“Master Egas, I am pleased to see you return.”

I rolled my eyes at the man when he wasn’t looking as he opened the gate to the enclosed community I was living within.

“Bernard, I’d prefer you just called me by my name.” I sighed as I slipped through the gates, which closed behind me a second later.

“Well, most residents seem to enjoy the treatment.” The man winked at me before straightening back out. “By the way, your guest has arrived.”

“My what?” I paused, only a few steps past the man, before I turned to look back at him. “What guest?”

“Your guest. She told me that you were expecting her.”

My gut sank as queasiness set in.

Damnit. I thought I’d get a least a few hours to myself. Also, what is she doing here? I thought she wanted me to meet her at her place.

“Thanks for the heads up.” I faked a smile as I nodded to Bernard, flipping him a dansh coin.

“My pleasure Master Egas.”

Even the thrown-in ‘master’ couldn’t extract a reaction from me as I hurried by. My home was situated at the end of the road, and while not overtly large, it was pristine marble with grand-looking columns flanking the entrance.

Of course, the marble was imitation marble, the entire gated community was made to mimic the appearance of true wealth, but I had specifically chosen it for its privacy.

A fat lot of good that’s doing me.

I grimaced as I reached home, pulling out my key and unlocking the door, briskly walking inside.

“Hello?” I called out, the lights of my home dark.

Not only were the lights off, but the door was still locked.

If Maeya was here, then why was she sitting in the dark?

And more importantly-

“Why was the door locked?” I whispered as several thoughts clicked in place all at once.

Lights off. The door’s locked, and Maeya was supposed to expect me, not the other way around.

I felt the swell of mana a split second before I saw it, the burst of fire dispersing harmlessly against me, washed away by an anti-mana mana zone.

“-ull.” I finished uttering the word magic, thankful that it was the intent of using Null rather than the fully vocalized word that mattered most; otherwise, the null field wouldn’t have appeared in time. My eyes darted around the darkness, looking for the source of the magical attack, but I could see nothing in the dark.

I was under attack.

The darkness lifted a heartbeat later as mana invigorated my body, my senses turning up a degree. The oppressive darkness was now no worse than an early morning overcast, but still, I could see no signs of my attacker.

Right, looks like they’re competent.

They were hiding themselves physically, some sort of camouflaging magic.

Another burst of fire suddenly appeared only an arm’s length away from my head, but I swatted it aside with my hand, the null field still active.

Damnit.

I was beginning to field annoyed, as most would if they found themselves under assault in their own home. While null was protecting me for now, I wanted to avoid expending it entirely before I knew what I was dealing with. Making the active decision to dismiss null, I stuck my hand out, whispering again.

“Rainsplitter.”

Instantly a plain-looking sword appeared within my grasp. Born from my intent, the word magic had taken the necessary to ensure I would never be without a weapon. The benefits of the conjured sword didn’t end with simply creating a blade; the weapon shared a lesser version of null’s anti-mana effects.

Quite helpful in defending against magical attacks like, say, mysteriously appearing fireballs.

“Now, where are you?” I muttered under my breath as my sight began to enhance further, past the purely physical attributes of the world and into the metaphysical world of mana. Whoever my unknown attacker was, while their stealth magic could hide them physically, it would leave clear traces within the aura surrounding us.

No more hidin- what?

After years of training with a sword and time spent adventuring or fighting within the rings of the circuit courts, my body had been honed, reacting even when my mind was elsewhere.

Which was thankful as my blade swept upward and slapped away a fireball as it materialized before my very eyes, catching me entirely by surprise.

Why?

It had appeared without warning, completely subverting my ability to sense mana.

Magic was being used, obviously. There should have been some sign of mana.

Except there was none.

This doesn’t make sense.

Another fireball rushed forward at me, and again my sword dispersed it before it could ever reach me, the mana fizzling out.

Something’s off.

It took another few fireballs whizzing toward me, only to be dispersed moments later, that I began to figure it out. While the fireballs didn’t seem to have a distinct mana signature, when they were disrupted for a split second, it was as if I could feel a slight disturbance of mana.

My mana specifically.

Which itself was strange, given that first, I wasn’t externally using magic aside from Rainsplitter, and second, and perhaps more importantly, I didn’t even have enough mana to so casually conjure fireballs in the first place.

Meaning…

Meaning that the ‘fireballs’ I was cutting apart weren’t fireballs.

