The next morning Wolf only opened his eyes once the hall monitor entered his and Wayde’s room.
The exiled Duke didn’t catch a wink last night. It wasn’t because he was nervous about the entrance exam results. Rather he felt excited because he’d finally be able to enter the Mage Academy.
During the long, sleepless night he’d noticed that Wolf was plagued by nightmares. Wayde watched as his roommate went pale, then his face suddenly became flushed as he broke into sweat.
Wayde felt intrigued and wanted to know just what Wolf was dreaming of. He even entertained the thought about subtly inquiring about it by asking whether Wolf dreamed of something related to the Hall of Names.
Unfortunately, before he could pop the question, the hallway monitor beckoned the pair to follow him as soon as the man opened the door.
The three of them walked for a while before reaching a domed auditorium with enough seats to fit five hundred and fifty people. The hall was roughly half-full and by the time Wayde and Wolf found their seats the last couple of potential students walked in.
As the crowd settled down, yesterday's proctor walked out on the stage and after clearing his throat he started reading a lengthy list of names.
The illiterates would be placed in the most basic class, where they would be first taught how to read and write, before moving into the next class where tutors would teach them First Order spells.
As for the rest, there didn’t seem to be any particular differentiation based on social standing. Groups of students were formed based on the highest Order of spells they cast during the entrance exam. Since this would leave Wolf in a class of one, he was assigned to the group of three who managed to cast spells of the Third Order.
Even though he was assigned an elite class, it was easy to notice that this was an open act of suppression against Wolf, but nobody paid it any mind. If they really wanted to treat Wolf fairly, he would’ve been assigned to the previous generation’s elite class.
It was worth noting that five commoner youths failed to enter the academy. Surprisingly all five of them were from the better off commoner families.
“As for those whose names I haven’t read, I regret to inform you that you didn’t manage to pass the exam. Your names, as well as the grades and reviews were passed on to the Paladin and Spell-Blade orders which cooperate with our Mage Academy. Hopefully, they will contact you later, but regardless of how that turns out, I wish you the best of luck and a bright future.”
Once the results were out the proctor gave several options to Boland Athelas, Darian Deco, Wayde and Wolf, in that order.
“Wolf without a surname, you have two options,” the proctor repeated the question for Wolf. “You may choose to enter the elite class of twelve year old students, or you may enter the regular class of last year’s students. Which would you choose?”
Boland, Darian and Wayde chose the former option. The benefit of being in a small group with better teachers would eventually prove greater than skipping an Academic year.
“I think I’ll enter the same class as these guys. I wish to be a student of this great institution,” Wolf answered nonchalantly.
If not for Wayde, I would’ve immediately skipped the first grade, Wolf thought. What can anyone below a True-Namer teach me?
Hearing Wolf’s response the nobles’ eyes were once more filled with envy. Even Boland and Darian grit their teeth. Beating this commoner was going to be a great deal of trouble for them. The only one smiling was Wayde. The more time he got to bond with this ally of his the better.
“Are you sure?” Proctor asked with a suggestive tone.
This wasn’t a part of his job. The man worried about Wolf and what kind of future the youth had ahead of him if he rubbed his superiority into nobles’ faces.
Wolf was oblivious of the man’s meaning and intentions.
“Positive,” he said. He didn’t really care which class he was in. His father’s wish was for him to experience student life at the Mage Academy and to graduate.
Thinking up to here, Wolf realized he needed to find out what he had to do to graduate. He didn’t want to accidentally meet the conditions too early and then end up kicked out before he got to experience the fabled student life.
Other than Wayde, Wolf had one more reason he’d entered the elite class of twelve year olds. Anna had enrolled during the previous enrollment, six months ago and she was likely still in that class. Meaning the two of them would probably go on some lectures together.
But Wolf didn’t care about that, not even in the slightest. He had no idea why thoughts of Anna crossed his mind like that.
After the results were announced, the youths had breakfast in a separate building that greatly resembled a giant restaurant. The only ones not here were the five who didn’t make the cut.
The tables here were smaller, for up to eight people, however the class division from yesterday still persisted. Wayde and Wolf once more sat with the beggars and several nobles entertained the thought of sitting at the same table with them, but in the end decided against it. If they sat with beggars they’d become a laughingstock.
