“Your girlfriend…is Sellitha Amyss?” Aiden said in a low voice, trying to wrap his head around what Adion had just said.

“Maybe we should actually check to see if everything’s alright with your head,” Ailera said. “I can’t imagine you lying, but this can’t all actually be the truth either.”

“Why? I’m pretty impressive, you know,” Adion said, “Didn’t you hear the part about me being a Silver space mage with the aura control to fool Grandpa?”

“B-but,” Aiden stammered beside him, “How? When? What?”

“We met in the Outskirts of the Delovan Empire,” Adion said, “But we’re jumping ahead.”

“It’s a pretty important jump,” Ailera stressed, “Tell me about her.”

“Well, she’s…” Adion didn’t know what to say. It was quite an embarrassing topic, “She’s just pretty and cool and stuff.”

“Hahaha,” Ailera laughed, “How cute.”

“Anyway, let’s get back to where I was,” Adion muttered.

“But…” His grandfather seemed to be having trouble formulating himself, “I…Yeah, sorry. Tell your story.”

It is probably going to take a long time for them to process everything. I’ll just get it all out there, and time will take care of the rest.

Adion began telling how he had scavenged for food and slowly increased his strength, eventually turning to hunt beasts for food and training. When he got to the part where he met White and Fellion, his family once again broke into a deep discussion about his adventures.

“How strong was it? A Soul beast like that? Maybe it was a Pure Soul beast,” Ailera said.

“He never actually told me,” Adion said, “But I would guess Hard Soul or Pure Soul.”

“Incredible,” Adion’s grandfather muttered, “It shouldn’t give you the aura control you have, though. Even if it explains a lot.”

“We’ll come to that part,” Adion said, “But it sure is getting late. I don’t think I will be done with the story anytime soon. It is five years of my life, after all.”

“I don’t mind,” Aiden said.

“Me neither,” Ailera stressed.

“I can be up til morning, no problem,” His grandfather said.

“This might take days, though,” Adion mused aloud, “Should I give you the short version for now?”

“I want to hear all of it,” Ailera said stubbornly.

“Just keep it to the important parts, perhaps. We will have years to hear it all.” His grandfather said.

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “So after Fellion dropped me off, I found myself in the south of the Delovan Empire.” Adion continued his narration of events as the sun slowly began rising. Even just keeping to the essential parts, his family had plenty of questions along the way. Adion didn’t think it was annoying, though. He enjoyed every second of it.

“And I finally made it here today,” Adion finished. Looking at the sun outside the window, he changed his wording slightly, though. “Well, yesterday. I skipped over a lot, but that should give you a pretty good idea of what I’ve been up to.”

“Marvelous,” Adion’s grandfather sighed, a smile on his lips.

“You should write a book about all this, Adion,” His sister urged, “I think you could earn the title of Sage if you choose to reveal all of it.”

“I won’t do that,” Adion shook his head, “Not until I’m stronger.”

“The most incredible part is still that your girlfriend is an elven princess,” Aiden murmured. “I met her, you know.”

“You did?” Adion asked, “Where? When?”

“Calm down,” Aiden said with a smile, “It was yesterday morning. She was with her sister. She acted a little strange when she met me, but I guess that makes sense now.”

“Do you know where she is?” Adion asked, anticipating meeting Sell again.

“You’re already tired of your family, huh?” His grandfather asked with a smile.

“What? No, no,” Adion shook his head, “It’s just…”

“Hehe,” His grandfather chuckled, “I’m joking. I’m glad you have someone you like. I want to meet her.”

“I will bring her,” Adion said.

“A princess,” Ailera muttered. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t have any ill intentions.”

“What ill intentions could she have?” Adion asked.

“You’re still young, dear brother,” Ailera said, “Leave it to your big sister.”

“She’s not a bad person, Ailera,” Adion said.

“I guess she doesn’t seem to have revealed your secrets,” Ailera grudgingly admitted, “I’ll still make sure, though.”

“Right…” Adion said, hoping Sell and his sister would get along.

“Well,” His grandfather said, “Let’s end it for today. I need to digest all this information with a good night’s sleep. Or a good morning’s sleep, I suppose. You will all stay here, I hope?”

“Mm,” Ailera nodded, “I want to hear more about your story when I wake up, Adion.”

“Okay,” Adion smiled, “I want to hear what you’ve been up to, too. I’m about to start in the Academy and don’t know much about it, after all.”

