Chapter 2762 The Weight of One Life (Part 2)
"I'm sorry, Mom, but I wanted to be the first to tell Dad before someone stole my thunder again." Erak glared at his sister, Eylen, with anger born out of sibling rivalry.
There were no great or lesser academies in the Blood Desert.
Everyone learned magic from a tender age along with reading, writing, and arithmetic. The lessons would stop only once one's core couldn't keep up with the increasingly difficult exercises and the child couldn't master chore magic further.
Only after someone reached twelve years of age could they be examined by the local Feather and deemed worthy of learning the real tiers of magic.
If the attitude, discipline, and mana core's growth rate of a youth were deemed satisfactory, the Feather would accept them as their apprentices and teach them magic personally.
In Balkor's case, since he was both the Feather and the father of the aspirant, he couldn't perform the test and had to summon another fake Awakened from a neighboring tribe to ensure that the judgment would be fair.
In the case the tribe was very big and there were too many potential fake mages during a single generation, Salaark would send over a suitable number of members of the Nest to assist the local Feather in teaching and protecting the youths.
Mages were the backbone of the Desert like of any other country and the Overlord had to avoid them getting wiped out in one fell swoop just because she had grouped them up in a single place.
Some considered the law forbidding to teach even tier one magic to kids below twelve years of age to be too harsh since people like Lith would have not emerged in such an environment.
Yet Salaark's will was uncontested and no one dared to speak against her decision except that maybe once a year when she allowed her Feathers to advance suggestions to improve the quality of life in the Desert.
Little did they know that the Overlord wasn't unreasonable, just very cunning.
The ban on tier one and above had been established with a precise goal in mind. Most oases were located above a powerful mana geyser that ensured a water spring and a bountiful harvest.
Salaark promoted the study of magic and forbade anything but tier zero magic because her purpose was to test which children had the potential to self-Awaken by studying chore magic while their mana cores were stimulated by the abundant flow of world energy.
Those who succeeded she took them under her wing and they would be taught magic by the members of her Nest, learning everything about fake, true, and Spirit Magic. Once their magical training was over, they would be given a choice.
Either to join the Overlord and help her to develop the Desert tribes or join the Council. One meant a life of duty, but also benefitting from Salaark's protection and future teachings.
The other brought a life of freedom but also no assistance from the Overlord and being thrown amid the political games of the Council and the dire need to find an Awakened mentor with everything that it would imply.
As for Balkor's children, Erak's deep red robe meant that he was a novitiate, the equivalent of a first year student in the White Griffon. Eylen's deep yellow robe, instead, marked her as a disciple, someone who had yet to master the basic three tiers of magic.
It was the equivalent of a third year student and if she passed it, she would gain the deep green robe of the apprentice mage and learn about specializations and tier four magic.
After that, came the last year with its deep cyan robe, the role of assistant mage, and tier five magic.
Scarlett was stunned to see Balkor's family. Not only were the kids completely untouched by the corruption that plagued their father but they also seemed to somehow counter it.
Their presence made the rot on the Blood Magus' figure recede, making him appear under Soul Vision as a very sick but still living man. The most shocking thing, however, was that she could hear their voices.
Both Erak and Eylen were happy, safe, and they didn't need the protection of the Guardian of the Children one bit. Their joy was a balm to Scarlett's psyche and lessened the strain from the constant but more distant calls for help.
"Wait. If he's the Feather and the Blood Magus, why are the children named after someone else?" Scarlett said, her voice filled with confusion.
On Mogar it was traditional to name children after the most successful member of the family for good luck.
"We named them after my wife, Eos." Balkor said after introducing the Sekhmet to his family. "She saved my life in more than one way. We chose their names hoping they would not end up like me since my magical talent brought me only misery."
Eos Balkor was a lovely woman in her mid-thirties, about 1.62 meters (5'2") tall, with shoulder-length dark brown hair and deep brown eyes that looked at Scarlett with suspicion.
She remembered that voice, but she couldn't put her finger on where and when she had heard it.
"Actually, we named them after me because my husband is way too modest." Eos gave the Sekhmet a slight bow, pulling the edges of her white linen dress that protected her from the Desert's heat and emphasized her bronze skin.
"He's a great Magus and an even better man. I wanted to name our son after him but he thought it would be a bad omen."
She sighed, looking at Balkor and glossing over years of quarrels over his inability to let go of the past.
Scarlett joined the family for lunch, during which the member of the tribe congratulated Erak and his parents.
<nulli>'How would things be different today if I had killed him years ago? Would have I created one more Balkor or even two?' The Sekhmet thought while studying the deep bond of the children with their father and reconsidering the weight of taking even a single life.
Her blonde hair and exotic appearance garnered her way more attention than she was used to and by the end of the meal, Scarlett was glad to not have taken an overly beautiful form like most Guardians did.
She assisted Balkor in his afternoon class with Eylen and the other two yellow robed apprentices and only once he gave them a series of learning spells that they had to try on their own did he Hushed himself and the Guardian from the rest of the class.
"I can see that you have many questions weighing on your mind." He said. "We can't undergo a complex subject like Void Magic if your concentration is all over the place. Ask what you want and I'll answer you within reason.
"The Overlord guaranteed for you but I have no obligation toward you aside from teaching."
"How did you become a true Awakened?" Scarlett felt her anger raising for his cocky attitude.
Yet after so many years what was left of the embers of her grudge had almost been put out after meeting Balkor in person so she easily ignored those feelings.
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