‘OPEN DEFIANCE: MASS OUTRAGE AS CLIVER’S CLAIM ON ASCENDANT CHALLENGED BY THE FIFTH! ‘

‘Tempers flared this week as a plot to poach Xiao Lee, the latest and youngest ascendant in history, was made known to the public. The attempt, believed to have been led by the Fifth, last member of the Union of Five and patron deity to the Fifth community, is the greatest affront to Lasvanian power in decades. It was stopped by High Executor Walkins, after a brief contest of authority.

This has led to an uproar among everyone from ordinary people to top officials and even the High Senate, which has openly expressed its anger at the attempt. It also comes just a short while after the Eldratre scandal that saw an end to the long autonomy of the tremanns. Ascendant Lee was also at the centre of that scandal.

Speculations on the fate of the highly influential Fifth Community abound...’

Lee closed the article. It was the tenth one he had read within the past week and there was still no new information. They were all full of speculation and lacked any real information.

Though he supposed he could not blame them. The leadership was being very secretive, and no one seemed to know what was really going on. Even asking Lisa had yielded no results. Apparently, everyone except the highest levels were also in the dark.

There was a sense of tension he could feel brewing, from what he saw online. Lasvania had been at peace for centuries. Most of the younger ones saw the stability as the natural order of the world and the older ones had gotten used to the peace. The tremann incident was shocking, but it was still an internal issue.

From what he had gathered, just the idea of openly going against Lasvania had been unthinkable for a very long time. The country had been peaceful in recent years, often opting for diplomacy, but there was always an unspoken understanding of the balance of power.

An understanding that was now broken.

Though he could not claim to understand the politics at the higher levels of the government, there was only one viable answer to such an affront. He thought the Wu had right idea; brutal their methods might be.

When the Wu emperor first united the empire and crowned itself the preeminent power in its part of the world, his neighbours were not particularly fond of the idea, for obvious reasons. The idea that an upstart power could not only challenge but even claim to be above them was ridiculous to the established continental powers.

A little-known fact about the Wu emperor was his initial reluctance to what he deemed pointless war. An unbelievable notion to any who knew the man currently, but an accurate one, nonetheless.

Indeed, Lee could clearly remember the expression on the man’s face when he spoke of his youth to him. There was a sincere longing to go back to simpler times where bloodshed was not necessary.

Still, it had its place. For the fledgling Wu empire would not have survived without it. The old powers killed its ambassadors and stole swathes of land from its borders, openly challenging its sovereignty. The empire was more powerful than any of those kingdoms singlehandedly, but they believed their combined might greater.

How mistaken they were.

One day, the emperor had enough and took up arms. Only after crippling all his neighbours and wiping out entire cities, was he finally recognised. The tactic had worked for the empire ever since, and no one on the continent dared challenge them so brazenly.

There were still occasional upstarts that thought themselves special, but every one of them the empire crushed was one more example for future enemies. Indeed, their numbers had dropped drastically after the fifth time.

Perhaps it was time for Lasvania to take up arms. From what he had seen of their history, though its rise was far from peaceful, it wasn’t nearly as bloody as he would have expected. Most of it, in fact, was simply Love using overwhelming strength to pressure he opposition into submission. A role the Lone Powers assumed later on.

Still, he was not privy to the workings of the nation’s high-level politics. There was nothing he could do but wait and hope the Fifth would pose no more threat to him.

He opened up his notifications for the umpteenth time that week, finding even more unread messages waiting for him than the last time. Something he could scarcely believe.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Even after the post he made confirming that he was fine, he was still receiving tens of thousands of messages from people wishing for his recovery and those worried for his safety. He could not read all, or even most of them, of course. But coming to read new messages of concern warmed his heart a little, however superficial they were. It once again reminded him of the time he spent playing empire/s hero.

Bornie had joked that most Lasvanians rarely had anything to worry about, so they always went overboard when something gave them a genuine reason. Speaking of which, he checked the time mentally, he was expecting her in a few minutes.

A blinking light in his vision told him a call was coming in. It was Bornie, sure enough.

Speak of the dragon...

“Hey Lee,” she greeted with a bright smile when he answered the call.