They were illusions.

My jaw dropped, my sword disappearing as another fireball rushed toward my face, only to harmlessly pass through my head like a phantasmal flame.

Phantasmal flames… It can’t be.

I felt my heart quicken.

Can it?

Only one person I knew used illusions in such a way as this.

“M-mom?” My voice warbled, trying to convince myself it wasn’t possible.

No. I can’t be. It can’t.

“I guess the jig is up.” A voice from nearby announced with a sigh.

I rubbed my eyes, staring at the spot from where the voice had spoken, but I could neither sense nor see anything there.

“Oh, sorry about that, honey.”

A second later, the veil over my eyes lifted, and standing there was a woman who I couldn’t mistake, who had raised me all by herself. Adorning her brow were thin creases, and marking her formally dark mane were now strands of silvery hair, signs of the years that had passed since I’d last seen her, but there was still no mistaking her.

“Mom.” My voice broke, and before I knew it, I was lunging forward, embracing my mother in a tight hug.

Eight years.

It had been eight years since I last saw her. I’d been nothing but a kid.

And now, embracing my mother, I was that kid once more.

“I-I thought you were disappointed in me.” I choked out, my eyes moist. “I thought that maybe I had failed you somehow..”

“Oh, Rook.” She returned my hug gently, her head now only reaching my collarbone; no longer could we speak eye to eye as when I’d still been a teenager. “Never. I had to leave to protect you.”

I pulled myself away from her, taking in the sight of my mother.

“You’ve grown Rook.” She smiled at me, and I could see her holding back her own tears.

“Eight years does that,” I answered, perhaps a little more bitterly than intended.

“Oh, honey.” She winced. “I’m sorry.”

“Where did you go?” I questioned, but she shook her head.

“That’s an entire story.” She waved toward my small kitchen table, lights flickering on as I was presented to an entire home-cooked meal. “We can talk over dinner.”

I smiled, a weight I’d been holding onto for years finally freed from me as I nodded. “That sounds good.. mom.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You’re kidding.” I choked out in between shoveling spoonfuls of mashed up potatoes into my mouth. “You went home?”

“Mhm.” My mother laid her hands out gently on the table. “It was… interesting to see my father again.”

“Your father… grandfather.” I tested the word out, rarely ever speaking of my, our, family. “I just don’t understand. No matter what, I couldn’t figure out where you were?”

“That’s the point.” She sighed. “You’ve been looking in the wrong place.”

“What?” I questioned, scooping in another spoon of food.

“It was my fault, really. Did I never tell you where the Baster’s come from?”

“No.” I answered.

“Well, it isn’t Haerasong.”

“Wait, what?” I raised an eyebrow at her as I took a swig of flavored water.

“Our family are all from Varana. In fact, that’s where they-” She frowned for a moment before correcting herself. “-we, still live.”

“Well, that explains a lot,” I muttered. “Still, someone should have been able to tell me that.”

“Blame our reputation.”

“Our reputation.” I nodded. “Our bad reputation.”

“Mhmm.” She nodded. “The only place we are welcome is Varana, but that’s because it’s because of the Basters that the current ruling clan is in power within Varana. Go anywhere else, and even mentioning the Baster family name could get you executed.”

“That bad?” While I knew our reputation wasn’t exactly stellar, I had never known it to be that bad.

“The Baster family, we’re sometimes known as the ‘Revolution forgers.’”

“Well, that’s a dramatic title.” I pointed my spoon at her before heaping another serving upon my plate. “So, I take it that it has something to do with our Kin magic?”

“Consider this, your great-grandfather was responsible for the last civil war within Haerasong. You can probably understand then why we aren’t exactly viewed with fondness.” My mother sighed.

“Wait.” I stuck out a finger, pausing her before we could change subjects. “Wasn’t the last civil war over three hundred years ago?”

“Mhmm. You should know significantly powerful mages have long lifespans.”

You know, I have heard that before in hindsight. I recalled the young Eorial girl mentioning such a thing years ago, ironically over a meal like this.

“Alright, so you went home.” I nodded. “Why?”

“I needed to be stronger, for your sake.” My mother smiled sadly. “Ever since-”

“Since the Sage Hunter,” I interrupted.

“Yes.” My mother’s mouth turned down into a tightly pursed frown. “Perhaps I had grown arrogant from my success as a youth. I was unofficially a gold-rank adventurer, after all. Perhaps that doesn’t count for much, given what I’ve heard of your exploits as an adventurer.”

