Derek felt drowsy as he came to in a comfortable bed. He could sense the existence of many people in the room with him as he slowly regained consciousness. As he stirred, he felt a hand press against his forehead and a gentle wash of mana flow through him.

“Hmm, you are awake now? It’s fine to move slowly. There is no rush.” He heard his mother’s voice next to him. There was a mix of concern and relief in her voice.

After a moment, Derek was able to collect his thoughts together and push himself into a sitting position. Looking around the room, he realized that he was in his room in his mother’s house and aside from his immediate family, there were a few others in the room. Granny Penny was seated by the windows with a few others from the Cathedral. Derek noticed that Inquisitor Inhurst was among that group. In another corner of the room, he saw his grandfathers talking to Priest Cnut and Arbitrator Nolan while his grandmothers were conversing with the senior leadership of the school near the door.

Derek felt somewhat strange. His injuries were gone, but his status seemed off. Focusing, he turned his Senses inward. There was a new flow of power within him, merging with the other enhancements he was already accustomed to. Derek Sensed a flow of dark and chaos attribute encased within a lattice of other elements. They strengthened him and then flowed back towards their source in a constant flow. Derek followed the source to a location in the center of his back. There he found a mark etched in place like a tattoo. Sensing the mark, he was reminded of the standing stones in the Hell’s Gate Mountains. The markings on those stones and this one were quite similar.

It was then that Granny Penny came over and sat next to him on his bed. “Boy, you came very close to death this time. The poison that assassin used could only be countered by the dark energies of the Hell’s Gate Mountains. Due to that, we were forced to remove the suppressions on the Mark of the Seal your ancestors in the Thorne clan had placed upon you.

“Normally, this would be delayed until the Bearer had reached tier four, but necessity dictated that we do so today. Conveniently, you already possess attributes worthy of tier four anyways.”

A look of worry flashed across her face before she continued, “Honestly, I cannot tell if this is a boon or bane for you. It will surely make you stronger, but it can draw unwanted attention to you as well. That is something you already have in spades. As the Seal Bearer of the Seal of the Hell’s Gate Mountains you will continue to draw strength from the seal just as you strengthen it. In time you will grow even stronger from it, but it will make you a target for those who want the Seal destroyed or weakened.

“Knowing that, you could hide away and the forces that keep the Seals could protect you. That would not be terrible. You could continue to improve your forging, become a healer at the Temple of the Hearth, or clergy at the Cathedral of the Sun. In any of those cases, powerful guardians could be placed around you to protect you from any evil that might come your way.”

Derek’s face showed some dissatisfaction as she said that last part which elicited a sigh from her, “I thought not. You are your father’s son. The other option is to temper yourself. To grow strong enough to weather the attacks of others yourself without the need of guardians. This will require risk, as you will need to seek out challenges yourself for the tempering process. Do you understand me?”

Derek nodded with a serious look on his face, “Yes, Granny, I understand. This is what I wanted from the beginning. I wish to go forth and adventure, to grow strong and spread my name through word of my deeds.”

The old woman looked at him for a moment, a sad look in her eye. “You and your grandmother are the last of my bloodline child. I will be proud of you no matter what you do, but if this is truly what you want, then I can only step aside and watch. Just know that all I want for you is that you can be happy.”

Derek reached over and grabbed her wrinkly old hand. “Granny, I am already happy. I have been blessed with a loving family and many mentors who have taken time to teach me how to be better at what I do. I have made friends that I can trust and earned the respect of many others. With all of these I cannot help but be happy with my situation.”

Squeezing his hand tightly for a moment, she released it and stood up, “Good, then. There will be much for you to do. Rest now. The award ceremony will be held tomorrow and you will need to be there. I will come to visit you afterwards.”

With that, his Granny left the room followed by the people from the Cathedral. The Inquisitor glanced back at him before following her out. Derek looked over at his mother that was just watching him from the side, “Mom, are you mad that I didn’t take the safer of the two options?”

She gave him a smile that didn’t mask her concern, “No son, I already knew which option you would pick and there is little reason to believe that staying under someone else’s protection would truly be safer in the long run than growing strong yourself. Instead of selfishly choosing for you, I choose to believe in you and your choice instead.”

He smiled at her and reached over to give her a hug, “I am glad, mom. I promise I will not take too many terrible risks.”

He did not want to promise her that he would stay safe as that would have been a lie and they both knew it. He could only promise to try to reduce the number of risks he would have to take. That way he could at least somewhat mitigate her worries.

After a moment, Derek’s grandmothers led over a man in Windreach’s livery that Derek recognized. He smiled at the man, “Captain Drake, I am surprised to see you here.”

The man laughed upon seeing Derek’s response, “It can’t be helped. You seem to be an assassin magnet. I had stopped by to inform everyone of my findings. It turns out those men that attacked you had an uncommon background and I can’t just go kicking in their master’s door to demand answers.”

