"Thimaeuss! I'm surprised that you actually came."

A guy in his thirties was waving his hand at the patriarch of the von Parseval family. He was wearing a uniform with the name Zweihansen. It was the name of an old martial arts school which resided in the northern part of Germania. Not very famous but still one of the more renowned schools, it had multiple facilities throughout the northern parts. One of the interesting parts about Zweihansen was that it was founded by a kid of an age of just six years.

It was about seven hundred years ago when Germanian prodigy, August Zweihansen, was born. Coming from an elite Bloodline he already developed his own martial art techniques and started his first school when his family fell after a dispute among elite families. Not having any support at that time he decided to teach people who were poor how to fight. Building a small community he at some point was recruited for the army. The War of Mediterro, one of the biggest wars between Eurosean countries throughout history, was then fought with August being one of the war heroes. His name was never published on his own accord. What really happened only he knew.

When he returned to his hometown, the people had created a relatively big place for martial artists. He then decided to continue teaching and giving over his school to the next generation.

Currently, the head of Zweihansen, was Patrick Hauer, the strongest disciple of the previous generation. With an age of 243, he was about to pass on his title.

"Good to see, Thomas. You're starting to look more like the head now."

"Yeah, yeah, continue flattering me. Look at yourself, current patriarch of the von Parseval family."

"Hahaha."

They gave each other a hug and went into the school. The interior was very clean, decorated with only greeneries from local parts of the region. Surprisingly every other part was white. Even the ground.

"Come over here. I'll call grandpa. He should be in one of the fighting den's."

Thimaeuss nodded and saw him leave the room.

'It sure has become bigger over the time I wasn't here. The interior is still the same though. No wonder, the current head doesn't really like anything else other than local plants. Everything has to be clean as well at all times.'

Sitting for a while he started remembering the old times. It all started when he went for his first real adventure with friends. During one of the breaks inn college, he and his friends decided to to go for a bear hunt. They usually resided in the south western parts of the country but during the season they were packed and most of the time already fully booked. Not that that would've been a problem, since they were Rankers of prominent families but it was reason enough to make an excuse to go to the northern forest.

When they arrived there, they searched for a hunting permit and were successful in a small local town. They immediately started hunting. After a days length of killing poor bears they were astounded when they saw an old man doing the same with just a fishing rod. Curious about how he did it they tried to figure it out. The man refused to tell them without them being part of some school. All of them rejected his invitation except for Thimaeuss. The first couple of days he decided to continue hunting but his curiosity got the better side of him.

When he saw the old man hunting again he asked him to be part of his school. They went to the martial arts academy, where the old man challenged him to a fight. No five seconds into the fight, Thimaeuss was lying on the ground with a fractured arm. From then on his journey began.

"Oh, good morning, Master Hauer. It has been a while. How are you doing."

He immediately stood up and went over to the head.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Don't worry, don't worry. Just sit down."

"Yes."

"You've matured a lot, by what it seems."

"Well, I... thank you."

The man was wearing a white classic martial arts uniform. It came from eastern parts of the world. They adopted it when the previous head went over there for a course. The countries were known for their martial arts abilities. His appearance gave the impression of a nobleman.

"So, what brings you over here?"

"Well, there have been some problems going on lately..." Thimauess went over the things that had been going on in his family. Leaving out the parts about the crystal and his grandson's death, he focused on the more relevant things.

"That's why I ordered a meeting. The problem I'm facing right now is that I not only want to get rid of the traitors but also create a stronger bond within the family."

Patrick remained silent for a while. His face showed clear signs of annoyance.

"You... thick-headed idiot. Who told you to become the head of that stupid family. Should've stayed here and become the next head... Not that you would actually do that."

Thimauess was smiling. He knew how much his master hated the fact that he didn't listen to him.

"Well, regardless, I suppose that you could use my help. After all, I am your master and the head of the current Zweihansen martial arts school." Patrick Zweihansen straightened his back and looked at the patriarch directly.

"The situation seems to be dire. First of all your attitude leads people to think that you're not taking this seriously. One of the family members orchestrated an assassination attempt and here you are inviting him to your little meeting. You should've kept him at arms length.

The other thing is that you should prepare yourself for the meeting. From what you're telling me, the family matters to you more than you being the patriarch. You should make that very clear. Then also proceed to show that to everybody. There are two ways to do that. One is to do the classical survival of the fittest. You fight against anybody that wants to become family patriarch. Winner gets to keep the position. The other one is to vote without violence. This route is beneficial if one has networks.

Now think about what you truly want. Is it power or pride?"

Both looked each other in the eyes. They understood the other person well hence they had trained together for years.

"I see. I'll make my own decision. Thanks for taking out time for this."

"Sure, sure. Now that we've talked about this, how about a friendly spar?"

"What? 'Friendly' spar? I know your friendly spar all too good, to fall for them..." He looked at him with a knowing face.

In return Patrick gave him the 'you-a-pussy-if-you-decline' face.

"Aight whatever. I guess that would work out."

...

"Mhmmm, so good."

Rachel was praising the food. After Johan came home from training he ordered takeout. Family pizza for everyone. He thought about how he could increase trust in the family and this seemed to be one way. Giving and taking from each other.

"I'm glad it's to your liking. What about the other girls? You guys like it as well."

"Yes, Lord Johan." It was like in a choir.

"Good. Now to our training session today. The teacher is not going to be here today so I'll just take over. Videl will be assisting me. We're gonna go over your abilities today. Depending on what skills you have, I am going to create a new team that will go to the gate with me. I have some plans for you guys."

Johan had the idea to not go alone, since with a team he could still get some more resources. He also needed a storage. The black market offered dragon cube pills which could extend to ten thousand times their size. They also had bag packs which were a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside.

Since gates had levels to them he could send them to the lower levels and clear the higher difficulties himself. He also had Bahamut by his side, so even in a scenario where something went wrong he could rely on him anytime.

THAT'S BAD THOUGH.

'Hmm? What are you talking about?'

I SAID THAT IF YOU RELY ON ME YOU WILL NEVER REALLY GROW. IN THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD I WILL ALWAYS BE AN OPTION. THAT'S WHY I WION'T DO NOTHING.

Johan looked flabbergasted.

'WOW! So that's how it is. What a great friend. What if I die?'

SO BE IT. I'M NOT YOUR SLAVE.

"Master Johan? Why do you look angry?", one of the maids asked him.

"Don't worry. It's nothing. Just some traitor who needs to get punished."

"Huh? Alright."

The girl was Amy. She was one of the younger maids. This was her first experience outside of the maid school. Learning about Johan she decided to stay here because there was free food and a room for everybody.

...