A week after Annabelle left with her family and friends, we said goodbye to Father, Kaylee, and Roland. It was another cloudy day though it didn’t look like it would rain or storm any time soon. A brisk breeze blew through, adding a chill to the already cool air.
Father and Kaylee stood in front of the House Sturm carriage my family had ridden when coming here, with Roland in Father’s arms. The few retainers they would bring with them stood next to a carriage used by retainers and servants.
Mother, myself, and all of the servants and retainers remaining at Sturm Hill Hall had come out to say goodbye to them. This included my disciples.
“No!” my little brother wailed. “I don’t want to go! I don’t want to leave Mama and Gabiel.”
Tears streamed down Roland’s face as he tried to fling himself out of Father’s hold.
“Oh, my baby boy,” Mother cooed, taking Roland into her arms. “Shh. It’s going to be okay. We’ll only be gone for a little while. We’ll see you again soon.”
This just caused Roland to cry harder.
While Mother soothed my little brother, I said goodbye to Father and Kaylee. I bowed to Father and pulled Kaylee into a tight hug.
“Stay safe you two,” I told them after pulling away from my sister.
“I should be the one saying that to you,” Kaylee said with a sniffle. “You’re the one staying in this awful place.”
I grinned at her.
“It’s not that bad,” I told her. “The Icefall Region has its own charms.”
Kaylee rolled her eyes at that. I looked at Father.
“Take care of your mother,” he said. “And look after our family’s interests here. I’m counting on you.”
Despite his words, I knew that Father was going to miss me. More than that, his words told me that he trusted me once more. Instead of being the shame of the Sturm family, I was someone he could rely on once again.
“I’ll miss you too, Father,” I said.
He gave me a small smile at this.
“Oh,” I said. “Before you go. Take these.”
I looked back and gestured for Leroy to step forward. He carried two manuals in his hands. I took them from him, and gave them to Father and Kaylee.
“What are these?” Kaylee asked.
Father studied his manual for a second, before understanding lit up his eyes.
“Is this the cultivation technique you created?” he asked.
I nodded.
“It’s just the manual for the Energy Condensation stage, but yes,” I said. “It’s based on the technique I practice. However, I modified it so anyone in the Sturm family can practice it.”
Since I had already created the technique, modifying it for my family’s use wasn’t all that difficult. While it wouldn’t be as beneficial for other people, with my modifications it was still a Violet-tier cultivation technique. Thanks to this technique, it wouldn’t be too long before our family rose to prominence, both as a House and a Clan.
“I call it the Blood of the Storm Dragon cultivation technique,” I said. “Just to differentiate it from the Storm Dragon Mana Formula.” I gestured to the both of them. “When you’re close to forming your dantian, let Grandfather Gabe know so he can help you conceal your cultivation bases.”
Father and Kaylee both nodded at this. We turned to Mother and Roland. My little brother was no longer crying, though he still let out sniffles.
“Hey little guy,” I said in a gentle voice. “It’s time to go.”
“I don’t wanna,” he said with a pout.
“None of that now. I need you to be brave, Roland. I have an important task for you.”
My little brother eyed me with both interest and skepticism.
“Really?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered. “Someone needs to look after Sissy. You know how she can be. Can you do that for me?”
With my peripheral vision, I noticed Kaylee resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
“Hmm,” Roland said, pretending to think it over before responding in a haughty voice. “Very well, I suppose.”
I almost laughed at that, but refrained.
“Thank you, Roland. I appreciate it.”
“You’ll come back, right?” he asked in a quiet voice. “You and Mama?”
I gave my little brother a kiss on the forehead.
“Of course, Roland. I’ll see you again.”
He nodded, before reaching for Father. Mother let him go with visible reluctance.
“Stay safe, Bryce,” she said, before kissing Father on the lips. Kaylee and I both looked away in disgust. “And look after our children.”
Father smiled at her.
“I will, Claire. You stay safe yourself.” He gave me a sideways glance. “And keep Gabriel out of trouble. I’m afraid he’ll run off and do something reckless if you take your eyes off of him.”
“Hey! I’m not that bad.”
My parents shared a look at that. I scowled and crossed my arms.
Soon we finished saying all of our goodbyes. Father, Kaylee, and Roland climbed into the House Sturm carriage and were off. Mother and I watched them go until they disappeared out of sight. When that happened, I watched them with my divine sense until they left my range. I assume Mother did the same with her spirit sense.
