In the highest floor of the seventh district Lord's mansion, two figures were talking in a semi-lit room while looking down at a nameless map. One of the figures is a dark clothed person, with a hood covering his face and a small dark sword on his hip. Going by his slim body and small stature, he exuded a youthful feeling.

The other person was a bearded man with broad shoulders and stern eyes. His face hinted that he was in his late forties, but his strong, vigorous body, coupled with his pitch black hair made him seem like a person in his prime.

As the two figures stared at each other, bearded man was the first to speak:

"Is it done?"

"Yes."

"How did it go?"

"Entering was not too hard, exiting also was not hard. Only I had to make look like I fought my way through, leaving a few guards dead here and there."

"I see. Well, rumor has it that the Wayle family head hired an assassin to kill the Ranes family head. The rumors should gain some traction in the next few days."

"Haha, is that so. Let us give a day or two to grow nicely. For now, I have something for you."

The dark closed person extended his hand. In his hand was what seemed to be a parchment that was folded. The bearded man looked at the parchment suspiciously and then took it. He immediately unfolded the paper and stared at it. As he stared at it, he couldn’t help but furrow his brows slightly and spoke again:

"I don't know what this is."

"Haha. It is a treasure map."

The bearded person furrowed his brows further as he heard the words ' treasure map' causing him to look at the parchment further. However, no matter how hard he looked he couldn’t make out where exactly this map was. In fact, this entire map was a bundle of crisscrossing lines with a single red line.

"A treasure map that leads where exactly."

"Before I tell you that Neal, Let me ask you; Exactly how rich do you think the four families are."

Neal couldn’t help frown at the question. The four families ruled over Blackreach City, which is one of the richest cities in the continent, for almost a millennia; imagining the amount of wealth they accumulated over the years, one needs to have great imagination, and even then it would be a modest estimate.

Neal simply shook his head trying to calculate it or even imagine it and just spoke resignigly:

"Innumerable. That is all I can say."

"Haha. Indeed. But when I went to the Ranes Family treasury, the amount I found was simply too small. I also found this little parchment. So tell me, where do you think this map leads?"

After he heard these words, Neal's eyes lit up and a look of excitement flashed through them. He looked at the parchment in his hand and then back at the figure that stood across from him and then spoke again with excitement evident in his voice:

"Wesley...Are you saying.."

"Haha. Indeed. I believe this map leads to some sort of treasury where the four families horded all their accumulated wealth. Unfortunately, the Ranes Family head was already dead by the time i found this, so I couldn’t verify."

"What now?"

"Now? Now we proceed with the original plan. I don't know where this map leads or where it is exactly, so I'll ask the Wayle Family head soon."

"I see. Did you find anything else that might be of use."

Neal's voice contained some hints of his initial excitement, but he still maintained a dignified appearance. This caused Wesley to laugh inwardly, he knew that the allure of such an enormous wealth was not small, and even Neal, was not immune to it.

"I didn’t find anything as great as the map. But I did learn one things that make our lifes much easier."

"What?"

"Well, it seems that the four families have completely buried any evidence that they were involved with the Black Family killings. Now, aside from you, me, and the heads of the four families, no one knows what truly happened."

After Neal heard Wesley's words, he couldn’t help but become furious. He slammed his hand down on the table in front of him and spoke:

"Those bastards. They kill without remorse, and then distance themselves from association. How exactly is this good for us?"

Neal wasn’t an easily excited person so there are very few things that anger him, but seeing the four families act like nothing happened after killing almost a dozen of his relatives was enough to push anyone beyond their wits.

"Relax Neal. This indeed would have been bad for us if we wanted to shed light on the whole matter. But, am sure your Black Family would get the worst of it."

Wesley's words were, admittedly somewhat insensitive and blunt, but still held some truth. If the general public were made aware of the four families' actions, then there would be very little Wesley and Neal could further. The wealth and influence of the four families is so much, that they could kill the Black Family ten times over and no one could do anything to them.

Furthermore, if the conflict between the four families and the Black Family was made known to the whole world, then it would not be long before the true identity of the Black Family is discovered. If that happened, then the four families would be the least of their worries. Wesley continued speaking:

"Also, we have already decided to settle your debt in blood and in the shadows. The less people who know of our conflict with the four families, the less people I have to kill, and the less repercussions we'll face after everything is done."

Neal was quiet for a moment. Then he lifted his head up and spoke with a slightly resigned voice:

"I know Wesley. No need to lecture me."

"Good, Good. I will head home for now. Come visit me tomorrow, I'll have the gold I received from the Ranes Manor ready for you."

"When are you planning on moving against the Wayle Family?"

"Hmm, I'll give it a few days. Every noble in the city would be on edge for a few days after they hear of the Ranes' tragedy. It will also give enough time for your rumors to spread nicely."

