After dropping the bomb that was his suicidal mana gathering technique, Ezekiel was asked to show that he still had Void mana to his father. He did so, using his mana to overpower a simple light orb that his father had made for a demonstration.
He didn’t ask Ezekiel to demonstrate his mana gathering, as, in Warren’s mind, that was the equivalent of asking his son to run a knife over his arm softly enough to not cut himself.
The walk back to their home was a quiet and sorrowful affair. Both Ezekiel and Warren had felt immense guilt and regret after the events of the day. It had only reached noon by this point, but the both of them were ready for the day to be over.
Nothing much was said beyond Warren telling Ezekiel that they’d talk later when they got home and informed his mother. That made Ezekiel wince, as he knew his mother would be more upset and more terrified of what he had been doing than Warren was. But he knew there was nothing he could do, so he just kept silent and bore with it.
Warren gave his farewells and thanks to Allon and Sherra, whilst Ezekiel said sorry and goodbye to Shari. They also had a letter sent to the district’s guard station so that Warren could inform then that a family emergency had come up, and that he would not be able to work today.
Nothing more was said about Ishkel, but neither Warren nor the Alkena’s wanted to bring him up at the moment. Allon due to the embarrassment he felt, and Warren because he knew that his family would be getting visits from a Guild soon enough.
As the two walked home, both of their thoughts began to wonder.
Ezekiel couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made the right choice five years ago. If he’d told his parents about what he’d learned, then maybe they’d have been able to help him. Or maybe they’d be able to use some connections with the Church of Ten to get more people on board with the study of Void Mana.
It was just too bad that he was so scared at being restricted due to the dangers that he couldn’t bring himself to take the chance and tell anybody.
The fact that he was afraid of being lynched by the Church of Light, or people with Void Mage discriminations didn’t help things either. Especially after he finally learned about the history of the Cruor, and how it was exiled Void Mages who started the conflict that has been ongoing for the past three hundred years.
Ezekiel couldn’t help but wonder if there was going to be even more arguing when they got home regarding his unique method of cultivating. It wasn’t known if the power of a Void Mage was a factor that determined a Cruor King’s might, but there were some that thought it did. It was one of the unofficial arguments against allowing Void Mages to absorb pure mana Crystals to Tier up.
Warren’s worries were a little bit different.
A part of him was somewhat proud of what his son had claimed to have achieved. He knew his son was a genius, one whose potential was stifled by his inability to cultivate the elements, but that wasn’t a problem anymore.
It was just a shame that the only way he could do so was to risk his life every single time he tried to cultivate. Something that Warren desperately wanted his son to never do again.
But he had seen the look in Ezekiel’s eye’s when he had given up his secret. There was fear, but Warren didn’t think it was fear of punishment. He was almost certain it was a fear of loss, of losing hope specifically.
Worse yet, was the fact that behind that fear was determination that he’d only seen twice before. Once in himself, when he was at risk of losing his wife many years ago, and the second, in Evelyn, when she feared losing him.
He knew in that instant that Ezekiel would sooner run away from home than give up his newly found cultivation. His newly found path. Just as he and Evelyn had done over a dozen years ago.
This was something he could not allow, but he knew that forcing his son to remain at home, whilst also taking away his magic, would be no worse than trapping him in a prison without food or water.
Ultimately, in his heart, even though he’d do his best to prevent Ezekiel from gathering mana in this way going forwards, Warren still wanted to see where Ezekiel’s magic would go. Especially when he managed to open his first Chakra, thereby granting him a minimum amount of mana that his body would naturally recover to.
Nobody had ever managed to figure out what Void mana could do beyond some experiments that allowed it to empower other elements, with diminishing returns the greater the gap in Tiers was. But maybe, once Ezekiel opened the door for himself, he’d be able to pull another miracle and discover something new once again.
But that was only possible if he continued to risk his life to create Void Mana.
Warren thought that perhaps it’d be best to give this information to the Church of Ten, and let them risk their lives to create a less suicidal method. That way his son could use whatever proper techniques the Church created in the future.
With both their thoughts in turmoil, it was actually Theo that alerted them of the fact that they had walked past their home. Something that shocked the both of them, but truly displayed to both of them what the other was thinking about.
