29 The First War

We left the great hall and walked for a few minutes, the castle itself was very big, but I memorized all the way we were going. Until we arrived in front of a door.

After one of them opened the door I was surprised because in front of me was the Grand Master Kluster Bhuor next to Layren.

'They were telling me the truth. I thought they wanted to get rid of me...'

The 5 Aspiring Mages who came with me were with a serious expression in the presence of the Grand Master, despite their age it was easy to see the fear mixed with the respect that these children were feeling.

"Gremory, I'm glad you decided to come, please enter and close the door" The Grand Master spoke.

'It's not like I had a choice'

As I close the door one of the boy's whispers to me "Good luck!".

"I imagine this is my welcome reception? I have to admit that I wasn't expecting to end up here" I answer the Grand Master.

"What were you waiting for then? Disappointed that you can't use that short blade hidden in your sleeve to kill my recruits just like you did with the healers earlier?" He replied with a calm look as he pointed at Stickyt.

'I am sure I didn't move my arms at an angle that would allow him to see...'

"In my defense, I would like to say that I prepared this just in case they attacked me first"

"Don't worry about it, I think it's good that you prepared yourself. I try to teach them some discipline but as you can see it is a little hard to get results." He replied as he pointed to the burn scars on Layren's face who was standing beside him.

'She introduced herself as Lauren Bhuor which means she is his daughter or at least a relative.'

"I understand, but I think there would be better ways to discipline someone."

"Believe me, when I say there isn't, that's part of the reason you're here now"

"You will have to explain it better than that, you must know very well that my element is not fire, right?"

'There is no reason for me to lie about it, if he was able to see the sword before then at least he knows about this too'

"It has been so long since the last time an outsider was selected that people have created their truths about our motives without even knowing. What they told you about us outside is not quite true and whether you will be part of this house then you should know."

---

Many millennia ago there was a creature called Zelhart that hunted and killed human beings for pure pleasure, it ravaged all territories known to man and brought mankind to the brink of extinction.

But nature is neither good nor bad, together with Zelhart the great hero Hulum Ying came to offer humanity a chance. When humanity saw nothing but destruction in its path and was in its last line of defense, the great hero Hulum Ying emerged to suppress the nonhuman armies led by Zelhart, legends say that large purple fireballs fell from the sky like meteors wiping out Zelhart's armies.

He introduced magic to humanity and 5 other great heroes emerged to help him in his battle, each with a different skill, being earth, water, wind, light, and lightning.

Together they hunted Zelhart and destroyed him, saving humanity. Years after the great battle, Hulum Ying had many children and decided to found this house and the other heroes decided to join or form their own houses as well. What you see here today are his descendants.

---

"Good fairy tale, but what does that have to do with me?" I asked.

"That's simple, as you can see, the number of mages appearing each year is getting smaller and smaller, very few emerge from outside the bloodline, and even within it, many fail to acquire mana. The bloodline is getting weaker and weaker along with our powers which threatens human supremacy in these lands, soon we will not be able to defend ourselves. Yet a prodigy like you appeared outside the main bloodlines, my daughter sent spies to watch your adventure against the goblin camp, but I couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes in the Derlvit."

'Was I being watched? This can be problematic.'

"So... What do you want from me?"

"You somehow managed to acquire a lot of power from the founders and this cannot be simply ignored. Your bloodline must be preserved, give up your current surname and become a Bhuor by marrying my daughter. The second part will only happen in the future... But you can change your surname from now on and enjoy all the benefits of it."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"It is the only thing I have left of a person who was important to me."

"It doesn't have to happen now. But your training will start soon so get back to enjoying the party while you can." He replied with a disappointed look.

I look again at Layren who hasn't even moved his eyes for all this time, and I leave the room.

'The whole story about heroes and villains seems like the kind of thing to be told to children, he shouldn't be taking me seriously.'

When I leave I see that the group from before was still waiting for me.

'It seems that I owe them an apology for having been prepared to kill them'

"If you got out of there alive then I guess you are one of us now, Welcome!" The boy named Luther spoke.