"I don't like what I'm seeing on the Mirror of Fate," said Chung to her two siblings and added, "A calamity will befall them a thousand years from now," "Our followers ... they won't survive. Ashikaga, isn't there any way to help them?" asked Ho as she looked worriedly. "There is but nothing is freely given in this world. Ho, will you give anything to your followers?" Ashikaga asked back. "You know I'll do anything Ashikaga. Even if it means loosing all of my divine powers," Ho answered with conviction. "So do I," Chung interjected. "It will be boring if I'm left alone. Might as well join you two. Sigh ... I'll do some preparation. I must warn you two. We'll end up sleeping for a millennium for the cost of interfering in our followers' trial," warned the eldest of the three siblings. The other two nodded their agreement right away.
"Let's begin the ritual. I'll start first then you two think of what you want to give your followers for their trial," Ashikaga instructed before starting, "I, Goddess Ashikaga give my followers the gift of passive abilities as their talent."
Learning from her sister, Chung who has always been the opposite of her sister said, "I, Goddess Chung give my followers the gift of active abilities as their traits."
Soon, it was the compassionate Ho's turn. "I, Goddess Ho is willing to exchange all of my divine powers for both abilities; to be given to my followers, be it their talents or traits," the youngest of the three siblings said before she fell down.
"No! Ho, what have you done? You gave them too much," yelled Chung. Ashikaga, the wisest of the three completed the ritual before heading towards her sisters. "It's too late. It's her choice to make. Let's put her on a chaise lounge. We don't have much time before my spell starts working," she then instructed before heading towards her own.
Seeing that both her sisters have fallen asleep, Chung said a prayer, "May our exchanges be enough for our followers to survive their trial."
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"So, the Chung clan members are in South Korea right now?" I asked Tatsuya. "Yes, well most of them I guess. There are about two million people in the Chung clan. In terms of survivability, they'll outlast our clans due to not only their bigger number of people but also their ability type," he informed me.
"Speaking of ability, what is yours Riku kun? I can never guess what it is," I asked Riku. "I can sense animals," he answered vaguely. "He played down his ability. His is like games' HUD or status bar. He can see their health and feel their emotions," Tatsuya added. "Wow! What does it say about me, Riku kun?" I asked with a hint of curiosity. "It says you're five weeks pregnant and feeling tired," he answered in his broken English. Tatsuya looked at me seriously for a few minutes before saying, "I'll help you do your tasks at the farm. Just focus on the baby." Grandmother gave me another useless thing (referring to the three pregnancy tests).
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Knowing the seriousness of the matter, I nodded meekly before asking some more, "So, where are the rest of your clan members? I never hear you two talk about them." "We're the last ones left," Tatsuya replied quietly. Damn, I am sure good at dampening moods. "Oh! I shouldn't have asked," I said in panic. "It doesn't matter anymore. Sigh ... it was our own fault," Tatsuya comforted me.
From what Tatsuya and Riku said, roughly 500 years ago, there was an internal fighting among brothers for the clan's Head position. Unlike the Ho clan, the Ashikagas pass down the position to their offspring. One of the many brothers decided to defect to an enemy clan and provide his knowledge of creating weapons. They soon won but by then only a handful of the Ashikaga clan members left. The traitor was then executed after he served his purpose.
Then, I told them about my clan members and their abilities. Apparently, in the letter grandmother wrote to father in law, she mentioned my awkward situation with my father and hoped the Ashikagas would take me in. Tatsuya and Riku did not appear to be interested in my father's personal matters but I gave them a rough idea of what had transpired in the past to avoid any possible complication.
After the 'study session' Tatsuya and I went to our own home while Riku went strolling on a bicycle around the space. He will be sleeping alone tonight because Keith is staying at the laboratory. Tatsuya started cleaning and organizing things like putting my scattered books onto the shelves. "Are you experiencing the male version of nesting urges?" I asked. "It's called male nesting, An chan," he answered while huffing and puffing after pushing all the furniture to the walls. "You look excited," I commented while still not making any effort to help him out. "Of course! Our baby will be the next generation of the Ashikaga clan," he answered spiritedly.
"An chan! Sea!" yelled the excited Riku. Having a faint idea what might have happened, I grabbed Tatsuya's arm before ordering Riku to lead us to it. At the southern corner, surprisingly was ... sea. It smelled like sea. The water even tasted salty. It seemed like I improved my space yet again. 12 years ago it was the river. I wonder once I reach 48, what will I get next.
"There's nothing in it," stated Tatsuya. "That is to be expected. There were no animals at the river too when it appeared. Hey, we can make our own salt!" I suddenly exclaimed before adding, "Riku kun, you can catch some animals and fill the space up if you want." Riku happily agreed.
From then onwards, Riku would catch any small animals that he can find all over the base like small birds and insects. He also made the ever busy Keith lend his helping hand once in awhile.