Universe's End

Chapter 189: Family Head

1. Family Head

"Relax, daughter,"

"I am relaxed," Kai said, knowing full well she was lying.

"You are many things, my daughter. Strong, intelligent, loyal? Of course. A good liar? Not since you were a child."

Kai sighed as her father chuckled, his own attitude helping the rest of those gathered to relax.

Of which, there were lots. As in, the entire Rong clan was at attention within their courtyard. Kai was standing next to her father as the centerpiece of this whole ordeal. Meanwhile, standing four deep in two lines flanking the path inward were her eight siblings. Of her eight siblings, nine siblings total, including herself, all of them save her had children, and even some of those children had children.

With over 90 people in attendance, the Rong clan was the most prominent family in all Ehkorrus by a fairly wide margin.

As for why they were all gathered and standing at attention?

"He's here," Her father sighed as a lone figure strode up to the gates, which swung open.

Stepping through the gates, none other than the Lord Founder calmly walked forward, unhurried and carrying the aura of someone whose insights and power dwarfed the rest of them combined.

As the Lord Founder walked forward, on either side flanking the pathway, one by one, her family offered a deep bow of respect, even the children holding the stance until the Lord Founder stood before both herself and her father. Offering a bow a moment before her father, the two of them were the first to rise, as the rest of her family, in reverse order, rose as well.

"We greet the Lord Founder and are honored by his presence." Her father said, smiling wisely.

"Hao Lin Rong," The Lord Founder said after a moment, almost as if he were giving the words a moment to ripen. "It has been quite some time. Last I saw you, you were barely more than a boy."

"I was a late bloomer," Her father said with a half-smile of reflection.

"Quite the family," The Lord Founder said, looking around.

"Indeed," Her father laughed. "Nine children, twenty grandchildren, and sixty great-grandchildren. Over sixty years of family generations."

"And here I am without children of my own," The Lord Founder chuckled.

"What of the Lord Founder's daughter?" Kai Rong asked, suddenly curious.

Her father cast a sideways glance, not outright condemnation in the glance, but a hint of warning.

Right, I lost track of myself for a moment.

"Oh, Roxy is not biologically mine," The Lord Founder said before glancing off to the side as if thinking for a moment. "But I suppose that means little; blood itself is not family, and family is not as simple as blood."

Kai's eye twitched, doing her best to maintain her composure. Such contemplations on the meaning of blood and family spoken by the Lord Founder were like a priceless treasure; there would be no one with more insight into such things than the Lord Founder after all.

"Such insights are a gift we gladly accept," Her father spoke, bowing low as Kai copied him.

Had either of them been standing upright, they would have noticed a slight frown on his face and a momentary expression born of confusion, but alas, neither of them noticed.

As the two of them stood upright, the Lord Founder gave them a knowing nod before turning to look at Kai directly.

"Now, as per your reward. I've come with the intent of understanding you and your path more directly, so that I may make something suited for you."

"My eternal thanks," Kai Rong bowed once again.

"If I may," Her father suddenly spoke up, a serious expression on his face.

"Yes?" The Lord Founder asked, prompting her father to step forward.

"To my family, my clan," Her father spoke, voice reaching far even without raising his volume. "For sixty years, I have been the proud patriarch of the Rong family. At first, it was just me in this world, until Azadeh cornered me and told me that she and I would be going on a date together."

For a moment, there was a look of childlike wonder and contentment on her father's face, returning to a more serious expression after.

"Nine children, hale and hearty. From nine children, twenty grandchildren, and from twenty grandchildren, sixty great-grandchildren. I could not be prouder of the family I see before me than I am."

Taking a relaxed breath, her father suddenly turned to face her.

"But my time is not eternal," Her father sighed, looking almost wistful. "My path will not continue onwards eternally. Perhaps it shall not end shortly, no, but one day I shall age, much like the Honored Elder Kal before me. Before that time came, I had been contemplating the future, not just my own, but that of the Rong clan. My decision was cemented with my eldest daughter Kai Rong's victory in the recent city tournament."

Turning away from Kai, her father turned to the Lord Founder.

