Chapter 005

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‘ ‘ for thoughts.

“ “ for speech.

* * for actions.

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Warning: May contain mature content (18+) including but not limited to cursing, sexual content and gore. Read at your own risk.

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When Leofric’s party approached the clan castle, the guards at the gates barred their way. It was understandable, as Ealric’s last visit here had been over a decade ago. Still Ealric was not pleased as he displayed the amulet with the clan’s heraldry. Immediately the guards paled.

They were not even Expert warriors, and they had dared to block a member of the clan entrance! Of course, someone could fake the clan heraldry…but to do so here was simply courting death, as this was the stronghold of the Wayne clan. Soon, the middle aged Guard-Captain, a Master Warrior intervened, and reprimanded the guards as he had served the clan for a long while and recognized Ealric.

The Guard Captain wanted to have the offending guards whipped and asked whether that punishment was satisfactory. Ealric however, in an act of generosity excused the Guards’ behavior and nulled their punishment of whipping. He told the Captain that it was better for the guards to be cautious, rather than letting anyone in.

The guards should however, memorize the portraits of every clan member to avoid similar incidents in the future where the offended party might not be as generous as him. The guards were relieved at this turn of events, and bowed deeply to their Lord. It was easily in Ealric’s rights to have them punished much more severely than a mere whipping. Luckily their Lord’s disposition was good, and they got off without any severe punishment.

After the incident at the gates, the twenty guards who had escorted them in the journey were housed in the barracks. Leofric, Labasi and Ealric entered the castle proper and were guided to their accommodations by a butler.

They stayed in a small villa like residence in the castle grounds, surrounded by many similar residences. Each clan member of note was entitled to one such residence in the clan headquarters. The villa was three stories tall with an enclosed courtyard. The rooms were spacious with expensive furnishing and decoration.

The villa had its own guards and servants assigned to take care of the needs of its residence. By the time they bathed and changed, it was dinner-time. At dinner, Leofric tasted the meat of magical beasts for the first time. It was the meat of a Rank 3 Magical Beast, the green-tailed deer. Although the meat was very delicious and nutritious, green-tailed deer were very fast and had wind attribute speed focused abilities which made it difficult for average Rank 4 warriors to hunt it!

The demand for the meat was high, but its supply was low making it such that most low-nobles could only afford it at special occasions. The fact that such kind of meat was a regular item in the Wayne Castle’s meal showed the financial clout of the clan! Leofric was unaware of this and he wolfed down the juicy tender steaks at a frightening pace.

After a hearty meal, Leofric retired to his room. There was still a couple of weeks’ time till the evaluation. Under Labasi’s tutelage he kept up his training schedule and education regularly. Initially in his free time, he would tour the city with Labasi and a few guards.

He had a lot of fun touring the lively market place. There was thriving commerce and a variety of exotic goods were available. His father had allowed him to spend 30 gold coins in the market. This was an exorbitant sum to most, as 2 gold coins were enough to feed a family of 4-5 peasants for a year!

He spent most of it on a pair of dull grey silk gloves. It was made from the silk obtained from the nest of the Rank 2 magical beast, the weaving ladybug. It was very soft and comfortable, yet was sturdier than gloves made of mundane leather.

After a week of browsing the various stores in the marketplace, Leofric was bored. He therefore spent most of his free time in meditation, as it was a relaxing activity for him. Since other than his supervised excursions to the market place, he kept himself to their villa, he didn’t meet any notable members of the clan.

Soon the date of the evaluation arrived. After his morning meditation and exercises, Leofric took a hot bath and got dressed to attend the clan evaluation. He accompanied his father and teacher to the Great Hall of the Castle.

His father greeted and made small talk with a lot of people, about whom he had no idea other than the fact that they belonged to his clan. Soon they were seated comfortably in the Great Hall and waiting for the other clan members to settle.

A tall pale man with short green hair, who looked like in his thirties, approached their table. Behind the man, a pair of twin boys followed him. The boys were around half a foot shorter than Leofric and were pale like the man, but with black hair. Seeing them approaching, Ealric plastered a practiced smile on his face as he greeted them.

Ealric: "Welcome, Cousin Graham. It is good to see you and your sons, Godred and Geldfrith!”

