Chiron thought for a moment and nodded to himself.

“I will travel to Antioch and send one of our laymen there to the monastery with the news requesting aid while investigating this case myself with Brother Uruz.” He mumbled and Aquila looked at Faust, who nodded.

Aquila then hesitantly spoke up.

“Master Chiron… you can accompany our group, we are also headed to Antioch and seek to learn more about the matter.” Aquila offered and the monk cocked his head briefly.

“Why not? We are headed in the same direction, aren’t we? You don’t happen to have a place where I could reside? As monks we are not allowed to own anything but our staff and robes.” He smiled gently.

Faust smiled happily.

‘This man can teach us a lot! Adding him to our group would be phenomenal!’ he celebrated inwardly.

“Awesome!” Aquila grinned. Chiron smiled weakly.

“I can not return much to you. I can answer some questions about Cultivation and the Order as well as our beliefs, but I will not fight for you. I will only observe or fight to prevent suffering for the common folk. I will not act before I know more.” He smiled, folded his hands, and bowed slightly.

“Thank you for the patronage.”

Faust looked at Aquila and neither of them was sure what to do.

‘This powerful man is bowing before us, thanking us for allowing him to live with us?’ Faust scratched his head but smiled.

‘I like this Order already, Chiron is so straightforward and honest. But why would he not fight with us? I guess he wants to be sure the Venerable really is a bad guy… we cannot afford to offend the monk in any way. Good relations with him will be crucial.’ Faust smiled inwardly.

Then Chiron sat upright, bringing his attention to his breath.

“Faust. You are a Cultivator already. You have formed a Mana Core. Aquila, while you have not formed a Mana Core yet, you might be able to in the future if what your friend said is correct.” He looked at them to check if what he said was right and after seeing them nod he continued.

“Your minds are very weak. In fact, Faust is no further than you are Aquila, he smiled at the young man who grinned at Faust. “But even if you temper your mind, allowing you easier access to the Mana Core, you don’t have it yet… but if you form one eventually, you will progress much faster. Now I want both of you to meditate with me. It works like this…”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Faust had been sitting still and breathing, trying to empty his mind for an hour. Slowly he felt his skin itching, the urge to open his eyes. But listening to Chiron’s advice, he tried to forget about time and anything but the breathing, simply enjoying the state of mindfulness.

The air carried a wonderful flowery scent and after an hour he briefly entered a state of deep meditation under the tree, forgetting about anything but his breath. All thoughts had disappeared from his mind after the second hour.

It was as if he didn’t exist. As if he was just his breath. Then he was shaken by the cry of a rooster.

Faust slowly opened his eyes, looking at the ever-calm and smiling Chiron.

“Well done, Faust. Your heartbeat gets really slow when you meditate. You have entered a deep meditation state haven’t you?”

Faust could now relate as to why the man before him was always so calm, serene, and unworried by problems. He felt it now. After exiting his meditative state he felt no worry at all. Not about the war, the Venerable, or anything else.

He felt at peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rhodusium, a few days earlier

Elena and Bronn had traveled to Rhodusium within just two days. With no cart holding them back, it was much easier to travel at high speeds.

Ryat felt at a loss.

‘Why was this man coming with us?’ he worried as they checked in at an inn in the Capital of the Dukedom.

As always he had a separate room. Elena had told him he wouldn’t be part of the negotiations as planned. Bronn would bring her to Alexander the next day.

‘Who is he? Is he a knight?’ he felt uneasy about the whole thing.

Elena wasn’t as worried as the partner she had been assigned. She had a letter from Titus that would explain the matter to Alexander. Still, she was nervous.

‘What if he says no after all? He wouldn’t. No. But what if he does?’ her thoughts spun, but she focused on her breath to calm herself down, allowing her to slowly drift to sleep.

The next day Bronn had informed Alexander, that he had news from his mission and had brought someone for an audience. When Alexander received Bronn’s message in the morning a big grin spread over his face.

“Wonderful, too wonderful!” he put a few silver coins in the messenger’s hand who beamed at his master’s generosity.

Alexander turned around and looked back into his chamber, where a young woman, barely 19, sat on a small table in a long nightgown and smiled at Alexander. She was Lutetia, Alexander’s wife.

“Darling, what is it?” she asked sweetly as he closed the door again and saw her husband hurrying to retrieve some clothes.

He just grinned at her.

“The mission I have sent to Antioch has already sent Bronn as a messenger and I am to meet him and another person in a few minutes.” He quickly found what he was looking for and changed. His wife had a sour expression on her face.

“You’re canceling our breakfast together?” she asked, slightly sad, but he could hear she could understand business was calling.

He bit his lip ruefully.

“How about I make it up to you? I will delegate some less important matters, let us go for a walk in the afternoon.”

This cheered her up and before he left they shared a deep kiss.

Then, with large strides, Alexander met with his father in the hallway, before they made their way to the meeting room to meet with Bronn and Elena.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elena was sweating slightly. Something she was unused to ever since she reached Advanced Stage of the first Level.

She looked up at Bronn and he smiled.

“Alexander is a very reasonable man. His father, the Duke is a bit rough but leaves most of the business to Alexander. Don’t be cocky, don’t insult them, make a good argument, and you will be completely fine.” He attempted to calm her.

She bit her lip and gulped.

‘That’s exactly what I am worried about.’