Neal thought for a moment and then spoke:

"What will you do if the four families meet again. This entire plan could fall apart if they discuss the matter."

"Haha. It would indeed be troublesome if the new Ranes Family head talks to the other family heads and they realize what happened was a ploy by a third party. Fortunately, that would never happen."

"Why not. The four families have always been close, and I don’t think a few common folk rumors could change that."

"Haha, I know the four families are close. But the seed of mistrust have already been planted. Also, if the Wayle head is confronted he will definitely deny any involvement, which is exactly what he would have done if he was guilty."

"Wesley. You count too much on happenstance and chances. Your strategies are indeed impressive, but as they are, they can be seen through easily."

"Haha. Neal, for  as long as I can remember, I was taught about politics, intrigue, duplicity, and many other things, I can compete with the best of them when it comes to subterfuge and planning. Do you know what the greatest lesson i learned is."

"What?"

"Haha. I learned that humans are very simple creatures. Faced with the same situation, nine out of ten react the same way. This makes it very easy to predict human behavior."

Neal was surprised by Wesley's words. He knew that Wesley was not like other children his age, he seemed too cold and calculating, but he also seemed more mature. Now, hearing Wesley talk about his childhood education, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life this youth led that made him the way he is.

"I understand Wesley. Just be careful, if your any of your plans fall short, you risk walking in on a trap."

"I got it. I got it. Neal, try figuring out where that map leads. I'll get going."

Wesley immediately walked to the exit to the small room and promptly exited leaving Neal standing there alone. Neal was not stupid; he realized that Wesley was not as simple as he seemed. In fact, if one took into consideration his age, his ruthlessness, and his mysterious background, it wasn’t too hard to see a glimpse of Wesley's background.

Neal couldn’t help but wonder if it was a good idea to get involved with him at all. Unfortunately, he needed Wesley for his revenge and Wesley seemed to genuinely care about his nephews, so there shouldn’t be any problems.  

......................................................................................................................

The next morning, at around seven in the morning, Wesley, dressed in his red school uniform walked out from the his Manor. If anyone saw this seemingly still half asleep youth, with his innocent eyes and simple smile, they would never, in a thousand years, believe that he killed someone in his own house.

As soon as Wesley set foot outside of the Manor, he felt a pair of eyes glued to him causing him to slightly snicker; the same mechanism the four families put in place to keep him in check, now serve as his alibi.

Wesley simply ignored them and walked towards the academy. Normally, Wesley wouldn’t go to the academy this early since the only class he had to attend was swordsmanship and that was at around elven, however, today Wesley needed to go to the academy earlier to spend some time at the library.

Over the last seven months, Wesley continued his research into the mysteries of mana. Using the Oliver Reme's journal, Wesley was able to rely on the recorded theories to save himself forty years of pointless research.

Oliver Reme's theories were not only well documented and researched, it also seemed that a lot of time was spent on retests until each theory was disproved without a single shadow of doubt. Some of these theories even seemed accurate, but they were nonetheless disproved through intense testing by Reme.

Each of Reme's theories caused Wesley to exclaim as he thought that he found the true essence of mana, but each time Reme would disprove it so thoroughly that Wesley was left dumbfounded.

After reading all the theories and after each of them was disproved, Wesley was at a loss. He couldn’t come up with any other theories regarding the nature of mana. So after a period of pondering where to go from here, Wesley decided to search for more books regarding mana.

If Wesley decided to slowly think up of possible theories and then slowly test them until they are disproved or maintained, it wouldn’t be surprising if Wesley spent eighty years while still not finding anything. And, this is assuming that he is as capable as Reme was, which he isn't.

So, Wesley decided on the alternate path; find other research regarding mana learn from those like he did Reme's. Wesley convinced himself that standing on the shoulders of giants to reach greater heights is not inappropriate, rather, he is simply doing his part to help those died before reaching their goal.

Wesley soon reached the academy and headed straight to the library which is located in the main building. Over his almost two years at the academy, Wesley has never once gone to the library. It was simply pointless since he had all the books he needed in his study.  

Wesley immediately walked into the library. The library was very dimly lit and the musky scent of books and wood covered the air. Wesley headed straight to the main desk which was facing the entrance.

There was scramy azure robed old man sitting behind the counter reading some book. At first glance, this old man seemed extremely fragile and half way to the grave, but his eyes shone with a vigorous light and seemed to contain boundless wisdom.

Seeing this old man, Wesley didn’t dare be disrespectful. An azure robe signified an elder, and Wesley have learned to never underestimate the elders of this school, even the one who seemed to blow away with a simple gust.  

Wesley walked up to the elder causing him to look up curiously from his book and at Wesley. Wesley simply bowed slightly and spoke with no small amount of respect in his voice:

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Elder. I wish to inquire about some books."

