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While it didn’t sound like Teacher was overly supportive, Meira knew he cared. She even knew that should she ask him to come with her to visit her clan, he would. Not as himself but disguised as someone else to not attract unneeded attention, but he would come. She wouldn’t ask him, though. This was something she had to do without him… even if she did borrow his name and influence.

The problem was just that Meira had no idea how she would go about visiting. Should she disguise herself and go? No, that wouldn’t work, as she wanted to actually help her family there, and her only way to do that was to leverage her position somehow. She had considered for a long time how to do that, as Irin had made a suggestion… why didn’t she just take it over? Why didn’t she just declare that the entire Willowood Clan now belonged to her? No one would oppose that. Who would want to argue with the Chosen of the Grand Elder over some random small elven mining clan that only had a few C-grades in it? It was the type of faction where even if some A-grade from the Order destroyed it on accident, he wouldn’t even have to file any paperwork or be questioned for not reporting what had happened. In the grand scheme of things, the Willowood clan was that insignificant.

After some deliberation, Meira decided that was what she wanted to do. She would take over the clan and have that work as a shield of sorts. While no member of the Order would get in trouble for destroying a random C-grade clan, they would certainly want to avoid messing with somewhere of interest to the Chosen of the Grand Elder.

This was when the next problem arose. How exactly would Meira take it over? As in, what practical steps would she take? Well, luckily, she had people around her with ideas. People who knew far more than her and were more than willing to help. Some of them because they were her friends, but many because – as Izil put it – they wanted to earn her favor, as she had the ear of the Grand Elder. Some even wanted favor directly with Meira as they concluded she would become a far more influential figure in the future, even without relying on others.

It did still feel odd that people wanted her favor and not just the favor of others through her. But she wasn’t going to say no to help when offered.

So, in the end, Meira had just listened to what the people around her recommended as they laid a plan to claim the Willowood Clan for herself.

During this, Viridia had sent someone to help her. It was an A-grade peak administrator who worked closely with the Hall Master, sent solely to plan Meira’s trip to her old clan. It was her idea to get a newly evolved S-grade Malefic Dragonkin to come along to truly communicate the meaning of this visit, and it was her idea to make a spectacle of it all.

In her words, Meira needed an entrance worthy of the Grand Elder’s Chosen. She couldn’t just be teleported there with a few guards, or worse, with just some of her close personal friends. No, they needed to go all-out, especially considering this was her first public action as a Chosen. After all, she didn’t have some grand reveal, so many would also view this as her first public appearance.

Meira even had to step in and reduce some of the spectacles… having a bunch of dragons circling the platform combined with an army of more than ten thousand to flank her just seemed like too much, and it was only through struggle she managed to get this army reduced to “just” a few hundred enforcers. It was a compromise of having more powerful but fewer people to still show roughly the same level of prestige.

When the time came for the actual ceremony, Meira simply walked out of the massive gate as she tried to remember all the tips she had been given. She tried to remember how Jake had acted during his own Chosen ceremony, and while this was far more private and not a grand announcement in front of the whole Order, she still didn’t want to embarrass her Teacher.

Holding her head high and spreading her presence, she hoped it would work. Meira knew that her aura was far from Jake’s, but based on the reactions of the crowd, it apparently still seemed intimidating. She knew a big reason for this was her Blessing getting mixed in there, but things were still better than she had expected. Oh, it definitely also helped she was a high elf now.

Glancing down toward the crowd, she tried to get a sense of how many people there were in her former clan. If she had to do a rough estimate, she would say it was about a million elves total, with nearly every single one of them gathered below. It was a testament to just how big the mine was to keep them all employed… but she also remembered how her grandfather had talked about the clan once being tens of times larger.

However, more than counting her audience, she looked around for a few specific people. Meira had already made sure they were still around before coming, and after looking for a few seconds, still just standing there while radiating her presence, she saw them.

