When the boat reached the main island, Ryan pulled on his socks and sneakers, then waited for Tyler to help him out of the boat. They made their way to the main building for lunch, where a meal of sandwiches and fruit had been set out on the table in the dining room.

Having rested some, Ryan stretched out his senses of air and water as they sat down, surprised to find someone else seated as well. Usually, others either grabbed lunch and left, or sat down and ate alone. It seemed to him that for the most part, lunch was an 'as you can' ordeal. From what he could tell of their chest and the length of their hair, they were female.

"Got them!" Ryan exclaimed as he grabbed a few sandwiches. "First try, too!"

"Let me get the drink," Tyler said, before pouring it for Ryan. "Sandwiches are a bit different."

"What's today's drink?" Ryan asked. "Or are you pouring me water?"

"It's a blend of juices from mangoes, oranges, and pineapples," the other diner answered. "You must be Ryan and Tyler."

"I'm Ryan, this is my pet dog," Ryan said. "But he got cursed and turned into a person. We're currently working on fixing that, though. And him. He has a habit of humping every woman he sees, so we have to give him the snip."

"Please don't make vulgar comments around women," Tyler whispered in Ryan's ear as Ryan sensed his servant's discomfort.

"It's okay, Tyler," Ryan said. "I'm just warning her not to fall for your devilish wiles. She should fall for my godly ones instead."

He heard a snort from across the table, and decided to extend his empathy to its full range, noticing the amusement in her mind. Amusement, plus some curiosity.

"I haven't met any women here," Ryan said as Tyler sat beside him, serving his own lunch. "Who weren't a part of the staff, and the staff isn't allowed to eat at this table."

"I'm Bethany Mieria," she introduced herself. "Damien is my uncle. After your father contacted his, he contacted my mother – his sister – and asked if I would be willing to come out as well. I only arrived a few hours ago, I had some other plans set up already for the last few days. It is partly to keep you company, partly to guide you around the islands, should you wish it. I grew up here, and would likely be much better company than the servants. They can be quite stiff, and my father wants your experience here to be pleasant."

"Excellent!" Ryan said. "After lunch, we were going to travel to the island with the Heisar, if they were okay with that. I wanted to check it out and ask a few questions regarding it."

"I can take you there," she told him. "I'm curious to see it myself, though I was briefed on it during the trip."

"Then it's settled!" Ryan declared. "After we give Tyler the snip, we'll head on over!"

"Sir," Tyler said, his master sensing the high amount of exasperation in the servant's mind. "If you give me the snip, then I won't be able to produce children, as you are so intent on having me do."

"Right," Ryan said as he felt his servant's mind turn to horror at having said that both in front of a lady and while not in private. "Then after we eat, we'll head on over!"

Ryan began eating, noting his servant taking a moment to start. They were left to their own devices outside of the training enough that Tyler had relaxed more than he normally did. Even the earlier incident didn't do too much to revert that. While it might be seen as rude by others, no one would comment about it too strongly, not with him being Ryan's servant.

They finished their meal, then left, accompanied by Bethany. At the small docks on the back of the island, they boarded a boat, Bethany instructing the waiting mage to take them to Heisar Island.

"That can't be its name," Ryan commented as the mage began manipulating the water to propel the boat.

"It is," she told him. "There are more than fifty islands here, and not all of them had names before. Heisar Island wasn't used much, so it was just a number before the Heisar formed."

"I see," Ryan said. "Do you know why they suspect manalirate is in it without knowing for sure? It's only in one Heisar so far."

"There is a creature," she explained. "Which is only found in a single Heisar – the one with the manalirate, owned by Raxvar Corporation. At least, it was only found in a single Heisar. Now, it's in two: the Raxvar Heisar and the Mieria Heisar. Uncle suspects there might be manalirate due to that. He says we'll only know for sure if we find it, but it would be strange for this Heisar to have something only found in a single other one, and not something else unique to it. The only times creatures or plants are unique to a Heisar, there are several others which are as well."

