Book 1. Shifting Winds. Chapter 6. Garon’s Demand.

“Ooh, I see the young master has finally decided to get himself a proper steed. Good, good!” the man who appeared to be in his late forties called out and waved his hand. He had welcomed Laien and his friends to come and borrow some of the horses many times before, so he was pretty well acquainted with them; especially with Laien who often come by for a chat.

“Good day, Stable Master William. Can I get this big boy to live somewhere nice?” Laien asked, grinning mischievously. Generally, only a few horses received preferential treatment from William. The lucky ones were taken care of with utmost effort; they would be allowed to roam free for a few hours each day and would be fed the very best possible food, too. If one wanted to put his own horse under William’s special care, he would need to pay a hundred gold coins of the monthly fee. Even for the nobles, this amount looked nothing but ridiculous. Who in the world would spend so much money on his horse?

Well… As it seemed, there were some people who would. William had only agreed to tend personally to at most ten horses, as he wouldn’t be able to divide his attention between a larger group and still provide a top-quality service. However, given William’s fame as a horse breeder and his many decades of experience, one hundred gold coins per month was actually a pretty reasonable price for his services.

“Haha, you little devil, you only call me a ‘Stable Master’ when you want something. Let me see to his temper first, then we will think.” William understood that even if he wanted to dote on Laien, he couldn’t just bring any horse to his personal herd. War Horses tended to be especially troublesome, as there was no telling if they wouldn’t start a fight among themselves looking to gain the position of an alpha male. With how powerful they were, such conflicts would often end in heavy injuries on both sides and more often than not, one of the two steeds would end up with broken legs, and thus be rendered worthless.

It was definitely possible to tame a war horse; that was why this race was bred to begin with. However, it took a lot of effort and the more rowdy beasts would need to be kept in isolation for years as to prevent them from attacking other males. If the black War Horse Laien brought with him proved to be one of that kind… then William would have no choice but to refuse.

William walked over and took the reins himself, lightly pushing Laien off to the side. “You named him yet?” he asked, nodding to himself with satisfaction as he caressed the black War Horse in different places, seeing how far he is willing an unfamiliar human to go.

“Bellicose,” Laien answered briefly, wondering what the heck William was doing, petting his horse all over his body

“Whoa,” William chuckled as Bellicose pushed him away, reacting to his newly given name. He smiled and shook his head, seeing how the black War Horse nudged at Laien, as if demanding a praise from his master.

Laien laughed, amused by this development. He stroked Bellicose’s neck affectionately, happy to see that his new steed liked him that much.

“Boy, you brought me one hell of a monster. Fifth, maybe sixth mortal realm! Ha! Dear Heavens, your Bellicose is only around a year old. Good thing he seems to be fairly well-behaved. He also seems to be attached to you, eh? How come? For a war horse to become this familiar with someone in less than two, three years is unusual…” William mused aloud. He had seen how rowdy and disobedient young War Horses could be before they are tamed and trained properly. By the looks of it, this black one had been just bought by Laien. For him to suddenly become obedient of him… was strange, least to be said.

“Anyway, let’s go to the plains behind the mansion, we need to get your Bellicose to get used to my other pupils. Meanwhile, tell me how had this big boy landed in your hands,“ William said in a commanding tone and gave Laien an anticipating look.

As the three of them were walking, Laien briefly explained the story from the bazaar. Soon after he finished, they arrived by the vast grassland.

“Haha, I knew you were hiding something lately. People say that you developed some relationship with the young master of the Red Dragon School, add this incident from yesterday and today… Don’t make such a surprised face, boy. Given my job, I am like an innkeeper, haha. Everybody shares some gossips here and there… I suspected there’s something special about you since long ago. I tell you, a war horse submitting this easily doesn’t happen! Don’t take me for some idiot who can’t look and connect the dots,” William barraged Laien with his statements, not letting him interrupt at all. He remembered how in the past, as a kid, he had also thought that all adults were dumb… and truth to be told, most of them were, but there were some exceptions.

