Clanâs full support."
Furon hurriedly stood as well and then bowed low, thanking his great-great-grandfather profusely as the latter vanished from sight.
When the Patriarch was gone, Furon stood to his full height and clenched his fists. His gamble had paid off.
He hadnât known with 100% certainty that the Title hadnât been transferred to someone in their family, but he had his guesses after the search continued for so long, so he took a chance.
If others found out he was investigating whether the Title landed in another Raceâs hands, he could very easily ruin his futureâforever labeling him as the man who didnât believe in his own kind.
But now things were very different.
His path to E-Grade was confirmed, so he could slowly take his time to progress now. Soon, after this round of competitions was over and he had compressed his Foundation to the finest point, he would progress.
And that had suddenly become hundreds of times easier.
Now, it was just a matter of how the Leava would react to all of this...
Did the Thryskai of this Sector really have someone so talented? It seemed that they would find out very soon.
What Furon was especially excited aboutâand something he had left unsaid because the Patriarch would certainly knowâwas that this would stir another karmic event to take advantage of...
News of the destruction of the Demi-God Thryskai Clan was slowly being spread, so the sudden forcefulness of the Kaelthar could only have one goal.
If the Thryskai were done with laying low in this Sector... there would very soon be quite a lot of chaos.
And for an F-Grade like Furon, this was the best environment to grow in.