There were no answers to any mysteries. There were no answers to anything at all. There were a few questions maybe. Like why does a 15-year-old girl need so many stuffed animals? Or why does a family of 3 need to keep so much cheese in the house? But no answers, no answers of any kind, no answers anywhere to be found…
At least Liam was pleased that the house was given the all clear. He shared Lloyd’s concern in not finding anything used to introduce the poison, but he was certainly happy that his house hadn’t been contaminated at all.
They ended up having a cup of tea together while throwing around ideas on why Virgo wanted Liam dead, between nibbling on slices of various cheeses that Lloyd may or may not have mentioned would go well with the tea. Liam himself was remarkably upbeat for someone who had been targeted by a mass murderer, especially when one considered just how overwhelmingly powerful his assailant had been. Laughing, Liam explained that the real danger was over before he fully appreciated what had happened, and he was mostly just relieved his daughter had recovered so well.
Eventually, Lloyd realized he only had 15 minutes before he was due to meet the workers at the livestock pen, and he said his goodbyes, Liam following him out and going back to the inn as his family were still there.
A few minutes later Lloyd arrived at the pen, finding a group of people already waiting, with Tarah right beside them. Douglas must have still been at the inn, or had gone off to do something else.
She walked forward immediately and started introducing the locals who had worked on the pen, with Lloyd scanning each one by one. No one had any signs of magic on them. Lloyd had suspected as much, as even if Virgo had cast a spell, once memories were implanted they were there to stay. Magic was not required for them to remain.
Lloyd repeatedly assured everyone that there was no magic influencing them, and for good measure decided to scan the pen itself. The chances of finding anything there were extremely slim, and not just because of the weeks that had passed. Lloyd had unfortunately cast multiple spells there himself, likely erasing any evidence that could have remained.
That is, until his scan overlapped the dirt road leading north to the farmsteads.
“Tarah, have everyone clear that dirt road, I need to check something.” Once everyone was clear, Lloyd cast a more sensitive spell, scanning for any kind of arcana. “Yup, there is definitely something cast over the end of that road. Or maybe it would be more relevant to say, the entrance to the work area.”
Lloyd checked the point where the main road intersected with the livestock pen to the east, and found exactly the same spell. 'The same two spells,' he corrected himself. “It’s at the other entrance as well, but tellingly there’s nothing around the new bridge. Hold on a sec.”
A closer examination gave some hints as to what had happened, but frustratingly, there wasn't much evidence that could be considered concrete. The evidence felt a little flimsy, but the conclusion seemed to be obvious.
“So, there was, without doubt, another spell cast here, and it seems to have been over the entire pen. These spells at the path and main road are triggers. When someone passes over coming in, they trigger one spell over the construction area, clearly related to senses, and when someone leaves, they trigger a second spell, without question related to memory.”
“The main spells over the work area are unfortunately gone now, so we won’t be able to find out exactly what they were doing. My spell work yesterday would have erased any remaining traces. But based on the trigger spells they were most certainly mind related, and unquestionably over the work area. I think that is enough evidence to put everyone’s minds to rest over what happened with the drainage here.”
Many of the people gathered started mumbling to themselves, a few visibly angry, a couple even looking nervous.
“I promise you, there are no lingering effects, and nothing anyone needs to worry about either. The spells likely had you seeing or hearing something while it was in effect, and maybe adjusted some memories slightly, but they are no longer active, and anything done is already done. I understand how disconcerting this all is. All anyone can do now is just put this behind them.”
Tarah interjected at that point. “The man who did this is now dead. The High Wizard is correct, there is nothing to do now but put this dreadful business behind us. The danger is gone, and the one responsible is beyond any further punishment. We should focus on what this means for all of you – no one has any responsibility for the drainage system issues, and there were no mistakes made.” People continued to mutter amongst themselves, but bit by bit, everyone eventually started to walk away. Still muttering of course.
Lloyd walked over to Tarah urgently. “I never thought to ask, but there’s still a body over there at the mill. Can someone have it removed?” Tarah started smiling slightly as Lloyd continued, “Please, before the boy goes back home?”
