I studied the sheet of paper in my hand, staring at it with an annoyed expression on his face.
My parents and I were in the House Sturm carriage, heading back to Sturm Manor. It felt strangely empty without Kaylee or Lady Calla sitting next to me; a reminder of how time always marched forward. My little sister was growing up and moving on with her life.
It was the middle of the afternoon. The sun bathed the world with golden rays of light. The welcoming party hosted by the Solarian Imperial Academy had ended a little while ago, and the three of us had already said our farewells to Kaylee, Lady Calla, and Annabelle. We would see them again when the weekend came, but that didn’t make saying goodbye any easier. I was reluctant to part with Annabelle in particular, but in the end I let her go.
However, just as we were about to leave, Lord Wilbur arrived with his cronies in tow and challenged me to a duel right in front of everyone. He said that I could refuse, but if I did, House Sturm would have to pay compensation to House Shelton. That in itself wasn’t such a bad thing. I mean, I did steal from them after all. However, the amount he demanded from us was too much.
Magic beasts were expensive to procure. The rarer and/or more powerful the magic beast, the more expensive they were to acquire. I estimated that a magic beast like a Blaze Cat would cost up to ten thousand mana stones, which was on the higher end. Lord Wilbur had demanded thirty thousand from us.
“Lord Wilbur is a boor, but you have to admire his persistence,” Mother commented, wearing a smirk on her face. “I heard what happened between you two, so I didn’t think he would challenge you to a duel right after the welcoming party ended.”
I gave her a withering look, which just caused her smirk to widen.
“You don’t have to accept, Gabriel,” Father said. “We could just pay them compensation. While the price Lord Wilbur demanded is unreasonable, it is within our means, though it would set us back.”
I snorted at that.
“And give that ass the satisfaction of thinking I’m scared of him?” I asked. “Fuck no.”
“Language,” Mother snapped, giving me a disapproving look.
“Sorry, Mother,” I said with a sigh. “It’s just that Lord Wilbur got under my skin.”
Not to mention, encountering him had worsened my headache, which irritated me even further.
After making his ridiculous statements, Lord Wilbur handed me a sheet of paper with the terms of the duel written on it and said that he would give me time to think about it. The smug prick then walked off, looking pleased with himself.
Despite his abrasive demeanor, the terms of the duel itself weren’t that egregious, except for one in particular. In short, it was a duel to forfeit, which meant we would fight until one of us surrendered to the other or died. If Lord Wilbur won the duel, House Sturm would return the magic beast to House Shelton and pay them ten thousand magic stones in compensation. If I won the duel, House Shelton would pay us ten thousand magic stones and drop the matter.
If I refused altogether, House Sturm would have to pay the thirty thousand mana stones. Otherwise, House Shelton would escalate matters. By escalate, they meant they would turn this into a full-blown feud.
It was clear that Lord Wilbur, and House Shelton by extension, wanted me to accept his challenge. That was why the price for losing the duel was much less than just straight up paying House Shelton to fuck off, at least in mana stones. However, losing meant giving them Gabriella. Like hell was I going to let that happen.
Lord Wilbur must have been confident in his chances of victory, if he was willing to go this far to pressure me. To be fair, his confidence wasn’t unwarranted. One of the terms of the duel, the problematic one, was that neither side could use spells. For a wizard, that just left internal magic. On the surface, this gave Lord Wilbur a significant advantage. Like House Griffin, House Shelton specialized in internal magic. If he were going against a regular wizard, this would have all but secured his victory.
My opinion of House Shelton lowered even further, given that they were willing to resort to cheap tricks like this.
However, for most cultivators, not using spells wasn’t that much of a handicap. Martial arts and martial techniques weren’t spells. Since they included this term, I assumed that House Shelton didn’t know that I was a cultivator. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have insisted on putting it in, since it didn’t give them any advantage. That meant that Lord Asher hadn’t told them about me.
Reading between the lines, I assumed that this was part of House Griffin’s attempt to keep House Shelton in check, by using me while keeping their own hands clean. I didn’t know if Lord Asher had faith in my abilities, or he just wanted to give House Shelton a reminder not to get too cocky. Not that I minded being used, as long as I got what I wanted in the end.
In this case, I wanted to take Lord Wilbur’s pride and crush it beneath my feet. We could've done this the easy way, but he was the one who insisted on doing things the hard way. Now he would pay the price.
Lord Wilbur left the time and place for the duel up to me, as was customary since he challenged me. Given that this would essentially be a duel between cultivators, it was best to keep it private. This meant that the duel couldn’t take place in a public venue; or if it did, it was one that we could reserve for ourselves.
