Lezhalt sat in his leather chair with a wide grin on his face. A breakthrough, he finally managed to overcome the last barrier that was halting his progress.
"I've done it!"
He said to himself, but that did not stop Renold from picking up on those words.
"Have you finally learned the tier one spell?"
For years now, Lezhalt has been trying to master sorcery without a proper teacher. Renold never trusted in the words he told him that day years ago, as he knew how powerful wizards could be.
A low ranking wizard could kill a decently geared patrol of guards on their own. The high ranking mages were capable of devastating a squad of highly geared knights with a single spell.
Yet, the number of high ranking mages were quite low. Learning how to pick up a weapon was easy, anyone could do it. However, entering the realm of magic and sorcery was not.
Lezhalt nodded his head as he raised his slim index finger.
Concentrating he focused on his finger while mumbling a few words in silence. Almost instantly a small flame hovered above his index finger. It was the size of a raisin, not one centimeter bigger.
He could not help but grin as he moved his finger around in the air and watched as the small flame followed.
"Two years of training, and I'm only fourteen! With this talent, all the wizard schools will be eager to accept me!"
Lezhalt exclaimed in excitement before he put the flame out.
If Jacob heard those words, he would laugh at Lezhalt for believing that his accomplishment was praiseworthy. Becoming a mage for a player was easy, easy enough that a player could achieve it in one day.
Renold was proud of his lord. While he could not be considered the youngest mage in history, his talent was better than most mages he knew of.
"What school do you plan on attending? Surely not Falconer?"
Renold asked as he leaned up in his seat.
His lord wanted to escape this city and although Falconer was a great school to train mages he doubted Lezhalt would go there. Just because it is in the capital does not mean it is the best school around.
"I'll need you to send word to Rainfall. It'll take a week for the letter to arrive and another one for us to receive their reply. At that time, my birthday will be coming up…"
Lezhalt stopped talking as he moved his hands on his desk, fiddling with a few papers until he found what he was looking for.
"Be sure to invite all of my father's associates and at least teach Vulcan some basic manners. I do not wish them to believe I've lost all my senses since the death of my parents."
"Does that mean you are going to accept the engagement with Miss Angelia?"
"Oh heavens no. That brute of a woman does not fit my standards. The Frost family can have whatever they want in this city, but they will not have me."
"It could do you good to accept, especially with Vulcan taking your place. Sooner or later he will perish making the engagement null anyway."
Lezhalt sighed.
Renold's words were true, but there were chances he could not take.
"Let us say I do accept, that would mean both our families will be one and the same. Decreasing the chances of that assassin coming back. If they do not return, I'm sure the Frost family will swallow up Vulcan. We both know how easy it is to manipulate the kid, I'm positive the Frost family will do the same."
"Even if I am leaving this place, I would much rather my families assets go to the temple instead."
Renold could understand the last part. After all, who would want someone else to benefit from their death?
But the thought of the assassin completely giving up on killing off Lezhalt was unlikely. Renold felt there were plots stirring up, but he did not know when they would see the light of day.
Times have been peaceful lately, but every good soldier knew that was only the beginning of something big.
"Arrangements have been made, we can leave the night of your birthday."
Renold said.
That was the sole reason he was absent for an entire day last week. To prepare for the upcoming trip.
Upon returning, he was surprised by the sight Diana arranged for him. Everything was as he left it, except they were short one maid.
She managed to crush whatever obstacle was in her way, and for that Renold was proud.
"Good, I can't waste another day in this place. Staring at these same blue walls all day every day is dreadful. I've managed these last two years hiding myself away, but I cannot take much more of this. I need fresh air!"
Lezhalt said as he frowned when his blue eyes landed on the blue walls.
"Oh, how is Vulcan doing?"
Lezhalt's next words caught Renold off guard. He never anticipated Lezhalt would be curious about Vulcan seeing as he was only using him to bait the assassin.
"He is fitting in well, the little guy is making friends with most of the employees. It has been a little over a week since he has arrived. Heard Oswald took him under his wing to build up his strength. If I knew the kid was in possession of that much talent, I would have trained him myself. A pity he might not live to see the new year."
Renold was disappointed.
His heir was a strong stubborn young woman who wanted to become a knight. She betrayed her father and instead of learning from him, she wanted to study under those glorious figures.
Even with his savings, he only scraped together enough to manage one year's tuition for her. But, she was his everything. Luckily, the previous head had a kind heart and treated Renold as a brother, so he paid for three years of his daughter's tuition.
She was sixteen this year and she should be graduating from the Knightfall - a knight academy - within the next year or two.
For him, he had no one to pass his skills down to.
He felt a sense of bitterness inside. Vulcan had the talent, but he was Lezhalt's double. Destined to die so that Lezhalt may live.
"If you are so fond of him, teach him a few of your techniques. Consider it a gift for his service."
Lezhalt's words aligned with his own thoughts.
Renold might be able to teach Vulcan a skill or two, but he could never learn everything. It would be a waste of time, yet, it could do him good to get a glance at a real warrior. Not that he had anything against Oswald, it was just that Oswald was not his equal.