Desmond placed his attention on the Magician that questioned him and replied:
"I need the magic formation fixed as soon as possible, I don't care about your ego. Nick Capitol is here to help you to speed up the repair process and if that is even by a second, that would satisfy me. But your dissatisfaction has been noted, Severide."
The Magician that was apparently named Severide grew increasingly upset after he heard Desmond's words but he had to remain calm on the outside because he could not afford to offend the man in front of him, so he asked:
"How much does he know about magic formations?"
Desmond replied:
"Ask him that yourself."
Severide quickly directed his rough voice at Nick, who was still distracted, and questioned him:
"How do you think that fire magic energy compares with formation magic energy?"
Nick was still paying enough attention to the surroundings to hear the question directed at him. He then focused on Severide, the asker, and thought for a few moments before deciding to answer the question, knowing that the older Magician was clearly trying to test him:
"There is no such thing as formation magic energy, only formation magic, which involves using formation path laws to manipulate and arrange laws of other paths in order to produce effects related to the type of magic energy brought about by the latter kinds of laws. For example, formation magic could be used to arrange a magic formation consisting of mostly fire path laws and the formation would then produce fire path effects facilitated by mostly using the fire magic energy type but in the absence of that type of magic, other types of magic could be used to operate the formation at the cost of its own power and efficiency."
Severide was a tall man, about six feet, two inches high, he had slightly tanned, white skin, a high nose bridge, dark eyes and a head full of neatly styled, but trimmed brown hair. He wore a charcoal colored magician's robe along with black leather shoes. He rubbed his shaved chin with his right hand in response to hearing Nick's answer, saying:
"Looks like you know a little something about formation path. Fine, you can join us."
Nick internally rolled his eyes at Severide because he knew that the older Magician was just putting on a show so that he would believe that Severide's opinion of him would have weight but Nick already realized that it was in fact Desmond that called the shots. Nick didn't want to waste any more time so he asked:
"What are the details of the magic formation above us?"
Desmond gave Severide an expectant but cold stare and Severide knew then that he could not make things difficult for Nick without ruining his standing with Desmond so he answered Nick plainly and honestly:
"The magic formation that you see above us is a space path magic formation called Purification Echo. It is one of the three magic formations within this city that aids in creating a special space that wraps around this island and has functions such as: preventing magic beasts from being aware of what is happening on the island, acting as a physical barrier to entry for magic beasts, hides the presence of the living beings residing on Garden Isle and inflicts debilitating confusion onto any magic beast that tries intentionally or unintentionally to probe Garden Isle. Two days ago, Purification Echo developed an unidentified issue that is resulting in its effects weakening and lagging behind the other two magic formations of its kind, bringing down the overall effectiveness of the special space around the island. The lag that I mentioned threatens to act as a kind of hole that powerful magic beasts could use to infiltrate the island, which would be troublesome because there are certain mutant rank 5 magic beasts living within the lake that would cause disaster to the royal family's operations if they were to become fully aware of the value of this island and worse yet, if they were able to breach Purification Echo and come ashore on Garden Isle."
Desmond nodded his head once in response to Severide's explanation and spoke:
"The mutant rank 5 magic beasts within the lake surrounding the island are not easily dealt with and if they breach the special space protecting Garden Isle, our royal family would lose tens of vatas in value...oh right, you might not know what vatas are. We would lose tens of hundreds of billions of pounds in wealth. That's how important this island is."
Nick raised his right eyebrow in suspicion and asked Desmond:
"If Purification Echo is so important, why do you only have two Formation Magicians to service it and why do you have to resort to getting my help instead of requesting more Formation Magicians or even Space Magicians to come here?"
Desmond openly sighed, revealing a tired expression and then he answered Nick:
"The royal family has many valuable outposts in over one hundred different realms. All those outposts require certain types of Magicians to be stationed there long-term and it just so happens that all families within the United Kingdom have a shortage of Formation, Refinement and Space Magicians relative to their needs."