“It feels like I’m always saying goodbye to at least one of my children these days,” Mother said with a sigh.
I understood her feelings. Given how much we had to do in order to get Clan Sturm on its feet, we likely wouldn’t see the rest of our family until months from now.
“We’ll see them again after we finish our work here,” I said, settling on comforting words for now.
Mother nodded at that.
“In that case, we better get started,” she said.
----------------------------------------
When Father, Kaylee, and Roland left, they brought a few of the House Sturm retainers with them. The majority of retainers, however, remained behind to help House Icefall seize control of the Icefall Region.
Overall, we had about forty left. This didn’t sound like a lot, but most of them were Second Circle wizards. If I excluded Mother, this made House Sturm the second most powerful force within the Icefall Region. The rest were adventurers in the First Circle that Mother had recruited, while Mother’s bodyguard, Caitlyn Walters, and Captain Jeffers were in the Third Circle.
Of those forty, only ten were Clan Sturm disciples. However, these ten were among the most talented, and most trustworthy, retainers that served my family. While they expressed skepticism about cultivation at first, they changed their tune after Leroy explained it to them. Since he was one of them, and had some experience with cultivation, his word carried more weight.
To prove the merits of cultivation, he even fought another retainer who was also a Second Circle Earth wizard that focused on internal magic. It wasn’t even close to a fair contest. That said, as one of my disciples, Leroy had several advantages that the other retainers wouldn’t. Using Spirit Earth terms, he was an inner disciple, or even a core disciple, while the others were outer disciples.
In order to get those our newly minted outer disciples started on cultivation, I wrote out the Energy Condensation stage manuals for several cultivation techniques. All of them were Indigo-tier techniques, similar to the Soul of the Mountain technique that I gave to Leroy. In fact, the Soul of the Mountain technique was one of the techniques that I included. For now, we decided to stick with spiritual cultivation and focus on body cultivation at a later time.
It would take our outer disciples time to form their dantians, but I had faith in them.
As for the other retainers, we dispatched them to aid House Icefall in taking over the Icefall Region under the watchful eye of Captain Jeffers. This freed up a lot of space within Sturm Hill Hall.
During the week before his departure, Father worked with Lord Icefall to finalize the details of the alliance between our two Houses.
In simple terms, teams made up of House Sturm retainers, House Icefall retainers, and adventurers hired through the Icefall Adventurers Guild would head to the various settlements located within the Icefall Region in order to bring them under House Icefall’s control. While the House Sturm retainers were more powerful, they were few in number compared to the other two groups. This helped balance things out.
These teams would face a lot of opposition, since people came to the Icefall Region to start a new life and/or escape from the Houses. Our people had a few advantages, however. The biggest one was that House Icefall was founded by someone from the Icefall Region, and its members were all born and raised here.
At least, I think they all were. I wasn’t sure about the current Lady Icefall.
Another advantage was that these teams weren’t made up of just wizards. In fact, for the most part, they consisted of regular mortals who worked as soldiers for House Icefall. We hoped that this would ease peoples worries and concerns. It helped that House Icefall had a good reputation among the people of the Icefall Region.
However, regardless of whether people opposed House Icefall’s takeover of the Icefall Region or not, it didn’t matter. It would happen regardless. They didn’t get a choice about it. It was called a takeover for a reason. While House Icefall wanted to be as nice about it as possible, it didn’t change the fact that they were seizing control.
Father and Lord Icefall also worked out what to do about House Ashworth, the ones behind the Black Wolf Gang. While House Icefall had a justifiable reason to go after them, Lord Icefall decided not to. Even with our House’s help, it would be a bloody fight. However, we couldn’t let them get away with the bullshit that they tried to pull
Since that was the case, we settled on blackmail. After all, if everyone found out that the Patriarch of House Ashworth was the son of a Great Horned Wolf, their reputation would be ruined. I didn’t know the exact details of the demands House Icefall and our House would make of them, but we had them bent over a barrel. Father planned on visiting House Ashworth on the way back to Sturm Hill Hall. They wouldn’t dare refuse him.
At least we didn’t have to worry about anything happening to Icefall City. In the week before half of my family left to return to Sturm Manor, an airship from House Solaria arrived carrying a contingent of the Sun Guard. There were only ten of them in total, but all ten were in the Third Circle. Each one could take on a large army of regular mortals, or a smaller army of weaker wizards.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Excluding Mother, this made them the most powerful force within the Icefall Region. Five would protect Icefall City, while the other five would protect the mythril mine. This meant that House Icefall could worry about the rest of the Icefall Region without issue.
