Chapter 2 - Choice
Chapter 2 – Choice
"Robin, the patriarch wants to meet you… hmm? What's going on here?" A voice suddenly echoed. when they turned, they found a middle-aged man with a thick beard coming towards them.
"Nothing, uncle.. I'll go to the patriarch right away. excuse me, father." Robin said it while a smile was still stuck on his face, then headed towards the patriarch's manor leaving his partly drunk father behind grinding his teeth.
Throughout his way, he did not stop nodding his head to everyone he saw. They all greeted him in different ways.. the adults nodded with a smile and the young men greeted him loudly and some of the weaker ones were even bowing in front of him.
"Hello Uncle Murphy, I heard that the patriarch wants me?" Robin said to the guard after he reached a huge building.
"Oh, sir Robin, please stop calling me Uncle. I'm just a guard here, and yeah… master is waiting for you inside. Come in." Murphy laughed and lead Robin inside
……..
Robin walked into the office and looked around.. the place was still majestic in his eyes as ever, decorated with beast heads and expensive antiques.
In the middle of the room, a smiling old man sitting behind a disk looking at him "welcome, Robin, getting to see you is as hard as ever"
" Sorry about that, I've been in a retreat lately to break through to level 10, I couldn't be disturbed," Robin said while scratching his head.
"Haha, forget it, I'm glad you reached the tenth level! Come on, sit down… I think we need to talk"
"patriarch, if you intend to convince me about participating in the competition, then please don't. you would only waste your time."
"The competition? do you even need to participate? Even if you don't go, who would dare say he's better than you? If you wanted the thousand gold coins and the ten slaves, I'd give them to you now!"
"Thank you, the normal allowance for my age group is more than enough for me." Robin said with a slight smile as he sat in front of the patriarch.
"Heh~ You're always like this, Your monthly allowance is a little higher than that of a mercenary, why don't you let me raise it for you? You've reached your current level almost without any support, I shudder every time I think of your accomplishments if you'd let me Pour all the family's resources into your training.."
"But that will forever owe me to the family, right? I don't like being in debt "
The patriarch went silent and looked at Robin for a long time, not knowing what to say.. this is not the first time such a conversation took place, he always tried to start the topic again, perhaps the outcome would be different.
Technically, they did not support him with anything other than the simple monthly allowance and the normal techniques they give to the slaves.
No, Rather it can be said that Robin has already paid his debts with a large surplus, just by his presence and fame, which contributed largely to facilitating the family business.
The patriarch always wanted to find an opportunity to shower him with money and resources, But this was rejected by Robin himself! Which made him go crazy thinking about it, why was he doing this? Is it because Robin's idiot father made him lose the sense of belonging? Or because of his pride as a genius? Or both..?
What Robin showed was a pure talent.. he did not have a special teacher or found a super technique, but was born with a soul much stronger than average with which he could discover the right track more quickly.
"As you wish, I generally invited you here to ask you about your future path… After reaching the tenth level, you will have to choose a minor heavenly law to build your pillars for the next levels, have you chosen yet?"
"…No"
"What do you mean by NO?! Energy cultivators choose their path from the fifth level and start simple preparations before reaching the tenth level, what takes you so long? whatever.. what minor law do you want? i will get you it's cultivation technique."
"..I ..I don't want a minor law cultivation technique."said Robin hesitantly
" what do you mean? you don't like the ones we have? then which minor law do you want? i will see if i can get it for you"
"l…. want to discover one of my own." Robin took a deep breath and said, that's it, the moment he was most afraid of has finally came…
The family head opened his eyes completely and shouted, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?! Discovering laws and creating its cultivation techniques is the task of the sages! Even I don't have the qualifications to discover laws yet."
The patriarch was feeling like he wanted to strangle Robin to death when he heard his words.
the world really has many heavenly paths to take, and every heavenly path consists of one major law and countless minor ones.
for example, the path of water has one major law which is called the same as the path *water*, while those like dew, spring flow, and raindrops are considered minor heavenly laws and they are basically countless!
according to the progress of the research on a heavenly law and how complete the Technique of controlling it , the strength of the fighter using this heavenly law would increase or decrease.
Indeed, there are many undiscovered laws, but this is the task of the sages standing on top of the world. They have the knowledge, power, and time needed to contemplate the world, identify the laws, research it fully, then pass the Technique of using them to their followers and the forces they established.
For example, the current king of the Black Sun kingdom took dozens of years to discover two minor laws: Fire Shards – Reflected Beam.
But a child who has not yet established his pillars wants to discover a law of his own? This is never heard of… And if he heard it from someone he would tell him to scram, this is simply impossible!
"Stop your nonsense, don't let your thoughts led you stray!"
"I am aware of the consequences of what I have said, patriarch, but it is already decided."
"You… you simply want to throw everything you have in the garbage? Why?!"
"BECAUSE I HATE THIS DAMN LIFE! ..What's so good about being the strongest? No, Rather it is better to say I am the strongest of the younger generation *here*…in the rest of the 9 duchies of the Black sun kingdom or the other 7 kingdoms, and 4 empires there are many geniuses like me and even better.
Every year geniuses are born and follow the same prescribed path… What will change in the world in this way? There is no reason for me to train and get stronger, to hit this and compete with that?
.. All I gained from my genius is a life without friends or loved ones. Those of my age hate me and my elders are trying all kinds of ways to exploit me … And for what? What happens when I grow up on the same steps outlined? be like my father and become a stallion to have talented children and make them repeat the cycle? Or perhaps become like you and run some inherited business? No… that's not what I want! THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS BORN FOR!!" Robin exploded, surprising the patriarch.
The patriarch didn't know what to say.. Robin was always the silent smiling typeو He got the job done without a word and progressed in his training without being noticed.
He's simply the perfect member of any family. Has he been a volcano ready to erupt all these years?
Patriarch Brian went silent for a while and said, "No, you don't realize the consequences of your decision, discovering a minor law takes a sage about twenty years, and you can't advance to level 11 without choosing a law to build your pillars with.. you say you want to stop your training for dozens of years? This is a crime against yourself, against your mother, AGAINST YOUR WHOLE FAMILY!" The patriarch shouted, scaring the guards outside.
The Burton family wasn't huge in the Kingdom of the Black Sun, but they weren't small either! During their six-thousand-year heritage, the family's ancestors managed to control enough lands and were awarded the title of Marques twice, but after each time a bad generation of heirs would come and lose their lands, whether by war or by gambling and selling until the total size returned to enough to form an Earldom.. as it is now. the Patriarch of the Burton family, also known as, Earl Brian.
All the family members, from the youngest to the eldest, were wishing to reclaim their lands and take the title of a Marques for the third time in their history, This alone would be a great achievement that they could die in peace after.
The Patriarch has been holding high hopes for Robin to become a high-level saint or even a sage someday, and lead them to their goal. but he never thought it would come to this.
Or maybe he did, as Robin refused to fight 'meaningless fights' all his life, he just refused to see the truth.