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The Banished Arms Clan is located at the C-City of the Letter Kingdom.
If you think the naming was weird, you'd be right. This was one of the 'clever ideas' of the author of this world's story.
The Letter Kingdom is one of the few kingdoms under the rule of the Vast Sky Empire. The reason why it's called the 'Letter Kingdom' is because it has 26 cities, each one named after the letter of the alphabet.
The Central City, or as it's commonly known, the C-City, is the heart of this kingdom. This is one of the busiest cities under the kingdom's rule, and it's also where the Banished Arms Clan managed to take root. It's also one of the more technologically advanced cities, so it has a more modern or futuristic look.
That said, even though the clan managed to claim a spot for themselves in such a busy city, it doesn't mean much since their location was towards the outer edges of the city. Just a little bit more and they'd be kicked out.
If it weren't for the reputation and the low-profile strength deterrence that the clan still has, they'd probably have been kicked out long ago.
Anyways...
Using the badge that his uncle gave to him, Ren didn't dally. He woke up early the next day, and after going through some stretches he learned and remembered from all the conditioning he received from the prep school, he ate, showered, changed clothes, and immediately delved into the many books in the clan's martial hall.
In the novel, the Banished Arm Clan wasn't mentioned a lot. Ren guessed that they were created simply to support the narrative that the 'Hero' of the story was trying to prove. Because of this, the clan didn't leave a strong impression at all.
The clearest highlight of the clan in the story was when a member of the clan participated in a kingdom-wide martial tournament. The dense sleeve tattoo, the curse mark that is unique to the clan members signifying their abberant physique, left a slight impression on the 'Hero'.
That same person then tried to flirt with one of the female leads of the story, only to be viciously rejected. Later in the tournament, the same guy went against the Hero and was beaten hillariously. After that, they were never mentioned again. They might have, considering that Ren basically just skimmed the story's second half, but even if they were, they certainly didn't leave a profound impression that Ren would've remembered.
You know what's funny? The side character that flirted with one of the female leads and then the hero beat in that tournament?
It's him. Ren.
Soren Marek Vire. A true and proven AI-generated named side character, a comic relief. That's the same person he's occupying now.
Ren had no idea how or why the Ren of that story grew to have that kind of personality given how timid he was in Ren's current set of memories, but it shouldn't be false. Ren's memories of the original story were most vivid still, especially for the first half.
Maybe it's the butterfly effect. If he hadn't been transmigrated, maybe the original Ren would've had that kind of personality. But that obviously changed now that he's here.
And because the Banished Arm Clan didn't make too much of an appearance in the story, it's only normal for Ren to be curious, right? After all, he had to know just what kind of advantages and disadvantages he had.
As for the 'Hero' and his crew? Forget about it.
If this world were still following the timeline, the vaunted 'Hero' of this story should still be miserable at D-City, suppressed, humiliated, and heartbroken after discovering his Common Grade 5 Martial Physique, which is the worst of the worst.
His illustrous and ever so mysterious 'Master in the ring' is still in slumber and has yet to make a move that would change the Hero's fate.
Ren had no illusions about becoming a friend or hugging the thighs of that 'hero' who had a trashy and rigid personality.
Instead of thinking about that guy, Ren should instead focus on capitalizing on his advantages. After all, unlike the hero right now, Ren's qualifications were certainly much better.
Although they both had the same common grade martial physique, Ren's was grade 1, the highest, and the hero's was grade 5, the lowest. Moreover, Ren's uncle was the clan leader of a clan of martial artists, which was definitely a stronger background compared to the hero.
The only thing that Ren lacked was the 'grandpa in the ring,' and even then, it's not the end of the world. What's the use of his knowledge about this story if he doesn't capitalize on it?
Besides, Ren still has something...he might have another cheat, one that he hasn't explored yet because it's simply too good to be true.
With all of this, Ren's starting point certainly wasn't too bad. At least, it's much better compared to most people of his age.
**
The clan's Martial Hall was large. It contains the rich history and was the vault of knowledge about the clan's true depths of inheritance.
Usually, there are rules here. Ren would normally only be able to access the first floor of the hall in his current state. However, because he's holding the Clan Leader's badge, he has unlimited and unrestricted access to all information here.
Ren has a week before his training begins in earnest. He decided that he would spend this time learning about the clan and its inheritance as much as he could so he could get an accurate idea and expectations of what his future was going to look like.
'Ugh. Why must these books be so thick? 'Ren complained inwardly without showing any changes in his expression on the outside.
He can't make too much noise here or else, even if he had the clan leader's badge, the Hall Monitor will kick him out.
Alas, this was a necessary evil. Whether it's this life or the previous one, Ren never was the studious type. This isn't to say that he's bad; he's alright. He just thought that physical and hardbound books looked intimidating.
E-books, on the other hand, including audiobooks, those he could tolerate. Unfortunately, even though the same technology was available in this world, the information he's looking for hasn't been translated or programmed into those forms. So, he could only make do with what he has.
And thus, Ren began reading.
This is when his 'cheat' started showing a bit of its edge.
The moment he began reading, it was as if his mind suddenly turned crystal clear. He understood exactly what he read. He remembered every line even though he only read it once.
Ren felt like he was growing a brain, actually. Or at least, his brain was swelling.
His brain was processing information at an alarming rate that made Ren a bit nervous, to be honest.
He was shocked because his thoughts had never been so clear before. It's so bizarre and strange and definitely sounds too good to be true.
Ren tested this a couple of times and confirmed that he was indeed thinking very clearly now. He's got perfect recall, which was one of the aspects of what his 'cheat' truly was.
With this confirmed, Ren started pushing his limits. He increased his reading speed, making sure that he didn't miss a single line.
He would read ten consecutive pages before pausing and trying to remember what he just read. The speed of his thoughts was faster, and he could indeed remember everything with perfect clarity. He also understood concepts and ideas better. He also comprehended the true insights of what he just read without needing to read the same pages again for confirmation.
Because of this, Ren finished that thick and very old book in no time. He read it from cover to cover and had it completely memorized.
After finishing the book, Ren paused in awe.
'This is huge...' he whispered inwardly.
Although this was just a single facet of what he thought his actual 'cheat' was, it's already incredible for him. There were a lot of things he could achieve with just this.
The book he read just now, and memorized completely, was the history of the Banished Arms Clan, one that is being updated as time went on.
This clan was founded by the Vire Family, the first known people who had this curse.
It wasn't until the descendants of the patriarch started marrying and having descendants that more families joined, and since the abberant physique started being passed down, the founder gathered everybody and formed the Banished Arms Clan.
The book contained the notable achievements and contributions of all families in the clan. They wrote everything and passed it down to continue the tradition.
And while it didn't contain such explosive information, it did give Ren a solid idea of the persistence of this clan, which allowed them to last to this day.
Even the clans that were formed around the same time as them had long since faded into obscurity, completely forgotten by history, yet the Banished Arms Clan, despite their huge disadvantages, still remained.
That's more than enough proof how each generation of this clan strived to provide a future for their descendants.