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“That’s behind me.” I waved the comment off. “But Uhm, what exactly do you know of it?”

“Oh, just that you were part of the only group of gold adventurers to clear a Legendary ranked quest.”

I stifled an involuntary wince at the memory, turning the motion into a slight inclination of my head in acknowledgment.

“So, you went home to become stronger?” I asked, shifting the subject back to her. “In Varana?”

“Yes.” She sighed once more, a weariness in her eyes. “The family was rather… surprised, to say the least, to see me again. I ran away when I was young, after all. Hopped on a boat heading here to Haerasong. Became an adventurer, a rather easy profession to make up a new life given my magical talents, met your father, had you, and the rest is basically history.”

“So how exactly was returning to the family supposed to make you stronger?” I questioned after a moment of comfortable silence.

“The family has many resources, far more than I ever would have access to here. Not just that, but I wanted to get away. The fear of our family name finding its way back to you worried me.”

“You realize that you left me alone, with mountains of evidence that I am related to the Basters?” I raised the question, eliciting a wince and a shake of her head from my mother.

“In hindsight.. yes, perhaps it wasn’t the best plan. But, by the time I tried to check on your status back home, lo and behold, I discovered you had left it for some time already. Not just that, you went and became an adventurer all by yourself. I’m proud of you.” She said it so warmly, with so much sincerity, I felt my heart swell with my own pride.

“But that brings me to my own question.” My mother pointed a fork at me, her smile subduing. “Magic.”

“Yes?”

“You have it.”

I considered how to answer before shrugging.

“Yeah. I do.”

My mother chewed on a piece of meat for several seconds, her expression hard to read until she finally swallowed, gently placing her fork down.

“Rook, don’t take this the wrong way. I want to be excited for you, but you must understand my… apprehension. I wanted to test your abilities earlier. Originally, I thought that you had finally awakened to our Kin magic. If you had, you would have been able to dispel the illusions I showed you. But-”

Part of me was annoyed that my own mother had managed to get the jump on me, tricking my mind with illusions before I could have fully defended myself, but I pushed the annoyance aside for the moment.

“-but that magic had nothing to do with our Kin magic. So, you can see why I’m a bit… worried about the origin of your magic.”

And here it is. The subject I wanted to avoid.

What was I supposed to do? Laugh it off? Tell her not to worry about it?

There were… stories, tales of ways to get your hands on powers and magic, but none were precisely pleasant or ethical.

She’s your mom. If there is anyone you can talk to about it, it should be her.

“Alright, so the truth is… well, it’s hard to explain.” I sighed.

“What do you mean?” My mother looked at me, worry lines etched across her face.

Did she always have those wrinkles?

I was beginning to doubt my decision to tell her, but there was no turning back.

“So, do you remember what happened that day?”

My mother nodded silently.

“Well, you remember how I told you that you were saved by someone from the village, who turned out to not be from the village?”

“Wasn’t it John’s daughter? The carpenter?”

“I think so?” For whatever reason, when I tried to remember much about the girl who the Sage Above All had reincarnated through, it came up as a black void, a lapse in my memory.

“What about her?”

“It’s not the girl who is important.” I waved the thought off before taking a deep breath. “It’s this.”

I pulled the sleeve of my right arm up, presenting my forearm wrapped in a cloth wrap.

“Why do you have a cloth-” My mother’s words withered away as the cloth wrapped around my arm vanished, revealing my bare arm.

And more importantly, the three distinct rings magically tattooed upon my flesh.

“What was that?” My mother inhaled quickly, looking up and down between my arm and face.

“A magical wrap. I got it a while back. But that wasn’t the point.” I pointed at my most recent ring, gold in color from the abundance of sage mana used in its initial formation. “This is where my magic comes from.”

I saw my mother’s brow scrunch up in confusion as she stared at the sage rings.

“What are they?”

“They’re a sort of-” I floundered for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain them. “Sort of like external mana cores, I guess.”

“They are?” She leaned in closer, a probing pulse of mana from her telling me that she was examining the rings with her own mana perception.

“Oh.” Her eyes widened after a brief pause, the mana within the rings cleanly discernible without the guiding mask of the divine cloth.

Which wasn’t a lot of mana, but it was still more than I’d ever had in the past.