Tarah raised her hand for him to stop. “Douglas went back and moved it last night. His brother helped him.” Her smile faltered. “We moved around for a better angle soon after you left Yaric with us and went to back to examine Yaric's uncle, sorry, Den Virgo, in the mill. We had heard something like a crackling sound for a short while before and got worried,” she added, glancing at Lloyd with concern. He only looked apologetic, so she continued, “We saw what you did to that man’s arms, and Douglas did not want anyone else to handle the body. Not with the questions that would certainly be asked. They burnt it just after sunrise.”
Lloyd flashed her a small, quick smile. 'I need to make a note to thank him for that. That was surprisingly perceptive of him.' Lloyd smiled to himself. 'Even more, he was definitely the one who threw up yesterday, yet he was willing to go back personally, to keep the people involved as limited as possible.'
Lloyd went back to the inn, already slightly peckish, with Tarah following him again. This time the trip back to the inn had a much more companionable silence. Lloyd stepped to the side for Tarah, who shot him a quick smile, and he followed her inside.
Freda was back behind her counter, and Lloyd quickly noticed that Douglas, Liam and Liam’s family were back at their previous seats, this time with Yaric sitting next to Sally. Small plates of various snacks sat on the little tables between the chairs.
Lloyd went straight to his previous chair as the two plates with the most snacks on them lifted into the air and hovered over to the tables on either side of his chair. There was some excitement from the others at the sight of obvious magic, but Lloyd barely noticed and truly didn’t care.
Food!
Tarah sat as well and the four adults engaged in conversation, as Lloyd sat to the side and stuffed his face. Yaric was very subdued while Sally spoke with him quietly, making jokes and trying to take his mind off things. Her hand occasionally grabbing Yaric’s didn’t escape Lloyd’s notice. Or her father's, from the sideways glances he made every time it happened. 'Hehe, no father can rest when they have a daughter…'
Lloyd polished off a whole plate, consciously making sure it was the one closest to everyone else, before gently speaking to Yaric. “Is there anything you want to ask me while I’m here? I know this has been a lot to take in, and I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through, but I’ll probably be leaving tomorrow. If you have any questions you don’t want to leave unanswered, make sure you don’t leave it too late.”
Yaric kept looking down for a while, and Sally shifted closer. Eventually Yaric raised his head, and after a brief and uncertain pause asked, “You’re sure the magic in my head is gone. What he did to me isn’t still there?”
Lloyd smiled and replied, “Certain. The spells he was using needed him to actively control them. It turned out that your own imagination could keep them going a short while after he stopped, but there is no chance that you will ever be thrown into mental manipulations like that again. Not due to anything Virgo did.”
Lloyd’s smile turned slightly more into one of pity, “I can’t promise you won’t have some bad dreams in the future, though; anyone who’s gone through what you have will likely get them some time or another. But, that is all they will ever be, bad dreams.”
Yaric shivered slightly. “Is there a way to check. Just to make sure?” He looked at Lloyd hopefully.
“Sure kid, I can check. I should probably check over everyone to be sure. I hate every kind of mind magic, it’s like mold. It festers, hidden away in dark corners, and never seems to die. Best to be certain, even if it’s just to put everyone’s minds at ease.”
Most of the people sitting around the empty fireplace looked a little relieved at that, as Lloyd picked up his other plate. “We still need to find out how Sally was poisoned,” he said between mouthfuls.
Sally started blushing, and Liam and his wife both took on stern expressions. “About that,” Liam said, clearing his throat and glancing at Sally. “I think my daughter has something to tell you.”
Sally never looked up as she turned a brighter shade of red. “Well, I sort of went over to find Yaric two days ago. He had been visiting in the evenings and whenever he had chores in town, but I hadn’t seen him for a couple of days.” Sally somehow turned even brighter, starting to resemble a dark-haired tomato.
