“Raise your hands and don’t move unless you want me to spill your throat on the floor.” Although Orion’s durability had increased exponentially, he still doubted he could survive having his throat sliced open, and he couldn’t see a way for luck to help him here at the level it was at. He raised his hands and stayed silent. The attacker pulled back his hood. “Shei, what happened to you?” Orion frowned, thinking he had been mistaken for someone else, but then remembered this was not his body. The attacker must have been someone who knew the boy.

“What do you mean?”

“Drop the fucking act. Since when are you able to cultivate? And since when do you go about killing random innocents without batting an eye? And why didn’t you recognize me at the brawling house?”

“Who even are you?”

“Leina.”

“The girl I fought in the brawling bar?”

“Yeah. Now, answer my questions or I kill you.”

“Okay, well I gained the ability to cultivate when I kind of died. The person you’re talking to right now is actually not the Shei you used to know. I’m from an entirely different multiverse and my consciousness now lives in this guy’s body. As for the murder, well I need to do it to get stronger and I have absolutely no morals, so that’s how I’m fine with it.”

“Is this a fucking joke to you?” She pressed the dagger closer, drawing blood.

“I swear I’m telling the truth.”

“Well, since you’re such an evil piece shit, give me one good reason I shouldn’t end your life right now.” Orion smiled and shot up his hand at speeds her mortal eyes had no hope of detecting and grabbed the dagger, pushing it away from his throat. He twisted his hand, wrenching the dagger from her hand, flipped it and stuck the point under her chin.

“Well, the fact that you can’t is number 1. The fact that you don’t want to is number 2. How about this: we’re going to go down into my hideout and have a rational, calm conversation with no daggers involved.”

“There’s no chance I’m going down there with you, you demon.”

“Well, here’s the thing. I’m now two times stronger than last time we met, so I can easily force you into that there hole. However, I am a gentleman and will let you go down there yourself. Up to you.” She knocked the dagger away from her throat, drawing a thin line of blood. She climbed down and dropped to the floor. He followed after her and flopped onto his bed. “So, why do you know me even though I don’t know you and how did you find me?”

“You do know me. We were actually quite close. I found you by following you after the brawling house. I saw you murder that poor old guy. By the way, that was a cheap-ass win. The guy coughed.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Yeah, I caused that. Anyway, why did you follow me?”

“I was worried about you. You were the only person I knew here and you suddenly became a whole different person and forgot me.” This was very strange to Orion. He had access to all of the boy’s memories, but had absolutely no recollection of Leina. He made a mental note to ask the system later.

“Okay, fine. Now, onto business. I’m very intrigued by you. You’re incredibly strong for a mortal and clearly very willful. Also, I have all of Shei’s memories, but I can’t remember you even a bit. Actually, how do I know you really did know me? What if you’re lying and that’s why I can’t remember you?”

“Alright, well, I can tell you some private stuff you told me about yourself. Your clan was assassinated when you were a baby and you were taken in by a guy called Kei. He raised you in the slums and helped you establish connections with almost everyone here. 4 years ago, he died of a disease that none of you knew, and you’ve survived by stealing food and living in this hole.”

“Alright, I believe you. What was I talking about? Oh, right. You’re very strong, willful and quite mysterious. This leads me to my following proposal: become my clansman. You will receive the ability to cultivate with very high innate cultivation ability.” He activated ‘All-Seeing Eyes’ and saw that she was a half-blood war spirit, a level 2 race, so her race would be upgraded too. “You will also receive a powerful skill and a race upgrade.”

“So this would mean we would be in the same clan, and share responsibilities and goals?”

“Basically.”

“Wait, what are you actually doing here? What’s your mission?”

“I’m here to overthrow the king and take control of Rane.” Leina burst out laughing while Orion just sat there with a straight face, his feelings a little hurt.

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“That is something I cannot share with you yet, but I do have a plan.”

“Fine. I hate the king and I would like to get stronger, so I accept.”

“Very good.” Orion sliced his palm open with Leina’s dagger and handed it back to her. “Do the same and then shake my hand.” She complied, cutting open her hand and shaking Orion’s.

A ding sounded in Orion’s head.

[Clansman acquired. New page added to system.]

Orion opened the system and saw that a new tab had been added that said ‘Clan’ on it. He opened it and saw the words ‘Leina Li.

”Hey, system, can I create a classification to rank my clansmen?”

[Sure, what will the classes be?]

“In descending order: Fourth Hands, Elites, High-Level, Commoners and Fodder. Place Leina in Elites for now.”

[Sure.]

He saw five boxes appear with the names he had assigned and a number under the names. Only ‘Elites’ had a 1, and the others had a 0, so he assumed it was the amount of people. As he focused on the ‘Elites’ box, it expanded, and in it was a list which was currently just Leina. Next to her name was a list of her cultivation, race, physiques, aspects, and Dao. Of course, it was mostly blank. “Thanks, system.”

[No problem, host.] The clone vanished, leaving him alone with Leina once more. Her body had begun emitting a golden light as cultivation flooded her. Her race changed to Higher Griffin and she received ‘True Form’. A level 1 cultivation base formed itself in her heart, and in about 10 seconds, the changed were complete.

“How do you feel?”

“Light. Strong. Fast.”

“What skill did you get?”

“Telekinesis.”

“Lucky you. That’s the best one.”

“Yes, how lucky. I want to cultivate and get stronger. How do I do that?”

“Wow, direct. Meditate or murder. Up to you. If you choose murder, stay away from the slums, that’s reserved for my plans. I’m gonna go do some stuff, I’ll be back here in a few hours. You can stay in here if you want, but if I were you I would get started.”