Chapter 9

Elder Andrew took a breath of fresh air, but the Grand Elder did not finish his words. "I along with Elder John and Elder Greg will head to their residence tomorrow since according to my calculations, Leo at this time would be shopping for food and other things in the center of the village. There is no reason to complicate the situation by having Leo attend this same discussion."

"It is wonderful that he has a high elemental affinity for the fire element, this shows that the bloodline Laura was blessed with more than likely woke up inside of him, the same bloodline that allows the Iron Will Clan to dominate their own area in this empire that our ancestor was unable to match up to. However, if it turns out that Laura had hidden something from us or even yet has conspired with one of our enemies, we must act accordingly and I do not think that anyone present here would blame me for coming to such a decision."

The only reason they came to this conclusion is because the enemy faction was of the fire elemental affinity so that made sense since no records showed that Leo's mother was captured or even taken advantage of by an enemy soldier so they planned on asking her once Leo left their house the next week. The Black Fire Mercenaries was indeed their most troubling enemy to deal with and if Laura was found to have made some type of deal to bring down the Iron Will Sect internally to make things turn in their enemy's favor, what awaited was something worse than death.

However, what saved Leo and his mother Laura from being killed immediately with no questions asked, was the fact that Leo had a high elemental affinity. Even if the Iron Will Sect did not have any techniques for him to learn due to everyone having a similar bloodline of only earth, Leo was considered the most talented youth that the sect had seen since their founding so if it was true that Laura was too scared to report any mishaps, it was easier to support Leo and make him the next Grand Elder to bring glory to their sect instead of outright killing them.

Unfortunately, Elder Andrew had to report his findings exactly as someone who had the position of an elder, otherwise, he could have already changed the story to heavily favor them such as immediately lying and claiming that Laura was taken advantage of and it was just never reported and out of duty to her husband, Laura never told anyone in the sect. Still, due to Leo's newly found potential, that was enough to give the mother and son hope to continue living in the future.

The meeting ends and everyone exits the room except for Grand Elder Samuel and Elder Andrew. "Elder Andrew, as always you have made your report without bias and for that this sect is thankful to all that you have done for us. I promise you that even if Laura is found guilty of conspiring against the sect, I will try to use my position to save her and Leo's life since our Iron Will Sect has always shown some level of mercy to our sect members. Please, go to sleep without any fears and when it is time for me to step down, I will award you with a firm position within our sect and even give your youngest grandchild an elixir if the trader comes here and it will be assumed that the grandchild of yours will be the future Patriarch of our Iron Will Sect while you will have the title of Grand Elder."

Hearing the words of the Grand Elder, Elder Andrew could only nod his head and pray to the heavens that what he had said was true because he would have given up his life for his old friend and would of course do the same on behalf of his granddaughter and great grandson!

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The next morning, Leo realized that it was time to head into the village center where the market was to purchase some food and water for him and his mother and possibly some other things that had been used to him including items that could enhance his training efficiency. The Iron Will Sect openly allowed every member of the sect who were cultivators to have access to the entire library of theirs which was considered small and not very grand, but this did not mean that the sect had the means to directly support every cultivator with endless resources so Leo had to somewhat fend for himself a bit.