The next morning, after breakfast, Aodhán, Aldric, and a reluctant Daruk made their way to the garden behind the house. All that was left of it was a barren and blackened land. Not even the ashes remained, as they had been swept away by the wind.
“I can't believe you ruined mother's garden so terribly.” Aldric snickered. “She must have had a seizure when she saw it.”
“Almost, but no.” Aodhán chuckled. “She'll have one, though, if she comes back from work to meet this garden like this.”
“Does that mean more magic?” Daruk asked and waved his hands. “Please say yes, because these hands weren't made for manual labor.”
Aldric leaned against the wall and gestured towards the garden. “Mine neither; besides, a little magical experiment can't hurt.”
Daruk snorted at his brother's response but moved to stand beside him anyway, leaving Aodhán standing at the center of the blackened garden.
Aodhán shook his head and discarded the rake he'd taken from the basement. As much as he feared any of their neighbors or reporters seeing what he was about to do, he was too excited and curious to do things the mundane way.
“Okay, but nothing too fancy.” He replied, and with a smile, he summoned a storm cloud half the size of the garden. He didn't charge it with energy this time; that wasn't what he was going for. What he needed was rain.
Rain poured down from the storm cloud in a sudden cascade, drenching Aldric and Daruk, who glared at him fiercely. Aodhán ignored them and instead focused on directing the storm cloud.
He cut off the rain from some parts and intensified it in others until the garden was completely soaked with water. Brown, muddy ground appeared a few minutes later, and when there was no longer any sign of blackened ground, Aodhán finally dismissed the cloud.
"Well, that was wasteful.” Aldric said as he squeezed water from his clothes and hair, but Aodhán just grinned. “It was also intentional.”
Daruk discarded the umbrella he'd created at one point and, with a wave of his hand, converted all the water on Aldric's cloth to ice before destroying it.”
Aldric shivered. “We could have used the umbrella together, but no, you're just so spiteful.”
Daruk ignored him and asked. “What next?”
Aodhán scratched his head. “Well, I guess we have to till the ground or something.”
Aldric snorted. “Look who would have been useful if they had just stayed an earth awakened.”
Daruk shot him a glare before creating a pair of ice hoes, one of which he handed to Aldric. “As you can see, I'm still very useful.”
“There's no way I'm touching that.” Aldric moved away from the chilling construct and gestured towards Aodhán. “Make one for me.”
Aodhán chuckled while Daruk hissed as he merged the two hoes together and moved to one edge of the garden to begin making ridges. It didn't take long to prepare the ground, and after that, Aodhán took out several jars of flower seeds he'd gotten from the basement.
There were only six jars, two of which were filled with blue Salingers, but one was filled with the brown and white flowers they'd ones had in the Warren.
“Eh, I doubt this will grow.” Aldric muttered as he eyed the jar. “Mom said it couldn't grow in this region.”
“Maybe.” Aodhán smiled. “But she didn't use magic.”
The other three jars contained seeds Daruk identified as Delphinium and another he recognized as a snapdragon seed. The last wasn't one any of them knew, but they planted it anyway.
They mixed, arranged, and organized the entire garden, sometimes bunching the seeds together and sometimes arranging them into organized rows. The whole thing barely took an hour, and when they were done, Daruk and Aldric shifted back.
“I guess the rest is left to you.” Daruk said, and Aldric nodded in agreement. “We have done our part.”
Aodhán chuckled. “Okay, here we go.”
He stretched his arms out, closed his eyes, and activated {Elemental Lightning—Green} and {Lightning Beam}, after which he imbued each skill with strands of energized willpower.
Green lightning surged out of his palms and into the earth like a torrent. It sank into the earth easily, like water in desert sand.
Aodhán turned, moving his arms like a sort of sprinkler, and that was when he caught a flash of a camera at the corner of his vision. Anger rose within him, and in a blink, he appeared before the Tier 19 reporter and seized his camera before smashing a Storm hammer on his head, knocking him unconscious.
Aldric whistled as he came to stand beside Aodhán, and Daruk murmured. “At least you got that snapper you always wanted.”
Aodhán smiled, but he wasn't really listening. Instead, he was scrolling through the most recent images the man had taken. His face darkened as he scrolled through images of himself, Daruk, Synové, Unrid, and most recently, Aldric. His entire family was in here, but what angered him the most was the last picture, a blurry image of the entire family eating dinner last night.
“Aodhán.”
Rage rose within him, hot and overwhelming, but Aldric stepped in front of him before he squashed the reporter's head like a watermelon.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Aodhán blinked as the concerned faces of his brothers came into focus. It was only then that he realized what he'd been about to do, and he immediately took a shuddering step backward.
“Get that man out of here.” Aldric shouted to Daruk, who immediately dragged the unconscious man away, and it wasn't until Daruk finally left his line of sight that Aodhán's rage finally subsided.
He shuddered and moved back until he leaned against the wall of the house.
“Do you still feel like popping heads?” Aldric asked, and when Aodhán shook his head, he nodded. “Good, that's good. So is this normal, or do you need therapy?”
Aodhán let out a sad chuckle and shook his head. “It's definitely not normal; I'm still suffering from the twisted effect.”
Aodhán cocked his head in confusion. “I thought you said it'd been three days since you gained the seal.”
“Yeah, but for some reason, this rage won't leave me.” Aodhán sighed and opened his eyes as Daruk returned. “I feel it simmering within me, ready to burst out and overwhelm my senses at a moment's notice.”
He glanced at the now-crushed camera in his hands for a moment before discarding it. “That man would have died if you guys hadn't been there.”
Surprisingly, he wasn't too bothered by the prospect, despite the fact that he knew he should. He was changing; he could feel it.