"With the Lord Founder as my witness before the collective whole of our family, I have decided. Henceforth, I shall only be the acting Patriarch of the Rong. For most parts, little will change in the short term. But, in my stead, I will leave no confusion or uncertainty. Our family has been one of talented alchemists, but that is not all the Rong are, not since even the days of my dear Azadeh. The Rong will be a clan that stands tall in all forms. My daughter, Kai Rong, I hereby anoint you as the next head of the Rong, the Ascending Matriarch of the Rong."

For a moment, Kai felt as if she had been slapped, surprise almost causing her to falter and step back. It was a potential she had known was possible since tier six, when she overtook her father as the highest tier in the family, though several of her family had reached tier six since then, as she was still the only tier seven in the family.

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She just hadn't expected it now. Her father was far from the aged man that the honored elder Kal had been. In fact, the only thing that distinguished his age from hers or her siblings was the silver strands woven through his otherwise black mane.

"Lord Founder, would you as witness, bless this decision."

The Lord Founder seemed unfazed, as if he'd predicted the outcome from the beginning. Once more, he took his time in answering, ensuring his words had the greatest impact possible.

"You have led a prosperous clan and will continue to do so for many years more," He began, the corners of his lips turning upward. "Is it wisdom to begin to peer into the future. To plant a tree that you may never see grow past your knee, but which those who follow may rest in the shade of."

His words seemed to reframe her father's actions in her mind, as she momentarily bowed her head.

Such wisdom. Of course, we of the Rong would best understand such meanings.

"My gratitude," Her father pressed his hands together, offering a short bow before turning to face the greater congregation once more.

"Then let it be official. Kai Rong, the successor of the Rong. While the time for you to truly lead has yet to come, may all here honor the eldest daughter of the Rong."

Once more, her entire family bowed, not to the Lord Founder, but to her.

For someone as composed as Kai Rong, it was strange that she found herself, again, almost staggered by the monumental weight that had been placed upon her shoulders.

It was heavy…. But not unwelcome.

As if knowing exactly what her thoughts were, the one who fully steadied her resolve was not one of her family, but the Lord Founder, who gave her a quick, knowing smile.

"Bring honor to your family, Eldest Daughter of the Rong."

What the fuck?

Rory's head was spinning as he tried to make sense of everything happening.

First, a god damn royal procession type shit, and now I've got to be some God damn witness to some god damn family clan thing. What the shit? I just came here to quiz Ms. Rong!

Oh sure, Rory externally thought he was doing a pretty good job, but half of that was just based on old Chinese or Japanese flicks he'd seen on 'honor' and all that fancy stuff.

I only watched those for the cool fighting scenes!

The benefit of being able to spool his mind into several independent mental threads was that he had each one brainstorming the perfect response, taking advantage of the full extent of his cognitive speed as well.

It blessedly came to an end shortly after, when Rory made a big show of announcing his intent to honor the tournament and blah blah blah, clan, honor, family, he could only say the words so many times before they lost meaning.

From there, Rory followed the new 'official' head of the Rong out the back of their property, leading into a grove of bloodwoods that was surrounded by the Rong clan complex.

"The size of your clan's home is quite large," Rory idly said, not having missed something that obvious.

"We pooled our resources, the adults in the clan, to have everything built. It was greenlit as well due to the sheer size of our clan; otherwise, I do have doubts that the honored Luminary would have signed off on it."

"Sounds like Irene," Rory muttered, as the two of them came to a stop near what appeared to be a gazebo, a pedestal with a sword inside.

"Oh, I recognize that blade," Rory said as soon as he examined it. "One of the early blades I forged and left behind."

"It was my mother's," Kai Rong said quietly. "It was all that was recovered."

"Ahh, apologies," Rory muttered. "May I ask what happened?"

"Impatience, truthfully," Kai Rong said. "My mother had three sets of triplets. The first set was me, alongside my two brothers, Bo and Fu. Six years later, Mei, Fen, and Lan. Six years after that, Xia, Rhana, and Diyari. My mother loved us, but children can make the ascent that much longer, and she had been an early high tier of Ehkorrus. Feeling like she was losing ground, she began pushing hard to break into tier seven. In her impatience, my mother and her team pushed too far out from Ehkorrus and encountered a wandering tier seven monster. A true six-team, they thought, working together, they could handle it… They were wrong. When it was clear things had moved past the point of salvage, my mother chose to sacrifice herself, giving her teammates a chance to escape. Living Shadow attempted to locate her but… alas, it was clear she had not survived, only her weapon to recover."

