Chapter 34 Heading Out

Near Malm's main gate, Elias rented a private carriage for him and Alexander to take to the largest settlement in the region, Torden City.

It was the seat of power where Duke Torden ruled. Alexander had been there a couple of times when Arouraios had brought him along for the yearly gathering of lords that Duke held every spring.

This had been back when he was still the respective heir of the family. Before his magic power and affinity reading not long after he turned fourteen.

"Uncle Elias, you didn't need to accompany all the way to Torden City. I'm sure you have a great deal to do in Malm. I would have been fine on my own."

"I don't doubt that. However, the process of my adopting you will go far quicker if I personally do it at the government offices in the duchy's capital. If everything isn't squared away before you reach the royal capital, you'll have a much more difficult time getting into Fulminous Academy." Elias said, a gentle smile on his face to ease Alexander's worries.

Being considered by law the son of a knight would at least give Alexander some status. Should he reach the capital, and the records only showed that he had been disowned and was basically an orphan with no backing whatsoever, he would hardly have a chance to be accepted.

Commoners could get into the most prestigious academy in the kingdom, but they needed to be exceptionally talented, and usually had some sort of support from either a wealthy company or a noble.

"You could have at least let me pay for the transportation. While I did give up quite a bit of the money I earned from taking down those bandits, I still have a fair amount left." Alexander said, looking conflicted. His uncle had already helped him out immensely, and he did not want to feel like a burden.

"There's really no need for you to fret about small details like that. Your mother asked me to look after you, so that's just what I'm going to do. You mean quite a bit to me Alexander, as both my nephew and pupil."

Seeing that his uncle was not going to budge on the issue, Alexander simply promised to himself that he would pay him back latter.

As the carriage they were in made its way down the main road, the two of them eventually slipped into idle conversation. Both reminiscing about the past and speaking of the future.

Eventually though, Elias brought up a topic that he was most curious about. There was still a great deal that he did not know about the circumstances behind Alexander's lost limb, and the tremendous amount of wealth he obtained from taking down a large group of bandits.

"Now there's something I've really been wondering about. What sort of magic item are you using to strengthen yourself? I felt the waves of magic rolling off you when you lost your temper back in the viceroy's office. Without a doubt, that power wasn't coming from the pendant your mother used to use. At some point, you must have found a higher quality magic tool."

Feeling his uncle's probing eyes on him, Alexander contemplated what to do.

He did not want to lie to someone he was so close to. Other than his mother and brother, his uncle was the person he cared about the most.

Yet, the moment Alexander had resolved himself to tell Elias about the orichalcum ring, he heard a booming voice in his head.

'Do not reveal your hand!' Tharildron said forcefully. 'No matter how close you are, showing off such a powerful magic item to anyone will only lead to problems. What will you say when he asks how you obtained it? Are you going to also divulge that you possess a dimensional cache? After that will you reveal my existence and the fact you are able to use shadow magic? You've already told me that it is considered taboo in the current state of the world. Do you think that he will still be so willing to assist you if he knew?'

Alexander wanted to deny the shadow dragon's words, but he could not.

His uncle did love him, he was certain of that. Yet there was still a nonzero chance that he would turn Alexander in if he knew all of his secrets.

With doubt implanted into his mind, Alexander kept the orichalcum ring hidden.

Instead, he raised his top and showed his uncle the white steel chain shirt that had once belonged to the bandit leader.

He had already planned on using this magic item to conceal the existence of his orichalcum ring.

"Yes, this is a fine piece. Perhaps two tiers above your mother's pendant and one below my sword." Elias said after a quick examination of the piece of magical armor.

Though, while he did not call Alexander out on his suspicions, he did not truly believe that this magic tool was capable of producing the overwhelming strength he had felt.

There was a time when Elias allowed Alexander to try out his prized heirloom sword that was close to the peak of what physical enchantment magic items that could be produced today were capable of.

Nevertheless, even despite the weapon's impeccable quality, it had begun to show signs of damage after only half a day of Alexander wielding it.

Thankfully, nothing irreversible had occurred, but that was enough evidence for Elias that his nephew possessed more magic power than any modern magic tool could handle. 

And without a proper tool that could handle Alexander's immense stores of energy to practice with, his control hardly progressed.

"Well, now that I know what sort of magic item you're using, why don't you tell me about the bandits you took down. I'd been trying to locate them for a while, but to no avail."

Nodding his head, Alexander told the revised story he had partly made up. Naturally, he could not tell anyone the entire truth. He had already lied once, and to keep up the illusion, he had to continue hiding what had really occurred.