“Welcome to the first official meeting of the club!” John spread out his hands to indicate everyone present. A whole three other people. “Very exclusive and all that.”

“Club sounds weird,” Steve complained. “I feel like we should be something like a society.”

“But if we call ourselves a society it would seem like we’re meeting to try to secretly sway the future of the world,” John pointed out.

“Are we not?” Yustina asked. “Because I feel like that’s the whole point.”

“Well,” John frowned, “I suppose that might be inevitable to some extent, gathering together cultivators with high potential. Which brings me to the first question. What makes us special?”

Renato was the one to answer that. “We’ve all lived a previous life.”

“Right, but… so what? Two of you have prior experience with cultivation, so I can understand that. But the two of us,” he gestured between Steve and himself, “We came from a world that didn’t have cultivation at all. The same world, even.” Everyone had agreed to reveal relevant details about where they came from for this meeting. John already knew it all, but the point was connecting Renato and the other two.

“Perhaps you were drawn here because you were suited to cultivation,” Renato postulated.

“But why me? I feel like if it was going to be anyone it should be a monk or martial artist or something. And it’s strange that Lucanus and I came here close to the same time.”

“You can just call me Steve here if you want,” he commented.

“It’s better to stay in habit, I think,” John shrugged.

“I wouldn’t expect it to be coincidence,” Renato said. “It should be the power of fate.”

“What is fate? Yustina, you were from this world. Know anything about it?”

“I know what people believe,” she admitted. “But I personally didn’t put much stock in it.”

“I feel like the wording there comes with an ‘until recently’, doesn’t it?” John asked.

She directed her gaze directly at John. “You think it is a coincidence that Lucanus showed up exactly at that time?”

“It certainly could be. I don’t think you would have died if he wasn’t there, either. Some elder would have jumped in to save you a moment later. And him being there for that… he’s a fire-type cultivator in the region and it’s a big event. It’s not that unlikely.”

“You’re just a skeptic,” Renato shook his head.

“Maybe. But I guess the point is accepting something as vague as fate seems like we’re leaving out potential useful explanations.”

“Like what?” Renato asked.

“I don’t really know. But there are a few possibilities. First, maybe there are a lot more people like us and we simply haven’t noticed each other. It could be half of the talented young prodigies are like us.”

“Why not all of them?” Yustina asked.

“Well, Matayal isn’t,” John pointed out. “Not in any meaningful way, at least. I’ll accept that she could be reincarnated, but without memories that doesn’t make her measurably different from others. Anybody could be reincarnated. And maybe they are,” John shrugged. “I have believable proof of it with you two so I have no reason to doubt it could happen more.”

Renato took the chance to speak. “I must reiterate that even if there are significant further instances of reincarnated or transmigrated people that does not mean us specifically meeting was not fate. You and I, or the four of us. We could have easily run into less amicable fellows.”

“A fair point,” John admitted. “But let’s set that aside from now. There’s another possibility that there are more people like us but without talent. We would also not notice them that way. I mean, when is the last time any of you talked in depth with someone who was not a cultivator, or a low level cultivator? It’s not really intentional on my part, but the closest I get is some of the servants around here.”

“What’s the point?” Steve asked.

“I just want to know which thing it is. We’re the few exceptions, there are more and everyone has talent, or there are more and it’s vaguely random.” John shook his head. “The historical documents aren’t much help there. They imply that it’s more likely to end up with talented reincarnators, but once again that could just be the others not being noticed.”

“I believe it would be difficult for anyone to prove reincarnation without talent,” Renato said. “As information on this world could be compiled for such a ruse. The more interesting one is two transmigrators from your world. You share a language, so that cannot be faked unless you teach people, or they at least learn from another transmigrator. Though there would be no motivation for that.”

“That’s what makes me think there are either a ton of us, or something like,” John shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe Earth is ‘nearby’? Not necessarily physically, but through however souls work.”

“Or something drew them this way,” Renato pointed out. “It could have taken a significant amount of time.”

“In that case,” Yustina said. “What if this is ‘Earth’?”

John looked at Steve then shook his head. “Nah. That would be stupid. Also I know enough about geography to recognize that this is not it. Just this place here and the Shimmering Islands don’t fit anywhere.” John shook his head. “If I remembered how to measure the circumference of a planet, that would be useful. I feel like this place might be bigger.”

“There are scholars who have made that attempt,” Renato said. “I don’t recall what the results were, however.”

John shrugged. Increased cultivation improved intelligence in a way, but it didn’t change the basic thought patterns of a person. They wouldn’t suddenly get better at math without some experience or something else changing him. People just thought more quickly, more or less.

“Well,” Yustina finally broke the silence after that. “I don’t think we know enough to have any of those answers. So what do we want out of this whole thing?”

John shrugged. “I don’t know. Peace? An alliance? That seems like the correct course of action.”