“Why don’t we take you on a tour when we wake up?” Aiden suggested.

“That sounds great,” Adion nodded. He wanted to explore the place and get to know more about what his sibling's life in the Academy was like.

“That’s not fair,” Adion’s grandfather said, “I won’t be able to go with you.”

“Well,” Adion said, “I’m afraid you might be busy anyway, Grandpa.”

“Busy with what?” His grandfather asked.

“Advancing to the Soft Soul stage,” Adion said.

“Haah,” His grandfather sighed, “Adion, I’m trying, but I’m not sure I can ever-”

“There is one last thing I haven’t mentioned, actually,” Adion interrupted his grandfather.

“I won’t be able to handle it, Adion,” Aiden said, looking at Adion fearfully.

“Well, if you don’t want a Fire Phoenix Wisdom Pill, then that’s fine,” Adion said.

“Wha…What?” Aiden stammered.

“I have a pill for you and Grandpa,” Adion said, “It should make you a lot more powerful.”

“Adion…you mean that power you showed us,” His grandfather spoke, trying to process what he was hearing.

“It hasn’t been easy keeping this a secret,” Adion said, getting up and walking to his backpack that he had picked up at the inn with Aiden earlier. “You see, even though there was only a single pill made from the blood of the Celestial Phoenix. There were five from the Fire Phoenix.”

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Adion picked up the ancient case he had found years ago and opened it to pick up the Fire Phoenix Wisdom Pills. He handed one to his brother and one to his grandfather. They both looked at the pill warily.

“Such power,” His grandfather murmured.

“Adion, are you sure about this? This is priceless. You could get anything you want in exchange for a pill like this.” Aiden said.

“Of course I’m sure,” Adion said, “I have more pills that are basically priceless.”

“You do?” Adion's grandfather asked.

“Take a look,” Adion gestured to his case, “There is a letter there I found along with the pills. You should read it.”

His grandfather immediately grabbed the letter and started reading as Aiden looked through the case. Adion turned his attention to his sister and let out a regretful sigh.

“I’m sorry, but there is no pill for the water element, Ailera,” Adion said.

“It’s fine, Adion,” Ailera said with a smile. Adion could tell she was a little disappointed, though. “I’m just happy that our family will get stronger with this.”

“Mm,” Adion nodded.

“I’ll take a look, too,” Ailera said and got up to look through the pills, “I am an alchemist, after all. Just getting to look at pills like these is incredible enough.”

“Wait, you’re an alchemist?” Adion asked, stopping his sister.

“Mm,” Ailera nodded.

“But then the Authority over fire would be extremely useful,” Adion said excitedly, “You could control the flames to an incredible precision when you make pills and elixirs.”

“It would, but…wouldn’t that be a waste?” Ailera asked carefully.

“Of course not,” Adion said. He grabbed a Fire Phoenix Wisdom Pill and handed it to his sister, “It might be even more useful to you in a way. You don’t want it?”

“You’re really giving this to me?” Ailera asked, scrutinizing the pill in her hands.

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “I’m glad it can be useful to you. I was afraid you might get sad not receiving anything.”

Ailera looked up at Adion with teary eyes and rushed to hug him.

“I love you, Adion. Thank you!” Ailera said with her head pressed against his chest.

“Mm,” Adion said, “I love you too, sister.”

This feels nice. I’m glad I had so many of them.

“This…Adion, this Grand Soul Clarity Pill,” His grandfather said as he looked up from the letter he had been reading.

“That’s what hopefully will help you reach the Soft Soul stage,” Adion said, “And eventually even higher, I hope.”

“This is too good for me,” His grandfather said, “You should save them for yourself. Someone like you will reach my stage in no time.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Adion said, “Take the pill and advance. I want to know what it does and if it’s possible to take at my strength.”

His grandfather looked at Adion for a while, “Have you really thought this through? These pills are perhaps the greatest treasure in the world. You want to give them away like this?”

“If anything, it will feel relieving to get rid of some of them. And I can think of no better use for them than making my family strong.” Adion said.

“I don’t think I can ever repay the favor, but I will try,” His grandfather said.

“It’s not a favor, it’s a gift,” Adion said, “So no need to think about it.”

“Such a good little brother,” Aiden said and hugged Adion tightly.

“I am,” Adion agreed.

