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266 Departure moment
“And spoil the fun? Of course not.” The master spoke like a child proud of his prank. “By the way, you should go take a shower, son. I can barely breathe with you so close.”
“I’m going to go take a shower, I just need to confirm something before I leave. How’s my Tachi, has it been fixed yet?” Ash asked anxiously. He remembered throwing his weapon away to get rid of Loke’s short swords, but he didn’t find him after waking up.
Ash felt naked and insecure without a weapon to defend himself, so he hoped the clan master had retrieved the weapon and ordered it repaired.
“About that, the blade of your tachi was badly damaged and broke while the blacksmiths were trying to repair it. I thought about getting a new sword as a replacement and to commemorate your victory, but I had a better idea.”
“Give me some of your feathers and I’ll order the clan’s runesmiths to make you a unique weapon, rather than something generic and mass-made like your old tachi.” The clan master spoke.
“Are you serious? A gun of my own?” Ash leapt to his feet in sudden excitement, only for the clan master to flap his wings lightly and force Ash back down.
“Calm down, son, it’s no use getting too excited. It’s a normal prize for the winners of duels to have weapons customized for themselves. Our clan forges the personal weapons of our members using our feathers, that way we can channel our flames through the weapons easily and without worrying about burning the energy of the runes.” He calmly explained to Ash.
“My hope is that by using a gun to channel your silver flames, you can partially control them and use it as a valve to not release everything at once, or at least direct the flames in one direction instead of exploding in all directions.”
“Wait, if using a weapon to facilitate flame control was always an option, why didn’t you tell me sooner??” Ash asked offendedly, sensing that his father had purposely withheld the information.
.....
“Customized weapons are something we only offer to powerful army warriors or promising young men, and you’ve only just become one.” The master explained to calm Ash’s doubts.
“I understood.” Ash got angry once more at the clan as he pulled a feather from each wing and handed it to his father. “Ack. Here, take this. How long will it take for my sword to be ready?”
“It should take a couple of days at most for the sword to be ready, so you’ll still have some time to try and get used to your equipment before you leave. Now get out of here before I lose my sense of smell.” The master shooed him out of his office while pressing his nose with his right hand.
Ash left the room after being kicked out of the office, but he was incredibly happy at the thought of being able to control his flames for the first time in his life. Although he didn’t admit it, he was envious of the black hawks who could control their flames perfectly.
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The days passed quickly for Ash, who was too busy preparing for the journey and enjoying his newfound peace now that the clan’s beastmen no longer teased or intimidated him.
Ash enjoyed those moments of peace as much as possible, knowing that he would lose as soon as he left for the sky wing clan. He even considered the idea of ??giving up and remaining in the clan, but abandoned the thought soon after.
He couldn’t and didn’t want to stop now, knowing he would lose everything the moment he settled down and stopped evolving.
Ash had also received his new sword in the meantime and found the result incredible.
The sword was even bigger than the previous one, being almost 1 meter long and could no longer be called a tachi. The blade was made of magic steel and was curved from the middle of the blade, gleaming silver thanks to Ash’s gray feathers.
Ash had tested the blade during those days and discovered for the first time that he could control its silver flames, at least partially. Using the sword as a crutch, Ash was able to draw the silver flames from his wings to cover the sword or launch it in waves whenever he swung the blade.
The problem was that the flames kept their characteristic of burning all kinds of energy and Ash couldn’t use skills or reinforce the blade with mana, even the enchantments would be absorbed, so Ash would have to activate all the enchantments until the energy ran out to avoid the waste of mana.
He was also given standard black feather clan army armor as proof that he belonged to the clan, something all tribute envoys and soldiers would receive.
During that time, the clan master also announced to the entire clan that Ash would also be sent as a tribute and although some questioned this decision, most approved.
Some feared that sending a flawed one like Ash would be seen as disrespectful, but most found the idea of ??sending him away from the clan more interesting.
The day before the departure, the clan organized a big party all over the mountain to honor the beastmen who would leave for the sky wing clan and for the first time, Ash participated.
He always avoided participating in this type of event for obvious reasons, but he proudly participated this time.
The clan elders tacitly ignored Ash while those who lost their weapons to their clan master glared at Ash, but they didn’t dare to provoke him, not when he would be sent as a tribute.
Those who disliked Ash’s presence at the festivities were the young men who would also serve as tributes and were overshadowed by someone they considered a failure.
Many of those who were dissatisfied with the course of events tried to provoke Ash with mean and sarcastic comments, but the latter did not fall for the provocations and just released his aura against the most insistent.
Ash was among the most powerful of the new generation and although the young men who would serve as tributes were also talented, none of them could compare to him, most being only halfway through the second tier.
The party went off almost without a hitch and Ash was able to enjoy the clan for the first and last time before he left.
When the day of departure arrived, all the young men who would become tribute gathered in front of the mansion before dawn, all of them outfitted in full armor and carrying suitcases with their personal belongings.
Ash was among them, having been the first to arrive and the most excited of all. Originally he hadn’t intended to wake up so early, but his father shooed him out of the house, saying he wouldn’t get preferential treatment and would have to wait outside like the others.
Although the clan master was already awake, he waited until after dawn to leave, leaving the young warriors uneasy, with the exception of Ash who knew the clan master was just pestering them.
“Looks like everyone is already gathered here.” The clan master spoke as he exited the mansion while yawning loudly, ignoring the gathered beastmen.
“Clan Master, when are we going to leave?” Some of the gathered beastmen asked anxiously, but the clan master just laughed at them.
“We’re leaving now, we’re just waiting for a few guards to arrive before we travel.” Master’s smile only widened as he looked at the weight the youths were carrying.
In a matter of minutes, a few dozen beastmen reached the front of the manor and curiously, they all started laughing as they looked at the gathered youths.
‘What are they finding so funny?’ Ash and many others noticed the strange behavior and thought about the situation, but the clan master kept talking.
“The surrounding guards will surround you to ensure your safety and you should just follow us and make sure you don’t get left behind.” The master spoke briefly and began to flap his wings to fly.
“Well, is that all? I heard from my parents that serving as a tribute was difficult, but it doesn’t seem so bad. I think the difficulty is only when you reach the sky wings clan.” One of the beastmen near Ash spoke to his companions near him as they all flight and followed their clan master.
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