10 Death At A Funeral, At A Funeral.

"When did…?" tried to ask Lord Brodie.

Ever since Lord Canning revealed the scrolls, Brodie had started sweating profusely. His fat neck and forehead needed more wiping than usual.

"When did I get the scrolls? Around the same time, you two started your little schemes," interrupted Canning, his smile unfading.

"How did you know we would go for them then?" asked Lord Ollie.

"Well, clearly you're the dumb one," Canning teased," you two weren't exactly arguing in whispers now were you?"

"I mean, the whole mansion knows who is getting what from your little deal," he added.

The two cousins would have bowed their heads in shame if they had any but they held their heads high, only developing frowns on their faces.

Annabeth was amused and a little surprised. Had the two of them been so focused on the argument that they didn't see Canning standing right next to them?

"You won't get away with this Canning! Those scrolls belong to…" Brodie tried to caution.

"Annabeth. These scrolls belong to Annabeth," interrupted Canning. He seemed to enjoy interrupting the fat little man.

"Then give them back to her!" Lord Ollie exclaimed. He was still mad at being a step behind to get the scrolls and also being called dumb by Canning. Canning's smile was getting on his nerves.

"So that you can snatch them from her? Do you think you're that hard to read? Try again bird brain" Canning rebuked.

Lord Ollie was about to lose it.

Brodie used his hand to stop his cousin by placing it on his chest. He was smiling as though he had thought of something.

"Oh? So you're going to rob an orphan now?" Lord Brodie deviously asked. Even a little shame was not something he could possibly be in possession of.

"Hahaha," Lord Canning laughed.

"I'm just holding these scrolls for her actually. If she wants them, she can have them back right now," Lord Canning said.

"Oi Annabeth, look at me," Lord Brodie turned to Annabeth and said. He bent his knees a little so that his face would be a little distance from hers.

Annabeth tried to look into his eyes, but one of them was crooked… she had no idea which on to look into. She decided to look at his forehead.

"I am your Uncle Brodie. This man is a deceiving and manipulative fox that will take everything from you. Take back your scrolls from him and come live with me. I promise to take better care of you, more than your own father did," Lord Brodie said, his fake smile betraying his words.

"I will get them later. Thank you for your concern," Annabeth politely responded.

"You don't understand Annabeth. He will make you live in the street and you won't eat any ice cream or anything. You won't even have any toys to play with. Do you want that Annabeth? Do you?" Lord Brodie added.

He figured Annabeth was still a child, after all, ice cream and toys meant the world to her.

"I do not like ice cream and I've never liked toys, "Annabeth replied with a bit of cunningness in her voice. It seemed Uncle Canning was a bad influence.

"Okay! That's enough! No one has time for these stupid games! Give me the scrolls Canning!" Lord Ollie had finally lost his patience.

"Lord Canning. They are not mine to give," Lord Canning replied, still with his annoying smile.

"Who cares about your stupid Lord title, you just recently attained it anyway. Give me those scrolls or I'll make sure you regret…" Lord Ollie tried to threaten. A hand had covered his mouth and stopped him from finishing his sentence. It was Lord Brodie's.

"Forgive him, Lord Canning," Brodie smiled uneasily, "he does not understand h…"

"You'll make me regret what exactly?" Canning inquired, still with that malicious smile of his, staring direct at Lord Ollie.

Ollie managed to remove the hand covering his mouth and said, "I'll make you regret ever being born you greedy dog! Who do you think you are huh?! You are nothing but a scumbag petty thief with a noble's title! Filthy mongrel!"

Lord Canning's expression finally got serious; the air felt a little colder but Lord Brodie had now started sweating buckets. Everyone was quiet; even those who were mourning had now been sitting quietly and watching this event unfold.

"First, you bring your little argument to my brother-in-law's funeral and disturb everyone. Then you try to rob my grieving niece a few hours after her father's passing of all she is entitled to, without even a care for her wellbeing," Lord Canning furious responded.

"To make matters worse, you threaten me, insult me and then try to compare me to the likes of yourself?" he added.