“I’ve never heard of something like this.” My mother leaned back, closing her eyes in contemplation.

“That’s because they aren’t from our time. The person who saved you, that mage, or rather, that sage is-”

“You’ve become one as well?” My mom peeked out from a closed eye, letting the question hang in the air.

I don’t think I’ve ever verbally communicated this to another living person.

“You could say that.” I finally confirmed.

“So, a ‘sage,’ what does that exactly entail? And how do those rings work?”

“Again, it’s sort of hard to explain.” I scratched at my chin as I thought about it. “In truth, I’m not even sure what it means to be a sage. Not exactly something you just learn in school.”

“How did you even learn this in the first place?” My mom pondered aloud. “Was it that sage? Did she wait until I left to swoop in?”

“No.” I shook my head. “In fact, I haven’t seen her since that day. Someone else took me under their wing for a while.”

“And who was that?”

I smiled briefly as I recalled the memory of the shaggy-haired magical beast.

“Do you remember a Black Mane that had been showing up around the forest for a few weeks before the sage appeared?”

“Yes. Annoying pest. Every time it got too close, I had to chase it off with illusions of Dread Bears. Why?”

“Well, turns out it wasn’t just a Black Mane.” I tapped my finger on the table once. “It was a subsect of that family of magical beast, like, a more powerful version or something, a Void Mane.”

“What!?” My mother sputtered, eyes going wide. “That was a Void Mane?”

“You know of them?”

“Know of them?” My mother laughed. “Not just that, I was almost killed by a Void Mane once when I was still an adventurer. My party got a little too cocky. We had been tasked with dealing with a Black Mane. Turns out that it wasn’t a Black Mane after all. After leaving us bloodied and battered and too beaten to defend ourselves, it got up and left like it couldn’t be bothered to finish us off.”

“Well, that makes it easier to explain then.”

“So, you’re telling me a void mane had been loitering the area. So what happened? Did a high-ranking adventurer that came to deal with it take you on as an apprentice?”

“Not, not exactly.” I sighed. “It wasn’t an adventurer that took me on. Also, it wasn’t just a void mane.”

“Just!? What do you mean ‘just’?”

“It was an elevation stage void mane.”

My mother’s face paled to the point that I was afraid for a moment that she was about to pass out.

“A-anyway!” I spoke up, trying to distract her. “It was the void mane that took me in. Told me I could learn magic. One thing led to another and-”

“Oh, don’t you dare think you can get off with passing it all off as ‘one thing led to another.” My mother’s vitality had returned, her fingers drumming along the table in agitation. “I want the story.”

“But that’s a long-”

“All of it.” My mother cut me off; the expression on her face made it clear this wasn’t up for debate.

“Fine, if you insist.” I shook my head with a muffled laugh. “Well, there was this flying book….”

-----------------------------------------------

“And then I was told that my options were to quit being an adventurer and never return to Dunehold, or it would be those close to me who would pay.”

“Well.” My mom had gone completely still during the story, transfixed as I went over the last few years of events. “That was quite the story. So you ended up coming to Songhold. Why?”

“I was looking for a lead into finding you,” I answered.

My mother recoiled for a moment as if the words stung before looking down. “I’m sorry Rook.”

“It’s fine.” I waved it off. “It worked, I guess. I mean, we’re here talking, aren’t we?”

“How exactly did you try to locate me?” My mother questioned as I took a sip of flavored water.

“Oh, I, uh, had an ‘agreement’ with the daughter of one of the dons.”

“You did?”

There was something about the look on my mother’s face that seemed suspicious, but I ignored it for the time being.

“Yeah. After I came here, I had no connections and basically no money. All my prior funds were tied to my adventurer’s account. So, I started a new identity.”

“Wolf Egas. Where exactly did that name come from?”

I smiled sheepishly. “Well, it’s simple. I flipped my sage name around.”

“You flipped your…?” My mother raised an eyebrow at me before shaking her head. “Flow, Wolf. Sage, Egas. Rook, I thought I raised you better than to be that lacking in taste.”

“I thought it was clever,” I grumbled before noticing the expression on my mother’s face.

“Is something wrong?” I asked after a second.

“You mentioned working with a don family to find me, right?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Isn’t that how you found where I lived?”

My mother, much to my confusion, shook her head.

“No, I’m here in Songhold for unrelated reasons, but a certain information broker led me to believe there was a person worth checking out here. Being your mother, I had suspicions about this ‘Wolf Egas’ fellow, who turned out to be none other than my uncreative son.”

