Chapter 12: Offer and Refusal
Ember was ecstatic. Although he had read stories and even heard many gospels of what people of higher ranks and levels could achieve with mana, he had little personal experience with it while confined within the bounds of his home. But who could have imagined a single cast of his could cleave through a gnarled tree four times the breadth of his waist?
Of course, it exhausted half of his mana, but he was but a child, and his mana was still growing. Simply imagining the terrific and miraculous deeds he could perform with mana filled him with exuberance.
There was also another good thing that came out of this whole spell-flinging accident.
[Running (Common) +9 → Max.]
He was uncertain how this came to be, considering the last advancement in Running came only a couple of weeks ago. It had come right after his sudden lurch of movement when the tree fell towards him. In panic, Ember had somehow managed to pour all his mana into his lower body to fling himself out of the way.
Regrettably, he had no skill slots available to evolve it to a copper skill. He was still about 200 evolution points away from reaching Tier 3. If only he had a copper skill at early stages. It would have been a breeze if that were the case.
As the kids were already preparing to leave, Ember returned the wand to its rightful owner with a small amount of reluctance. While the power it could generate was quite startling, Ember was more interested in picking apart the mysteries etched within to figure out how something like this had been made. As far as he was aware, any elemental skill, even the minor ones, began at least at iron rank.
Yet somehow, an object only larger than a pen could accommodate an attuned skill, something that takes 9 skill slots or more. He wondered if his father would buy him one, though he did not ask. A Tier-3 wand was likely too expensive for him to play around with. Even his sister didn’t have one, which only reinforced his assumption.
Speaking of her, Rain was still tackling the thought that their father would not be looking after her during the hunt. He had mentioned it was something to do with his aura scaring away lower-level monsters, and the system not counting it towards her feat if she was too dependent on him.
“But what if I fall into some danger?” asked Rain.
Cliff met his daughter’s gaze, deliberating, perhaps uncertain how harsh he should be with her. “You still have the protective amulet I gave you, no?” Receiving a nod, he continued, “If you fall into danger, use that and scream at the top of your lungs. I will come to your rescue immediately.”
Rain nodded, but then a thought twisted in her stomach. “What if there is some beast that can break through the amulet?”
“There is no such creature waiting to assault you out there, Rain,” their father said. “There are only a few iron-rank creatures out there, and the hunters of the town have been taking care of them before the numbers grow any higher.”
Rain nodded along, although she didn’t seem entirely convinced.
“If you are so horrified, you should remain with Ember,” Cliff said. “You can choose a Healer or a lifestyle class. You know your mother would love that.”
“She would, wouldn’t she?” Rain snorted. Double-checking her supplies, attire, and her defences, she nodded towards Father and crept along with the other Oberons. The two other kids were no older than eight, and they swaggered off as though they were on a picnic.
I guess they have protective amulets, perhaps even better than the one Rain possesses, he thought. Still, they seemed too young for a hunting assignment.
Well, if they could get the Hunter title out of it, that would be terrific, as some titles not only bestow skills, but skill slots too.
“Eager to join them?” Cliff asked, peering at him over his shoulder.
Ember shook his head.
Cliff Blackstone arched an eyebrow. “Well, that’s surprising. I, for certain, imagined you’d wail to let me allow you to go with them.”
“Would you let me if I do?”
“Not a chance,” snorted the knight. “Your mother will bite me raw if I let you anywhere near danger. Besides, you haven’t developed any fighting skills yet. Just because you broke a dead tree with the help of a wand, you believe yourself to be a spell slinger?”
Ember did not think so. He was fully aware of where his skills lay and how limited he was. “Aren’t we going to go after her?”
His father narrowed his eyes, turning his head towards the wilderness. “We’ll move in a bit,” he answered. “Rain will probably notice us if we disembark right away. Now, before that, I'll instruct you once again to always stick close to me when we are out in the wilds, or I can ask Gemma to drop you off at the inn.”
And miss the chance to safely observe the wilderness and what dangers lie beyond from under his father’s protection? Not a chance.
Meanwhile, Lady Evelyn held a bird in her palms—a mechanical one, no larger than a sparrow. The mana construct was painted akin to a sparrow as well, and would pass for the real thing if viewed from afar. Just by scrutinising its subtle and refined build, he could tell the construct was far more expensive than his spider.
“No need to be worried about your daughter,” she said to the knight. She tossed it into the air, and the sparrow construct flew in the direction where the kids left off. “I won’t leave them out of sight even for a second.”
Was there a camera or a magical equivalent embedded in the construct? Does that mean it comes with a screen or something where you get the live feed?
“It is a tier-three construct,” she explained, noticing his gaze. “Mostly used for spying, though in our case, it can help us oversee the children’s safety.”
Wow, she could smile too, Ember thought. Although the woman was polite and all, she had an innate iciness in her expression that hardly showed much emotion. It might be a Skill effect. Still, Ember deemed her far more principled than the other adult accompanying her.
His father waited for about five minutes more before taking him along. Lady Evelyn joined as well, whereas her brother whined, “Must I go as well? You know how much I detest getting out there.”