Nick became a little confused, asking:
"I met two Space Magicians during the first event when I completed it. Even Ralph is a Space Magician, right? Why aren't they here?"
Desmond shook his head slowly before replying:
"You do not know enough about licensed Magicians, Nick. Although a Magician may be called a Space Magician, that is because of their declared specialization and the methods that they use but they may not necessarily have high attainment in space path. It is very possible to get to the regular ranks without having high attainment in your specialization if you have enough resources; it is more commonly the case that Regular Magicians of certain paths are not masters of that path and formation path and space path happen to be two such paths. The two Formation Magicians here are masters in formation path and I have not invited any Space Magicians or Refinement Magicians because there are no such masters on Garden Isle at present and having Magicians of lower standards interacting with Purification Echo might just make things worst instead of better in the short term. I will only be able to get space path masters to be assigned to Large Garden a few days from now but by that time, who knows what could happen. That is why I sought your assistance."
A wave of realization finally hit Nick:
(So Ralph and those other two Space Magicians are not masters of space path despite obviously being Regular Magicians. Hmmm...the royal family is very wealthy so I can see them being able to nurture Magicians to the regular ranks by mostly using physical resources. As long as the Magicians are given readymade methods and have a good theoretical background in their specialization, they don't need to be masters. Come to think of it, I am only a master in space path and others because I did crazy shit and ended up benefitting from it...)
Nick started to gain a whole new appreciation of his value - masters of a path were apparently rare no matter what rank, higher attainments would probably be even rarer.
(No wonder that I was able to man-handle and kill those four people from the aristocrat academies in the battle royal event. My high attainment puts me way above them. I might lack resources when compared to their wealthy families but my attainments are a kind of wealth in themselves. Desmond probably assumed that I am a master because I was able to design the Speed Bubble Formation when I did which involved both formation and space path, making me seemingly perfect for this task.)
Nick said to Desmond:
"I understand and I will try my best to fulfill your expectations."
Desmond faintly smiled and replied:
"I will remain right here the whole time to supervise you since you are unlicensed. You may go and work with the other two, now."
Nick walked past Severide and begun examining Purification Echo's laws. The other Formation Magician did not introduce himself to Nick right away and Nick did not intend to force communication between them. The other Formation Magician was one head shorter than Severide, had a head full of green, styled hair, had white skin, green eyes and wore a dark-green colored magician's robe along with a pair of white leather shoes.
It wasn't long before the effects of Nick's Eyes of the Fated talent kicked in and the space path laws of Purification Echo became more meaningful to him. Nick was also able to sense the output of magic power from the formation and after close to two hours of inspection, Nick was able to determine that the output of magic power from Purification Echo was indeed low relative to what its space path laws would suggest and also lower than how the formation was arranged would suggest. Nick mused:
(I have a vague understanding of how Purification Echo achieves its effects. The magic formation consists of over thirteen million laws so understanding its mechanisms in fine detail would take me some time unless...)
Nick stopped examining Purification Echo's laws and placed his focus on Severide and the green haired Formation Magician. He asked them without any reserve:
"How familiar are you two with the mechanisms involved in Purification Echo's functions?"
Severide was annoyed by Nick's questioning but seeing that Desmond was paying extreme attention to them, he answered Nick:
"Henley and I have been working on this magic formation for two days straight and we have maintained it for the past few months so we know about the details of each part of Formation Echo intimately. Our attainment in space path may be ordinary but we're getting closer to finding the problem every day."
The green haired Magician that was apparently named, Henley, spoke at this time in a neutral tone:
"If you have any questions about Purification Echo, just ask us. If Desmond says that you can help us, I am willing to believe it."
Severide seemed a little confused by Henley's attitude:
(Why is Henley being so tame about being treated on equal footing with an Apprentice Magician? Unlike me, he was trained by two academies supported by the royal family so he is usually even more prideful than myself.)
