When Annabelle and I reached the grounds surrounding Sturm Hill Hall, my disciples were just starting with their morning training after cultivating for the day. Because of all the people now occupying Sturm Hill Hall, I forbade my disciples from using the meditation chamber earlier that morning. I didn’t want to piss off my parents, nor did I want to foster any resentment from the other retainers.
Instead, I set up some mana gathering formations for them. Since I only had three sets of formation flags, and there were four of us, my disciples had to draw lots to see who got the short end of the stick.
Well, they would have except that Leroy volunteered to go without this morning. Corie tried to argue with him about it, for reasons I wasn’t sure she was aware of yet, but he remained steadfast.
I told them to train on their own while I dealt with a pressing issue involving Lady Annabelle. Corie smirked at that, but I ignored her.
However, as Annabelle and I headed towards my quarters, where I could examine Annabelle in private, a servant delivered a message to me from my parents. The servant said that Father and Mother wanted to talk with me in the library.
I faced a difficult choice. On the one hand, I wanted to finish studying Annabelle and confirm what I saw earlier, during my cursory examination. On the other hand, I couldn’t ignore a summons from my parents.
“Go,” Annabelle said with a smile. “We can finish things between us later on.”
With reluctance, I parted from her and headed towards the library. When I arrived, I found Father and Mother waiting for me.
The library was a medium sized rectangular room, with two rows of bookshelves, mostly empty, lining the long walls. A rectangular wooden table stood in the center of the room, with several chairs surrounding it. The faint scent of dust and decay hung in the air. Before I came to Sturm Hill Hall, the library had seen little use.
Sunlight streamed in from tall and narrow windows that occupied one of the long walls. The windows showed a view of the grounds behind Strum Hill Hall. Brass magelamps hung from the walls at strategic locations, allowing for late night reading.
My parents sat at the wooden table. Our House’s copy of the agreement I made with Lord Icefall sat in front of Father.
Ah, so that was what this was about. From the look on Father’s face, I wasn’t in trouble. However, it was hard to tell for sure. His default expression was a stern look. It made it difficult to get a read on him sometimes. Both of my parents looked relaxed, which put me at ease, so there was that.
“Father,” I said, bowing to my parents. “Mother. Good morning to you both.”
“Good morning to you as well, Gabriel,” Mother said.
“Good morning, son,” Father said. He gestured to the seat opposite his. “Please sit.”
I did as he said.
“As you know,” Father continued. “Your mother and I are going to meet with Lord Icefall in a few days to discuss the alliance between our two Houses.” He held up the agreement. “We’d like to discuss this with you so we’re better prepared for that meeting.”
Internally, I let out a sigh of relief. When I made that agreement, I overstepped my authority as a scion of House Sturm. If Father had already removed me as heir to House Sturm, then I really overstepped my bounds. However, it looked like they wouldn’t take me to task for it.
Yes, I aligned our House with House Icefall in order to help them take over the Icefall Region, but nothing was set in stone yet. Plenty of alliance agreements fell to pieces at the last minute. The aid I already gave to House Icefall would still sow some goodwill between our two Houses, even if the alliance didn’t come to fruition.
Still, I think Father would agree to the alliance. Five percent of the mythril deposit that House Icefall found was a lot, and would benefit our House tremendously. And helping House Icefall wouldn’t cost us that much, at least at first.
Right now, no one else was interested in the Icefall Region. Helping House Icefall secure their position and strengthen their hold on the region wouldn’t be difficult for our House. If they hadn’t given the mythril deposit to House Solaria, that would be a different story.
Things would change when the existence of the mythril deposit became public knowledge. People would flock to the Icefall Region, not only for the mythril but also for the other natural resources available in the area. This would also grab the attention of the other Houses, who would want to get a piece of the pie for themselves.
By that point, we should be in a position where we could fend them off. While my House was weaker than the Great Houses, and a good number of the middling Houses, we were still stronger than most of the other Houses in the Solarian Empire. It helped that both of my parents were Fourth Circle wizards, which would discourage all the minor Houses and many of the weaker middling Houses.
