"Hello Mister Edgar, I came because I'm in a peculiar situation, and you as a senior mage are the only person I can turn to. Please hear me out" Asked politely Adam, after making a slight bow in front of the host, as a sign of respect and a greeting.
"Hi. It's about magic isn't it?"
"Yes, it is." Answered Adam, while rubbing the back of his head.
"Then come in, but be aware that you will owe me more afterwards. Bretty, please lead Adam to the patio, while I and Max will say goodbye to our guests."
It was Adam's second time walking towards that patio, but it was a different route than the first time. Earlier, he walked with Edgar through the building, but now the maid, Bretty, led him around the manor.
While they walked, Adam had an incredible view of the gardens, beautiful even in the winter. Plants were preserved with the use of ice magic, seemingly stopping them in time, ice around each leaf and petal reflected the sunlight giving them incredible illumination.
After arriving on the patio and sitting down under the little roof, Adam waited for several minutes, bathing in the light of the fireplaces placed around. Until chief guard Edgar arrived along with his son, Max.
After saying their greetings, they sat alongside each other, opposite to Adam, who too, sat down after standing up to greet them.
"So, What problem do you have? " Asked Edgar, he seemed to be curious.
"I managed to handle some magic, but I don't have any way to advance in ranks. Learning magic only to remain as the lowest of mages doesn't seem appealing to me, could you give me some guidance?" Asked Adam after a few moments of deliberation.
"Hmmm, I may have a few suggestions for you, but before we talk about that let's first consider the payment. Do you have any plans to leave Ferston?"
"Yes. I planned to move out and become an adventurer and wander the world, after learning anything I could from my uncle." Adam had high hopes for his plan, he yearned for adventures and wanted to see all that he could.
"Well, if that's so, my proposition would not make much of a difference. You see, Max will be soon going to the capital, to his mother and younger siblings. He will be given a military position. I would like you to accompany him and support him in the capital for half a year. if you accept you will also enter the military, but with a contract that makes it possible for you to leave it after ending the service to us."
"What would the support mean? The only valuable thing about me is that I may become a mage, and in the capital, there are surely lots of those?" Asked Adam, flabbergasted.
"It's true that In the capital there are a lot more mages than in a normal city, but it is still around three dozen, it is such a small amount that every mage is of utmost importance. Your presence as an ally of ours, would strengthen our branch of the family and bring us benefits." Explained Edgar.
"Could you first tell me about your situation in the capital? I don't want to step up into something I can't handle." Seeing that mages, even in the capital were so rare and that Edgar was here, despite having family in the capital, worried Adam.
"I can, firstly, you must know that Steelarms are a branch family of the royal family, I am the first Steelarm as I didn't have any active rights to the throne and had to establish my branch. We aren't opposed by the royal family either, as I and my brother are on good terms.
You are probably interested, why would someone like me be here, in a remote town only becoming a small city." That was what Adam was interested in, and Edgar didn't fail to notice.
"I'm making this town my own, with the approval of his highness, my brother. Although we are on good terms, as I am a mage, my presence in the capital makes the situation complicated. You see, in the Royal family seniority is considered secondary, if my older brother didn't manage to become a mage he would have to resign in my stead. The same would happen if he had become a mage but didn't manage to use iron magic. As he and I are the only iron mages from our generation, I am second to the throne right now. And as such I need to have my place to not establish any thought of revolution in the nobles."
'What a political hell' Thought Adam, as he stared at the pond, which somehow wasn't frozen.
"But what about Max...Ugh, young master Max? Isn't he then a candidate for the throne?"
"I would, If I was king's son, as I am not, I would become the king only if all of the current king's lineage died. But don't even entertain such thoughts, Father and I don't want to become the rulers." Answered Max instead of his dad.
"By the way, Adam, as a mage you shouldn't address nobles by their titles, except for his majesty the King. The same stands for powerful aura users, as they are lesser in status than you. As for mages, it depends on seniority, for your peers, such as Max and other mages that are about the same in skill, you should address them by name. For your seniors and juniors in the field of magic, addressing them respectively with prefixes of senior and junior would be the best." After Edgar said so, Adam realised that he was probably very rude to them before.
