The Next Step

When Aiden entered the study, Marcus was deep in conversation with Magdelena while Anton stood to the side at the ready. 

"Movements at the border have increased, and the Rising Moon Dominion have started amassing troops. We are likely to be at full war in the next six to eight months if the trend holds. The sixth son of the Torren family patriarch has officially broken through to the Widened Veins stage and the whole family is preparing a banquet to celebrate. It is rumored that the fourth young lady of Loftel family is to be engaged to him at his banquet." Magdalena's calm voice narrated the information that her forces had gathered.

 "The fourth young lady? Wasn't she in a relationship with the eldest son of the Palfi Family?" Marcus asked in surprise. 

"The eldest son of the Palfi family has been stuck in the Washed Marrow stage for two years now. It is unknown when he would be able to progress, and there is a concubines son who is three years younger than him but has also reached the washed marrow stage. The Palfi Patriarch may consider a change in heirs if the situation continues. Perhaps the fourth young miss felt that the odds were slim, and the Torren family is one of the main families after all. Even a sixth son is more valuable than the heir of a smaller family whose position is so tenuous." Magdalena replied, a hint of sarcasm tinging her voice as she described the interfamily politics. 

"Well, we would be remiss if we allowed such an alliance to form without a hitch. Magdalena, find an opportunity to let a Sunset Lily find its way into the hands of the Palfi family heir. I want him to break through to Fortifying Organs before the banquet. Although it still isn't as strong as Widened Veins, he is much younger than the sixth son." Marcus instructed with a bit of steel filling his emerald green eyes. The Loftel Family was another of the main families of the capital, their industries focusing on Alchemy. They control almost the entire lifeline of alchemical recipes and inheritances in the kingdom. A close alliance of direct line children was not what Marcus or the rest of the Sommerset Clan wished to see. Magdalena nodded in acknowledgement and bowed before leaving the room at a quick pace, eager to fulfill her mission and witness the big family drama that was going to occur. 

After Magdelena left, Marcus moved his gaze over to the young maroon haired Alchemist whose eyes were bright and his whole body seemed to be bursting with excitement. Aiden immediately stepped forward and proudly presented the bottle filled with his Minor Potion of Diminution and explained the uses. Marcus watched as his Little Alchemist detailed the many possibilities this potion could have, if Aiden had a tail it would be raised towards the sky in pride. 

Marcus also keenly caught the veiled glance and cunning smirk that Aiden threw towards Anton. The boy probably wanted to see Anton embarrassed. A pity then, that with Anton's keen senses and high level of vigilance there was no way that went unnoticed. Marcus turned to Anton and nodded to him, Anton immediately left the room to gather a few volunteers. 

When he returned there were five men in guard uniforms following him, they each bowed to Marcus in greeting before standing at attention. Aiden excitedly doled out the potion and waited for the results. The five guards downed their portions without hesitation. Under the sharp gaze of Marcus, Anton, and Aiden, a strange change began to appear on the bodies of the guards. 

The first guard shuddered and almost fell over as his lower leg and foot shrank to half their original size. He had to rapidly adjust his balance or else he would have fallen over. The second guard held up his left hand in wonder, it had become the size of a small child's. The third guard was the most obvious as his entire head shrank to look like a doll's. The fourth guards torso shrank about twenty-five percent, making his arms and legs look freakishly long. 

Everyone stared at the fifth and final guard for a period of time, finding no change. However, the fifth guards face turned bright red and his eyes darted about as if looking for a hole to hide in. The answer soon dawned on the group and they all glanced down in sympathy, not saying anything. The effects lasted for around thirty seconds. Though short, thirty seconds was alot in a fight. The short time was also related to the fact that this was a weakened version of the potion.

 "This is a very interesting potion. Good job Little Alchemist!" Marcus praised Aiden whose face lit up in happiness. Just when Aiden was going to ask about today's training, Marcus spoke again. "Little Alchemist, would you like to accompany me to the Clan Trial?" 

"Clan Trial? What is that?" Aiden asked in confusion, the term was unfamiliar to him. 

"The Clan Trial is an internal competition where the members of the Sommerset Clan engage in battle to determine their strength ranking. Once their ranking is determined, they will be eligible for corresponding resources. Of course, growth is also taken into account. If someone is strong but they haven't progressed after a long period of time, their resources will be deducted and go to someone who needs it more," Marcus carefully explained.

 "I would love to go!" Aiden said excitedly. Although it was sad that he couldn't take the opportunity of today's training to slip that potion of diminution to Anton somehow, there was always tomorrow, Aiden thought naively unaware his ideas had been seen through. Marcus rose smoothly, there was no sign left of his previous infirmity, and led Aiden out of the study. Awaiting them outside of the mansion was a small carriage. Marcus and Aiden entered into the carriage, while Anton took up position next to the driver. Once inside the carriage, Aiden looked at Marcus hesitatingly.

 "Are you going to participate?" he asked in a worried tone. 

Marcus looked surprised, "No, why do you think so?"

 "Well as soon as we arrive, everyone will be able to sense your cultivation level. So isn't this an announcement of your recovery?" Aiden continued with a frown.

 "Little Alchemist, we have progressed extremely fast, so you may have forgotten that most cultivators spend at least six months to a year at each stage of cultivation if they are extremely talented. Only those with higher cultivation than us will be able to sense our level if we are deliberately concealing it. Those who have achieved such strength will know what to say and what not to say. So my presence is to show my elders that I have recovered. Those juniors however, will be kept in the dark so as not to accidentally leak this information to the other families of the capital." Marcus explained slowly, so as to reassure Aiden.

 Aiden was startled, he had indeed forgotten. Everyone around him at the Sommerset Clan was either so much stronger than him, like Anton, or was progressing just as fast as he was, like Marcus. This had caused him to lose sight of the fact that out in the rest of the kingdom, a warrior at the Hardened Bones stage was usually in their late teens to early twenties if they were talented. 

Of course, with the powerful resources and training methods that the large clans and families had, their geniuses would be around his age. But he and Marcus had achieved this level in a matter of months, not years. Their speed was nearly unfathomable. If the Torren family or even any of the other big families were to know that Marcus had achieved such a cultivation level in this timeframe, forget about assasination, they might even join together and wipe out the Sommerset Clan. 

Marcus was giving the elders a chance to prepare by letting them know now. Otherwise, if they stayed secluded in the mansion and were found out by spies instead, the Sommerset Clan would have no time to react. On the other hand, it wasn't good for Marcus' Martial Path if he always hid and bided his time. Especially since that wasn't in line with his personality. During their training together, Aiden could see that Marcus loved the feeling of exercising and sparring with Anton. There was an almost manic light in his eyes during their sparring sessions that Aiden had understood. It was the same passion he had when conducting Alchemy. That thrill when you improved and overcame a difficult problem. Just like Aiden improved his cultivation through Alchemy, he could sense that Marcus needed a wider world and many combat experiences to truly hone his cultivation. After understanding all this Aiden met Marcus' green eyes and nodded. 

Marcus leaned over and rubbed Aiden's hair, much to the young Alchemists dismay as his carefully combed hair was now in a mess. Marcus hid a smile as he watched Aiden try to fix his hair, although his Little Alchemist loved to daze out, he was quite intelligent and could understand his meaning.