It was a risk, but one that came with several benefits.
I spent the next hour or so discussing the alliance with my parents, explaining the terms I negotiated and the reasoning behind them. I also mentioned the marriage that Lord Icefall wanted between our two Houses, and what he was willing to give in order to make that happen.
When I mentioned this, Mother frowned but she didn’t say anything.
Things grew interesting when we got to the part of the agreement about the Gloom Mist Forest.
“What I want to know is why you want us to claim a large portion of the Gloom Mist Forest,” Father said, pointing to a specific part of the agreement. “If you hadn’t put that in, we could have gotten more mythril from Lord Icefall. You said so yourself. So, why?”
He didn’t sound upset about it. Instead, he sounded curious. I think it was some sort of test. Not that I minded, since it also gave me a chance to explain the plans I had for our House.
“Hold on,” I said. “Let me get something first.”
I rummaged around in the library, looking for the map of the Icefall Region that I knew was in here. It took me a moment, since it wasn’t where I left it.
When I found the map, I unrolled it and spread it across the table. The map was about a century out of date. Several of the newer settlements were missing, and Icefall City was much smaller than it was today. Hell, back then, it was called Icefall Town.
However, the map was still suitable for my purpose. Father and Mother stood up to study it with me.
I focused on the part that showed Gloom Mist Forest. It was large, but paled in comparison to the rest of the Icefall Region. It stood to the west of Icefall City and stretched a ways out to the west and north, reaching all the way to the Icefall Mountains.
“I wanted us to claim the Gloom Mist Forest for several reasons,” I said, pointing to the map. “The first is expansion. If we’re going to have a presence here in the Icefall Region, we’ll need a bigger base of operations. Sturm Hill Hall is too small. We’ll need to expand it, or build another place altogether. The money from selling the mythril should help with that.”
“In that case,” Father said, gesturing to the spot on the map where Sturm Hill Hall stood. “Why claim so much? Renovating Sturm Hill Hall, or building a new residence altogether, doesn’t require that much land. You want us to claim over two thirds of Gloom Mist Forest. Not only that, but you want us to claim the most dangerous parts.”
Most of the adventurers in the Icefall Adventurers Guild were First Circle wizards. They could only hunt magic beasts in the areas of Gloom Mist Forest nearest to Icefall City, which was mostly occupied by First Circle magic beasts. Second Circle wizards could go deeper, where the Second Circle magic beasts lived, but even they had to be careful. The further north one went, the more dangerous it became. After a certain point, Third Circle magic beasts began to appear.
According to one account that I read, Fourth Circle magic beasts occupied the Icefall Mountains themselves. It came from a Fourth Circle wizard who was part of an expedition from a Great House sent to explore the Icefall Mountains. He was the only survivor. Everyone else died. He managed to survive because he had a flying magical item and fled the Icefall Mountains when the expedition encountered a high-ranked Fourth Circle magic beast.
The account never clarified if he left his companions behind to die, or if he fled after everyone else already died.
Regardless, after the Fourth Circle wizard returned and shared his story, interest in exploring the Icefall Mountains waned. No one wanted to tangle with a mountain full of high-ranked Fourth Circle magic beasts, or worse. The only people who could do so were Fifth Circle wizards, who tended to be the heads of powerful Houses. They had better things to do with their time than go traipsing in the woods at the ass end of nowhere.
Other than the immediate area around Sturm Hill Hall, I wanted to claim the parts of the Gloom Mist Forest that everyone else had little interest in. After all, it would take a team of Third Circle wizards to go hunting in those parts, and there was a severe lack of those in the Icefall Region.
“While Gloom Mist Forest is a dangerous place,” I said. “That danger is paired with opportunity. While they are slim, there are records of rare magical plants within the deeper areas of the Gloom Mist Forest; plants that can only grow and thrive in areas like this. And those are just the ones we know about. No one has explored the entirety of the Gloom Mist Forest. No one nearby had the power to do so, and those with the power had no interest. Who knows what other natural treasure could be found here? Not only that, but the inner areas of Gloom Mist Forest are rife with Third Circle magic beasts. Their body parts and mana cores are valuable resources.”