“Go upstairs, son. I’m going to get your mother then we are going to have a talk.” Warren said with a solemn voice as he walked towards the back entrance of the store on the ground floor.
Theo had jumped from Warren’s shoulder to his as he started marching up the stairs towards the main floor of their home. He paused briefly at the top of the stairs before Theo patted the back of his head. He entered the house with his shoulders slumped and his heart heavy.
Entering his family’s home, Ezekiel looked around for a moment, wondering where his sisters were, before deciding that they were probably either downstairs helping in the shop, or were upstairs playing with Reya as supervisor.
Looking over at the kitchen, Ezekiel could feel his stomach grumble a bit as he realized that it had been several hours since he’d last eaten, and whilst he usually wouldn’t be that hungry, it seemed like burning through half his remaining mana reserves had given him quite the appetite.
He had just reached inside the “Lesser Ice Box”, which was basically a magic fridge for fruits and vegetables, when he heard the door to the house slam open. His mother was looking around with a panicked expression on her face as she frantically looked around for Ezekiel.
Seeing Ezekiel standing in the kitchen with his hands on an apple, Evelyn rushed forward as Ezekiel quickly closed the ice box and held his hand out so that the apple he was holding wouldn’t get dropped or crushed.
The lack of her iconic black kitten on her shoulder told him that his sisters must be upstairs. Ezekiel felt kind of relieved at this, as it meant that they wouldn’t have to send the girls upstairs without an explanation.
“My baby! Are you okay? Your father said something happened at the manor. Something to do with an unknown relic!” Evelyn said as she fretted over Ezekiel, looking for any signs of injuries or damages.
Finding none, she finally let Ezekiel go as the door closed behind Warren as he entered the room. He ruefully smiled as he saw the going-ons in the kitchen. He knew that this was going to keep up, and that Evelyn’s worrying would only get worse after they’d had their talk.
“Let the boy breathe, dear. He’s been through a fair bit, and we need to have a talk about what happened today.” Warren said as he started running his hands over the upper parts of his uniform. The few pieces of armor that were incorporated into it started to unlatch, and the heavier protective aspects were pulled off until he was in just an undershirt and dress pants, with the lower leg guards not being as uncomfortable he decided to leave them on for now.
He sat down at the table as Ezekiel and Evelyn made their way over. Both sat down as Evelyn looked at both her son and husband warily. It hadn’t escaped her notice that Ezekiel had been especially quiet and morose, whilst Warren had been very serious about everything so far.
“First things first. Where are the girls? Whilst I’d love to see them, we can’t have them hearing what we need to talk about right now.” Warren asked and explained as he looked at Evelyn.
A little bit confused, but understanding that this was really serious, Evelyn focused on her bond with Reya for a moment before telling him.
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“The girls are taking a nap in our room right now. It seems they’re a bit tuckered out from playing with Reya before you got back.” Evelyn said.
“That’s actually better than I’d hoped. Please have Reya block the door. The girls cannot be allowed to hear what we are going to be talking about, even a little bit. I’ll also need you to do your absolute best to not freak out, or to otherwise react loudly, as this is serious.” Warren requested as he reached out to hold one of Evelyn’s hands in his own.
This did little to calm her down, as she understood quite clearly that this was not going to be a talk that she wanted to hear. But she still sent a mental set of instructions to Reya, who shadow stepped out from between Wendy and Ellen on the bed and curled up in front of the door. She also took steps a bit further and used her shadows to block any cracks that might’ve let sound into the room from downstairs.
Ezekiel, on the other hand, was still looking down as he tried to think of how he was going to be able to explain everything to his mother in a way that didn’t freak her out too badly. Nothing came to mind, as he fully understood that this was not something that she was easily going to accept.
“Done. Now please tell me what is going on?” Evelyn said as she glared at both Warren and Ezekiel.
“Well, to start things off, it seems that a Hunter of the Roaring Ruins guild was at the Auction House. Apparently, they’d found a new and unknown Relic. One left behind by the Ancient of the Void. Wary of any random Void Mages they could find anywhere else in the town, this Guild member decided to go to Allon, as he’d heard Allon bragging about Ezekiel in some of their previous conversations when he’d talk about Sherry and how her schooling was going.” Warren began.