“This is the premium cafeteria,” the proctor explained. “Today’s meal is free, but in the future you should know that your scholarship doesn’t cover this establishment. All of the dishes here come at a price tag in Academic Credit while there are several other cafeterias on the campus that have free food for Mage Academy students and staff.”
Wolf could see that the man had an awkward face while saying those lines, but didn’t really understand why he would feel uncomfortable. You paid more money for better food. It was normal… He wondered whether nobles were so spoiled that they expected to eat for free.
Once the sumptuous breakfast was over, the youths were assigned to rooms in all male and all female dorms based on their age, the classes they entered and their surname.
This naturally meant that Wayde and Wolf were now roommates, which greatly pleased both of them.
Two youths picked up their key and went over to their dorm room. The room was actually a two bedroom apartment with a twenty square meter living room.
The first thing Wolf saw when Wayde opened the door was a huge window on the opposite wall. It had a nice view of the campus’s carefully maintained ornamental garden. On the side walls there were a pair of doors, one to the left and one to the right, each leading to a separate bedroom.
The room had little furnishing. A couch with a club table, along with a fine round table with four wooden chairs. The furniture was simplistic, but of high quality and aesthetically pleasing, as was the exquisitely lacquered wooden floor, which was laid out as an abstract mosaic.
Even though the room had an expensive air, neither Wolf nor Wayde paid it any mind. The former didn’t care, while the latter expected to get the best housing available.
Instead of being wowed, Wolf asked a simple question, “Left or right?”
“Always make the right choice,” Wayde said with a chuckle.
Following his bad pun, Wayde walked over to the door on the right side of the room and walked in to inspect his bedroom. Wolf went towards the left one with a smile, his father also used to make bad puns quite often.
The bedroom was about half the size of the living room. It also had a clear glass window, but it was much smaller, just enough to keep the room brightly lit during the day.
Inside the room was a door leading to a private bathroom, while the furnishing followed the same general style as in the living room, simple, tasteful and expensive. The bedroom had a bed, a wardrobe, a writing desk and a chair. Someone had taken a great deal of time to select each piece of furniture so that the room was neither cramped, nor spacious.
As Wolf finished the inspection of his bathroom, he had a single word to describe his accommodations at the Mage Academy, cozy. It lacked the openness and the draft of his lair under the bridge, had considerably more walls than the forests he grew up in, and was a lot better illuminated than the cave where he’d spent a couple of months learning about Spell Formations. It wasn’t a home, but it was a decent place to return to for now.
Wolf walked over to the desk and unfurled a scroll which was carefully placed at its center. The scroll contained a list of goods and services not covered by the tuition. The list included a variety of things, from simple clothing to potions and grimoires.
Each item on the list had two prices. One listed the items’s price in Academic Credit, while the other showed the price in gold pieces. One thing to note was that the prices listed in gold were obscene, even for mundane items.
Everything on the list was five to ten times more expensive than outside the Mage Academy. Wolf kind of approved. In his mind the message Mage Academy wanted to get through was clear; you want something, you have to earn it, or pay through your nose for it. He misguidedly believed that the headmaster wanted to give his students a practical show of hubris and how you had to pay the cost for it.
Hmmm… I haven’t been asked to pay any tuition. Maybe there’s a stipend, or something. I have to check that later. Wolf knew enough about the world to be aware that you couldn’t do anything without money, and that nobody would do anything for you for free.
Having a Ring of Holding, Wolf decided not to pull anything out of it. It was much neater than using a wardrobe, no dust for starters. Besides, leaving any items behind might give people a clue of his true identity, which was definitely not something Wolf wanted revealed. His father had insisted multiple times that Wolf’s identity had to be kept a secret from everyone until he was strong enough to settle any outstanding grievances Archibald or Sky had.
Instead, Wolf went back to the living room and noticed that a large framed parchment was hanging on the dorm room’s door. It had a title saying House Rules and was jam-packed with fine writing.
Wolf sighed and, after looking at the rules for a couple of moments, memorized the whole thing.
