Name: Alex
Race: Human
Class: Abyssal Doppelganger (II)
Class Skills: (Adaptive Clone), (Attribute Clone)
Realm: Path Genesis Realm (11 Karma Qi)
Supreme Path: Karma [Beginner], Fate [Initiated]
Talent: Clone [D Rank – Growth Type]
Strength: 45
Defense: 15
Mana: 47/47
Mana Recovery: 0.05/S
Stamina: 18
Agility: 15
Comprehension: 20
Available Paths: 7 Remaining
10 Qi strands in one go, directly piercing through a small realm.
From his understanding, every Realm was divided into segments labeled Small Achievement, Large Achievement,, and Perfection.
The requirements for these small realms varied depending on the major realm, but at least in the case of the Path Genesis Realm:
1 Strand of Qi was considered initiation into the Realm.
10 Strands of Qi were considered the benchmark for the Small Achievement.
50 Strands of Qi were considered the benchmark for the Large Achievement.
And 100 Qi strands were the benchmark for Perfection, aka the limit of the Path Genesis Realm. To move further, you'd need to break through to the next major realm.
Considering all that, he had already entered Small Achievement. This was a pretty insane progression speed; it had only been a few days, after all, and even Liam was still in the initiation circle.
That aside, his Karma Path had seemingly stepped out of initiated and into Beginner?
'Confusing' he thought.
Logically, the Paths didn't make sense progression-wise.
Upon completing the condition for initiation, you would normally gain a Strand of Qi after which you'd just comprehend that Path.
Then why exactly did his Fate Path say initiation but not provide any Qi?
Sadly, unlike the system his Soul Decree did not have a progression feature so he wasn't sure if he saw through enough lives to fulfill fate's requirements. But then why would It initiate?
There was a possibility that Fate was an exception, even among Supreme Paths it was rather mysterious and elusive to touch upon.
Either way, 10 Qi seemed like a limit for initiation, after which the Path would consider you a beginner. He did gain some hefty stats, more so his strength seemed to sky rocket.
"This...I might actually be stronger than those EX Geniuses?" Alex marveled at his thoughts, they seemed to grow more and more ridiculous by the second.
Paths, they were all supposedly equal in nature, but that was a lie of the weak or perhaps the strong. Rose's Enlightened Path seemed exceptionally broken, even more so than the Invincible Path.
But, that was late game. For now he had an advantage, if all Paths provided stats when they broke through a small realm, wouldn't it mean that he greatly surpass others even now in early game?
He didn't forget though, this wouldn't be possible normally. The Invincible Path according to records limited the Path Genesis Realm to one Supreme Path, he had gotten in two, although one was unresponsive for now.
So what exactly was the reason he broke this limit, and would it make his future difficult?
Nah! It would be easy, and if it did get hard for him he'll just punch the way through his obstacles or scheme against them. He couldn't find an advantage then immediately think of it's downside, that goes against Isekai logic.
Alex broke out of his thoughts as the sun began to set.
"It's time to head home"
Unbeknownst to Alex, his motivational speech had far reaching consequences. Some that were undesirable even to him.
The night set in, the streets grew quiet but some brave still roamed the streets. For the most part the City was a safe place, though it wasn't uncommon for some looting or murder to occur in the dead of the night.
However, nobles getting implicated? Impossible. The entire city would be alarmed, the wreckage ensued would be catastrophic and many would die.
Regardless, time erodes many things, in this case the unspoken laws of the jungle of Lunar City.
In a dark and decrypt alley way. A group of men surrounded an old man and a young boy, the men wore torn clothes, while the old man and young boy were dressed in embroidered silk.
"How does it feel old man? Does the pain of your leg getting broken hurt? Could you imagine having it broken as a little kid?" One of the unkept men said, his eyes burning with fury.
The old man winced in pain "You.. won't get away with this" he managed to say before screams of agony were the only thing he let out.
"Stop! stop hurting my grandpa!" The young boy retaliated, trying to push forward and reach for his grand father only to be met with the strong body's of the men.
"Calm down boy. We won't hurt you, you're innocent. As for that trash you call a grand father, no promises." One of the men said, crouching down as his overgrown blonde hair fell to his shoulders.
"Why are you doing this to him! He's done nothing to you!" The boy wept as he punched at the blonde man's face, landing a clean hit.
The blonde man, surprisingly turned back to him and flashed a smile. "You're a nobles kid but you've got a mean right hook! As for why we're doing this, I could tell you but you'll hate your grandpa. Are you sure you want that?"
The young boy softened his words a bit, shocked by the unexpected reaction of the ruffian Infront of him. 'Father always told me that the commoners were cruel and vile, even to us children so it was best to stay away.' he thought
"Tell me-" the boy muttered, his voice cracking at the end as he held back tears.
