(A/N Big thanks to
Talvin_Shiji
Talvin
For the power stones, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)
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The next day arrived, and the group set off again. Orion and Erevan had slept in a huge tent after their dinner, with Isolde personally checking on Orion and taking care of his needs.
Orion's initial excitement had quickly turned to boredom; both father and son were now seated in silence with closed eyes, Orion was focused on absorbing more mana, and Erevan was in his thoughts…probably.
Another day passed like the first, and on the third day, they finally encountered something new.
A wall, and not just any wall, huge and insurmountable.
Orion looked outside, awed at the architecture; it easily surpassed 20 feet, casting a large shadow over them. For a six-year-old child, it seemed never-ending, both in width and height.
"Magnificent, isn't it? It's existed for more than five centuries now, yet it never fails to awe. It surrounds this whole forest, our mansion, and much more. Built to be the last line of defense for the Chronos family." Erevan said behind him.
"Does it have a name?" Orion asked?
"Aion's Ward," Erevan replied.
Orion raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the name. "It was built by Aion?"
"Yes, it was, according to the records, he foresaw the human domain being engulfed in war and thought to build this for the Chronos family. It's been centuries since then, yet all the wall does is separate the inner district from the outer," Erevan replied with a wry smile.
Orion turned to look at the masterpiece again, enamored.
'It definitely has to be magical, I can feel my mana reacting,' He thought.
'System, got anything to say about the wall?'
"...….."
'You really are speaking less and less. Did I offend you in any form?'
He'd noticed that the system only ever spoke or interacted with him when it concerned its growth.
"...….."
'Suit yourself,' He thought with resignation.
They soon arrived at the entrance of the passage between the wall, where a group of guards was assembled.
The lead guard escorting them quickly sorted the paperwork with the respective personnel before the group could be allowed passage.
Apparently, every movement was being recorded, especially during this period. Orion had overheard a discussion about the breaking in of an intruder between his parents and guessed the procedure had been improved.
After about five minutes of moving through the passage, they finally came out at the other end, showing how thick the wall actually was.
The same procedure at the other end, another five minutes later, they were in the outer district.
It was almost noon, so people were already moving around their homes and facilities, and the fancy carriage and group quickly drew attention.
This wasn't the first time most of them had seen this; they knew it was their patriarch. Some bowed, others greeted, and even some unruly ones tried to break through the guards to greet the patriarch.
Orion stared at it all with wide eyes. He was doing his best to capture the environment and the people. There were many, and the fact that they all were bearing the Chronos name was awe-inspiring and dangerous.
As a medical expert from another world, he knew the dangers of inbreeding and how it could lead to extinction, but he reminded himself that the family had existed for centuries and they numbered in the thousands. Whether that was enough to cancel out the risk, he wasn't sure, but he'd shelf that in his memory for another day.
He noticed something else that helped ease his worry a little: "Not everyone has silver hair?"
Erevan heard his son, "No, not all of us do. Marriages outside the family are not uncommon," he replied.
'I can already sense the prejudice that would be against them, even I couldn't escape the thought of seeing them as low-born,' Orion thought, another thing to note for the future.
It took another two days to get to the border of the entire Chronos estate, where they were met with even stricter regulations; even the patriarch's entourage wasn't exempt.
They eventually got out of the estate to the dukedom. The Chronos estate was in a rather secluded region of the dukedom; although they were in charge of the dukedom, they had vassals and branches that helped in managing such a large territory, and as such had the luxury to be semi-isolated.
It would take a while before they came across any settlement. Orion had never seen a map of the dukedom, so he had no idea what city they would get to next.
He also noticed that as they got out of the estate, everyone's stance had changed; the guards were subtly more active, and even Erevan became less relaxed.
Orion was intrigued. For his father to be the patriarch and duke, he had to be very powerful; he had no idea how powerful, but it had to be up there. For even him to be even a little wary was strange.
And sure enough, "I'm sure you've noticed our difference, and I'm sure you can tell why," Erevan said to his son.
"You are wary despite your strength?" Orion questioned.
"Strength means nothing if you can't put it to use, and this world would find a way to render your strength useless. No matter how powerful we get, we aren't gods, we are very killable, we're flesh after all." He cautioned.
The assumption that overwhelming strength would render all threats useless is the very beginning of a fall. And the Chronos never fall!" Erevan said with a serious face to his son.
'We aren't gods, I guess I really needed to hear that.' Orion fell into deep thought after listening to his father's words.
The thought of gaining power he could never have on earth had changed his mindset unconsciously; it seemed a reality check was good every now and then, even in a fantasy world.
Erevan watched his son and was satisfied with his thinking.
"We'll use a transfer platform to the Ivory family when we get to the next city," Erevan said, snapping Orion out of his thoughts.
Orion heard this and looked at his father with a baffled gaze. He had read about a transfer platform, they were found in major cities and was used to ease transportation.
Erevan had mentioned taking weeks to get to their destination, but Orion had thought they weren't going to use these platforms.
He was mature enough to think Erevan wanted to use the journey as a lesson for him.
Erevan saw this and explained. "We do not have teleportation platforms in the estate; it's banned. The only way out is by foot or air, in our case, 'foot'. It takes two weeks to get to the nearest major city."
"Two weeks!" Orion exclaimed.
Weren't they overly paranoid, two weeks' distance, no transfer platform, were they afraid of a raid or something? All these thoughts passed through Orion's head as he looked at his father with a strange gaze.
Erevan saw this and chuckled, "You have a lot to learn, dear son, but worry not. This world will teach you, all you have to do is survive." Erevan said with a grin.
And so they continued their journey, with Orion asking questions and Erevan lecturing him; it seemed Erevan had succeeded in making it a father-son bonding time.
On the third day, Orion noticed something had changed. He couldn't put his hand on it or tell what changed, but he knew something was different.
He quickly checked their surrounding. It was late evening, and they were on a path through the grasslands; nothing seemed off.
Erevan saw his son checking around and smiled, 'Impressive.' He thought.
Orion checked and waited, yet nothing. He considered telling his father, yet did otherwise. If something was wrong, Erevan would definitely be the first to know, and if he hadn't done anything, who was he to worry, and so he sat back down, still tense and alert.
An hour later, he heard something that sent a shiver down his spine.
A howl, not just any howl, a howl that brought dread. He'd had the opportunity to hear different animals howl in his past life, even wolves.
Yet, none of them sounded like this; this was no animal, it was feral and bestial. He'd read enough to know these were monsters, though he had prepared his mindset on eventually encountering them; preparation and actuality were two very separate things.
He was scared, from a single howl, pathetic, yeah, but it didn't change the fear he felt.
He looked outside, hoping he had heard wrong, hoping whatever that howl was, it was a false alarm. Deep down, he was disgusted with his fear, but his heart didn't care; it hammered in his chest.
And then he saw them, not just one, a pack. A pack of deadly beings, they looked like wolves, but bigger, and if you've seen wolves, you'd know they were huge; these were even bigger.
They ran with surprising speed for their sizes, like missiles with fangs, and they were coming.