It’s frustrating that I have to keep junk like this in my memory, but there are some interesting items on the list…
One of those interesting items was the evening curfew. You either got back to your room by ten in the evening, or stayed outside of the Mage Academy’s grounds until dawn.
Loitering on the campus during curfew was not allowed, unless you’ve officially notified the academy’s officials at least three days in advance. For the list of valid reasons see the subsection five of valid curricular and extracurricular activities.
The fine for breaking the rule was a monetary fine of one hundred gold coins, every tenth violation was free of monetary fine. Mage Academy holds no responsibility if any sort of harm comes to the student due to the violation of the curfew and related rules.
The money bit confused Wolf greatly. He had finally started doubting the headmaster’s educational motive in overcharging mundane items.
The other relevant rule was that there was no mingling of any sorts between sexes after dark. During the day private meetings between opposite genders required a chaperone employed by the Mage Academy in case that there were four or fewer people in the room.
Minders weren’t required for outdoor activities, those were taken at the student’s own risk and once again the academy waived responsibility for whatever happened outside its grounds.
There were also a bunch of other rules on duels, street fights, code of conduct during classes and rules which protected people from all sorts of abuse. None of those had seemed problematic as far as Wolf could tell, they just seemed overly convoluted and redundant if you used common sense.
Other than a bunch of cases where Mage Academy claimed to have no responsibility for the consequences, the rules seemed clearcut and well thought out. The only question was how they were enforced.
While Wolf was trying to find loopholes in the rules, Wayde came back from his bedroom. When he saw that his roommate was already there the youth tried to spark a conversation with Wolf.
“It’s nice here, isn’t it?” he asked.
Wolf ignored Wayde’s courtesy question and pointed at the framed parchment with his chin. “What do you think about these? Are there any loopholes?”
“As far as I know there are a few known ones, but I don’t think they should concern you,” Wayde answered readily.
“Really? Come on, tell me at least one, I’d love to hear about them,” Wolf was genuinely curious about what kind of maneuver room the academy had left for its students. Especially since they were known loopholes.
“Well, for one, there is a rule about the minimum number of people of mixed genders in private meetings. I don’t remember whether it’s five, or six. You can interpret it that orgies with that number of people or more are not prohibited, which is obviously not true,” Wayde said without blushing even a bit. Wolf however, wasn’t as shameless.
Seemingly unaware of his friend’s bashfulness, Wayde continued, “All Mage Academy rules as written are there to be taken in good faith. If you use the letter of the law the right way, you can get away with pretty much anything.”
Wolf thought about that section again and, just as Wayde’d said, there were loopholes where one could wriggle through.
“And in imperial law? Are there any loopholes that can help you?” Wolf asked out of curiosity.
The question caught Wayde by surprise. He took a moment to recover before taking a deep breath.
“Well, in matters of nobility there is no real law and no right and wrong either. It’s the person with a bigger fist, deeper pocket and better connections that wins the day and ends up as the one that was in the right,” Wayde said frankly. Otherwise his father would’ve inherited the title, while the usurpers would’ve been executed for slaughter.
Wolf nodded after thinking about Wayde’s answer for a moment.
“I see. May I ask an insensitive question?” the tiny youth asked with a light smile on his face.
“Sure.” Wayde was actually happy to hear this. If Wolf planned on asking an insensitive question, that means that he actually cared about him at least a bit.
“When do you plan to go for it? Reclaim your title and land I mean?” Wolf went ahead and said it straight.
Wayde had already mentally prepared himself, so he made no visible reaction to the question.
Instead he simply answered, “I don’t have a plan. Compared with my uncle, I’m lacking in all three categories. First I have to make connections and increase my fists. Once I can stand tall I can easily deepen my pockets. That will probably take more than a decade. Normal men are in their prime at thirty to forty. Mages are in their prime between thirty and sixty. I have time and I don’t plan to lose just because I got impatient, like my father. Besides, this era is on my side. All I have to do is prove myself and I can easily gather an army of followers…”
“You’re really patient!” Wolf didn’t bother to hide his admiration.
He wanted to get powerful and get his vengeance as soon as possible. Naturally, he wouldn’t act suicidal, but he wouldn’t bide his time like Wayde. Decades… For Wolf that sounded like a lifetime, which in a way it was.
