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December 20, 1560

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Knock Knock

"Young master Henry, are you awake? The Baron is calling for you."

After hearing nothing for a minute, Amy decided to walk into the room. Walking in, she saw papers all across the room, the bedsheets on the floor, and the window curtain closed, making the whole room pitch black. Seeing all of this, however, wasn't shocking to Amy it was the norm for Henry ever since Sir Stuart had begun tutoring young master Henry a month ago. Amy quickly walked over to the window curtains, opening them to allow some sunlight to enter.

"It time to wake up young master Henry."

"Urgh. Close the curtains, the sunlight is bothering me."

"I'm afraid I can't young master Henry. The Baron is calling for you."

"Huh? Father is? Do you know why?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Then give me ten minutes."

"I can't young master Henry. The Baron said it was urgent."

"Please?"

"I can not."

"Fine. I'm getting up. You happy?"

"Very much so young master Henry."

Quickly getting dressed, Henry followed Amy to the Baron's office room. After knocking and getting a response, Henry entered to see his father working diligently on a stack of papers. His disheveled hair with dark bags under his eyes revealed his exhaustion.

"There you are, son. Take a seat." Sitting down, Henry saw how much his father had been working for there were stacks of papers on the floor, meaning that he had been working the whole night.

"I've called for you to tell you that I will be leaving in the upcoming week and when I'm gone, I want you to listen to your mother alright? If I hear any complaints from her, you will be in big trouble young man."

"Leaving? Where are you going, father?"

"I'm leaving to deal with some trouble that arose up north. I'll be back in four to five months."

"Can I come! I want to fight as well father."

"No, you can not. It's too dangerous for you."

"But I want to fight as well!"

Robert got up and slowly walked over to his son, crouching to look him in the eyes, and said.

"Listen here young man, when I'm gone, I need someone I can trust to stay and protect the town and I think you're the perfect man for the job"

"Really?"

"Yes, so can I trust your stay and protect our home or not?"

"Yeah!"

"Atta boy", shuffling Henry's hair with a grin, Robert walked back over to his chair and said,

"So while I have you here, tell me what you learned this week from Sir Stuart."

"Umm. this weak I learned how there are several types of currency and not everyone uses the same coins."

"I see. List me the coins we use then."

"Okay. There are 4 types of coins in our kingdom. The lowest are bronze coins. I think 100 bronze coins can feed a family for a month? Next are silver coins. One silver coin equals 100 bronze coins. Then there are gold coins, my favorite. One gold coin equals 100 silver coins or 10,000 bronze coins. The best coin is the Phoenix Coin only used by the Royal family. One Phoenix coin equals 100 gold coins."

"Hmmm, good job. I guess I haven't been wasting all that money on that tutor after all."

"Father, how much do you make? I really, really want to know."

"Oh? Just because you've been a good boy today, I'll tell you. This year we made 10 gold coins." Robert said with a proud expression, but what he heard wiped it clean off his face.

"Huh? That's it?"

"That's it? Do you know how impressive it is for even a sheer Viscount to be making 10 gold coins a year? Most Baronys struggle to even make 5 a year you little twat."

"I see, my apologies Father."

Waving his hand, Robert said, "It's alright, you're still learning. Is there anything else you learned?"

"No, not really. Just basic manners. But father, I want to learn about cultivation! Sir Stuart won't tell me anything about it. No one tells me anything, even mother!" Henry's eyes flew in excitement as he finally asked his father what had been on his chest for a while now. The constant worry about whether or not he could cultivate bothered him many nights. He would often be daydreaming about flying in the air or waving his hand and killing thousands just like in the story his father told him.

"I see, Cultivation eh?" Leaning back on his chair, Robert began stroking his beard as he pondered on whether he should tell his son about the world of cultivation.

" I don't know son. I promised your mother I wouldn't talk about anything related to fighting with you."

"Please Fathe. Pretty Please" Seeing Henry's begging face, all Robert could do was surrender in defeat.'I am sorry my dear. Our son is just too cute for me to say no to.'

"Very well. I'll answer some questions you have."

"REALLY?!"

"Yes, so ask away now."

"Whew. Okay. How can you tell if someone can cultivate?"

"Ah, that is simple. If someone possesses meridians to cultivate."

"Meridians? What's that?"

"Meridians are what allows a cultivator to absorb qi to use for their own. Think of it as small tunnels all across your body."

"Then do I have meridians?"

"That is something I don't know. The meridian is formed when one reaches 8 years old. So you have 11 days left. Ain't that exciting."

"Wow, I can't wait. How many people get their meridian?"

"That is a small number," Robert answered soloenmy. "Rember, every cultivator, weak or strong is a precious gem to have. For every 10 who don't get to have a meridian, only 1 is luckily to have a formed meridian. However, not all cultivators are the same; some are more talented than others being able to keep growing while others stagnate."

"EH! So low?"

"That's right son, not everyone is blessed to receive Tapio's gift. In fact, most commoners don't even know about this. Now ask your last question."

"Last one?"

"This has been more than enough for you. You'll learn more when you turn 8, now speak."

"Hmmmmm. Oh, I got it! Can you fly like the man you told me about?"

"Ah, you mean Duke Fernald? I'm afraid not." Showing a sad smile, Robert continued, "I hit my peak years ago, now stuck at the same level no matter how much I try."

"Oh." Sensing his father's sad attitude, Henry didn't say anything as they both sat there in silence for Robert seemed to be reminiscing about something.

"You may leave" he whispered after a while, not wishing to continue the discussion.

"Goodbye, Father." Bowing, Henry quietly exited the room.

Several seconds after Henry had left, Robert muttered while making a fist.

"Duke Ferald; Such power. Sigh. Such is fate guess."