Henley easily noticed Severide's confusion and inwardly sneered:
(Severide, you're a fool! Desmond didn't bring him here because of his rank but because it is presumed that his attainment is high, which is a separate matter entirely and one that is not inconsequential. If this man's attainment is high enough, he is worthy of our cooperation and besides, when the magic formation is fixed, the two of us will still obtain most of the rewards and credit for solving the problem since we are licensed, anyway.)
Nick nodded his head once and requested:
"I am going to point out a few sections of Purification Echo that I have concerns about. If you two could just explain the mechanisms of each section in detail that I point out to you, that would help me a lot."
Henley agreed to help Nick but Severide hesitated and was ultimately unwilling, using an excuse:
"I have my own hunches to chase down. I can't spend time giving explanations, right now."
Nick didn't mind Severide's refusal to help him since he probably only needed one person. Nick and Henley then proceeded to walk around the roof and Nick pointed out sections of the formation that Henley would then explain to him; Severide examined other parts of the magic formation by himself. Although Nick could read the space path laws himself and understand it using his own attainment, he wanted to skip all the tedium involved in going through all thirteen million plus symbols since he suspected that the problem would be revealed so long as he had a good enough grasp of the magic formation's details, which Henley had been studying for days.
After three more hours, Nick's two brows visibly creased and he looked at a specific section of the magic formation situated at its south edge and pointed to it, saying:
"There. The laws at that section are suspicious. Although they seem to give an acceptable meaning, that is only when considering space path. When also taking into consideration the power of the formation path laws within this magic formation, the meaning of those space path laws give it a gradual deteriorating effect. Those laws should be changed like so..."
Nick quickly summoned a large piece of special canvas paper from his space band and began drawing laws all over it by tracing his fingers on it and releasing traces of his magic energy through his fingertips. Henley watched Nick work from the side but it took a while for him to see Nick's point clearly. Only until Nick had drawn about one hundred thousand symbols one and a half hours later, did Henley see the problem clearly by comparing the laws that Nick drew and the current laws contained within the supposedly problematic section that Nick flagged.
Henley frowned, thinking:
(There is a problem with the space path laws that is incredibly subtle. If Nick had not pointed it out, with only Severide's and my high attainment in formation path, we would have likely not noticed the real problem for weeks or at least until a Space Magician came here to help us. The problem is created by the interaction between the space path and the formation path laws and since Nick saw through the problem, his attainment in both paths must be high. That's rare for someone so young and at such a low rank.)
Nick drew twenty thousand more symbols and then said:
"As long as the symbols for that section's space path laws are replaced with the symbols on this canvas paper, Purification Echo will recover its magic power output and full effects."
Henley looked over Nick's drawings for about an hour, then nodded his head, saying:
"I agree with you."
Henley reported what Nick did and said to Desmond and Desmond ordered in response:
"If you agree with Nick, perform the changes immediately. Since the laws for the alteration have already been worked out, that shouldn't require much time, right?"
Henley replied:
"Using the canvas paper that Nick drew his laws on, it should only take me half an hour to alter Purification Echo's laws once I also have Severide's help."
Henley went to Severide to explain the plan to him and although Severide wasn't too pleased that Nick seemed to have somehow figured out the problem, he wasn't going to hesitate executing the plan once Desmond gave an order to do so. Nick handed over the large piece of canvas paper, that had over one hundred and twenty thousand symbols detailing space path laws on it, to Henley and Severide.
The two Formation Magicians spent the next thirty minutes implementing changes to Purification Echo while Nick moved to Desmond's side and watched them work. Desmond asked Nick:
"Are you a space path or a formation path master?"
Nick replied:
"If you don't mind, I'd rather not say."
Nick wasn't going to bother hiding that he had a high attainment in one of those paths because if his proposed changes work, then it would be obvious that he did have a high attainment in at least one of those paths but he did not have to make it known which one or how high his attainment was.
(I don't know Desmond and I don't want to invite trouble onto myself by letting people know too much about my cultivation.)
