Another Vision Of A Possible Future

By now, the snow had completely melted away, and it had stopped snowing as well, for all intents and purposes, spring had arrived- The trees were blooming, grass, flowers and plants were growing brighter and stronger, the singing of birds became clearer, life in the forest became louder as the winter rest came to an end.

Although Edrick might not seem like the sort to pay attention to such things, he actually quite enjoyed seeing the natural world just spring back into action, and that meant that the whole Myriad-Arm Sect was also coming alive, it allowed for plants and the likes to grow as they pleased after all, the entire place began to smell of flowers, and finally, disciples were back to crowding the outside at any given time as temperatures had become warmer.

The plots of grass separating the dormitories from one another were bustling with disciples endlessly swinging all manner of weaponry, and light sparring was even happening.

Breathing in and out strongly, taking in the fragrance and pure air of spring, Anoteros wondered what he should do right now, as the days were going to get longer and nights shorter, it had been a while since he had managed to run into Xiao, naturally, he had been getting news through Shu, but still, Edrick needed to keep showing up in front of the protagonist so that he could continue to build up an amicable relationship.

Although it certainly could be entertaining to get his hands on that Ai girl, it wasn't what Anoteros had decided would be most amusing.

'I'll just go and check on Shu, everything is ready after all… And I'll check on his progress as well-' just as he thought of this, standing just a few meters from the main path, which led from the sect's gates straight to the main building, a system notification appeared right in front of his sight, well, calling it a notification when his system didn't even try to look automated or machine-like wasn't very accurate.

*At last, the mission is completed!*

*As a sasquatch, instill fear for the woods and cause not a single person to dare venture into the forest for at least an entire week*

*They remained away from the woods for much longer than I would have thought, must be the combination of winter and your fear tactic*

*In any case, here are the rewards : Knowledge wisps, one great knowledge wisp, cleansing wisps, random riches, tonic of liver reinforcement, Shark-Pulling Fishing Rod, Brutish Nodachi, Outspoken Blank Book, Teaching Array Tool, Antique Training Dao, Nonsensical Nothing*

'...That's a whole lot of stuff for a single mission, especially since the additional time was based purely on luck'

*Luck is a powerful factor, by the way, some of the items come with descriptions, as you might have noticed, they aren't exactly the regular stuff that is given*

'I'll check them out, but first-' Edrick took a seat on a random patch of grass and consumed the great wisp of knowledge, the last ones he had gotten had given him quite a bit of good information, having shown him partly how the sword he had stolen from Xiao worked.

This one showed Anoteros a scene of destruction, something that looked like it used to be a city was in flames, the buildings were in ruins, and only two figures were to be seen, one was naturally Xiao, or at least, the original protagonist from the book itself rather than the one Edrick knew, and a man dressed in robes, whomst looked to be in his fifties, his hair and beard were of a most peculiar colour, being a toxic-looking purple, just like his clothes in fact.

"To think that the old Chen would still have a little rat of his running around… You have the same eyes as him, a most unfortunate trait to inherit"

"Silence! I am Xiao Chen, Last of the Chen Clan! I have come to seek vengeance!"

"That much is obvious… However-"

The Xiao in the vision suddenly seemed to lose strength in his arms, soon followed by his legs as he fell to his knees, it seemed like his muscles were all ceasing to function one by one.

"W-What is this?"

"Poison, son- I injected it into the very bloodline of your Clan, a little safety measure, just in case something like you were to occur, any and all Zhenniao can activate it at will, but you don't need to know that, now die-"

And the vision stopped right at the climax.

Anoteros blinked a few times.

'Chen?' he had known from the very beginning that Xiao had a particular background, but it wasn't exactly a backstory that was anything special by itself, many clans had been wiped out, and many had left small remnants, because slaughtering families that extended far was simply not that easy of a thing to accomplish, so Xiao really could have come from any.

But the Chen- That was something even the original Zixuan Elt had known about, the legendary wielders of many weapons, having once been one of the most powerful clans, said to have been eradicated for having originated from outside Leynlornd, there were even rumours that the order to slay them had been given by the crown in person.

Edrick didn't know the details, as even though Zixuan had known about it, he had naturally not been informed of much details, as it was almost guaranteed that the Elt family was also involved.

But apart from Xiao's precise lineage being revealed, there was also something else, perhaps even more important, that had been revealed, the bloodline of the Chen had been poisoned by the Zhenniao, Edrick didn't know for sure, but the purple-haired man was probably the patriarch of the Zhenniao clan, and he had claimed that anyone from his clan could activate the bloodline poison.

And despite the original story appearing rather generous to its main character, it had worked, at least for a few moments, at that point, Xiao was probably supposed to be much more powerful as well, which was something to keep in mind too…

'Considering that Ting hasn't done anything, it is safe to say that she can not sense the poison's presence, and thus, has no idea that Xiao is a Chen…' theoretically, he could probably just snitch and Xiao would be dead within a second, or Edrick could even convince Ting to help him with his own plan, but it felt way too simple.

*You really don't like to have it easy, huh?*

'I want problems, peace can only be savoured with them… And also, this is much too early anyways, and I have already distorted the plot, so I can just let him go, and make sure that it continues to be derailed, wouldn't that guarantee greater rewards at the end of it all?'

*It would, obviously, but Xiao can easily get too dangerous to handle, you know? There are plenty of similar plots in this world, so-*

'No point in trying to convince me with reason'

*In that case, good luck for the future, and don't forget to check out the items you received!*