Chương 206: Please Go

"It wasn't a dozen," was the first thing that came out of Damion's mouth in response. Other than correcting Helena's father on the number of his attackers, he was not sure how to respond to the man's apparent glee at him having killed Mage Blanche and the others. Sure, they deserved it, but he did not think it was cause for celebration. Ferdinand's reaction to Damion's confusion was to just laugh harder before he slapped him on the back. The elder man used the slap to grab Damion's should and spoke quietly to him.

"You seem like an okay sort. Shame about your family, although, if they had lived they would have been used against you just like we were against Helga." Anger flared in Damion's heart at Ferdinand's words. Was it good his family had died, to spare him the choice of protecting his family and following a path he knew was not right for him? Was the loss of his family an acceptable price to pay for his freedom?

The questions burned inside as he waged a short silent war within himself that ended when he realized Mage Teft knew how the nobles worked. She knew that by training him, steering him towards the academies, that it was likely for him to be forced into debt by the schools, tricked into submission or blackmailed into compliance, just as she had been. He had been warned, but only vaguely. What would Mage Teft have done if his family was still alive? Would she have let them blackmail him?

Would he have been forced into exile as she was? Damion did not have answers to any of these questions. He knew that what ifs were not helpful, but they still burned in his heart. Turning to Ferdinand Teft, Damion asked a question that had been weighing on his mind.

"Why didn't your family reconcile with Dean Teft?"

"You ask a hard question. The elders suffered the most, mine and Helga's parents, along with our aunts and uncles and grandparents. They saw the world they built crumble down and could not understand the weight of the choice Helga faced."

"So, she did have a kid with the Caplan guy."

"I have no idea if she did or didn't. She never confided in me or to anyone in the family."

"And when she reached A Rank, why didn't your family welcome her back?"

"Some would say pride. Some spite. The old suffered when things happened, but that suffering was passed down to the younger generations. A few like me are all who are left that were even alive when it all started."

"And what about now? Now that she is S Rank, would your family go to her and welcome her back?"

"You say that as if she wants to rejoin us. She abandoned us. We abandoned her. The whys don't matter anymore. After all this time, neither side is willing to forgive."

"And what about him?" Damion asked pointing to Aimery who was clinging to Ferdinand's leg.

"My grandson? What about him?"

"I'm sure you've had him tested by now. Do you want him following in your sister's footsteps?" The boy was not an S Rank affinity, and since he was too low in magic power to even be considered F Rank True Sight did not work on him, but Damion could sense the magic potential in him.

"The noble families bring in fresh blood to strengthen their families and keep their bloodlines diversified. Their methods can sometimes be a bit harsh, but it is for the betterment of magic as a whole. Besides, Aimery would be in a similar position to you," Ferdinand said as he jerked his head towards Elicia.

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"And you are okay with that?"

"It is the way things are."

"Wouldn't you rather make up with your sister and elevate your family to an elite noble house in one go? Then you don't have to consider giving up a great grandchild to…"

"Enough," Ferdinand said, raising a hand for Damion to stop.

"I like you, young man. But what is, is. I'm too old and too tired to try and change the world. You've shown a good deal of spunk and given us commoners a hero to smile at with you killing nobles with impunity. But we don't really expect you to change the world. Either you will become too obsessed with your own power to care about little folks anymore or you will die. Either to the nobles or to some creature in the wilds. It doesn't matter."

"The world is what we make it," Damion told the elder Teft.

"All it takes for injustice and evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing."

"Here are your cores," Helena said pushing a small box into Damion's hands and stacked the two artifacts he had chosen on top of the box.

"And here are the artifacts you wanted. We don't want trouble, please go." Damion pulled the box and the artifacts into his spatial artifact without a word. The Teft family was full of contradictions. They despised the nobles but were content to knuckle under. They cheered at the deaths of noble sons and daughters but refused to take action themselves. Damion did not find the answers he was looking for by coming here, but he could see why his mentor did not continue to try and reconcile with them.

Once he and Elicia had left the store and were back in the tram heading towards Silver Spire's side of the city he finally spoke to Elicia.

"Are all the non-noble families like that?"

"I don't exactly qualify as an expert in how commoner families behave."

"Things aren't like that in the Green Zones, at least not in Saung."

"Of course not. The Green and the Yellow Zones are where the noble families pull most of their new members from. Commoner families in the White Zones usually don't join noble families because they want to become noble themselves."

"If you have an A Rank in your family, it basically means your family qualifies to be considered noble right?"

"Yes."

"Then what about the families in Green and Yellow Zones that have A Ranks?"

"There are not as many of those as you might think," Elicia said.

"Most of the A Rankers in Green and Yellow Zones are appointees, like the leader of your Adventurer Association branch, Halsey, if I remember right. He works for the Adventurer Association and is stationed there; he probably doesn't consider the place home. Others are founders of guilds or members of Orders. The few families that do have A Rankers as members, are either branches of noble families or people that have left the White Zones to start their own noble family in a Green Zone."

Damion thought about Elicia's words and realized they were true. Outside the Association and Orders, there really were not any A Rankers in Saung, which probably also held true for other Green Zones.

"It's because of dungeons isn't it?" Damion guessed.

"Yes. Saung is lucky enough to have an A Rank Dungeon, but few Green Zones can boast of that. Most have B Rank dungeons at best. And Yellow Zones are usually lucky to have a C Rank at best. Without dungeons to attract and keep high Rankers in the Zone, they leave to find somewhere else so they can further their power."

"That is why the White Zones are so big. Why all the noble families stay together."

"More the labyrinths than the dungeons, but yes. The strong need ways to push themselves to grow stronger. It is either stay in the White Zone or head to the Red Zones, and high Rankers who have grown up in the relative safety of the White Zones, would rather have their freedoms curtailed than lose their lives in Red Zones."

"But you want me to join the Crimson Order."

"The Crimson Order patrols both Yellow and Red Zones. You wouldn't be assigned a Red Zone until you grow stronger or at the very least prove yourself capable."

"How reassuring," Damion muttered. When the tram they were on reached the stop closest to the bus drop off for Silver Spire, the pair headed over to wait for the next transport to the academy. While they waited Damion watched the skyline of Argentum. Air cars and ground cars flew through the sky. The city was always alive with activity, like a beehive. As fascinating as the city was he could not help but feel the White Zone was more of a grey zone.

The deceit and backstabbing happening just beneath the surface left everyone wanting better, but no one willing to make changes. Damion had only been at the academy for six months, but it felt like years had already passed. With the beast wave, the loss of his family, the murder attempt, even Elicia's presence, everything felt heavy on his shoulders. In another six months he would be graduating and heading out on his own.

As much as he looked forward to the freedom to make his own choices, he was not sure he would be ready.