“Yaric’s uncle came out before I was even off the bridge. He was carrying something wrapped in cloth and came straight to me. I mean, I never even knew his name, everyone always just called him ‘Yaric’s uncle’, but, well, I couldn’t be rude to him. I still thought he was really Yaric’s uncle,” she flashed a look of pity at Yaric for an instant. “He handed me the cloth wrapping and told me Yaric had bought me a gift but had been too busy to come over. Said Yaric was afraid they’d go stale before he would get the chance.”
“I couldn’t say no! I thought it was from Yaric,” her voice trailing off at the end. “Well, they were these miniature muffins, I couldn’t not eat them!” Lloyd nodded in agreement. “So I had two that night, and when I woke up early the next morning, I knew breakfast would be a while, and…”
“And you ate the rest of them before breakfast,” Lloyd added while nodding like it was the most reasonable thing in the world.
“Dammit!” Everyone looked to Lloyd with slight alarm. Lloyd raised his palm sheepishly, “It’s just that I got so much of this so completely wrong. It seems like Sally really was the target this whole time. And Virgo just handed the poisoned food straight to her, right out in the open!”
Yaric finally showed some emotion as he angrily asked, “But he tried to kill her! Why? She didn’t do anything!”
“Well, those times that you visited Sally, were any of them during time that Virgo thought you were working?”
It was Yaric’s turn to look a little sheepish, although that quickly turned to alarm. “He poisoned her because of me?”
“No, he poisoned her because of him. You’re a living, breathing human with your own mind and your own friends. Of course you will want to see your friends. Virgo was a living, breathing psychopath; a control freak with narcissistic tendencies who treated others as either slaves or vermin. Virgo poisoned her because he was a sick bastard, it had nothing to do with you.”
Sally squeezed his arm reassuringly as well. “He attacked both of us, remember?”
Tarah cleared her throat. Once she had everyone’s attention she asked, “When would you be able to check us for mind magic? I for one would feel much better knowing there are no residual spells or whatever left behind. I will be much happier when Den Virgo is behind me.”
A few of the other adults nodded at that. “We can do it here and now I guess, it’s not like there is any examination in the medical sense. Or at least not in the mundane medical sense. Just a few quick spells right from our seats.”
Tarah nodded and leaned slightly forward, having seen Lloyd scanning the workers earlier. Lloyd chuckled, “Alright, right this second then. I guess we can go clockwise.” A couple of spells later and he gave her the all clear. “Your mind is clean. Magically anyway.” Lloyd smirked at the look on her face.
Douglas was next, followed by both the remaining adults, the last of whom Lloyd finally learned was named Ming-Yue. Sally was cleared as well, although Lloyd took the time to do a more thorough check, making sure there were no residual issues from the poisoning. Lloyd also took the time to reassure her parents that Sally was in perfect health, and they had nothing to worry about, still making sure that they understood that she needed to take it easy until the next day.
Yaric, however, was an entirely different story.
Lloyd started to frown as he repeated his spell with more and more arcana behind it. He eventually reached his limit and started going through all the diagnostic spells he knew, there too pushing through each at full power. Still nothing.
He reluctantly had to start with the limited number of mind spells he knew, although he stuck to spells for sensing minds, picking up thoughts and others of that kind, refusing to try anything that would affect Yaric’s perception. Not after what the kid had been through.
And still he got nothing.
Everyone in the circle of chairs looked concerned as Lloyd continued without letting up, a deepening frown on his face, until Lloyd finally let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He raised a hand as he said, “There is no reason for concern, I can’t pick up any problems.” The looks on their faces didn’t change. “It’s not that I found any problems, it’s just that I can’t even try. I can't find much of anything at all.”
Sally bumped Yaric’s arm, “See? Not even a wizard can find your brain.” Her attempt at lightening the mood brought a slight smile to Yaric’s face, but everyone else maintained the same worried expressions.
“What does that mean?” asked Liam.
“I have no idea. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Hell, I’ve never heard of anything like this before. His mind is like a solid ball of greased iron. No spell I try can get through, or even take hold long enough to really start. It’s like he’s a ten-thousand-year-old Arch Wizard who’s dedicated his life to defending against Mind Mages.”