“Thank you,” Wayde gracefully accepted the compliment. “I can’t just act on my own like my foolish old man. I have to consider the people around me. I’ve heard that someone had once said that it’s not the godly opponents that bring you down, but piglike allies and stabs in the back.
“I like that saying quite a bit and I think that it’s more or less true. After all, no matter how strong your enemy is, if you work hard enough, for long enough, you should eventually be strong enough to bring them down. Putting your trust into traitors, or having an incompetent man act like a linchpin of a plan could get you killed before you know what happened.”
“That’s kind of naive, don’t you think?” Wolf scratched his chin, while mulling over Wayde’s words.
True enough, backstabbers and incompetent allies were a hinderance. But you could just plan around those. Have them do nothing important somewhere nobody would bother looking for them. Besides, that wasn’t even the biggest problem with Wayde’s statement.
“What do you mean? I’m fairly certain that bad allies–” Wayde started explaining, but Wolf waved him silent.
“I’m not talking about that. It’s the first part. Do you really think that anyone can reach the level of a World Power just by working hard enough?” Wolf asked “And even if you became one, what would you do once you reached the level of a World Power?”
“I’d annihilate all elves.” Wayde's face contorted in a way a child's face never should. He spoke through his clenched teeth, seething with hatred. For a moment he looked like a demon of vengeance.
“What has an entirety of a race done to you for you to hate them that much?” Wolf tried to act cool, but felt extremely uncomfortable. After all, he was one half elf.
“They caused the downfall and slaughter of my family!” Wayde spoke irrationally, blinded by hatred.
I thought your uncle did that? Wolf itched to say, but didn’t. Even though it was a valid point, right now it would just sound like a snide remark.
Instead, Wolf asked once more to make sure, “All of them?”
“Every last one of them,” Wayde said grimly.
Well, then we have a problem I need to fix. Wolf decided to do his best to eliminate the hatred Wayde felt, without even realizing the hypocrisy of such a thought.
sleepydad88 Thanks for leaving a review! :)
The next morning Wolf only opened his eyes once the hall monitor entered his and Wayde’s room.
The exiled Duke didn’t catch a wink last night. It wasn’t because he was nervous about the entrance exam results. Rather he felt excited because he’d finally be able to enter the Mage Academy.
During the long, sleepless night he’d noticed that Wolf was plagued by nightmares. Wayde watched as his roommate went pale, then his face suddenly became flushed as he broke into sweat.
Wayde felt intrigued and wanted to know just what Wolf was dreaming of. He even entertained the thought about subtly inquiring about it by asking whether Wolf dreamed of something related to the Hall of Names.
Unfortunately, before he could pop the question, the hallway monitor beckoned the pair to follow him as soon as the man opened the door.
The three of them walked for a while before reaching a domed auditorium with enough seats to fit five hundred and fifty people. The hall was roughly half-full and by the time Wayde and Wolf found their seats the last couple of potential students walked in.
As the crowd settled down, yesterday's proctor walked out on the stage and after clearing his throat he started reading a lengthy list of names.
The illiterates would be placed in the most basic class, where they would be first taught how to read and write, before moving into the next class where tutors would teach them First Order spells.
As for the rest, there didn’t seem to be any particular differentiation based on social standing. Groups of students were formed based on the highest Order of spells they cast during the entrance exam. Since this would leave Wolf in a class of one, he was assigned to the group of three who managed to cast spells of the Third Order.
Even though he was assigned an elite class, it was easy to notice that this was an open act of suppression against Wolf, but nobody paid it any mind. If they really wanted to treat Wolf fairly, he would’ve been assigned to the previous generation’s elite class.
It was worth noting that five commoner youths failed to enter the academy. Surprisingly all five of them were from the better off commoner families.
“As for those whose names I haven’t read, I regret to inform you that you didn’t manage to pass the exam. Your names, as well as the grades and reviews were passed on to the Paladin and Spell-Blade orders which cooperate with our Mage Academy. Hopefully, they will contact you later, but regardless of how that turns out, I wish you the best of luck and a bright future.”