“Oh, so it wasn’t Maeya’s doing.” I frowned lightly before my mother tapped the back of my hand.

“Yeah?” I questioned, my mother clearly wanting my attention.

“Rook, I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll be as direct as possible. You were, are, being used.”

“What?” I stared past my mother, trying to put the words together.

Being used? What does she mean by being used?

“Rook, you remember how I told you our family isn’t from around here, right?”

“Yeah, Varana. Why?”

“While that information isn’t freely available, any highly connected person, such as the daughter of a don, could have told you that.

“Then why didn’t Maeya tell me?” I felt my eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“Oh, Rook.” My mom looked at me with sympathy, like I were a kid who had just been duped.

Because I had.

My eyes that had been pitched together in confusion suddenly widened as I understood what my mother was getting at.

“I’ve been used.”

“That’s what I told you, yes.” My mother nodded sadly.

“Why?” I felt lost.

Maeya had made it clear she wasn’t much for the family business, that she had-

Oh.

Things that had seemed entirely innocent before, or at worst unconnected, began to weave themselves a web of deceit that I’d fallen into.

One. Maeya had been the one to suggest I use my skills in the ring and fight in the circuit courts for easy money.

Which, coincidently, was primarily run by the dons, or put more explicitly, her father.

Two. Maeya had never actually told me that she wasn’t an active member of her family, just that she wasn’t fond of it.

Three. Based on what my mother had just told me, by all rights, she could have told me the information about my family long ago

And four. Perhaps the worst of all. Maeya had used that leverage over me to coerce me, subtly enough that I never felt as if she were outright threatening me, but it was enough to drag me into being… close with her.

I’d been had. A golden cash cow that doubled as a damn toy for Maeya.

I’d trusted her.

I trusted her, and she had used me emotionally, physically, and financially.

My gut wrenched itself into a knotted bow. The queasy feeling that had accompanied me every time Maeya had ‘convinced’ me to spend nights with her suddenly resurfaced in a combined front of nauseous emotions.

“Damnit.” I squeezed my eyes tightly shut to prevent the sudden swell of hot, bitter tears from leaking out.

She’d used and violated me the entire time, and I had let it happen. All because I thought she was genuinely trying to help me.

That she was on my side.

It wasn’t my first time being betrayed. I’d once been pushed to what should have been my death, but at least then, it had never really felt personal.

“Oh, Rook.” My mother embraced me, pulling me in tightly as I felt the tumultuous roll of emotions within me crash in violent storms of internalized chaos.

I was disgusted.

With Maeya, of course, but even more than her, I was disgusted with myself.

“It’s okay.” My mother soothed me, and suddenly I was a child again, seeking comfort in my mother’s presence after a nightmare. “It’s going to be okay.”

I stayed like that for minutes, my mother soothing me as I choked back angry tears.

Damnit.

Finally pulling myself together, I gently separated myself from my mother, wiping at the corner of my eyes.

“Sorry,” I muttered, annoyed with myself for breaking down over something like this.

“Don’t.” My mother shook her head. “Don’t apologize for feeling. Obviously, something hurt you.”

I could only nod.

“So, don’t apologize. It is not a weakness to hurt or feel emotions; it does not make you any lesser. I told you this as a child, and I’ll tell it to you again. Don’t ignore what you feel, don’t repress them. It does not make you any more of a man, of a person. In fact, when you ignore them, it takes away from who you are, eats you up until you’re just a shell of anguish and aggression.”

I nodded again as my mom patted me gently on the shoulder.

“You’ve been through a lot, suffered. I shouldn’t have left you behind like I did, but I thought I was making the right decision at the time. You’ve become strong, though; I reckon there aren’t many who have seen the things you have, and you’re only twenty-two.”

“Twenty-three.” I corrected with a weak smile.

“Twenty-three.” My mother shook her head, blowing a strand of hair out of her face as she did. “Making my feel my age.”

“Thanks, mom.” I smiled at the ground as I sniffed once.

“So, what do you plan to do next?” My mother asked, the question innocent enough.

What am I going to do next?

Everything I’d done up to this point had been with the intention of one day seeing my mother again.

And now, at least, I had.

“Could I stay with you?” I asked my mom, raising my head hopefully.

My mother, in response, winced.

“What?” I questioned.