I gestured to the rest of the Icefall Region on the map.
“Lord Icefall doesn’t have the power to explore Gloom Mist Forest and make use of its full potential. That is why he is focused on the rest of the Icefall Region.”
“Neither do we,” Father interjected, frowning. “While we are more powerful than House Icefall, the number of Third Circle wizards at our disposal is limited. It would require a team of them, maybe more than one, to not only explore the depths of the Gloom Mist Forest but also gather those resources you so covet. Even then, it would be dangerous.”
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I leaned back and crossed my arms.
“I wasn’t thinking of using wizards,” I said. “Or rather, not just wizards.”
Mother’s eyes flew to me, her gaze sharpening.
“You want to use cultivators,” Father said, studying the map for a bit longer before looking at me.
“Yes,” I said, before letting out a sigh. “It’s time I told you about the plans I have for our House.” I gave them both a wry look. “Part one of that plan was to tell you about cultivation and prove to you the benefits it could bring to our House. However, that turned out to be unnecessary, since you already know all about it.”
Both of my parents nodded.
“As someone born into a wizard House that is also a cultivator Clan,” Mother said in a quiet voice. “I am well aware of how powerful cultivation is, especially when used in conjunction with wizardry.”
Ah, so that’s what she meant by Clan earlier; they were families that practiced cultivation. The Clans back on Spirit Earth worked pretty much the same way. However, I found it interesting that she distinguished the Clans from the Houses. I guessed that there were cultivator Clans that didn’t practice wizardry, or weren’t Houses even if they did.
“While I’m not as familiar with that world as your mother is,” Father said. “I’ve seen how powerful cultivation can be with my own eyes. You don’t need to convince me of that.”
I nodded. Sooner rather than later, I needed to find out how much my parents knew about cultivation. I also needed to know how cultivator society worked here on Lumina, if such a thing existed. If nothing else, it looked like there were Clans of cultivators on this world who were aware of each other’s existence. Knowing who they were was a good idea.
“The next part of my plan was to have our family start practicing cultivation.” I lifted up my shirt and revealed my Spiritblood Hidden Lamp Seal. “I even have a way to hide our cultivation from prying eyes, to avoid attracting unwanted attention.”
“You have no idea how smart that was, Gabriel,” Mother said. “I will explain later, but there is a reason why cultivation isn’t widely known within the Solarian Empire or the Lunarian Kingdom.”
Now that was interesting. Hmm…
“In addition to our family,” I continued. “I would also teach cultivation to a select few trusted retainers.”
“Like you did with Leroy,” Father said.
“Yes,” I said with a nod. “Granted, I also didn’t expect to pick up an extra pair of disciples, but I won’t complain.”
I gestured to the map, focusing on the Gloom Mist Forest.
“While it would take some time, eventually our people would grow powerful enough to traverse most of the Gloom Mist Forest, as long as they were careful about it. One advantage that magic beasts have over wizards is that they’re tougher and stronger. Cultivators would be on more even ground with them.” I tapped the map. “As long as we’re careful, this part of the Gloom Mist Forest could supply our House with resources; resources which we can use to enrich ourselves and grow our power.”
I shrugged.
“Originally, forming an alliance with House Icefall wasn’t a part of the plan.” I grinned. “However, the mythril deposit changed things.”
Neither of my parents said anything for a while.
“That’s an ambitious plan, Gabriel,” Father said.
I snorted.
“That isn’t even the whole of it,” I said. “Eventually, I want to do the same with the Icefall Mountains. Who knows what kinds of treasures and resources can be found there? Not only that, but the mana in that area must be dense if Fourth Circle magic beasts make it their home. However, that won’t be for a while yet.”
Both of my parents gave me sharp looks.
“No,” Father said. “I forbid it.”
“Absolutely not,” Mother said at the same time.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I knew they would react like this.
