23.2
“Are you listening!?”
“Huh?”
John’s eyes popped in their sockets, clamy sweat covered his bronze skin, his eyes darted his surroundings but all he could see was a large man towered above him.
Instinctually, John raised his arms to shield himself from the man looming figure, his back hunched backwards doing his best to not recoil from the question itself.
“I will repeat myself for the last time, child. Listen, or I’ll make you.”
His father’s command was enough snap young John’s posture straight.
“For the sake of diplomacy and assurance of my career, the Perxin family has agreed to take you in as a diplomatic gesture,” his father spoke as a matter of fact, opening his arms.
“T-the Perxins?” young John stuttered by the dinner table. “W-who are they?”
H-he is…throwing me out!?
His back tingled, body shuddered as a heavy weight descended upon his shoulders
Had they figured out that I feign m-my magic ineptitude? I-if so…
A pair of hands landed upon his shoulders, halting John’s internal turmoil.
“You are my eldest child, John. If this responsibility doesn’t belong to you, then who shall carry it?”
“I-I… No… I don’t want to…” his boyish expression turned. “A-ask my sister instead of m-me… You and m-mother a-are…proud of her… That is why, she is the one to—”
PANG!!!
A flash of white appeared before John. His body collapsed to the ground as his gaze turned towards his father who loomed over him with a scorn that only he ever had the ‘privilege’ to witness.
In his mind, a cage made of immolating flames surrounded him, melting away his tender flesh as he watched with paralyzed fear, not knowing how to respond.
Not his mother, not his sister, not even to the house servants that constantly made mistakes ever received this level of punishment from his father.
As far as John knew, he was the only person to ever learn of his father’s true scorn. The swollen flesh on his tender cheeks felt like a graze of hot wind compared to the gaping hole that emerged in his heart.
He deserved it.
He was the one who sullied his family name.
He was the child who was expelled from Eastern Continent’s National Academy.
“HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT, YOU INSOLENT CHILD!!!” the man’s voice caused him to cower as the sensation of a long needle passed though his eardrums.
His breath shallowed, the rapid thumps from his ribs rattled his body, compelling him to move his arms, throw his legs before the man before him to protect himself.
Instead, John froze.
Whether it was by his instinct or his strong desire to obey his father, John took control over his animalistic desires to flee and retaliate. For the horror of the belt lashes from few days before still haunted him.
“THIS IS WHY YOUR SISTER WILL ALWAYS, ALWAYS BE LEAGUES BETTER THAN YOU!!!” the hand from his father halted mid-air as his angry eyes met John’s.
By doing nothing before his father, the punishment on him would be lessened.
“I fed you, I clothed you, and you choose to speak back against me!?”
His father took a step back, shook his head with furrowed brows. Whatever anger that he had in him had now melted into a pot of visible state of disappointment, one that John was well acquainted with.
“John, please understand…” the large man’s voice shifted, lowering his body as he looked firmly in John’s eye. “How can your sister take up this duty? Are you not my eldest child? Do you seriously wish for your own father’s failure? Are you that cruel towards your own father, and your younger sister? Does family mean nothing to you?”
The soft, vulnerable voice from his father were like spoonful of salt dropped onto an infected wound in John’s heart, churning the fear that was lodged in his heart into a sticky pile of putrid shame.
His eyes watered, the words from his father made sense. It was his duty as the eldest to be offered as a deal of diplomacy.
Even so, the cage of thorns surrounding his heart did not abate.
The void in him grew.
“I-I…” his young boy’s voice cracked as a silent utter. “D-don’t…want to…”
Crack.
From the corner of his eye, the whites of his father’s knuckles emerged, veins appeared on his forearms as a heavy gloom draped itself over the large man.
As soon as he spoke, his father moved towards him. His little arms shielded his face as his father became a blur to him.
!?
Instead of receiving the usual punishment from Dai’Ne, a pair of humongous arms wrapped themselves around John.
“You know I expect these things from you because I love you, John. Sending you to the Perxin family is the only way for me to gain others’ respect, I don’t want to do this as much as you do.”
Due to the man’s sheer size and weight, John could not resist the unwanted embrace from his father.
The hug contained neither warmth nor love.
It was just something his father often did to appease young John to do his bidding.
He could only helplessly go along with his parent’s whim like an obedient child. As it ever so happened in his household, beatings continued for as long he disobeyed them. Like everything his parents asked him to do for them, he never had a choice, everything was predetermined.
If he ever acted upon his own, his insubordination would be punished one way or the other.
John never understood why or how they could tell him they loved him while hurting him so deeply.
