After leaving the meeting room, Lord Mephisto went directly to the dungeon to meet his son.
Upon seeing him approach, the guard bowed and said, "Greetings, your Lordship."
Lord Mephisto nodded and said, "Lead me to Felix's cell."
"Understood," replied the guard, and opened the door of the dungeon.
Lord Mephisto walked through the dimly lit corridors of the dungeon, his robes sweeping softly behind him. As they approached Felix's cell, the guard stopped in front of the heavy iron door and unlocked it with a set of large keys hanging from his belt.
"Leave us"instructed lord Mephisto
the guard nodded respectfully and closed the door behind him.
Felix was sitting quietly at the corner of the cell even though he saw lord Mephisto entering he didn't utter a word.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"asked lord Mephisto with an indifferent look in his face.
"Is there anything left to say?" replied Felix with a helpless look. "I took the gamble. If I had succeeded, everything would've gone as planned: I would escape with a minor punishment, become the heir, and even have a chance to reach the fourth rank. Even if you refused, with me being the only choice, the ancestors won't let you do nothing.. I really didn't think that Elder Furcas would be this cautious."
"Unfortunately for you, there's no ifs. I paid quite the price to keep your life, as I still consider you my flesh and blood," stated Lord Mephisto. "You will apologize to your brother. Then, prepare yourself, Steward Douglas will send you to the army to start military training. You will only return to being a member of the Aatrox family after completing it."
Felix nodded absentmindedly. Lord Mephisto left the dungeon after instructing the guard to release him.
After seeing his mother leave the room, Cain sat quietly in his room, meditating. So many things had happened, and he needed some time to stabilize his mental state. He was betrayed and attacked by his closest friend and his brother, then promptly saved by his father. After all of that, he had to reassure his mother. Even though he seemed pretty calm, at the end of the day, he is still a twelve-year-old kid.
Suddenly he heard a knock at the door and a voice saying "Young master, the lord has called for a family meeting"
It was his maid Stacy. She was a young woman with delicate features and striking blue hair. She possessed a pair of black and white wings. Generally, devils grow their wings when they reach puberty, but most of them choose to keep them hidden as they get in the way of their daily lives. However, Cain asked her not to fold them, as he found them pleasing to the eye.
"I will be there in a minute," replied Cain as he got up from the bed.
After changing his clothes, Cain left his room and went directly to the great hall for the family meeting. Upon entering, he found everyone there awaiting his arrival. Before he could utter a word, his brother Felix stood up from his chair, bowed toward him, and said, "Brother, I'm truly sorry for what happened. I know I committed a grave mistake, and I'm ready to make it up to you. I just hope that we can put the past behind us and begin anew."
After a moment of silence, Cain sat in his chair and replied with indifference, "I won't retaliate against you."
After hearing his cold tone, Felix sat back without showing any reaction.
"What a headache. I leave the castle for half a day, and this is what happens. Felix, you really are a troublemaker," exclaimed Lilith, massaging her head. Originally, it was her job to keep an eye on Felix, knowing his issues with Cain, but she had to visit the Belial territory for an urgent matter. Who would have thought things would end up like this?
"Alright, I've called you here to inform you that Felix will undergo military training. He will only return to the family after he completes his training," stated Lord Mephisto.
No one was surprised by this outcome. Lord Mephisto wouldn't allow the Elder Council to sentence his son to death, but a light punishment was equally out of the question. Military training, however, wouldn't be easy. For devils, attending a military academy was akin to entering the Abyss itself. Ninety percent of trainees wouldn't survive until the end. They would undergo rigorous training to ensure they became the most skilled soldiers for planar wars.
Lady Venelena didn't object, she had been expecting this. Meanwhile, Lilith seemed indifferent. Cain maintained a cold demeanor outwardly, but inwardly, he was satisfied knowing his plan to remove Felix was progressing as intended.
After the meeting, Cain didn't return to his room but went directly to the library. It was finally time for him to learn magic. He had been fascinated by spells ever since he first saw them, but since he hadn't yet reached the apprentice rank, he couldn't cast any spells, no matter how much he wanted to.
He didn't even greet the librarian as he usually did but went directly to the shelf where magic books were stored. He chose a book titled 'Apprentice Rank Magic' and started reading.
Cain was a total amateur in magic. His attack against Will was simply him using his bloodline ability, as he didn't even know the principles for casting spells.
The most important thing for a mage apprentice is ether control. Apprentice magic doesn't take much time to learn, even for the average devil, as it is fairly simple. It involves manipulating ether to take specific forms and attack the enemy. However, to transform ether into a specific element like fire or water, one needs to learn the composition of that element.
For example, to cast a tier 0 spell like Mage Hand, one just needs to control the ether to take the form of a hand. However, to cast a spell like Firehand of the same tier, you have to transform the ether into fire after shaping it into the form of a hand.
After returning the book to its place, Cain stood there for a moment before taking another book titled 'ether control'. A very simple name that will be the focus of Cain's next years of training.