Rigon stood there for a moment watching his grandmother gracefully walk towards the wooden hut. He hesitated for a moment. He could either follow his “grandmother” and play along with her game or he could try and face the snowstorm alone.

He looked at the dome and saw the powerful winds and the tiny sharp shards of ice bashing into the semi-transparent surface of the dome. He shook his head and realised that he had no chance of survival in that environment. Especially without Jasper. It hurt his pride somewhat however, survival is far more important than pride. She clearly left him with no choice but to follow her. He looked at the simple looking wooden hut and started walking. The Hut looked old and weathered, it was clearly on its last leg and would definitely not survive the snowstorm if not for the dome. The wooden planks were barely held together with rusted iron nails that were sticking out of the dry wood.

His grandmother sat at the well-made and decorated chair that looked out of place in the cheap decrepit hut.

“Have a seat” She said and gestured at an equally well-made chair. Rigon obliged and asked. “You are not my grandmother, are you? I was told she was executed before I was born.”

She smiled and gave him an amused look with her deep purple eyes. “You are right. I am not your grandmother. I am your great great great and a few more greats Grandmother, you can call me Laedireil. I have been visiting my descendants for a while now and I always bring gifts. I visit those that inherit my eyes and their children. In your case, it seems that my blood is too thin. It’s a shame that you have not inherited my eyes…I am glad that your mother managed to pass on our bloodline to at least one of her children, otherwise I would be the only Nessari left.” She said and snapped her fingers, causing a table with biscuits and tea to appear Infront of them.

Rigon couldn’t believe his eyes. He knew very little about magic however, he knew that to make an object appear out of thin air someone has to be either very adept at dimensional or illusion magic.

“Are you a member of the council?”

Laedireil gave him a surprised look and a cheeky smile at the mention of the council. “No, of course not. I would never subjugate myself to their limiting, little brains.”

“Then how did you make that table appear, I heard that only the members of the council can use dimensional magic so freely? My father told me that dimensional magic and illusion magic are considered to be very dangerous. He said that any mage than knows dimensional magic, illusions or Necromancy can get paid by the crown well enough to not use their gifts.”

“Your father is right. Some are foolish enough to sell their classes, skills and spells. I am not one of them. Many of us use dimensional magic freely even if we are not members of the council. We just have the unspoken agreement that as long as we don’t touch the crown and don’t show off in public we will be left alone. Why would I care about getting paid when I could easily take what I want.” Laedireil said and plunged the right hand into the sleeve of her dress, from which she pulled out one of Rigon’s axes.

“How…” Rigon was about to ask before answering the question in his head.

“Most dimensional mages are employed by the council to stop people like me from stealing from the church and the nobles, it seems they were slacking today.” Laedireil said and placed the axe on the table. The axe was too far away to reach for and Rigon decided that even if he wanted to stop her from robbing her blind there would be nothing he can do about it so he just left it next to his grandma.

After a moment of silence, Rigon asked. “Are you responsible for the snowstorm?” Rigon asked.

“Well, you could say that I helped mother nature a little bit this time.” She replied.

“Did you also send the [Blind Stalker] After us?”

“How else would your companion get out of the snowstorm? My methods might be a little unorthodox however I am not a heartless woman.”

Rigon was surprised by that more than he was by the dome or the snowstorm. Taming beasts was difficult even for those with classes and skills designated for the task. Doing so while controlling the weather plus potentially controlling an illusion hiding the contents of the dome were out of his realm of imagination.

“Jasper told me that you can go blind from consuming the organ without processing it first. So is he in danger of going blind?” Rigon asked curiously fishing for more information about her abilities.

“Don’t act like you truly care my boy… But no. he will not go blind. I have processed the organ before sending the [Blind Stalker] after your friend, he will benefit greatly from that gift. It is not in my nature to just drop precious gifts on random people left and right but considering he is Vance’s son I have decided to make an exception.”

“From what I have seen so far you know, Illusion magic, Zantanomancy, potion making, Beast-taming and elemental magic. Plus based on the dome and the storm your mana seems to be endless. You should be famous or have a comfortable position as the head of the magic academy here or anywhere else on the continent. Yet I have never heard about you. How is that possible.”

