The man in the cloak had an uncanny resemblance to the chief. His expression was contorted with fury as he disapprovingly glared at the latter.

John retracted his knife and snapped at his brother with evident irritation. “Bryan! What's the meaning of this?”

“I believe I should be the one asking that.” Bryan replied, just as annoyed.

Max warily eyed the newly revealed member of the family and secretly wondered what the man had in mind while the siblings continued to argue.

Eventually, Bryan shook his head and sighed as he took a gander at his nephew whose face showed disappointment. “Let’s stop here.” He said before he took out a small vial and faced Max with an apologetic smile. “Apply this over your wound. It should help with the bleeding.”

“That’s –”

“We’ll talk about this later.” Bryan hastily muttered and stopped his brother’s impulsiveness.

Max frowned, unsure of what to make of these odd turn of events. He sulkily glanced at the father-son duo before accepting Bryan’s gesture without a fuss.

Chuckling, Bryan threw the tiny bottle over. He was glad that his first step in his attempt to salvage the situation had been a success. “I apologize for the trouble my family has caused you and I hope that you will forgive our transgressions, letting bygones be bygones.”

Max inwardly sneered, but forced a smile on his face. The chief and his son had already made it onto his personal blacklist. However, since a path to retreat had opened up, he knew he had to take it. Now that he was calmer, he realized he might have been too impulsive, impulsive enough to potentially cause trouble for Liliana and her mother. After thanking the man for the medicine, he left without a word.

Despite the enmity between the two parties, John did nothing to stop Max and unhappily watched as the sixteen year old left. He had realized Bryan knew something that he didn’t.

With Max's departure, Aaron burst out in protest, “Uncle, why did you help him?!”

“Silence!” Bryan angrily rebuked, “You think I don’t know how this all started? Go back inside! I’ll deal with you later. Right now, your father and I have matters to discuss.”

Clenching his fist, Aaron looked to his father for help, but the latter responded with a shake of his head. As his son stormed inside, John glanced at Bryan and harrumphed. “Now, care to tell me why you interfered?”

Bryan took a seat on a nearby bench and patted at the spot next to him. “Sit.”

While the chief made himself comfortable, Bryan bitterly smiled and said, “If you had succeeded in delivering that blow, you would have doomed all of us.”

“What you talking about?”

Sighing, Bryan answered, “That kid… His name is Max Walker.”

“So?” John immediately retorted before he was hit with a terrifying realization. He shot up to his feet as his face paled with fright. Grasping his hair, John started to frenziedly mutter. “Walker? Walker! No. No. No. It has to be a coincidence. Yes. A coincidence! It’s just someone with the same surname. It can’t be them, can it?”

Bryan bitterly laughed. “Brother, we’re still inside the Alcatraz Empire. No citizen has the audacity to use that last name.”

Trembling, John sat down and weakly inquired, “Why – Why is he here?”

“I don’t know… A few days ago, I was approached by a pair with seals of authority. They wanted me to quarantine the south end of the border walls – the place where Liliana secretly goes to train almost every night.”

“Yes. I remember you telling me about it.”

“But what I didn’t tell you is that I was there that night, watching from a distance as the two knights dragged Liliana with them. I was worried and didn’t know if I could tell you or Isabel. But, the next morning, Liliana was back safe and sound, only she wasn’t alone. Max was with her. You should know what that means.”

“It’s over… What have I done?!” John mumbled in despair.

“We can still get out of this unscathed.” Bryan consoled his brother with a pat. “But we need to send Aaron back to Taurus Academy. We can’t have him stay here and risk another incident.”

Thanks to the ointment’s efficacy, Max’s bleeding had stopped almost instantaneously. He carefully disposed his shirt and zipped his jacket as he hurried towards Liliana’s house, occasionally wincing in pain. Making his way past the crowd gathered outside the chief’s villa, Max did some retrospection. It’s been less than a month and I’ve nearly gotten killed twice!

“Where were you? What took you so long?” Liliana causally asked as soon as Max stepped into the house.

Max found himself a chair and awkwardly said, “I – uh... met someone and got caught up chatting with the guy.”

