1 year later:

3rd September, 3025 B.E.

A few hundred miles northwest of Agoross, a grassy plain was located with a sparse amount of trees here and there. It was evening and the sun was slowly setting to give way to the starry night. The tall grass was swaying in the soothing calm winds and there was not a soul to be seen for miles out.

If one had the ability to fly and had flown higher for a few hundred meters, he could have observed the far horizon from all sides and realized that the plain was separating two great forests.

The plane was like a great wide line that was separating two great forests. One of them was located in the northwest while the other was in the southeast.

In reality, the plain also served as a border between two countries. Both the giant forests belonged to those countries, one of them was known as the Ursus Kingdom while the other one was called the Red Horn Kingdom.

Since it was a border area and the relations between those two were not that great, there was nary a soul to be sighted for miles out.

There was no trade and no exchange of migrants between them. It was a closed border. The most activity that could be seen was from a select number of stealthy scouts and spies that were spread over hundreds of kilometres of area. Finding them was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Large scattered boulders were also dotting the plain. Many of them had small cracks on them due to wind and rain.

There was one such boulder lying right in the middle of the plain. It was not special from any angle and had similar cracks as the others. In one of its cracks, a pigeon egg-sized red triangular gemstone appeared out of nowhere with no rhyme or reason.

There was neither soul in sight nor was there any kind of fluctuation in wind pressure. Even the grass surrounding that boulder was not disturbed. Such an occurrence had maximum chances of disturbing even the bravest people present out there if they were present to witness it.

This occurrence had an uncanny resemblance to the phenomena that happened in a narrow dark street of a small frontier city known as Worlen a few years ago. Both of them happened without anyone noticing them.

The gem was stuck in the crack due to lack of space and a considerable force was required to either enlarge the crack or take the gem out. It was red-coloured and was slightly shining due to the reflection of sunlight.

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

A few days later

In the dark of the night, Rosa was lying on a bed in a large room somewhere in the Rokas clan manor. Her skin was cold to the touch and pale in colour. Her cheeks were sunken and she looked like she had starved for a few months.

She had lost her appetite and did not eat anything for the past few days. She was clearly on the verge of death. Her eyes were barely open and she was trying her best to cooperate with a lady standing near her bed.

Maria was standing near her and checking her pulse and breathing rate. The signs she found were not encouraging. Only Rokas was accompanying her in the room, standing at some distance. He had a frown on his face and was observing her checking Rosa.

There was no one else in the room beside them and he was patiently waiting for her to finish with her examinations.

After Maria did everything that a doctor had to do in a general physical examination, she released a sigh and stepped back from the bed. She turned towards Rokas with a sad expression. Rokas raised one of his eyebrows as if questioning her after seeing her sad face.

He knew what was coming but he still wanted to hear it from a professional. She shook her head as if denying something.

The clan head's frown deepened as he broke the silence hanging in the room with a question.

"How much longer?"

"One hour at least, one day at most." Maria replied by showing him a raised finger. He nodded at her and stepped towards Rosa's bed.

As if sensing that someone had come to stand near her, Rosa tried to open her eyes wider in order to determine his or her identity.

The only thing she could find out was that it was a man. She knew that only Rokas was present there with Maria.

"Clan...Clan lord. My son. Please tak.....take care of him after me." Rosa was barely able to convey her words to her master. In her condition, even completing single sentences required great effort.

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to him. You have my word. Now be at peace." Clan lord replied with a serious voice as if implying that he was serious in what he promised and would not let something happen to her son.

After hearing from him, Rosa relaxed and asked for her son,

"Please send.....send Jacob in."

Rokas nodded at that and both he and Maria went out of the room. Outside, a large crowd had gathered. It included both the clan servants and clansmen. They all had sorrowful expressions on their faces. Everyone was present except James and his two sons.

Jacob was standing in front of them while sobbing lightly. Tears were constantly falling from his eyes. He was haggard and his eyes had long turned red due to crying.

Three days ago, his mother suddenly fell into the room and could not get up on her own. Jacob ran out to get help after failing to make her stand up.

Her condition was worsening over the last month. He constantly had to help her mother with many things that she did not require any kind of help to do in the past.

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Lady Maria came to visit them half a month ago and gave her some medicine. Jacob became happy after seeing the medicine that whatever was bothering her mother would go away now.

But he was destined to be disappointed. After the falling incident, the clan members took her to a large room reserved for Maria to look after sick patients.

Maria had been treating her for the last three days. Jacob did not go anywhere but stayed with his mother those days. His food was brought to him by other uncles and he was forced to leave the room only when Maria had to work on her.

After coming out, Rokas looked at his grandson with a soft gaze.

"Son. Come with me. She is calling you."

Jacob wiped his tears and entered the room with him. Rokas accompanied him to the bed and left immediately after patting Jacob's head in order to give them some alone time.

"Mother. What is happening? Why cannot she treat you? Haven't you been taking medicine for the past few days? Why didn't it treat you?"

Jacob asked his mother about the failed effectiveness of the medicines as he hugged her tightly due to fear of losing her. He found her body cold and the horror in his heart increased.

"Haha(cough cough). Son, old age has n....no treatment. Death is the destiny of mortals. You have a lon...long life ahead of you. Live happily and chase your dreams." She tried to laugh to lighten his son's mood but her laugh broke into coughs sadly and she failed in her endeavour.

