Curse the Mainframe! 217 Welcome Back

"Uncle," Alec greeted politely.

Even though all he wanted to do was give him a tongue lashing, he was well aware that he didn't have enough exposure to the inner clan politics that was only shown amongst the adults.

Alec's uncle, Vincent, looked like he hadn't aged a day since the last time he saw him.

His uncle appeared just as dashing and valiant as he had before Alec left the clan that day. The only difference was that now, the man had a faint scar under his eye.

Alec wondered what happened.

Vincent's stern features softened a little when he looked at his nephew. Though how he currently looked did not match what an eleven-year-old should look like, the man could feel it deep in his bones.

This was his nephew, not someone else.

He'd practically watched the boy grow up and age until he left the clan, after all. Those things didn't disappear so quickly, especially if they started from childhood.

"Alec," Vincent greeted back, his eyes studying Alec. "Welcome back," he said simply, but those two words conveyed everything he wanted to say.

What he found satisfied him greatly.

The young child in his memories had grown up well, and the man felt a pang that he had to miss it – just as so many others in the clan had missed their own children's growth.

While it was the tradition of their clan, he hated that they weren't able to have regular contact due to the clan's stuffy traditions. Well, no longer.

Alec was now around his late teens, so similar, yet so different from the child in his memories.

Where before, the child had a lean frame that spoke of speed over strength, as most did from those in their clan, Alec now had wired muscles that were just barely visible from his attire.

They spoke of the amount of effort that he'd put into his strength training. Since Neils didn't put on muscle easily. Vincent wondered what Alec had been through in these years.

Because he was wearing the Heavenly Ascension Sect's clothing, it hid most of his muscle definition, causing him to look deceptively lean.

Unlike most of those in the Neil Clan, Alec appeared to have a good deal of solid muscle that spoke of strength.

His cheeks had lost their last bit of baby fat, giving him an almost ethereal presence when he walked under the sunlight.

While he had heard about the youngest array master ever produced, information about him had been scarce to the public.

Vincent had used some connections to get more information, which was why he was a little more informed than the rest. But even then, his connections could only go so far.

With that faintly gentle smile on his face, Vincent thought to himself with satisfaction that there was probably no lack of people throwing themselves at his nephew.

Alec felt a bit of the anger that had accumulated over the years dissipate somewhat upon seeing his uncle again.

There were faint shadows under his uncle's eyes.

He knew that things weren't so clear-cut in the Neil Clan. As the clan leader, Vincent was faced with pressure from both sides of the clan. One from above, and one from below.

There were many hands working in the shadows, and his uncle had undertaken a great burden in order to keep the elders in check, that much he knew.

"Come. Let us converse in my office."

Alec nodded.

Vincent ran through the forest, and his heart lit up with satisfaction when Alec had no problem keeping up with him.

He steadily increased the speed of his steps, and Alec had no trouble adjusting to his pace at all.

Sending him out had indeed been the right choice.

Upon reaching the clan compounds, Alec looked over it with still eyes.

Just like the forest, the clan compounds had not changed at all.

From what he knew, the place had always been kept the same because the elders of each generation insisted on it, not wanting to relinquish the glory of their ancestor.

Alec privately thought that they were all just old coots too stuck in their ways and resistant to change from their routine to make more progress. No wonder Alec heard snippets about the clan's stagnation.

Eh? That wasn't right.

Something had changed while he was away.

They reached a building that Alec had never seen before. Alec's brows raised minutely, before he smoothened them over.

The building looked newly built, and when compared to the other buildings in the clan compound, stood out because of the modern techniques and sleeker appearance that had been used to build it.

Still, Alec resolutely kept his mouth shut until he was able to place down a silencing barrier in a secure room. There were several things that he could infer, but he also didn't know whether it was his place to say it or not.

Vincent sent away the hidden guards that were with him, and Alec felt their presences move further away until they were roughly two rooms away, the furthest they were willing to go.

Alec silently approved.

Instead of upholding his stern clan head image, Vincent sank down on the couch inside his office, pulling a smile from Alec.

Alec activated the silencing barrier that was normally attached to the doorknob, pressing twice.

The barrier that bloomed before him was more ancient and beautiful than many of the current techniques that were being used.

With shining eyes, Alec thought that he would study it further later.

Instead of allowing himself to get carried away at this moment, he laid down his own silencing barrier as extra protection even though Vincent didn't ask for it.

Vincent cracked open an eye to look at him approvingly, then leaned back, completely relaxed for once in front of his nephew.

Right now, he couldn't be bothered to put up any pretences. Not when the child he hadn't seen for so long had grown up so much.

Without waiting for permission, Alec casually sank down on the sofa next to his uncle.

The plushness of the sofa enveloped him, and he could see why his uncle would relax on it when he normally tried up uphold his image.

Alec didn't usually sit next to people because he preferred watching their body language and micro expressions, so his unspoken action spoke of how much trust he'd put into his uncle, even if the other man didn't know it.

Vincent seemed to have realized something at least, because the last bit of tenseness in his frame melted away.

"You've been away for three years, but are you still eleven?" Vincent asked, squinting at the ceiling instead of looking at Alec.

"I'm sixteen now."

As if he would say otherwise. It was annoying being treated like a kid. Fifteen was when they were considered adults, and sixteen seemed like a solid age to claim if he wanted to be treated seriously.

"You came back sooner than I expected," Vincent said instead, but there was a sense of satisfaction coating his words.

Alec smiled. "I did. Have the others not returned at all yet?"

"If you are speaking of the rest of your class, then no. You are the first to have returned. Most only do so after they feel that they have achieved what they set out to do. Some never return because of how betrayed they felt by the clan's traditions."

Alec nodded. That seemed like the kind of thing their clan would do. If it wasn't clear, the Neil Clan were all composed of stubborn individuals, which was why so many of them excelled at their craft.

Which was also why there were many who felt like their trust had been betrayed by the clan's act. Indeed, he had originally felt that way even when he knew the truth, but who set the tradition, he didn't know.

What he did know was that his uncle had been trying to resist the continuation of this tradition, but he was never able to do it.

Until now, that was.

There was a lull in their conversation as both uncle and nephew didn't quite know how to broach the topic.

In the end, it was Alec that spoke first.

His original personality was blunter than anything else, anyway.

"Did you manage to clean house?"

Vincent let out a bark of laughter.

Indeed, his nephew wasn't as simple nor as harmless as he appeared. He was as sharp as a tack, that one. He reflected his elder sister in a multitude of ways that didn't stop at the surface level.

His sister had always been stronger than Vincent, and it was only when she turned down the clan head position that Vincent had been asked to step up.

He still remembered the earlier days when Alec's mask hadn't quite been so perfect, allowing his inner emotions to shine through.

He'd always been a precocious child, and his current image suited him better than the mask of false innocence that he wore.

"I did indeed. Your book gave me quite the headache, but I was able to crack it a few weeks ago."

Alec smirked for the briefest second. He'd left behind the books that had been securely locked, and it appeared that the Neil Clan had indeed struggled with unlocking it.

The presence of this new building already gave him insight into what happened in the clan currently.

Chapter end

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