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"Now. Do you want to go to the academy?"
I'm dumbfounded by his question, I never expected to be asked that.
I blink twice.
"I have a choice?"
I ask him, my tone layered with curiosity.
"Well..." He sinks back into his chair and drops his stern demeanor. "Normally, no one has a choice, even I didn't. But you're different Charles. I became a first circle at age 13 and I went to the academy. But you? You became a first circle at 7!"
I straighten my back and stare at him with narrowed eyes, waiting to hear more.
"So, that means you have a choice. You can choose not to enter the academy until you're at least 13 years old, or you can also choose to go this year. I've already prepared for your admission and everything, but I can cancel it at any time."
He shrugs.
"After all, if you go to the academy, the first years there would all be twice your age."
His signature heart-boiling smirk is still present on his face.
Freak.
"I'm not going."
He furrows his brows.
"That's expected." He mutters.
"I've always noticed something different about you. You, you're not like the others."
My eyes widen with curiosity. What could he be talking about? Did he find out I reincar– Okay that's a far stretch.
"What do you mean?"
"You have great ambition, a driving force, something that compels you to keep moving– Desire. I noticed it ever since I met you. But then, that desire–it's not to rule, it's not to dominate or to conquer, it's not even greed. And you never even try to vie for the position of a Patriarch with my other children, in fact, you avoid them as much as you can. Even my second wife no longer sees you as a threat because you show no interest in the position of the Patriarch."
I feel something run up my stomach.
Some people have to be nerfed. Why does he have this kind of discernment? It's like a cheat. He's overpowered and smart.
"You're right."
I speak up, masking my anxiety with a calm expression and an unshaken voice.
"I do not desire the vague sense of dominance that any position of power brings. I am not out for conquest or to rule anything or anybody. I am after something greater than that, a path that defies the very nature of things."
Well, I'm not wrong, bending time and space to go to another world is defying nature.
I can see a grim light in Alexander's eyes, and that grin that I thought couldn't get any wider– it surpassed my expectation.
"Hahahahahaha! A path that defies the very nature of things. An anomaly that seeks to defy nature. Interesting, really interesting."
The man is starting to make me feel uncomfortable. I'm starting to question if he actually is mentally unstable.
"So, does that mean that the weight of the Flameworths is holding you back?"
I hesitate, using my eyes to scan him, and then I close my eyes and nod my head.
"It's a good thing, Charles. This family, as much as I hate to admit it... Will limit your rising. Seeing how much potential you have. You cannot escape it." He adjusts his glasses. "The fate of being the Patriarch. It's an ancient rule, the strongest will be the Patriarch. Sure there might be some disagreement from the elders because of your affinity with other elements, but, it won't stop you from ascending the seat of the Patriarch. But you see boy, something they don't tell you about being the Patriarch, something that even my children that are fighting themselves don't know, and hence the reason I laugh at them, is that..."
His eyes flash with raw sadness, as if he's recalling a sad and gruesome memory in his mind.
"Is that, we have no freedom. I... I have no freedom, Charles. I'm tied down by a shackle, and that shackle is... nng."
He groans, as if he's in pain, like something is stopping him from talking, he holds his head and starts breathing heavily.
Then he wheezes and takes a deep breath and his breathing becomes more stable. And with a strained voice, he continues speaking:
"So... What I'm trying to say is that you have a destiny that's far too great, far too large to be tied down by this same... Shackle that's tying me down. So run away Charles, run away, far away from here. Don't let HIM find you, don't let HIM know that you even exist, don't let him know that you're a Flameworth. I tried my best to hide your existence from him.
The only thing I'll ask of you as you leave is that– you should tell me your new name. A name that I'll recognize when I hear of your world-shaking achievements because I know that wherever you go, even if you answer a new name and abandon the name of the Flameworths, I know that you'll still shock the world."
I jolt, my body sweating profusely, my chest is heaved, and I'm unable to properly process what he's saying.
"W–what, Alexander. What are you talking about?"
As I speak out, I realize my mistake– I called him by his name.
I cover a gasp with my hands and look up to see his expression.
He's... Smiling.
"Alexander, yes. That feels right, you never felt like a son to me. The level of intelligence and rationality you display at times even matches my own, but you try to hide it. I know you're a much larger genius than you let on. As for my name– Yes, you can call me Alexander. Because I have acknowledged you, not as a son, not as a warrior, but as a friend."
He grins as he talks, but I only hear bullshit coming out of his mouth the more he speaks.
Utter bullshit. I know he isn't that bad of a guy, but come on man, calling your 7-year-old son your friend? I thought better of you Alexander.
I smile, and I shake my head.
"I want to learn some flame spells."
He's shocked by my blatant change of topic and he grimaces.
"Ehehem. Flame spells? I can teach you some first-circle flame spells."
I nod my head slightly, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Charles."
I stand up to take my leave, I've fulfilled my purpose of coming here: Telling Alexander that I've gotten my first circle and trying to convince him to teach me spells himself, I expected the second one to be hard but it was easy. Not only did I fulfill my purpose of coming here, but I even got some information.
I walk toward the door slowly.
"When you're ready to make your move. Inform me."
I nod silently and keep walking to the door.
I place my hand at the door handle, but before I open it, I give him one last glance.
"Best look forward to hearing news of Ed."
And I walk out.