The Clan compounds were bustling with activity. Supplies were concentrated, accounted, and spread throughout the grounds. Buildings were fortified, throwing and disposable weapons were being crafted from any and all material on hand and being deposited on temporary warehouses close to the walls. Water was being stock piled and hunting parties were sent out to prepare enough food to toughen out the battles and the days after. Wooden palisades were being mounted atop the slanted tiles of the walls, for stable footing and guards. Barricades were prepared to be dropped upon the gates, making them useless and impassable.

It was not going to be their day, it seemed. It was Carius once again, who stopped what he was doing as he heard the metallic tingling of heavy armor in the distance. “We got company… Again.” He pushed out with a massive sigh. “Those armored freaks.”

“At least this visit, we were expecting. Though what type of talk we’ll have depends entirely on them.” Atlas who was nearby said as he dropped what he was doing and headed to the wall. “Please inform a Patriarch about this.”

Once atop the gate Atlas waited. And much to his surprise he saw a familiar face. Walking ahead of the rest covered in sweat in shining armor. Not a single sign of his many hours long trek through a forest could be gleamed from the state of his armor.

“Are you going to be fine? Walking without a helmet now?” Atlas raised a brow.

“Worry not. As a Captain, no longer a numbered recruit, I can do whatever I want. Thank you for basically handing me my promotion. The previous fool got axed.” The auburn haired young man with a scar on his neck responded jovially. Helmet clasped under his arm. His hair now tied up to a very tight man-bun

“You’re being harsh on your previous leader Xerxes. If you could take over, why can’t another of your Numbered Recruits?”

Xerxes giggled. “I didn’t take over, friend. For failing on his duties the previous Captain was executed.” He paused only to see the pretend smiles disappear. “HA! I like that face!” Xerxes laughed even more. Atlas’ face hardened to stone. “Was that your first kill? Poor thing.” Xerxes continued taunting. A sick feeling swam up Atlas throat. It clawed, trying to come up but he swallowed it down. His nails dug into the gate’s stone palisades.

He clenched his jaw and spoke. “… I expected you all to come. If you would kindly make this easier, drop your weapons and enter. A Patriarch will be here soon to talk with the representative of the Crystal Palace.”

“Let’s not waste our time, yeah? There won’t be any talks. You people have defiled the face and honor of our faction. You have practically defiled the Crystal Maiden herself. And that is a crime that can never be forgiven. You’ve gone directly against us and helped a traitor. This is an unrepairable relationship. And it is all directly your fault. Meddling children.” Xerxes decreed. His smile never fading from his face.

“I understand that no human is sane anymore. War here, religious fanatics there. Kingdoms pop up out of nowhere. And you’re now outside my home, pressing me with threats because I tarnished the honor of one young megalomaniac. You’re assisting otherworlders take control of our brains and hearts and soon enough, when the Seal is broken, of our planet as well.” Atlas ranted. He was sick of all this stupidity.

“You hit the mark just then. The world is going to change hands, and I, plan on being on the side whose hands it lands on. I don’t know what circumstances you were born into. I don’t know what burden or what knowledge your clan carries and I do not CARE! You will lose and I will win. I’ll climb the mountain. So take my words back to your Patriarchs and prepare. Because your statements have made one thing clear to me, naïve child.” Xerxes’ chest puffed up. A sly foxy smile on his lips.

“Jean spoke about everything. And all your people know it. Meaning you now stand against the goals of the Crystal Maiden and the Crystal Palace. Your knowledge is forbidden and thus you will have to forget it.”

“You take us for fools!” Atlas was bewildered. Not one person that had approached them today made any sense. Was there am idiocy virus going around?

“No. I’m serious. We’ll burn you to the ground! AHA! AHA! AHA!” Three resounding laughs escaped Xerxes as he turned around, waving carelessly at Atlas. He departed with his men grumbling silently at how short the stop had been.

Atlas jumped forward. Qi blasting from his soles. He reached Xerxes in but a moment. A sword covered in Qi cut down splitting the man in two, the ensuing explosion rocked everyone to the ground. Too defenseless against his might, he slit their throats open and felt their warm. Their life essence oozed out of their bodies and Atlas captured it in a bottle.

Then Atlas blinked and he was back to reality. His brain a minefield, his stomach revealing itself of a bit of his breakfast, he was bent over behind the stone palisades above the gatehouse. His own thoughts an enemy to his well being.

Meanwhile Xerxes, now in the thicket once more ordered his men to change direction. “We’ll be doing a full scout around the perimeter. Something weird was going on here. I could herar it.” Much to his pleasure the men could only manage a tired acceptance.

Up on the wall Patriarch Ru Wai had arrived. “It seems I am a little too late.” His tight bun unruly, hairs poking out of it wildly. His thin mustache looked puffy. Almost as if he hadn’t been paying it enough attention today.

“It’s fine. They said they weren’t here for a talk anyway.”

“You vomited from fear of their sheer presence then?” The Second Patriarch, a father with black pepper hair, sprinkled with only a dusting of salt placed a hand on Atlas back. Atlas jolted for a moment but did not otherwise resist.

“What if I could just make them disappear? Never speak, breathe, think another word. I could. I still can. Easy as pie. Their throats are in my grasp, their lives hang by My thread. Those thoughts are what made me vomit.” Atlas’ eyes followed the group through the thicket.

“That’s worrying. Do you feel all powerful? Like you kill me as well? Your father too? Be rid of these troubles simply because you can?” Ru Wai prodded.

“It makes me sick. That I can do to another what the world did to my mother. What it did to her family. What it did to my father.” Atlas closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths. His heartbeat slowing, finally.