She saw her two sisters and one of her brothers – the youngest and one of the twins. She didn’t see her four other half-brothers anywhere. They were brothers from her father’s first and second wives, whom Meira had rarely interacted with, and she honestly didn’t care much for them. They were all older than herself by quite a few years, and even before everything had happened, they were already very much living their own lives as miners and builders, a Path her youngest brother also wanted to follow.

The reason she spotted them was because a single elf in the entire crowd raised her head when Meira let loose her presence. It was a face she recognized, if barely. The elf’s skin looked more sunken, and she looked exhausted, but there was no mistake… it was her mother.

Meira would be lying if she said she didn’t still hold some resentment toward her parents. Her father had been controlling and never once cared about Meira’s own opinions or thoughts in any matter, but just viewed her as a piece of property to use. Her mother had been complicit, and while she had tried to be caring and loving, she never did so at the expense of making her husband angry. Meira still remembered when she was a teenager, and her mother had tried to explain to her how important it was to never make her future husband dissatisfied, or she would risk losing his favor, and he would turn to his other wives or concubines. Back then, Meira hadn’t questioned it at all, but now she realized it was some truly messed up logic.

However, even if she held resentment, she understood. In the same vein as how Meira had never questioned her mother’s words before after meeting Jake, so had her mother never questioned it either. Perhaps even her father was also a victim of circumstances… but Meira didn’t want to even think about that too much. He was dead, and Meira trying to make him out to just be a misunderstood man who wanted the best for his family wouldn’t help with anything besides possibly making her feel worse about his passing.

Looking at her three full siblings, she didn’t feel any resentment at all. Instead, she had to hold back a small smile from seeing Tanyl and Sakala both looking nearly all grown up. They were still barely adults, being only twenty, and when she had left, they were still at an age where every year brought noticeable changes. Kythela also looked healthy and a bit older compared to a few years ago, but otherwise, she was mostly the same, not just in appearance but in level.

It truly put things into perspective. Meira’s clan hadn’t changed in the last few years, while Meira had become an entirely different person.

“Milady, perhaps an announcement from the Chosen would be appropriate,” the S-grade Malefic Dragonkin spoke to her telepathically, throwing her out of her thoughts. Probably for the best, too, as her standing there just looking down at her family for a few dozen seconds definitely wasn’t helping her look like some noble young mistress.

After quickly getting over the weirdness of having a powerful person talk to her so respectfully – something Meira was luckily getting more used to - she nodded and did just that. Meira did have a speech prepared, after all.

Stepping forward and tapping into the formation beneath her to amplify her voice, she spoke.

“Greetings, members of the Willowood Clan. Or should I say, we meet again, my former clan.”

Her opening lines already had a visible effect on the crowd. Not of awe or surprise but sheer confusion. Like the fact she had once been a member of the clan wasn’t even possible. Nevertheless, she continued.

“I am here today not only as the Chosen of the Grand Elder but as a former member of the Willowood clan. My name is Meira, a former healer in the miner’s barracks. Perhaps some of you recognize me… and perhaps you don’t. I myself only see a few familiar faces.”

It was the truth. Meira saw a few family members, but that was it. Meira never had many friends or acquaintances. She had always been working and practicing the things her parents wanted, and when she wasn’t doing that, she was helping take care of her siblings.

“You may question if I truly was connected to the clan, so let me tell you my story. My past is no secret. The day the Order of the Malefic Viper destroyed the Brimstone Conglomerate, I was captured by the Order and brought to their headquarters as a slave. After grueling training and being forced to evolve to a D-grade as a slave, I resigned myself to my fate. The day I was assigned as a slave to a new arrival from the newly initiated multiverse, I didn’t question anything but only hoped to survive. Yet when I met my new master, willing to do anything to gain his favor, he rejected me at every turn. He did not want me as his slave… but he allowed me to stay. Not with the objective of serving him but to learn how to find my own Path. Decide my own Path. At first, I resisted, but then I saw hope. Hope toward a life where I could make my own choices and determine my own future. My master, the one who gave me that hope, was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper.”

