”I want to continue training in the forest.”

“No way.” Lochras spat immediately.

“Give him a chance to make an argument for himself.” Keira glared at Lochras.

“I acted irresponsibly when I let Nymira get in my head and rile me up. Grandma, I saw the look on your face, and I don’t want to shame our family.

I want you to think of me highly, the same way you think of Syra. At the same time, I want Syra to be proud of her last name. I want my little brother to be proud of it too.” Silas looked up and into both of their eyes.

Determination burned within his eyes. He wasn’t lying. He loved Syra, and he didn’t want her to feel ashamed of her family.

“We can just get you a tutor at home.” Lochras retorted.

“That’s also something I wanted to talk to you guys about.” Silas looked into his father’s eyes with a stare that sent a shiver down his spine.

“No one can know about my blessing.” They both narrowed their eyes, but Keira cut in before Silas could explain his viewpoint.

“I agree.” She spoke, making Lochras look at her in surprise before narrowing his eyes and nodding in understanding. They both knew the uproar that could be caused if someone found out about Silas’ blessing.

“We just tell them that I awakened the water, earth, and light element.” Silas crossed his arms.

“Three elements isn’t unheard of. It might make people question whether Lochras is your real father though.” Keira stroked her chin.

“I don’t mind.” Lochras sighed and looked into Silas’ eyes.

“Though, I don’t think you should go into the forest to train.”

‘Predictable.’

“It is the best method to gain strength at an astronomical level. I think its only fair if I go to the forest and train every night.” Silas argued.

“I’ll go with you.” Keira sided with Silas once again. She was a little unsettled by the use of the word ‘astronomical,’ but at this point, they were all almost completely numb to Silas’ exceedingly high vocabulary and outstanding speaking skills.

“That takes away from the sense of danger. Without danger, I don’t improve.” Silas explained.

“Well, you’re not going in there on your own young man.” Keira quickly switched sides.

“I’ve been going there for almost 8 months now. The beast horde was unexpected and probably won’t happen again for a very long time.” Silas retorted.

“Then, how about this. Tomorrow we will have a little duel to see if you’re ready to go out alone.” Lochras suggested while Silas tried his best to not burst out laughing.

He did his best contemplation expression before smiling and giving his father a nod.

“I think that is the only way we can deal with this impass.” Silas spoke with joyously while standing up and turning around.

“I’ll get ready for tomorrow. You two better ready yourselves for the battle of a lifetime. Though, let’s make sure to do it when Syra’s doing her classes.” Silas turned around and began to walk away.

Keira glanced at Lochras before shaking her head slightly in disappointment. Though, it didn’t seem like Lochras cared all that much.

“Wait, Silas! One last thing! What core grade are you one?” Lochras shouted before Silas could get too far. They still had so many questions, but they only had an hour to ask them, meaning they would need to ask them later. One of those questions was going to ask how he cultivated and when he had awakened, but since they didn’t have the time for that, Lochras chose to ask one of the questions rather than both.

Turning around, Silas looked at the two of them and smiled.

“Pristine-garnet.”

They both widened their eyes in shock as Silas slowly turned around and began walking away. However, now that no one could see his expression, he finally let the smile he had held back the entire time stretch both corners of his lips from ear to ear.

‘Checkmate.’

***

A few minutes passed after Silas left them two alone to linger in Silence.

“He had to be lying, right?” Keira looked at Lochras with a weird expression.

Most people didn’t reach the garnet core until their first years in the academy. Talented individuals usually reached the garnet core around the age of 10, and really talented individuals like Syra reached the garnet core around the age of 8. Only geniuses reached the garnet core at the age of 7 or even 6.

Keira was looking at Lochras with a tense expression. It was a mixture of nervousness and fear, but it wasn’t for the reasons one would expect.

“He’s lying, right?” She asked again.

“I thought so too… But he hadn’t lied once this entire time.” Lochras had a permanent scowl on his face as he put his hand in his pocket and took out a stone with one large rune on it.

“Not once?” Keira tried to examine the stone to see if there were any faults in the runic inscription, but there was nothing.

“Not once… Everything he told was the truth. Not a single word that came out of his mouth was a lie.” Lochras rubbed his brows.

They both sat in silence for a bit longer before Keira spoke again.

“I’m doing what needs to be done to ensure my son’s safety.” He snorted.

“Saftey? Or do you just want to control him the same way you and my daughter controlled Syra’s life until she awakened? You know he can’t beat you, and I know you will not be satisfied with anything else.”

They sat there silently for a bit longer before they eventually got up and returned home to break the news to Rhea.

The day passed in the blink of an eye, and before they knew it, the sun had begun to rise once more upon Uladia.

Two individuals stood on the front porch as the sun shone upon the skylark household. They both held a weapon of their choosing, yet while Lochras held a steel sword in his hand, Silas held his grandmother’s staff in his hand.

“Are you ready?” mana whirled around Lochras as he used toki to strengthen himself.

“I was born ready.” Silas pointed the staff toward his father with a grin on his face. Glimpses of his battlefield self cracked through his expression as a flame of determination burnt within his eyes.

——————

[A/N: Still 6 chapters left, lol. It’s fine, though. Just give me a few hours, and I’ll try to get them all out. Also, there will be a small event I will be participating in on the 12th and 15th.

You’ll get two extra chapters on those days, and since I’m going on summer break after the 9th of May, I should have more than enough time to write those chapters in time. Again, sorry for not bringing all the chapters on time this week.]

[If you have enjoyed this chapter and would like to support the author, please vote using your power stones or golden tickets. Also, you can join my discord server today to see illustrations or to converse about the latest chapters.]