Lady Evelyn strode away, uncaring whether he followed.
They moved at a normal pace, discounting Ember from displaying the full efficiency of his Max Running skill, although he still struggled to keep up, distracted by a flower here or some unknown species of tree there.
“Sir Cliff,” Lady Evelyn asked, when she thought he wasn’t listening, “what are your thoughts on educating your son? With his current skills in mana, you should not let him flounder until his class ceremony.”
“I am aware,” his father answered simply. “Thank you for your concern.”
“You should also be aware that we have better facilities and instructors in our clan,” she continued. “The resources we have there will allow him to advance his true skills far better. And the Mana Foundation, he will grow twice as fast. If you allow it, I can recommend him for a spot in our house’s institution. You know, each year we manage to get a few youths into the Rainveil and the Songrise Academy.”
Damn, were they so rich that they had a school of their own?
His father froze mid-step to give her a scrutinising gaze. “Thank you for your offer,” he said after a little consideration, “but Ember is still too young to dedicate his life to something he cannot yet decide.”
“Are you even aware what you are declining?” Lord Jamie said, interjecting. “There are people who’d kill for an opportunity like this. Talented as your son is, without proper instruction and dedication, he has no hope of getting into anything like the Rainveil or Songrise. Well, I deem he wouldn’t get into them either way, but perhaps there is a chance, since Evelyn saw something in him.”
“I am certain,” Father replied with much more force.
Meanwhile, Ember looked between him and the woman, who chose not to press the matter further.
You can’t decide something like that so easily, Dad, Ember almost screamed. Although he did not know what all this meant, it felt like it could be something great—an opportunity for him. At least, he had heard the names of Rainveil and Songrise academies. More than about the academy, he knew where they were situated. Especially the latter, which was founded on top of the sky island named Songrise, which he could see from his home.
If nothing else, he’d at least want to get to the sky island once. But of course, they weren’t talking about the two Arcanum-endorsed academies, but the private school of House Oberon. I bet there were all kinds of pompous kids studying there. Ember obviously wanted to see what kind of resources they had there, but if it meant staying away from his family, he was not so sure.
In half a decade, he’d already grown so attached to his family that he could not bear the thought of leaving them any time soon.
The high noble siblings went ahead as Cliff waited for him to catch up. The momentary disappointment in Ember’s eyes had not gone unnoticed.
“Don’t be upset,” he said, tousling his hair. “You are doing fine. There is no need for you to hurry and advance. Putting any more pressure will do more harm than good.”
“But wouldn’t it be better to tier up as soon as possible?” Ember asked, already knowing the answer.
“It is,” his father affirmed, “but you still have many years before your class ascension. And do not worry, I have enough contribution points racked up to allow you and Rain to study at Seynhold’s best preparatory school. Even the current Saint of Seynhold studied there before his ascension, and comes to lecture there regularly. It is not inferior to what the Oberons can offer, and this way, you won’t have to owe them anything.”
His eyes widened at his words, wondering why he was hearing it for the first time. Also, it felt like his father didn’t like the Oberons much, despite their whole clan being a retainer of House Oberon. Well, his own involvement with his clan wasn’t any better, for that matter.
Well, the high nobles didn’t seem too bad. His gaze drifted to Lady Evelyn. She felt more like a kindred soul to him than some despotic, supercilious elitist.
“You like those wands, don’t you?” Cliff asked as they walked side by side. “I can get you one if you like.”
Ember’s eyes lit up, though he hesitated. “Don’t they cost a ton?”
“They are a bit expensive, but we are not poor. I can get you two of them without breaking into my savings.”
“Really?” Well, he did not seem to be lying.
“But before that, we might have to convince your mother,” he added. “You know how she gets worried over little things. Not to mention, even I am somewhat concerned that you might hurt yourself playing with it.”
“I will definitely not get hurt,” Ember said with the utter confidence his stature would allow, “or hurt anyone else.”
“We’ll talk about it once we return to the city.”
The rest of the hunt was uneventfully boring. Ember did not see any monsters in the vicinity, nor his sister or the others, but his father had a tracking skill. Not to mention, Lady Evelyn was keeping track of the kids with her flying construct. It was only when they ventured slightly deeper, where sunlight barely filtered through the canopies, that they came across some beasts—mostly dead ones, likely left behind by their hunting party.
Ember observed with a napkin on his nose. There were a lot of overgrown hamsters and coyotes, and a few hyenas, all either singed with fire or brutally severed. Most of the creatures’ heads had been dug out, where the awakened beasts formed their cores. Of course, not all of them were copper rank. Only a few of the hyenas were. Still, at the pace they were going, it would take at least a couple of weeks before they received their Hunter title.
In the late afternoon, about an hour prior to ending today’s quest, Lady Evelyn frowned, looking in a particular direction. “It seems one unfortunate iron-rank beast is lying in concealment around the kids.”
Unfortunate, because it was unaware of the guardians lurking nearby.
“Should we take care of it, or allow the kids to have some impression of the Iron creature?”