Derek’s confused look got another laugh from the man, “Well, rather, it would be impolite of me to kick in any doors to begin with, as he is staying as a guest here in our own Academy.”

Derek’s eyebrows lifted, “Is that so? But first of all, how did you determine who their master was? Was the stealther that poisoned me captured alive?”

“Eh, no, he is very much dead, as well as the ones you took down. We were able to find out which force they belong to by looking at their equipment, their physical features and a few other things. Once we narrowed down the search to just a few factions, we were able to inquire at the places where they were staying whether there was a sudden decrease in numbers for the group. That left us with only one inn and after our own investigators, along with some others, had done their work, we confirmed it. Does the name Blake Elnon ring a bell to you? Recently, several of his guards and one of his aides has stopped returning to their inn.”

Derek nodded, “So it was Blake after all. I had a feeling it was him after hearing my attackers’ accents and their mention of their ‘master’, but I had no proof.”

The guardsman nodded, “Well, we know who did it, but due to the diplomatic issues it might cause, we have been ordered to merely keep an eye on his people to prevent them from doing anymore damage. Sorry, but there is nothing I can do.”

Derek shrugged his shoulders, “The soldiers can only follow their orders so I do not hold it against them. Besides, the ones that attacked me are dead already. Their master though… We have a little engagement scheduled for after the tournament. I am sure I can educate him about the mistakes he made at that time.”

As he finished saying this, a hint of killing intent flashed across his eyes. The guardsman smiled when he saw that the youth had no psychological hang ups from the attack. He nodded to the young man before turning to Madeleine Windreach, “It seems things are settled here my lady. If there is nothing else you need from me, I should be returning to my duties.”

Derek’s maternal grandmother turned to the guardsman, “You have done well Drake. I will put in a good word for you with your superiors.”

The guardsman bowed, “I was just doing my duties ma’am. I will take my leave then.”

The man left the room along with two other guardsmen. Watching him leave, his materinal grandmother sighed as she turned to him, "Derek, we have confronted Prince Blake about this and he admitted sending his men to harass you, but he said he had not ordered them to kill you. Furthermore, the Queen of Telis has requested we show leniency in this case. Considering the actions of the Church right now and the fact that our forces may be called in to support their campaign this summer, it isn't possible for us to take action against them. We have sent an official complaint to them and the Church of the War God has already sanctioned them for their actions.

"As of now, that is all we can do. I am sorry. Just know that the Academy's memory is long. While it may not be convenient for us to act now, it will not be too late to take action later. If these bumpkins don't give a satisfactory response, perhaps in five years time there will be no Elnon on this continent."

Having said her peace, Madeleine gathered up the other Windreach people in the room and left with them. Seeing that, Priest Cnut and Arbitrator Nolan came over with Ander. Cnut spoke first, “Well, that was a close one boy. We were all worried for you.”

Derek sighed, “I suppose I am blessed to have so many who care about my well being but it is burdensome to know so many would be affected by this attack.”

The two priests nodded, before Nolan took up the conversation, “Well, it is a fact that you are a valued partner in the Association, so your wellbeing is of utmost importance to us.”

Derek thought about that for a moment before speaking up, “I have been too busy recently and have neglected my obligations to the Association. Is there anything I have missed.”

The Arbitrator smiled, “No young man, the Association is functioning quite well. We have gathered professionals to support the smiths and to guide the Association along in a healthy manner. At this point all you need to do is collect your dues as an investor. Though you are welcome to participate more directly if you are interested.”

Derek shook his head, “No, I am still too busy and I am likely to be gone for the summer anyways. The rest of you all know what we need just as much as I do. It is better to leave it in your capable hands.”

Thinking for a bit, Derek glanced at Rebekah who was standing next to his mother and chatting quietly. He turned to Nolan, “Can you pay my dividends to my grandmother there. I would like to let her use that money to help fund my Clan back in the mountains. I don’t believe that there are no other resources there, what with the mana density in the region and all. I imagine with some dedicated surveying of the region we might uncover some new sources for our operations.

“If we can uncover more resources for our operations and revitalize my Clan at the same time, it would be a double boon for me.”

The Arbitrator nodded, “I can do that. If we can find a good mine in those mountains it indeed would be beneficial to both the Association and your Clan.”

Derek smiled and thanked the two before they also left. The room now only had those he considered his close family. His mother and paternal grandparents were there along with his master. After the crowd left, Alicia slipped into the room and came over to hug Derek. She had clearly been crying, “I heard what happened. Damn that Blake. He is no good. When I get a chance I will sort him out.”

Derek smiled at her and patted her back. She was the same old kid he had known, no matter how many years it had been. “Don’t worry about it. I will take care of him. There is no need for you to get too upset about it. I am sure he’s already regretting his actions after the losses he just suffered. Besides, tomorrow after the awards, I will have a perfect opportunity to chastise him over this foolish behavior of his.”