Madam Selna found a new location with an abundance of energy one day before she reached Red City. It had no beast corpses like the second location, but it was devoid of a sprout. Either way, the mere existence of such a place made her glad she had called the elites of the support battalion to guard her against the unknown.

When she found yet another location like that after Red City, her nervousness for the unknown became caution against Ironblood, whom she became sure had something to do with those places. It couldn't be a coincidence that the phenomenons were accompanying him.

That caution wasn't fear though. Rather, knowing Ironblood was involved made her even more confident that coming to capture him herself had been the right call. Especially because the place after Red City had both corpses, a sprout, and something even more unique.

Two beast cubs, a black panther and a white wolf, were lying beside the sprout. They were sleeping while energy of their respective colors, visible to the naked eye, came out of the bud and enveloped each of them.

She attempted to approach to better inspect them, but an invisible barrier around the beasts stopped her. Before she could use Time magic to go through it, her Arcane Emblem heated and glowed. She took it in her hands and answered the call using her mind.

"Yes?"

"Attack!" shouted her secretary in her mind through the emblem. "The Arcane Tower—" The connection dropped before she could finish.

Madam Selna tried to contact the secretary back, to no avail. Then she called her spy in the capital, despite the dangers of the connection getting intercepted, thus exposing the man.

"The king accused the Circle of conducting prohibited experiments," informed the spy. "The Royal Guard set the Arcane Tower on fire. It's raining ashes on the city."

Madam Selna could hardly believe what she was hearing.

The Arcane Tower was burning? The Arcane Tower?! Was the king crazy?!

The next person she contacted wasn't just anyone, but people with enough power to crush that entire kingdom like the ant it was.

"Selna Solaris, Four Star Entropomancer, Madam of the Illyria Branch, informs the Higher Branch that the local king destroyed the Arcane Tower. I'm officially requesting military support."

If the king wanted war, he would have war. And for forcing Madam Selna to give up on the rewards she would receive for capturing Aaron Ironblood, she would torture the king for years!

She took one last reluctant look ahead, turned back, and ordered the elite guard to accompany her back to the capital at full speed.

She left the slowest people of the group behind up to protect the cubs in the name of the Arcane Circle. She just hoped they could keep that place protected long enough for her to gain something from that discovery.

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A circus; that was the best way Aaron could describe what he was seeing in a clearing between the forest and a mountain.

Thousands of tents of all sizes and colors were scattered around the area, and the place felt alive. There was music, the smell of food being cooked, and despite the late hour, thousands of people were moving everywhere, from fighters in metal armor to half-naked Inepts. Aaron even saw a fight taking place in public, with people around it cheering loudly and placing bets.

Most tents were grouped around vertical flags that hung from tall masts, all well lit to show their coat of arms. Most crests were made of simple geometric symbols, which reminded him of the circle inside the triangle on Logan and Lana's robes. Only five of them had drawings of weapons or representations of the elements, and they stood much taller than all the others.

"Does no one in this kingdom have a sense of aesthetics?" he asked no one in particular.

"Sorry?" Alys, who was nearby, replied.

"These flags are horrible. Where are the powerful creatures like dragons and phoenixes? Or well-made and detailed coats of arms? Heavens, look at that!" He pointed at a flag. "That crest is a red square on a yellow background!"

Alys gave an embarrassed smile. "It's not out of choice. The gods have a very rigid system in place for clans' crests."

"A rigid system? How so?"

"They are many rules to it, and it's all explained when you're trying to create a clan, but I remember the first twenty.

"First, within each empire, flags cannot be equal to each other. It's very hard to create a crest no one else has, especially if you want it to look good. Most people don't even bother trying anymore.

"Second, to use divine beasts, like the dragons and phoenixes you suggested, a clan must belong to an imperial family or be at the SSS tier. There is no clan higher than the S tier in the entire empire that I know of. Hence the reason for the lack of such beasts.

"Third, to use other types of beasts, a clan must at least belong to an imperial duke or a vassal kingdom's Monarch, or be at the SS tier. The king's clan naturally isn't present in the place he set up a trap.