From withholding food from him until he had perfected his speech performances to forcing him to sing in front of guests regardless of his sickly state, he did everything as they told him to, yet...yet…
All that he has done for them, from conform to their demands and fulfilling everything they asked, he always fell short of their expectations.
It was then, did a singular question appeared in his mind.
If they love me, why am I punished?
John had no answer to that.
Why was sister left unpunished when she disobeyed their parents?
Why was young John always deemed a shame to the family when he was the first amongst the Sarvods to ever given the chance to enroll in Eastern Federation’s national academy?
Why did his mother and sister felt nothing that he was leaving home?
All that John received from his blood family were empty stares that conveyed zero hints of concern for him.
His father, his mother, his sister…
Sending him away from home was akin to a death sentence to young John.
Yet, here they are. Batting not a single eye at his fate of being held hostage in the homes of people whom he know nothing of.
All the things he did, all the glory he fetched for his home, only to be told that he was never worthy of being a Sarvod.
P-perhaps this place was no home after all.
And that he was all but Sarvod in name…
The departure from the Sarvod household barely registered in his mind.
With all preparations done, young John bid his family goodbye before quickly leaving for the Perxins.
Each word he spoke to his family was forgotten as quickly as it left his mouth.
Let alone bringing his favorite reading materials, John was overly occupied by the sole fact that he was no longer welcomed to the Sarvod’s household.
As the carriage brought him away from home, he could not help but wonder whether this was a form of punishment by his mother, Fenley. For his expulsion at the National Academy.
His mother already spoke little to him in comparison to his sister. Ever since young John was expelled from the National Academy, he noticed that she actively avoided him.
Like a plant who was uprooted from the soil that he had been firmly grasping onto, a bitter taste filled his mouth when he realized the efforts he spent trying to please his family was futile.
For the longest time, John only knew the concept of devoting his entire self to his family.
He believed that with enough effort and perseverance, he would one day, be finally accepted by his family. That maybe, one day, he would even tell them of his innate talent of using magic.
It did not matter if his father brought whips to punish him, or that his mother destroyed the things he rightfully earned and held dear, or even when his sister ridiculed him and physically assaulted him. In his mind, he had always held dear to the notion that the people related to him by blood would one day, come to their senses.
Young John, for all intents and purposes, truly cared about them.
As the carriage passed the southern cove of the Eastern Continent a veil of doubt came upon his vision, telling him of a reality that everything around him was not as it seemed, that perhaps, in the smallest of chances, his family never liked him whatever he did for them.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
That’s…impossible. They always said they love me…
He wrestled against the grim thought, fighting tooth and nail against and invisible enemy that lurked within him.
As much as he tried to suppress the heretical idea, deep inside his bones, something told him that this truth was one of the many reasons he never told any of them about his innate talent for magic.
The dark aura that he was born with.
The carriage came to a halt before the grand mansion of the Perxin Family.
“I’ll arrange for the luggage to be brought in, Sir,” said the driver, only to be ignored by John who sluggishly climbed out of the carriage and into the blinding and scorching sun that was known in the south of the Eastern Continent.
The scent of mild sulphur tickled his nostrils, causing his squinted eyes to further narrow as he glanced towards the distant horizon, making out the vast ocean in the distance
I am only four hours from my house, it’s actually not that far off from home.
The Perxins while notorious for being one of the groups to have held a tight grip around the politics of the Eastern Federation.
They were, in fact, one of the most disliked faction among his father’s social circle.
Though John was largely unsure of what went on behind the scenes—aside from the subtle dissatisfaction voiced by his father about the Perxins—he knew for certain that the Perxins’ lineage played a major factor.
Eastern Continent’s federal government prioritized a meritocratic system.
Whereby, it is understood that whoever contributed to society at large, gave was indicative of their social standing. Whoever benefited the Continent as a whole be it economically, scientifically, or politically was given a certain prestige.
Under ideal circumstances, this system incentivized anyone who was willing to make the world around them better.
The Eastern Continent itself, however, was a merger from differing nations and cultures that were native to the continent.
While hundreds of independent nations within the continent still existed to this day, the Eastern Continent was divided into 5 ‘states’ which followed their own set of rules for governing.
Ba De, Chang Zen, Hai Xiang, Jhemo, and Shi Jou.
Shi Jou, the land where John Sarvod was born and raised, was founded on by colonial humans from historic times. It was the 2nd most prosperous state behind Chang Zen. Given their culture, the native humans of Shi Jou held a certain prejudice towards anyone who was of a different race from their founders.
To humans of Shi Jou, especially to families like the Sarvods, any non-human was deemed to be of a lesser and inferior quality of life.