Desmond stared at Nick for a while, then placed his eyes on Henley and Severide again, saying to Nick:
"If you don't want to say, so be it. Just hand me your address on Grand Earth and I will have what you asked for delivered to there as soon as the magic formation is fixed. I had Ralph halt the competition's final stage for a few more hours, so don't worry, you are not missing anything."
Nick summoned a blank piece of paper and a pen from his space band, following which, he wrote down his commercial building's address on the paper and then gave it to Desmond, thinking:
(He seems to be confident in my skills. Why is that?)
About half an hour later, Henley and Severide completed the alterations to Purification Echo's laws and the magic formation immediately began operating at full output again. Sensing the change using his own magic sense, Desmond declared:
"I will have to investigate the Space Magician that maintained the formation in previous months. Nick, you have my thanks. I will send you back to the arena now but I cannot go with you because I have more work to do and I need time to source your reward."
Nick nodded and said:
"That's fine. I appreciate the opportunity to have been of assistance."
Desmond nodded and waved his right hand towards Nick and a bolt of purple lighting silently struck Nick seemingly out of nowhere and Nick disappeared from his spot. Henley and Severide came over to Desmond soon after; Henley asked:
"He is very skilled relative to his age and rank. Does the royal family have plans to recruit him?"
When Severide heard Henley's question, his mind became filled with negative thoughts:
(How did that rascal manage to solve the problem that I worked days on in just only a few hours? It's not fair!)
Desmond replied with a flat tone:
"No. I just lucked into finding a good seed with some useful skills. I will report his efforts to the elders but I doubt that they will move to recruit someone with such a plain background, after all, having skill and potential often aren't the only things required to catch the attention of those in power."
***********************************************************
Thompson Varrow, William Rollins, Victoria Nelson and Patrice Suez waited in Richter Order Academy's reserved section for the final event to begin, which was supposed to take the form of one-on-one battles.
William complained:
"Why did the administrators of the competition suddenly push the start time forward without any explanation? This is foolishness."
Varrow then said to him:
"Complaining won't help, William. Just wait patiently, they must have had their reasons. As to what those reasons are, remember that Large Garden is not really a safe realm. Any number of things can cause the administration within this city to divert their attention and resources."
William remained silent after hearing Varrow's sound reasoning. Victoria soon asked:
"Where is Nick? The last event would have started an hour ago if not for the delay but he wasn't here at that time. Did he somehow hear that the competition was stalled?"
Varrow shrugged his shoulders in response to Victoria's question, mostly because he was not worried. In Varrow's eyes, despite his strange cultivation habits, Nick was a disciplined yet ruthless person. He would definitely be here if he could, which means that he must be doing something important.
(In that case, I will leave him alone unless there is a chance that he might be disqualified for not showing up.)
No sooner than Varrow had that thought, however, Nick walked through the door of the section and took his seat in the left most chair, in the back row.
Everyone glanced at him when he arrived but said nothing. Ever since Nick's battle royal match, the students were unconsciously wary of him because he seemed to have a heartless nature about him. Patrice commented internally:
(He is not simple at all. His abilities and his ruthless disposition in battle situations don't match up with his age and background.)
Nick ignored the glances from the others and summoned his notes from his space band so that he could continue working on conceptualizing a new magic formation while he paid slight attention to the arena because he assumed that now that Purification Echo was working perfectly again, the competition would be resumed in short order. According to Nick's expectations, Ralph appeared floating above the grassy field twenty minutes later and announced:
"The last event of the competition is back on track. My apologies for the delay. Now, the final event as said before will be a series of one-on-one battles until every competitor except one is disqualified. Each match-up will be chosen at random and the only obvious rules are that the fighting is to be kept within and directly above this grassy field and if your opponent surrenders by voicing the intention or even thinking it seriously, the match will end immediately and they will be protected from any further harm. The man or woman left standing at the end of this final event will be the winner of the competition and they and their academy will be rewarded by the royal family for having done well."
