Talent System: I Instantly Master My Opponents Skills
Chapter 143: Clan Heir (2)

Chapter 143: Clan Heir (2)

...Next Day

Hachiman Clan Main Building

Awakeneds experienced a stage when they reached a breakthrough in their ranks, during that stage they were stuck in a state where their strength would not be equivalent to the next rank but at the same time not up to the next rank.

That state had no official name, instead it was nicknamed "The stuck" by awakeneds.

As the first light of the day peeked through the walls of the Hachiman clan, he woke up.

Zane Hachiman.

He wiped his eyes with his hands.

Slowly, he got out of his bed and stretched.

’Today is the day.’

He thought.

Zane glanced at the calendar he had hung at the other side of the room, seeing the red marked date.

’Last day of the year.’

It was the last day of the year, and like the end of every year he had something very important to do.

It was tradition by now.

’Hopefully I won’t start laughing crazily.’

If he did, he could only blame the woman which he called mother.

As soon as he left his room he was greeted by a battalion of maids. His expression turned sour as soon as he saw them.

"Leave."

He ordered, his voice monotone.

With that single command from him, the maids made way for him to pass.

’They aren’t leaving.’

He thought grimly.

They wouldn’t leave, not today. Today was a special occasion, not just for him, but for all the members of the Hachiman clan.

Even though they didn’t leave they all made way for him as soon as he passed

Wordlessly, he took off his clothes and entered the bath. He made sure to lock the door as soon as he entered.

Then, he had a quick bath.

When he came out, his clothes were already prepared for him, they were on the ground and close to the ground.

’It’s really been 8 months.’

Zane mused as he wore them.

These months had gone by in a flash; days flew by, followed by weeks, then months.

Now, even though only 8 months had passed there was no denying that today was the last day of the year.

Soon, it would be time for the joint clan training program.

He wore his clothes and left, he navigated his way through the densely space he called a home.

The wind hit him as he got outside.

’It’s going to be a bad day, I can feel it.’

He mused.

It was just a premonition of his.

He could see the guards, each of them wore the black uniform of the Hachiman clan guards.

"Good morning, young master."

Those were the words he heard as he passed by them.

They didn’t bother camouflaging, and instead were out in the open. Unlike the maids, they greeted him warmly with voices full of respect.

Zane only bothered with nodding his head as he walked past them.

Soon, he arrived at a relatively small building, one that wasn’t too impressive when compared to the others.

With a huff, he entered it.

Compared to how it looked outside, the buidling was actually quite bigger on the inside.

Zane was slightly confused, it seemed to be the work of a teleportation treasure but from the way it happened he was unsure.

His confusion melted away as he saw the man.

"Father."

He bowed.

The man in front of him was August Hachiman.

Long blue hair that went down to his neck, deep blue eyes and high cheekbones.

The man wore the honorary white robe of the clan head.

His eyes met the figure of the boy whom was bowing to him.

"Rise."

He had a regal tone, one that exuded authority.

Zane stood up.

He wasn’t as tall as his father, the man was up to 6 feet tall, so it required him to raise his head to see his father eye-to-eye.

August Hachiman.

The current head of the Hachiman clan.

The wife of Mai Hachiman, acting head of the Hachiman clan, and Zane’s father.

Zane didn’t respect the man, but neither did he hate him.

While he was growing up, he lived with his mother and father. Because of that he had seen them doing stuff that they normally would be brought to shame if they were discovered.

However, he had seen most of them.

And seeing this man now, he excluded a completely different aura from three years. If not for his appearance, Zane would find it hard to believe that this was the same person he grew up with.

’Is it because of what happened?’

He had heard about a rumor from the guards.

’He got hit by Jason?’

After that he had left for some years with the excuse of politics and training.

"Son, are you ready?"

He questioned.

"Yes."

A year ago, news came that he was challenged by the clan head of the Raijin clan. And he managed to pull through, although it was a close match August Hachiman managed to win.

Even though he was rumored to be weakest; he won without using the Null eyes, though he used War God’s Embrace.

If he hadn’t been "hit" by Jason he would have never begun training so seriously, and if not he would have lost.

In a way, Jason had helped him.

"Good. The people are waiting for you at the arena."

He said.

They stared at each other, none of them speaking a word.

Zane turned to leave.

"Zane."

He stopped and turned to face his father.

"How has your mother been doing?"

He asked.

His tone was no longer full of authority, it kept a bit of that but sounded like...

A normal father.

’Mother?’

He thought.

Suddenly, he burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha."

It wasn’t random like it was supposed to be. He had less control of himself and just laughed when his mother was mentioned.

Slowly, it decreased until it went down to chuckles.

’Why?’

He questioned himself.

"She’s..."

During his sudden burst his father had remained silent, and his face showed no emotion.

Zane didn’t bother guessing how his father was feeling.

"...fine."

With those words he left.

The door closed shut as he went through it, taking him back to Hachiman clan main building.

A guard awaited him.

"Young master, are you ready?"

He asked as Zane came through the door.

"Yes."

He replied.

Despite what had happened just seconds ago he felt nothing, he didn’t even feel embarrassed at his sudden outburst.

’It’s her fault.’

He thought.

"Then please, follow me."

The man began walking.

Zane tagged behind him.

As they walked, guards and maids alike greeted him and he responded with nods.

Soon, they passed through the gate of main building and officially entered the market area.

"Young master."

"Young master Zane."

"Young master Hachiman."

Now that they had left the main building things got worse.

Greetings of that sort assaulted his ear as he walked through the town.

Even though the people had to make way for him to pass, that didn’t mean that they couldn’t speak.

’Why is it crowded?’

He thought.

Today was the day, it was a very special day to the clan. The people were supposed to be crowding towards the clan’s official arena before its seats ran out.

Instead they were still at the market.

’Could it be?’

He mused.

’They were waiting for this so they could see me.’

It was easy to identify him as his features was different from a normal Hachiman; he had blue eyes, deep blue eyes that were as mysterious as they were charming.

They didn’t see him everyday, he never ventured out of the main Hachiman clan residence.

He and the guard walked through the marketplace, it was noisy and Zane constantly found himself getting distracted.

But on the outside he had to show a smile as he looked at the people.

It was only after half an hour of walking that they finally at the halls of the arena.

It was painted red and had weird symbols at the very top.

Not only that, but it was large as well. Very large and befitting of an arena.

"The fight will begin shortly."

"It will begin after the arrival of your opponents."

The guard stood at there.

Zane took a deep breath before walking through the opening.

There were quite a few people inside the arena.

’It still hasn’t changed.’

The Hachiman clan’s arena was used 5-6 times a year.

And 2 of those times, he was the one fighting.

As soon as he entered cheers erupted from all sides.

Zane swiped the sweat that was forming on his forehead.

’Don’t these people know how to keep quiet?’

He wondered.

Not only did the noise generate heat, but it also made it hard for him to hear.

’I guess this is how people react when they see the clan heir?’

He mused.

The members of the clan weren’t treated the same way as those born under royalty.

But even then, to him at least, it didn’t make sense for them to shout whenever he was seen.

’Perhaps this is just how people react to a clan heir.’

He stopped his train of thought and decided to leave it there.

Obviously, he would get nowhere trying to think everything out.

It reminded him of a person he used to know.

"Young Master Zane."

Someone called out.

Zane raised his head and looked in the direction.

It was a young girl with blue hair and scarlet red eyes. She was from the Hachiman clan.

He smiled at her.

’Let’s just get this over with.’

Zane was already sick of waiting here.