"Father! I can see it! Whoah! The Tower is so tall!" Roderick had recovered from the initial shock, and after traveling with his father, they had gotten to Renee a day later than they thought. There had been no further interruptions to their travels nor any more encounters that warranted Vince from leaving the driver's seat. It was late morning when they made it to Renee, and they were both starving. "Son, we'll go to Granny's Pies. They have the best pies in town and good food. We need to eat before you even think to do any testing." "OK, father!"

Vince drove his wagon to an Heralkeeper near the edge of town and asked him to watch his Heral. They left on foot and walked until they reached a busy street filled with stalls and businesses. "Excuse me! Sir, can you point me in the direction of Granny's Pies?"

The blue-haired man frowned before placing his forefinger on his chin, "Hmmm, I'm not sure of it. Never heard of them. The stall owners are usually pretty good at knowing businesses in Renee, at least if they want to keep abreast of their competition."

"Thanks!"

Vince walked past the man and walked to the very first stall in the street. They were selling necklaces and clothing for people visiting Renee. A young couple was perusing the jewelry and haggling the prices when Vince asked the middle-aged shopkeeper a question, "Miss, do you know where Granny's Pies is?"

"Oh, that old hag. She's about 12 buildings down the street to the left of the shopping district. Just head down passed all of the stalls and then make a left. You'll smell the cooking when you pass the right place. Can I interest the two of you in any local clothing?"

Vince didn't want to be rude, so he bought a winter coat for his son despite it being spring. "Thank you for the business! I'm sure he'll fit in the coat by next winter!"

"Yes, yes thank you."

Vince carried the coat as they walked down the busy street. There were many street vendors selling food and trying to get their attention.

"Come over here! We have the best egg bread in all of Renee!"

"Bah! Egg bread is disgusting we have meat! Meat skewers, meat bread, meat everything!"

Looking at the different food vendors and the smell coming from them the two hungry visitors nearly broke down and got some food at a stall, but they persevered as they made their way down the business district and made a left turn. They saw the smoking rising from a small cottage and the placard that said Granny's Pies was warm and inviting. "Welcome! Just the two of you young men?"

"Yes, mam just me and my son. We're starving is there anything you can recommend?"

"I'll bring you, boys, some hearty stew and skewers. It'll just be a minute."

The tavern was half full with customers eating and drinking as they laughed and talked to each other. There were even some Red Tower mages that seemed to be eating here for lunch.

"Here you boys are!"

"Can we get some of your famous pie? When we are done?"

"Oh, boys! I'm sorry I ran out of pies this morning. They usually run out pretty early."

Roderick's look of disappointment was heartbreaking for the elderly tavern owner to look at.

"I'll tell you what. If you are willing to wait a few extra minutes for your food. I'll bake up something special for you guys." Her smile looked divine to the young boy as his smile practically beamed with enough light to brighten up the entire tavern.

"Thank you, Miss?"

"It's just Maria. You can call me Miss Maria if you'd like."

"Thank you, Miss Maria!"

Vince waited for Maria to enter the back of the tavern before saying, "Son, after we finish eating. We are going to go directly to the Northwoods. I have some friends that told me he's awake and the Tower Master owes me a job. I'll ask him to test you directly. It means your test will most likely be tougher, but I guarantee you'll have your best chance at passing there."

"We are just going to the Lord's house? We can do that?"

"Of course, we can. We might get rejected, but at worse, we'll come back here and get you tested at the Tower. There's still one candidate position left. It took a long time to find candidates, but they all came out at the same time. It's been over a week since the last kid passed. We need to go directly to the Red Tower Master if you want a chance."

"Dad..."

"Don't be nervous, Rod. You'll do fine."

After a week had passed, Darius had gotten used to the presence of the squire brats in his home. Talia was a nervous stutterer but made up for it as an obedient listener and hard worker. Fear of rejection motivated her to work harder and longer than anyone else despite her malnourished condition. Darius often found himself forcing her to rest, and making her eat bowl after bowl of soup.

Darius had multiple 3rd Circle spells floating around his body as he walked around Talia and Daniel. "Focus your minds. Strong basics provide a foundation, and a foundation builds an established future.

Teaching while focusing on spells had improved his magic, and he found it to be good training.

"Young Master, how do you focus mana in the body while moving your body? I've been trying to get the hang of it all day, and it feels like balancing a plate with each finger while running as fast as I can. It's too hard!" Daniel looked up from his seated position with genuine curiosity as he asked his question.

"You can start by mastering your mana control while sitting first."

"Yes, young master!"

While Daniel could be slightly annoying, he had learned within a day or two that Darius' was qualified to teach him. The rotating balls of fire, earth, and wind were proof of that.

Lessons began for the two squires early in the morning. In the morning, when the sun first began to peek over the horizon, Darius would enter Daniel and Talia's rooms and call for them. Throughout the morning, Darius would give them a practice prompt related to mana control and have them dedicate their entire mornings to a singular focused training session. Afterward, Darius would leave them to their own devices and train with his father, mother, or on his own.