Once the results were out the proctor gave several options to Boland Athelas, Darian Deco, Wayde and Wolf, in that order.
“Wolf without a surname, you have two options,” the proctor repeated the question for Wolf. “You may choose to enter the elite class of twelve year old students, or you may enter the regular class of last year’s students. Which would you choose?”
Boland, Darian and Wayde chose the former option. The benefit of being in a small group with better teachers would eventually prove greater than skipping an Academic year.
“I think I’ll enter the same class as these guys. I wish to be a student of this great institution,” Wolf answered nonchalantly.
If not for Wayde, I would’ve immediately skipped the first grade, Wolf thought. What can anyone below a True-Namer teach me?
Hearing Wolf’s response the nobles’ eyes were once more filled with envy. Even Boland and Darian grit their teeth. Beating this commoner was going to be a great deal of trouble for them. The only one smiling was Wayde. The more time he got to bond with this ally of his the better.
“Are you sure?” Proctor asked with a suggestive tone.
This wasn’t a part of his job. The man worried about Wolf and what kind of future the youth had ahead of him if he rubbed his superiority into nobles’ faces.
Wolf was oblivious of the man’s meaning and intentions.
“Positive,” he said. He didn’t really care which class he was in. His father’s wish was for him to experience student life at the Mage Academy and to graduate.
Thinking up to here, Wolf realized he needed to find out what he had to do to graduate. He didn’t want to accidentally meet the conditions too early and then end up kicked out before he got to experience the fabled student life.
Other than Wayde, Wolf had one more reason he’d entered the elite class of twelve year olds. Anna had enrolled during the previous enrollment, six months ago and she was likely still in that class. Meaning the two of them would probably go on some lectures together.
But Wolf didn’t care about that, not even in the slightest. He had no idea why thoughts of Anna crossed his mind like that.
After the results were announced, the youths had breakfast in a separate building that greatly resembled a giant restaurant. The only ones not here were the five who didn’t make the cut.
The tables here were smaller, for up to eight people, however the class division from yesterday still persisted. Wayde and Wolf once more sat with the beggars and several nobles entertained the thought of sitting at the same table with them, but in the end decided against it. If they sat with beggars they’d become a laughingstock.
“This is the premium cafeteria,” the proctor explained. “Today’s meal is free, but in the future you should know that your scholarship doesn’t cover this establishment. All of the dishes here come at a price tag in Academic Credit while there are several other cafeterias on the campus that have free food for Mage Academy students and staff.”
Wolf could see that the man had an awkward face while saying those lines, but didn’t really understand why he would feel uncomfortable. You paid more money for better food. It was normal… He wondered whether nobles were so spoiled that they expected to eat for free.
Once the sumptuous breakfast was over, the youths were assigned to rooms in all male and all female dorms based on their age, the classes they entered and their surname.
This naturally meant that Wayde and Wolf were now roommates, which greatly pleased both of them.
Two youths picked up their key and went over to their dorm room. The room was actually a two bedroom apartment with a twenty square meter living room.
The first thing Wolf saw when Wayde opened the door was a huge window on the opposite wall. It had a nice view of the campus’s carefully maintained ornamental garden. On the side walls there were a pair of doors, one to the left and one to the right, each leading to a separate bedroom.
The room had little furnishing. A couch with a club table, along with a fine round table with four wooden chairs. The furniture was simplistic, but of high quality and aesthetically pleasing, as was the exquisitely lacquered wooden floor, which was laid out as an abstract mosaic.
Even though the room had an expensive air, neither Wolf nor Wayde paid it any mind. The former didn’t care, while the latter expected to get the best housing available.
Instead of being wowed, Wolf asked a simple question, “Left or right?”
“Always make the right choice,” Wayde said with a chuckle.
Following his bad pun, Wayde walked over to the door on the right side of the room and walked in to inspect his bedroom. Wolf went towards the left one with a smile, his father also used to make bad puns quite often.
The bedroom was about half the size of the living room. It also had a clear glass window, but it was much smaller, just enough to keep the room brightly lit during the day.