“You would have heard about me if you have picked up a history book…” She replied with a sneer. “But that is neither here nor there. Now that you asked all of the pressing questions about me let’s move on to the reason why I wanted to meet with you.” She said and took a sip of her tea with her eyes closed. Rigon could instantly tell that the atmosphere in the small hut became tenser. He braced himself for whatever his dear grandmother was planning.

She reopened her dark purple eyes which became brighter almost glowing and far more piercing than before. Her eyes felt like they were pulling him in and the world around him started to collapse. His breathing became faster and more erratic. His heart was pounding like a bell. The sound of his blood flowing through his ears was defining. He wanted to look away but couldn’t, her eyes had a tight grip on him. He felt nothing but fear, even though he tried he couldn’t move he couldn’t run.

With each second his world was being replaced with a pair of purple eyes. He started to feel pins and needles under his skin and his eyes started to feel like they were on fire. When he felt like he couldn’t take another second of this torture Laedireil closed her eyes. Rigon collapsed on the floor gasping for air.

“Thirteen seconds. Not bad, Not as good as Oswyn but definitely better than average.” Laedireil said and used telekinetic force to lift him off the floor and gently place him on the chair.

“13 seconds? That felt like hours.” He said while gasping for air. Debating internally whether facing the sharp shards of ice would be a more pleasant experience. Once he saw that the tea Infront of him was still hot he realised that what she said was in fact true.

“That was just some friendly mind grappling. I will leave a set of exercises for you to improve your willpower and strengthen the flexibility and durability of your mind.”

“But I am not a mage and I don’t have a mana core so how can I possibly defend against that?”

“Well, you see when someone invades your mind you have the advantage of playing on your turf there are many methods to use that to your advantage without the need to use mana, the exercises I will leave for you will also help you with that.”

“Is that the gift you have mentioned before?” Rigon asked not sure whether something that would possibly make him go through something similar again could be considered a gift.

“No, that is something, anyone with at least a smidge of common sense should practice. I will give you your gifts after you drink the tea.”

“Will the tea also make me want to charge into the blizzard?” Rigon asked while looking at the deceptively normal-looking cup of tea.

Laedireil laughed after hearing his words and replied in an apologetic tone.”No there will be no more unpleasant surprises this time I promise. I grew the leaves myself. They should be very beneficial to someone like you.” She said and a cup of tea flew gracefully into his hand clearly implying that she really wanted him to drink the tea.

“…Thank you.” He replied knowing that fighting it might only bring more pain. He looked at the faintly pinkish clear liquid uncertain whether to trust it, but in the end, he decided that if she wanted to she could have killed him a lot simpler and easier with the snowstorm than with poison.

The sweet, fruity warm aroma of the tea made Rigon feel more eager to try it especially due to his dry throat. He closed his eyes and took a sip of the tea expecting it to be bitter. It was a lot sweeter than he could have imagined. It was like drinking diluted honey with pleasant earthy notes.

Once the tea reached his stomach it became a lot warmer. He could feel the unnatural heat from the tea spread around his body, easily penetrating his organs muscles and bones. The heat was pleasant, relaxing and soothing. With each sip, Rigon felt lighter and less encumbered by the weight of his own body.

His breathing became slower and with each passing second, it became less variable and more uniform. After less than a minute he lost his consciousness, The empty cup slipped out of his hand but before it could hit the floor Laedireil used telekinesis to catch it. She placed the cup on the table and walked over to Rigon.

“Krado is really pushing them too hard. The path towards greatness is a marathon, not a sprint. I am certain that this is the first proper rest his tissues have experienced in the past few years.” Laedireil said and placed her hand on his forehead. His cheeks were flushed and his forehead was burning hot as if he had an infection.

“Now, let’s see what kind of man you are.” She said and her purple eyes started to glow with a purple light.

***

After a few hours of deep sleep, Rigon woke up refreshed. His mind felt clear and his body was brimming with new strength and vitality. He opened his eyes and saw the golden light of the system.

