Chapter 60 - Wesley's Resolve

Wesley walked towards the library at a steady pace. He was in no particular rush, and to be honest, he was somewhat worried that he might be disappointed, so he purposefully slowed his steps.

Unfortunately, regardless of how much Wesley dragged his feet, he was bound to eventually reach the library. However, the extra few minutes of walking gave him enough time to steel his resolve and calm his heart.

Whatever was bound to happen, would happen. There was no need to lose his mind over something he had no control over.

Wesley walked into the library and steadily headed towards the counter facing the entrance. The same old, scrawny elder was sitting behind the counter, reading the same book he had been reading the last time Wesley was here.

Wesley wondered how the Academy managed to have so many elders, some even acting as librarians. What level of power and influence must one possess to be capable of something like that? This truly showed how impressive the academy was.

"Good afternoon, Elder."

The old elder looked up from his book with some annoyance. As soon as he saw Wesley standing in front of him, his face twisted into a sneer as he spoke mockingly:

"Oh. Young one, you're back. What books on mana are you looking for today?"

Wesley ignored the elder's mocking tone. He knew that mages naturally looked down on swordsmen, but as a mage himself, he couldn’t care less about how mages viewed other mages. He simply replied in a respectful manner:

"Elder, I am looking for books about channels, preferably one that details all the channels in the body. Also, a book about metals and their properties. The more detailed, the better."

The old elder looked at Wesley with surprise in his eyes. He paused for a moment, then spoke inquisitively:

"You’re a second-year now. Isn’t it a bit early for you to try bonding with a sword?"

"Elder, I’m not ready for the bond yet. I’m still researching which metals are suitable for me."

"Oh. That makes sense. Anyway, you’ll find what you need in the encyclopedia section behind me. Those are the most detailed and accurate books on the subject."

"Thank you, Elder."

Wesley immediately bypassed the counter and headed towards the encyclopedia section to look for the books he needed. The one on metals was rudimentary and could wait. What Wesley was most interested in was the book on channels.

A few minutes later, Wesley emerged from the shelves with three thick books in his hands. Surprisingly, Wesley found only one book on channels, while he found more than five books on metals.

Honestly speaking, Wesley cared most about the channels book; the other two were chosen randomly. Even though Wesley was interested in learning how different affinities could be used in conjunction with swordsmanship, it was just curiosity and nothing more.

Compared to Wesley’s future as a mage, which was on the line, he couldn’t afford to spend too much time thinking about something so tangential. Wesley returned to the librarian elder to check out the books. The old elder simply recorded Wesley’s number on a small piece of paper and waved him away.

Wesley left the library in haste and headed back to his manor. He wanted to immediately read about channels, but he restrained himself. He needed to continuously test the channels' reactions to his mana, and a library was not a good place for that, in case he accidentally triggered a reaction.

- - - -

The distance between the Academy and Wesley's Manor in the seventh district was slightly less than five miles. Normally, it would take Wesley an hour of walking at a steady pace to traverse this distance. However, today, Wesley was in a hurry, so he had no mind to walk steadily as he rushed home.

Wesley reached the Manor with a record time of fifty some minutes. To see the red robed Wesley running through the city with three books in hand and a look of anticipation on his face, people would wonder if those books were some sort of treasure.

As soon as Wesley walked through the front entrance of the Manor, he was greeted by an odd scene. There were more than a dozen soldiers wearing dark armors standing in pairs all over his front yard.

The first thing that came to Wesley's mind was that four families somehow connected him to the recent happenings causing his face to slightly drain of color. However, before he could reach for his sword, he noticed the emblem on the chest of these soldiers.

A dark crow with folded wings standing on top of a skull. The emblem of the Black Family.

Wesley couldn’t understand why the Black Family soldiers would be in his Manor, a myriad of scenarios ran through his mind. Fortunately, he didn’t have to speculate for too long before one of his maids approached him with a smile on her face.

This was the oldest maid in Wesley Manor. Ever since Lane left, she has taken over the responsibility of overseeing the entire Manor. The moment she was within speaking range of Wesley, she bowed slightly and spoke:

"Welcome back Master."

Wesley had no time for pleasantries as the frown on his face deepened and he spoke:

"Mary enough with the drivel. What is going on here."

Mary just looked at Wesley with a smiling face and spoke:

"Master. The little masters are back. These soldiers were escorting them."

Hearing Mary's words, Wesley's face instantly turned ugly and his lips quivered slightly. What the hell was Neal thinking? How did he think that associating the Black Family with Wesley was a good idea.

The entire reason Wesley distanced himself from the Black Family was to insulate them from repercussion in case he ever failed and his identity uncovered.