"Fourth, to use man-made objects, like swords, shields, or anything else, a clan must at least belong to an imperial noble or a vassal kingdom's duke, or be at the S tier. Those three clans are led by local dukes.

"Fifth, to use the elements of nature, a clan must at least belong to an imperial citizen or a vassal kingdom's noble, or be at the A tier. Those two other clans are from nobles.

"Sixth, only one change of flag is allowed in the existence of a clan. Most people focus more on their last flag than the first once. That's the major reason they don't care about the first flag.

"Seventh—"

"That's enough," interrupted Aaron. "Basically, just those five..." He pointed to the five highest flags. "...are powerful, while the rest is rabble."

"I wouldn't say everyone else is rabble," she said carefully. "A few clans are more powerful than those five due to their sizes and history, but they have less prestige because they don't have noble blood.

"Right. But tell me, what in the seven hells is this?" He gestured to the tents in front of him.

Tia stopped on the other side of Aaron and replied, "You really were living under a rock, weren't you? That's a Clans Arena."

"Which is...?"

"In the past, when two—"

"Big Five?" asked Aaron.

"The owners of the five tallest flags," said Tia, a little upset by the interruption. Then, she continued, "In the past, when two or more of the most prestigious clans in each kingdom of the empire wanted the same thing, war ensued and too many people died, weakening the empire as a whole. Fifteen hundred years ago, the emperor decreed that instead of warring, they were to resolve their issues in a Clans Arena. Each clan can send a representative to battle once a day until they reach an agreement. Also, if smaller clans want the same thing and an Arena is going, they can battle the Big Five for it, and the big clans are forbidden from exacting revenge if they lose."

"Interesting," he said and changed the subject, "but I thought the map would take us to the cave where the Sky Splitter Sword was last seen, not to a clan battle."

"It's not a cave, it's a massive cave complex, and it's on that mountain." She pointed at the mountain on the other side of the tents.

"Shall we then?"

She shook her head. "We can't. This Clans Arena is all about gaining entry to the cave complex. If we try to bypass the Arena, everyone here will hunt us down."

Aaron frowned. "Aren't non-mercenaries forbidden from competing for a commission after it's registered at the guild? Can clans become mercenary entities or something?"

Tia's showed a helpless smile. "They can't; only individuals can become imperial mercenaries. But laws always have loopholes for the powerful to abuse, don't they?" She sounded upset about it. "The Big Five are not competing for the sword, but for entry to the caves, which they claim to have special resources. They can block access to those resources, and it 'just happens' that a commission was made at the same place. This is a legal gray area that can only be clarified by an Imperial Adjudicator on an individual basis, but good luck in getting one of them even glancing this kingdom's way. Illyria is just too small and unimportant."

Aaron suppressed a sigh. Tia sucked at explaining things. She provided too little or too much detail and ended missing the mark. "So they can fight for the sword in a roundabout manner? They'll just 'happen to find' the sword when gathering other resources?"

She looked at Aaron as if he was stupid. "No, of course not. They don't want the sword, the guild pays too much attention to them. They're only taking turns in winning the battle every day and selling the right to enter the caves to imperial mercenaries or smaller clans that think they can get away with cheating the guild."

Aaron shook his head, finding it pathetic. Rather than focusing on increasing their power and competing against other powerful organizations to reach new heights, the Big Five exploited the weak. He would understand if they charged a common fee for anyone to enter the caves, as it was the powerful's prerogative to claim an area for themselves, but they had assembled a truly large-scale operation to squeeze the most out of the weak instead.

For him, this was not much different from how the Fire Wolves had used ligurus to protect themselves. The people of that world, or perhaps it was just that kingdom, were infected with a deplorable moral pettiness. It was no surprise that Illyria was so insignificant. Even evil people required ambition to grow.

"You said other clans can fight in the Arena too, right?" he asked. "I gather you want us to win a fight rather than buy the right from the Big Five since I bankrupted you just recently."

"Not really," Tia said in a low voice.