After speaking, Ralph paused for three minutes to let the information sink in. During that time, discussions in the spectator stands erupted:
"Finally, the one-on-one battles begin. Whoever wins this event is likely to be the most promising rank 2 Apprentice Magician in the country."
"C'mon, that's a stretch. You're forgetting the rank 2 Magicians being trained by various private companies and other interests. These battles will at least be an indication of our national standard."
"Enough talk; begin the fighting!"
...
The students sitting together in the stands were very excited for the final event. There were various betting pools ready, where the stakes were high. Some students just wanted to know who among them was really the strongest:
"I say it's bright light William Rollins this time around."
"The guy that is always beaten by Patrice Suez? Not likely."
"Don't forget that there are two Nefaris participating in this competition. Lewis and Harvey are the goats."
"What about Great Overlord Academy's Kirst Elthirst? He is a member of the royal family and did you see his fight during the battle royal event. The guy's a beast."
"How about Nick Capitol? Isn't he probably just as likely to win?"
Most students went quiet when they heard that name. No one said it but the students did not really want Nick to win. Ever since he revealed his heartlessness by coldly murdering four students, the other students developed an unconscious dislike for him; Nick didn't seem humane in his intentions and that bothered them because they were afraid that one day, they would also suffer at his hands.
Pearl Wiles had no idea who was going to be the eventual winner; she mused:
(Nick's show of power in the battle royal event was great but he is still lacking. William, Kirst, Patrice, Victoria, the Nefaris and others come from families with long standing legacies which means that these people possess talents, methods and magic items that someone like Nick, who is an upstart, can't possibly compete with.)
Jessica, who was also sitting somewhere in the stands had a different opinion, however:
(Nick is strong. I grew as a Magician with the help of my family but Nick's ruthlessness with his opponents indicates that he has probably been alone for a long time. He and I started at Richter Order Academy at the same time and even though I like to think of him as a rival, I don't know if I can beat him even if I sacrificed my life. I think that Nick somehow has something that the others don't...purpose maybe.)
Jessica looked to her left side and asked her sister a question:
"Hey, Rebecca. Do you think that someone with a poor background like Nick can win this competition?"
Rebecca lightly stroked her long, blonde air and replied:
"Honestly, no. I saw a recording of Nick's last battle and something about it bothers me. It seems that he is unused to using many of this methods and so there are some gaps in his execution of them. If he really does have a poor background, then that observation coincides with it. In any case, we have to wait and see what the true results will be."
Jessica watched the grassy field with much expectation. After three minutes, Ralph announced the first match-up:
"Harvey Nefari and Patrice Suez. Come to the field, now."
Patrice got up from her seat in the back row and silently made her way to the field by walking through the section door, then along the corridor. Patrice and Harvey arrived onto the grassy field almost at the same time and they observed each other as they slowly moved closer to the center of the field.
When Patrice and Harvey were about twenty meters away from and opposite to each other, Ralph instructed:
"Begin the match!"
Ralph disappeared soon thereafter and Harvey smiled in response. He looked at Patrice and remarked:
"Why would they call a beautiful thing like you a freak?"
Patrice smiled back in response and uttered:
"It's because people don't like what they can't understand."
Patrice raised her left index finger and it immediately begun to glow a rich, purple color. Patrice pointed her glowing left index finger at the left side of the upper half of her head and cast a spell:
(Projecting Thoughts)
Harvey suddenly frowned as various memories that were not his appeared within his own mind and he found it difficult to put them out of focus using his own consciousness. He soon realized what these memories were:
(Are these Patrice Suez's memories?)
Harvey wore a confused expression as he viewed Patrice's memories like watching a strange movie.
**********************************************************
"Patrice, you're a freak!"
A boy that was no more than ten years old, that had short, black hair, white skin, dark eyes and wore a pair of blue, denim shorts along with a white, graphic t-shirt and a pair of blue, open-toed slippers, shouted that while pushing down a young girl that was about the same age.
