"Anyway, this old man has already properly vented." Magnus patted Ss'' shoulder. "This isn''t what I came here to talk to you about. Instead, I want to speak to you about the Bronze Stele. You are sharp, I''m sure you''ve already realized…"

    "That there''s only one?" Ss finished.

    Magnus'' smile widened, his teary eyes shing with pride. He loved his family dearly, and this grandson of his never failed to impress him.

    "Indeed. There is only one. There will only be one City Lord, and the choice will onlye from those three. Even if I hadn''t made that mistake all those years ago, it would be your father, and not you, that would have an opportunity topete for this chance."

    Ss nodded. He wasn''t surprised.

    The president of the United Coalition of Terranova had a minimum cut-off age of 35 years old. ording to the science, Ss'' brain had only recently stopped growing, and he didn''t have nearly enough life experience yet. Plus, while he was a tenured professor at such a tender age, what was thatpared to three billionaires?

    If the Browns only had one City Stele, and they were going to put their hopes in someone, even if it wasn''t someone of the immediate family, it definitely wouldn''t be someone as young as Ss.

    Magnus chuckled. He knew that his grandson had a great deal of self-pride; it was reflected in the way he was so strict with himself and in his discipline. But he was also logical to a fault. He wouldn''t be mad about something like this even though Magnus knew Ss only had one thought in his mind right now…

    ''I''m definitely the best choice.''

    "I can tell you what the ns of the family are in advance and you can make the choice for yourself. If you go off on your own, though, I''m sure you can understand the consequences. This is a matter of life and death, so the punishment for dissension will be proportional."

    Ss nodded. Even if Ss proved himself to be a talent, the family would want him to consolidate under them and help. If he ced his efforts elsewhere, it would be as good as going against them.

    "The City Stele is the most valuablemodity in the Ascension Realm. The mostmon of them are actually just titled "Common City Stele". Over 99% of cities will be like this."

    "Is that the reason for the buffers?" Ss asked.

    "Yes. The Bronze City Stele is an upgrade, so it receives more territory per level, more residents, etcetera.

    "However, the trial to gain one is excessive and heavy. For the Grimde Lineage to gain one of the Bronze grade, it required a sacrifice they weren''t willing to make until it was already clear that we would fail our sixth attempt."

    Ss'' brows rose slightly at these words, and his grandfather nodded in response.

    "We lost thousands of warriors and the Lineage was almostpletely wiped out, but it was only worth it because the Extinction Event wasing, anyway. It was either we took the risk, or we would be buried."

    From these words, and for this level of sacrifice, it was obvious that the Browns, or the Grimdes, rather, could never give this City Stele to a rtive outsider like Ss.

    They had given up too much.

    "Soon, the Summoned Ascension will begin, and this will be a period the family uses to evaluate which of the three will be most suited to bing City Lord. This period is also important because the location of your city is as important as anything else."

    "The world changes?" Ss asked.

    Magnusughed. Once again, his grandson had hit the nail on the head.

    "Yes. The Ascension Realm is randomized every time. The terrain, the ecosystems, even the dangers are alwayspletely different. Even if they weren''t, it would be very difficult for aprehensive map to exist in the first ce."

    "Then what do you want me to do?" Ss asked.

    Magnus smiled bitterly. "No, Ss. This isn''t something I''m strapping you with, I can just feel that this would be a choice you''d want to make and I''m giving you my blessing to do so… IF and only if you want to.

    "Your father is a good man. I don''t know how much credit I can take for that, but he isn''t ambitious. He would be content to follow the ns of the family. Your mother is a good woman, and she will always support him well. The little munchkin is too young and won''t even be among the summoned unless Cedric and Isolde consent, and you know they won''t."

    "It''s not that father isn''t ambitious," Ss said lightly, "it''s rather that he has no reason to be, he is easily content, and that''s a good trait to have."

    Magnus agreed, but in this world, there really was no difference. If Cedric needed a trigger to be ambitious, by that point, it would already be toote.

    "Either way, what I''m trying to say, Ss, is that I am too old, and your parents don''t have the necessary character. Although age will be far less of a factor very soon, by that point, much of the oue will be decided and it will no longer be my turn to decide things.

    "You need to take this uing buffer period to figure out what you want to do…"

    Ss listened intently, and he and his grandfather spoke deep into the night.