Wesley turned to Mary and spoke with a slight scowl:

"Take these books and bring them to the basement."

"Yes Master."

Wesley walked past Mary and didn’t even glance at the dark-armored soldiers before entering the main manor. To say that Wesley was fuming with anger would be an understatement. Soon enough, Wesley reached the main hall, which contained the dining table and a few couches.

Neal was sitting on one of these couches, with Sala sitting on his lap. Lavar and Wannel were nowhere to be seen, probably walking around the manor, while Stein and Lane stood respectfully behind Neal.

Lane was wearing a simple green robe, and he seemed slightly taller, though still skinny. On the other hand, Stein seemed to have grown even taller than Lane. He wore a slim-fitting shirt and trousers and held a short dark sword similar to the one Wesley used. Both of their faces had matured considerably.

The moment Wesley saw them, his anger subsided, and he couldn’t help but smile. It had almost been an entire year since the kids went to stay with Neal, and yet, they seemed to have changed so much. Wesley had also changed, but being slightly older, his changes weren’t as noticeable as theirs.

"Master Wessss!"

While Wesley was thinking about the past year, a shrill, excited scream filled the air. Wesley instantly saw little Sala, already mid-dash, heading towards him with astonishing speed.

A few seconds later, Wesley was met with a tackle-like flying hug. Sala was too small to push Wesley back more than a few steps, but his shoulder was still injured, and that tackle didn’t do him any favors. Wesley simply looked at Sala, who was hanging from his neck, and spoke, laughing:

"Little Sala, you’ve grown bigger. I can’t carry you for too long."

Sala ignored Wesley’s words, continuing to hang from his neck. She spoke to him with a slightly teary voice:

"Master Wes, I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."

Wesley switched Sala from his left side to his right and then walked towards Neal and the others. Sala weighed so little that he barely felt her. Wesley looked at Lane and Stein and spoke:

"Lane, Stein. The two of you have grown well, too."

Stein smiled at Wesley, while Lane had a look of sadness on his face. It was clear that the two of them had different thoughts about Wesley. They both spoke at the same time:

"Master."

Wesley smiled widely at the two of them. He was clearly very happy to see them, but still waved his hand with mock annoyance:

"What Master? Am I worthy to be the master of the young lords of the venerable Black Family?"

Stein simply smiled at Wesley’s words, seemingly understanding that Wesley was joking. On the other hand, Lane seemed to grow even sadder as he spoke:

"You are the only one worthy of being our master. Only, I don’t know if we are worthy of being your servants."

Lane was the closest to Wesley out of the five siblings. And, even though all the siblings acknowledged Wesley as their master, none of them could compare to the amount of dedication and loyalty Lane had for Wesley.

Wesley laughed loudly at Lane’s words. He really liked this little fellow. Thinking of this, Wesley recalled his initial anger. He really didn’t want these kids to be endangered because of him. He immediately turned to Neal and spoke coldly:

"Neal. Why did you come with the children to visit me today?"

Neal was surprised at Wesley's question He felt a hidden meaning behind his words, but he simply couldn’t understand it. He believed that Wesley was delighted beyond words after seeing the kids, he didn’t expect this reaction.

He looked at Wesley and spoke while standing up:

"Wesley. Mind talking with me in the study. I have a few things I need to go over with you."

"Indeed. Lane, go find Mary and tell her to prepare something nice for us to eat."

Lane noticed the changes in both Neal and Wesley, so he knew something was wrong. But he kept his curiosity suppressed and spoke:

"Yes Master."

Wesley looked at little Sala who was staring at him with teary eyes as if he was about to die. He laughed at how cute she was and spoke while setting her on the floor:

"I'll be back little Sala. Then you can show me how much you can read."

"Really?"

"Yes, I promise."

Wesley patted Sala's head causing her to crook her neck as he laughed. Then he and Neal walked side by side towards the study.

- - - - - -

"Wesley. What is the matter?"

Wesley's face was devoid of all color as he sat across from Neal. Nothing had been going his way lately, and now, even the Black Family was on the verge of being dragged down by his mess. He looked at Neal with slightly red eyes as he spoke:

"Why have you brought the kids over? We agreed that there would be no direct contact between us until the matter with the four families was settled. And now...."

Neal just stared at Wesley as one would at a crazed man.

"Wesley. The four heads are already dead. What else do we need to accomplish before this matter is settled?"

Before Neal even finished speaking, Wesley's mouth dropped, and he burst out of his chair, staring at Neal. Now, Wesley was looking at Neal like he was the crazy one.

"Neal. What nonsense are you spouting? The Kader and Blume heads are alive and kicking!"