“You? Were busy chatting?” Liliana replied with an eye roll, but decided against prying. “Well, never mind that. Do you know what happened at the chief's house?”

“No. Why?” Max hid his scowl behind dry laughter as he turned his head to avoid Liliana’s gaze. As the conversation between the two continued, Isabel walked through the door. She glanced at Max with an enigmatic smile before she took a seat at the table to skim through a book.

While Max adjusted himself to get some shut eye, John Argent’s subordinate arrived at the door. Isabel spoke to the man and came back inside with a small box which seemed to be a gift from the chief for Max.

Frowning, Max received the item. On the other hand, Liliana seemed stunned. It wasn’t the first time that a subordinate of the Argent family had greeted their doorstep, but it was certainly a first for a subordinate to have come for something besides her. With her curiosity piqued, Liliana’s gaze hovered over the box. She asked, “What did you do?”

“Nothing.” Max feigned ignorance as he scrutinized the box and wondered if there was anything dangerous inside. He opened it to reveal a note below which was a small red plant with strangely thick leaves. The plant had a gentle fragrance which immediately disseminated throughout the room.

The trio instantly felt energized. Isabel stared in amazement at the herb and eventually exclaimed, “The thousand lives blood stem!”

Noticing the confused expressions, Isabel hurriedly explained that the herb grew on soil which had absorbed copious amounts of blood and thus derived its name from the number of lives lost during its maturation. The small plant was known for its medicinal properties and could instantly stimulate the body’s latent healing ability without any side-effects.

While Liliana nodded her head in understanding, Max realized that mana and magic weren’t the only things different on Asterisk. As he pondered over the possibilities in a daze, Liliana snatched the box from his hands. “Now why would the chief gift you this?”

“Hey -” Max began to protest as Liliana opened the note.

Isabel immediately reproached her daughter. “Lily! Give it back."

Liliana pouted and quietly handed it back to Max. The box contained a small note which, aside from a heartfelt apology, had a personal guarantee from both brothers – a promise that no one would ever trouble Max within the village.

As Max lightly scoffed, Liliana looked at him in askance. “Why did the chief give you the blood stem? Are – Are you hurt anywhere? What happened?”

Max crumpled the note and stuffed it into his pocket. Ignoring the girl, he promptly walked over to his bed and left Liliana fuming. Isabel stifled a laugh and observed Max with interest. She took another gander at the wooden box before she turned her gaze towards the Argent mansion with a slight smile.

Allowing his body to heal naturally, Max opted to save the peace offering for a more appropriate situation in the future. Just like the chief had promised, the rest of the month went by peacefully. Aaron was sent back to the academy, an event which left Liliana particularly happy. Like the girl, Max also couldn’t deny that he felt pleased with not having to come across the arrogant young master again.

On the day of departure, Liliana sat on her bed, feeling fidgety. She felt both nervous and excited about her upcoming journey, and yet couldn’t hide the reluctance she felt from leaving her mother in these backwaters. Sitting not far from her, Max sat with a poker face, though the light in his eyes betrayed the slight feelings of excitement to explore what Asterisk had to offer.

At the village entrance, Isabel, Charlene and a few of Liliana’s close friends were waiting to see them off. While Liliana bid her friends farewell, Isabel stepped towards Max and said, “Max… I need you to look after her.”

“Of course.” Max responded with a smile. “I’ll try my best to keep her out of trouble. That is my job as her familiar. Though, to be honest, I’m not sure how useful I’ll be.”

With the bus driver impatiently honking, Liliana and Max hurriedly boarded the vehicle. Watching the bus disappear, Isabel let out a light sigh and hoped that it was only her paranoia getting the better of her.

After a boring and bumpy bus ride, the duo continued the rest of their journey in a train where they met other hopeful Esquires and Novice mages who were also partaking in the year's academy exams. Along the way, Max learnt a few more things about Asterisk and its modes of transport.

Because of the presence of mana, the denizens of the planet weren’t completely dependent on fossil fuels. Instead, technological advancements had been steered in another direction to incorporate crystallized mana as the primary energy resource.

A few days later, the train came to a standstill. Max and Liliana had finally arrived at the last stop – Alcatraz Empire's capital city, the place that would define their futures and change their lives forever.