Inside the room was a door leading to a private bathroom, while the furnishing followed the same general style as in the living room, simple, tasteful and expensive. The bedroom had a bed, a wardrobe, a writing desk and a chair. Someone had taken a great deal of time to select each piece of furniture so that the room was neither cramped, nor spacious.
As Wolf finished the inspection of his bathroom, he had a single word to describe his accommodations at the Mage Academy, cozy. It lacked the openness and the draft of his lair under the bridge, had considerably more walls than the forests he grew up in, and was a lot better illuminated than the cave where he’d spent a couple of months learning about Spell Formations. It wasn’t a home, but it was a decent place to return to for now.
Wolf walked over to the desk and unfurled a scroll which was carefully placed at its center. The scroll contained a list of goods and services not covered by the tuition. The list included a variety of things, from simple clothing to potions and grimoires.
Each item on the list had two prices. One listed the items’s price in Academic Credit, while the other showed the price in gold pieces. One thing to note was that the prices listed in gold were obscene, even for mundane items.
Everything on the list was five to ten times more expensive than outside the Mage Academy. Wolf kind of approved. In his mind the message Mage Academy wanted to get through was clear; you want something, you have to earn it, or pay through your nose for it. He misguidedly believed that the headmaster wanted to give his students a practical show of hubris and how you had to pay the cost for it.
Hmmm… I haven’t been asked to pay any tuition. Maybe there’s a stipend, or something. I have to check that later. Wolf knew enough about the world to be aware that you couldn’t do anything without money, and that nobody would do anything for you for free.
Having a Ring of Holding, Wolf decided not to pull anything out of it. It was much neater than using a wardrobe, no dust for starters. Besides, leaving any items behind might give people a clue of his true identity, which was definitely not something Wolf wanted revealed. His father had insisted multiple times that Wolf’s identity had to be kept a secret from everyone until he was strong enough to settle any outstanding grievances Archibald or Sky had.
Instead, Wolf went back to the living room and noticed that a large framed parchment was hanging on the dorm room’s door. It had a title saying House Rules and was jam-packed with fine writing.
Wolf sighed and, after looking at the rules for a couple of moments, memorized the whole thing.
It’s frustrating that I have to keep junk like this in my memory, but there are some interesting items on the list…
One of those interesting items was the evening curfew. You either got back to your room by ten in the evening, or stayed outside of the Mage Academy’s grounds until dawn.
Loitering on the campus during curfew was not allowed, unless you’ve officially notified the academy’s officials at least three days in advance. For the list of valid reasons see the subsection five of valid curricular and extracurricular activities.
The fine for breaking the rule was a monetary fine of one hundred gold coins, every tenth violation was free of monetary fine. Mage Academy holds no responsibility if any sort of harm comes to the student due to the violation of the curfew and related rules.
The money bit confused Wolf greatly. He had finally started doubting the headmaster’s educational motive in overcharging mundane items.
The other relevant rule was that there was no mingling of any sorts between sexes after dark. During the day private meetings between opposite genders required a chaperone employed by the Mage Academy in case that there were four or fewer people in the room.
Minders weren’t required for outdoor activities, those were taken at the student’s own risk and once again the academy waived responsibility for whatever happened outside its grounds.
There were also a bunch of other rules on duels, street fights, code of conduct during classes and rules which protected people from all sorts of abuse. None of those had seemed problematic as far as Wolf could tell, they just seemed overly convoluted and redundant if you used common sense.
Other than a bunch of cases where Mage Academy claimed to have no responsibility for the consequences, the rules seemed clearcut and well thought out. The only question was how they were enforced.
While Wolf was trying to find loopholes in the rules, Wayde came back from his bedroom. When he saw that his roommate was already there the youth tried to spark a conversation with Wolf.
“It’s nice here, isn’t it?” he asked.
Wolf ignored Wayde’s courtesy question and pointed at the framed parchment with his chin. “What do you think about these? Are there any loopholes?”
“As far as I know there are a few known ones, but I don’t think they should concern you,” Wayde answered readily.
“Really? Come on, tell me at least one, I’d love to hear about them,” Wolf was genuinely curious about what kind of maneuver room the academy had left for its students. Especially since they were known loopholes.