The girl wore blue, denim overalls, a pink, graphic t-shirt and a pair of white sneakers; she had white skin, eerie, dark eyes and the long, black hair on her head was caught up in two pony-tails. The two children were currently situated within a garden that was filled with lush, green vegetation, consisting of bushes, trees, grass and several varieties of fragrant flowers.
The young girl fell to the ground, on her back, and the boy then ran off, soon disappearing from sight. The young girl silently laid on the ground for a while, a few tears escaping her eyes but she did not make a sound until she raised herself from the ground some minutes later, saying:
"I wonder what dinner will be."
The young girl then basically hopped her way out of the garden while wearing a pleasant smile as if she had not been crying moments earlier. Beside the garden, that was apparently gated around its perimeters, was a large mansion that was surrounded by mostly well-trimmed green grass as far as the eye could see.
The young girl hopped her way into the mansion, soon finding the kitchen, where a tall, white woman, who looked to be in her early thirties and that had long, flowing black hair, dark eyes and wore a long, frilled, red dress was preparing a meal over a hot stove.
When the woman heard the young girl come into the kitchen, she glanced in her direction and discreetly sneered before speaking to her in a soft but distant tone:
"Patrice, your father will be home soon, so please be prepared to greet him at the door when he arrives."
Patrice stopped hopping and replied to the woman:
"Mama, Ricky pushed me down again and called me a freak."
The woman turned her attention back to the stove and then rolled her eyes in response to Patrice's claim, saying:
"I am sure that Ricky did not mean to push you down. Stop being so sensitive."
Patrice stared blankly at the woman for a while and then replied:
"You're lying, mama. I can somehow feel it in here."
Patrice pointed at the upper left side of her head with her left finger. The woman turned around and glared at Patrice, thinking:
(What is wrong with this child? She somehow intuits people's emotions and thoughts and then has the guts to describe those feelings out loud; it is very unnerving and creepy. Peter says that it is probably a talent related to her birth mother but why should I believe that cheating bastard? The girl is just a devil.)
The woman spoke through gritted teeth while trying to control her emotions:
"Patrice, go...to...the...front...door...now."
Patrice spoke cheerfully:
"Wow mama, you are really angry for some reason, so I'll leave you alone."
Young Patrice turned to leave and hopped out of the kitchen but after a few hops, when she had already left the kitchen, she heard her mama speak:
"That damn little freak. Why did Peter bring that woman's child here so many years ago? He should have just thrown the bastard in the river."
Patrice stopped her hopping and stood in place with her back turned to the kitchen door. A few tears escaped her eyes while she maintained a blank expression but she made no sound until one minute later, when the tears abated and she sported a smile again while continuing to hop towards the front door.
By the time that she reached the large, wooden double doors at the front of the mansion, within the ground floor reception hall, a white, slim man, who was wearing a brown hat that covered his short, black hair along with his brown, three-piece suit, walked into the reception hall. When he saw Patrice, his dark eyes glistened and he smiled lightly, saying:
"There is my little Patrice. Come here and give your father a hug."
The man got down on his left knee and held his arms out, following which, Patrice hopped into the man's embrace, saying:
"Welcome home, papa."
The man hugged Patrice lovingly, then put her down and stood up straight. Patrice's mama came into the hall soon after and spoke with a forced smile:
"Peter, welcome home, darling. Dinner has already been prepared."
The man, who was apparently name Peter, looked around and then asked:
"Where is Ricky, Rhonda?"
The woman, who was apparently name Rhonda, replied with an uncertain tone:
"I am not sure. He disappeared after playing with Patrice."
Peter instructed:
"A certain guest will be having dinner with us and I would like the boy to be cleaned up and ready by then. He is a young man of the Suez family, after all."
Rhonda nodded her head and went away to look for Ricky. Peter then lowered himself towards Patrice and said:
"You know; your papa was able to convince your uncle to request that you attend one of the academies supported by the Spanish royal family in a few years' time. I suspect that you have spectacular magical talents and they cannot be wasted. The guest that I am hosting today is a friend of your uncle who has some pull with a certain academy so be on your best behavior."