“Does this mean we’ll become a Noble family?” Ailera let go of Adion and asked their grandfather.

“I haven’t actually advanced yet,” He responded, “But if I do, yes.”

I hadn’t thought about that. I will become one of those annoying people?

“A Noble family of the Valis Kingdom?” Adion asked.

“I was actually thinking of joining the Academy and trying to become an elder there,” His grandfather said, “It would mean giving up a lot of freedom, but it would also mean that we can be safe here even after you all graduate.”

“What freedom will you have to give up?” Adion asked.

“Nothing important, really,” His grandfather responded, “Our family would just become a Noble family of Cyalis instead of the Valis Kingdom, and we would have to adhere to the Council instead of the Royal family. That means we can’t go against the Council’s interests, such as getting involved in any conflict on the continent without their approval.”

“Wouldn’t that mean we can’t seek revenge?” Adion asked.

“It would,” His grandfather nodded, “Unless the Academy announces Heavenly Light as an enemy, but I don’t see that as likely if they don’t do something to mess with Cyalis. But it would also mean that they can’t do anything to any of you without suffering the consequences.”

I don’t like that. But it would mean that my family would be safe from them. I could always find a way to handle them on my own eventually.

“Let’s discuss it another day,” His grandfather sighed, “I don’t think any of us are in a place where we should make important decisions at the moment. I have a lot to melt.”

“Mm,” Ailera nodded, “Let’s just enjoy that we’re all together again. Let’s go to bed and go to the Academy together when we wake up.”

“I will need to bring word to Temev first,” Aiden sighed, “He’s probably going to be angry that I just disappeared from my duties.”

“Who’s that?” Adion asked.

“It’s the Head of my House, Eternal Fire. I was supposed to look for promising students and get them to join us,” Aiden said.

“Oh? Well, I might join your House then,” Adion said, “I’m going to be rank 1, so he should be happy with that.”

“That’s true,” Aiden said with a smile, “You want to join Eternal Fire, then?”

“Well…maybe I’ll look into the other Houses first just to be safe,” Adion said.

“Haaah, we’d be able to earn so many credits if you join,” Aiden sighed, “But I guess it doesn’t seem so important compared to everything else that has just happened.”

“Right, how exactly do credits work? I got some during my admission,” Adion said.

“Tomorrow, please,” Ailera said with a yawn, “Or later today, I guess. We should sleep.”

“Right,” Aidon nodded. He was also feeling tired, and even if he didn’t absolutely need to sleep, he was used to always beginning the day with a well-rested Will.

“Shouldn’t we take the pills first?” Aiden asked as he looked at the pill in his hand.

“About that,” Adion said, “It might be good if you got some aura training first. You can’t reveal this ability, after all. If someone notices anything, which I’m sure someone will, you would need to able to lie about it.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Aiden said.

“I consider myself a good enough liar to start right away,” His grandfather said with a grin. “But I will advance first. The Fire Phoenix Wisdom Pill will be my reward.”

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “I hope to see you as a Soul mage the next time we meet.”

“I will make sure of it,” His grandfather nodded.

“Does this mean I have to start focusing on my aura?” Ailera asked.

“You haven’t trained your aura at all?” Adion asked.

“It didn’t seem very important,” Ailera said.

“You wouldn’t be able to reach the Soul stages without very good aura control,” Adion said, “So it’s absolutely crucial that you begin focusing on it.”

“Right,” Ailera said, “I guess that does seem possible now.”

“How good would we have to be before we can take them, do you think?” Aiden asked.

“Realistically,” Adion said, “You should probably wait until after graduation. It will give you some time to train, and it will also allow you to increase your power without the scrutiny of the professors. But it’s up to you.”

“I’ll train my aura vigorously from now on,” Ailera said seriously, “And…you and Grandpa can test me before I take the pill.”

“Okay,” Adion said with a small smile.

“Alright, alright,” His grandfather ushered them from his study, “Nothing else is going to get decided until we all have time to think. Go to bed and have fun at the Academy. I will try my best to advance in the meantime.”

“Are you excited to become a Soul mage, Grandpa?” Ailera asked with a smile.

“I thought I was beyond the halfway point of my life, but it seems I’ll get to stick around a while longer. I’m excited to see what you all will amount to.” His grandfather said, a warm smile on his lips.

“Don’t worry,” Adion said, stepping out into the hallway with his siblings, “The Remori clan has a bright future ahead.”