I waited for all hell to break loose…

But all I got was silence. Mother and father were staring at me, eyes wide and expressions slack. Lord Runax had taken a few quick steps away from me, and was staring blankly at the empty space beside me in shock. The guards mostly just looked nervous, not really understanding what was going on… but they had heard what I said.

My mind was whirling, my pulse racing, as I ran through different lies in my head, ways I could explain all this. I reconsidered blasting away with lightning, pulling a Wolfram special, but discarded the idea: These people were not enemies, they were mostly regular villagers who worked hard to help protect our community. Harming them would get me nowhere good, and I didn’t know what kind of powers Lord Runax might have himself – he was a noble, after all, and apparently most nobles were also Cultivators.

Mother broke the silence first, which was the worst case scenario. I was sick and tired of not being able to tell the truth to my parents, but I would have had no problem lying my head off to Lord Frogface.

“W…wha…. Heller, what are you saying?” She asked, clearly ready to believe me but having a hard time accepting what I had just said.

I waited for a moment, hoping that someone else would speak so that I could turn and lie to them. But nobody seemed to want to move, let alone speak.

So I decided to stick as close to the truth as possible… in fact, I would say no word that was untrue. Screw it, time for some quick thinking and nimble wordplay!

“When I was one year old I met Merrik”, I said carefully, not mentioning that I had been in soul-rope form at the time. “He laid his hand upon me.” Again, technically true…

I carried on, trying to remember exactly how things had happened. “And there was a cultivation method in my mind.” I said, not specifying where it came from, or when. “And I somehow knew that it should be kept secret from everyone.” Yeah, because I’m an alien from another world, but let’s not add that part.

I waited for someone to say something, but I was again met with silence. Oh man, I really screwed up this time… The penalty for lying about Merrik was probably death, or maybe at best that Shieldwall place Froggy had mentioned.

Maybe they wanted more? I wracked my brain for more I could add to the story. “I don’t understand what is happening, did I do something wrong?” I asked, trying to sound unsure and afraid (not very hard at the time). This last part was actually the closest I had come to lying: I had a pretty good grasp on what was happening, and I was fairly certain I had done multiple things wrong.

Mother pulled away from the guards (who suddenly didn’t seem that interested in restraining her) and came over to hug me. “Of course not, my darling Heller. I always knew you were meant for great things!” She actually sounded happy, which was a relief, but one look at Jaws told me that he was having a lot more trouble accepting what was going on. I felt both guilty and relieved at the same time, oddly proud that I hadn’t needed to tell a direct lie.

“Ahhh, well, ahhh…” Said Lord Runax, “I see then. I believe you, of course, but others might have some difficulty…” He trailed off, still looking slightly dazed. None of the guards had moved yet, and when I looked around I saw odd expressions in many of their faces. Oh man, this was such a bad idea.

--------------------------

The Garrison of House Flameward was built in a similar manner to the Fortress back in North Stone Village, though to a much smaller scale. The building was a mix of old stone and new, the repairs from the damage caused in the shadow wolf attack having been completed years ago.

Academy was as sprawling series of ancient buildings built to the south of the Garrison, with most of Academy’s structures having survived countless attacks with relatively little damage – most beasts ignored empty buildings, and Academy students and staff were meant to weather attacks by joining the soldiers of House Flameward in the Garrison itself.

The shadow wolf attack had dealt massive damage to both Academy and the Garrison, though I had never heard any specific numbers mentioned. From what I had pieced together the god-wolf that I saw managed to break into Garrison, slaughtering the defenders and letting the lesser wolves ravage the non-combatants who were taking shelter there. I assume that some kind of heroic effort was undertaken to distract the god-wolf while everyone was evacuated to the Fortress in the heart of the Village – which would have been futile if Merrik hadn’t arrived.

In theory the Garrison is the safest place outside of The City, as all the most powerful and experienced warriors under House Flameward were stationed there, but I felt far less safe that I had back in North Stone Village.

Lord Runax had insisted (almost politely) that there was no other choice, and that I would have to be taken to the Garrison to verify my claims. If it was proven that my Cultivation Technique was different than those possessed by House Flameward my mother would be proven innocent: Otherwise, she would be taken to The City to face judgement. Mother was being held at the Fortress as a ‘guest’ until I returned, and father had decided to stay with her for now.

I wasn’t happy about how things had turned out, but I didn’t seem to have much of a choice. I had only just started out along my path of cultivation, and I doubted I would actually be capable of taking on even one of House Flameward’s soldiers, let alone frog-face and his entire compliment of guards. What I really needed was time!

So here I was, standing outside the gates of Academy with Lord Runax and a handful of village guards.

“As you can see, young Heller” said Froggy, “this is Academy.” He gestured around himself grandly. I was actually somewhat impressed – the buildings were large and looked to be strong and well built. There was a wall enclosing most of the space between Academy and the Garrison, and I could see buildings here and there sticking up over the wall.

“How are you going to test me?” I asked. I had dropped the ‘sir’ a while ago, too angry over mothers ‘house arrest’ at the fortress to be bothered to show proper respect. Probably not the best idea, but I didn’t care.

“In the Arena, of course.” He replied with a smile.

Dammit.