Taking that into consideration, I had one particular place in mind: House Griffin’s underground arena. We would be able to keep the whole affair private if we dueled there, and since it involved a vassal of House Griffin, they were more likely to say yes.
As for the time, the duel would take place two weeks from today, after my mind healed all the way and I could use my divine sense again. There was no need to take it easy with Lord Wilbur and hold myself back for his sake. Not after the shit he tried to pull.
My parents and I discussed the matter on the way back to Sturm Manor. Unlike me, they could use their spirit sense, and they told me that Lord Wilbur was in the first thread of the Second Circle. Given his apparent age, this put him somewhat ahead of his peers. However, they hadn’t been able to gauge his cultivation level, since he kept it concealed and their spirit sense wasn’t powerful enough to pierce through said concealment.
According to Mother, cultivators tried to match their cultivation level with their wizardry level. That meant that Lord Wilbur was either at the peak of the Energy Condensation Stage or the beginning of the Foundation Establishment stage. Taking that into consideration, if he had just focused on wizardry, he would’ve been far ahead of his peers.
As for body cultivation, that was even more difficult to measure. Still, chances were, Lord Wilbur was either weaker than me or at the same level of strength at most.
By himself, Lord Wilbur wasn’t a threat. I could defeat him with ease. It was House Shelton that worried me. How would they react when they realized I was a cultivator as well? Not well, I assumed. Given what they’ve done so far, they would try something shady. Unfortunately, we still hadn’t heard from Grandfather Gabe. It was starting to look like we would have to deal with House Shelton on our own.
That worried me somewhat. According to Lord Asher, House Griffin wouldn’t interfere as long as we didn’t take things too far. Without their support, House Shelton would be easier to deal with. However, I was worried about any potential hidden masters they might have.
If we just took their public strength into account, we could crush House Shelton with ease. Clan Shelton, on the other, was a different beast altogether. Given how long cultivators could live, Clan Shelton could have a few hiding in the shadows, ones who predated the current generation. If they got involved, then things became trickier. Still, I was confident that we could win if it came down to the worse case scenario.
Kurt Traylor, Sturm Manor’s butler, approached us when we reached Sturm Manor, almost as soon as we stepped out of our carriage. He looked agitated.
“Master,” he said, bowing to Father. “Messengers from Sturm Hill are here to see you. I left them in the second floor drawing room.”
“What’s wrong?” Father asked with a frown. “Did something happen?”
Kurt shook his head.
“They haven’t told me anything, but they seem exhausted. From what I could gather, they pushed themselves to reach here.”
My parents and I all looked at each other.
“Thank you, Kurt,” Father said. “I’ll go see them now. You may return to your duties.”
Kurt bowed to Father once again, before leaving us. Without a word, my parents and I headed towards the drawing room on the second floor. While it wasn’t as nice as the Blue Dragon room, it was still pretty good, as least by middling House standards. By Great House standards, it was sub-par.
When we arrived, we found Cameron and Carina, the Reed twins, waiting for us. As Kurt said, they both looked exhausted. Dark circles hung under their eyes, and their faces were lined with exhaustion. Their sturdy and tough travel clothing was covered in dust and leaves. It looked like they hadn’t slept for days while roughing it out. Each of them wore a flying sword at their waist.
I guessed that they had flown here as fast as they could with little to no breaks in between. Given the distance involved, and their cultivation level when I last saw them, it would have taken them days to get here at their top speed. No wonder they looked like they were dead on their feet. Even for cultivators, pushing themselves like that would have been difficult.
Glancing about the room, I saw that someone had brought refreshments in the form of tea and cookies, though the twins had consumed them all. They must not have stopped to eat either, or they had eaten as they flew.
“Lord Sturm,” the twins said as soon as we entered. “Lady Sturm. Lord Gabriel.”
They started to bow, but Father cut them off.
“We can dispense with the formalities, given the apparent urgency of the situation,” he said. “I’m told you have a message for me. What is it? You look like you’ve been traveling nonstop for days, so it must be important.”
The twins shared a look.
“The message is for both you and Lady Sturm, my lord,” Carina, the female twin, said.
“Elder Gabriel first wanted us to let Lady Sturm know that he is fine,” Cameron said. “He told us that you might be worried about him if we didn’t reassure you.”
Mother pursed her lips.
“While I am happy to hear that,” she said. “It worries me that he isn’t here to tell me that himself. What happened? Why did he send you two in his stead?”