“You wouldn’t have tried to buy a horse like that if your situation in the family didn’t improve. I’ve heard of the order given by Lord Garon, too. Haha, for this bastard who was so against you and your sister when Lord Tei’ru had brought you here three years ago to have changed his mind, you must have really impressed him in some way.” William kept speaking a lot, just like always. By now, Laien knew not to interrupt him when he got into the mood to start wondering aloud, so he simply listened to him patiently.

“Mmm, we all have some secrets. I won’t ask about yours, boy. Feel free to tell me if you feel like it, though,” William commented with a loud laugh, what caused Laien to fell like rolling his eyes. William wasn’t a bad man, but dealing with him could sometimes be unpleasant, given his peculiar sense of humor.

“Well, let’s get started. You and your friend can ride Bellicose for a few hours and help him get used to the new place and his new pals. If after a whole day there will be no problems, I will add him to my herd, charge free,” William mentioned carefreely, happy to always have some energetic, young people hanging around his stables. The one hundred gold per month fee? He wasn’t in a need of money, he had only created it so those arrogant nobles respect his work properly.

“That’s nice to hear, but here I wanted to request Garon to pay for it,” Laien shrugged his shoulders with a smile and stuck out the tip of his tongue. He realized what Garon likely wanted from him, he was probably interested in his sudden increase in strength and in the details of his relationship with Cran and the Red Dragon School. He would probably request his support in the future… so getting him to pay for some of his expenses wouldn’t be that strange of an idea.

“Hah, get some better favor from that stubborn ass. What does a few thousand gold coins amount to? Nothing,” William said with a snort. To average citizens, three or four thousands gold coins might have been a fortune of their dreams, but to a core member of a major noble family? It was nothing but a change.

“Mm, will do,” Laien nodded, not having planned to refuse William’s offer anyway. “Rune, you going with me?” he asked, kicking off the ground and jumping into the saddle of his black War Horse.

“Of course!” Rune called out and also made a jump, seating himself behind Laien.

“Let me open the gate for you,” William said rather to himself than to Laien and Rune, then let them into the vast, private grassland owned by the Valius family.

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“I will be going to meet Cran tomorrow, so we will see each other later, okay?” Laien asked apologetically. Lately, due to the problems that emerged after Tei’ru’s death, he wasn’t spending as much time as he would have wanted with Rune, so he has really enjoyed playing and fooling around with him throughout the entirety of this day. Regrettably, he already had other plans for tomorrow.

“It’s fine, big brother. It’s not like you are going to disappear, one day here or there doesn’t matter that much.” Luckily, Rune didn’t sulk at all and instead took a more positive approach.

“Then, see you later,” Laien said while scratching his head as they approached the entrance to the main building.

“Mm, later,” Rune replied with a smile, then hurried back home for a very late dinner.

Taking a deep breath, Laien headed to Garon’s private quarters, hoping that this talk with him won’t prove to be too much of an annoyance. Everything should be fine by all means… but he couldn’t help being somewhat nervous, after all.

“Clan Leader expects you. Come in,” one of the two elite guards at the doors to Garon’s chambers said calmly the moment Laien approached. He opened the door, gesturing respectfully for Laien to go inside.

Laien sighed, seeing that Garon’s quarters were decorated even more richly compared to Jasi’s. Such a useless display of wealth annoyed him... were there no better things they could spend their money on? Walking further in, he arrived at Garon’s office, which he found rather thanks to the open door and despite the deathly silence. Thankfully, Garon made it a little easier to be found in this huge complex of rooms.

“Here you are, finally. I was getting tired of waiting. Sit,” Garon ordered and pointed at the chair in front of his desk with the pen he was holding in his hand. Only after Laien sat down, did he raise his gaze and start speaking. “Do you know why I called you here?” he asked, trying to feel Laien out.

“I don’t,” Laien answered after a second of thought, deciding not to share any of his guesses with Garon. He would rather have the man explain everything himself.