“I think we already have that, don’t we?” Steve asked. “I mean, I’m not terribly familiar with Renato, but if you trust him I’d be happy to fight alongside him.”

“It would be better to involve the Milanovic clan, though,” Yustina pointed out. “You can marry me to secure the alliance.”

“I’m not going to marry you for politics,” Steve denied flatly. “And anyway that wouldn’t mean anything for an alliance because I’m not associated with these other two in a deeper fashion.”

“Good point. They can just be separate then. When we both break through to Consolidated Soul Phase they’ll pretty much have to agree with our opinions.” Yustina grinned, “And you can just marry me unrelated to that.”

“Umm… uh…” Steve looked around in a panic. There were technically several possible exits, but none of them would usefully bring him away from the situation. “Are you serious?”

“Of course! The Milanovic clan’s alliance with the Tenebachs is half-assed at best. We could do better to unite their influence eastern Stone Conglomerate and the Green Sands, along with the Order of the Amber Heart.”

“...About the other thing,” Steve said.

“Obviously,” Yustina nodded. “I didn’t follow you around for years just because you were strong or interesting.

“Well… okay.”

“Okay what? Be more clear about your answer!” Yustina pouted briefly.

“Yes, I will marry you.” Steve might have had more to say, but he found himself unable to talk due to Yustina’s interference.

At some point Yustina remembered there were others in the room and pulled away. “Great. With that settled… umm… alliance! And if we want to find more people like us and learn about that, it will be easier with that greater influence.”

“I think that would be beneficial,” John admitted, “But just so we’re clear… at the moment that means taking on the risk of the Society of Midnight. I doubt they’ve given up on revenge on the Tenebach clan.”

“That’s fine,” Yustina said. “Already got in trouble with them. Screw the Darklands!”

“You do realize the Tenebach clan came from there, right?” John raised an eyebrow.

“Nobody living, so they can’t complain. But anyway… the Milanovic clan has enemies of our own. Things are fine for the moment, but they’ve been looking for stronger ties. Adding the Order of the Amber Heart into the mix would be good.”

“I can’t make decisions for the Order yet,” Renato admitted, “But I do believe they would be interested as well.”

“Yet, huh,” Yustina grinned. “But it won’t be long either. So, what about the Brandle clan?”

“It’s basically the case that alliances with the Tenebach clan involve them as well,” John said. “It’s sort of a question of mobility, however. An alliance across three countries is a bit unwieldy.”

“That’s because we don’t have the support of all of the Stone Conglomerate,” Renato declared. “Passage through the area would be easier and most troubles could be delayed long enough with additional support.”

“I guess the two of you will have to work on that,” Yustina shrugged. “So, Fortkran, if we have a girl, how about marrying her to Tirto?”

John sighed. “While I’m open to discussing marriage alliances of that sort at some point, I think it should be done at a later time. Things won’t always work out so well as Matayal and myself. For example… the previous me was technically the one engaged to her.” John shook his head. “Any child of yours would likely be a fire cultivator anyway. That supporting element might be good for Tirto, but would leave the other side feeling lacking.”

“I could teach a kid to cultivate water elemental spiritual energy,” Yustina shrugged. “But I see your point. We can hold off on that.”

-----

Though an agreement had been made, it wasn’t as if there could suddenly be an announcement of the alliance. It wasn’t official in several ways, foremost of which involved Yustina’s influence in her clan not being sufficient just yet. Yet when she and Steve broke through to the Consolidated Soul Phase- something they planned to do at the next stirring of Zolvolj- their opinions would be respected. It wasn’t as if the Milanovic clan was opposed to the idea now, especially with Alina’s influence. She was one of the highest potential in their younger generation. She married Tempkeit despite his low talent, but she was favorably inclined towards the Tenebach clan.

With more than a handful of Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators in this prospective alliance, it would be a force to be reckoned with. Yet not invincible. It wasn’t just making too many enemies that would be a problem, but despite the general rarity of Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators in the region, John and his friends weren’t the only ones suddenly making that leap. There were several others of the younger generation who had succeeded, and others who were hopeful.

John just hoped that the surge didn’t extend to the Darklands. The Society of Midnight was already stronger than the Tenebach Clan, but they were currently prevented from acting by the general thought of the Stone Conglomerate standing against them. At the moment at least Marble Country was unified enough that it would resist any sort of intrusion from them. If they grew enough stronger, however, people might pull away out of fear of danger, even if one sect would not be able to match so many.

Most of their influence had been cleared out of Marble County, but that just made John wonder if he was unable to find it. Alternatively, they could just be building up their power internally. That was information he didn’t have, and would really like to have spies for. Preferably not Steve and Yustina. They had been fortunate to survive their previous encounters. Instead, John wanted something more traditional. People who lived and worked in the area… and would be happy to earn a little bit extra passing along information. The Order of the Amber Heart had a few contacts, but more people might be more favorably inclined to deal with the Tenebachs. It was just important to find the right ones.