"Mother. Please don't leave me. I will not be able to live without you. You are my everything. Please don't leave me." Jacob said in a sobbing voice. He was losing hope rapidly. His entire world was darkening with sadness and fear. His entire body started trembling with fear and his breathing rate increased.

"Silly child. Of....of course, you will be able to live. There is a pouch under the wooden board near the lower leg of my bed. You wil..will know the place by knocking on the boards. Take it and go join the sects. Remember to take care of yourself and never forget my teachings."

Rosa did not take any salary from the clan. The clan was responsible for her food and clothing for many decades. But after taking guardianship of Jacob, she started worrying about his future. So, she started gathering what little money she could for his son slowly.

Jacob did not reply and kept staring at her face as if trying to engrave it in his heart for eternity. He was not new to death. Many times, he saw servants dying due to various reasons, including disease and fights with other clans and wild animals. But it was not even in his deepest imagination that he would also lose his mother soon.

He didn't have anyone else in this world except her. He had his friends but he could remember one of his mother's lessons that there is a great chance that friends are not supposed to remain friends for their entire life except in some rare cases. So he didn't want to rely on them. Who knew what would happen in the future?

After a few minutes, Rokas re-entered the room and observed the situation. He found that they had done talking with each other and didn't require further alone time. He nodded outside and everyone entered. The clansmen entered first and they were followed by the servants.

The large room became quite crowded in the blink of an eye. There was not even a place to step on. Yet, many people could not get in and had to remain outside. They didn't dare push each other on that occasion.

All of them started looking at the mother-son duo on the bed with sorrowful expressions. Some more sensitive ones already had tears in their eyes. They were there to accompany Rosa in her final moments. She was like a mentor to all the servants present there excluding the guards and soldiers.

Jacob had stopped hugging his mother and was sitting beside her looking at her. He did not care about what was happening around him.

He was holding her mother's hand while lightly sobbing. He could not even hope for her survival as he knew that death was certain. Everyone kept standing there and remained silent.

Half an hour later, Rosa slightly tilted her head towards his dear son. She smiled at him with a loving expression and said,

"Live a happy life, my son."

As she finished her sentence, her breathing ceased and her face froze in that smile, her eyes slightly open and looking towards her son.

Jacob shook her hand to get a response but was fated to be disappointed.

"Mother, mother." He called her twice in a quiet voice but did not get a response.

He looked in horror as Rokas closed her slightly open eyes with a sorrowful expression. Then the clan lord looked towards the nearest maid and said, "Prepare for the burial. The rest, go back to your quarters."

The maids and some guards went out to prepare for the burial. The rest went back to their quarters to sleep.

Jacob kept sitting there while staring at her mother's face. He remained silent and didn't say anything. He was not thinking anything and was in a state of denial. He stopped sobbing and kept looking at her mother with a blank expression.

The death of a loved one is one of the significant events one can face in his lifetime. Life never remains the same after that. It has a great effect on someone's personality. Especially the personality of someone as young as Jacob who was not even ten years old.

The effects are quite profound on a young mind because a young mind doesn't have many life experiences and is immature. It has not seen the ups and downs of life and is unaware of its own reality of life.

Young Jacob was facing the same situation right now. He had to pass this tribulation and the way he passed it would shape his personality and would have long-reaching consequences.

Everyone left the room. Only Jacob and Rokas remained. Rokas was well aware of the state Jacob was in. He had to go through the same thing many times over in his life.

So he did what a person of his calibre was capable of and separated Jacob from his deceased mother carefully. He lifted him and carried him to his own room. He laid him down on his large bed and told him to sleep with a soothing voice.

Jacob was tired and in a dire need of rest. He had been awake for two days and did not sleep last night. As a result, he fell asleep quickly.

Rokas went out of his quarters and sat on a chair outside. There was no one in sight. Everyone except some servants had gone to their quarters to get some sleep. They had a busy morning ahead of them.

After sitting on the chair, Rokas looked up towards the moon and started reminiscing, his expression longing and sorrowful.

He was thinking about his deceased wives and sons. His early days were quite hectic and adventurous. Then he met his first wife and they fell in love with each other soon after. His life moved on until he lost her to an incurable disease.

He still remembered that day so clearly as if it had happened yesterday. While in reality, almost forty-eight years had passed by now. He was seventy-eight years old now and he was thirty when he had lost her. She gave him his first two sons.

A couple of years later, he married his second wife. She was murdered by his enemies only four years later after their marriage. His blood still boiled due to it. If he had not known that the graves of his enemies were twelve feet below the earth by now, he would still have been fighting them in Agoross until today.

Life is so fickle. One second it is here and the next second, poof, it is gone. Only if James was as hardworking as his former son. What a disappointment. Kai is about to break through. I will head back to Agoross to visit them after he breakthroughs. I will declare him the clan head then.

Rokas was thinking about visiting the graves of his wives after his son would break through into the second level. He would then declare him as clan head and would retire from his duties. He was waiting for the right time.

A small smile blossomed on his face as he thought about relieving his duties as clan lord. Being a clan lord was not an easy thing according to his past few decades of experience. After thinking about all that, he started thinking about his deceased sons and a melancholy expression came on his face once again.