This time, Neal was the one to burst out of his chair. Wesley absolutely couldn’t be lying, which meant that the four heads had lied about their deaths—perhaps to lure them out. Now he understood why Wesley was in utter disbelief at his words.

Neal immediately spoke with a shaky voice:

"Yesterday... News of the two heads dying reached me..."

Something clicked in Wesley's mind. This was most likely a feint by the two family heads. Perhaps they wanted to announce their deaths and then observe the powers of the city to see who the culprit was.

Wesley and Neal stood motionless, seemingly calculating something. Both of them knew the repercussions if what they feared was actually true. They were not worried about escaping because Neal had already prepared the contingency plan, but neither of them was willing to use it.

The contingency plan was simple. If the four families discovered that Wesley and the Black Family were behind the assassination, Neal would immediately leave the city with the kids, while simultaneously inciting a rebellion in the seventh district.

On the other hand, Wesley would seek refuge at the academy before sending a letter to his master. With his master's presence, it was highly unlikely that anyone would be able to hurt him, even if he walked out through the front gate.

This plan was a last resort. Neither Wesley nor Neal wanted to follow through with it because it not only meant that they would have to leave Blackreach City for good, but it also meant that the lives of twenty thousand people would be put on the line.

Wesley instantly looked at Neal with a frown and spoke:

"Don’t think too much about it, Neal. Prepare for the worst-case scenario. The contingency plan would ensure we get out of this alive, but it’s too costly, so just make sure you observe the movements of the four families before making our move."

Neal simply nodded weakly. He looked at Wesley curiously and asked:

"What happened in the Kader Manor? You were gone for a day."

Wesley immediately told Neal everything that happened in the manor and afterward. The mention of an Elder was enough to make Neal sweat profusely. Wesley purposefully avoided mentioning being stuck in the void and told Neal that he was badly injured and needed to recuperate.

Twenty minutes later, Wesley and Neal walked out of the study with pale complexions and sweaty foreheads. The moment they reached the main hall, all five kids were present. Wesley and Neal wore forced smiles on their faces, not wanting to worry the kids.

Unfortunately, their crooked and forced smiles didn’t escape the attention of Lane and Stein, who looked at each other with slight frowns. The other three seemed oblivious to anything, with Sala even more so.

That night, Wesley and the Black Family continued talking and catching up until midnight. This was because they hadn't seen each other in almost a year, but the true reason was to make sure that Wesley’s followers didn’t report the Black Family’s visit to the four families.

Of course, it was possible that someone else had been watching the manor when Wesley was there, making their efforts pointless, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

- - - - -

Wesley stood at the entrance to the main Manor staring at the backs of the black armored soldiers that were escorting Neal and the kids. He couldn’t help but feel some sadness and helplessness at how the situation was unfolding.

Wesley has his own brother, Dalan. But Dalan had the hopes of the entire kingdom on his shoulders that he hardly spent time with him. Wesley truly loved his brother, but he never really could approach him because one was the genius first prince.

Wesley's own mother was dead, his father was cold and uncaring, and his brother was practically a stranger to him. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Wesley has never tasted familial love.

But then, as if the heavens were making it up to him, Wesley met these little siblings. He was impressed by their tenacity and talents, however, even if they didn’t have any of these things, Wesley still would have taken them in.

He finally had a family, and yet, his family's safety was jeopardized and it was possible that he might never see them again. Wesley could blame luck or fate but he didn't. He knew that there was only one reason he couldn’t protect his little siblings.

He lacked enough power.

There are many things that made Wesley feel helpless. He hated seeing the common people suffer, he hated being looked down at, he hated being pressured. But, regardless of how helpless Wesley felt, he either couldn’t do much about it, or he simply didn’t bother with it.

However, this time was different. Wesley had what can be compared to epiphany. If he was powerful, then who in the world could pressure him, or look down on him. If Wesley had enough power, then why would he fail to kill the two remaining family heads. How would he be chased like a rat by that Elder. If Wesley had enough power, who in this world would be able to hurt his siblings.

Wesley's face instantly hardened, and his eyes burned with an invisible fire. He has made up his mind. He would become powerful, he will never let anyone put those he cares about in danger. As he continued looking at the gate that was now empty, Wesley spoke in a firm voice:

"Mary."

"Yes Master."

"I will be staying in the basement for a while. I am not to be disturbed at all."

"Understood Master."

Wesley looked at the dark, cloudy sky which occasionally allowed a glimpse of the stars to be seen. He didn’t know why he felt that the sky was exceedingly bright tonight. He couldn’t see the moon, and the clouds in the sky were numerous, and yet Wesley felt like tonight was the brightest, dark night he has every seen.

Wesley immediately turned around and walked into the Manor. He thought that perhaps his vision was clearer tonight.