“Are you saying that Allon volunteered our son to experiment with an unknown Relic?!” Evelyn exclaimed in shock and outrage.
“If it were just that then we’d have far more reasons to get angry.” Warren said. “But no, he did not volunteer Ezekiel for anything, and the Hunter in question didn’t order Ezekiel to do anything either, he even offered up a pure mana crystal to have Ezekiel activate it.” Warren explained.
“However, it seems like Ezekiel fell into some sort of trance, and reached out to grab the relic before Iskel, the Hunter, or Allon could direct him to take the crystal. After grabbing it, Ezekiel immediately fell over, and the relic seemingly activated before crumbling into dust. Now, obviously this shouldn’t have happened, as Ezekiel shouldn’t have had any mana inside him to activate the Relic, nor would a standard Relic activate on its own.” Warren explained.
“So, you’re saying-”
“I found out how to gather Void Mana naturally,” Ezekiel blurted out as soon as he heard his mother start to speak. He’d already had to deal with one parent accusing him of criminal activities. He had no desire to go through that again.
Stunned at what Ezekiel had said, Evelyn was too shocked to speak for a moment. She just sat there. She couldn’t help but feel like this should be something good. Then a lifetime of her own experiences flew through her mind.
She could at least partially understand why Warren and Ezekiel were so weary right now. She rightfully figured that Warren had accused Ezekiel of criminal activity, as he’d often go out and was not under their watchful eye at all hours of the day, so it made sense that he could get up to no good.
But she couldn’t believe that that would be the case, as she had no doubts that her son was a good boy. Not only that, but she didn’t think that Ezekiel would feel so guilty about something like this if it was illegal. No, she imagined that this was something far worse.
“Does... does the Hunter know about this? Is that why you’re so worried? Is the guild going to demand compensation? Are they going to come after my baby!?” Evelyn started getting angry as she stood up from her chair. The shadows around her were starting to move as her emotions affected her magic.
“No, honey, the Hunter doesn’t know about Ezekiel’s magic. Although compensation is going to be something we need to be aware of. The Church of Light and other anti-Void Mage groups as well. The Church of Ten I think we can trust, as I have no doubt they would greatly appreciate this discovery.” Warren said as calmly and as strongly as he could, causing Evelyn to calm down as she sat back down in her chair.
“Then what’s the problem? It seems like there’s more to this then what you’re telling me right now.” Evelyn asked after a few deep breaths.
For a moment, neither Ezekiel nor Warren spoke, knowing full well that Evelyn’s previous outburst would be nothing compared to what was about to be said.
Warren just looked at Ezekiel with a helpless expression, but also felt determined to go through with this, as he had no wish to put his son in further harm's way.
Ezekiel, on the other hand, kept thinking about what he could do to get out of this. To not get into any more trouble, and most importantly, to not have his path to magic, his chance to grow, taken away from him by his very protective mother.
“Ezekiel. Tell me what you did.” Evelyn said, her voice flat and calm as she spoke.
For a moment, Ezekiel said nothing, but then he remembered something. Something that might be able to get him out of this.
“Dad, can you do the revelation thing?” Ezekiel said as he looked over at his father. “I think I need you to do this.”
“... Why? Your mother and I have no reason to doubt your words. What you’ve been doing is too foolish to be anything but the truth at this point.” Warren said with a curious tone in his voice.
“Because what I’m about to tell you is a legitimate reason as to why I need to keep training, regardless of the dangers.” Ezekiel said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Evelyn looked confused. She knew there were dangers when accumulating magic, but Ezekiel had made it sound like it was far worse than any of the other dangers she had ever heard of.
Warren, on the other hand, knew exactly how dangerous it was for Ezekiel to continue on this path, and had his doubts.
“I don’t think that’s possible. Whilst I understand that you feel a need to do this. I don’t think there’s anything you can say, even under an Orb of Revealing Light, that would make me think this is too dangerous.” Warren stated in his own matter-of-fact tone.
“I’m going to die.” Ezekiel said in a deadpan tone of voice.
Warren and Evelyn were shocked. Evelyn because the thought of her baby boy dying was almost too much for her, and Warren because he thought that Ezekiel was trying to trick them into letting him train in his suicidal technique.
