Unusually strong clamoring and aggressive arguments filled the Council Chamber. Sorin quite liked the sound of their bickering and quite liked his role as the instigator in all this.
Chaos was his element and watching the old vipers tearing each other’s hearts out was a sight for sore eyes.
It was regrettable that Sorin couldn’t dabble in everyday politics. For one, Gareth was adamant that Sorin was once again compromised by a high-level agent of Strife, whatever that meant. For another, that scheming Grand Elder was very strict in enforcing the policy that God Seeds be separated from mundane decision making.
That said, things were looking up. His recent breakthrough and sudden climb to 10th place on the God Seed Rankings had shut up most of the neutral elders. It had also forced the old bastard who’d stolen his birthright to grant him a seat on the council. A non-voting seat, yes, but a seat from which he could make himself heard. A powerful tool given that bloodline suppression was a thing in his clan.
He also had the initiative in the current conversation. As the instigator, he held all the cards. It was just a matter of playing them in the right order.
“I think that’s quite enough bickering for today,” said Clan Leader Reeves after allowing the masses to bicker for the better part of an hour. “There’s no point in arguing over second-hand information. Better to hear it from the investigator himself, Sorin Abberjay Kepler.
“I will remind everyone that this meeting has mostly been called to disseminate reliable information. It will be followed by a strategic discussion and a decision on how to proceed, and exact details will be determined and implemented by the Chief Elders.”
Sorin stood and nodded to the crowd of elders and lightly bowed to the Grand Elder. Anything more would diminish his standing. Also, it wouldn’t rankle them as much as his minimal showing of respect did.
“The following narrative relates to the anomaly I noticed by coincidence during my breakthrough roughly a month ago,” said Sorin. “As you all know, the process of spiritual expansion sometimes allows us to touch upon concepts outside our understanding.
“At first, I noticed cultivation anomalies relating to two of my friends. Our team’s archer, Gareth Fletcher, and our team’s rogue, Lawrence Holt, expressed symptoms of discomfort. Upon inspecting their conditions, I discovered that they were somehow capable of retroactively opening meridians and unsealing bones. This is all despite not possessing a clan inheritance or a clan bloodline.
“I assisted them in their breakthrough, and in a single session, they were able to retroactively open their Governing Meridian and fully unseal their bones to the level of Golden Divine Bones. Such a thing is normally observed in God Seeds, as the Grand Elder can attest to.” He looked to the Grand Elder, who nodded in confirmation.
“Following their breakthroughs, I inspected samples of Olympia’s population and found that others were also capable of further breaking through. The potential impacts of such a drastic change are such that I dared not dally or speculate. I spent the next month observing clan and non clan cultivators determine the exact nature of the changes and their wide-ranging effects on humans throughout the continent.
“Yes, Grand Elder Ignis?”
The Grand Elder had signalled him politely and rose to speak when Sorin gave him permission. He’d always been a stickler for formalities; a pity, since his interruption had so much potential for sowing chaos.
“I find your findings suspicious,” said Chief Elder Ignis. “And if not suspicious, suspiciously timed.”
“Suspicious how?” asked Sorin, unbothered by the accusation.
“First, let us look at the timing,” said Chief Elder Ignis. “As everyone here knows, the Ouroboros’s inheritance has almost finished forming. There will be a Pandoran Council meeting, where, if rumor has it, you will be dragged over the coals.”
Sorin raised an eyebrow. “Are you implying that I fabricated a continent-wide change in the basic nature of divine cultivation, solely for the purpose of mitigating the fallout of my clash with Ratten Hyde?”
“I’m saying it’s very possible that you delayed informing us,” replied Grand Elder Ignis calmly. “The fact that the White Tower Group was able to snap up the majority of spare ingredients for our tinctures also speaks of ulterior motivation and mixed loyalties.”
“That is patently absurd,” interrupted Chief Elder Marik. “You have no proof of such allegations, and you know it.”
Clan Leader reeves raised his hand. “Calm yourself, Chief Elder Marik. If the young man is innocent, he will have no trouble defending himself.”
Sorin merely smiled at this exchange. Their games were child’s play in his eyes. “I have a question for you, Clan Leader Reeves.”
“And if it is pertinent to question at hand, you may ask it,” answered Clan Leader Reeves.
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“Did you or did you not enter seclusion roughly one month ago? Further, was the Grand Elder not on duty in the Infinite Dungeon until just a few days ago?”
Clan Leader Reeves pursed his lips. “You should know that your monitoring of my cultivation habits is extremely rude. But yes, I did enter seclusion precisely one month ago.” A clan leader entering seclusion wasn’t something they advertised, as it left the clan weak to outside interference.
“That’s a fair point,” said Sorin. “Your seclusion is a very private and sensitive matter, and I apologize for the lapse in decorum. That said, I only found out after being rebuffed multiple times when seeking a personal meeting. A meeting that, as God Seed of Asclepius, I should have immediately been granted. I was able to put two and two together.
“After failing to contact you, I decided it would be best to hold off on pushing for a meeting. Would anyone here like to be bothered during their seclusion if I was anything less than certain of the matter I would be informing them of?
