After waking up I didn’t immediately move.

  My thoughts circled back to events that transpired the last time I was conscious.

  I wanted to do more.

  They made Frian and the others not only kneel, but also to bow.

  A little beating and the claim of one life wasn’t nearly enough retribution in my eyes. At least not at the time.

  Yet…the Eternal Flame calmed my anger itself for whatever reason. I was ready to paint the world red, but the anger that filled my entire being was...

  I don’t get it. If all I’ve heard about Infernals for over a decade now was true, then the Eternal Flame of all things would be the last being I would expect to be calming me down. Even though it saw it fit to allow for the death of the one responsible, the call for blood that rose within was caressed back into the pits it rose from.

  Is it because I’m still weak?

  Did the Eternal Flame aim to protect my life by doing this? Did it think if I were to kill that boy that I wouldn’t be able to handle the repercussions? Perhaps that’s true, but that still goes against the very meaning of what an Infernal is supposed to be.

  At least according to the definition I’ve received over the years.

  Sigh

  At the end of day, if I was stronger then there would be no issue.

  Tch.

  …Moving on.

  There were a few things I needed to handle, but first…let’s take a look around.

  I stood up, changed my clothes to something more comfortable, and left the fairly lavish room I found myself in. Sliding the double doors apart and being greeted by a hallway and after finally allowing my senses to flow within, I realized where I was.

  So Frian was still able to buy the Stronghold then. I guess the problems likely began when he was trying to leave? I’ll find out in a bit.

  Currently from where I stood, the hallway before me extended into a much bigger space that had plenty of room for others to enter and relax should I wish it. There was even another attached room that I presumed to be an office of sorts.

  Outside of that main area or living room as I would’ve called it back home, there was a small kitchen, and a few smaller rooms.

  That was all that there was to the building, but not all that there was to this cornered off area.

  To the front of the building was a beautiful courtyard enclosed in a wall that went around the whole manor, beyond that, there was actually another wall that went around the first one, but I could sense people standing in the gap between the walls.

  Vrusha and the others of course.

  Anyway, to the front of the courtyard, the wall ended in a massive gate, and there was a massive gate in front of that one apart of the outer wall.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  That’s where Vrusha himself was.

  I’ll get to them in a bit.

  Anway, behind the property was a massive training yard complete with all the bells and whistle. Advanced looking training weapons and dummies, formation runes engraved into the walls of the inner wall.

  Next to the training yard, there was a small building that my own senses could not pry into no matter how much I tried.

  In fact…now that I was outside, I could no longer peer into the building.

  Interesting.

  I opened the door to the small building to see it was quite simple within. There was nothing but a mat and a small pillow. A mediation room of some sort then? Alright. It’s a pretty simple place but I don’t think I can ask for much more.

  Beyond that, there were some other cosmetic things, like fountains, gardens, and things of that nature, making the area relatively large but that stuff wasn’t all that important.

  Now assuming all of this was just my personal manor, there was a whole area outside of it that needed exploring, but I’ll get to it later.

  “Vrusha.”

  “Yes Patriarch.”

  The man appeared before with measured grace as always.

  “Lirian, Frian. Lidaz and Izanshi. Bring them here.”

  All three of them appeared before me, not even a minute passing before they all showed up.

  I led them into the building where we all had a seat.

  “First things first, Frian tell me everything that happened.”

  I know who did what, but I didn’t have an understanding of exactly what happened. Frian nodded, took a deep breath then began talking.

  “Patriarch…my team and I did as ordered. We traveled to the city, entered, went directly to the seller and made the necessary purchase. We made no attempts to interact with anyone outside of those necessary.

  “The problem began when we exited the city. The man you beat…he was arriving back to the city at that time, and although we ignored his presence and sought no quarrel…we were ordered to stop.

  “Not wanting to cause problems, we did as asked only to be asked why we didn’t bow upon seeing them. We refused without question, and that is when their Immortal guard took action.

  “…We were unfortunately too weak to resist.”

  I took his words in and digested them.

  Remaining calm, I turned to Lidaz.

  “And you? What did you see.”

  “Patriarch, they were faced down in the ground when I arrived. I broke the hold of the other Immortal and allowed them to rise, but there was another Immortal in the City who pressured me slightly upon my arrival. I had no problems fighting, but I did not want to implicate you further Patriarch.”

  Sigh

  So its my fault then.

  I told them not start any problems with anyone and it caused problems anyway.

  Fine then.

  “Listen. All of you. We never bow. To anyone. I would rather fight a bloody war to the last man, then ever bow our heads. Never forget that.

  “Now…if we are ever attacked, my answer will always be to retaliate with all that I am. We will burn our enemies to the ground and ensure not even their great grandkids will have thoughts of revenge.

  “Am I understood?”

  “Yes Patriarch!”

  “Good. Let’s move on.”

  I took out the ring I received from the black scaled royal from the mermaid empire. I had long since made my decision on who was to receive it. I tossed the ring over to Izanshi.

  “Inside that ring is something that will reach the Immortal Realm. Do that now. Once I am done with a few matters I will bathe you in the Eternal Flame to hasten process as I once did with Lidaz.

  “Though no matter how much I hasten the process it will still take a few years. Ensure the Black Dawn will function well in your absence. I expect there will be plenty of fighting in our future.

  “Now regarding everything else, I need all 8 departments to get settled in full and begin doing their respective focuses. Particularly Intelligence. We need to know in detail the full scope of not just our immediate area, but this planet as a whole.

  “Next up in priority will be finance. The Clan needs to find a reliable way to make funds consistently. Explore the nearby area, adventuring guilds, and whatever else is out there that can make us funds. Take any and all low hanging fruit, but if there is something that requires a large commitment, I expect an equally large proposal to be drawn up and presented.

  “After that is military, and this technically goes for the entire clan. As much as possible focus on cultivation, but do not forget the art of spars. I expect regular sessions among the members of the clan.

  “That wraps up our immediate areas of focus, but again all 8 departments needs to get in full swing.

  “Finally, I’ll be undergoing my evolution to the Nascent Soul Realm. I am not sure how long this will take, but the clan will be in your hands for the time being. Vrusha, I expect the guard to use this period to catch up on cultivation.

  “That’s all I got.”