“I’m not lying. This is not a trick to make you let me train my mana. This is the truth, but you won’t believe me with just my word, because you care too much about my well-being, but this is the truth, which you will understand if you use your magic to confirm that!” Ezekiel’s voice had started to rise as nearly started shouting.
“Now you listen here young man-” Warren started to say.
“No, you listen! I’ve always felt a need to train my mana. To break through and become an official Tier one Mage, but I never knew why until today. I finally found out today why I need to do this, and even if you say that you won’t let me, I'm going to do this. I’m going to break through, within the year if I have to, because I’ve just found out I don’t have as much time as I thought I did. Right now, your fear for me is holding me back, and your rejection of the possibility that I might be right, that my suicidal method might be the only thing that can save me, is causing you to look away from the truth, because it’s something you don’t like!”
By the time Ezekiel had finished his tirade, Warren and Evelyn were shocked. Ezekiel had never yelled like that before, let alone at his own parents. He was usually quiet, snarky, and all together quite respectful of the both of them when it came to their wishes.
To hear their son yelling at them in such a manner was so out of character for him that they didn’t know what to say. But the worst thing for the both of them, were the tears and the fear that they could see in Ezekiel’s eyes.
Before, Warren had just assumed that this was something that Ezekiel had dearly wanted, something that he had made and didn’t want taken away from him. But the danger was so great that he’d decided that, for his own good, Ezekiel couldn’t be allowed to cultivate as he had been.
But now, both he and Evelyn could tell that this wasn’t just something that Ezekiel wanted to keep, this was something that he truly felt that he needed, more than anything else, more than food and water, probably even more than air.
“The Relic, it showed me something. I need to tell you what it was.” Ezekiel said quietly after a few seconds of catching his breath and calming down.
For a second, neither Warren nor Evelyn said anything. Ezekiel’s heart was about to drop as he realized that they weren’t going to do anything.
“Theo, come here please.” Warren said as he held out his arms.
Theo walked over from where he’d been laying on the floor across the room, growing as he did.
Placing one hand on the now full-sized lion’s head, a light flowed through both their bodies, focusing on Warren’s empty hand.
An orb of light appeared, and Ezekiel felt a pressure on his mind as he looked at it.
“Place your hand on the orb and know that you will not be allowed to train your mana if your answers are not sufficient.” Warren said in a calm and soothing voice. The aura he let off in this moment was that of a man with a higher understanding of the world. As if all was revealed to him and him alone, and felt nothing for it.
Swallowing nervously, Ezekiel put a hand on the orb. The pressure in his mind increased, and Ezekiel felt something go inside his mind, his soul. He knew that he would not be able to tell a lie until he’d removed his hand.
“I talked to the Ancient of the Void.” He spoke.
Evelyn gasped as she heard this, but Warren’s face merely twitched before settling down.
“At least, I think it was. It looked just like the Church of Ten’s depictions. A featureless human whose face and cloak are made of stars. He told me that I had found the key, but that I still needed to open the door. If I don’t, I will not survive the trials that are coming.” Ezekiel said, his voice growing weaker as he finished.
He removed his hand from the orb. The light coming from his father and Theo immediately dimmed, and the two slumped forward gasping for breath. Whilst not the most intensive spell, it was still exhausting, and required the both of them pooling their mana to work.
Warren looked at Ezekiel after catching his breath. There were tears slowly forming at the corners of his eyes. He knew what Ezekiel said was true but wished more than anything that it wasn’t.
“You have my permission to keep training. But we are telling the Church, and you shall do so while supervised.” Warren said with a tone of finality. “We shall talk to them after the twins undergo their awakening ceremony tomorrow.”
Ezekiel was relieved at what his father had said. But a question from his mother brought dread back into his heart. He knew he now had permission, but he still didn’t want to tell his mother what he’d been doing.
“That’s all you have to say?! Our baby was just told he could die by a remnant of the Ancient of the Void, and all you’re going to do is give him permission to train? Of course he has permission, why wouldn’t he? What’s so wrong about his training method?” Evelyn was frantic as she started babbling.
Ezekiel and Warren shared a morose look with one another before finally explaining why his training was so dangerous.
“WHAT!?”
Evelyn’s scream was loud enough to wake the girls sleeping in the semi-soundproofed floor above them.