Another Token

Adam still had a few questions, but before he could ask any of them Klint said "We shall talk about this again in the future."

Adam looked ahead and realized the street in front of them finally had some people in it. Adam couldn't help but look at the old man with doubt. How did he do that? But if he was crippled, then he shouldn't be able to do such a thing… Maybe there was a third party was involved.

As they entered the crowd Adam couldn't help but ask "Who is the Nek Clan? And why is Morbash there?"

Klint replied "The Nek Clan is one of the Five Great Clans of Yam. Those clans are the Nek, Yok, Mal, Vil and Tan Clans. They are the five strongest clans within our Great Tribe, and the leader of our race, our Tribe Leader, is always chosen amongst those five clans. Currently, our Tribe Leader is Vilam."

"As for Morbash, he went to the Nek Clan for a particular reason. A reason that caused the downfall of many empires throughout the ages."

Adam raised an eyebrow and said "A woman?"

Klint smiled and said "Quite sharp, for a Northman. Yes, he went there for a woman. My disciple wishes to obtain the favors of the heiress of the Nek Clan, Nekli. However, there is a lot of competitions. This might be a good starting point if you want Morbash to forge you something."

Adam asked "How much competition?" Klint replied "Nekli is acknowledged as the most beautiful orc in Buwog. You tell me, how much competition is that?"

Adam sighed and said "I see… Why did you ask me to bring you there? What brings you to the Nek Clan?" Klint said "Isn't it obvious? My disciple of course." Adam rolled his eyes and said "This isn't what I'm asking. What could heading there bring to you or him?"

But Klint only smiled mysteriously as he said "My judgment wasn't wrong, your mind seems as sharp as your blade." Adam scoffed and said "I doubt that…"

Before long, Adam and Klint arrived in front of a large compound. It almost looked like a small village within the city. Several Gold Ranks were guarding the entrance of the compound, they felt as strong as the guards one could see in the capital.

But when Adam and Klint arrived in front of one of the biggest house in the entire clan's grounds, although the guards were still Gold Ranks, they felt much stronger. They had gone past Level 150, entering the Hero Levels, but they hadn't ranked up.

Theoretically, an Iron Rank could go all the way up to Level 300, the highest level in the game. This would make them very strong Iron Ranks, but they would still remain very weak as each level up would only give them 5 AP, not counting the AP from their race.

Most people would forcefully stop themselves from leveling up once they reach the transitional levels, Level 20, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250. This was because even leveling up once before ranking up would make them weaker.

For example, if a Bronze Rank levels up to Level 51, they would only earn 10 AP. But if they first rank up to Silver Rank, and then Level Up, they would gain 20 AP. This means every level up would make them lose 10 AP, and it only goes up the more they rank up.

Although the difference might seem small, even such a small difference could differentiate between life and death. Maybe those lost points could make them unable to wear a certain equipment, and this would make them even weaker. That's why, most people would rather remain stuck on the same level for years than go past the transitional level.

And remaining stuck at a rank didn't mean becoming inactive, because there existed items that could stop someone from leveling up, so that the user continue fighting and killing without gaining XP.

But the guards in the Nek clan had ignored this, all for the sake of protecting their clan. This was quite the selfless action, but Adam didn't know whether they had a choice… Anyway, it wasn't his business.

Adam and Klint were stopped by a pair of Level 190 Gold Ranks guarding the entrance of the big house "Do you have an invitation?"

Klint looked at Adam with a smile, wondering how he would deal with the situation. Adam looked at the old man weirdly, was that fossil so bored? Until now, Adam had been concealing himself, revealing an aura only as strong as a normal Level 32 Bronze Rank who didn't open any Gate.

That's why, no one was recognizing him as a Sovereign, and those guards had stopped him. But Adam didn't release his aura, as he wanted to test something. He took out one of his tokens and asked "Is this enough?"

One of the guards took the token curiously, and turned it to read the rune on it. When he read the rune, he looked at Adam in a new light and asked "You know the Aqua Sovereign?"

Adam smiled and said "Sort of. Is this enough to enter?" The guard nodded as he gave back the token "Of course. Watch out once inside though, as not even this would save you if you offend those inside."

Adam was about to go in, but when he heard the last sentence he asked "Who exactly is inside? Arrogant people?"

The guard smiled helplessly and said "Today our Eldest Miss is having fun with members of the other Great Clans, as well as some other important people… I can't speak bad about any of them, I like having my head on my shoulders, but I would be careful if I were you."

Adam smiled and said "Thanks for the warning." Adam flicked the token to the guard, who looked at him confused, before he released his aura. The guard didn't have to be brilliant to understand who Adam was.

But before he could say anything, Adam pushed Klint's chair inside, who finally stopped retaining himself from laughing.

The other guard, the one who had remained silent until now, looked at the token in envy as he said "I swear I will answer the questions of every damn visitor from now on!"

The first guard patted his shoulder as he pocketed the token and said "Come on, tonight's my treat." The other guard rolled his eyes and said "I would rather pay for the whole next year and get this token."

Meanwhile, Adam pushed Klint's wheelchair toward the main hall of the big house, from which they could hear voices. Adam decided to release his entire aura right away, as he would rather not be mistaken for a common person.

While in some occasions hiding his strength might be good to understand the nature of some people, facing those arrogant second generations, he knew that he would be met with despise if he concealed his aura, and create endless trouble.

From what Old Adam read in cultivation novels, most conflicts of the main characters either came because of how beautiful their wife is, or because they hide their true strength and only reveal it when the other side has completely offended them.

In Adam's opinion, this was quite the terrible behavior, as it was basically inviting trouble on oneself, and it even usually ended up with the other side being crippled or dead. Then, the older brother comes, gets humiliated, then the elder and the patriarch, and the whole clan ends up dead in the end.

Maybe he went a little too far in his thoughts, but nonetheless, Adam decided to show his strength and identity right away so that he could avoid as many problems as he could.