The decision to share so much personal information about her journey was not made without serious deliberations. Meira had talked for many days with not just Izil and Irin but even Reika and Bastilla. They knew most of her story already, and after checking in with the administrator sent by Viridia, they settled on going ahead with it. Meira had very much wanted to give this speech… because she felt like if someone had given it to her while growing up, it could have changed many things for her. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, but she wanted to believe that.

“I was lucky in so many ways. It was through his initial guidance and rejection I was forced to make decisions myself. Even then, I resisted until I was worn down and left with no choice but to choose what I wanted to do. The reason I am saying all this is not to brag or to prove how superior I am… but to tell you all that not even five years ago, I would have been one of you. I was given opportunities, and I grasped them. All the while, he supported me… until the day I was a slave no longer but a fully-fledged member of the Order of the Malefic Viper. I was made the disciple and Chosen of Grand Elder Duskleaf… my fate changed due to one lucky encounter that became an impetus for a new Path.”

A bit of muttering came from below, but Meira didn’t shush them. All the enforcers had also been explicitly ordered to never make any aggressive actions unless it was to defend her or others from actual danger.

“One of the things my former master made clear from the beginning was that he didn’t want any slaves. He would still accept people working for him, but never as slaves. That is one of the reasons he freed me… and today, I will do the same. For my entire life, the Willowood has been a clan that has lived in slavery in all but name. No contract may bind you, but your fates are not yours to control. Today, that changes. Call it my final gift to the Willowood tribe that put me into this world. You may not have my lucky encounter or my opportunities… but I can at least give you all a bit of hope for a better future.”

Silence followed as no one did or said anything. Meira looked over at the dragonkin and gave him a nod, the man smiling in return.

The Malefic Dragonkin once more stepped forth, his voice booming. “Details as to how these desired changes of Mistress Dawnleaf will be implemented shall follow in the coming days. Rejoice, for not only was her fate changed due to her fortunate encounter… but so has all of yours.”

The voice of the dragonkin faded as Meira hoped she had done well with her speech. She had stuck mostly to the script, so it would be okay. She also felt incredibly nervous about what was coming next. It was the thing she had both dreaded and looked forward to the most:

Her family reunion.

Duskleaf smiled as he watched Meira perform the speech she had spent so long preparing. She had done well, and even if she was clearly nervous, no one seemed to notice, and those who did wouldn’t bring it up.

Truthfully, he did not have a smidgen of care for this small elven clan. They were one small clan of millions on the Great Planet alone, with truly nothing of interest about them… except for the fact that Meira had come from there. Which was enough to at least make Duskleaf a little interested. Not because he believed the place had something unique from it but because he believed understanding the environment she grew up in could help him understand her better. Natural affinities and such were partly environmentally based, after all.

He also thought that going to her old clan would be healthy for Meira. It would allow her to fully close a chapter of her life and potentially begin a new one. After she had begun all this planning to go visit, her alchemy had suffered as her mind was elsewhere, and it would be good for her to get everything out of her system.

Duskleaf did hope Meira would not feel too responsible for the clan. That could become a chain that weighed her down, after all. While she had promised she didn’t want to actually rule the clan, there was always a chance, however slight. So many young geniuses had been lost to meaningless responsibilities or drowned in useless emotions toward families or clans that had ultimately only served as distractions on their true Path.

He did believe she could go far, if not all the way. Sure, before her latest evolution, her class and profession had been, to put it nicely, garbage. But by the time she reached just B-grade, none of that would really matter anymore. Much less in A-grade or beyond. No, the biggest threat to Meira was getting distracted and no longer feeling the rush of inner motivation she currently had.

Alas, only time would tell if reuniting with her family would become a burden that would drag her down and hurt her Path… or another source of motivation to keep her going. At this point, it could be either, and all Duskleaf could really do was guide her as best he could, whatever happened.

For now, he would just be happy for her and sincerely hoped that this reunion could bring her some genuine happiness. Because a happy alchemist was definitely better than a sad one.

Unless they worked with curses.

Well, that, or certain poisons.

Or some elixirs… and flasks… also rituals… formations too… and, well, a few more things here and there…

Anyway, in conclusion, Duskleaf just preferred that Meira would have a happy reunion.