Changes in family Succession IV
"your second uncle Ryland Alastair."
You can understand why I would have trust issues. Even your own family will come after you if it gives them enough profit.
"But why would he?"
"It is related to your grandfather."
"Grandfather?"
"Yes, after becoming king level powerhouse he, declared that the position of the next head will not be passed down like before. Instead you will need to earn it."
"Earn it?"
"Yes, it will be battle royale with all the younger generation of family."
'Hmm, what is he planning?'
Truthfully I was not very close with my grandfather either. heck I had never even met him.
'But for him to make such a decision. What happened?'
"Did my father not Retaliate?"
"No, in fact he was the one who supported this rule more than anyone."
"hmm..."
I didn't say anything after that and just stared outside the window.
***
I opened my eyes as I felt the car stopping.
"are we there?"
I asked susan
"yes."
I got out of the car, and what appeared in front of me was a city and, in the middle of the city was a giant castle and furthermore this whole city was surrounded by forest.
City Alerith, city mostly housed by members of Alastair family. anyone who had blood of an Alastair was allowed to stay in this city.
Alastair family has been in existence for more than 1000 years. so depending on that Alerith city housed more than million of Alastair.
and the leader of this whole Alastair family, my father was standing right in front of me, with several other elders of the family.
"father, elders."
I said as I bowed toward him and the elders.
"Son I'm glad you're back."
my father said as he parted me on the shoulder .
I looked at him and the elders and noticed something. In particular , most of the elders had pity in their eyes as they looked at me.
"come let's talk inside you must be tired from the journey."
"I'm fine father. but I do want to meet with my grandfather."
"you want to meet your grandfather? sure! sure! let's go that old man will be excited as well to see his grandson."
with that, my father and I started walking in the hallway of the castle. as the elders of the family disappeared.
but before leaving one elder said something which caught my attention .
"haa…what a pity. I heard he has great mana talent but even he will be crushed by that "monster" "
'what monster?'
"so where were you all this month?"
I looked at him only to see him looking forward with a smile.
"In dungeon."
I answered, there was no point in hiding it. even if I hid. there were only two places which I could have gone to, wilderness or dungeon.
I obviously chose the dungeon as it would give verification to my abilities .
yes I was going to tell them about my abilities albeit not all of them. since my father already knew about my [Chaos fire] or more correctly [chaotic Infernal flames] so there was no point hiding it, but I could reveal my
[dragon durability] it would be much easier if everybody knew about it. because It was a passive ability I had no control over it so it could be discovered easily .
as for the third ability I hadn't thought about it. I decided on it after meeting my "grandfather".
"dungeon? what kind of dungeon were you in for you to be missing for 10 months."
My father believed me wholeheartedly. it wasn't because of his trust or maybe it was. But if I hadn't gone to the wilderness or dungeon then I would have been in the city and my family wouldn't have any problem in finding me then .
"it was a treasure dungeon."
treasure dungeons were anomaly. unlike normal dungeons which stayed at the same place and would fork out monsters when not cleared continuously, these were kind of dungeons which did not stay at one place and were filled with various treasures.
"you are one lucky brat huh.."
He commented, he looked like he wanted to say some more but we had already reached our destination.
A giant golden door door with the carving of knights and dragons. They are as majestic as if they were real.
My father stepped up and pushed open the door.
what greeted our eyes was a simple room.
with wooden furniture with slight boundary of gold. in centre of the room was a glass desk, and near the wall size window sat an young man he looked slightly older than me. had dark red hair with fiery red eyes, there was not a spec of flaw on his face, perfect jaw line with sharp nose he looke no less handsome then the vampire in the dungeon .
as we entered the room he shifted his eyes from the scenery outside the window to us.
Or more correctly to me, he stared at me as if he was looking at some rare item.
my father stepped forward and bowed 90°
"father"
my father said as he looked at the young man respectfully.
my mind was buzzing with confusion but soon I understood the situation, there were some artifacts that could be used to look young or change the appearance of user, they were especially popular among women.
"is this your second son?"
the young ma- no my grandfather looked at me from head to toe and smiled.
"yes father."
my father said as he stood up straight.
"so why are you here?"
grandfather asked me as he came and stood in front of me.
but instead my father answered.
"he was very eager to meet you."
"is that so?"
"no"
I interrupted their conversation and gave my own answer.
"what do you mean no?"
my grandfather asked as he began walking towards the glass desk.
"I am not here to meet you, well I am but my Main reason to meet you is to ask you why did you change the rules?"
"Eric don't be disrespectful!"
My father scolded me from the side but I didn't back down. naturally before me the position of the next head was my brother's but now that he is missing shouldn't it be mine. and it's been happening from generation then what was the need to change the rules now.
"let him be."
Grandfather stopped the father as he looked at me and narrowed his eyes.
"are you questioning my decision?"
suddenly the weight on my shoulder increased and the pressure on me increased tenfold it was as if the ground wanted to make me kneel to this man. but I did not give up, I gritted my teeth and dug my nails into the skin as blood flowed out but I didn't kneel this was the second time I was feeling pressure like this. first time it was Alex but this pressure was way stronger then before.
And suddenly pressure disappeared as if it was not there in the first place.
I looked at my grandfather and saw him smiling wider than before.
"since you are strong you deserve an answer."
"when your brother was chosen as the next head he disappeared nine years ago and till this date no one has found him. whole family was humiliated because of his disappearance one day after coronation ceremony. and I couldn't bear to see that happening again so instead I gave Chance to our whole new generation. a chance to become next family head a chance to someone who actually respected this position."
Although I was angry that he was talking about my brother like he was some kind of trash, I understood the situation as well. and although I was skeptical of everyone I still respected my family who made me who I am today. and like my grandfather I also wanted good for the family so I didn't raise further objection.
seeing my acceptance to his reasoning my grandfather Said
"I am surprised, I thought you would act differently."
"differently? like how?"
"I don't know? maybe I was expecting tantrums?"
"tantrums? I'm not a kid."
I rebuked, how could you expect a grown man to throw tantrums?
"yes you are."
suddenly his attitude took a 180° turn as he became serious.
I didn't know what to say to this statement so instead I questioned father.
"I heard you were very supportive of this rule may I ask why?"
my father looked at me for few seconds and sighed .
"you sure you want to know? maybe you won't like the answer..."
before I could say anything grandfather commented from behind.
"ho~ ho~ I Love family drama!"
Mind you old man this was your family too.