Both Jay and Zane knew it was over when she screamed. The room they were in was their father's office.

The walls and ceiling of the office were built out of black stone, yet at the back was a grey desk. Its chipped paint revealed its metal construction with grooves and lines that indicated circuits and wires.

On top of the desk, from a small circular hole shone faint blue light rays which seemed to project flat holographic screens and panels that displayed news, data, and plot figures.

All the panels disappeared as a large hand suddenly waved through all of them, revealing a tall man with pitch-black eyes, hair that stretched flat down his back to his hips, and a stern face. He wore a black robe inlaid with a golden circuit-like pattern. His scrutinizing gaze tracked past Jay and Zane before falling onto the 11-year old girl.

Almost instantly his face became soft and amicable, an incredible sight to behold for the two brothers, but one they had seen many times before.

"Awww my little righteous Julie!" He mused before scooping the giggling little girl into his arm.

Yet his face when he turned back to the brothers was a scarily stern face almost alien to the one he had made seconds before.

"What did I tell you two about fighting outside of training?" He bellowed, the brothers shrank at his scolding voice.

"We weren't serious! We only used the wooden swords" Zane tried to remark but Jay sighed in his brother's ignorance. They had been in this situation before but it seemed his idiotic brother forgot what happened last time.

"You take me for a fool?" Their father roared.

"I can sense the residual chaos around you Zane, don't try to get out of this one"

After their father had given them a long and boring lecture on why fighting outside of training, he eventually let Zane go.

"Julie sweetheart go play around alright?"

"Ok!" She jumped out of his arms and whizzed out the door.

After making sure the door was locked, his father faced Jay.

"Jay, we need to have a talk"

He gestured him to the desk where he pulled up holographic panels showcasing decreasing and downward trending graphs and plots.

"These are the quantitative metrics for our clan's success. Currently, our clan has a population of 332"

"Woah isn't that lower than last year?" Jay remarked.

"Our clan has been spiraling downward for a few decades now, not just in population but in productivity, and birthrates. I'm sure you've seen the state of our members when you walk through the outer region. The people are restless, our swordsmithing industry, our main source of income has been drying up. The number of customers we receive has been dropping so low that we can barely turn a profit."

The mood in the room had changed. What Jay's father had been explaining was dire news for the family. While Jay knew their clan hadn't been doing so well, he didn't expect it to be so severe! The details his father - the clan leader was sharing with him would indicate that the clan was likely headed to extinction.

"Our forefathers followed our ancestor's command of not leaving this volcanic mountain. To follow this our clan built our home here, carved a palace out of the mountain, and settled our clans' people at the base of the mountain, and for thousands of years, our people have lived in the confines of our home"

Jay twitched at his father's description. It was almost taboo in the clan to treat their home as a walled garden of sorts and as such, claim they were being confined.

"Are you saying we should leave?" Jay whispered.

"Our situation demands this" His father sighed.

"This volcanic mountain indeed provides the best area for swordsmithing, as this is no longer sufficient for our clan to survive, we must leave"

"But didn't our ancestor say that if our whole clan leaves, we are destined to die?"

While the true reason the ancestor wanted the clan to stay in the mountain was either never explained, or lost in the ages, the clan had still followed his decree for as long as they existed on the planet.

"You've been on an expedition to the outside, haven't you? You've seen the sprawling metropolis called Ester City. When our ancestor arrived on this planet, they were nothing more than a settlement, they've come so far. Yet our clan has regressed!"

The clan leader spoke with emotion. His heart hurt to see his clan dwindle in size.

"Within the last decade, our clan has suddenly regressed even quicker, at this rate, our clan will cease to exist within a few decades. I cannot let this happen!"

Jay understood his father's predicament. While even he felt uncomfortable disobeying the ancestor's decree that he had been taught to follow his whole life, the situation had left the clan leader with no choice.

"The reason I'm telling you this is that I'm going to make you the next clan leader" His father explained.

Jay froze. This was a matter he thought would never have happened. Throughout their clan's history, it was always expected the main family's offspring with the strongest chaos would inherit the clan leader title.

This was why Jay had always expected to become the vault keeper like his favorite uncle Jovos.

While there was once a time where he was jealous of Zane for being the heir to the clan, he had come to terms with it a long time ago and loved his brother. Yet now he was told he would become the next clan leader? He struggled with this notion.

"Zane is strong, but you have the wits to lead the family"

"Zane has a Z name, the position is his" Jay eventually exclaimed.

No matter what, if he did become the heir, the relationship between the two brothers would fracture. While Zane was brash and annoying, Jay knew his feelings would be hurt if this happened.

"We are already breaking the ancestor's decree, the name tradition no longer holds any meaning" His father replied, his expression pressuring Jay to accept.

Yet Jay would disappoint.

"I can't Dad. I won't take the position away from him"

Before his father became angry he quickly added.

"Although Zane should still be the heir, I'll give up become the vault keeper and become the clan advisor, I'll help him"

This father remained silent, dwelling in his thoughts for a moment before finally agreeing.

"This is not ideal but I'll allow it"