“I…. Had two daughters once. Two years difference between the youngest, Lan’er and Shi’er, whom you know. They were growing up so well. Of course they had their troubles, and maybe the life of an alchemist in the modern world was not for them, but we were happy I would like to think. Sadly that would not last. They had grown up… It’s probably a little more than a year now…” Atlas raised a brow. “Who am I kidding. It was 394 days ago. They had gone out to the city. It was Lan’s birthday, you see. And what with being cooped up in the Clan Estate all the time they wanted out. Two of them went… Only half returned. You see. I never learned what happened to my Lan. Shi’er never told me. The Police hushed it up. I went mad, chasing after an unknown enemy. I killed them in my mind a billion times. My every thought was consumed by them. My Wife went sick, my little Shi changed, she became warped. A different person from whom I’d had raised. And it is all my fault. I was weak and that turned me into a monster. A gluttonous demon that consumed its own family. The fact that you can understand the evil within your thoughts speaks volumes of your character. The fact that your body rejected them to such a degree shows how different from monstrous old me you are. Stay Strong Atlas. Take care of Shi’er for me if need be.” The Patriarch said and departed. Atlas took a few more minutes before he did so as well. There was still work to be done. The moment he turned around he saw his father standing there in the distance, staring straight at him. A look which had become all too familiar ever since Mother died on his features.

An itch at the back of Atlas heads bubbled forth. Eating at him, screaming, clawing. Every time it came back stronger.

The night passed, and then the day, and then another night. It was in the wee hours before dawn, when foggy air still consumed the world in its white veil, that the single most trying time of the contemporary existence of the Clans would begin.

From the Forest in the east the sound of trees cracking and tumbling to the ground, the shouts of men and women, the whips of labor masters and the fires of torches and campfires reached the United Compound.

It was not slowly that the clansmen woke up, but weirdly their alertness was not there. The warning bell had not been rung and the first line defenders on the eastern wall were already there, waiting. Having to keep watch over only one wall’s worth of patrols allowed for good enough sleep in the men and women of the Clans.

Scouts were sent ahead. Atlas, Carius, and Ru Shi had gone specifically, they had seen the true meaning of destitute, and they had reported to the Patriarchs a horrible scene. Disease, starvation, thirst, overwork. Everything terrible that could be, was upon those people, who seemed to have never stopped walking a day for a countless number of days.

It was soon when the second round of scouting returned. Only a few hundred meters away from the walls of the Clan a new camp was being cut out of the forest. The malnourished chopped trees, made logs, moved boulders and set up tents as they obeyed the orders of the whips cracking on their backs, or on the backs of their children. Yet the food they needed they did not get. Despite that everything was working like clock work and soon enough they would have built a fence around their camp, mere minutes since they started.

“But… This is weird. Can’t we just attack? We don’t need that many men. Just send me and Carius and we could take care of them.” Ru Feng spoke to those near him. He along with all the familiar faces had gathered on the eastern gate.

Patriarch Archeseus nodded thoughtfully and said. “We can’t be too sure. That is what they’re depending on. Maybe for different reasons, but we truly can’t just attack them. That man is from the other world. He belongs to a powerful faction with untold resources. What if he has a treasure that can kill all invaders? An array that can stop all attacks. Or even something that can use our strength against us? His people seem almost brain washed, willing to die of hunger and be whipped like slaves for him.

“For that matter.” Ru Wai caressed his mustache with one hand, holding onto his wife with another. “We can’t even trust his display the other day to be honest. To have such complete control over a thousand humans… It must take an untold amount of, something. Whether that is Charisma or terror I can’t say.” He supplemented. Yet they were still right were they started.

“It’s not like we can just leave them there? They are clearly building their camp too close. If we let them rest then they’ll have nearly four times our numbers! A full surround will soon follow.” Ru Feng bristled. Fists clenched, fingers popping in anticipation.

Atlas gulped hard and decided to make a proposition. “What if…. We keep them on their toes? We know how to live in these forests. They do not. Set up traps, empty threats, hidden scares, anything and everything. We can place itching powder on their drying racks, sprinkle sleeping powder in their water. We can steal, we can maim. We can do a lot. As long as we have maneuverability we can be anywhere. And for that matter. Even if they do surround us, we have enough food to last. They don’t even know how to hunt. They’re dying. I can get us water without them noticing. And what can they do in response? Poison the River? Where would they get water from then?”

“If we do all that. If we go into all that trouble, why don’t we just poison their food and water? Do you suggest we live with them?” Patriarch Archeseus questioned. His brows furrowed deeply as he stared into the faint light burning in the forest.

“Almost. I suggest we make then understand their stupidity, and the futility of their plan. They must have a limit. We just need to hurry them to it. Their fanaticism can only blind them so much. We should not forget that while we are occupied with their pawns the big clans are preparing for an actual invasion. One that will be facilitated by our own army if we do not reach out and spread the truth.” Atlas reasoned.

He was being greedy, absolutely so. But he saw no other way. Making a Burial sight for a thousand people that never even harmed him, just the thought of that, made his heart quiet, his blood run cold, and his face turn white as paint. He would not accept that.

“I will accept it.” Declared Archeseus. “But remember. This is a matter of survival, honor, and legacy. With another enemy possibly to the south we must always be ready for plan B, total annihilation. Do not forget this Atlas. As long as you are the only Cultivator here you also shoulder the Greatest Responsibility to be our weapon.” The Patriarch sternly reprimanded, his finger jabbing into Atlas’ chest. His eyes piercing into his son’s “Do you understand? Atlas.” He pulled back his hand, he stood straight, staring up at Atlas ever so slightly. “Yes Father.” Atlas bowed down. He retreated soon after to the Family quarters, those to the side of the main building, provided for the Patriarch's closest family.