You have consumed the essence of [Nine Thousand Days Of Rest]

Your body has experience rejuvenation and regeneration on the fundamental level.

Vitality + 2

Constitution + 2

Strength + 2

Agility + 2

Dexterity + 2

The foundation of your body is strengthened. Your body broke through the fundamental limit of human flesh. Your body can now be further strengthened through exercise.

“What?! How is that possible?! Even the most expensive potions will increase stats by only 3 points and there always is a cost. But My stats increased by 10 without any drawbacks?” He exclaimed not understanding how something like this is possible.

He rubbed his eyes with his fingers and realised that his forearm looked thinner than before. He looked up from the system message looking for his grandma but instead, he saw that the well-made sizeable wooden table was replaced with a decrepit rotting piece of wood that could not be mistaken for furniture. His grandma was nowhere to be found. And now that he tried to remember what she looked like, he wasn’t sure how to describe her…

“No, there is no way. The system message is proof of her existence. Did she mess with my head?” Rigon thought somewhat scared and uncomfortable with the idea.

He looked down at the system message. He then recalled his hands being thinner than before. He touched himself all over and realised that he lost at least fifty pounds of muscle, in return they became denser like hammered-down steel.

“I remember teasing Elora about losing her muscles basically overnight before. Is that what happened to her? Why didn’t she tell me about our grandmother then?” Rigon said and dismissed the system message. He then noticed that his axe was on top of a letter and the head of the axe was covered in runes.

He picked up the axe thinking that the enchantment was another gift from his grandmother. The axe was pressing down on two letters. One was addressed to him and the other one was addressed to his father.

Rigon opened the letter addressed to himself and started reading.

“To my dear grandson Rigon Martel.

Deliver the axe with the runes and the letter addressed to your father. Do not open the letter or temper with the axe. Do not mention my existence in front of anyone with ears or any other auditory appendages. At the bottom of this letter. I have attached the mental exercises you will practice daily.

With love Granny.”

After reading the letter Rigon sighed and said. “It seems that the axe is a gift for my father.”

He stowed away the letters in his fur coat, hung the axe at his side and headed out. The weather was a lot nicer now. It was the middle of the day and neither the storm nor the dome were present.

On the way back to their camp he rejoined Jasper that was already looking for him since the storm disappeared. He was somewhat tired, however, he looked happier than he looked in years. After packing all of their belongings they decided to go back to Yorel.

Once they reached Yorel he headed straight for his father’s office. Once inside he handed his father a letter. Surprised him slightly, not often do people come back from a hunt with a letter. Krado looked at the letter like it was some type of joke made by his son, however, he stopped being suspicious once he saw what was written on the envelope.

“To the Lord of the hammers from L.”

There was only one person on the continent. That could have sent that letter. Krado eagerly removed the wax seal from the envelope and started reading the letter.

The letter contains Laedireil’s findings after looking through Rigon’s memories. Most of which were crimes committed by the boy. The list contained things such as petty theft, gambling, drinking alcohol, bar fights and even rape.

The worst crime of them all was lying to Krado on many occasions, as well as the list of lies. The letter also contained a recommendation to remove Rigon from the line of succession and to either wait for Veric to regain health or to appoint Oswyn’s or Elora’s children as his successor.

The longer Krado was reading the letter the more tense Rigon became. He knew his father’s temper and facial expressions. The expression on his father’s face right now indicated that in the best-case scenario Rigon will be skinned alive and then covered in salt. Sweat was dripping from his forehead hoping that the anger was not pointed at himself.

“Leave the axe on my desk and leave before I will have only one son left.” Krado said in his deep metallic voice without lifting his eyes from the letter, he couldn’t bear to look at his son.

Rigon quickly disarmed himself before running away as his life depended on it. He of course remembered to close the door after leaving the office. He wanted to place as many obstacles as possible in his father’s way in case he changed his mind.

“The fucking rumours were true. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted that dimwit.” Krado said to himself before continuing to read the letter.

“I have found that god-forsaken place for you. The key is hidden inside of the axe, to find the place and to open the dungeon you will need to…”