The Undying Mecha Emperor

"Denied." The old man drawled. "Justin has an entrance test to go to this morning. He needs to be briefed so that he can get the highest score and secure the top spot. I will not have the Whitefrost family name trailing behind the Lin family name again like last year."

The old man glanced at James who turned beet red and remained silent.

He sighed and turned to look at me seriously.

"Justin. Since you represent the Whitefrost Clan now, you need to take your public actions and public records seriously. This includes your performance in the entrance test and your performance in school." The old man began.

I nodded to indicate that I understood.

"The Whitefrost Clan has many rivals, most of them are weaker than us, but a notable few are stronger than us. The Long Family and the Wang Family are the two families that have always outperformed us, and I have no qualms losing out to them. But other families like the Lin family and the Wei family are DEFINITELY not allowed to outperform us!" The old man said.

Although his voice was calm, I could see a blaze of competitiveness ignite in his eyes.

"This year, the Lin family, the Wang family and the Long family will be sending their heirs and affiliates to take the National Mecha Pilot Academy entrance test as well. You are allowed to lose to the heir of the Long family. But you are NOT allowed to lose to the Lin family heir. Do you understand?" The old man barked.

"YES SIR!" I shouted reflexively.

"Good. If you can get first place, it would be a great achievement and a great honor to the Whitefrost Clan. I will give you a great reward if you can do that." The old man said.

My eyes gleamed with visible greed.

"GRANDPA! How can you offer this despicable and greedy resource-drainer-"

"Bacon." I coughed.

"RESOURCE-drainer even more rewards!" James cried out.

"That's because I still have the rewards I promised I'd give you if you got first place in YOUR entrance exam." The old man glared at James.

"Ah. That…" James sputtered and kept quiet.

"If you fail to defeat the Long Family heir but still score above the Lin Family heir, I will also give you a reward." The old man promised.

I nodded eagerly.

"However! If you score below the Lin Family heir, even if it's second place… You'll be banned from having bacon for the rest of the year." The old man said very seriously.

"WHAT!?" I shouted in horror. What a horrible punishment!

"That's all I wanted to tell you. Your fate is in your hands young man. I hope you do well." The old man said to me sternly.

I nodded and sulked lightly. I didn't like people threatening to take away what I held so dear in my heart.

But deep within me, my heart soared on wings like eagles.

I truly felt accepted by the Whitefrost clan members, especially by the old man and James.

The old man's stern admonitions, though harsh, told me that he considered me one of his own already, just like James' constant teasing.

I was really grateful for them. For the first time in my life ever since my father died, I felt like I belonged in a family.

That is why I did what I did during the Whitefrost Catastrophe.

No one gets away with hurting my family. No one. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

"Emma, make sure Justin is briefed and ready for his test." The old man said.

"Yes grandfather." Emma replied sweetly.

"Good girl. Come give grandpa a kiss before I go to work." The old man smiled very tenderly and leaned in to let Emma give him a quick peck on his right cheek. "Ah hahahaha. Okay! I'm off to work! Have a-"

"GRAND PA! DON'T YOU WANT A KISS FROM ME TOO?" James hollered from his seat and pursed his lips.

"HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE!" The old man shouted and disappeared from the dining room.

"Did he just…" I gaped at the spot where the old man was just a second ago.

"Yeah he executed a movement technique." Emma laughed.

"Just to avoid getting kissed by me… How could he…" James clutched his chest in mock heartbreak.

"Maybe he'll stay for your kiss if you brush your teeth first before coming down for breakfast." Emma told him.

"HAHAHA! That's true!" James laughed and took a big bite out of his tuna sandwich.

Very soon, Margaret and Julie joined us for breakfast and the atmosphere grew rowdy and merry as we began a friendly fight for the remaining food on the table.

"So the Whitefrost Clan has many rivals huh? What's the difference between a Clan and a Family anyway?" I asked them while I brute-forced my way to winning the final piece of fries..

"There's no difference. Just a preference on how you want to be called I guess. The important thing about Clans and Families are their levels. The Whitefrost Clan is level two, just like the Lin, Wei and Chu families. The Long and Wang Families are level three." Emma explained as she watched me munch on my fries loudly in front of James with an amused expression.

"The levels are granted by the Government based on the current hard contribution points the Clans/Families have. The Government grants two types of contributions - hard contribution points (HCPs) and soft contribution points (SCPs)." Julie added.

"HCPs are granted for highly meritorious deeds that impact the country significantly. For example, Grandpa won a huge chunk of HCPs for the Whitefrost Clan when he led our outnumbered armies from victory to victory during the previous war. Father also won a pretty sizable chunk of HCPs when he almost single handedly wiped out that rebel HQ five years ago." Julie said with a tinge of pride in her voice.

"Your father must be a great Mecha Pilot!" I remarked.

"The very best!" James declared proudly.

"After MY dad." Emma added smugly. But her face soon fell after saying that. She frowned deeply and I could see that she was worried. Very, very worried.