Ryan nodded at that explanation. From what he knew, the Novar Heisar had three unique things, including the metal used to make the wedding ring his father wore and the one his mother had worn. Psyron, or 'psychic iron'. It allowed his parents to communicate with each other, no matter the distance, with just a little mana. No need for a mind affinity at all. Any items made from the same piece of ore were connected to each other.

A very rare metal, even in their own Heisar.

While he wasn't sure what the third unique item was, he did know that the second was a mushroom, which was turned into a drug by one of their branch families.

On a few occasions, a new Heisar was found to have the unique items of another Heisar, and when they did, they contained all of the unique items from the other Heisar. If the Mieria Heisar had a creature unique to the Raxvar Heisar, then it was safe to assume it also contained manalirate.

"The only way you'll know for sure," Ryan said. "Is when your workers locate manalirate. That will likely take a couple of months, however, if it's as deep in this Heisar as in the Raxvar's."

"We have the patience for that," she told him. "The only thing I hope for is that we're able to protect the Heisar and keep it within the Family. While we trust you, your servant, and your father not to share the suspicions, if the Guilds found out we might have our own source of manalirate, they will wage war."

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"Is that why your uncle accepted mine's request?" Ryan asked. "He had only learned of it shortly before my father called, from what I hear."

As soon as he asked that, he knew he could get the answer from her. For a week, he had tried to learn more, but no one was a suitable target. Damien himself mostly oversaw the Heisar, meaning he was on that island most of the time, and nearly everyone else – from the mages teaching Tyler to the servants – didn't know such information.

But with his inquiry, he sensed in her mind confusion, surprise, hesitation, and a hint of determination. No resistance, hostility, or anything else he would expect in someone who would not answer the question.

"That is only part of it," she told him. "He would ordinarily have gone to the Veloas for protection rather than the Novar, and would have kept the Heisar a secret from you and your father, even if he agreed to allow you to visit a few of our islands."

"So why didn't he?" Ryan asked. "Why make us aware of it, even tell us about the suspicions?"

"Because we're likely nearing the end of the Third Age of Magic," she answered. "We're in the year of 161 PGC, and each Age before has lasted around fifty years. Unless things remain as they are, the pattern is likely to hold. With the current state of the world, something will happen to shift the power. You simply can't have three ruling classes lording over the same territory for too long.

"My uncle knows our Family is weak," she continued. "Nearly all of us are water mages of the Basic Tier, with a few of us standing in the Advanced Tier. I am only Tier 5 in water. Our combat ability isn't great. If war comes to Earth, then we will be targeted, especially because we have a Heisar – even if it doesn't have manalirate."

She stopped there, and Ryan waited a minute for her to continue with her explanation.

"That doesn't quite answer the question," he said when she remained silent.

"Part of it," she said. "Did come from your father contacting my uncle so soon after. Part came from the fact that the Families near our own properties are allied with yours."

"Yet he still should have gone to the Veloas," Ryan said. "I'm not seeing a strong reason for your uncle to be willing to divulge so much to my father."

He could sense her contemplation on how to word what was next. It was something sensitive, but not in a secret way. He was sure of that. She wanted to tell him, just didn't know how to say it. Whatever other reason there was, Ryan knowing it might cause an issue.

"My family did not always have an issue with yours," Bethany eventually told him. "Your mother, Elise, had been engaged to my uncle. Your father decided he wanted her, and so he took her. As the heir to the Novar Family, he had that authority. She was a fourth cousin of his, and as a member of a branch family, she had to marry him. They were nineteen at the time. It's been twenty-eight years since then, and my father has hated yours because of that ever since."

"Memories can be altered with time," Ryan said. "But it always seemed like she genuinely loved him."

"From what Uncle says, she did," Bethany responded. "He hated that. He hated seeing her love your father rather than him. She had romanced him, and he had romanced her. Then your father took her. He didn't do anything outright, but Uncle decided then that we wouldn't do dealings with your family."

