As we surveyed the land bought. I was still thinking about what had happened. The exercises had been simple enough. As long as I trained rigorously, the Progress increased. Although it now took me four hours to do it. But my question was. Why? The only thing that I could think of was that the stats had achievements, too. My Chakra broke 1000. Thus, the System daily quest got updated. Which means, my physique might have a threshold too.
Anyways. What I needed to focus on now was gaining strength. I realized I hadn't been using the system correctly. I had so many amazing interactions. That I forgot the basics. I resolved to increase my stats. One day at a time. One point each day. No collections for big upgrades.
As I said. The cluster grenade won't help me if I die before I can throw it.
"Lord Ren, is everything alright?"
"Huh, oh yes, my thoughts wandered. Could you repeat that?"
"Ahh, yes, as I was saying. We could start building the mansion first. It would be the most important and longest too. Or we could build from out to in. The houses first if you wish to move faster."
"Let's build the workshop first and make sure that we can afford what we're building. Then the houses. The mansion comes in last. In fact, it will start after we move. It will hold a lot of our secrets and will also serve as our base and stronghold. I do not wan't people seeing it constructed. It will expose too many weaknesses."
"Very wise, Lord Ren. I hadn't thought of that. I will change our plans accordingly."
This guy always gave me as if I was some Lord. I guess I was one, but you know what I mean, right? Maybe because our clan was more of a family, it never registered to me that I was so high in the hierarchy. As we returned, I questioned Emi.
"So tell me, what's wrong with the lot of you?" My guards had been acting strangely. You know when your female friends are behaving normally, but there is that slight edge of rage and silent treatment in anything they do or say. And you can't point it out because they aren't technically doing anything wrong? Yeah, I had that feeling since that day after the Chunin exams.
And it was killing me thinking I had done something inappropriate.
I knew the quiet Brunnete Nene would never tell me. She was just too shy. Neither would the tall red red-haired beauty Raya nor blonde Emi. So I asked this of the raven-haired Hina. The girl was kind of fanatically loyal to me. She would definitely tell on her friends flat out if I asked. I didn't wanna pull this card. But this was getting ridiculous now.
"They're all upset that you love Kaguya." Knew it. Wait, what? I halted mid-step. "What? Why would you say that?"
The rest of the girls glared at her. She was squeamish but continued anyway. "Because you said her name when drunk. And Daizen sensei says that men take the names of girls they love when they are drunk?"
"I absolutely do not like that freak, I hate her and I want her dead!" I needed to have a talk with Daizen. A long talk.
I had an instinctive, intrusive thought of telling Yami to pull the Death trigger on him. Thankfully, He had said no when I gave out the fragments, saying that he was fine teaching. Although he asked them for his kids when they came of age.
The girls paused, their eyes widening. "Does that mean you can be my boyfriend?"
"What, no!" I snapped, a bit more forcefully than intended. Making her almost cry." God, these little crushes were getting ridiculous. You can tell by the fact that they had taken more content from the actual plot sometimes. I decided to put a plug in that till it became really relevant, just like my system questions. "Alright, Alright, I'm sorry, I'll tell you my reason for such strict behavior."
"I wish to develop the clan first. And I do not have the time and energy to emotionally invest in a girlfriend. Come back with this proposal when I'm 19 and you're 18. Then we'll talk."
Their expressions changed instantly. I had forgotten about their crushes on me. I had 6 years before they turned 18. They'll find others by then.
But I was happy that we were back to normal.
As we reached the compound, I met Kaito of Spring Legion. "Lord Ren. This came from the administrative office." Just as I took the papers, A chime sounded in my ears.
Achievement - All Hail the Kurosawa - Raise Shinobi clan to Grade II
Reward - 2000SS
LEGEND - 205
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! What is in this thing? I opened the folder up. My official Chunin Documents.
I see. Hiring Daizen made my clan True because he was only at the Genin level with his injury. But now, with me as an official Chunin. Our clan had finally taken the leap. But wait, that was contradicting. So was the official certification important or the strength? They were two entirely different things.
"I think they were both required." Yami piped up. "You think so?"
"Yeah, If I go by your logic, I think that you gained that achievement because Daizen was a registered shinobi and had the strength. But it considers the highest official Shinobi rank's strength to determine clan level. Before, it had been Daizen. But now, with your registration updated, the only factor was strength. Which made it take you as a parameter. Although I do think there should be a minimum member rule too, from experience."
"But why official ranks? What's the use of that for the system?"
"Because of LEGEND. I don't know how it's measuring it. But your whole system is dependent on it if you think about it. Which also leads me to believe maybe our whole assumption about power is wrong. Maybe it's your newfound reputation that pushed it forward."
That actually made sense. Its ultimate purpose was to increase my call. Reputation was also a part of it. So, that could be a major factor.
Anyways, I needed to find a room and adjust my stats as soon as possible. I needed to get back to missions soon.