Aaron was tired of her inferior information-providing methods — he didn't even know why she was answering him, to begin with — and turned to Alys instead. As expected, she gave a concise and informative answer.

"Other clans can fight in the Arena, but there are exceptions. The Arcane Circle is a clan and one such exception, so I can't fight. The others... They left their clans because of special circumstances."

"The Circle is a clan?" asked Aaron, surprised.

Alys smiled. "The world revolves around clans; it's the gods' will. Any family of some renown and most organizations are clans."

Aaron sighed. A world where the predominant social structure was clans, which invariably became greedy and overprotective as time passed... He could imagine how it created all kinds of rivalries. And when powerful cultivators fought, they painted rivers red with blood and erased entire cities from the map. The emperor had been wise to create such a Clans Arena.

Anyway, what mattered now was that he refused to pay some pathetic bullies to get into the cave complex. Alys couldn't fight, none of the others had a clan, and a clan was needed to compete. The solution was obvious: he would establish his own clan.

"How do I create a clan?" he asked.

"By using the Heavenly Skill Create Clan. Anyone can do it," replied Alys.

'Create Clan,' thought Aaron. He received a Heavenly Message.

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[Clan Creation]

Do you want to read the rules for creating and maintaining clans before you start?

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He thought "yes" and hundreds of lines of rules emerged in the Heavenly Message. He read it carefully and, seeing nothing wrong with it, continued.

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[Clan Creation]

Choose a name for your clan.

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He smiled wistfully and thought, 'Ironblood.'

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[Clan Creation]

You chose to name your clan "IRONBLOOD."

It's impossible to rename a clan. If you want to rename it in the future, you'll have to undo your clan and create a new one.

Confirm choice?

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"Yes."

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[Clan creation]

Draw your flag.

Flag rules for an E tier clan without social status:

1. One background color

2. One geometric shape of another color

3. A similar flag cannot exist in the Thenor Empire

Continue?

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As Alys had said, each clan could only change their flags once. Aaron already knew the final flag he wanted for his clan, but it would the S or SS tier, depending on how the system would classify it. For now, he created something simple. He focused on the image of a black vortex on a white background.

The vortex started at the edges of the flag — which was vertical like all the others — and went to the center, keeping the amounts of black and white identical. He wasn't sure whether the system would accept the vortex as a geometric figure or not, but he hoped so. He also hoped such a flag was available at the moment.

A few moments later, he received a new Heavenly Message with the drawing of his new flag.

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[Clan creation]

Confirm flag?

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"Yes."

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[Clan creation]

Your clan was created successfully!

Clan: Ironblood

Tier: E

Members: 1

Personal rank: Leader

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The tier of a clan depended on the level of its most powerful member. If they were at the One Star level, the clan would be F tier; Two Stars level, E tier; Three Stars, D; and so on. As Aaron was a Two Star Qi Manipulator, his clan was E tier.

Such a system was interesting; it allowed people to know the true power of a clan easily and give it all respect it deserved — or didn't. Furthermore, the higher a person's level, the more valuable they became to clans, especially the clans who wanted to increase their tier.

"Done," he informed. "Do I need to put you all in my clan, or can I win the competition and take you with me even without you being a member?"

"You can take us as long as you win," said Alys. Then she lowered her voice and said shyly, "But if you allow it, I'd like to be part of your clan."

When Aaron gave her the chance to become a Master Sorceress, she fantasized about how great it would be to become the consort of the emperor. But when she saw his mere training cause a natural phenomenon of big proportions, the harmonization of the very elements of the world, she understood that following him would be much better for her in the long term than anything else.

Aaron smiled. He could guess what Alys was thinking, and he didn't condemn her for it. Wanting the best for oneself was only natural. Rather, he approved of her discernment and decisiveness.

Tia's eyes widened. "Alys!" She practically screamed in surprise.

"But what about the Arcane Circle?" asked Aaron. "Isn't it a clan? You can't be part of two clans at the same time." It was in the rules he had just read.

Alys looked at him with determination. "If you'll have me, I'll leave the Circle at once."