Hector went back to the carriage, he detailed his findings to Sebastian and the group within the carriage. Sebastian decided it was best they discussed the matter when they were safe within the comfort of the Gerrett household. Along the way, Sebastian spared no effort in trying to invite Willard to join the Gerrett household. Sebastian had clearly witnessed the battle prowess of Willard, which made him greatly admire Willard.

For the rest of the ride, the warriors had paid great attention to their surroundings. They did not relax even a little bit as they all rushed back to Marquis city. During the ride, only Sebastian and Willard seemed to be a little carefree as they continued chatting. Willard had also mentioned his previous encounter with Asyut while withholding the details of what happened to the guards. After hearing all that, Sebastian was more determined to recruit Willard. Although Sebastian greatly wanted Willard, he also wasn’t going to be intolerant of his refusal. Sebastian would much rather retain a relationship with Willard than not.

Willard agreed to stay in the Gerrett household for the remainder of his stay in Marquis city. Willard had told Sebastian of his interest in taking the Blood Challenge, of which Sebastian had insisted he stayed as a guest of the Gerrett household while he trained and waited for the trials.

The rest of the journey was much smoother, they encountered nothing particularly troublesome as the raced towards the Gerrett household. After about an hour or so, the carriage came to a stop. While exiting the carriage, the first thing that caught Willards eyes was the image of the Gerrett family insignia that was hung up high on the building. The banner had a white lotus flower with the name Gerrett underneath the image of the flower. The banner had an air of majesty to it, as it stood firm and clear. The Gerrett household was like an enclosed forth, it gave a similar resemblance to a walled city. At the center of the manor, there was a large building beautifully adorned with decorative pieces. This building was the main resident of the Lord of the Gerrett family. It also had a beautiful garden surrounding its entrance which gave a sense of tranquility and peace. There were dozens of smaller buildings scattered around the manor, which housed guests, workers, warriors and a host of other groups. At the sight of such a thing, one had to recognize the might of one of the founding households of Marquis city.

Sebastian lead the way as he directed Willard towards the main house. “Young master,” an old man with gray hair said, as he walked out of the main house.

“How was your journey this time around? It seemed to have been a dangerous one.” The old man asked, as he intently stared at the strange young man, and the warriors that accompanied Sebastian.

“We will talk about that much later,” Sebastian responded.

“Oh Arilis, can you prepare a good feast for my good friend and I,” Sebastian said with a smile on his face. Sebastian continued walking towards the house as he led the way for Willard.

The old man, Arilis, was a little surprised. Although Sebastian was a generally friendly person, he had never personally hosted a stranger before. Even when he had other aristocrats over, he had never called them his good friend. From this, Arilis could tell there had to be something special about this young man who had some bloodied stains around his outfit. He knew his young master must have encountered some serious danger this time around.

“Yes young master,” Arilis responded.

Arilis immediately ordered the servants to prepare the feast. He had also personally led the servants as they went on to get things ready. A bath was prepared for Sebastian and his guest. A new outfit was prepared for Willard as well, seeing how tattered his outfit was. Moments later, both Willard and Sebastian had returned to a well-prepared feast. There were a lot of great looking aromatic meals spread across the dining hall. One had to know the founding families lived in abundance. All sorts of meals and assortments were present on the tables. Even the chief of the Yellow Hem village would most likely have never seen some of those meals before.

The warriors that had battled the assassins were also present. Sebastian had ordered them to join in the feast. Although Sebastian was a victim of an assassination attempt, he was also in a great mood. He had survived and made a promising friend. Although Sebastian wasn’t physically as strong as his peers, he made up for it with his wit and knowledge. Sebastian could tell from Willards performance, he was someone who had the potential to grow really powerful, and that was why he was trying to befriend Willard now. As the saying goes, an ally’s strength is also one’s strength. By gaining Willard as a friend, he would have gained another powerful ally. Sebastian, Willard and the warriors all ate and drank to their fullest. Surviving danger usually has a way of doing wonders to one’s appetite.

Later at night, the lord of the Gerrett family arrived home. Sebastian had a private talk with his father that lasted some hours. During that talk, Sebastian had detailed what had happened to him. He did not omit any part, including the previous interaction Willard had with Asyut. There was a clear sign of anger on Sebastian’s father’s face all throughout the talk. As they finished their conversation, Sebastian took the opportunity to invite Willard to meet his father. Willard was lead to the Gerrett family reception hall by Asilis, and as they walked through the main hall of the house, Willard could make out various paintings of several prominent Gerrett ancestors that were spread across the walls of the hall. With this, one could tell how long this household had been established. Their roots were comparable to that of the governing family, the Marquis household, but unfortunately, they have been on the decline for some time now.

As Willard got to the reception hall, he saw a well-built man sitting on an ascended stage. The man had a rugged appearance, with a thick armor on. The armor had the amber kingdoms insignia of a red great eagle on it. With this, one could surmise that this man was in the Amber kingdom’s army and from the looks of the armor, he held an important position. The man looked nothing like Sebastian, the man had short hair with a face full of beards. This man could be described as the personification of a warrior. To the right stood Sebastian who blossomed into a smile as he saw Willard. Sebastian walked towards Willard and said, “come let me introduce you to my father.” Willard nodded docilely almost as if he was a well-mannered youth.

“Father, this is Willard.” Sebastian said as he pulled Willard a little closer. “He was the one that saved my life today.”

“Willard greets lord Jayesh,” Willard said with a respectful bow. Although Willard had no idea how strong lord Jayesh was, but from the looks of lord Jayesh, Willard got the feeling that this man before him was incredibly dangerous. He wanted to make sure he got on his good side until he was strong enough to protect himself. Marquis city was vastly different from the Yellow Hem village, where Willard could almost do as he pleased. Here in Marquis city, they were countless people who could easily kill him at his current level. Willard knew when to be overbearing and when he had to retreat. For the moment, Willard planned on using the Gerrett family’s power and influence to protect himself while he trained and increased his power base.

Lord Jayesh nodded and stared at Willard with a look of appraisal. The youth before him greatly peaked his interest, because they were not many youths in the kingdom who could accomplish what Willard had accomplished.

“You are welcome to stay as an honored guest for as long as you like,” Jayesh said in a hoarse-voiced.

“Asilis, make sure his accommodations are comfortable,” Jayesh continued. Asilis hearing that nodded and responded, “Yes my lord.”

Sebastian took Willard by the hand and proceeded to lead him out of the hall. He took Willard to the front yard garden where they conversed for some time before they both went to their respective residency. When Willard got to his room, he prepared to begin one of the longest training session he had ever done.

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Note:

Thanks for reading guys, volume one is completed. If you like the story and would like to help the author, please rate and share the story. Every little bit helps. Also, all further releases will first be posted on Silva’s Library before being updated anywhere else.

Thanks,

~Devine_Exodus