The airship also stayed behind to wait for the first shipment of mythril. Depending on how fast Father and the others arrived in Sunheart, the airship purchased by House Icefall could arrive before that happened.
Despite this, Mother and I didn’t have much to do with any of it. We kept an eye on things, since we were still a part of House Sturm, but Captain Jeffers was the one who actually coordinated and worked with House Icefall. This was in addition to her duties regarding Clan Sturm and helping us with our new disciples.
At first I felt bad for the woman, given how much we piled on her shoulders. However, when I talked with her about it, she seemed positively giddy. That was when I realized that Captain Jeffers was a workaholic, which was something I hadn’t noticed before. Then again, the two of us hadn’t spent that much time together.
After all, I used to be a complete asshole who regarded anyone below me in power or social status as trash. This included my own family’s retainers.
At least Captain Jeffers dedicated some time to her own cultivation and training, so she wouldn’t fall too far behind.
As for the Clan Sturm disciples, Mother tasked me with training them until Grandfather Gabe returned to Sturm Hill Hall while she dealt with other Clan affairs, since I had the most experience with this sort of thing. I mean, it wasn’t like I could ask my personal disciples to do it. While they could help, most of the responsibility was on me.
As they grew in power and experience, that would change. In time, they would take on their own disciples.
To this end, I also wrote out manuals for various martial arts and fighting styles that I thought would suit our Clan’s first disciples. It wasn’t a large collection, but it was enough for now. I would expand our Clan’s library later on, but this was a good start.
This would be mostly useful for the disciples that practiced internal magic, which was most of them, but even the squishy spellcasters could benefit from practicing martial arts. If we could make them less squishy, their survivability would skyrocket.
The problem was getting the disciples to take me seriously. I was a scion of House Sturm, but I had disgraced my family and stepped down as heir. That meant that while our disciples listened to me, they didn’t respect me. I didn’t blame them for their attitude, but I needed to nip this in the bud and earn their respect. The fastest way to do that was through a display of strength.
Or maybe a show of skill would be better. Yes, I liked that idea more. It sounded fun.
----------------------------------------
Several days after Father, Kaylee, and Roland left, I found myself at Clan Sturm’s new impromptu training yard.
Since my family had claimed a good chunk of Gloom Mist Forest as our territory, we decided to clear away a bunch of the trees that surrounded Sturm Hill Hall in order to create more space. We were already going to do that when we renovated and expanded the place, so I figured we might as well create a new training area in the meantime.
There was only so much room available in Sturm Hill Hall’s front yard, and we now had several more people that needed training.
Corie and I had dealt with the trees, while Leroy and Lorelei used their Earth magic to even out the ground.
It was a beautiful, if cool, day outside. The sky was clear, and with the trees gone, the sun shone down on us unimpeded. The scent of freshly turned earth filled the air.
The ten disciples of Clan Sturm stood in a row in front of me, who all wore the blue and gray uniforms of House Sturm. The uniforms weren’t mandatory, since Leroy never wore his, but most of the House Sturm retainers wore theirs. They also carried their weapons, the ones that used weapons that was.
While I hadn’t interacted with most of them before today, Captain Jeffers had provided me with files on them. The files included a brief description of each disciple’s appearance, their magic, and their fighting style. After studying the files, I had a rough idea of what each of them were like.
The disciples were an even mix of men and women, and all were within the Second Circle. Two were squishy spellcasters, while the rest focused on internal magic. In terms of elemental affinities, each element was represented, though most had either Air or Earth magic, or a mix of both.
The squishy spellcasters were a pair of male and female twins. They were of average height and skinny, with androgynous features. They had pale skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
The female twin had Fire and Air affinities, while the male twin had Water and Wood affinities. They reminded me a little of Crispin, one of the five adventurers who worked for Guildmaster Sinclair, and the female Water wizard who was also one of the five adventurers; I never did get the latter’s name.
My own disciples stood behind and to the right of me. Lorelei wore a bright smile on her face, while Corie looked grumpy. Leroy, as usual, imitated a stone wall.
The ten disciples wore neutral expressions on their faces, or rather, they attempted to. They couldn’t quite hide their curiosity, or their contempt. It was subtle, but present.