“Hello Bornie.”

“I hope you’re ready for today,” she asked provocatively. “I’ll be there in a few.”

“Of course, I am.”

“Okay, we’ll see then. Bye.”

He shook his head as she ended the call, he would have been wondering what the point of the call was at all if she had not done the same thing for the past few days. Now, he just smiled with mild befuddlement when she did it.

Still, he had to admit that he appreciated her visits. The past week had further convinced him of his decision to pay more attention to his friends in this world. Having to deal with everything alone like he had in the last few years was not something he wanted to repeat.

He stood up from his position floating in the air and went downstairs. The pristine living room was as plain as ever. Even more so, in fact, as the usual occupant was nowhere to be seen.

Lisa had rarely been at home for the past few days. He had no idea were she was going, but he assumed it had something to do with the incident. Still, he was not going to ask, of course, regardless of how curious he was. She would tell him if she wanted to

A portal that was clearly not Lisa’s sprung open abruptly in the centre of the room, it’s blue bringing some variety to the otherwise monotone room.

He was not worried, of course. Even if he didn’t recognise the portal, which he did. The house was heavily protected against intrusion. The only people who could portal in were people she had approved explicitly.

So he was not surprised when Bornie stepped through. She was dressed casually as usual, with a plain sundress that reached above her knees. Lee had needed to adapt to such casual displays of skin by most people in this new world. Still, he was used to it now.

“Hey,” she said with a smile that lit up the room. “Ready for me?”

Lee ruthlessly squashed the thoughts that were forming in his mind and returned the smile.

“Of course,” he replied. “I should be asking you that.”

She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.

“Look who’s growing snarky. What happened to worrying I’d obliterate you for looking at me funny?”

“Well, you haven’t obliterated me yet, so maybe you’re just talk. Also, that was mostly just Lisa”

“Well, we’ll see about that, won’t we?”

He had to admit, the past few days had been refreshing for him. He was not sure when exactly, but at some point, he started worrying less about offending Bornie and treating her like an actual friend.

Some parts of him still screamed at him for being so casual with someone who could so easily obliterate him, but that was easily silenced. After all, she was the one who asked for casual.

Even with all that, he had not yet reached that level with Lisa. He knew she would likely not do anything intellectually, but her aloofness reminded him too much of his home to be sure.

Still, he had someone he could be open with now at least. Which was much better than none.

They went to his room, where Bornie promptly materialistic a bed from what he suspected was her storage, though he couldn’t see a physical object like a ring.

“I still don’t know how you and Lisa can survive without furniture,” she said, jet back already sinking into the mattress. He had to admit, it did look comfortable on there, and he had to pretend to resist when she called him to join her.

“We don’t need to sleep,” he argued. “Or sit.”

“Yeah and I don’t need to eat either. Doesn’t stop me from doing all of them. That I can do without it doesn’t mean I want to. Now sit, let’s start this so I can kick your ass.”

He sat on the bed opposite her and had to admit she had a point. It really was very comfortable.

“How will this work?” he asked. “I have only done this alone before.”

“Oh it’s easy. Just start the environment and accept my request to join in.”

He followed her instructions, finding himself surrounded by familiar mountains and howling winds. A prompt appeared in his vision shortly after, asking him if he wanted to add Bornie to the simulation.

He clicked yes and she appeared in front of him, decked in a sleek black combat suit that covered every inch of her from her neck downwards.

The past few days had been full of cultivation and though he was not the biggest fan of conflict, being able to let loose with no stakes was a boon he appreciated.

He was a little sceptical when she proposed the idea of a spar, seeing as they were realms apart but she was able to convince him otherwise. The simulation capped her at his level to make sure they were equal.

A part of him had wondered if she could even fight well, given her seeming preference for diplomacy and academia until his mind flashed back to the image of a woman sized hole that went through a kilometres long tree.

Perhaps underestimating her was not exactly a wise decision. Still, he was looking forward to it, however it turned out.

“Ready?” she asked for what must have been the fifth time that day.

“I am,“ he replied once again.

Then she struck.

As her fist met his chest faster than he could dodge he pondered on the fact that perhaps, he was not quite as ready as he thought.