That was why, young John surmised his mother had coerced his father to send him to the Perxins’ as a form of punishment.
Especially when it was a known fact that the Perxins are the only—
Clack.
The door to the mansion opened.
Out came the couple who agreed to take him in.
“I believe you must be, John Sarvod?” the man with short black eyesbrows smiled at John, “We are honored to have you with us. I am Edgar La’tu, and my wife, Dalene.”
“La’tu? Not Perxin? I thought—”
“My husband is human, silly. Perxins are folks like me.”
The moment the woman stepped out of the mansion, John was greeted by bright glow tangerine hair.
Atop her head, two ears akin to a cat’s showed itself to John, wrapped around her waist was a thick rope—a tail with black stripes on the same tangerine that was the same as her hair.
“Us Perxins, in particular, are a type of beastkin derived from tigers,” the woman continued her explanation as sharp tangerine eyes met his.
John’s left leg inched backwards as the word, tiger, registered in his mind. He knew Perxins mostly consisted of beastkins, but he was not aware that they were tigers.
The same type of animal that has the strength to claw a full adult human into shreds at a moment’s notice.
Father has sent me here to die…
At John’s reaction, Edgar quickly spoke up, garnering John’s attention as his emerald green eyes focused on him, “John, John… There’s nothing to fear, alright. Trust me, beastkins are not wild beasts, they are people, like you and I.”
“Y-yeah… I… know,” he stuttered as he snapped back from his fears. “The s-servants my u-uncles had are also beastkin....”
“Ah, I see, that makes it easier, we were hoping you would get along,” Edgar shared a look with Dalene, giving his wife a knowing nod.
Pomfp…
“Who else is…” John’s voice trailed off when another a pair of miniature feline ears popped from behind Dalene.
Unlike the lady’s long and pronounced cat ears, these ears were shorter in length and smaller in shape.
“Come, Serene. He’s finally here.”
“No…” a small voice protested as small hands gripped Dalene’s dress from behind.
John craned his neck to get a better look, but as quickly as he inched closer, the little pair of cat ears slunk back to Dalane’s back.
Edgar scratched his head, before turning to John with his round emerald eyes, “She was full of energy when we told her you were coming, I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”
“It’s okay, Uncle Edgar—” John halted himself when he acknowledged the stranger as he would with his blood relatives.
He would be living under Edgar’s roof for as long as his father dictated, but if word of John identifying an outsider as he would his relatives came to be known to his mother, the consequences would be dire.
Especially more so when it was addressing the Perxins.
Just as his toes curled inwards, a large hand found itself on John’s shoulders.
“Call us however you wish, John. As long you are under our care, you are family,” Edgar said with a big smile, dispelling the dark thoughts in young John’s mind.
“A-are you sure?”
“It will be our secret,” Edgar winked at John.
Without another word between him and the three Perxins, John was escorted into the mansion, introduced to each of the facilities that were located throughout, including the massive garden that was at least the size of two sports fields.
To make things even more baffling, Dalane had even claimed that on her side of the family, her home was the least impressive of them all.
Comparing the Perxins’ household to the Sarvod’s, his home was only a fraction in size and grandness. The Sarvods did fairly well for themselves, and was in fact considered as a family of high ranking in Shi Jou. But the Perxins were on a completely different level.
Perhaps, it was his father’s decision to have him here so the Sarvods would somehow benefit from the riches that the Perxins had to offer?
Young John had no care for wealth or luxuries. As long he could live with his basic needs met, anything else was excessive to him. Entertaining such thoughts were ridiculous to him as the concept of his family truly cared for him.
When the tour to the massive mansion was over, young John was allotted to one of the guests rooms on the second floor with ample space, much larger than he could an ever need.
“This is…too big for me…” John uttered at the room as large as a common house’s living room. “Is there a…”
“I am afraid anything smaller would be in the servant’s quarters,” Edgar replied with a goofy grin.
“I…” John halted himself before he said anymore. “This will do, thank you.”
“Good. Serene would pitch a fit if we arranged it anywhere else,” Dalane spoke as a matter of fact, looking at the small tigerkin that clung beside her.
John looked over to the girl who was peeking from behind Aunt Dalene, her tail up high behind her, showing off the beautiful black stripes that were adorned with tangerine fur as her mother’s.
“Hey, Serene, would you mind telling me—”
As soon as she caught him staring and addressing her, Serene quickly slunk back to her mother, shielding herself from John’s gaze.
What’s with her?
When turned towards Edgar, the man simply shook his head, “You’ll have to forgive her, like most felines, my Serene is cautious. But she means no harm, in fact, she is happy to invite you to your abode.”