“The Icefall Mountains are dangerous,” Father said. “While you may be a reincarnated Immortal, you are still just a First Circle wizard and an Energy Condensation cultivator.”
“Fourth Circle magic beasts are far beyond your capabilities,” Mother said.
“I am well aware of this,” I said. “While I have a tendency to overestimate my abilities, I know my limits.”
From the looks on my parents’ faces, I saw that they didn’t believe me. I couldn’t imagine why.
“That is the long-term part of the plan,” I said. “Something I won’t even consider until I’m at least in the Golden Core stage. That’s the fifth large realm of cultivation, if you didn’t already know that, Father.”
Father nodded, while Mother snorted.
“Long-term?” she asked. “It takes hundreds of years to reach the Golden Core stage. That’s a bit more than long-term.”
It was my turn to snort.
“At the rate I’m going, I can easily reach the Golden Core stage in less than a century, maybe even sooner,” I said. “In a few months, I reached the fifth realm of the Energy Condensation stage. Not only that, but I’m at the peak of the First Rank of body cultivation, which is the equivalent of the Energy Condensation stage.”
Granted, the latter came about because of Tempest, but a cultivator’s luck was part of their strength. Fortuitous encounters were a thing. In this case, it was one hell of a fortuitous encounter.
To prove my point, I lifted up the wooden table with ease. My parents both took a step back when I did this. While the table wasn’t that heavy to me, it was a bit awkward to hold it like this. The table also let out a worrying creak. For a moment, I thought it might break. After a few seconds, I put the table back down.
“How were you able to cultivate so quickly?” Mother asked, staring at me in disbelief. “Not only in spiritual cultivation, but also in body cultivation.?”
I pointed to myself.
“Reincarnated Immortal,” I said. “I’ve forgotten more about cultivation than most people learn in their entire lifetime.” I gestured to the map. “I’m also used to thinking ahead by centuries, if not millennia.”
Of course, that didn’t stop me from being a complete dumbass sometimes. Being a seventeen year old with the memories and life experiences of an Immortal was weird.
There were times when I felt more like Immortal Celestial Thunder, and other times when I felt more like a teenager that was an amalgamation of Brandon Norwood and Gabriel Sturm.
“For example, I’ve taken House Icefall’s inevitable betrayal into account,” I said.
Father raised an eyebrow at this.
“Betrayal?” he asked. “What do you mean by that?”
“Lord Icefall needs us right now in order to fulfill his ambitions and help his House grow,” I said. “He needs our might to help him take control of the Icefall Region, and he needs our connections to help sell the mythril. However, in a few generations, that will change. Lord Icefall will be grateful for our help, and so will his daughter, Lady Calla. After that, things will get a bit tricky. By that point, unless they’re completely incompetent, House Icefall would have built up their power and made sufficient connections that they would no longer need us. Yet, according to the agreement, they would still have to pay us five percent of the mythril deposit’s monthly output.”
I tapped the side of my head.
“At some point, one of the heads of House Icefall will think to themselves that if they no longer need us, why are they giving us so much mythril? Not only that, but our mere presence in the Icefall Region threatens their position. As long as we’re here, House Icefall can’t control the entire region. In their greed, House Icefall will turn on us, unless we do something to circumvent this. It’s just a matter of time.”
Father crossed his arms.
“I had considered that as well,” he said. “This agreement benefits us more the longer it goes on. This is why I’m considering arranging a marriage between Roland and Lady Calla, to tie our two Houses together through marriage and blood.”
A strand of anxiety wormed its way into my gut. The idea of shackling my younger brother with an arranged marriage didn’t sit well with me. However, that was the price one paid for being born into a House. One’s life was not entirely one’s own. Oftentimes, the House as a whole took precedence over any individual member.
I had gone through it myself, when my parents arranged for me to marry Elizabeth Corwin. Yet, I knew that if they tried to do the same thing to me now, I would fight it tooth and nail. I would rather leave House Sturm than marry anyone other than Annabelle.
“I’m not so sure if that’s a good idea,” I said. “Even family can turn on each other if the prize is great enough.”