Ryan thought about that. He still had to get his question answered, but he wondered how differently his life would have been had he been born between his mother and Damien rather than his mother and his father. He probably wouldn't be blind, but he also probably wouldn't be as powerful. His personality would no doubt be different. Different biology, different education, different growth and settings.

A different person entirely.

"And he suddenly decided to put that behind him?" Tyler asked, and Ryan felt his servant's embarrassment and nerves. "My apologies, that came out before I could stop it."

"It is fine," Ryan said. "I am wondering the same thing."

"When my uncle found out you were blind," Bethany told Ryan, and he felt her nervousness increasing. "He was actually relieved. From what I hear, he made a rather unpleasant comment, including how your family is effectively dead. As soon as you became Family Head, the rest of the family – all of its branches – would effectively begin a war to take that spot from you. No child of yours would ever be seen as head."

"That is true," Ryan said. "It would take something quite potent to change how people view me and any children I have."

Which was why he wanted to become the second Gray Mage. As a being with that much power, no one would be able to contest him, ever.

"It also makes it effectively impossible for you to marry within your own Family," she said. "The main reason my uncle hated your father for what he did was because the marriage between my uncle and your mother was supposed to join our families into one. My uncle would have been fine as a branch family up until your father did that."

"And now he wants to try again?" Ryan asked.

"Nearly every non-servant cousin of yours around our age," she said. "Is being mentioned as having marriage arrangements made. There isn't a single rumor of you having one. My uncle says that, while we can't change the past, we need to look at the future. And right now, the future says the world is going to go to war. The first true worldwide war since before the Great Collapse. Strategically, the best thing for the Families with the coming war would be if the Novar and the Veloas Families united.

"That means," she continued. "That your family and the Veloas are no doubt going to merge into a single one. A force that controls more than half of Earth's underworld. My uncle is faced with a decision: try to merge into the Veloas Family, or try to merge into the Novar Family. Remaining independent or as an ally would only invite us to be attacked. We need to be part of something powerful, not just an alliance. Not with our Heisar, and especially not if it has manalirate in it. The first step of the war would be securing every resource possible, and Heisars are resources which renew themselves."

Ryan pieced everything together then. Damien lost the chance at merging into the Novar Family when he was a teen, having only just begun his time at college, no doubt. With the changing tides, and the suspicion that the two most powerful Families were merging, he wanted to try that again. If not his own heir, then another member of his family.

Bethany. The reason she was there was an attempt to seduce Ryan, or at least, to loosen him up to the idea of marrying her. Without any actual prospects for marriage, they no doubt suspected the teen would be willing to marry anyone who showed interest in him. If Ryan and Bethany had a child, even if they didn't take over as head and the child of the Veloas and Novar did, it would still be what Damien had wanted three decades prior.

Which is why it made sense for Damien to want to let Ryan stay there for a few months. It would give his niece time to seduce him. If that failed, then it was possible that Damien would end up marrying his line into the Veloas, only for it to merge into the Novar later. At that point, however, it wouldn't truly be a marriage between the Novars and the Mierias.

The teen didn't mind that sort of manipulation, and was surprised that Bethany was up-front about it. A moment of thought later, however, and he realized that she didn't feel comfortable trying to seduce him for that. She would do it anyway, but she at least wanted him aware of the situation.

He decided he would play along for his time with the Mierias. When he finished his resets of the time period, he would pursue Kayla, because he wanted the powerful child that would result from their union. That would leave Jonathan without a bride, and even if he was only a cousin, he was still a Novar.

In the final run, Ryan would arrange for Jonathan to marry Bethany. It would add one more Family to the full might of the Novars, it would help Damien overcome his dislike of the Novars and accomplish what he had wanted thirty years prior, and Ryan would get what he wanted.

"As it's clear," Ryan said. "That the reason you're here is to accomplish your uncle's old goal of merging your bloodline into mine, I'm curious, Bethany. Do you have an issue with being married off politically?"