Kill The Old Ones!

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After getting Richard’s blessing and basically bonding with his future father-in-law, Ren told him that he’s introducing Lily to the clan, which Richard supported whole-heartedly.

Lily was, understandably, stressed and anxious.

She spiraled for a bit; she started thinking, what if they don’t like me? What if they don’t welcome me? What if they think I’m not enough for you? What if they think there’s a better candidate?

Basically, she started thinking that his elders wouldn’t be satisfied with her, or like her for him.

Ren found it adorable, but he didn’t tease her about it. He didn’t ignore her concerns; he met her worries with assurances, which worked to ease her mind.

They used the teleportation hub on the Archstone Plaza to arrive at Central City instead because the distance between Desolate City and Central City was too far. Their cities weren’t exactly neighbors even though they come after the other in alphabetical order.

Because there’s an achor within the clan, Ren had them teleport straight inside the clan instead of coming from outside.

The moment they appeared, Lily instantly felt eyes on her. More specifically, her hand, which was clasped with Ren’s own.

Here, she saw how much respect Ren commanded within his clan. The people who were guarding the gates didn’t say anything upon seeing him, but their backs subconsciously straightened with alertness and pride within his presence.

The expression of humility, solemnness, and respect in the expression wasn’t hidden at all. Ren nodded to them as he passed with her following beside him.

The eyes on her weren’t disrespectful or invasive. They were alert at first, but the moment these eyes saw the hand holding her, they immediately dropped their suspicion and maintained respectful distance.

They understand, almost with immediate and piercing clarity, what she was to Ren. No words were needed. This also displays how much trust and respect Ren had within the clan.

The Banished Arms Clan—to Lily’s eyes—was a peaceful and serene place.

The first thing she noticed is that it is sealed. The gates were shut tight and heavily guarded. The area it occupied was large, enlarged even more from what she learned since Ren told her that he got an interior space expansion reward for this place.

She also noticed that the air here was clean, fresh, and soothing. The atmosphere was charged with energy and activity, and people moved here with purpose.

None of these things were the very first thing she noticed, though. That goes to the dense tribal tattoos on everybody’s arm.

Be it kids, adults, or the old, all of them had the same tattoos that Ren had. It didn’t discriminate based on surname; so long as they shared blood, they would have these tattoos—a curse, or heavy restriction that none of the people ever asked for.

These tattoos don’t just cover the arms; they start from the first knob of someone’s fingers, creeping all the way up to their shoulder joints. The higher one’s martial realm was, the more it seemed like the tattoos got denser. The tattoos also spread past the shoulders but more slowly.

Ren’s tattoos go past his shoulder joint; they spread to his chest—his pecs, almost meeting around his clavicle. They also began creeping up at the sides of his neck.

She knows this because she has spent a considerable amount of time tracing his tattoos with her fingers. She was fascinated by them, but she also distinctly remembered doing her best to memorize their pattern, only for her to get lost or confused after a minute or two, because apparently, they do have that kind of effect—which was concerning, because it made Lily forget where she even started tracing them, and she had a good memory.

Ren told her that this was part of the reason why the curse couldn’t be solved; not even the world system had a solution for it.

And this applies to every single person who lived in this clan. All of them bear the same aberrant physique the moment they’re born and have learned how to live with it.

She could only imagine what that feels like...

But looking at them now, Lily couldn’t sense the despair and helplessness she expected, and she knew why that is.

It’s because this clan had him—Soren Marek Vire.

From the moment he stepped out of these gates, the fate of this clan had changed forever. And he never, not even once, boasted about it to her.

And although Lily hadn’t been into many martial clans before, she knew that the atmosphere in this clan was way better. People here aren’t lazy or lethargic. Everybody moved with a sense of purpose like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

This, most likely, also had something to do with Ren.

**

Eventually, Lily met Mikel and Alex—the clan leader and his son and heir. These two had the direct familial connection to Ren—his uncle and cousin.

Mikel was soft-spoken but also had a deep voice, not the same timbre as Ren, more mature and wizened. He, almost instantly, immediately knew what Lily was to Ren and had been very welcoming and warm towards her. He spoke gently but firmly to Ren about the responsibilities of a man who brought back his lady and introduced her to his whole clan.

Alex, on the other hand, was a firecracker. He cuts into the conversation without prompt or permission without sounding rude. He teased Ren, called him a smooth operator and a sneaky one for bringing a girl back without giving away any hint at all.

Ren countered this by saying that at least he had a girl. Lily saw Alex visibly deflate and become heartbroken from a single refute, which made Ren and Mikel laugh.

Apparently, Alex had been pursuing his dear Lady Captain for years now, loudly and obnoxiously—as it’s Alex’s way of showing affection—but all he had was failure so far.

She found Alex funny and loud, but not irresponsible. Behind his antics lies a surprisingly mature and smart persona. That’s just who Alex was.

Both of them welcomed Lily into the family—not with words, but with actions and other means. They won’t say until they’re officially married, for obvious reasons, but it was more than enough to greatly ease Lily’s worries.

Her man was right again; she had nothing to worry about. She already feels accepted and loved in here.

Ren then introduced her to other people—to Raymond and his wife Venina, who taught him the way of potion making and healing. There’s also Grandma Allen, one of the oldest members of the clan who watched and doted on Ren when he was still young.

Lily never experienced the love of a grandmother, but within the span of a few hours, she had it, and it almost brought her to tears.

She’d give a lot just to experience a life being cared for by her own grandmother. Alas, her grandparents on both sides died before she was born.

After a very productive day in here, Ren brought her to his own villa.

His home was large, very neat, and smelled good.

Honestly, she initially thought that she’d see a mess somewhere at least. She grew up with stories of how boys could be messy with their belongings and their rooms. Her own father wasn’t a very good housekeeper himself since he grew up with servants who would do that for him.

So, she was understandably surprised when she found Ren’s house clean, organized, and neat. Not a shadow of a servant was present here. He does it all himself.

She experienced another surprise when she discovered that Ren could cook, and he cooks really well, better than her, even better than her personal chef.

Lily watched as ’sorcery’ happened in his kitchen. Multiple things were happening at once without Ren touching them.

It was a skillful and wondrous display of chakra control, really. But it most definitely looks like magic from a certain perspective.

It’s like there were a crew of people working in this kitchen at the same time, even though there’s only Ren in there.

And of course, the food was good. Ren used quality ingredients and had good skills to pair them with.

With a skill like this, Ren would never resort to eating takeout, and he loudly declared to her that he’d be spoiling her with food he personally cooked as much as he can from now on.

They hang out for a bit after that. Then, they showered together, where they got a little bit promiscuous, playful, and intimate.

Said intimacy stretched past the showers and escalated when they got to his room.

Lily did her best to memorize his room, where his scent was the most concentrated, but she couldn’t. Not with warm arms and hands roaming her smooth, delicate, and trembling body from behind while a pair of lips trailed heat on her neck.

She’d memorize the layout of his room at a later date, then, she decided. Not now when her man obviously demands her body and affection.