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“The most mind-blowing thing of all this is all the questions this raises about how Virgo was able to do what he did. He attacked me with spells using his mind affinity, in full on combat, knowing his life was potentially on the line. I’ve felt his full power. Yet he would have been nowhere near powerful enough to make the slightest dent in Yaric’s mind. I’m completely stumped.”
Yaric looked slightly panicked, glancing around at everyone seated before him. “I never let him in!” he stammered, “I don’t know how. I would never want to! You have no idea what he was doing to me!”
Lloyd quickly leaned forward, “Relax! Relax! We know! No one thinks that! Just because I don’t know how it was done doesn’t mean there is something fishy. It just means that I don’t know. Yet. Because I do intend to find out.”
“This is something unusual in the extreme. I meant it when I said I’ve never heard of something like this. Not as a rumor, a legend, not even as something from a fantasy novel. My biggest problem is I actually don’t know where to start.”
Everyone kept looking around the others gathered with them, concern etched on their faces, until Lloyd picked his last plate back up and carried on eating. For some weird reason that seemed to reassure everyone a little, and once Lloyd had polished off that plate as well, he hopped up from his chair and started for the stairs.
“Wait here a minute, I have an idea.” Lloyd moved quickly to his room and fished a small circular disc from his bags. Making his way back downstairs, he chuckled to himself as he noted that every other plate of snacks had had whatever was left on them tipped onto his. He sat back down and tossed the disc over to Yaric.
“I want you to try something, and keep trying a few times to make sure you’re doing it right. Don’t worry if nothing happens, I honestly don’t expect anything to, but at least we will be able to cross one path off the list.”
“And if something does happen?”
“Well, truthfully, it still won’t answer any questions, but it could point us in the right direction.” Lloyd chuckled louder at his own joke, drawing strange looks from everyone. “Just give it a try. I want you to try feel somewhere deep inside yourself, wherever feels right to you, and try to feel for your inner energy. Something you feel powers who you are.”
“Most people find it helps to use an emotion as well, feel deep inside for any strong emotion that makes you feel like things should change, or something should be protected from change. Push that emotion out through the hand holding that disc. Try to change a part of the reality of the world.”
Yaric closed his eyes for just a second before Lloyd interrupted, “No, first put your arm on the arm of your chair, palm up. That’s it. Now give it a few tries. No pressure.”
Yaric thought of his uncle, or not uncle, of what that man had done to him, done to his parents, how Virgo had made them suffer in their final weeks. And then he mentally pushed the growing hate and anger he felt in his chest, pushed it toward his hand. No one said anything, so he tried again. Still nothing.
Thinking for moment, Yaric changed his thoughts to his parents. His vague memory of his mom bringing him food while he played outside, the faint smell of baking bread, his dad coming home with flour all over his arms, but never on his hands. He focused hard, doing his best to remember something else, trying to get the fuzzy memories to clear. Trying to remember his mother’s eyes, his father’s hair, any of the blurry features that seemed taken from him forever.
And for the first time ever, he remembered something new. He remembered being on the middle of the west bridge, right at the edge, looking over the side at the river. His father held him tightly, while his mother held his hand and placed small pieces of bread inside. He remembered how she helped him throw the pieces out into the river, and how he laughed as the big white ducks darted for the bread, gobbling them up greedily. He remembered his mother clapping for him every time, as his dad swayed him left and right in celebration.
And he wanted them back. He wanted the life he never had. The life that was taken from him.
But most of all, he wanted his mom and dad to have their lives back, the lives that were taken from them. He wanted to hug them like they had hugged him. Do things to make them happy, like they had for him. Make them laugh. Make them smile. Hold them tight like his dad had, making him feel so safe that the thought of falling had never occurred to him even as a toddler. He wanted to protect them, tell them how much he missed them, undo all the damage that had been done to their lives. Yaric wanted to make things right.