A month ago, the thought of killing someone would have sent him hurling, but now he only felt averse to it. He wasn't the least bit nauseated by the idea.
He turned to stare at the still-barren garden and chuckled bitterly. “I'm not really in the mood for any more gardening; I'd rather be alone at the moment.”
Aldric nodded, and Aodhán left. He made his way to his room, and with a tired sigh, he lay on his bed and closed his eyes. Images of gore and blood flashed before his eyes, but rather than fight them, he let them play out. He stayed like that for almost an hour before he finally got up, wrapped his storm scarf around his face, and headed to Norbuik.
It only took him a few minutes to get there, but as he moved through the quiet streets, he realized that his scarf drew more attention to him rather than reducing it.
People stared at him curiously, children pointed, and a few reporters stared at him suspiciously. Still, Aodhán refused to take it off, as that would only cause reporters to swarm him like flies. He passed by a newspaper stand and scowled when he read the headline of The Magic Times. “Young awakened claims ‘accidental’ bond with familiar—was it really luck?”
Principal Zatya had asked him the same question the second week, and he'd told her the same lies he'd told anyone else. She obviously hadn't believed him, but rather than pester him, she'd let the matter go, even going as far as stopping the other professors from pestering him.
Why couldn't the reporters be like that? Why couldn't they just buy into his lies and leave him to cultivate in peace? They obviously knew something was fishy about his story, and Aodhán thanked his stars for the multiple laws made against fighting down a class, as he was sure many would have attacked him if they weren't so restricted.
He weaved past a row of shuttles, heading towards the exchange pavilion to sell the conceptual cores he had left, as it was obvious Aldric didn't need them anymore.
He'd expected Aldric to be at the 15th tier at most, considering the scarcity of cores in the 12th sector, and although he hadn't asked yet, he suspected Aldric might have gone through a tribulation of his own.
He passed by another newspaper stand, and although he would have walked past without sparing the stack of newspapers a second glance, the headlines of the Arcane Observer caught his attention. “Child prodigy boasts of unmatched power—danger to others?”
Aodhán scowled and moved closer so he could read more, and when the peddler noticed his attention, she waved him forward. “Stranger, come.” She raised the arcane observer. “This only costs 5 coppers.”
Aodhán tried to move away. “No, sorry, I'm not interested.”
“Three coppers.” She urged him and frowned. “I can't go lower than that.”
Aodhán hesitated for a moment before he shrugged, paid, and collected the newspaper. He moved to the shade of a building not too far from the stand, and with a mixture of excitement and dread, he began reading.
The column began with some brief information about his age, name, and school, but Aodhán wasn't too worried about that, so he only skimmed to make sure they hadn't printed anything untoward about him. Surprisingly, there weren't, and as he read the second and third paragraphs, a faint smile bloomed on his face. Aodhán had been expecting something sordid or negative, but so far, there was nothing like that.
In the storied halls of the 5th Academy, a new name has risen to prominence: Aodhán Ashoka-Brystion. This first-year student has recently achieved a feat that has left the entire kingdom astounded—he successfully bonded with a familiar in the evolved class, an achievement once deemed impossible.
For those unfamiliar with the intricacies of familiar bonding, it's worth noting that such a process typically involves a psychic and symbiotic relationship between an awakened and a creature born from the origin plane.
Due to the overwhelming amount of chaos within these planes, it was formerly considered impossible to bond a familiar without being in the Mythic class or, at least, the late-stage Advanced class. Aodhán Ashoka-Brystion has shattered that illusion.
Even before he gained his bloodline and familiar, Aodhán is reported to have shown astounding control over his affinity and was able to fight four tiers up. Now, with a familiar name and a bloodline, Aodhán has been termed a champion candidate, estimated to be capable of fighting up nothing less than six evolved tiers and almost double that for mundane classes.
Aodhán could barely contain his smile as he read further, but his smile soon withered as he reached towards the end of the column.
As word of Aodhán's achievement spreads, many evolved and advanced-class individuals have begun taking drastic measures to replicate his success. However, the Ministry of Awakened Affairs maintains that bonding with a familiar at the evolved tier is technically impossible. They, along with many others, believe that Aodhán was likely aided by an artifact or an unknown ability.
Speculation continues to grow, but principal Zatya Malakov and ascendant candidate Lightus have publicly dismissed rumors of the academy secretly assisting Aodhán. They have declared the young prodigy under their protection, warning that any harm directed at him will be met with swift and brutal consequences.
Aodhán sputtered, his gaze fixed on the last few sentences. The fact that the principal had declared him under her protection wasn't too surprising, but ascendant candidate Lightus? No wonder he hadn't been assaulted yet.
He glanced surreptitiously at the surrounding area, but when he found nothing suspicious, he discarded the newspaper and continued on his way to the exchange pavilion.
He had known that he couldn't deceive everyone and that it was only a matter of time before the truth came out. It always did, but he had hoped to prolong it a little. Hopefully, he could do so with his next action.
He arrived at the exchange pavilion five minutes later, and after exchanging pleasantries with the old merchant, Aodhán took out all the conceptual cores he had left and placed them on the table. The merchant raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked. “Are you a student?”
“Does it matter?” Aodhán responded cautiously, and the merchant smiled. “I guess not.”
The merchant scrutinized the cores and began separating them according to their tier and affinity. This batch of cores was smaller than the last, but after the experience he'd gained last week, Aodhán was prepared to haggle for a better exchange rate.
After the merchant stated his price, the haggling began and continued for almost fifteen minutes until the man finally gave in and they came to a favorable agreement.
Aodhán walked out of the pavilion a few minutes later, almost thirty gold richer than when he'd first arrived, and with a wide smile, he headed for the Norbuik shopping mall to enact his plans.