162 Water Snake Sects Secre (1/2)
”Well, there's nothing that we can do about the Earth Dust Sect for now.” Ed sighed while shaking his head. ”I'm going to try and get some sleep. God knows I'll need it.”
”Alright.” Dupe nodded as he turned to leave. ”It'll be suspicious if this clone is seen with you during the war, but I'll try to contact you if I come across any important news.”
”Thanks.” Ed nodded before he suddenly showed surprise on his face. ”I almost forgot.” He stood up to stop Dupe from leaving. ”Here.” He reached into his robe pocket and handed a book over.
Dupe took the book and glanced at it. ”God Beast Technique? Is this the technique you obtained for Harmony?”
”Mm.” Ed nodded. ”Read it and have your clones pass the information forward to the chimeras. It'll be better if they can train in it before I return to America.”
”Sure.” Dupe agreed as he sat down on the floor and opened the book. It only took him a few minutes to finish memorizing the thin book. After all, espers usually had great memory, and he wasn't practicing the technique but memorizing it. ”Interesting.” He grinned. ”To plan on using a unique body cultivation technique on your own creations. Aren't you a bit arrogant?”
”If it works, it works.” Ed shrugged.
Suddenly, a clone stepped out from Dupe's body.
”Hold on!” Ed hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the God Beast Technique book. ”If you're gonna kill yourself, then do it outside for once.”
”Ehhh?” Dupe frowned. ”How could you say such awful things to your friend? How could you tell me to kill myself outside?!”
”Enough joking.” Ed yawned as he walked towards his bed. ”I don't feel like cleaning up a corpse nor sleeping near one tonight.”
”Tsk.” Both Dupes clicked their tongues as they walked out the door. ”So picky.” They simultaneously nagged while slamming the door shut.
...
The next morning. The early rays of sunlight shone on Ed's face through the window. He lazily sat up while wiping the drool from his face. ”Ugh.” He groaned as he rubbed his red eyes. 'Today is the day...' He climbed out of bed and stared longingly at it for a moment before heading downstairs.
”Sir.” A butler was already waiting for him. ”Sect Lord Long has asked for you to meet him at the portal.”
”Mm.” Ed nodded as he walked out the door. He travelled to a large plaza near the center of the sect. The plaza was nearly deserted, as all of the Fire Dragon Sect members had already been sent through it over the past few days. Hina, Haru, Flair, and Tao had also already passed through the portal, and only Tai remained waiting in front of it.
”Waited just for me?” Ed smirked.
”Mm.” Tai nodded seriously, his arms folded behind his back. He turned towards the portal. ”I assume you got my message the other day.”
”More or less.” He nodded in agreement.
”That's good.” Tai slightly smiled, though he seemed somewhat depressed. Well, he was about to go to war with his longtime friends, family, and sect members lives on the line after all. It was normal to be a bit down on such a day. Perhaps he had momentarily stayed behind just to clear his head a bit. ”You know, Ed. There's a serious problem with people like you and me.”
”Oh?” Ed rose an eyebrow. ”I'd say there's a lot of problems with us.” He joked. ”But I'll bite. What do you mean?”
”For better or worse, we're the types that are good at planning, strategizing, and organizing. Things come easy to us, and others follow us because of it.” He rose his head slightly in pride. ”However, all things in this world come with costs, whether we realize it or not. In our case, it's very easy to develop a false sense of superiority. Keep in mind that others may be just as talented but in other areas.”
”Sure.” Ed half-heatedly agreed. He had personally never really gone out of his way to look down on others. But on the other hand, he did tend to treat people like pawns in an elaborate game of chess. Hell, his ultimate goal was controlling them while he sat atop the pyramid hierarchy. How could he not consider himself superior within the deepest depths of his mind?
”But that is only a minor problem.” Tai sighed while shaking his head. ”Our true problem is that the lack of challenge does not prepare us for when we finally are challenged. When someone that has always easily overcame all obstacles finally reaches a wall, it is far too easy to give up. The wall seems unsurmountable, and our confidence breaks. We don't know how to handle it, and so we lose at the only thing we're truly good at. I faced this feeling for the first time when reaching the purple fire origin roadblock in cultivation. Heh.” He chuckled. ” Superior... Yeah, right.”
'Well, I've had plenty of obstacles...' Ed thought to himself. 'But maybe it's different for Tai?' He examined Tai carefully. It seemed he truly was worried about the upcoming war. ”Is this about the Earth Dust Sect?” He questioned.
”Mm.” Tai nodded. ”I received word just last night that they've vanished. This could change the entire course of the war depending on what Di's plans are.”
”Well, what would you do in his situation.” Ed placed his hands behind his head and lazily yawned as he walked closer towards Tai and the portal.
”Me?” Tai looked down towards the ground. ”Di's plans from the war meeting already make the most sense given the circumstances... It makes no sense for Di and his sect to run away now.”
”Humph, you really consider yourself my equal with just that?” He scoffed. ”I asked you what you would do if you were Di, not what Di would do if he was Di.”
”What I would do...” Tai seemed lost as he stared at the portal. ”I would side with the Purple Origin Sect and turn the tide of the war... But he obviously isn't doing that. Assuming I was loyal to the Earth Dust Sect and thought the war was lost... then I suppose I'd take my sect and move elsewhere.”
Ed frowned. 'That's the best he can come up with?' He shook his head and sighed. ”Disappointing. You need to get your head in the game for the upcoming battles. Even if you're not at your peak, you need the personality I saw during our escape from the cage. Otherwise, morale is going to plummet, and things will be lost before you know it.”
”You're right.” Tai nodded. Suddenly, he lifted his hand high in the air. SMACK! He slapped his own face, leaving a red handprint behind. ”Sorry. My head's a bit all over the place lately.” He turned to Ed while smiling. ”What would you do if you were Di?”
”Harmony's situation is somewhat similar to the Earth Dust Sect's current situation.” Ed grinned. ”Di could scatter his forces in preparation to rise again. That's what I did, but only when I had no other choice. Before that, I fought and won through the use of strategy. But assuming I didn't think I could win that way, but I still had hope of winning the war through other means, then I suppose I'd invite a foreign actor to back me up.”