Patrice sensed Peter's emotions somehow even though he tried to hide it with his smile and so she replied:
"Papa, you're really, really worried, aren't you? Don't worry, I will be on my best behavior."
Peter blankly stared at Patrice for a few seconds before looking at her dotingly, saying:
"You're something special, alright. To be able to intuit the emotions of a Regular Magician when you don't even have a mindscape yet is not a simple matter."
Patrice proceeded to jump up and down for a few seconds while asking:
"You're proud of me, right, papa?"
Peter knew that Patrice had intuited his emotions once again and he laughed heartily in response to her question and then replied:
"Yes. I am very proud of you. Let's go to the dinner table and wait for my guest to arrive."
Peter led Patrice using his left hand into the dining hall where there was a long, polished, wooden table that could accommodate up to ten people with room to spare. Peter sat on a chair situated at the head of the table while Patrice sat on the chair closest to his left side.
Peter then asked Patrice about how her day went and she spoke about it happily, leaving out the negative parts involving Ricky and Rhonda.
(Papa seems stressed; I don't want to worry him.)
About fifteen minutes later, Rhonda led Ricky, using her right hand, into the dining hall and Ricky was made to sit on the chair next to Patrice; Rhonda then sat at Peter's right side. Ricky then grumbled aloud:
"I don't want to sit next to this freak. She's always doing weird things like staring at bugs, reading books that I don't understand and guessing what I'm thinking and feeling. Papa, do something about her!"
Patrice was a little caught off-guard by Ricky's cruel words and so she looked down at her lap in sadness and embarrassment. Peter frowned in response and spoke sternly to Ricky:
"Boy, shut your mouth! What is the matter with you? What does it profit you to hurt your sister like this?"
Ricky shuddered in response to his father's tone and seeing Ricky's fright, Rhonda defended him:
"Darling, Ricky isn't wrong. Patrice is always reading my emotions; it is very improper and invasive. She should be disciplined more so that we are not disgraced."
Peter coldly glared at Rhonda in response to her words and squinted his eyes, saying:
"You are no Magician, Rhonda, and I have still been a loving husband to you all these years. That being said, I will not stand for you to insult my child no matter your reasons. If you say anything more against Patrice, I will immediately end your life. Do you understand?"
Rhonda was taken aback by Peter's hostility because in her mind, it was completely uncalled for. She simply did not understand why Peter would love this creepy and strange child. Based on her expression, Peter could guess Rhonda's thoughts but he did not expect her to understand his partiality for Patrice.
Peter decided to clear the air in order to move forward:
"Rhonda, you hate Patrice because she is special while you are only an ordinary woman, as well as the fact that I fathered her by another woman and I can understand that. However, it seems that you have poisoned my son's mind against his own sister and as far as I am concerned, that is harming my family, my legacy. Let me tell you, if I didn't still love you, I would have struck you down already."
Peter's tone was grave, which scared both Patrice and Ricky; they had never heard their father speak like this. Rhonda hatefully gritted her teeth but stood up to performed a bow of apology, saying:
"I am sorry Peter. I was foolish and it won't happen again."
Peter was not fooled or moved by Rhonda's shallow words but today was too important to ruin his already unstable mood over this matter, so Peter acted to shelve it for now:
"As long as you understand. Ricky, your sister is your family and although she may seem strange to you, she is a wonderful person all the same. We do not hate wonderful people."
Ricky did not really understand what Peter was saying but after glancing at his mother, who was still bowing, he softly replied:
"Papa, I was wrong. Forgive me."
Patrice blankly glanced at Ricky, then at Rhonda and spoke afterwards:
"They're both being deceitful."