“Welcome everyone,” I said to the ten outer disciples. “I know you’ve been briefed on the basics of cultivation, so I won’t repeat any of that now. If you have any questions about it, you can ask Leroy later on. Consider him your senior in this regard, since he was one of you not too long ago and has the most experience with cultivation.”
That wasn’t saying much, since he had only known about cultivation for a few months, but that still put him ahead of the others. Leroy and I discussed it earlier this morning. Well, discussion implied that he had a choice in the matter. He didn’t.
When they heard my words, the ten disciples glanced at one another, but didn’t say anything. The twins shared smirks with each other.
“Mother tasked me with training you lot until my great grandfather Gabe arrives,” I continued. “None of you have formed your dantians yet, so we’ll focus on martial training for now.” I pointed at the twins. “Except for you two. I’ll have you start on physical training to get your bodies into shape.”
The twins started at this and their smirks disappeared.
“Young master,” Cameron, the male twin, protested. “We’re not internal magic users.”
“Why do we have to participate in physical training?” Carina, the female twin, asked.
“Your body is the vessel for your mind and your soul,” I told them. “While you can neglect your body as a wizard, you can’t as a cultivator. Cultivation improves all aspects of your being, including the physical ones.”
The ten disciples all looked skeptical at this, though the ones who focused on internal magic looked interested as well. I could see why. From their point of view, a form of magic that improved the body as well as the mind and soul was a godsend for them.
Wizards as a whole tended to look down on those who specialized in internal magic, since there was a limit to how much the human body could handle. The whole point of cultivation was to shatter those limits.
“Uh, young master?” one of the other outer disciples asked, raising his hand. I think his name was Jace Bellamy. He was a muscular man with plain features, brown hair, and brown eyes. Jace had an affinity for Earth and Air, which was a powerful combination. “You’re only in the First Circle.”
A few of the outer disciples gave him warning looks, while the rest did their best to hide their smirks. I just raised an eyebrow at him.
“And?” I asked. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I mean, isn’t it obvious?” Jace asked. “Martial training is good and all, but you won’t be able to keep up with us when we start using internal magic.”
I heard Corie snort from behind me.
“Shows what you know,” she muttered.
Jace must have heard, since he threw a glare her way.
“It seems there are some misconceptions that need clearing up,” I said. “Cultivation isn’t a kind of magic. It’s a form of internal alchemy, one that focuses on attaining higher and higher states of being. Its effects are permanent, though there are all kinds of techniques that can further enhance a cultivator.” I grinned. “In short, I’ve practiced cultivation for some time now, so I’ll have no trouble keeping up with any of you.”
In fact, they might have trouble keeping up with me, given the…training I had in mind.
However, from the looks on their faces, it was clear that none of the outer disciples believed me.
“Yes, young master,” Jace said, his doubt obvious.
I snorted.
“It seems a demonstration is in order.” I walked up to him. “Hit me.”
Jace blinked at me.
“Excuse me?” he asked in disbelief.
“I said hit me. Don’t forget to use your internal magic.”
Jace started to look panicked, while the other outer disciples looked at me like I was crazy. A blow from a Second Circle wizard who practiced Earth internal magic could easily kill a regular mortal, or a squishy spellcaster who didn’t have a shield spell. Since I had reached the Second Rank of my body cultivation technique, this wouldn’t be a problem for me. I mean, it would hurt, but it wouldn’t kill me. I could handle a bit of pain.
“Well?” I asked when Jace didn’t say or do anything. “What are you waiting for? If you’re worried about getting in trouble, don’t be. I’ll take full responsibility for what happens.”
Jace looked even more worried by this rather than reassured. He looked at Leroy and opened his mouth to say something, but I spoke up first.
“Don’t look at him,” I said. “ Look at me. He’s not in charge here. I am.”
Jace grimaced and obeyed.
“Young master,” he said in a pleading voice. “Lady Sturm will kill me if something happens to you.”
I sighed.
“Fine then,” I said. “I’ll punch you instead. Ready yourself.”
Jace looked both relieved and amused by this. The other outer disciples openly grinned.
“Thank you, young master.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“Just use your internal magic so I don’t accidentally kill you. I’m not going to hold back.”
Jace nodded and braced himself.. Well, I hoped he listened to me and used his Earth internal magic. Otherwise…No more Jace.
