Chương 74: Heir

Kenji held Gozen's gaze.

"You know exactly what kind of reputation precedes you. Your presence here reflects poorly on both of us. You need to leave." Gozen folded his arms.

"I have an appointment with Esther, and we're already late. You know how short her fuse is." Kenji's expression darkened.

"How dare you undermine me? Using Esther to bypass authority in my guild? What makes you think—""Looks like you made it out in one piece." Shota stepped out from behind Kenji, cutting off his father's tirade. Gray scratched his cheek and avoided his gaze.

"I guess it just worked out that way."

"Worked out?" Shota raised an eyebrow.

"So you just happened to finish the race in first place?" The color drained from Gray's face.

"F-first place?" He'd been unconscious during the System's final announcement, and learning the result brought no satisfaction. Those points had been wasted on him, granting him a rank he didn't deserve. If they had gone to Hyun instead, it might've pushed both of them past the Top 100 threshold. Instead, Hyun was going to live as a cripple forever. Kenji's anger faltered as his attention snapped toward the boy beside Gozen.

"First place? This is the one who surpassed you?" Kenji activated Identify. A second later, the appraisal shattered, and shock replaced his scowl.

"Shroud?" Kenji turned sharply toward Gozen.

"What is the System planning with that boy?" Gozen gave a half-shrug.

"Who knows? Now, if you'll excuse me." He stepped forward, but Kenji clamped a hand onto his shoulder.

"You will explain everything. Until then, you aren't taking another step." Gozen sighed. His body dissolved into mist, leaving thin wisps curling through Kenji's fingers. A beat later, he rematerialized ten yards away, before the towering wooden doors of the pagoda. The two guards posted at the entrance snapped upright. Steel hissed from their sheaths as they drew their longswords and leveled them at him. Gozen ignored them and looked back toward his disciple.

"Boy!" he called.

"Enter your Wraith form!" Gray flinched at the sudden order but activated the spell immediately. Wraith His body dispersed into vapor. But the familiar gray mist was gone—pitch-black smoke had taken its place. During the battle with William, Gray had assumed his smoke-based abilities only turned black while his Shroud aura was active. Yet now, even with the aura dormant, his ethereal form had retained that same abyssal hue. Kenji's eyes widened at the black silhouette.

"He really is Rai's descendant," he murmured. Gozen curled two fingers toward himself. The gesture violently ripped Gray off the ground, and his smoky form shot into the air. Gray reeled from the sudden pull and instinctively tried to scream, only to remember he didn't have a mouth. His vaporous body streaked across the courtyard before jerking to an abrupt halt directly in front of Gozen. Gray solidified back into flesh and bone and immediately collapsed onto his knees.

"That didn't feel good at all." Gozen burst into booming laughter. He grabbed Gray by both arms and hauled him upright.

"That's exactly what I told Rai when he did the same thing to me!" His grin widened.

"Consider yourself lucky there aren't any other Awakened besides me who will manipulate your smoke and use it against you."

"I guess I'm lucky I have you, then," Gray said dryly, brushing the dirt from his knees.

"The only smoke manipulator who throws me around like a rag doll without warning." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Gozen patted him on the shoulder, then turned toward the guards' leveled blades. He casually tapped the tip of one sword with a finger before glancing back at Kenji's furious expression. With a jerk of his thumb, he gestured toward the soldiers behind him. Kenji released a defeated sigh and flicked his wrist.

The guards immediately lowered their weapons, sheathed them in perfect unison, and returned to their posts. Gozen motioned for Gray to follow and strode into the pagoda. Behind them, Kenji turned toward his son, disgust twisting his face.

"How could you let that boy surpass you? The inheritor of Shroud's Legacy, of all people." Shota seemed completely indifferent to the shouting. He calmly polished a dagger with a handkerchief.

"Don't you think that might be why he took first place? Because he inherited a class like Rai's, while I'm stuck with this useless dual-class I inherited from you?"

"Don't speak to your father that way, son," Isabella said. Her voice remained gentle, though a cold edge lingered beneath it. Shota stopped polishing. He slowly raised his eyes and fixed her with a venomous stare.

