Chương 145: Book 3 Chapter 23 - Defending The Estate

Kiara returned late that night to the guesthouse, to find that Jaden had successfully advanced to tier 4. She was both surprised and elated! This was something he had been working towards for so long. Victor's tests had apparently given him enough information that he'd had Jaden try one more breakthrough attempt right at the end, assisted by some expensive alchemical mixtures and spiritual treasures.

Victor had confirmed his theory that Jaden was on a spiritual precipice, teetering between being stuck at tier 3 and being able to advance to tier 4. He wasn't sure how long it would take for Jaden's spirit to grow enough to complete that transition on its own, or if it ever would, but he'd ascertained that the breakthrough was definitely possible.

During that final attempt, he said he had followed along as best he could, nudging Jaden's mind in a new direction at the end, seeking for a missing piece somewhere deep in his soul. Jaden, for his part, had said that nudge had been the crucial element he'd been missing. Something about the process he underwent afterward felt intuitive, like he knew what needed to happen, even though he had never been through it before.

He had to manually complete the process in a way that Victor implied would normally happen automatically for most mages breaking through to tier 4. After breaking through, Jaden's aura had landed with gusto, and he spent the next few days cooped up in that guest house, trying to wrangle it under control. He didn't want it to affect the servants and other morals around him, and sequestered himself until he could keep it under wraps without any issues.

Kiara and Zoey both felt his aura on full blast before he got it under control, and it felt like a similar strength as Ugor's had been. Victor said that it would get stronger the more Jaden worked on it, and as he spent time building up his strength as a tier 4. Life at the estate after that continued much the same as it had before she left for Lakeshire. Zoey stayed in Easton temporarily until Jaden got a handle on controlling his aura, after which they switched back.

Jaden started courting a girl in Easton, and wanted to remain there for now, even after his advancement. Dustin increased his pay to match what a tier 4 should be earning, plus some, which had him living quite well in the smaller city. Kiara's parents had also grown accustomed to having him around, and relied on him as a deterrent from any lingering aggression from noble houses that had been rubbed the wrong way during the turmoil in the city.

Having him there gave Kiara peace of mind, knowing that her parents were well protected in her absence. Her mom, Gentry, had eventually broken through to tier 2, and her dad was still working toward his tier 3 advancement. He felt he would get there eventually, but the going was slow. Gentry admitted after racing tier 2 that she didn't think she'd ever reach tier 3. Kiara still warped to Easton weekly to see them, as well as to give them a chance to report back on how things were going in Easton.

Dustin came along every other time, trusting that they had a solid handle on things now, and needed less of his guidance. Zoey worked on strengthening her mana channels, still building up to her own tier 4 breakthrough, which Victor estimated would take her a while yet. Yeager was working on developing his first concept, and received tips from Zoey, Jaden, and even Victor himself. Victor came by once every week or two to check on the enchantments he'd put on the estate walls and gate.

During his visits, he often chatted with the younger mages, answering their questions and giving them advice. Ben and Lily, the two new retainers that had come back with them from Lakeshire, stayed in Portish, getting used to the rhythm of their new lives. Dustin got some real steam behind their business ventures in Portish, and started building deeper relationships with the travelling merchants who passed through the city.

Their products, branded with the House Yountal name and logo, were selling well all over the merchants' trade routes, something Dustin was quite proud of. Kiara enrolled in a spear fighting class in Portish. She didn't intend on mastering it to the same level as she had the sword, but she wanted to learn the basic techniques and forms, so as to better counter them when confronted with spear wielders. This was a suggestion Handel had given her a few months ago.

Now that she was back from Lakeshire, she had gone to see Handel, and they'd begin sparring again, once each week. He had placed second in the Eshelan single-sword sword tournament this year, which was a great achievement for him. He told Kiara all about it after seeing her again for the first time, and made her promise that she would participate in next year's tournament. During their weekly spars, they would spend an hour doing round after round, and Kiara found herself winning seven times out of ten, now.

She had officially eclipsed Handel in skill, and neither of them quite knew how to feel about that. Their sparring sessions were equally beneficial to them both, though, as they were near enough to each other in skill to make it challenging. In her spear class, she found that her general knowledge of fighting and positioning carried over well from the sword.

She had to grow accustomed to the longer distance that a spear allowed, as well as the unique movement patterns required for the new weapon type, but after a few weeks, she began picking it up rather quickly. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. After two months of regular attendance, she was one of the best in her spear fighting class.

It was the equivalent of the beginner's class at Handel's Sword Academy, so she wasn't going to be a spear master anytime soon, but she had learned enough to know how best to engage a spear wilder in the future. Next she hired an instructor to teach her about fighting with a mace. The weapon type wasn't as popular as spears and swords, so she couldn't find a generic class for it, but she did find someone willing to tutor her in what they knew.

Two months after returning from Lakeshire, just when she had started to forget all about the Silver Serpent Clan, they staged another attack on their estate in Portish. It was the middle of the day, and a loud explosion drew Kiara's attention from where she was practicing her mace lessons with her tutor. Smoke billowed from the small guardhouse near the gates, where the guards on gate duty for the day stayed out of the sun and the weather.