“Fine. So, are you aware of the factions existing within our clan?” Garon went straight to the matter, not trying to beat around the bush. Also, just by asking this question, he made his intentions pretty obvious. He wanted Laien’s help in the contest between the Valius family and the factions opposing it; in the future, when he would grow stronger and more influential, that is.

“I’m not aware,” Laien responded briefly. Despite being a member of the Valius family, he knew little about its internal affairs. Since he would be asked to lend his hand to Garon in the future, he would rather find out what he will be facing beforehand, though.

“Then listen and remember it properly, I won’t be repeating myself. There are three factions that matter in our clan. Our Valius family, the Brunt family and the Cail family. Neil City is ruled by our Valius family, but regrettably, we are steadily losing ground. Even our home turf isn’t entirely under our control.” Garon suppressed a sigh and remained silent for a moment, his expression filled with worry and uneasiness.

For Laien, it was the first the seeing this man show any kind of emotions on his face. Judging from how badly Garon was disturbed, the Valius family really must have been forced into a bad position. He didn’t comment on what he noticed, however, remaining mindful of being respectful. The last thing he needed was to antagonize Garon towards himself and have all the problems return.

“The Brunt family was created by one of the retired generals appointed through our clan’s influence in the Kingdom. They hold military power on par, or maybe even superior to ours. Luckily, old Noey isn’t interested in gaining political power or suppressing us. He is happy as long as he is left alone. Additionally, he doesn’t have direct descendants. His faction in the most unstable one out of the three families. He is troublesome to deal with, but his faction will bury itself after he dies. We don’t need to worry about them too much,” Garon explained this part casually, waving his hand. What he was most concerned with, he left for the last.

“On the other hand, the Cail family is pressing to increase their influence in Neil City and within the whole clan and the Kingdom itself. We… we have underestimated them for way too many generations. Father and I had been trying to suppress them, but they’ve grown too strong. Now, it’s our Valius family that is being suppressed by them. They grew too powerful... They might not be able to overtake us directly yet, however, if something doesn’t change… It will only be a matter of time before the clan is overtaken by them,” as Garon finished saying, his gaze turned cold. He eyed Laien, emanating a slight killing intent which Laien, unexpected even for himself, could sense very clearly.

Laien swallowed, his heart beginning to beat wildly. He did his best not to show how scared he was, knowing that Garon, being an expert at the Realm of Heroes, could squash him like an ant.

“Your friend, Genzie, is a grandson of Fohan Cail, the leader of the Cail family. Previously, I didn’t care when you befriended him, nor had Father minded. You weren’t showing any outstanding talents, you didn’t cause trouble either, so we ignored the matter. You must understand by now, right? Four practitioners at the sixth Mortal Realm, all killed by you, by your magic. At the age of ten, you fought and killed six martial practitioners of the sixth rank; a genius seen once in a millennium, one could say. Tell me, considering who you are friends with, what should I do with you and your sister?” Garon asked quietly, his words echoing with a silent threat. He valued Laien’s talent highly, but he didn’t need betrayers amongst his ranks. He also understood that people, and especially the smart children, would only show their true colors when under extreme stress, driven to the brink of what they could endure.

Laien clenched his fists and strained his muscles, preventing himself from trembling all over. This pressure he was feeling from Garon… it was incomparable to the feeling he had had when facing Masi’s guards. This time, he really was terrified. He not only could experience Garon’s ruthless murderous intent but somehow, could also sense his cultivation base. The fifth Realm of Heroes... a mere slap from a monster like that would cause his head to turn into a pile of gore.

Trying to breathe calmly, Laien reached out to the Aspect of Tranquility which existed within his soul and mixed it with his spiritual energy, then allowed it to course through his body. Instantly, he became much less nervous. It wasn’t that he was no longer scared of Garon, but rather, he was capable of calmly ascertaining the situation at hand. “Pretty useful, even though I didn’t want to resort to suppressing my own emotions,” Laien said to himself, then looked Garon in the eye.

