A New Sage is Born

The five of them stepped out into the throne room, shocking the court.

Even King Roland was shocked.

"Grandmaster Thaddeus is that you?" the king mumbled sticking his hand out slowly to touch his robe.

"It's Sage Thaddeus! My disciple is the grandmaster!" he proudly proclaimed and released his aura. A thick purple aura could be visibly seen. Everyone could tell the aura was thick and profound.

"S-S-Sage?" the king looked on in amazement.

Everyone in attendance visible shook in fear. Even the palace guards shook in terror. If a grandmaster was a calamity, how terrifying would a sage be? And now Will was a Grandmaster Knight, married to a Master Light Mage, with the backing of Sage Pyromancer.

"Congratulations on your recovery," King Roland bowed.

When the nobles saw the king bow, they bowed too.

"There is no need to bow," Sage Thaddeus chuckled seeing the conquering king bowing to him.

"Sage Thaddeus, whatever you desire is yours!" the king said.

"I wish for nothing, but to thank you for treating my disciple so kindly in my absence. Before I came here, I visited your father's tomb. I know he would be proud of you," Sage Thaddeus said.

"Thank you. Sage Thaddeus, you were one of my father's greatest advisers. Would you consider being my adviser?" King Roland asked.

"Denied. I only agreed to advise him on occasions as he was my disciple. Your father made my informal counseling formal when he faces a particularly difficult time.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I understood my request was likely to be turned down," King said.

"I'd it true? Is Grandmaster Thaddeus alive?" Aether's beard, you are alive. But how?" Duke Francis starred at Sage Thaddeus.

Then Will and Elizabeth recounted their separate journeys.

"You met visited the realm of dragons and became a Grandmaster Knight?" the Duke said in awe to Will.

"And you visited the Goddess Persephone, became her apostle, and advanced to Master Light Mage?" the Duke said in confusion.

Both stories sounded too unreal to be true, but the evidence was in front of his eyes. His daughter did advance to Master rank, and her husband was now the youngest grandmaster rank in the kingdom.

In reunited Fermion there were less than 50 grandmasters and most of them were either priests or academy faculty or staff.

Elder Thaddeus was the first Sage in the kingdom's history.

When Elder Thaddeus was a grandmaster, people walked on eggshells around him. Grandmaster Thaddeus was known for being temperamental. Now that he was a Sage, how much destruction was he capable of?

"Congratulations you three, the kingdom shall celebrate your achievements. Today shall be forevermore proclaimed as Sage Thaddeus vont Ming Day!" the king announced to raucous applause.

"Cousin, as decreed, you were set to serve as my Deputy Minister of Commerce next year. Might you start earlier now that you've succeeded in healing your master?

Your temporary replacement is old and wants to retire, and your arrival seems fortuitous. What say you, are you interested in serving as Deputy Minister of Commerce at once?" the king asked.

"I am, your majesty," Will bowed.

"Then I proclaim you Deputy Minister of Commerce henceforth. Congratulations Deputy Minister, Earl William vont Ballard," the king congratulated.

"Sage Thaddeus, what are your plans for now?" King Roland inquired.

"I'll stay with Will for a month, I want to meet his disciple and children. Then I'll visit the dragon city to pay my respects. After that, I don't know," Sage Thaddeus said.

When they returned to Gadreel, it was evening.

Elder Thaddeus bid farewell to Will and Elizabeth and entered his cottage. But his cozy cottage that he'd lived in for decades longer felt like home. It felt more like a prison, being in the cottage made him feel trapped.

Elder Thaddeus emptied the cottage, then burned it to the ground.

While Will and Elizabeth, spent time with their children, Thaddeus walked around Gadreel.

He was amazed at how large the city had grown. He especially admired Embassy Row where the Elves, Beastmen, and Dwarves all had diplomatic buildings.

He toured the Academy, Guilds, and Administrative Buildings.

After he finished touring Gadreel, he toured Guidon and Yorkshire. Then he visited his father's estate in Northern Fermion.

He didn't want Will or Elizabeth to know, but he was afraid of laying down for becoming catatonic again.

He didn't want to sleep, he needed to move. Being trapped in his body, unable to speak or move, with only his thoughts as his only resort.

He wanted to sleep at his family estate, but it was too quiet and that also bothered him.

"Will loves you. He saw us at our lowest, he saved our lives, and now you don't want him to know you're afraid? No one expects you to recover immediately, all you're doing is making him worry.

Unlike you, I want to be around my disciple, and I desire to be around as many people as possible.

Also, we don't have any money and I'm hungry, can we please just return to Gadreel?" asked Archimedes.

"Fine let's go back," Thaddeus grumbled.

When he returned, he saw Will, Elizabeth, Camille, and Edward had just set down to dinner.

Thaddeus noticed a chair was already placed at the table for him.

"We missed you Mother, Father, tell us about your travels!" Edward requested excitedly.

Will and Elizabeth told their children the abbreviated version of their stories. With rapture they listen, forgetting to eat their meal at parts.

"I can't wait to tell my friends, my father saw a dragon and my mother a goddess," Camille said anxiously.

The Will dropped the most exciting tidbit," You may get to see a dragon soon too?"

Poor Edward hyperventilated in excitement.

"Father are you serious? May I ride one, please father. I'll do anything if you let me ride it!" Edward swore.

"Remember dragons are not horses, they have a mind of their own. It's up to the dragon to decide if you get a ride or not. Not even I've ridden a dragon," Will lectured paternally.

"Fine," he said slouching in his chair.