The two squires would eat before meeting with Linda for more magic training along with Aaron, who had opted to learn from her instead.

All three of the kids would learn from Rhea after their magic training in everything from reading, writing, and magic, to noble manners and culture. In one week all three of the kids had learned more noble etiquette and rules than Darius had in all five years of life.

Aaron... was annoying...He treated Darius like air and chose to ignore his advice completely. When Aaron had gone to Linda to ask for magic training, Darien only raised an eyebrow before permitting Aaron. Soon after, Linda was chosen to be the kid's magic instructor, which she gladly accepted.

Darien thought that Aaron was a good test for his son to overcome. It would give him practice in dealing with insubordination, but Darius didn't see it that way. He just saw a bratty kid being annoying. He told him at the end of the first day, "Do as you please, but if you do any less than your duty and job in the future don't be surprised when I make an example out of you, understood?" The cocky bastard just nodded his head as though he were looking at an idiot child. Darius had wanted to flip him over and give him a good beating but decided against it. He figured Aaron would learn through experiencing different situations, and he'd leave it till then.

"Ughh."

"Talia, eat breakfast and then come back for training. Times up."

In some ways, Talia might have been more annoying than Aaron. Darius was forced to pay attention to her practice as she would work herself to pass out every single day. Threats and chastising didn't work, it only made the situation worse. When Darius gave verbal commands she'd immediately listen. Though that meant she hadn't developed free thought yet.

"Yes, young master!"

"What are you doing, Daniel? Getting distracted?"

"No, young master. I am not."

"Good." Darius still had a lot to learn.

"This afternoon, we are going to Renee. So make sure to clean up in about an hour."

"Why?" Daniel blurted out his question without thinking, and Darius only responded with a hard stare.

"Sorry."

"I want to take you guys to Renee to get an idea of your new home. We'll get food and visit some shops around the town before coming back home."

Darius noticed while looking at Talia that she was shaking a little too much. She hadn't trained that hard.

"Talia? Is something wrong?"

"No, young master! I'm fine!"

"You can stop training early if you'd like. I just thought it'd be nice if you got a glimpse of the people you'll be protecting in the future. There's a reason we train hard, and it's not just for fame and glory. Some good people rely on us to protect them when times get tough."

Both Talia and Daniel responded quickly, "Yes, young master!"

Vince and Roderick said goodbye to Mary from Granny's Pies and were traveling to the Northwood Manor by foot. There was only one known road that led the manor to the City center and that road was well-guarded. After talking to a guard Vince recognized he made his way passed the checkpoint and toward the manor with his son in tow.

"Father, that was the best pie I've ever had! It was rich and creamy and super delicious!"

"I guess that's going to be our new favorite spot then?"

"Yes! I loved it there!"

Vince held his son's hand as he walked down the road. They talked about pies and magic, and eventually, like always, they talked about Rod's mother. Sometimes it was Vince was the one who would bring it up with a casual statement like, "Your mother would have loved that." But most of the time, Rod would think about his mom when he was having fun.

"Mom would have liked that pie. I wish she could have tried it."

"Me too, bud. I'm sure the pies she's eating in heaven are a lot better than what we had today."

"Really?"

"Yes, in fact, it's so much better your mum wouldn't even like that pie anymore. She's got fancy taste buds now."

"Wow! Mom's an angel."

Vince quickly wiped a stray tear before killing off his emotions, "Yes, your mom is the greatest angel to ever live."

The conversation between father and son came to an end when a carriage came down the road. The carriage had the Northwood family sigil and flag, which bore a fire-breathing salamander and cross.

"Looks like someone is coming. Might be one of the Northwoods."

Vince waved at the driver and the carriage made its way to a stop, "Woah! Who goes there?"

"Vince, Vince Bravestone. I'm a knight working in the capital. Lord Northwood gave me the offer to work as his knight during the War for Ayes, and came to take him up on the offer."

"Give me one moment."

The driver knocked on a wooden panel leading to the inside of the carriage, and it opened. He whispered something inside the carriage and a few seconds later gave his response.

"Mrs. Northwood will see you in a moment."

The carriage door opened, and a stunning red-headed woman walked out. Her eyes resembled a lion, and her mana practically superheated the air around her. A curious Darius snuck out of the carriage to see what was going on as well. Elaine yelled, "Get back inside, Darius! You can't just leave the carriage whenever you want!"

Darius walked over to her side, looking at the boy curiously and the father.

"Sir Bravestone, you could have applied at the Tower. Is there a reason you are traveling down our private road and coming to our home instead?"

"There is. I wanted to personally come to have my son tested by Lord Northwood for the position of squire. He's a talented boy, and I thought if I was going to work for the Red Tower, having my son training and working for the Northwoods would be for the best."

Elaine narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "That isn't a good answer. Again you could have gone to the Tower for that? Why were you heading to our home?" She emphasized the last line with a tiny bit of force.

"I.."

Darius had been staring at the boy the entire time. With eyes filled with surprise and intrigue. He walked over to the boy with curious steps.

"Darius!"