“With all respect, what are your intentions, Lord Garon? Even if you make me discard my friends under a threat to myself and my sister, all you will gain is a person who resents you. Weren’t you implying that Valius family needs allies right now, not more enemies?” Laien questioned, causing an expression of utter shock to appear on Garon’s face. He had intended to pressure Laien and see how much he is willing to do to save his own skin and aid his sister, then turn the conversation around by one hundred and eighty degrees by saying that it all had been but a test and he never intended to harm either of them… but who would have thought that the ten-year-old sitting before him would face the threat with calm and collected reasoning?

“Hmm?” Laien raised his eyebrows, noticing that Garon’s killing intent just went and disappeared. Had he perhaps hit the nail on the head?

“Hmph, you are close friends with an enemy. What else would make you obey?” Garon rebuked, forcefully trying to regain the initiative in this conversation, feeling rather ashamed to have been outplayed in the game of words by a ten-year-old brat. Compared to Tei’ru, he really was just as good at anything... apart from making good arguments. In that alone, he was quite average.

“Lord Garon, you should understand how important my little sister and friends are to me. I don’t have anyone apart from them… If you threaten them to make me submit, I will do so. However, is that really what you want?” Laien asked, failing to notice that Garon was perturbed because he was having second thoughts about his approach, not because he really was considering to make his threats come true.

“It would be good if you didn’t forget that it was my Father who saved you and your little sister,” Garon reminded, changing the subject as he began losing the ground under his feet.

Laien frowned at this remark, then said angrily. “If Tei’ru wanted a slave, he would have made us slaves after saving us. However, he made us into his family. Even if there is a debt to be repaid, it’s not up to you to be demanding it.”

Garon opened his eyes wide, speechless due to the tone this ten years old kid was using to speak to him. He had gotten used to Laien calling his Father by his name, without any honorifics, but the way Laien was behaving during this conversation, the way he cornered him with his cold logic and simple arguments… it resembled the way his Father spoke with him to a scary degree.

“Heavens, it’s right. It was Father who taught this kid everything he considered important! How could I have forgotten it?” Garon sighed inwardly, unable to believe how oblivious he had been. Laien had spent the last three years being schooled by Tei’ru regularly, so how come he forgot about this fact? It might have had something to do with him never admitting the boy to be a part of the Valius family, or so the conclusion he came to was.

“You are right, it isn’t up to me. Let me rephrase myself and ask you a simple question instead,” he spoke with an amiable smile, baffling Laien with his sudden change in attitude. “In the future, are you going to support our Valius family, or will you side with the family of your friend, the Cail family?” he asked rather naively, not realizing that his words were once again driving Laien into a corner. Even though he no longer intended to harm him, he forgot to properly voice his intentions.

Weighing his words, Laien replied carefully after a brief moment of thought. “I won’t support the Cail family, Genzie shouldn’t be too closely involved with them anyway. I would protect my friends, of course, but apart from that, I don’t mind siding with the Valius family. As you said, Lord Garon, I owe Tei’ru a debt,” Laien stated clearly, but then added in his thoughts. “A debt, but not only of gratitude.”

Garon nodded and smiled at Laien, satisfied with his answer. “In ten years or so, the Cail family will be strong enough to start suppressing us openly. The conflict will escalate. Are you confident in reaching the Realm of Heroes by then?” he asked straightforwardly, curious how much confidence Laien has.

“I am,” Laien replied instantly, his lips curving into a rather cheeky smile. He had no chance to confirm it, but he was at the very least a spiritual practitioner of the sixth rank. Ten years? He was confident to become a spiritual master in half of that time!

Out of the blue, Garon laughed out, appearing to be greatly amused. He rubbed his eyes, then explained his sudden outburst. “Do you want to know what my three sons answered when I asked them the same question when they were your age?” he asked so eagerly that Laien couldn’t help but nod his head.