“Well, for one, there is a rule about the minimum number of people of mixed genders in private meetings. I don’t remember whether it’s five, or six. You can interpret it that orgies with that number of people or more are not prohibited, which is obviously not true,” Wayde said without blushing even a bit. Wolf however, wasn’t as shameless.
Seemingly unaware of his friend’s bashfulness, Wayde continued, “All Mage Academy rules as written are there to be taken in good faith. If you use the letter of the law the right way, you can get away with pretty much anything.”
Wolf thought about that section again and, just as Wayde’d said, there were loopholes where one could wriggle through.
“And in imperial law? Are there any loopholes that can help you?” Wolf asked out of curiosity.
The question caught Wayde by surprise. He took a moment to recover before taking a deep breath.
“Well, in matters of nobility there is no real law and no right and wrong either. It’s the person with a bigger fist, deeper pocket and better connections that wins the day and ends up as the one that was in the right,” Wayde said frankly. Otherwise his father would’ve inherited the title, while the usurpers would’ve been executed for slaughter.
Wolf nodded after thinking about Wayde’s answer for a moment.
“I see. May I ask an insensitive question?” the tiny youth asked with a light smile on his face.
“Sure.” Wayde was actually happy to hear this. If Wolf planned on asking an insensitive question, that means that he actually cared about him at least a bit.
“When do you plan to go for it? Reclaim your title and land I mean?” Wolf went ahead and said it straight.
Wayde had already mentally prepared himself, so he made no visible reaction to the question.
Instead he simply answered, “I don’t have a plan. Compared with my uncle, I’m lacking in all three categories. First I have to make connections and increase my fists. Once I can stand tall I can easily deepen my pockets. That will probably take more than a decade. Normal men are in their prime at thirty to forty. Mages are in their prime between thirty and sixty. I have time and I don’t plan to lose just because I got impatient, like my father. Besides, this era is on my side. All I have to do is prove myself and I can easily gather an army of followers…”
“You’re really patient!” Wolf didn’t bother to hide his admiration.
He wanted to get powerful and get his vengeance as soon as possible. Naturally, he wouldn’t act suicidal, but he wouldn’t bide his time like Wayde. Decades… For Wolf that sounded like a lifetime, which in a way it was.
“Thank you,” Wayde gracefully accepted the compliment. “I can’t just act on my own like my foolish old man. I have to consider the people around me. I’ve heard that someone had once said that it’s not the godly opponents that bring you down, but piglike allies and stabs in the back.
“I like that saying quite a bit and I think that it’s more or less true. After all, no matter how strong your enemy is, if you work hard enough, for long enough, you should eventually be strong enough to bring them down. Putting your trust into traitors, or having an incompetent man act like a linchpin of a plan could get you killed before you know what happened.”
“That’s kind of naive, don’t you think?” Wolf scratched his chin, while mulling over Wayde’s words.
True enough, backstabbers and incompetent allies were a hinderance. But you could just plan around those. Have them do nothing important somewhere nobody would bother looking for them. Besides, that wasn’t even the biggest problem with Wayde’s statement.
“What do you mean? I’m fairly certain that bad allies–” Wayde started explaining, but Wolf waved him silent.
“I’m not talking about that. It’s the first part. Do you really think that anyone can reach the level of a World Power just by working hard enough?” Wolf asked “And even if you became one, what would you do once you reached the level of a World Power?”
“I’d annihilate all elves.” Wayde's face contorted in a way a child's face never should. He spoke through his clenched teeth, seething with hatred. For a moment he looked like a demon of vengeance.
“What has an entirety of a race done to you for you to hate them that much?” Wolf tried to act cool, but felt extremely uncomfortable. After all, he was one half elf.
“They caused the downfall and slaughter of my family!” Wayde spoke irrationally, blinded by hatred.
I thought your uncle did that? Wolf itched to say, but didn’t. Even though it was a valid point, right now it would just sound like a snide remark.
Instead, Wolf asked once more to make sure, “All of them?”
“Every last one of them,” Wayde said grimly.
Well, then we have a problem I need to fix. Wolf decided to do his best to eliminate the hatred Wayde felt, without even realizing the hypocrisy of such a thought.
sleepydad88 Thanks for leaving a review! :)