The feeling of a tear running down his face brought him out of his introspection, and he was suddenly aware of everyone talking excitedly at once. Opening his eyes, he blinked away his tears, and saw that only Lloyd was silent. But even he looked a bit shocked.
Yaric cleared his throat to get rid of the tightness as he turned to Sally, but froze when he saw his hand. Floating right above the disc was a large golden arrow, seemingly pointing right between Tarah and Douglas. It pointed almost directly at the opposite corner, where the wall with the front door met the wall with the fireplace on the other side of the room. The arrow kept pointing the same way as he moved his hand, before slowly starting to fade away.
Lloyd coughed loudly, “Well, I truly wasn’t expecting that to happen. The chances were astronomical. But there is no doubt about it; Yaric is an arcanist.”
Sally clung tightly to Yaric’s arm as all of the adults exploded with questions, even Freda, who had joined them at some point after the glowing arrow appeared over Yaric’s hand.
Lloyd raised both palms to everyone, gesturing for them to calm down. Nothing changed.
“QUIET!” The sudden silence was a little jarring, but Lloyd pushed on. “That is just a basic inscribed compass, all it does it point directly to Lekton. But it can only be used by channeling a small amount of arcana through it. Something any arcanist can do with very little practice. And something NO Unconnected can ever do, however much they try.”
“Unconnected?”
“Uh, non-arcanist basically... it’s not pejorative.”
Tarah and Liam looked at him dubiously, especially as he had clearly felt the need to add the last bit. Lloyd pretended not to notice as he continued. “Being an arcanist opens the possibility that what is happening with his mind may be magical in nature. And by that I mean it may be something he does himself. Likely subconsciously since he has no awareness of it. When you take a step back and look at it from that perspective, it seems to be beneficial, like it protects him. Just far, far better than someone in Yaric’s position should be capable of. Far better than anything someone in my position should be capable of. Hell, I’d bet that even an Arch Wizard or Arch Mage would be famous if they could do what Yaric is doing by reflex alone!”
“This is going to bring about changes for you Yaric, big changes. Even if you decide to stay here and carry on running your mill, and never touch magic again, everything will still change for you. Technically, nothing will truly change as you always were an arcanist, you just didn't know it, but your life and future as you knew it will be drastically different from this moment on. We’re going to have to have some very serious discussions about your future before I leave.”
“But what can be so different, I won’t tell anyone!”
“I’m not even talking about what people will think or how others might treat you. I can promise you one thing, that no matter how much you think you understand about what I’m about to tell you, you absolutely will not fully appreciate the implications this will have on your life. Not yet.”
“Yaric, you are an arcanist - arcanists are immortal.”
Lloyd rushed to add, “Not truly, we can still die. We WILL all die at some point, just not due to time. We will only die one day when we are either killed or have some kind of accident. And the longer you live, and more powerful you get, the less and less likely that is to happen on any particular future day. There are wizards and mages who are literally thousands of years old, some even in the tens of thousands. That changes you in ways you can’t yet comprehend.”
“I’m not going to become a different person just because I could live longer!”
Lloyd took a long, slow breath. He did note Liam looking at his daughter with a bit of sadness and concern. "Liam gets it at least."
“Look, you don’t need to understand it now, only try to think about it. I know this makes no sense, I warned you that you wouldn’t understand even before I told you, but the answer you just gave makes it painfully obvious that you don’t truly understand.”
Seeing Yaric open his mouth angrily he rushed on, “Did you understand that you were not cursed before today? Ten years ago, did you understand how the mill worked? Can you explain to me how the tannery cures the hides, or how a blacksmith makes a perfect plow blade? Not knowing or understanding something doesn’t make you stupid, just uneducated in that specific topic, or at least not educated enough. And pointing out that someone doesn’t know or understand something is not an insult, no matter how it might feel. Moreover, you simply don’t understand yet.” Lloyd was much more sympathetic as he added, "But you will."
