"Cattle deserves no mercy, son"
Your father looks down on you as he speaks with prepotency, his trimmed beard and thick eyebrows are firm and straight, making him be seen like a person that abides by the rules. You are not very fond of him, he is strict, arrogant, gets irritated rather easily and sometimes you think that he doesn't even thinks of you as his kin.
"But… why?" you can't help yourself but to blurt out that question, even if you know what would be the outcome.
"Why!? You even have the guts to ask me something so stupid…" he just shake his head as he stomps his foot in the floor.
A head gets squashed, it was a really low level beast that you were raising in secret, it was a cute white fox-kin that you found injured on the road, you carried it home and nursed it into regaining its health. The white fox was at a very low level so it must have been a very young one, beasts develop some strength with the pass of time because they naturally absorb the Qi in their surroundings.
It wasn't too long before the servants snitched on you, so here he is now, right in front of you, his countenance is the epitome of calmness, yet his eyes are as violent as a blazing flare. First of all, he appended you with his overwhelming power and left all of your limbs broken; he can find ways of healing them of course, it is especially easy because you haven't even begun your cultivation. Then he ripped apart the fox's head as you watched.
"Cattle is cattle because they are weak or dumb, sometimes even both" he chuckles, his anger apparently subsides a bit "This time is my fault, I didn't teach you correctly" he closes his eyes.
You fear him, you hate him, yet you are in awe of him. He is a strong person, and not only that, a cunning one. The head of the Clinton family is not someone to trifle with, strong will, strong connections, a brilliant mind, his only weakness would be that he is not a monster in cultivation; he is pretty good yet he is not a genius. But where genius had fallen he rose up in triumph.
"If you are weak, you get consumed by the strong, if you are dumb, you get consumed by the masses. There is a middle way just to stand aside just to get eaten little by little until you die an unfulfilling life. Remember my words, kiddo, we…!" he turns his back at you as he extends his hand, fluttering his cape "The Clinton never die with an unfulfilling life! If you do, I will search for you from the depths of hell just to give you… a piece of my mind"
He just walks away, his footsteps resounding loudly as he leaves you alone.
You can't handle it anymore so you drop to your knees, finally spilling your tears from your eyes, you started to develop some fondness with the little creature, you were even thinking about naming it.
This is something you will never forget, around four years ago, in this day, you lost your childhood. Yet you become stronger and stronger, not in cultivation, as your father you were just someone with average speed in cultivation; even if the Dao is boundless, the people is bounded by their capability.
You are not cattle; you will not become cattle.
Opening your eyes, you try to rearrange your thoughts, two dreams in a row took a toll on you so your head hurts like hell; maybe that freaking nightmare gave you some side effects. That dream can't be real, right? Your head… did it exploded?
You slowly caress your hair trying to come in terms of half-dying; that white-haired madman really crossed a line, no matter what you are a child, if you were to encounter him again you will give him… a piece of your mind.
"It's no use" you sigh completely tired.
There is no way to know whether that dream was some sort of prophecy or if you were just having a delusion.
You close your eyes and take a deep breath, that is your morning routine and your cultivation method. The Clinton family focus on a breathing technique as their means to absorb the Qi in the environment, it works with people that don't have much time to meditate, the downside is that your body won't be as strong as other methods of cultivation.
Then you realize, your cultivation went up in 2 ranks, you are in the verge of breaking through the Qi cultivation stage.
"This can't be real…" you whisper to yourself and get up in a rush, feeling your muscles.
They are supple and firm, a lot stronger than your usual frail self.
"Ruru, Mimi" you call to your guardian Beasts.
They are not your beasts and they are not in contract with a cultivator, they were indoctrinated to obeying the orders of your clan; but that is only because they are weak, rearing a Beast is only effective until they are at the Second Stage of Monster Cultivation, after that it is impossible to tame any beast in the conventional way; but usually most of that means are despicable.
Origin, Animal, Beast, Calvary, Monster, Royal, King and Emperor are the stages of Monster Cultivation, each of them dividing themselves in 10 ranks; beyond that is the realm of the Divine Beats, only them can reach any further.
Two Spirit Wolves heed your call, strutting with some arrogance and an air of bloodlust. They have deep black purple fur and ears that end on a reverse spiral, their fangs are pretty long so they can be seen even if they close their mouths, but that is thanks to the Qi Attribute they belong, Darkness, not every Spirit Wolf is of the same Qi Attribute.
"Come on, stay still" you order them as they just bark in response, sitting on the floor.
You try to feel the Qi around, closing your eyes and taking another deep breath.
The Qi is the origin of live, there is Qi on everything in the world, so if your breath in the right way you can feel the Qi even if you don't have any kind of connection with a Beast.
Extending your arm, you try to find your Dao, your way. What do you believe in? There is a lot of things that you strongly desire, Victory, Power, Leadership, Domination, War, Strategy. A lot of different and known Dao come to your mind, you try to focus in any of them, you clutch your fist as you let out a shout.
"Haaaaaaaaa!"
Your long black hair, that extends up to your neck, flutters to the both ways as you canalize the Qi in the environment, slowly, calmly, steadily…
Your name is Gameru Clinton, a really weird name that you sometime feel that is was just a joke that your mother came with. You have heterochromia, having red eyes is a rare trait that the Clinton family is proud of having, yet only one of your eyes is red, the other one is black as the night.
Focusing and breathing, breathing and focusing. You try hard to seal a contract with Ruru, you can't help yourself because you are too eager of becoming a real cultivator, finally you can get back on… 'them'.
Yet, nothing happens. You wasted 15 minutes already, usually this process is pretty fast and the Spirit Wolves should be willing, they completely obey your orders. Something is wrong.
"Why are you rejecting it?" you frown at Ruru.
You try your luck with Mimi, but the Spirit Wolf rejects the pact. Although you feel completely powerless you discovered something, fear, deep fear in the Spirit Wolf eyes; the Dark Spirit Wolf is supposed to be the bravest Spirit Wolf of them all, yet their eyes look like they are trying to regain their composure.
Right, X told you that you can cultivate without the need of a pact, so that is what he meant; you can't bound yourself with the Beasts.
"Tch" you click your tongue in displeasure "This is troublesome, why did that guy had to do something so troublesome?"
Critical thinking is a virtue that you have and you are proud of it, so you consider all of your options slowly, nevertheless, you came up with nothing of value. You will have to go to the library to investigate, now that your cultivation rose up sharply the thing that you don't need right now is time.
You should be getting ready for classes.
Right now you are not living at home, you are lodging in your Academy, the Raising Phoenix Academy, it is a Cultivation School that is affiliated with the 13 Colonies, it is one of the most neutral Cultivation Schools and one that defies the usual ranking of Outer, Inner and Core disciples, the only thing that matters is your exploits in logistics.
This is a military Academy, even if there are some internal conflicts in the coalition of the 13 powers. There is an excess of Warriors and Mages in the nation, but what they need is some Strategists, they can read the situation on the battlefield and reinforce the morale and Battle Formations in the battlefield.
You put a navy blue military uniform with red accessories, as a part of the nobility you are entitled for a lot of commodities.
"Let's go, Ruru, Mimi" you order your Spirit Wolves with frustration in your tone.
Closing the door of your dormitory you leave with determination, ready to clash with anything that comes in your way
"My, my, what do we have here? Baby Cadet"
You didn't expect that right after you got out, problems were already knocking at your door.
Three classmates of you surround you with malice in their smiles.
What a way to start the day.