“Of course, you could always say that I could have informed the Chief Elders. My pre-emptive answer to this question was that the matter was far too important to inform anyone but the Clan Leader or the Grand Elder.
“Of course, I could have informed Fineas, but his petty acts of political aggression and convincing some of the more conservative elders in the clan to block my access to patients and important poisons made me decide against it. Otherwise, the information might have leaked to a competing clan in exchange for some slight advantage in the political arena.”
Clan Leader Reeves tried to answer, but Sorin interrupted him. “With all due respect, Clan Leader, that was a rhetorical question. What’s more, I don’t answer you to. I answer directly to the Grand Elder. This alone is a sufficient reason not to inform anyone before informing the Grand Elder. That I even attempted to inform you was a mere courtesy. A gesture of goodwill. You were not entitled to the information, as it were. The letter of the clan rules are clear on this point.”
Elder Ignis cleared his throat. “There’s also the matter of your friends were the ones who broke through.”
“Yes, the same friends that have received my personal care over the years,” said Sorin in a bemused tone. “Thereby making it possible to open their Governing Vessel and unseal their Divine Gold bones in the first place.
“You should all be grateful. If not for the fact that I skirted the clan’s rules with my friends, we’d never have discovered the anomaly.
“Of note, only two of my friends broke through. It’s how I figured out that bloodlines were the key and decided to further investigate the anomaly.
“And to clarify for everyone present, the anomaly is as follows:” Sorin looked around the room for dramatic effect. “Cultivators with non-existent or unusually thin bloodlines have shaken free of what we cultivation researchers call Divine Shackles.
“For those who don’t know, these shackles are restrictions composed of divine energy that make it impossible to completely unseal a human’s potential.
“We don’t know from where these restrictions originate. Some speculate that they were implemented by the old gods to safeguard their power, while others believe we were shackled for our own protection. Either way, these shackles have broken down, and the consequences are far reaching.”
An elder snorted form the bottom stands. “You would have us believe that a bunch of clanless cultivators will have an impact on the overall political landscape?”
“Yes,” answered Sorin. “Without a doubt. Anyone who does not believe this to be the case is nothing but a shortsighted fool.” The man tried to speak, but a small pulse of Sorin’s aura quieted down. “Enough. I don’t have time to waste with blubbering fools. I’m here to inform you all, not stand up to your questioning.
“The consequences of this very important change are as follows: cultivators without bloodlines and with sufficient talent all have the potential of experiencing what I’m calling a Divine Awakening.
“Unlike God Seeds, undergoing a Divine Awakening does not come with a huge empowerment and a powerful ability. Instead, they receive a moderate empowerment, improved potential, and a slight improvement to their heroic ability.
“They have one key advantage over God Seeds: they do not need to complete divine missions to advance.
“A secondary consequence is that Heroic Breakthroughs have now become much easier. As a result, the number of heroes in the lower grades will surge, and that number will trickle up into the higher grades.
“And yes, this has been verified. A preliminary estimate places the percentage of the population affected at 30 percent. What’s more, most of those affected are not affiliated with any major clans or organizations.
“The growth prospects of these individuals are endless, and their lack of bloodline makes them prime recruiting targets for the clans and organizations.”
Sorin took a seat and watched as the chaos in the room intensified.
“You didn’t have to be so dramatic about it, you know,” said Chief Elder Marik to Sorin from his nearby seat. “They were already at each other’s throats with the leaked information. Why fan the flames any further?”
Sorin shrugged. “I don’t think my dramatic presentation made much of a difference. I mean, look them, arguing until they’re blue in the face. In the end, it’s all to secure tinctures for their clients because they’re the most important. Everyone else can die in a fire, for all they care.”
“You’re not wrong,” admitted Elder Marik. “I’ve always wished that the clan was more united.”
Sorin shook his head. “Our clan is fractured and political because we purposefully spread ourselves thin. We did it to cater to as many patients as possible to better survive the political fallout of what transpired in Delphi.
“The main problem isn’t the bickering. The problem is that our clan’s elders have no regard for the clan as a whole. Instead, they’re all about pleasing their personal clients and lining their own pockets.”
Chief Elder Marik raised an eyebrow. “Did you not just use this opportunity to your benefit?”
Sorin shrugged. “If those power-hungry geezers still refuse to hand over the poisons I need, they’ll find it very troublesome to access the tinctures their clients need in the mad rush for talent.”
“Only because your apothecaries now produce 30 percent of the clan’s tinctures,” muttered Chief Elder Marik.
“I guess they should have done that before interfering so much with my practice,” Sorin shot back.
“If they balk, it will be their loss. Even with the clan’s stockpiles, there won’t be enough to go around. Everyone will be trying to snap up fresh talents with aggressive offers, but in the end, they’ll come crying to us when they realize that unsealing someone’s physique is much more difficult for those without bloodlines.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me, the man upstairs requires my attention.” He gave Chief Elder Marik a respectful nod before flying up to the top floor of the Elder Council’s atrium, provoking further speculation from the assembled elders and further grumbles from his detractors.