"Oh yeah? If you care so much about your brother-in-law then follow me outside so that I send you to him!" Ollie said, turning around and walking out of the mansion.

Lord Canning looked at Annabeth, smiled and then gestured to her to follow him. The entire group of mourners followed closely behind as though they had been invited by the gesture as well. It was not every day they could see a fight between nobles.

"Ollie you fool," was all Lord Brodie could mutter under his breath.

After a heavy sigh, he too followed the crowd outside.

*********

Outside the mansion, Lord Ollie was standing on the stone pavement in the very spacious front yard.

The ground was covered with grass everywhere except over the wide stone pavement that led all the way from the gate to a fountain and then to the entrance into the mansion. It was a little past midday so the sun was overhead and shining brightly.

Lord Ollie had already removed his outer robe and was folding his sleeves. It had been a while since he had beaten someone to a pulp so it seemed the world had forgotten who he was.

Most people looked at his skinny body and thought they could easily beat him, ignoring the fact that he was a talented Fire magic-user.

Both he and Brodie were in their 40s so they were at the stage of practicing Tier 7 magic. Canning, on the other hand, looked to be in his 30s so the best he could probably do was Tier 6 magic, he thought.

Tier 7 magic was also known as 'Intermediate Fusion magic' which allowed the caster to fuse a lot more elements than any caster below this Tier. Basic Fusion magic was learned at Tier 4 and would progress slowly until Tier 7. This meant that a Tier 6 magic-user was still using Basic Fusion magic for any fusions.

On the other, Tier 6 magic was given the name 'Intermediate Application / Specialization II' with Tier 3 magic being its basic. This stage allowed the user to have more advanced techniques in the element or elements they are accustomed to. This was why healers using Tier 6 magic were far much skilled than healers using Tier 5 magic. This also meant Tier 7 magic users could still use the techniques they learned at Tier 6 too, with more power though.

Thinking he was a Tier higher, Ollie was very confident he could win.

Soon, a crowd of people formed a fighting ring by standing next to each other in a wide circle. Lord Canning walked into the ring leaving Annabeth at its edge with the words that he will be back soon.

"Hope you said your goodbyes," teased Lord Ollie as soon as Canning was 10 steps away from him. He had seen Canning whisper something to Annabeth so he decided to ridicule him over it.

Canning was quiet, he just stood there looking at Ollie with a serious expression and his hands in his pockets. He did not even remove any clothing or fold his sleeves like his opponent.

"You should have remained this quiet earlier… It's too late for that now!" Lord Ollie shouted, conjuring fireballs in each palm.

Two spherical balls of flame were on his palms, making burning crackling sounds as though they were burning wood. He then fused a little bit of earth magic into them to turn them into balls of red-hot molten burning lava.

The temperature of the surrounding area rose drastically and the crowd stood steps backwards to avoid the heat. Neither the risen temperature nor the lava hurt Ollie since it was his own magic.

All this while, Canning had neither moved an inch nor changed his facial expression to one of panic, he just stood there looking at Ollie.

Lord Ollie had enough of seeing Canning trying to play it cool so he stretched his hands forward to throw the lava balls at his opponent. At this distance, even if Canning dodged or tried to teleport, Ollie was sure Canning would still take some damage.

The lava balls left his palms slightly and then returned just as quickly to his palms to burn his own hands before Ollie could even react. The fire grew intense as it spread to his chest and downwards to his legs.

Lord Ollie was screaming in excruciating pain but no one could save him.

Everyone was stunned and confused, all they could do was watch as after 30 seconds the horrific screaming turned silent. After two long minutes of burning, Lord Ollie was ash. An ordinary magic spell would never harm its own master, so what the hell just happened to Lord Ollie?

Canning turned around and started walking back to Annabeth. When he reached right in front of her, he squatted to get direct eye contact with her. He smiled and said in a calm voice,

"We were rudely interrupted earlier. The answer is a special kind of Tier 7 magic. Want to come and stay with me when this whole thing is over?"