“I will say this though, when someone does have something they don’t know or understand pointed out to them, especially when it’s by someone with a lot more experience in the topic, the more intelligent people are usually the ones who are able to acknowledge and accept that they don’t understand, so that they can try to learn.”
Yaric leaned back again and scowled at the floor.
It was Freda who jumped in this time, pointing through to the dining room. “I’m goin to be preparing a small lunch soon for any who want, it looks like all of you could do with a decent meal, and you’ll be missin out on lunch at this rate.” Lloyd perked up and started to stand.
“30 minutes! We still need to prepare the food.”
Lloyd sat back down.
It was Douglas who stood up next, announcing to all, “I’ll see everyone a bit later. It’s real kind of you to offer Freda, but my wife will have lunch ready for me and she won’t appreciate it if I ignore her efforts and eat here instead.”
'Huh, so they’re not a couple.'
Freda was nodding as she moved towards him, shooing him out the door. Tarah stood up next. “I really do wish I could stay, but there will be no lunch for me today I am afraid. There are too many people I need to speak with, and there is hardly enough time to get that done as it is.”
Everyone said their goodbyes as she hurried out the door. Lloyd was the last to stand as the Saqqaf family stayed seated, along with Yaric. Everyone looked up at him in surprise as he stretched. “Oh, I’ll be right back for lunch. I’m not going far, and I won’t be gone long. Just going to check on Jelly like I promised.” Lloyd made for the door as everyone else looked to each other in confusion. Lloyd had noticed their weird looks. He just couldn't care.
'I keep getting my hopes up. There’s pretty much no chance of that vacation now. This is going to be a hard conversation, and even if I manage to convince him of the best path, the rest of the day will be a race to get him as many of the things he’ll need as I can. We will have a long journey ahead of us. We’ll definitely have to travel to Taiyuan and take a riverboat to get back. Far too dangerous to take Yaric overland.'
Lloyd started smiling a little as Jelly popped his head out his stall the moment he walked in. Phil was there, mucking out an empty stall. Reaching into his pouch, Lloyd pulled out a small coin and tossed it behind Phil. “Keep taking good care of Jelly. And it would be helpful if all the carrots were within Jelly’s reach next time.” Phil actually blushed a little as he leaned down to pick up the coin.
Lloyd reached around Jelly’s neck and rubbed both sides at the same time. “Looks like me and you might have a little company this time boy. I’m afraid we’re probably going to have to take the river and board a river boat for most of the way.” Jelly snorted and stomped. “We’ll have 4 or 5 days on the road, depending on how our travel companion holds up. On the upside, we won’t be on the boat for that long boy, that’s the whole point of taking a boat.”
Jelly didn’t seem to share his point of view as he gently headbutted Lloyd. For his part, Lloyd just chuckled and shifted to rubbing Jelly’s nose. “Don’t worry, we’ll have our fun. I don’t want to get stuck in Lekton any longer than I have to. You’ll see. We’ll be on a trip to the far side of the kingdom before you know it. Maybe Rebekka will be able to join us this time hmmm? You haven’t seen Toffee in a while, have you? Think you can beat her in a race this time?
Jelly shook his mane as Lloyd laughed, before patting him one more time and leaving.
'Time to get this over with. I really hate this part. Poor kid.'
When Lloyd walked back in, he saw that no one had waited the full 30 minutes - the room was deserted. Continuing on into the dining room, he saw everyone was seated at one of the long tables with full-length benches running alongside. Still no food though.
Lloyd quietly took a seat and listened in on the conversation. Sally and Ming-Yue were trying to cheer Yaric up, coming up with increasingly outlandish things he could do with his magic. They occasionally succeeded, as a smile tugged at the corners of Yaric’s lips every now and then. Their ideas escalated rapidly, from making snow men walk to making clouds into carts they could all fly in, and finally to making a fountain in the town square that pumps out a never-ending supply of chocolate.
Lloyd snorted at that last one. 'Like I've never thought of that. It can’t be done.'