“About that.” My mother looked about, anywhere but at me, until finally sighing. “Truth be told, I’m only back in Haerasong for a brief visit.”

“You are? Why?”

“I only came back on behalf of the family.”

“On behalf of the family?”

“Well, yes.” My mother nodded. “Since I returned to the family, I couldn’t avoid being involved. I’m relaying a message, then I’m returning to Varana.”

“Can’t I go back with you?”

“I wouldn’t suggest it.” My mother sighed heavily.

“Why? It’s been eight years, and you’re already trying to get rid of me again?”

I knew I shouldn’t have said the words the moment I spoke to them, but to my mother’s credit, she didn’t seem to react past flinching briefly.

“Sorry.” I looked away, averting my eyes as my cheeks heated up in shame over the uncouth remark. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s fine.” My mother responded. “I can’t erase years of abandonment with a single visit. You’re justified in having feelings like that. But, as to why I wouldn’t suggest it, it’s because the family would rope you in.”

“Rope me in?”

“Our family specializes in illusion magic. We aren’t exactly made for direct muscle.”

“I’ve seen you use it to fight before.” I countered.

“And you also saw what happens when someone who can ignore it appears.” My mother countered my counterpoint with one of her own. “You would prove an avenue to the family that has never existed. Until you can stand up to the family yourself-”

“You want to keep me away from them so they can’t use me like they can’t use you?”

“Hah.” My mother laughed bitterly. “You overestimate your dear mother. The family has sunk their talons into me.”

“Oh.” I frowned at the implication. “I take it that’s why you’re here running messages for the family?”

My mother didn’t respond. The only sound coming from her was a slow, heavy sigh.

I couldn’t stay with my mother, nor could I embark to see the home of a family I’d never met.

So what am I supposed to do?

At the very least, I knew I wanted to leave Songhold behind. Now that I understood I had been… used, the place had nothing for me.

Well, there is one thing I still need to address.

“I have some unfinished business here I need to take care of,” I said aloud, nodding as if confirming with myself. “Then I intend to leave.”

“Where to?” My mother questioned.

“I-” I frowned as I thought about it. “I’m not sure. I can’t return to Dunehold, but nothing says I can’t move somewhere within the central region.”

“You don’t want to move back north?”

“No.” I smiled. “Too cold.”

“Well, then, I may have a suggestion.”

“You do?” I wasn’t sure what my mother could offer, given she no longer lived within Haerasong.

“My contact informed me that a new city is being established near the border of the southern and central regions.”

“Yeah, Akadia. I’ve heard of it once or twice. What about it?”

“Apparently, they are establishing a school of goodwill, Parisian Academy.”

“I don’t know about you, but I think I’m a little past school age.” I laughed.

“No, I don’t suggest going to attend.” My mother rolled her eyes at me. “Why don’t you see about teaching?”

“Teaching?” I stared at her in disbelief. “I don’t have teaching experience. That aside, what could I possibly teach? I’m no more qualified than anyone else who has gone to school, especially genuine scholars who would be salivating at the chance to get a position as an educator in some fancy academy where they would have all the funding in the world.”

“Yes, but based on what you told me, I bet you could get a position within the magicks department. Even from our short time together, it’s obvious your understanding of magic is likely greater than any of those library-locked academics.”

I frowned once more as I thought it over.

Teaching. Really?

I couldn’t be a teacher.

Could I?

“Wait,” I frowned as something occurred to me. “Why would they even be teaching magic in an academy? Magic isn’t prohibited for direct education.”

“From what my contact mentioned, that’s part of why the academy is being established in the first place. It’s a placating gesture for several factions within the noble circles, and part of that involves magical education.”

“You’re a lot more connected than I expected.” I looked at my mom with curiosity, surprised that she would retain so much information from a passing conversation.

“It’s a topic of interest I’ve heard mentioned by your grandfather as well. After all, this academy will be attended by quite a few important noble’s children.”

“Hmm,” I mumbled, letting the thoughts simmer.

Be a teacher.

It was something I had never considered before.

But.

But it was also something new, entirely unlike anything else I’d done so far.

“Alright.” I thumped my fist against the palm of my open hand. “I’ll head to Akadia and see if I can’t land myself a job as a professor.”

My mother smiled, but I wasn’t done yet.

“But first.” I clenched my fist, steadying the swirl of emotions within me. “I have some unfinished business.”