"Gentlemen, do not slouch," Elizabeth reminded her son. Edward fixed his posture and sat upright.

Elder Thaddeus didn't speak, but he immensely enjoyed the company.

After dinner, Will invited him to the parlor for a nightcap. They drank late into the evening, before falling asleep in their seats.

The next morning, Will, Edward, and Elder Thaddeus left early and headed out to a remote part of Will's estate.

"What about this place?" Will asked.

"It's perfect!" Edward agreed.

"Yes, Edward is right. It's far enough away from the wall so the guards can't see it, and far enough away from your home, the dragons may pray in private," Elder Thaddeus agreed.

Hearing their affirmation, Will set to building a Temple to Mother Tiamat. Unlike the Church of Gaia or Citadel, the temple wasn't as large on the outside. It looked quite ordinary with Doric columns and a triangular roof. It resembled an ancient Grecian temple on Earth.

If someone saw the temple, they think it was a simple family shrine, and nothing more.

Yet, while, the outside was plain, Will decorated the inside lavishly in gold. The walls, floor, and room were all embossed in gold patterns. Using the spell [Modeling], Will made stained glass windows that depicted images of Mother Tiamat and Sir. Perceval.

Elder Thaddeus was the first to offer prayers to Tiamat graciously thanking her and Sir. Perceval for the renewed gift of life. For an atheist, he prayed unceasingly for 10 minutes at the altar.

Afterward, Will and Edward both said brief prayers.

Edwards's brow wrinkled as he begged Mother Tiamat to let him ride a dragon to school to show off to his friends. For which, Will apologized in his prays.

While they constructed and prayed, Camille and Elizabeth were busy meetings with a local artist. Camille commissioned a statue of Persephone placed in the Citadel's courtyard near the statue of Demeter, as well as a canvas of Persephone for her bedroom.

Both Will and Elizabeth wanted to pay respect to the goddess who enabled them on their respective journeys.

***

News of Sage Thaddeus' resurrection had spread across Fermion.

Yesterday after meeting with Will, Elizabeth, and Thaddeus, King Roland sent messenger birds across the kingdom.

In Yorkshire, Guidon, and Gadreel, officials were stunned to see Sage Thaddeus touring their cities. At first, many passerby's thought he was a ghost. It was widely known he was bedridden and near death.

A few well-connected people had heard Will and Elizabeth had set off to save him, but to see him revived was too shocking.

Moreover, the political balance in the kingdom shifted overnight. Will went from being a possible threat to a certain threat.

As a Grandmaster Knight, married to a Master Light Mage, backed by a Sage Wizard, who could slight such an individual? Now he was both the wealthiest and strongest person in the kingdom.

Originally, the king planned to wait until after New Year to appoint Will Deputy Minister of Commerce.

After hearing the news, the king hastily decided to bring Will under his administration sooner than later.

Having Will working palace every weekday, meant he could both keep a watchful eye on Will, while further developing their relationship.

King Remus was correct, when he warned King Roland, that Will would be a long-term boon and/or threat to his rule.

***

Back in Gadreel, Elder Thaddeus watched Will and Kalista spar, now and again offering helpful criticism.

Elder Thaddeus was being so nice, Will jokingly wondered where his firebrand master had gone.

To which, Elder Thaddeus joked he'd be happy to instruct Will after he was done teaching Kalista.

Will continued his sparing lesson with Kalista until Micheal interrupted them.

"Yes Micheal, what is it?" asked Will.

"Presents have begun to arrive for Sage Ming. Master Will, where do you suggest I put the presents?" inquired Micheal.

"Put them in my drawing-room," Will instructed.

"Ah, excuse me, Master Will, I'm afraid the drawing-room isn't large enough," retorted Micheal.

"Not large enough?" Elder Thaddeus smiled.

"Put here in the garden, then! And, bring us a pot of tea," Will advised curious to what presents his master received.

"It's good to see my name still garners respect," Elder Thaddeus bragged.

"Yes, I'm sure many people wish to remain on your good side. Already people have asked me for your plans?" Will laughed.

"And what have you told them?" Elder Thaddeus asked raising an eyebrow.

"I express my desire that you are still recovering. And, that you'll announce your plans when you're ready," said Will honestly.

"My whose birthday, is it?" asked Elizabeth walking into the garden.

"It appears our Elder Thaddeus is quite popular," Elizabeth said joining them for tea.

"Did you find a sketch you liked? Did you hire a sculptor and painter already?" asked Will.

"I did," smiled Elizabeth.

"And did you build the Dragon Temple?" asked Elizabeth.

"Indeed, I did. Edward and Elder Thaddeus were a big help," answered Will.

A minute later Micheal walked in leading 10 manservants all carrying large presents. Hundreds of rare magical books, expensive magical herbs, artifacts, and weapons were present to Elder Thaddeus.

Will could see his master's ego was thoroughly fulfilled, as the sender's names were recorded.

"This is from his majesty…Mage Academy Headmaster…Knight Academy Headmaster…Gadreel Alchemy Guild…Tirana Alchemy Guild…Guidon Alchemy Guild…Yorkshire Alchemy Guild…," read Micheal.

On and on the list went. Guilds and gentry of Fermion sent Elder Thaddeus expensive presents.

And yet, Elder Thaddeus was quick to ask for a list of all who did not send gifts, as he planned to visit them in person to receive his gift.

Elder Thaddeus' comment sent shivers down Will and Elizabeth's spine, as they knew what the euphemism 'pay a visit meant.'

The unlucky people who Elder Thaddeus 'paid a visit,' would be lucky to keep their life and only have their houses' burned down.