I used my body enhancement technique, and punched Jace right in the solar plexus without holding back. The sound of my blow rang out. Jace let out an “oof” as my strike knocked him back a few steps. He hunched over, gasping for breath. The other outer disciples stared at the two of us in shock, the grins wiped off their faces.
Oh good, Jace had listened to me after all.
I felt a little bad about hurting him, but he brought this on himself. I told him to punch me first. Granted, I hadn’t expected him to listen to me and planned accordingly, but it wasn’t like I twisted his arm or anything.
“As you can see,” I told them. “I’m more than capable of keeping up with any of you, even without using internal magic.”
Granted, I used my body enhancement technique, but they didn’t need to know that.
While Jace recovered from my punch, the other outer disciples just stared at me open-mouthed. I walked back to my original position. Corie smirked, while Lorelei covered her mouth. Even the corners of Leroy’s lips turned up a bit, or maybe that was my imagination.
“As I said earlier, we’ll focus on martial training for now, until you guys form your dantians,” I said. “After that, I’ll have you start learning the various martial arts and techniques that are most suited to each of you.”
If we were a more established Clan or sect, we would have them purchase these martial arts and techniques using merits, similar to what the Adventurers Guild did. By performing meritorious deeds or otherwise contributing to the Clan in some fashion, they would earn merits which could be used to purchase manuals, magic items, and other cultivation resources. This system also prevented any disciples from getting ahead of themselves and getting their hands on something they weren’t ready for.
However, since we were just starting out, it was best to build them up as soon as possible to increase our Clan’s strength. While I called them outer disciples for now, it wouldn’t be too long before they became Clan Sturm’s first inner disciples. They would be the backbone of our burgeoning Clan.
Besides, since we had so few disciples, keeping an eye on them wasn’t that difficult. Later on, as our numbers grew, we could set up a merit system but this would do for now.
“Now,” I continued. “My initial idea was to spar with each of you to get an idea of your capabilities, but that sounded boring to me. Instead, I have a better idea.” I grinned. “We’re going to play a game of Keep Away.”
Jace, who had recovered by this point, wore a mullish expression on his face while he rubbed his abdomen. The others just looked confused.
“‘Keep Away’, young master?” Cameron said.
“Yes.” I pulled a wooden token tied to a silk ribbon out of my pocket. “I will tie this token to my wrist. Your objective is to take it away from me. I, of course, will do my best to prevent that. Whoever has the token by the end of the game will be the winner. And like any good game, there will be a prize for the victor. In this case, the prize is six hundred and fifty mana stones.”
Everyone perked up at that. Mana stones were useful for forming new threads, as well as advancing one’s cultivation. If nothing else, it could also be used as currency in order to purchase magical items and supplies.
Six hundred and fifty mana stones was a substantial prize for a game like this. Mother had been hesitant when I told her about my idea, but she accepted it when I convinced her that it was for the betterment of the Clan.
Nothing stoked the fires of ambition quite like a big prize.
“The rules of the game are simple,” I said. “No killing, and no permanent injuries. Other than that, everything is allowed. We will play for one hour.” I gestured to the Gloom Mist Forest. “To keep things interesting, we will stay within a two-mile radius of Sturm Hill Hall. The manor itself is off limits, since we don’t want to cause too much of a ruckus.” I looked back at my disciples. “You three can participate as well.”
Lorelei and Corie looked excited by this, while Leroy raised an eyebrow at me.
“Any questions?” I asked.
“What do you mean by permanent injuries, young master?” Jace said, still looking a bit put out.
“Use your discretion,” I said. “But as a good rule of thumb, don’t anything that can’t be healed with a low-grade healing potion. Keep in mind that I can’t use a shield spell. Anything else?”
“What if one of us takes the ribbon before the hour is up, young master?” Carina asked, wearing an excited expression on her face.
“As I said, whoever has the ribbon by the end of the game is the winner.” I grinned. “So if someone manages to take the ribbon from me before the hour is up, then you’ll have to go after them instead.” I raised a finger. “You can work in teams, but if you do, you’ll have to split the prize.”
The outer disciples exchanged looks. Some were friendly, such as the twins, suggesting that they would be willing to work together. The rest sized each other up. Good. There was nothing like a good old competition to get the blood boiling.
“Now then,” I said, as I tied the wooden token to my wrist. “If there aren’t any more questions, let the game begin. Good luck.”