“I know how talented each of them is, so I spoke of different time frames… but each of them said things like ‘I don’t know, but I will do my best’, or ‘if the Heavens allow, I will meet your expectations”. None of them had the spine to reply like you did. None of them was brave enough to make a bold statement! Perhaps, Father was right. I was being too soft on them the whole time,” Garon reminisced aloud while shaking his head. When he had been a child, he desired more warmth and understanding from Teiru, so he gave just that to his own sons. Yet, he might have given them too much freedom and thus failed to whip them into shape.

“Anyway,” Garon waved his hand, changing the subject entirely. “When you turn twelve, we will send you to some good Institute in the north. In our Kingdom, you would never grow to become a true spiritual master, after all. I would have liked to send you sooner… But the best Institutes accept apprentices no younger than twelve years old. As I recall, your sister also has an aptitude for Magic? Hmm, the all-female Black Star Academy doesn’t have age requirements. We might as well send her to study there when you go to your Institute, too.” Taking a look at Laien, Garon realized that he started speaking a bit too casually. He coughed, then asked. “Is there anything you aren’t satisfied with?”

For a good few seconds, Laien was speechless. First, Garon threatened him, then he turned amiable and now he was offering him the best education and asking for his opinions? There really existed people whose mood could change so fast?

“No, unless we were to discuss the details of which Institute or Academy I would attend to. As long as my little sister and my friends are away from harm, I will be happy to aid the Valius family,” Laien said and bowed his head. He didn’t quite understand the reasons behind the change in Garon’s attitude, be he wasn’t about to waste his good luck.

“That can wait for later, I don’t have the necessary information prepared. We never had to deal with a spiritual practitioner’s curriculum, after all,” Garon said with a laugh. Laien mentioned an Institute or an Academy, so he obviously wanted to pursue both paths at once, that of a martial master and a spiritual master. Only Academies provided education in both paths at once, so most likely he would end up sending Laien to one of the Academies of the Starlight Continent.

“Will that be everything, Lord Garon?” Laien asked, wishing for this conversation to finish already despite having relaxed enough not to keep using the Aspect of Tranquility to forcefully calm himself down.

“Yes, you can go. I will send you the information regarding the Martial Schools, Institutes and Academies in a week or so. You can take your time deciding where you wish to study, all your expenses will be covered by the family,” Garon reassured and seeing that Laien was growing restless, nodded slightly and gestured to him that it was fine to leave.

Laien stood up, bowed his head again and then left, heading to his room. He didn’t expect this ‘little talk’ with Garon to be so stressful, but overall, he was happy with how it concluded.

As for Garon, he laughed to himself and stood up from his chair. He walked up to the window and opened it, looking at the bright full moon high in the night sky. “He really is similar to you, Father. My sons never were so disrespectful to me, but I never felt any of them were as promising as this brat. Six more years until he truly becomes an adult… I will uphold my promise to you, Father. I will give it to him when he turns sixteen… but if you saw him now, you would have probably told me to chase after him and do it today… Even after you died, it’s so hard to please you, Father,” Garon mused aloud, a light smile visible on his face. He had been greatly anxious for the past years, even more so after his Father passed away in the middle of attempting to make a breakthrough to the eighth Realm of Heroes. However, for once, after having a talk with such a promising youth, he felt a little relieved and more hopeful about the future of the Valius family.

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Laien woke up at the daybreak, just like usual. He yawned and stretched his body, shrugging off the sleepiness. He originally intended to dress up and head out without waking Siana up, but from he could see, it no longer was possible. His little sister was fully dressed and waiting for him!

“Big brother, you are going to the Red Dragon School, right? I’m going with you. I want to join it and learn martial arts,” she declared with a completely serious expression, making Laien wonder if he wasn’t still dreaming. His little sister, who never liked to do much apart from staying in the bed and lazing around, wanted to go through a hard physical training? He pinched his forearm, making sure that really wasn’t asleep. It hurt, indeed, so he couldn’t be!

“Come on big brother, stop making fun of me! Dress up, we are going!” Siana raised her voice, angry that Laien wasn’t taking her seriously.

Laien, completely and positively amazed, could only do as his little sister said. He quickly went to look for some proper clothes, intending to leave before Siana could change her mind.