The elder looked at Wesley from head to toe, seemingly sizing him up. Wesley felt like he couldn’t hide anything from this elder's gaze that seemed to fathom every truth. However, after a few moments of silence, the elder spoke with a voice so soft that one would wonder if he really spoke at all:

"What books?"

"Anything on mana."

The elder once again looked at Wesley with a deep gaze that contained a hint of surprise. There were many reasons behind his gaze; first, Wesley was clearly a swordsman, so what use does a swordsman have for mana. Also, this academy is predominantly an academy for mages, and the first thing one learns about as a mage is mana control and refining, so no mage reads about it.

Wesley, as if seeing what the elder was thinking, smiled back and spoke once again:

"Elder, I am learning breathing exercises for swordsmen. I want to see if I can understand something about the process."

Hearing this, a somewhat slight sneer formed on his lips;it was clear that mages looked down on swordsmen and their techniques. The elder simply put his book aside and pulled out a thick book from the counter and immediately started going through it. After almost two minutes of back and forth page turning, the elder nodded at a certain page then turned to Wesley and spoke:

"Row ten, column seven, book 432 and 433."

"Thank you Elder."

Wesley immediately headed to the designated area and looked for the two books. He wasn’t surprised that there are only two books regarding mana in this entire library, after all, mana is only but a tool to most mages, and side from few odd ones like Oliver Reme, most mages ignore as such.

After finding the two books, Wesley tried finding a place to sit. Surprisingly, even though it was still early, the library was almost filled to the brim by students. Most of these students were second years studying for specific classes they either failed last year or are failing now, while others, like Wesley, had something to do.

Wesley walked around the library trying to find a place to sit, only to fail. After, sighing resignigly and cursing how studious the other students are, he couldn’t help but go back to the elder and check out the two books to read them somewhere else.  

Wesley immediately headed to the courtyard which is a small open space outside of the academy's main building. Most of the students use the courtyard to socialize and just relax.  

Reaching the courtyard, Wesley went up to the one of the many trees scattered around the courtyard and sat underneath it. It was still pretty early, so not many students were around the courtyard giving Wesley a nice, quiet, place to read.

After a few hours of reading, Wesley was disappointed at these two books. Whomever wrote these books did so thinking that they deciphered the truth behind mana. Their theories were in fact slightly different than the ones Reme found, but unlike Reme who spent a long time disproving his theories, these two books were just based on initial tests.

One book claimed that mana's source is from the core of the earth. This theory was indeed similar to one of Reme's theories that claimed that mana originates from the center of the earth. However, he noticed that mana levels are the same regardless of where is at, which means that this theory can't be true, because, places that are underground should have higher mana levels.

The other book claimed that mana is a recyclable form of energy that exists in the atmosphere. This was one of the hardest theories for Reme to disapprove because it contained some truth, mana is indeed somewhat unlimited, but not necessarily recyclable. If a mage refines mana and stores it in his mana core, then does then does the space that that portion of mana occupied in the space remain empty. It does not, so there is mana is replaced rather than recycled.

"Oh, what do we have here, some trash under my tree."

Wesley was brought back from his musings by a voice filled with disdain and arrogance. Wesley looked up from the book he had to the source of the voice.

Standing around ten feet from him were five or so students. The foremost students was surprisingly a blue-robed first year while the others were red robed. Wesley had no idea who spoke, but going by how the red robed students were standing respectfully behind the blue robed students, it was most likely the blue robed student.

This blue robed students had blue hair, which unlike Wesley's blue hair, was far deeper. His face was also somewhat tanned with a healthy glow and handsome features. His eyes contained no small amount of arrogance as he looked down on Wesley who was sitting down.

The blue robed students spoke once again with the disdain still present in his tone of speech:

"You, trash. Leave, this is my spot."

Wesley simply stared at this bashful youth who seemed to own the very ground he was sitting on and sighed inwardly. Wesley smiled kindly at the youth and spoke:

"My apologies. I didn’t know that this was your tree."

After Wesley finished speaking, he slowly got up and started dusting his pants. As he was dusting his pants and was about to leave, the blue-robed student spoke again:

"Oh..Mind leaving your shirt behind for me to sit on. You seem to have dirtied the ground."

"Young master...."

"Quiet."

One of the red robed students spoke trying to tell something to the blue robed student but was silenced promptly. The red robed students shot Wesley an apologetic smile as he took a step back to where there the other red robed students were.

Seeing this exchange, Wesley couldn’t help but be down. He somehow attracts all the spoiled brats that this world has. It almost feels like they seek him out for no reason, however, looking at the two swords at his hip, he knew the reason.

