“You have reacquainted yourself with the young woman,” Lord Juler says.

“Meh, big words. We are getting intimate. If there’s something more, we’ll find out eventually. I’m not getting my hopes up too much. Women, Lord Juler, they are dangerous. They get inside your head. Like some other [Supreme Archmagi], I’d say.”

The old man raises an eyebrow and curls the corners of his mouth. However, he moves his gaze to the horizon right after. It’s dawn. I spent most of the previous day gathering my strength and resting. And, yes, fooling around with Lucinda a little. I’m only human, after all. Lord Juler is showing me, from a huge, warded window, the last tower standing in the Nine Towers Academy.

“Sziezais was an [Archmage] here. For a while. I’m not sure what these Elves know. But I can still feel his magic there. Valarith told me that she tried to enter, but the traps, wards, and monsters over there are extremely dangerous. She almost died. There are numerous suppression spells, and she couldn’t even safely teleport herself out.”

“It’s comforting to know that she’s not that strong. Would you say she’s stronger than you were at your peak?”

Lord Juler looks at me, this time with a wide smile.

“I come from the greatest generation of [Heroes], and I was the greatest warrior and spellcaster, bar none, Joey Luciani. Do you think that a misguided child would be stronger?”

“I mean, you were both studying important stuff. And you fangirled a lot, to be honest. Who knows?”

“I am a shadow of my peak, Joey Luciani. Valarith has made incredible progress on her own, but she’s more of a [Scholar] than a warrior. I could have brought down that tower in a day if I had wished so.”

“So long? Betcha I’ll take it down in a minute in a few years,” I snort.

“I hope I will see that,” the man replies, still looking at the tower. Now, his expression has turned somewhat melancholic. “Great enemies plague my people, Joey Luciani. Great enemies that even at my peak—they are too strong. And Valarith has uncovered, through painstaking and religious studying, things that deeply unsettle me. I’ll need to research, to study. If it were up to me, I would come to see you grow into the strongest [Mage]. And I would try to bring you on Kome to let the rest of my family see how a [Mage] should fight. I’m sure I could even arrange a marriage with a woman that would throw herself in flames for you. But I know your heart is still not set, is it?”

The deep talk that suddenly spurted out of Lord Juler has me reeling. It honestly hits differently when an old man goes a bit sentimental on you. There’s no denying the Freudian principles of paternal figures here. The man in front of me is the person who kept me sane for so long.

“I’m sure that fate will bring me to see your people, Lord Juler.”

“Foolish disciple... my people are dying. Maybe they have already died. Even Valarith is but a shadow of greatness. And this is not by chance but by design. I've already said enough; let me speak no more of it.”

We stay silent for a second, looking at the tower that Lord Juler’s enemy had made impossible to conquer.

“I’ll have to conquer that tower, won’t I? It’s the—what’s the name of that thing. When you pass the baton to the new generation. The symbol of it is me entering there, guns blazing, hat tooting.”

“Tooting?”

“I don’t know. I said ‘hat,’ and I didn’t know how to finish the sentence. Tooting sounded good enough.”

Lord Juler snorts.

“My people have faded, Joey Luciani. They have lost their way. Their marrow is still the same, but it will take a great [Hero] to re-awaken the dormant blood. And more than one hero at that, I fear. And when fate calls for great [Heroes], it brings even bigger monsters. You walk with my will, Joey Luciani. You will be roped in. Not by Valarith or me. But the circumstances will call for your action. You can choose to ignore it. If you wish to run away, I could make arrangements with Valarith. Some places are peaceful and safe. You could put magic aside and go back to baking. This is my parting gift to you, the life you wished to have when you first came here.”

I look at the man who didn’t even turn to look at me.

He probably couldn’t.

A [Hero] of a past generation who spent months by my side, teaching me stuff that only the greatest [Supreme Archmagus] could know. How would he feel if I suddenly decided to throw away all we had worked for together?

I know he’s hoping that I don’t go back to normalcy. But this is not a simple decision. I might really regret not returning to being a simple baker. Even if the Elves are out to get me now, I’m sure there are many places in this world where I could live undisturbed. And if everyone behaves like these Elves have so far, what’s in it for me? What happens the next time I get betrayed?

Yeah, it’s a big word.

Betrayal.

It’s not something we should utter with a light heart. But isn’t that what happened?

No one fought alongside me. I’ve spent what, almost a year here? And who came to fight on my side? Who felt compelled to help me, apart from a man literally bound to my soul?

And that presents you with some ugly questions.

Am I worth it? Am I worth saving? Did they not come because I am not worth it?

Am I the problem? What was I supposed to have done to be loved enough for them to help me or even just protest?

“Lord Juler, I have one question before I make the decision. It’s going to sound really stupid; I know. But I need an answer.”

“Go ahead, Joey Luciani.”

“If the Vanedenis had seen what happened in the arena, what would have happened? If I had found friends among the Vanedenis, would they have helped me? Would they have jumped in the arena for me?”

Lord Juler looks at me, knowing I’m just looking for a place to belong.

“If you became one of my people, Joey Luciani? Is that the question? Would the Vanedenis jump in the arena for one of theirs?”

“I mean, can I even be one of you? Isn’t that given by blood?”

Lord Juler snorts and shakes his head.

“We don’t believe in silly things, Joey Luciani. If you have the spirit of a Vanedeni, you are one. We have exiled and excised the dry branches. We are losing the war against the Ahali because of our declining and partially extinguished spirit – that was the priceless thing about us. So, are you asking me, ‘if you proved to be worthy of my people and bonded with some of them, would they jump in front of an [Archmage] to protect you?’ Is that the question?”

“Yes.”

“If you were a Vanedeni or even just a friend of my people,” Lord Juler turns to me, staring dead in the eyes, “they wouldn’t jump.”

I sigh, ready to resign myself to a mediocre life—

“They would raze this entire Nation to the ground.”