Rhonda's body shuddered when she heard that and she glared at Patrice from the corner of her eyes; although Rhonda's actions were discreet, Peter still noticed. Ricky pursed his lips and slumped down in his chair, saying nothing. Peter sighed and spoke to Patrice:
"Patrice, I'll talk to you about this after dinner. Rhonda, my guest will no doubt be here soon. Go and prepare the food. Ricky, you just stay quiet."
Rhonda nodded her head and released her bow before slowly going off to the kitchen. Patrice muttered:
"I'm sorry that you hate me, mama."
Rhonda stopped walking for a second, then continued walking towards the kitchen and left the dining hall soon after. Peter creased his brows and said to Patrice:
"You have nothing to be sorry for; you are a child and her hating you is because of her own shortcomings."
Patrice and Ricky stayed silent in response to hearing that. Soon, both children saw their father get up from his chair and head towards the reception hall. He instructed them before leaving the room:
"My guest is here. You two, wait quietly until I return."
Peter left the room and Patrice and Ricky were left alone for the time being. Ricky looked at Patrice and said:
"I still think that you're a freak."
Patrice tried to maintain a light smile and replied:
"I know."
Soon, Rhonda came back to the dining hall with many dishes resting on two rolling metal trolleys. Rhonda then proceeded to silently unpack the trolleys and lined the table with large dishes and platters. After that, Rhonda took her seat at the right side of Peter's chair; she remained silent and her expression was distant.
About two minutes later, Peter walked into the dining hall along with a man who was wearing a pale-red magician's robe. The man had tanned, white skin, a high nose bridge, chiseled jawline, dark eyes, a head full of neatly trimmed, brown hair and he wore rings on all his fingers that were designed in various colors.
Peter and the man walked up to the table and Peter introduced him:
"Everyone, meet Liscelle Mormont. He is a very powerful Magician and a dear friend to my brother."
Liscelle greeted everyone present at the table:
"Hello, I knew that Peter had a beautiful family, but not this beautiful. Just your wife's splendid aura is blinding me."
Rhonda forced a smile and Peter chuckled while seating Liscelle at the end of the table, opposite to himself. Peter then sat in his own seat and had Rhonda help him share the food. Peter and Liscelle then proceeded to laugh and talk about recent events and their own plans for their families. Rhonda, Ricky and Patrice mostly said nothing other than when they needed to answer innocuous questions put forward by Liscelle.
After one and a half hours of this, Liscelle stood up to offer Peter and his family a toast while raising his glass cup filled with red wine:
"I am already great friends with your brother and I am sure that I will be great friends with you, Peter, and your family going forward."
Peter stood and raised his glass cup in response in order to return the toast. When Liscelle had finished his words, however, Patrice's brows creased intensely and she spoke to her father without thinking:
"Papa, he is lying. He actually wants to hurt us tonight and is waiting for an opportunity to do so."
Peter's expression froze when he heard that and Liscelle then blankly stared at Patrice when he realized that she had somehow read his thoughts. He remarked:
"So, your power is real. The Wisdom Freak talent is not a laughing matter; you were born to the wrong brother, girly. If not, you would not have to die tonight."
As soon as Liscelle said those words, Peter struck out with his left palm and the entire mansion was immediately filled with a bronze aura. The intensity of the magic power resulted in Patrice, Ricky and Rhonda falling unconscious. When Patrice woke up, she found herself surrounded by the ruins of their family's mansion. Her surroundings had orange-red flames scattered in many places. The flames had evidently ruined the garden beside the mansion and the grass that lined the estate.
Peter soon appeared while walking amidst the flames and he was bleeding heavily from burns and cuts all over his body. Blood was all over his face and his suit was mostly destroyed, only his pants remaining fairly intact. He walked up to Patrice while wearing an expression that indicated both his grief and hope, soon saying:
"Little Patrice, you actually saved my life tonight. Although I lost Rhonda and your brother, the situation can be salvaged so long as I have you. Ha, Wisdom Freak, that's probably a very awkward name for a talent when it comes to you but it is fitting. I'm sure that many people will come to love a freak like you; I certainly do, now more than ever."