A heads up to anyone who thinks they are writing this story: If you start saying I am writing this wrong, then by all means, write a better story and don't read mine. If you point out typos, that is something I would be happy about.

Enjoy

Chapter 2: Reasons

As Curo was "escorted" to the main hall, he had resigned himself. The whole way there, he was cursing his own luck for choosing the wrong man to pickpocket. While he was being carried like a ragdoll to the main hall, all the guards looked at him with an amused gaze. The sight was bizarre to say the least. A man, who is old enough to be his grandfather, is dragging Curo along like he had just gotten into big trouble. When they reached the main hall, Curo was slightly surprised.

The hall was extremely spacious and had a long table in the middle of the room. There were twelve seats on either side of the table and only one at the end. "Seems like this is the place where the clan meetings take place. Just what have I gotten myself into...." Curo was deep in thought. He had no idea, just who exactly was this old man. Curo became more and more puzzled by it. The more he thought about it, the more he realized, that this place was out of his league. As a person, who has lived on the streets barely scraping by each day, his self esteem was pretty low but his willpower and determination was extremely high. He didn't have a particular goal in life but if he were to name one, it would be to meet his parents and ask, why they abandoned him like that. The man took out a bit of rope and tied one end to Curos hand and the other to his.

Seeing Curo's puzzlement, the man smiled and said, " This is an insurance that you don't bolt before I tell you who I am and why I picked you up." Curo calmed down and understood from his previous experience dealing with the man, that running from him is something he could not succeed in, no matter how many times he tried. "I'll at least listen to your reason but you can't expect me to be docile and obediently follow your orders. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'd rather die on my feet than live my life on my knees." When the man saw the determination in Curoäs eyes, he was satisfied. "His eyes hold determination, pride and coldness that exceeds any "young master" of a clan I have seen in my life. Too bad that he doesn't trust anyone in this world anymore." While thinking to himself the old man sighed in his heart. He knew that to get Curo inherit his Clan would be an extremely difficult task.

"Anyways, now that you can't run away anymore, lets start with introductions, shall we? My name is Jack Shadow, I'm the current Clan Master for the Shadow clan. We are one of the 4 General branches that answer directly to his Majesty. Our clan deals with assassinations, delivering vital documents, intelligence and well everything you could do from the shadows." Jack started talking in a relaxed tone, he was in no rush and actually wanted to make a good relationship with Curo.

He knew that Curo would not trust him right off the bat, so he gave a general introduction to who he was and where Curo currently was. However, when Curo heard who the man really was, his face immediately paled. Even he had heard of the 4 Generals and the Special Operations department was the most powerful and also most mysterious one of them all. He immediately realized, just how big of a mistake he had made by trying to steal from him. Actually, currently being there was nothing short of a miracle. Seeing Curo suddenly become so timid, Jack could only barely hold back his laughter, before he continued, "Who might you be, my little friend, and why are you living on the streets?"

"My name is Curo and as for the reason I'm living on the streets is because I was abandoned as an infant for being born with snow white hair and red pupils. I was brought up by a pair of certain beggars, who picked me up." Curo started talking, in a small voice. He might not trust anyone but he wasn't stupid, the situation he was currently in left him no lee way to act arrogant or prideful. Seeing Curo in his current situation, Jack was perplexed. The sudden change in attitude was something even he didn't expect.

"Now that we know each others names, we can get down to the reason I picked you up in the first place." He decided that it was better to stop beating around the bush and get straight to the main point. Curo was also intrested in why he picked him up. Usually in those kinds of scenarios, the pickpocketer would have either his hands cut off or he would get killed. Seeing Curo intrested, he started narrating, "Don't get me wrong, it's not that I took pity on you and decided to pick you up out of the kindness of my heart. The reason I picked you was that I want you to succeed me as the Clan Master." When Curo heard that, his world was turned upside down, in his head only one thought could be heard, "Is this a joke? Is he bored or sadistic enough to find entertainment in getting a child's hopes up and then crushing them ?"

Since he had lived on the streets all his life, his thought process was the same as people twice his age. Before he could open his mouth to question Jack, the latter continued, "I actually came to that town, to find you. You see, my son died 15 years ago, protecting the current Emperor. He died before he could carry on my bloodline. My son had the same body constitution as you, it is called the Phantom Body. A person born with this body constitution is very rare and they always have red pupils and snow white hair. The people born with Phantom body, have heightened senses and their body is extremely nimble, they also have a clearer mind, they pick up techniques twice as fast as anyone else. They also don't feel pain the same way as others. An injury, that would make someone scream in pain, would only make them turn their face ugly. As to how I discovered you, an elder was on a mission in that town and saw you running around, when he returned he reported it to me. When I heard of your bodily constitution, I immediately came to find you. I never expected you to try and pickpocket me during the first hour I arrived in town though."

By the end, he was almost laughing, as he felt it was meant to be, that he found and took him in. Curo however was dumbstruck, he didn't know what to make out of this situation. He felt that all of this was too good to be real, there had to be some catch here.

"What's the catch in all of this. I refuse to believe that you would pick up and make a total stranger, a street rat at that, your successor that easily." Curo said with a serious face, this was like a joke to him. Where in the world would you find something like this happening. It was like a dream but in the end, it stays as a dream.

"You have lived on the streets relying on yourself for far to long. You don't trust anyone anymore. When good fortune falls into your lap, you decide to throw it back." Jack said in somewhat of a angry voice. This kind of a opportunity was something a lot of people would dream of but couldn't achieve but Curo just spat on this opportunity.

"Where in the world would you find a person that was willing to belive this in a heartbeat? Fortune as good as this always comes with a price and I don't remember doing anything good enough to earn karmic luck as good as this." As Curo rebutted him, Jack suddenly realized why Curo didn't believe him. Curo had lived on the streets all his life and stole from people just to get by, when suddenly a person, who he had tried to steal from, declares that he wants to make him his successor to one of the strongest powers in the Empire. It was like a fairy tale but fairy tales were just fictional stories. Even if, something like this would happen, the chances of it happening in the real world were ridiculously low. "Well, honestly speaking, this scenario played out a lot better in my head." Jack said in resigned tone, he felt ashamed of believing that Curo would accept in a heartbeat.

"How about this, you stay here for about 3 months and I'll teach you how to cultivate and fight. If you still believe that all I said was pure bullshit to have you entertain me, then you can leave. However, if you believe that what I said was true, I hope you will accept this old man's request of becoming the young master of the clan and succeeding me in the future." Jack said in a determined tone, towards the end he even lowered his head. Curo was perplexed about what to do. He could see that what Jack had said was most likely true and even that he realized just how ridiculous his plan, of having Curo succeed him by being told so out of the blue, was. He also realized, that no one in their sane mind would just up and accept it with open arms, so he decided to show his good intentions by having the three month period.

Seeing Jacks sincerity, Curo said, "Alright I accept but if the three month period is up and I want to leave, please let me do so." Jack completely understood what Curo thought and promised, "I promise on my dignity as the Clan Master of the Shadow clan that you will be able to leave if you want after the three month period is up."