Despite the fact that he had just fled his mother's residence and most especially Nalia, Tion had been quick to return to his quarters and send Ciara on an information collection mission and when the woman returned with what he wanted he had buried himself in the book he had been given, flipping pages left and right and only pulling his head out an hour later.
"Damn, she wasn't lying": Tion muttered as he took in a deep breath.
Unable to help but be rattled by Leah's story, Tion had been quick to get the report of the mission which featured Leah encountering Rangul and the information the boy had gotten told him Leah had been a bit humble with her words.
"A 16-year-old girl with scary talent had been ambushed by a hidden enemy mage Rangul.
Rangul was a 46-year-old man with over 20 years of experience as a combat mage. The man had been even given a team to assassinate a lone young Leah, but in the end, everyone had been brutally killed and the teenage girl had survived."
Tion would be a fool if he didn't understand that Leah was trying to point out to him how much of a difference having a higher-level avatar spirit could make.
Sure, not many people had a level 4 avatar spirit, but taking a look at those with level 3 avatar spirits and seeing how far and fast they progressed, Tion could see how it was hopeless for him to try to vie for extraordinary strength or the position of emperor especially when the likes of his sisters existed.
"But they don't know about you" Tion said to himself a smile coming to his face when he felt a shout of agreement from the black gourd.
"I wonder if keeping you a secret is the right thing to do. The things you can do are really extraordinary and if I can tell Mom about you and get her help, then my journey up is definitely going to be more smother and faster."
"...….."
"Though I'm not an expert at reading people, I really can't see any reason to doubt Mom's love.
In her own weird and tyrannical way, she loves me and well if this is all a lie, then well, there is nothing I can do about it." Tion grumbled getting to his feet with a defeated sigh.
"And one final advice, no matter the form or means you use to get power, you should never reveal your source to anyone, trust no one but yourself with it."
These were Denise's words to Tion the second he had agreed to go to the palace. The extraordinarily beautiful woman had sat Tion down and then seriously made sure to drill this information into his head, and that was the reason at the moment, Tion had told no one about the black gourd.
"I feel stuffed, like I've overeaten. "Tion told himself as he found himself beginning to descend the flight of stars.
Tion's initial plan had been to leave his mother's place return to his room and then sleep, but with a body completely healed and full of energy, the boy found his cells begging him for some action.
Entering the holy room, Tion's eyes were quick to register the presence of the dead bodies on the ground, and then after that move to a location on the wall that had five people bound to chains that came out of that wall.
Tion walked past the dead bodies and up to the bound individuals and his body couldn't help but shiver as he stared at them.
The initial plan for these death row prisoners had been to act as supplements for his gourd, so they could be devoured and used to either heal him or increase his mana reserves.
"....."
"Nice to know that even you has fears, but surely even you can feel the impending excitement," Tion said to his gourd as even it couldn't help but question the wisdom of the action he was about to perform.
With his mother's opposition to his fighting antics and her decision for him to become an advisor Tion knew that his days of leaving the city to go perform missions were over.
With his mother's paranoia for his safety, unless Leah was by his side, it was also impossible for Tion to engage in a spar of any kind, and so given his current hunger to battle, the idea to fight death row prisoners was inevitable.
"Damn, this is so stupid, so many things could go wrong, there are so many factors I cannot control here" Tion muttered to himself as he began rubbing his forehead and then made a sudden turnaround.
"Tion, you need to control yourself, if this all goes, wrong, imagine what you stand to lose."
By this time, Tion's heartbeat had drastically risen but as the boy had this thought, it began to decrease and he began to walk away.
Thinking of all the things that could go wrong, Tion was able to fight off his desire to do battle, but then Tagery Tion wasn't a boy who focused on the negatives, he was a man who always tried to see the positive in whatever life threw at him and just before he walked out of the room the question hit him.
"What do I gain if I go ahead with this plan," Tion asked himself, and as the answers to this question came flooding into his head, the boy couldn't help but tighten his fists as his body trembled.
"I want to be the strongest mage in the world, I need to be the strongest mage in the world.
While it is true that this dream is rather selfish as I have no obligatory need or reason for it, it is my desire and that is all the motivation I need.
Though I may have the black gourd, the road to me being the strongest is a very tough one, and if I let myself remain stuck here having to run after Mom to beg her for a mission, then I would go nowhere.
Though battling this prisoner is rather risky, can it be compared to the risk my sisters are taking by going into the crack.