"You see that man with his leg on your grandfather's? He got married about 7 years ago, luckily had a daughter about 3 years back. Do you have any siblings that age?" The blonde man questioned
"Uhh, two! One sister and one brother" the boy replied innocently, his guard dropped much too quickly.
"Could you imagine losing them? And for a dumb reason no doubt?" The man said, his expression darkening.
"Losing? No are you going to kill them!?" The boy stepped back, terrified at the thought that his leak of information might get his little siblings in danger.
"Us? No. Something you kids might not know is that us 'commoners' are still people with morals. We don't hurt people for no reason, let alone children for any reason at all." The man chuckled near the end, his words layered with a mocking tone.
"Your grand father on the other hand? A true sicko. You know that daughter I talked about? Well she should have been three by now, same age as your siblings. But, that piece of crap over there ran her over with his carriage, he broke both her legs and later sent some guards to finish the job. Do you know why?" The blonde man seemed to lose all the compassion in his words, his eyes searing with killing intent.
"She was in his way. That's it. She, a three year old was in the way and he killed her. I'm sorry boy, you may be a good and innocent fellow. But even if the heavenly emperor descended we wouldn't let go of this chance to kill that old rat."
"Liar! You're lying, my grandfather wouldn't do that! He's nice! He even donates to some charities around, why would he do such a thing!?" The boy retorted, his eyes unable to hold back the dam of tears.
"Charities? Laughable, he only ever used them for money laundering. Now that's enough, it's time for you to get home." The blonde man said, forcefully hoisting the kid up.
"Take your time Charles, the Elusive Bandit gave us this chance, don't waste it." He said, directed at the man still staring at the old man rolling in pain.
"Take care of the kid" Charles replied, devoid of any emotion as his fists began a furious assault on the old man.
Night passed eventually, laced with the coat of an old man's screams becoming silent, and a boy's cries turning to snores.
Alex woke up on the ground, his make shift futon a mess all over. His eyes first locked onto the young boy near his feet, then the cold beauty standing next to his head, her beautifully crafted face visible while her body from the neck down was covered in a cloak.
"You messed up." Rose said, her voice cold as it caused the temperature of the room to drop.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Alex shot up to his feet, straightening out his clothes and hair.
"That rally of yours, you underestimated the impact of it. Morning news, several nobles dead while many others have been kidnapped or injured." Liam chimed in, presenting the cold hard facts.
"Deaths? Kidnappings? I just told those guys to stand up for themselves- Oh. Oh crap." Alex cursed himself in realization.
How could he have overlooked something so simple, these people had been oppressed for years, when someone comes and tells them to stand up for themselves who wouldn't immediately think of inflicting their trauma onto the nobles that caused them?
"Stop thinking while you're ahead, the damage is done and you're no sage to think of a smart enough political move to end this peacefully, atleast not without a few punches." Rose continued on
"Right now, figure out what to do to stop the nights events from reoccurring. Sure the nobles are bad but several of the victims are innocent kids or something, can't let stuff like that go unpunished." She proclaimed righteously
"Quiet, hold quiet for a bit. Give me time to think." Alex clutched his head, thoughts racing through faster than ever.
His plan failed miserably, he looked at it from the perspective of someone who was wronged in ways of losing some pay or at most getting a bit of a beating. These people in this world, they lost family and their dignity time and time again.
It wasn't like he was expecting them to be peaceful, Phase 3 relied on the fact that they would begin a physical protest. But Phase 3 should have given the nobles time to prepare, enough to minimize the casualties to just those truly rotten individuals even the heavens wouldn't protect.
Begrudgingly so, his plan was a disaster in the making and ended up in this mess. He had caused all those deaths, just thinking about how many lives he had inadvertently destroyed and changed sickened him.
Nevertheless, he had to take responsibility. " I'll send a clone out, first to the nobles, tell them to fortify themselves and prepare in case the commoners attacked again, albeit they should have started doing so regardless."
"Then why waste the time and Mana?" Liam asked
"Sincerity, and assurity. We can't be sure the stuck up nobles won't brush this off, if they do the City will go Gotham pretty soon and there won't be a Batman to save it."
"Oh, that makes sense. But will just pressuring the nobles to fortify solve the issue?" He questioned again
"Of course not, after I'm done with the nobles I'll send another to derally the commoners. I don't think they're bad people, the few rotten bunch that went after the innocent are just an exception. If we appeal to the majority we should be able to neutralize the situation." Alex finally cut off his thoughts and sat on the ground, taking some deep breaths.
"Those nobles, do you think they'll just agree to neutralizing? They're probably scheming a thousand different torture methods." Rose pointed out, reasonably so.
"Well, yeah so far the nobles do seem like the type to do that. But we should be fine, the world isn't just black and white, good and bad. They should be some sensible upper echelons who knows better."
"I hope."