Swordsmanship is considered a commoner's practice. And the students at this academy are mostly nobles, so they just can't help but see anyone with a sword as beneath them. Wesley simply shook his head while smiling and spoke again:

"Little Junior. Let us be reasonable."

Hearing Wesley's words, the blue robed students eye's almost turned red and his proud countenance turned to one of rage as he roared at Wesley:

"What junior you bastard. I am a second year student."

Seeing the youths reaction, Wesley was astonished. This youth was apparently a second year student who failed to go up one class.

Suddenly Wesley felt playful and somewhat vengeful as he honed in on this youth's greatest insecurity and spoke with a mock surprise on his face:

"Second year. Little Junior, are you color blind? You're wearing blue, while second years wear red. You know like this."

Wesley pointed to his own uniform as he spoke. The blue robed youth was so enraged that the makings from his frown would most definitely leave permanent marks. The student glared at Wesley, as if imagining how to make him suffer most.

"Trash. You dare mock me. I'll show you."

The blue robed student muttered something beneath his breath and a few seconds later, a fierce fire ball appeared in his hand. The student looked at the fireball, then at Wesley hoping to see some sort of fear only to find Wesley giving him the thumbs up.

"Is this what you wanted to show me Little Junior. It is indeed a pretty ball of flames. Can you do some tricks?"

Hearing Wesley's words, the blue robed student fumed. He felt his vision tunnel and focus on the approvingly nodding and smiling Wesley. He immediately tossed the fireball towards Wesley while shouting:

"Die Trash."  

The Fire Ball rushed towards Wesley who was only ten feet away. Wesley noticed that this fireball was extremely wobbly and its course weak. Wesley now understood why this youth failed to pass on to the next level. This amount of skill was pitiful, in fact, Wesley was wondering how he even managed to pass the entrance examination.

Wesley waited until the fireball was with half a feet of him and then he leaned slightly to the left. The fireball has been so wobbly that by the time it reached Wesley, it was almost off target. All Wesley had to do was lean away slightly and it passed by him.  

Wesley looked back at the blue robed youth who was now glaring at him while heaving heavy breaths and spoke:

"Little Junior. This is unacceptable. With this level of skill, you won't be able to become  a second year student and you'll wear blue for another year."

The blue robed student could almost spit blood. This person he approached seemed to be a horrible bastard who clung on to a person greatest insecurity like a leach until every single drop of blood has been sucked.  

Wesley continued speaking in his seemingly sincere tone while viciously attacking the blue robed student:

"Ah, I know. Little Junior, you magic is utter trash, but you could definitely become a swordsman. I could even tutor you..."

Wesley paused for a moment as if in deep thought, and then he continued speaking in a dejected voice:

"Never mind, Little Junior. Swordsmanship also requires talent and skill, so you won't be able to learn it as well."

"Wesley, you're pushing it."

One of the red robed students behind the blue robed youth spoke while the blue robed youth himself was starring daggers at Wesley with a loss for words. Wesley looked at the red robed students and smiled amiably as he spoke:

"Oh. Fellow Second Year Student, I apologize. Haha."

Wesley laughed as he walked past the blue robed youth who seemed shocked still. He has emphasized the words ' Fellow Second Year Student' on purpose in order to irk the blue robed youth further.

Wesley hardly ever bothered with anyone, but if someone, somehow managed to annoy him, then Wesley wouldn’t waste even a speck of restraint on that person. Fortunately, for this student, Wesley was not allowed to kill or injure other students, or he might have already stepped over his lifeless body.

After Wesley was gone for almost a minute, the blue robed youth turned to his followers and barked:

"You Useless bastards. How dare you let him speak to me like that."

The four students all looked down looking meek. The one who spoke to Wesley spoke up again:

"Young master, we tried to tell you. That was Wesley"

"Who the hell is this Wesley?"

"Young master. You missed last year's ranking competition. Wesley made a name for himself that day. No one in the second class doesn’t know about him."

The scene of Wesley dismantling not one but two mages after they had already invoked their spells has been imprinted deep into the minds of many of his classmates.  No mage believed they could beat a swordsman in one on one combat, but they still believed that they were more powerful than a mage if only they were given the chance to invoke, however, this was not the case in front of Wesley.

"Wesley. Wesley."

The blue robed youth stared at the way Wesley went with murder in his eyes. He has never been so humiliated his entire life, let alone being looked down upon.

.....................................................................................................................................................

Aloha.

For those of you who wanted an antagonist, here you go.

For those of you who wanted a love interest, i can't even manage that in RL, let alone in Fic. :)

Now, a special shout out to [ qtjr168 ] whose reading sequence of the chapters went something like this: 1, 2, 5, 3, 4, 8, 12, 9, 6, 13, 14, 11, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 22, 25, 24, 28, 27, 29, 26.

I think this is a code, so if one of you guys breaks it, hit me up.

Enjoy