There was a reason why the Houses preferred having smaller families than larger ones. Dynastic politics were a messy business. A House usually just had an heir and a spare. If nothing happened to the heir, a House would either marry off the spare, let them leave so they could form their own House, or keep a close eye on them so they wouldn’t cause any trouble.
The life of a spare was often a pitiful one. Unless something happened to change their circumstances, they would always live in the shadow of their older sibling.
If a spare had children of their own, their bloodline would become a collateral branch of their House. Part of the House, and under its authority, but never in control. In this regard, the members of a collateral branch were little better than retainers. This was why most second or third born children preferred to marry into another House or form their own House.
The only way for anyone from a collateral branch to inherit leadership of the House was if they became stronger than the main family, or if the main family died out. However, some collateral branches might decide to take a more proactive approach, often resulting in vicious infighting. To prevent this, some Houses often pruned the family tree, so to speak.
I thought of Kaylee, and what her future would be like. While we were close, I never considered what things might be like for her. As the first born, my parents prioritized my education and training over that of my siblings’.
Had that changed after I left for the Icefall Region? If so, how did my sister feel now that I had restored my First Circle and was once again eligible to succeed Father as Patriarch of House Sturm?
I thought back to Annabelle’s words, when she said that Kaylee was worried about the succession of House Sturm, and frowned. That was something we needed to sort out. I loved Kaylee, and I wanted her to live a long and fulfilling life. Hell, if I had my way, she would become an Immortal and join me in the heavens above.
If that meant giving up becoming Patriarch of House Sturm, that was fine by me.
“It seems that you’ve thought about this a lot,” Father said.
I snorted with amusement.
“I know I can be short-sighted and impatient,” I said. “But I am capable of patience and taking the long view. I love our family, and I want to see us rise to prominence once more.” I gestured to the map. “I did all of this, from making plans for our House to the alliance with House Icefall, with one goal in mind: to see our House thrive and prosper. We were once a Great House, and I intend to see us become one again.” I sat back down. “However, in the end, that isn’t my decision to make. It’s yours, Father. Whatever you choose, I will abide by it.”
Father raised an eyebrow at this.
“Even if I asked you to stop cultivating?” he asked.
I gave him a sharp smile.
“Well, except for that. I have my own personal goals and ambitions as well. While I will do my best to make sure our family’s interests and my own align, that may not always be the case. There are some things that I won’t yield on. Practicing cultivation is one. Being with Lady Annabelle is another.”
Father studied me with a neutral expression on his face.
“I see,” he said. “I’ll take that into consideration going forward.” He gestured to the copy of the agreement. “As for this agreement with House Icefall, I’ve decided to go ahead with it. While there are a few details that I want to change here and there, I’m fine with it as a whole.” He grimaced. “As much as I’m loathe to admit it, you were right. We do need the mythril. Our House isn’t in a good position right now. This agreement with House Icefall will staunch our bleeding wounds and give us time to recover.”
Mother put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.
Father’s words both left me elated and worried. Elated that I had done something to make up for my transgressions earlier this year, and worried because of the direness of our House’s situation.
Maybe it would be better to tell my parents that I was Tempest’s Chosen now, instead of waiting for later. Tempest still owed me storm dragon blood; not just for myself but for the rest of my family as well. I had intended to wait until I received the blood before I revealed the truth to them. Was that the right move?
All the Chosen who had publicly revealed their status received support from the Church of the Sun. Well, at least those with a patron god worshiped by the Church of the Sun. For those like Lorelei, whose patron wasn’t a part of the Church of the Sun, they received support from their god’s followers.
“As for your other plans,” Father said. “I’ll need more time to think about it. Practicing cultivation comes with many benefits, but it also comes with several downsides.” He gave me a wry smile. “Including a few that I think you’re unaware of, son. However, I’ll leave your mother to explain that.”
Mother kissed Father on the cheek, before turning to me.
“Come with me, Gabriel,” she said. “It’s a beautiful day out. Let’s go for a walk.”