“A medium beast tide, comprised of First Circle to Third Circle magic beasts, is attacking the Icefall Region,” Cameron said.
“It descended from the Icefall Mountains and attacked Icefall City the day before we left,” Carina said
The mood in the room, which wasn’t that great to begin with, fell at the mention of a beast tide. As the name suggested, it was when a horde of magic beasts gathered together and went on a rampage. Given the level of destruction they could inflict, people viewed beast tides as something akin to a natural disaster. The only way to deal with one was either to weather the storm, so to speak, or kill enough of the magic beasts involved to the point where the beast tide was no longer a threat.
Luther Icefall, House Icefall’s founder and the current Lord Icefall’s father, earned the right to form his own House when he defended Icefall City from a beast tide.
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Beast tides were measured by the number of magic beasts they had, as well as the strength of those magic beasts. Small for a beast tide in the tens, medium for one in the hundreds, and large for one in the thousands. A large beast tide made up of weak magic beasts was just as dangerous as a small one made up of strong magic beasts, since it could cause more widespread destruction.
Beast tides were led by beast lords, a title given to the most powerful magic beast within the horde. They acted as the heart of the beast tide, and directed where it went. Killing the beast lord threw the entire beast tide into confusion, though a new one would rise if enough time passed and the beast tide wasn’t destroyed.
“Elder Gabriel and Captain Jeffers coordinated with House Icefall and the Adventurers Guild in order to defend the region, but they don’t have the number to defend the entire region,” Carina said. “Several settlements and villages have already been destroyed.”
“He said that he won’t be able to leave the Icefall region until the beast tide is dealt with,” Cameron said.
“What’s the beast lord?” I asked.
A beast tide made up of First Circle to Third Circle magic beasts wasn’t much of a threat to Grandfather Gabe, no matter how large it was. With his power, he’d be able to destroy it within a few days at most. In that case, then the beast lord leading the beast tide was keeping him occupied.
The twins grimaced.
“A Walking Hill,” they said.
My eyes widened, and Mother sucked in a breath.
“By the gods,” Father muttered.
A Walking Hill was a mid-rank Fifth Circle magic beast. I didn’t know much about them, except that they were hill-sized reptiles with stone-like skin. Despite their immense size, they were fast, making them even more dangerous. Tough, strong, and speedy, Walking Hills were not to be underestimated, even for someone of Grandfather Gabe’s caliber.
Thankfully, Walking Hills spent most of their time sleeping, leading many to mistake them for actual hills, which was how they got their name. However, when they woke up, they caused a considerable amount of destruction just by moving about. When they acted with deliberate malice, they caused even more destruction.
As bad as they were, Walking Hills were nothing compared to their larger and more powerful cousins, Walking Mountains. These were mid-ranked Sixth Circle magic beasts that were the size of mountains. Small mountains, but still mountains.
“Elder Gabriel is keeping the Walking Hill at bay on his own,” Cameron said. “However, that means that he can’t deal with the rest of the beast tide.”
“Any help you can send his way would be much appreciated,” Carina said.
When they finished speaking, the twins slumped.
“That’s the end of the message,” they said, speaking at the same time.
Father nodded.
“Thank you,” he said. “You are dismissed. Get some rest while you can. You’ll be heading back to the Icefall Region soon.”
The twins nodded, before leaving the drawing room. Once they were gone, the three of us let out a collective sigh.
“A beast tide,” I muttered. “What poor timing. No wonder Grandfather Gabe didn’t show up.”
My parents nodded.
“We need to send as many of our retainers up north as we can spare,” Father said. “The retainers that we have there already won’t be enough to deal with a beast tide of that size.”
“It might be a good idea to hire several adventurers from the Adventurers Guild as well,” I pointed out.
Father nodded.
“We’ll also need to hire an airship to transport everyone,” he said. “Maybe more than one. The House Icefall airship is too slow, and speed is of the essence. It’ll be expensive, but given the situation, we’re eligible for emergency aid. The Icefall Region is House Icefall’s territory, but since we’re their allies, we can petition the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs on their behalf.”
As part of the Solarian Imperial Administration, the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs handled many of the administrative duties necessary to keep the Solarian Empire running, at least the ones that weren’t handled by the Houses themselves. It was also the ministry responsible for dealing with natural disasters; preparation, prevention, clean-up, rebuilding, etc.
When a House’s territory was struck by a natural disaster, a beast tide in this case, that House could petition the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs for aid to help alleviate the financial burden of dealing with said natural disaster.
