Starting from the Dragon Tribe! - Chapter 101

Starting From the Dragon Tribe

Chapter 101: Lu-kun, why do you seek power?

In the silent courtyard, the cold wind brushed by, blowing the dead leaves from the treetops.

Streams of water gurgled across the upper stone cracks and fell into the bamboo tubes until a certain amount was available, then which instantly tipped over and buckled on the stones below with a crisp ringing sound.

The afternoon daylight carried a sort of warmth. By one side of the corridor facing the courtyard sat three people: one old, two young, each holding a Japanese-style pottery teacup filled with steaming barley tea.

It looked like a grandfather and his two grandsons spending a leisurely afternoon.

“Patriarch Inuyama, your Iai is indeed the ultimate form of swordsmanship. I feel that you are able to go even faster?” It was mainly Lu Chen and old man Inuyama conversing, while Gen Chisei looked out at the bamboo and spaced out, beginning to wonder if he was even needed to keep an eye on Lu Chen after all.

This guy really just came to ask the Inuyama clan head simply for advice, not even harboring an intent to spar. From these few days of observation, he didn’t seem to be a lobbyist for Principal Anjou either.

What’s more, the Inuyama family head of the Yamata no Orochi was indeed considered “close” to the Secret Party’s side, but he didn’t think that the old man would fall toward that side in a critical moment.

“I’m ashamed to hear that sort of praise coming from you. Even if I could be faster, I wouldn’t be faster than you,” Inuyama Katsu took a sip of his barley tea and exhaled the hot vapor.

“May I ask, Patriarch Inuyama, what order you can reach? The principal told me that you possess the highest order of Split Second in the world,” Other things aside, Lu Chen still respected people like Inuyama Katsu. From the fight that day, he could tell that the other person had been sharpening his blade for many years, just that he didn’t meet anyone he desperately wanted to slay was all.

If he were that sort of vengeful person, would Inuyama’s blade be even faster?

And some of his words weren’t merely flattery; In terms of Split Second users, Inuyama Katsu was indeed the strongest in the world.

“Eighth order,” In actuality, in his best condition, he had managed to reach the ninth order by chance, but chance obviously couldn’t be counted as true strength.

Lu Chen was a bit amazed. History’s legendary dragonslayer, Viscount “Silverwing” Charlotte, only reached the seventh order at his peak, yet this old man was able to climb to the eight order.

Chisei was also surprised. He had also sparred against the Inuyama clan head, and he had only went up to seventh order in front of him. He didn’t expect this old man to still hold back.

“If I may ask, Senior, is there any technique to raise Split Second?” Lu Chen humbly asked for advice.

However, Inuyama shook his head and said, “There is no good way. Split Second is like a sword—the more you refine it, the faster it will be.”

Lu Chen was a little caught off guard that the old man said that in Chinese, even using a simile.

He thought a bit then said, “Does that mean that this Kotodama thing gets stronger the more you use it?”

Inuyama, however, did not respond to the question. He turned his head to look at Lu Chen, his eyes full of scrutiny, “Are you still not satisfied with your speed?”

Inuyama Katsu believed that people always had a reason for pursuing power, just like how he sharpened his blade for sixty years in order to become the world’s pinnacle of speed and surpass that man. That was his goal, his reason for becoming stronger.

And this teenager?

According to the information he knew, ever since this teenager had “debuted,” he encountered no setbacks. No matter how strong the enemies were, they all fell to his sword, and he thought that if this teenager went all out, his speed wouldn’t be much inferior to that man’s.

And the teenager was still very young with a lot of room for improvement still. Sooner or later, there would be a day where he surpassed that man.

Then what did he seek power for?

Lu Chen and the old man looked at each other and instantly understood each other’s thoughts, “If you stop the pursuit of power, then what’s the point?”

Chisei sensed that the atmosphere between Lu Chen and the old man had changed. The moment before was a harmonious conversation between the old man and his junior, but the instant after, it became tense, and the path where the two pairs of eyes met flew sparks.

In the end, it was a burst of laughter that broke this tension.

Inuyama Katsu laughed with such gusto and so freely that he even slapped his hand on his thigh. Finally, he looked at Lu Chen again, “Lu-kun, you truly are pure. Anjou has taken in another good student.”

Indeed, did the pursuit of power have to be because of something like revenge or the obsession of wanting to surpass someone?

The teenager was not obsessed with those things, but was much purer. He only sought power for the sake of seeking power. His obsession was power itself!

But this kind of purity… was the demonic way. He had seen too many young people pursuing power fall into the abyss, such as members of the Mou Kishu as well as Kanto branch’s Kashikoi Asuya.

“Senior is mistaken. Technically speaking, my mentor is Schneider. Of course, in a broad sense, we are all students of Principal Anjou,” Lu Chen said with a smile and held up his teacup and sipped. It had gotten slightly cold.

Inuyama looked at Lu Chen’s clear gaze, thinking about what the teenager had done in the past few days. He felt that he had been overthinking. This was a person who could separate his pursuit from his daily life. Perhaps this kind of child would be able to achieve happiness easier.

He suddenly felt that the recent rumors within the clan wouldn’t be too bad if they came true. Lu Chen was indeed considered a good match for the Uesugi clan head.

***

***

“I heard that you hate hot weapons. Why is that?” Chisei, who hadn’t spoken this whole time, suddenly asked this.

The information that they had investigated about this teenager told them that he only used cold weapons during missions, even when guns might have been more convenient.

Lu Chen was silent, then said, “I have always wondered why things like guns were invented.”

The two did not interject, for they knew it was rhetorical.

“Was it for the pursuit of greater martial power? Was it to give the weak the power to match the strong. Was it a way for man to further his struggle against nature?” Lu Chen shook his head and sighed, “I later found out it was none of the above, or at least that’s what I think. My teacher told me that guns were invented to alleviate man’s guilty conscience.”

“Guilty conscience?” Chisei was puzzled. Actually, the first few words that Lu Chen had said were objectively correct, but he didn’t understand what he was trying to express.

“Yes, you thrust the blade into the enemy. Your hand can feel that touch of that killing weapon stabbing into the soft body, during which perhaps it may even come in contact with the hard bones. You turn the blade, your enemy will wail, will cry in pain. In his final moments will be hideous or indignant, or frightened or desperate… like counting your sins, those sounds seem to be able to follow you in your dreams,” the teenager’s voice was soft, yet it was like a demonic whisper, chilling.

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