Kiara's tutor jumped in fright at the sound of the explosion, halting the lesson he had been giving on proper hand placement based on the length of the mace. They'd been practicing with maces of a few different lengths lately, some of which required two hands to wield properly. Kiara jumped immediately into action, sprinting for the gate. Her acceleration was so fast that the ground cracked and sank a few inches underneath her initial steps. She left her tutor standing there slack-jawed.

They practiced on the estate training grounds, a few hundred yards from the gate. Within seconds, she was at the gate, a sword in both hands. The guardhouse was a smoking wreck, with rubble strewn all about. Some spell had torn the place apart. Kiara saw the bodies of two of her guards lying on the ground. Their broken and twisted forms told her they were dead. A group of four mages stood in the gate entrance, startled at the immediacy of her response and the speed of her approach.

They grouped up in formation, ready to intercept her. The two in front, a man and a woman, appeared to be close-range fighters, both wielding spears. The two in the back had mana streaming from their hands, already forming mana constructs to blast her with. All four of them proudly wore the lapel pin of the Silver Serpent Clan, publicly announcing their allegiance. Three of them were tier 3, and the fourth, one of the long-range mages, was a tier 4.

His aura pressed down on Kiara as she got in range, reducing her stats by about a third. Even with her reduced Strength from the tier 4's aura, she would have been faster than any of them if not for the fact that the two fighters were channeling mana through their bodies, which helped increase their own strength and speed. Long range mage types tended to use their mana to blast their opponents with spells, trying to wear them down from a distance. That had been Kane's approach in their duel.

[Personal Spell Negation] effectively countered that approach for her, meaning only the two close-range fighters would give her any trouble here. If the tier 4's aura affected them all the same way, she likely would have had them all beat on speed and strength, but as it was, she fell back on her superior training and skill to parry their first few strikes. Her spear training lent her a helping hand as she anticipated the attack patterns from both warriors.

She planned to slip in between them and get inside their guard where their spears would be less effective, but fighting two opponents who were both faster than she was kept her on her back foot. They pushed her back, gaining confidence as she lost ground. Her house retainers had also heard the racket, and appeared moments later. Zoey, Yeager, Ben, and Lily, Kiara's four tier 3s in Portish, all arrived first, instantly turning the tide of the battle as they rained down spells on the clan members.

Realizing they were outgunned and outmatched now, the four attackers made a hasty retreat, throwing up obstacles and shields to cover their backs. Kiara ran headfirst through them, but Zoey and the others had a harder time following. Soon, she had caught up to the group, but on her own she couldn't get an edge against them. She slowed as they finally pulled away. Chasing them too far would be pointless, since she couldn't really fight the group without any backup.

Zoey and the others caught up to her and watched the backs of the fleeing clan members. Soon, the other house retainers appeared as well, swarming around the estate gates. Kiara and the others made their way back to the guardhouse, where the two guards on duty had been killed in the blast. Jorge and Klyde, both good men, both with families and young kids. Kiara's mind clouded with anger at the sudden attack and needless killing.

That night she held a council meeting with Dustin, Janice, and all of the tier 3 retainers at the Portish estate. Realizing this could spill over into Easton, she also stepped through the warp gate and brought her parents back for the meeting. She left Jaden in Easton to protect the estate there during the meeting, and promised to fill him in later.

Those that hadn't seen the warp gates yet were a bit surprised when Ron and Gentry, the house retainers from Easton, showed up, but none of them said anything about it or asked any questions. Kiara silently thanked them, then started up the meeting. She gave a brief overview of the attack earlier that day, then opened it up for thoughts and ideas. Dustin started things off.

"Both Jorge and Klyde lived in Portish, off-site. I'll reach out to their families to break the news, and offer financial assistance so they don't go without." Kiara liked that idea. Janice raised her hand.

"I'm sure most everyone here has seen the enchantments on the walls and gate now." She paused and eyed Ron and Gentry, unsure if they knew about the enchantments or not.

"At any rate, should we start closing the gate throughout the day? That way we'll at least get a heads up if another attack happens." Kiara didn't love the idea, it felt too much like living in fear, but she also didn't have any better ideas.

"Hmm," she said out loud, "it's not a bad idea. I'm nervous about the safety of our estate in Easton. Jaden is the only mage there capable of fighting at the level of the attack today, and by himself he would likely be quickly overwhelmed."

"With the protection our wall enchantments provide here, we could spare another mage or two for the time being," Janice offered, looking around at the four tier 3s in the room. Kiara nodded in agreement. They could even bring Stellen down from Lakeshire if needed, although that would mean telling him about the warp gates. Maybe if things got desperate.

"Ben, Lily, how would you feel about being stationed in Easton temporarily? Just until we get this worked out." They both shrugged and nodded.

"Great. That'll give you a chance to see our other estate and meet Jaden. You'll be working under Ron and Gentry here," she said, gesturing to her parents.

"They run the estate over in Easton."