In short, while it would be expensive to help House Icefall deal with this beast tide, we weren’t the ones paying for it in the end.
“I’ll go north as well,” Mother declared. “Given the size and strength of the beast tide, Grandfather and the others will need my help.”
Father frowned and his eyes tightened.
“I hate that you’re right, Claire,” he said. “And I hate that I can’t go with you. However, with everything going on here, I can’t afford to leave Sturm Manor.”
Unfortunately, he was right. Just because there was a disaster going on up north, that didn’t mean that all of our problems here had gone away. In fact, some Houses might see this as an opportunity. More than one House had fallen because another House took advantage of their moment of weakness. It was dishonorable to do so, but not illegal.
Mother gave Father a smile and cupped his cheek. He grabbed her hand and held it.
“I know, Bryce,” she said. “Sometimes, holding down the fort is the most difficult task of all. I’ll be fine.”
“I know, but I still hate that you have to go.”
Mother leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. After they parted, she turned towards me with a stern expression on her face.
“This should go without saying,” she said. “But I’m not taking you with me, Gabriel.”
“I know,” I said with a sigh. “That’s why I hadn’t said anything. I’m not strong enough to help with a situation like this, much as it pains me to admit it.”
If the beast tide were smaller or made up of weaker magic beasts, or if I were at the Third Circle or the Core Formation stage, that would be another story. However, at my current level of strength, I wouldn’t be much help against this particular beast tide.
Which sucked, because fighting against a beast tide sounded fun.
“Good,” Mother said with a nod, before giving me a sympathetic smile. “I know how frustrating being left behind can be, but we need someone here to deal with House Shelton. Your father is busy with other matters, and Kaylee is attending the academy now.”
I gave her a pained look.
“I know you’re right,” I said. “But I would rather fight a beast tide. Attending social events and maneuvering through House society seems so banal and boring in comparison.”
“Don’t forget Clan society,” Mother pointed out. “However, I understand where you’re coming from. It is boring at times. Still, boring as it can be, that doesn’t make it any less important. Making the right connections and securing the right friendships is vital to our family’s wellbeing. We’re not strong enough to stand on our own.” She put a hand on my shoulder. “In my absence, you’re the acting Patriarch of Clan Sturm. That means that you’ll be responsible for securing our Clan’s place here in Sunheart while I’m gone.”
“This includes the situation with House Shelton, since they are a cultivator Clan,” Father interjected. “Whatever you decide to do, you’ll have my full support.”
My parents’ trust in me warmed my heart, which eased my irritation. They were right. As pointless as it might seem, my work here in Sunheart would help lay the foundation for our Clan’s future.
That didn’t make me any less annoyed by it.
“In that case,” I said. “Let’s get to work. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you because of any lack on our part.”
Mother smiled at me, before the three of us started preparing to send her north.
----------------------------------------
It took us two days to get everything together in order to send Mother north so she could help with the beast tide, along with a good chunk of our House’s retainers as well as several teams of adventurers. Organizing them all so they could leave in a timely fashion was a nightmare. It didn’t help that the first person we contacted at the Adventurers Guild acted like a belligerent asshole, to the point that Mother visited the guild herself in order to sort things out. I didn’t know what she did, but they were much more cooperative after that.
We also had to find an airship capable of transporting everyone north while still being able to move at a fast pace. This was not easy or cheap. We ended up hiring two airships just to get that particular hassle out of the way.
To my surprise, receiving emergency aid from the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs turned out to be the easiest obstacle to overcome. I had heard rumors that dealing with them was a nightmare of bureaucratic nonsense, but in reality, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Sure, we had to fill out the proper paperwork and follow the right procedures, but the clerks and administrators we dealt with were polite, professional, and efficient about it.
On my end, I helped out my parents as best I could. With Kaylee busy with school, it fell to me to support them to the best of my ability. Unfortunately, if predictably, I faced trouble from my disciples: Lorelei and Corie to be specific. They had accosted me in Father’s study, when I was busy helping him out with the preparations.
Rather than brush them off, I took them both to the second floor drawing room and to talk things out with them.
Despite the hassle, I didn’t blame either of them for their actions. Their home was under attack and their loved ones were in danger. They wanted to head north in order to protect those they cared about. They were worried about Guildmaster Sinclair in particular, since the twins informed us that she was at the forefront of the fighting. Given what I knew about her, this didn’t surprise me.
However, despite their pleas, I forbade them from joining the others heading north.