"Don't ever call me son again, woman." Kenji backhanded him across the face. The crack of the blow echoed through the courtyard, sending Shota's dagger clattering across the stone.

"Woman?!" Kenji snarled.

"Show your mother some respect, you ungrateful child." Shota spat a glob of blood onto the ground and flashed his father a mocking smile.

"I'll address my stepmother however I please."

"You little—" Kenji drew his arm back for another strike, but Isabella hurried forward and caught his forearm in both hands.

"It's alright," she said softly. Kenji kept his furious gaze locked on Shota as he pried Isabella's hand away. Then he reached forward and clamped a heavy grip onto his son's shoulder.

"Go to Gwen at the Altair Clan's training hall," Kenji said. His voice had become perfectly calm, a chilling contrast to the rage from moments before.

"I'll catch up." A smirk tugged at Shota's mouth. The fallen dagger began to tremble against the stone, a faint metallic hum rising from the blade before it suddenly shot toward Kenji, its point aimed directly at his head. Kenji didn't so much as blink. At the last instant, the dagger veered aside and cut through the narrow space between them. Shota snatched the hilt from the air, and rather than stopping its momentum, he allowed the weapon to drag him off his feet.

His body launched skyward, and within seconds, he was soaring above the courtyard toward the clouds.

"That boy scares me sometimes, honey," Isabella murmured. Kenji raised a hand against the glare of the sun and watched his son's shrinking silhouette.

"No," he said.

"He's perfect." Inside, the traditional Japanese temple opened into a sprawling lobby constructed from polished spruce. Wooden latticework and paper shoji screens lined the perimeter, while the warm scent of timber lingered in the air. Suspended high above the center of the room was an enormous chandelier—an extravagant fixture that seemed to exist for no other reason than to flaunt the guild's wealth.

Centered in the lobby stood a reception desk crafted from the same polished timber, a brown banner hanging above it bearing the Forge's insignia: an anvil pierced by a sword. Broad hardwood staircases flanked the room, curving upward toward the second floor. Elevators stood on either side of the reception desk, each guarded by a spear-wielding soldier. Both men looked half-asleep, chins tucked toward their chests as they stared blankly at the floor.

Behind the desk, an elderly receptionist tapped away at a floating tablet. She paused at the faint sound of approaching footsteps. Two figures entered the lobby. The first was a middle-aged man dressed in a white robe, his gray hair slicked neatly back, a distinct horizontal scar running beneath both eyes. Trailing a few steps behind him was a teenager in a ragged white robe, shaggy hair hanging over his brow and a black katana strapped at his hip.

The receptionist took one look at the older man and stiffened, immediately lowering the tablet onto the desk.

"Gozen!" the elderly woman greeted, her voice suddenly far too cheerful.

"How can I assist you today?" At the sound of his name, the two guards beside the elevators snapped awake. They straightened at once and planted their spears firmly against the floor, pretending they had been alert the entire time.

"Hey, Gertrude!" Gozen flashed her a bright smile.

"I'm here to see Esther!"

"Is that so?" Gertrude raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Let me check the access logs and see whether you were granted authorization." She reached for the touchscreen built into her desk.

"No need for that." Gozen waved her off and marched straight toward the open elevator, motioning for Gray to follow. The guards exchanged a brief glance. Apparently deciding they weren't paid nearly enough to stop a Kaiser, they remained perfectly still and let him pass.

"Wait, hold on!" Gertrude hurried out from behind the desk.

"It says you don't have authorized access!" She rushed toward the elevator just as the doors began sliding shut.

"It's fine!" Gozen called, flashing her a thumbs-up through the narrowing gap.

"Kenji already handled all that for us!" Gertrude's arms fell limp at her sides as the doors sealed shut. She stood there for a beat, then trudged back toward her post with a weary sigh.

"Why do they even bother putting me at the front desk if everyone can just undermine my authority?" Her frustration abruptly shifted toward the two guards.

"And what exactly do they pay you two for?!" One of the soldiers shrank slightly beneath her glare.

"But, ma'am… haven't you heard the rumors about Gozen?" Gertrude clicked her tongue.

"What, the one about him killing the previous Guild Master?" She flicked a dismissive hand.

"I don't believe in baseless rumors. I only believe what I see."