Edward could do nothing but stare on in confusion at the shorter woman that was hugging him with all of her might, seemingly never wanting to let go. When he thought of the [Summon] option, he didn't think that it would be something like this, though the mysterious power the Elder gave him seemed to interfere on the basis that it was his 'first summon', so Edward couldn't help but attribute it to that. With Ace remaining silent, he could only try to resolve the situation himself.
After a few minutes, the taller man managed to pry himself from her grasp. Despite her thin arms, she was surprisingly strong. Although Edward, with his vastly superior strength could have broken out of it easily, he would never try to hurt someone that truthfully called him father. Thinking that brought back a wave of emotions to Edward, from sadness and nostalgia to burning, seething hatred. Seemingly noticing the drastic shift in emotions, Lilith slowly let go and backed up, before looking him directly in the face, sending a beaming smile his way.
Noticing the look she gave him, Edward couldn't do anything but sigh and sit down in the clearing, Lilith following suit and sitting directly in front of him. The two simply stared at each other for about a minute, before Edward sighed once again and broke the silence.
"Look, kid... There's a lot to explain, so just sit there and listen, ok?" (Edward)
"Sure, dad!" (Lilith)
During the minute of thought, Edward had constructed a story in his mind, which surprised even he himself, as deception was never the forte of the strongest man in the world. He had some speculations at first when he was talking to Ace in his mind, but now it was concrete. His personality had changed suddenly. Whether it was due to inhabiting the new body or the fall to the ground, he didn't know, but one thing was for certain, he was no longer the Whitebeard that he himself knew.
"After I left you and your mother back home, I went out to explore the world above, which was many years ago now, as I'm sure you know. After a few years of searching, I encountered a strange old man who left a mysterious power to me, known as the power to control Karma. Karma, is a mysterious thing, even I don't know what it is. The only thing that I do know, even after all of these years, is that it has the power to bend reality. It has the power to open gates to otherworldly places, like the one we see here, alongside granting its wielder with evergrowing strength, but most importantly, is its ability to crack the boundaries of the world! After amassing enough Karma, I broke the boundaries between where you were and where we are now. I have missed my daughter after all." (Edward)
After finishing his speech, Edward had a sour taste in his mouth. He had thought to himself that he would never hurt anyone who called him father, yet here he was, lying to their face. Though the sour feeling persisted, his will power prevailed over it. He knew that he could never give the secrets of his strength to anyone, not even his family. After what happened last time, Edward chose to be more careful who he gave his pure trust to. As of now, the only beings that new of his power were the Elder, Edward himself and Ace. He planned to keep it that way. As if to mock his inner turmoil, the power caused a window to appear in his mind.
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[Congratulations! You have successfully deceived your target!]
[You have the received: Skill: Deception]
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Supressing the groan in his head, Edward raised his face to Lilith, who was sitting opposite him. She had a complicated look on her face, which she held for a minute or so, before breathing out and looking at the man opposite her. As tears started to form at the corners of her eyes, she gave another beaming smile to the man sitting opposite her.
"Well, I'm glad you found me then, Dad!" (Lilith)
Getting up and wiping the corners of her eyes with his sleeve, Whitebeard only looked at the girl below him and sank deep into thought.
'A daughter eh... I've only had sons this far'
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[Congratulations! Despite initially deceiving the person in question, you have opened your heart to them like real family!]
[You have received: Willpower + 10, Skill: Binding Connection]
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Just as soon as his conversation ended, Lilith perked her head up, her eyes now pretty much dry.
"Dad... something changed... I can... feel you. If that makes sense." (Lilith)
Spinning another white lie in his head, Edward swiftly followed up.
"That would be the power of Karma. It has sensed the connection between us and has formed a link." (Edward)
Marvelling briefly in the wonders of Karma, a thought soon came into the head of the young woman as she looked at her father figure.
"But Dad, you said that Karma could bend the reality of the world... does this mean that this is a different reality?" (Lilith)
Smiling wryly, Edward answered.
"Correct, this is an entirely different plane of life to the one you were on before! Infact, even I don't know too much about this place, but the Karma seems to be guiding me towards a certain objective." (Edward)
Though she didn't continue, the look in her eyes gave Edward all he needed to make sure that she was paying attention. His mind continued to whir along as he knitted the tapestry of his own white lies.
"In this plane, there is a war going on, between the Demons and what can only be assumed to be the beings that oppose them. I should have mentioned this earlier, but within planes, there are beings known as 'Karmic Figures'. These beings can either be aligned with good or evil, but there is always at least one or more that go against one another. Where I am going with this is simple, the Karmic Figure aligned with good in this world, named Meliodas, isn't strong enough to face his counterpart, which is where we come in. We must build an organisation strong enough to assist him in fighting his foes, which is where the power of Karma and its 'summoning' properties would be useful. However, right now, it is only the two of us." (Edward)
Lilith lowered her head in an attempt to process all of the information, which she clearly couldn't, as Edward could inference through her constantly changing expression. From fear to excitement to pure bewilderment, all rotating at random intervals. After a third break filled with nothing but silence, the red-head looked up defeatedly and opened her mouth.
"Dad... at least tell me you have a name for this organisation…" (Lilith)
Hearing this, Edward couldn't help but smile as he looked briefly into the sky, before lowering his head to meet his daughter's eyes.
"The Chosen..." (Edward)
Before Lilith could react, Edward raised his hand once more and seemingly shifted the boundaries of reality as a crack started to appear in the sky, before releasing a blinding flash of light, causing her to raise her hand over her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw five men and three women, splayed over the ground.
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[Congratulations! You have spent 4,800 Karma and have summoned:]
[Lesser Warrior x 6]
[Lesser Mage x 2]
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{Pops, I know what to do}
Without being taken aback by the sudden appearence of Ace, Whitebeard focused solely on the statuses of the arrivals.
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[Name: ???] [Age: 20]
[Race: Human]
[Relationship: 60 (Loyal)]
[Level: 10] [Class: Lesser Warrior]
[Title: N/a]
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[[Affiliations:]]
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[Edward Newgate: Subordinate]
[The Chosen: Founding Member]
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[Name: ???] [Age: 20]
[Race: Human]
[Relationship: 60 (Loyal)]
[Level: 15] [Class: Lesser Mage]
[Title: N/a]
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[[Affiliations:]]
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[Edward Newgate: Subordinate]
[The Chosen: Founding Member]
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Sup, Walrus-sama is back after a week of hiatus (Sorry)! I know that I should've told you this, but I've been studying for college mocks next week, so I've had no time to write a chapter. My actual mocks for before Christmas are next Wednesday and nrxt Thursday, so no chapters then. However, I will try to get out a chap on Tuesday and after Thursday, my schedule will go back to normal! Thanks for being patient.