Well, that's depressing. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything... That said.

"The last batch of triplets, what were their names again?"

"My youngest siblings, Xia, Rhana, and Diyari."

"And who decided the names of the last two?"

"My mother. She'd let my father name the rest of us, but she apparently fixated on those two names, wanting at least two of us to have a name of her choosing. Father gladly accepted."

Rhana and Diyari… Indian? Kurdish? Ahh, damn it, this is going to bug me for the rest of my life, never knowing. Ehh, whatever, at least I have a general idea.

"Is something important about my youngest siblings?" Kai Rong asked, seeming somewhat concerned.

"No, no, just understanding the Rong better," Rory said, deflecting. "Well, enough of that. I'm curious. I understand your entire family appears to have a blood affinity."

It was something Rory had noticed: when surrounded by the entire Rong clan, her entire family had the same blood signature.

All without having to bleed themselves dry… I assume.

"We do," Kai Rong said with a nod. "It started with my father, and we've come to believe the proximity to the bloodwood grove has further solidified the affinity within our bloodline. Only children raised off-site lack a blood affinity."

"Right," Rory nodded once more. "Now, more about you. Mind explaining the concentration of pneuma within your naval?"

Kai Rong's eyes widened for a moment, staring at Rory with a look of awe.

"You can detect my dantian?"

"So that's what it is called." Rory thought for a moment before shrugging lightly, tapping near his eye. "I can see things most people can't. Like the nature of your body seems to be woven in part with your spirit."

Again, Kai Rong felt her eyes widen. She'd made a point of never revealing the nature of her skills for the entirety of her life; only her mother and father had any knowledge of them, and yet the Lord Founder had uncovered details that no one else had in a matter of moments.

"It's an interesting skill. It is a skill, I assume?"

"Sort of," Kai Rong admitted. "My body and spirit have aligned. When I turned eighteen and finally achieved tier one, my first skill listed was an innate skill, Blood Soul. Years of practiced meditation on the meaning of the blood and soul caused an alignment that…"

Rory mentally tuned out for a moment as the energized woman waxed on poetically about the philosophy that she'd incorporated into herself from her father and mother, life and the soul, yadah, yadah, yadah. He'd only really cared about the specific details as they were relevant, but he wasn't about to be so rude as to shut her down; the woman was clearly happy to have someone to share with after keeping her secrets, well, secret.

"How about this," Rory finally said after several moments of blessed silence when the woman finally finished the end of her lecture on the mysteries of life and the soul and harmony and all that jazz. "If you send me the details of your skills, I can look them over much faster than discussing them in a thorough explanation. Does that sound alright?"

Again, Rory was trying to be relatively tactful, but there was only so much discussion of harmonic theory he could listen to.

Plus, he was a busy man, with a far more pressing task he still had to tackle for the day.

He still had to go home and make dinner for Roxy.

"Yes, I suppose that would work. I would normally ask you to swear a vow of secrecy, but I assume that the Lord Founder has no desire or need to share my secrets."

"Of course," Rory said, entirely meaning it as well. The one exception was likely Apostolos, simply because their bodies were almost diametrically opposed, which might be of interest to him and his future growth.

Receiving the woman's interface, having already given implicit permission, Rory examined her skills.

Interesting.

While her main 'build' was focused on combat skills, they were almost entirely passive skills, with the standout being that she had a skill not all that dissimilar to his own Scholar's Retreat, blocking off a potential path of the future. In her case, she'd sworn herself to 'light armor' and her rings as her primary external weapon.

Which, of course, brought up the next matter.

"May I see your rings?" Rory asked.

Complying, eight black rings floated over, each large enough to fit upon the woman's calves if need be.

Hmm… Mhmm…. Yeah, I see.

"What are your thoughts?" Kai Rong asked, her face filled with trepidation.

"Well, I can say one thing for certain," Rory said, absolutely confident. "This is shit."