Aftermath

Few days had passed since the eventful birthday banquet of Amden Vantistart.

In the outside world, everything appeared to be calm. The Clove family displayed no outward reaction- they maintained a strict silence on the incident at the banquet, yet people speculated that it was the dangerous calm before the storm would strike.

In a manor in Climia City, the power centre of the Cloves, a meeting was being held.

A few people were seated around a rectangular table.

At the head seat sat Narin Clove, the grandfather of Natale. On his right sat Fexon Clove, his son, Natale's father, and the current head of the Clove family.

Next to him was Felix Clove.

On Narin's left sat Jamien Carter, the younger brother of the Carter family head and next to Jamien sat William Wilson, the head of the Wilson family.

Narin Clove broke the tense silence of the room, "You have disappointed me, Felix."

He continued, his disappointment was visible on his face as he looked at his younger son, "You acted without any rational thought or reason."

"Things should never have reached that point. Even if Natale had won the duel, would it have given us any more respect? It would only have reflected that we are coward and are afraid to challenge our equals."

He sighed, "Even if things had come down to that and Natale had been defeated, you should have kept your cool."

"Natale's defeat was something we could have accepted and moved on from," he added and voice was growing stern, "but you, Felix, acted without reason, and that has cost us dearly. You attacked a child and failed miserably, and that bitch Clara trashed you like a little insect."

Narin fell silent for a few moments before continuing, "It has really dragged our image and respect through the mud."

"Not only that, we are being forced to act against the Vantistart," he said. "If we do nothing, our power and respect which our ancestors had built with so much sweat and blood will be damaged, and if we go against them, well, it will not be easy—especially after Clara has broken into SSS Rank."

Felix did not dare to refute, nor did he dare to look at Narin's face, for he knew very well the magnitude of the blunder he had caused.

No one broke the silence; everyone remained quiet.

Narin questioned, "And what about that little brat, Amden? How is he so talented?"

This was a question that no one could answer. Everyone was trying to find answers to these few questions.

Jamien looked at everyone's face and steered the conversation toward the matter that had brought him there, "With Clara breaking into SSS Rank and the Louisa family completely backing her up, the Vantistart family have become extremely strong."

He continued, "With their talents, Rexon and Lily will definitely break into SS Rank in few years and then into SSS Rank."

"And then there is this brat Amden—even he is a monster. We must do something; otherwise, the Vantistart family alone will shift the balance of power completely in their favour."

Fexon nodded in response and picked up the conversation, "Father, Jamien is correct. We need to act, otherwise it will be too late."

"With what has already happened," he added, "the Vantistart family will never reconcile with us and neither could reconcile with them. We need to prepare for a confrontation."

William Wilson could only nod in response to all this. Given his status, even being invited to such a meeting was an over privilege for him, and he dared not open his mouth.

Narin was lost in thought for a few minutes. He finally commanded, "Fexon, Jamien, try to talk to the other elite families and ascertain their reactions."

He added with a thought, "With this increase in the Vantistart family's strength, they must also be feeling anxious."

"But be careful when talking to them—don't directly expose our plan. We do not know who will join our side and who will join the Vantistart family."

Narin turned to William and instructed, "William, try to talk to families at your level and persuade them to form an alliance and join our camp."

William replied happily, "Don't worry, Uncle. I will try my best."

For the Clove family or for the Vantistart family, families like Wilson hardly mattered. They were considered nothing. However, if Narin could persuade them to form a group against the Vantistart family, they might prove to be useful, especially in opinion building.

The meeting concluded soon with few more additional discussions.

Many such meetings were being held in various families. A lot of people were wary of the rising strength of the Vantistart family, and they were all contemplating their next course of action.

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Meanwhile, Amden was busy training.

Additionally, he was now also practicing runes. With the memories and experiences of an ancient god, grasping the concept of runes was not too hard for him.

He had begun forming the basic runes and practiced them diligently. Along with this, he was waiting for the selection process for the Star Sky Academy to begin.