The food arrived by the time they got to stories of how Yaric would defeat entire armies of dragons, and everyone tucked in. Large plates of roast beef sandwiches we placed on the middle of the table, with everyone grabbing what they wanted. Big jugs of ale arrived too, and a pitcher of water for the kids. There was silence for ten blessed minutes, then the sandwiches were all gone.
“So, you have a decision to make Yaric. One that only you can make. And it will determine the direction you go in for the rest of your life. Harsh, I know. But you need to understand the gravity of what’s at stake here.”
“You can choose to stay here, try to keep running the mill, try to live out the life you were expecting to lead up until yesterday. Just know that first of all, you won’t live out anything, you’ll just keep on living and living. You won’t get old.”
'The kid still looks like he hasn’t got it yet. Sally too. Why is this so hard for them to understand?'
“Secondly, your other option won’t be on the table for long. It will close permanently; you are 15. That’s already a little older than what we would usually allow in, and the longer you go without starting your training, the more you will start to lose in magical ability. I can’t go into detail now, but while you won’t really get weaker per se, your flexibility will start to reduce dramatically. And permanently. Which leads me to your other option... You can leave with me.”
Yaric looked surprised at that announcement.
'Really? You didn’t see this coming? Maybe I shouldn’t be so harsh, he’s just been through a ridiculous amount of trauma.'
“Yes, you can leave with me tomorrow, and travel with me back to Lekton. There you will be enrolled like any other initiate, and if you make it through the initiation, you’ll begin intensive magical study. Not long after you’ll be able to make a choice regarding what direction you want your magical career to take, from healing to combat, construction to boosting crop yields, enchanting to crafting powerful artifacts. There’s a wide range of options depending on your aptitudes, affinities and interests.”
“Just realize that neither option will be easy. I’m probably a bit biased, but option two would be the most rewarding. You will grow in ways you can’t even imagine. Help save the sick, feed the nation, even help stop people like Virgo from hurting others.” Yaric gazed intently at Lloyd on hearing the last bit. 'That got his attention, there’s the hook.'
“I know you probably don’t like people telling you what’s best for you, so I won’t. It’s the second option by the way. But option 2 is the best for everyone else as well. You can help thousands of people live much longer and much happier lives. Millions of people given enough time.”
“But it has to be what you want. You have no chance of finishing the training or graduating if you are there to please someone else. It has to be your life’s goal to grow, to keep pushing your boundaries further and further. You want to heal people? Great, you’ve learned to repair broken bones, but can you heal cancer? Then push your boundaries! You can heal cancer now? Even better, but can you bring someone back from the brink of death? Then push your boundaries!”
“If you want to protect people from beasts and other people, that’s also great. But can you defeat a squad of trained soldiers preying on a remote village? No? Then you need to train harder, study more, become more powerful, more capable. You can defeat them now? Then what about one of those dragons you were just talking about? Now the village is attacked by a dragon. Why aren’t you powerful enough to save them?”
“Choosing to come to Lekton will change your life, and it will change the lives of so many other people. All for the better. But you will never stop furthering yourself. You will never stop working on improving. You will never stop pushing to be more. Because the more powerful and capable you are, the greater your impact will be on the world around you. And if you truly want to make this kingdom a better place, make the whole world a better place, you better be shockingly powerful, because there will always be powerful people who want the world to stay as it is, who want to world to slip backwards.”
“Will you be able to stand up to those people? Will you be strong enough to raise everyone else up? If not, stay here, run your mill. Live your life day by day. If your answer is yes, then come with me, and start your journey to being more.”
Yaric stared at an empty plate for several minutes. No one moved, no one made a sound. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Yaric turned back to Lloyd.
“I want to make a difference. I want to make sure people like Den Virgo never run around for centuries, killing anyone they feel like with impunity because no one else is good enough to catch them. I don’t want to leave here, but I can’t stay. My parents gave everything they had for me. I want to pass that on.”
The adults all had slight smiles, while Sally looked a little withdrawn.
Lloyd clapped loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Well all right then, we better get started! We are going to have a busy afternoon running around getting everything you'll be needing!”