“But why?” Corie cried out in disbelief. “There’s no point in us staying here, not when we can make a difference. We should be fighting to protect our loved ones, not playing House retainer.”
“Corie’s right, Master,” Lorelei said, as stubborn and unyielding as the Earth. “I will not stand by and do nothing while my kin are fighting for their lives.”
I crossed my arms and gave them both a hard look.
“Neither of you are powerful enough to make a difference,” I said, my voice cold and merciless. “Your presence will not affect things one way or another.”
Harsh, but true.
“To use the Adventurers Guild ranking system, the minimum rank needed to participate in this job is Bronze, and even then, that’s only to bring our numbers up. Both of you are still Copper.”
The reasons why I couldn’t go north applied to Lorelei and Corie as well. While they were both powerful youths, they were still only in the First Circle and the Energy Condensation stage. At their current level, sending them north would just put them in unnecessary danger. Otherwise, I might have considered it.
Corie got up in my face.
“So what?” she asked, a vicious edge to her voice. “We’re supposed to just stay here and do what? Attend parties? Walk around Sunheart? Laze about while people fight for their lives?”
Despite the anger radiating off of my disciple, I held my ground and stood firm.
“No,” I said. “You train and grow stronger, so that when the next disaster comes along, you can do something about it. Until then, you bide your time and let those who are capable of making a difference handle things.”
“That’s it?” Lorelei said, stepping up to support Corie. “That’s what you want us to do? Let others face danger while we stay safe and secure down here?”
“Yes. Sometimes being patient and not taking action is the most difficult choice of all, no matter how necessary it is.”
Corie scoffed at that.
“You say that because it’s not your home that’s under attack,” she spat out. “Your loved ones aren't the ones in danger.” Her expression twisted with hate. “You’re just like all the other House brats. You don’t care about what happens to regular people, the ones who don’t have magic. As long as it doesn’t involve your House, you don’t care what happens one way or another. Or maybe you’re just a coward.”
Silence filled the drawing room. Lorelei looked askance at Corie’s words. From the look in her eyes, Corie herself knew that she had crossed the line, but her anger and her pride kept her from backing down.
“I’m disappointed in you, Celestial Archer,” I said in a calm voice. “I thought you knew me better than that.”
Rather than the outburst she expected, my calm demeanor caught Corie off guard.
“I don’t care?” I said. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. While I haven’t spent my entire life in the Icefall Region like you two, I’ve come to love it. It’s rough and uncivilized, but there is a beauty to its wildness. That is one of the reasons why I chose to make it the home of Clan Sturm.” I nodded in the direction of Father’s study. “If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be working so hard to help out as much as I can.”
I looked between my disciples.
“I understand how you both feel. My mother is heading north to help deal with the beast tide. Don’t think that I care any less about her safety than you do for your loved ones. She’s powerful, yes, but she will still be in danger. The beast lord for this beast tide is a Walking Hill. If Grandfather Gabe fails to subdue it, then my mother may end up losing her life.”
I leaned forward, revealing my own anger and frustration.
“I hate this as much as you do. I’m not suited to staying behind and playing support. Given the choice, I would rather head north and fight. However, just like with you two, my presence wouldn't make any meaningful difference. Sure, I’d be able to kill a bunch of Second Circle magic beasts, but there are hundreds of them. And that isn’t even taking the Third Circle magic beasts into account. Remember the undead horde that attacked us when we left the Icefall Region? This beast tide is many times larger than that.”
From the expressions on their faces, I saw that my words had reached my disciples’ hearts. Corie clenched her fists and looked down.
“Is there really nothing we can do?” she whispered.
“We hold down the fort and support our loved ones as best we can from here,” I said. “With my mother heading north with most of our retainers, House Sturm is now more vulnerable than ever. Opportunistic vultures can and will try to take advantage of that. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.” I gestured to the manor around us. “While this may sound self-serving, remember that House Sturm and House Icefall are now in the same boat. We prosper together, and we fall together.”
I put my hands on both of their shoulders.
“We won’t be able to help with this disaster, but if we train and grow stronger, we’ll be ready to face the next one.”
Corie looked up at me, a determined expression on her face.
“I will grow stronger,” she said. “So that I never have to feel this helpless ever again.”
Lorelei grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
“We both will,” she said. “We’ll grow strong to the point where we’ll be able to deal with a Walking Hill.”
If I had my way, they would both grow strong enough to face far more powerful foes, though that was still a long ways off.
“Good,” I said, removing my hands from their shoulders. “Now then, we have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it.”