“I don’t know… I hope so…”
Edgar moved close to John and whispered softly, “Her tail is standing up, it means she is happy to see you. Serene is just shier that most tigerkin.”
“Huh…”
The Perxins left John to unpack his belongings, allowing him ample time to set up his room and familiarizing himself with the mansion on his own accord.
Before young John knew, hours had passed and he was summoned to have dinner with the beastkin family.
“I believe you will be joining the State Academy soon?”
“That’s what my father told me,” John muttered, eyes gazing away from Uncle Edgar and onto the table itself.
“Your father mentioned you could have entered the National Academy instead,” Dalene chimed in. “Did coming here changed your plans? We had no intentions to stifle—”
“No, Aunt Dalane. I was in the National Academy until 2 weeks ago. I was expelled.”
“I am sorry to hear that,” Dalene lowered her head.
“…”
“If its anything, many of the great mages of the Continent are produced by our State Academy. I am sure you’ll learn in time.”
I hope not… Who knows if I’ll be punished for learning magic.
Among the more traditional household such as the Sarvods who never produced prominent magic users of any kind, to suddenly have a child born with great talent would greatly taint the family’s name.
As far as young John understood, it meant either infidelity or dark magic was at play to influence a child to be able to control their mana at such a young age.
His ability manifested in him ever since he learned how to speak.
He had kept it a secret from everyone from everyone he knew for the longest time.
For the earliest mana usage naturally developed in children was recorded only at the age of 8. Anything younger than that was deemed to be the actions of taboo.
“I hope Serene will learn however little amount of magic if she could. But if she couldn’t, I would not blame her. Like you Sarvods, we Perxins, have difficulty tapping into our mana pool.”
But I am not like the rest of the Sarvods. I wish I am… I wish I can’t use it at all. I wish I was just like them so they would not have sent me here.
“Serene will be joining you in the State Academy. I hope you take care of my only child.”
The mere mention of her name caused the girl’s tail to cover her face, but John was too occupied with his thoughts to think about the Perxins’ words too deeply.
The dinner lasted another hour, with mostly the Perxins discussing about Serene and John’s upcoming schooling in the State Academy. Majority of what the Perxin couple spoke about John only vaguely listened, giving appeasing nods whenever he was expected to.
After dinner was done, he returned to his room to sift through whatever items he brought, arranging them as neatly as he could.
Though he had already neatly placed his things earlier, John continued to organize the room as he saw fit.
The act of him keeping things in an orderly came easy to him. And while he was not the most orderly person, it had become a habit for young John whenever he wanted to calm his nerves amidst his chaotic household.
“That should settle most of it.”
Young John uttered when he tucked in the last of his clothes away. Immediately, his grabbed one of the many books he brought from home. Laying on the bed as he flipped through many of the tales that captured his heart, revisiting the moments as he pleased.
They were his favourite collection of fiction works about heroes and legends born from common backgrounds and set onto a grand quest by fate itself.
To the boy who could only bend to the wishes of his family, experiencing the freedom that his favourite heroes had brought him comfort.
Though it was impossible, he had many times hoped, that like the heroes who were once bound by their tragic origins, he would someday, find the strength to be free from the expectations of his demanding parents.
Alas, that was just a dream.
Even if John were to mature into a man, his father would have had him follow into the family business of serving as the Eastern Federation Front’s Defense Advisor.
Soon he would be thrust into even more chaos that belonged to the political world of the Federation.
“What are you reading?”
“Who!? What—!?” startled, the book that he lifted above his face came crashing down to his nose. “Ah, grk—!!!”
John jumped from the bed with his fists raised, only to see a pair of gentle emerald eyes staring at him from the hallway outside.
“Serene?”
Startled and wide-eyed at him calling her, Serene lowered her head and slid through the tiny gap between the door like the graceful feline she is, seemingly almost too keen to enter.
Clack.
Closing the door behind her, the small tigerkin got to the ground beside John’s bed, placing her two knees on the ground, her two hands moved to the carpeted floor as she lowered her body—
“No, no, no!”
John flew from the bed, catching little Serene by her shoulders before she could prostrate herself before him.
“What the hell are you doing!? I am your guest, there is no need…”
A voice spoke, one that was a clear as a small bell rang in his ears like the sweetest of melodies.
“Please teach me…magic.”
John froze.
The flustered expression he had seconds ago was whisked away from him, whatever polite façade he wore around the Perxins was stripped from him, leaving only a bitter child in its place.
A selfish child who greedily protected a horrible secret.
