The days were long, but they eventually arrived at the mansion. The captain had eventually convinced the mage to take a break to let Lucas eat something else than dirt. The captain was capable of catching a rabbit or two, creating a festive atmosphere among the soldiers. Lucas couldn't join them, but he was allowed to eat the normal rations that the soldiers were trying to spare.
It was a decent-looking mansion, being more than twice the size of Lucas' church. It looked big but was not fitting for someone of nobility. During their journey, Liam had separated from the mage with the excuse of covering their rear, but he just wanted some peace of mind.
Now that they were at their destination, he went back to the mage because a bit curious.
"Sir mage, what will we do with the child?", he had seen Lucas struggle the last couple of days and felt sympathetic enough to look out for him, even if he couldn't change his destiny.
"Hmm, for now just feed him something and keep your eye on him."
A bit confused about his orders, he still went through with it. Since the supplies were already low during their travels, Lucas didn't get to eat anything except what he could find on the ground and a bit of water. Only on one occasion could he eat normal rations, so a decent meal would be good for his health.
The white mansion with a few windows that were embraided with golden outlines, was surrounded by a garden and had a small walkway from the entrance gate to the mansion's doors. The gate was guarded by two soldiers, they opened the way when they noticed the group and recognized the captain.
The mage got off his horse and moved towards the entrance of the mansion. Opening the double doors he disappeared inside the opening.
The mage went up a flight of stairs that were mirrored and were opposite the door. Knocking on one of the first doors he went inside without waiting for an answer. "Havi, I've returned!"
Inside the spacious room was a desk with a bunch of papers on it and a somewhat older man. He looked to be in his forties with a few wrinkles on his face. The most surprising fact was that his dark brown hair was in a mess, unbecoming of someone of nobility. He saw the mage and stood up to extend his hand.
"Ah, Venion, you're finally back, how have you been?"
Shaking hands, the men exchanged a few pleasantries before moving on to the main topic. "Tell me, did you find what we were looking for?" The baron said with a serious look.
"I only found 1." the mage said while showing his helplessness of the situation.
"Only 1? Will that be enough?" Havi said with a tiny bit of desperation in his voice.
"He will be useful, but he needs to be durable. Otherwise, it will take too long."
"Durable huh? What do you mean? Does he need to have the strength of a knight or something? If he was trained to his limits would that be enough?"
"Hmmm, depends on what he can achieve in that training period, he already looks a bit old, so we might want to hurry it up."
"Shit, you really couldn't find another one?" the baron said with a bit of disdain in his voice, but the mage dashed his hopes by shaking his head.
"How much time would you need to get results?"
"That sir, is a difficult question, after all, I'm doing research. I can't predict when I get the expected results." Venion explained, but he wasn't finished.
"If I get a few weeks of constant experimentation, I believe I'll get the necessary results for your son."
The baron was quick on the uptake, "So he needs to be durable enough to withstand 2-3 weeks?"
The mage didn't answer, but that wasn't needed, the baron had already devised his plans. "I'll make sure that he'll be usable in the next month, is that fast enough?"
"Hmm I can't tell, but that should be fast enough yes."
"Thank you Venion, truly."
The mage snickered a bit before thinking that he also needed this to continue his own plans.