"Yes,...senior Edgar. What would I be expected to do during that time?" Asked Adam, still unsure if the job was worth it.
"You will go to the parties with me and be a part of my squad as a team leader, and my right-hand man, although I have some people I trust more, having a mage as a second in command will make our prestige soar." Max answered again.
"Max, don't be such a savage and tell him such things in the face, it is rude." Edgar rebuked his son.
"So what's your answer, junior?" Continued Edgar.
'I would leave Ferston soon either way, Uncle Derek even jokes about it, so it would make no harm to leave sooner and additionally make some friends with higher society. Although it will be quite a hassle, going with them isn't really a bad idea, but firstly I need to deal with the problem at hand.' Adam was a lot in thought and didn't notice as Max left after saying his goodbyes and sincere hopes of future cooperation.
"I agree. But you must first tell me what to do, being an aspiring magician isn't exactly the future I dreamt of."
"Hugh??, where did Max go?" He added.
"He left, as for your situation, I can help you in two ways, but I think you will not like one of them. Which would you rather hear first, the better, but horrendously hard, or relatively worse but way easier?"
"The better one??" Answered Adam unsurely.
"Ok, so. The thing you need is an absorption technique, without it, you will not move a step towards the next realm. My first proposition is that you create your own, It's a very hard thing to do, and even harder to expand it to the next realms, but some people succeded, if there wasn't, there would be no techniques in the world, and consequently, no mages. And we both know that's not true." As Edgar ended his sentence, he raised his palm, from which a metallic liquid flew out, took shape in the air and hardened in the form of a little sword, then it liquified again and dissipated into the air.
"I heard some genius warriors create their own absorption techniques, is it rare in the magical circles?" Inquired Adam.
"Yes, while you can't say that way of magic is more powerful or profound than one of the fist, it is unarguable that learning magic is much, much harder. the same applies to creating techniques in the field." Chief responded.
"If you decide to create your own technique, ask Max for hints, while I don't know much about it, it's still something, and my son knows everything in this field I do."
The man took a break to take a sip of tea, still hot, even in the freezing cold.
"So, senior, what about the second option?" Adam asked, even though he was nearly certain about the answer beforehand.
"It's becoming a member of my family, or at least in name. If you take up the Steelarm name, and become my vassal, or maybe marry my daughter. you will have access to our family's technique. But don't dream about marrying my daughter, even if she gained interest in you, you would have to have some achievements to your name to consider her hand." Edgar regretted even mentioning the possibility of marriage, putting false hopes in the young man's head wasn't his favourite evening activity.
"Thank you, senior, for your advice. I will tell Max about my choice the next time I see him, now, I need to think it through." Adam made a slight bow and stood up from the table.
"That's right, take all the time you need, you will regret it for the rest of your life if you make the wrong decision."
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Adam left the mansion of the royal in hiding and went out on the streets.
'The chief guard said creating my technique would be very difficult, but becoming a vassal isn't a good option either. How would I become an adventurer as a vassal? Edgar would probably order me around, make me go to those weird gatherings regularly or whatever nobles do. Taking a shot at creating my own technique shouldn't be a bad idea. If the chief guard disagrees to take me, when I fail, there may be others who may take me under their wing. But what if they don't? Will I stay as an aspiring magician for the rest of my life? maybe I will return to the idea of becoming an archer, it's not that bad of a possibility...'
That was the thought process happening inside Adam's brain as he left Edgar's manor. He started to roam the streets in search of inspiration as he was still unsure about his decision.
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The sun travelled the horizon, and soon people began to gather in the central square. Almost seven thousand people gathered to watch Edgar, a member of a royal family in disguise, light up the massive hearth. People gradually stopped shaking, as the warmth that goddess Pruina brought along started to seep deep into their bodies, warming their hearts to each other and readying them for the next months of winter, making them ready to face the cold with determination to live and with goodness of heart to help their relatives and neighbours.
As the festive atmosphere was gradually burning out along with the fire, the voices of people who sang to the sky all night long started to fade, and dawn was about to bring along a new day.