“I’m sorry. I…”
“Please!” Serene raised her head to meet John’s gaze. “Papa and Mama said you are talented in magic. I know it, I see it in your eyes!” her ovular eyes inched closer to him.
John only turned his head away from her, his grip on her shoulders loosened.
My worth to her is to teach her magic. Ha, I am a fool to think people don’t want to use me.
The light that in his heart dimmed as a shadow shrouded John.
“If that’s what you want from me…” John whispered. “I don’t want to.”
Even from someone that was the same age as him could not see past the meaningless achievements of his.
For once, he wished that someone could accept him as who he was, as John, without connotations to the Sarvod family.
As an individual.
What use was there in gaining pretentious favors from people who will never care for him.
If his own parents cared little about him, young John expected Serene Perxin care even less.
“What?!”
Serene jumped to her feet, eyes trembling in her sockets.
“Why? You have to! I begged you.”
John pursed his lips. The more the feisty tiger pushed him, the stranger he felt, he wanted no more than to crawl into a hole and ignore everything Serene was saying.
“I don’t know how to teach,” John admitted. Hoping that this would deter Serene see reason and dissuade her from pushing it any further.
“O-oh…” struck by a sudden realization, Serene’s expression loosened. “I s-see…”
“Yeah.”
John took a deep breath.
It was not that he could not teach Serene, rather, he himself never really used his magic that much.
He halted himself from tapping into his mana pool ever since it first came to him, rarely did it appear and allow him to use magic.
Let alone practice, he did not understand magic fully. He knew he could use it, but fears of its discovery by his own family had dissuaded young John from developing his prowess.
Sure, he had an inkling of control, but he only knew that because of the magic theory classes his parents forced him to take.
Realizing that it could not be done, Serene slumped before she sat back to the ground, despite her disappointment, her upright tail had not lowered the slightest bit.
“John.”
Even with John drowning in his own dismay, Serene’s wilful voice drew his attention. Despite her stubbornness, the way she spoke contained no hint of malice, John can’t help but to keep his ears open for her.
“CanWeStillBeFriends!?”
Like a cork ejected from a wine bottle, Serene’s sentence came in quick succession, too quick to be understood as a coherent sentence. Her tail became as straight as a flag pole, albeit one coated with short tangerine fur with black stripes.
“Ah.”
Was all John managed to voice at Serene forcing her mumbled speech at him. Like her personality, her speech was quickly excitable, the more nervous she became, the faster and stubborn her words became.
This caused her parents much difficulty to understand her at times.
If not for how well versed in speech the Dalene and Edgar were Serene would have a difficult time communicating with them.
Naturally, it made sense John wouldn’t understand what she said.
“Hmph! Nevermind!”
Serene, with her eyes squeezed shut and a red face stomped away. She could repeat herself, but she had already used up all her courage barging into John’s room, there was no bravery left for her to spare to speak to this stranger to her home.
Especially when it was a boy.
“I-I never wanted to know what you are reading anyway!”
“It’s called, Freedom’s Tithe,” his voice caught Serene’s attention, halted her dismay. “If you want, I’ll lend it to you,” closing the book, John placed in Serene’s hand. “It has illustrations and it is simple enough to understand, I have books with more pictures in them if this is too much…”
John’s gesture caught Serene by surprise, in fact, she was unsure whether if receiving the book from him or how happy he became when he spoke about his book was more baffling.
She could have sworn that John was just a quiet child who wanted nothing to do with someone like her.
“O-okay,” stuttering as he watched the boy’s spoke with excitement.
“If you don’t understand anything, tell me, I practically memorized Freedom’s Tithe. I’ll explain if you want me to. It’s a bit different from most other storybooks, but it is definitely not boring.”
Serene’s emerald eyes blinked dumbfoundedly, her mouth was left open with a wide gap, so much so that her fanged teeth could be identified by anyone—in this case, John if he weren’t so oblivious to his surroundings.
With the book held to her chest, Serene approached the door, still bewildered at what caused John’s change of heart.
“Serene!” John called before Serene could exit. “I…uhh…” his eyes darted downwards.
“?” she titled her head at his hesitance, John had his hands behind his back, fidgeting as if something held him back.
“We a-are…friends right?”
“Yes!”
Serene left with crinkled smile. John waited until he could no longer hear the light bouncy footsteps from Serene, and promptly, he locked the door.
Having made sure he was alone, he brought up his left hand, where small whisps of magic aura seeped from his palm.
“That’s weird…”
He was certain he did nothing to tap into his mana pool or even cast a spell, how magic appeared on his hands was a mystery to John.
Alas, it did not matter. For the silly smile on his face washed away the worries that lurked his mind.
For he made a friend.