Graham: “Likewise, cousin. It is finally good to see your son, Leofric. Your son looks very healthy and robust for his age!”

Ealric: ‘Is this arrogant prick praising my son?’

Ealric: “Thank you cousin.”

Graham suddenly dropped his polite visage, and sneered at him.

Graham: *sneering* “I don’t know why you bothered bringing him here today, along with your manservant. Your son looks like a brash warrior. He will be right at home in the barracks.”

This insult infuriated Ealric, as Graham had refused to give him any face! He clenched his fist and stood up from his seat, no longer bothering to maintain his friendly façade. Labasi, in contrast appeared unnerved being called a manservant, appeared tranquil.

Ealric: ‘Damn this asshole. Just because he sired twins from that whore of his, he gets all haughty and insults my son in front of me! I will make that bastard pay!’

Ealric: “Take that back, you adulterer!”

Graham was clearly enraged. His face was red like a beetroot and the veins on his temple were throbbing. His fists were shaking, as he visibly restrained himself.

Graham: “What did you call me?”

Before the situation could escalate, a harsh cough was heard from behind. A wizened bald man with a snow white goatee approached them from behind. He looked almost comical with his pudgy face full of wrinkles and his short stature of five feet. However, on seeing him, both Ealric and Graham paled.

Ealric & Graham: “Honored Grandfather!”

Short old man: *snorting* “Now you idiots regain your manner. Everytime both of you meet, you inevitably start an argument! You two cause our Mah branch to lose lot of face, by arguing loudly at such an occasion!”

Ealric: “I apologize, honored Grandfather, but he started insulting my son.”

Graham: “Grandfather, I am not at fault here. When he saw my sons, he was sneering at them with an evil look!”

Short old man: “Behave! Both of you are still too weak in front of me! I better not hear another argument or excuse from you two, or else…”

Looking at the dangerous glare in their Grandfather’s eyes, they apologized meekly. Ealric quickly sat down and Graham led his sons to the far end of the hall. When the short old man departed, Ealric finally breathed a sigh of relief and Labasi chuckled.

Leofric: “I never saw you so scared father. Is great-grandpa strong?”

Ealric: *defensively* “I was not scared… I was just respectful towards my elders. Like you should be, you impudent brat! Your father is scared of nothing, and don’t you forget that!”

Labasi: “I couldn’t sense your grandfather’s presence. He should be stronger than me, at least…”

Ealric: *sighing* “Yes. He is a dual Grandmaster Magus of Wind and Light. He is around your age, and has been attempting to break the bottleneck and become a sage for the past two decades.”

Labasi’s expression as instantly filled with awe and respect. Ealric’s Grandfather was a Grandmaster magus, not in one but two elements! He estimated that he would become a grandmaster in another 3-4 decades, while Ealric’s Grandfather was attempting to become a sage for the past two decades! No wonder he could incite such fear in his unruly grandsons.

Leofric: “Teacher, you talked about sensing great-grandpa. How do you sense someone without seeing?”

Labasi: “Once someone breaks the first bottleneck at Rank 4 and becomes an Expert or above (Rank 5), a new sense is unlocked.”

Labasi: “It is called spiritual sense. It allows you to passively sense presences of souls with weaker spiritual force than yourself.”

Leofric: “How far can you sense with spiritual sense, Teacher?”

Labasi: “Normally the range of my spiritual sense extends to around 10m. However, when I am mediating my spiritual sense is heightened to roughly around 100m.”

Soon, a magically enhanced voice was heard throughout the Great Hall. It was Leofric’s great-grandfather who was addressing everyone from the dais at the far end of the hall.

Short old man: “Welcome my fellow clan members. It is that time of the year again. Every year, our clan gathers its next generation to have their affinities evaluated. It is of utmost importance to foster talent in our clan, or we will soon fall into decline.”

Short old man: “As I call your name, you and your parents will accompany me to the affinity testing hall, which is to my right. As this could take a while, get to know each other and most importantly make sure you all behave!”

He then withdrew a small book from one of the folds of his robe.

Short old man: “So first on my list is…”

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A/n: Sorry for the short chapter, but I have a splitting headache and couldn't rite anymore today. Also, there might be mroe errors than usual...

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