The Apple Fell Far From the Tree

 In the Styles home, middle of the night, a large man wearing glasses is in his office finishing up paperwork.

 "Rough night." Crow sighs as he finishes the last of his paperwork. He glances at the corner of the room, between the bookshelves and the door. 

 "Did you succeed?" Crow asks. However, there doesn't seem to be anybody else in the room. 

 "Yes, Master," A voice came from the shadows of the room. A figure emerged, dressed in a black suit. He looked like a butler.

 "Give them here." Crow orders the man, who complies.

 "Of course, here is what actually happened yesterday." The butler informed Crow, handing him a few papers with reports written on them.

 Crow looks them over, reading them carefully. The papers he was just handed, tell him what happened between Grant and Michael yesterday. His face grows dark as he reads. When he finishes, he looks at the butler.

 "Tell me, is this true?" Crow's voice carries authority with it now, putting pressure on the butler.

 "Yes, Master. I looked into it myself." The butler replies quickly, not wanting to anger his master anymore. 

 "Make preparations, tomorrow Grant is coming with me to Michael's home. I want a summons for people to watch too." Crow tells the butler to start making preparations for tomorrow.

 "Of course, Master." The butler backs up and disappears into the shadows once more.

 Crow sighs again.

 "I have been sighing too much recently, I need a break. Tomorrow will be difficult too." Sighing once more, Crow finally leaves his study, going into his house for bed.

 When Michael wakes up in the morning, he is feeling great! His body feels like it has been invigorated. This must be the effect of cultivating!

 He decides to get out of bed and get ready for the day when suddenly, someone knocks on his door.

 "Michael, are you awake? I made breakfast for you!" Grace calls from outside his door.

 "Yeah, I'm awake! Just give me a moment, I'll be right down!" Michael calls back to his mother, stretching his body in the process. 

 Michael gets out of his bed and changes his clothes. After leaving his room, he heads to the only bathroom in the house. 

 After brushing his teeth, combing his hair, and getting ready, Michael heads into the kitchen. 

 "What took you so long? The food might be cold now!" Grace asks him playfully.

 "I was admiring my good looks." Michael throws back without a second of delay. They continue to banter for a bit, as Michael sits down to eat. His breakfast today was toast.

 He picks it up and eats it in a couple of bites. Compared to the meals they have had for the last two nights, this was not much. However, Michael knew that this was all they had right now.

 Michael knew that although she was trying, his mother was having a bit of difficulty making money. Moreover, they had exhausted all of their food supply for the last few meals they had.

 After finishing his food and giving his thanks to his mother, Michael plans to head out again. However, when he gets to the door, he has a premonition. 

 Michael has felt this way before too. It has helped him out of situations many times before. This time, it was telling him to stay home. So he decided that he would stay home today.

 "Mother, I'm staying home and cleaning today!" Michael yells to Grace who is in the bathroom, getting ready for work. 

 "That's fine!" She calls back at him.

 "Just do a bit of cleaning around the house!" She calls to him again. She walks out of the bathroom dressed for work.

 "I'll see you later. Love you." Michael kisses his mother on the cheek, wishing her well.

 "Love you too." She says before heading to the door to leave. Michael watches as she turns the doorknob to head outside. 

 As Grace opens the door, she sees an exceedingly large man standing there, about to knock. She lets out a little yelp, startling Michael.

 He rushes over to her to see what the problem is. And he sees the village chief standing at the door.

 "My you scared me, Mr. Styles. What can I do for you today?" Grace asks the man standing at the door, Crow. 

 "Hello, Ms. Farmer. Could I possibly invite you and your son out to talk? It has to do with Michael." Crow asks, his deep voice reaching all the way into the house.

 Michael walks forward towards them. His instincts are telling him to accept the offer to go outside.

 "I am Michael, Sir." Michael sticks his hand out for a handshake, as formally as possible. 

 Seeing this, Crow acknowledges that Michael at least has some manners. He reaches out to shake Michael's hand gripping it firmly before letting go. 

 "Might I ask that you two follow me?" Crow asks once again, waiting for an answer. Grace opens her mouth as if about to answer, but Michael beats her to the punch.

 "Of course." He said. He looks at his mother, nodding. She nods her head back, then looks at Crow.

 "Lead the way, Mr Styles." She gestures for him to lead them. 

 Crow nods once, before leading them out of their house and into the street. Michael hadn't noticed before, but there were a lot of people standing around the street in a semi-circle.

 Standing at the front of the crowd is Grant who, for some reason, looks very smug and happy with himself.

 Seeing this, Michael is able to guess what this might be about. However, why are there so many people here?

 "Now that everyone is here, let's get started," Crow says, looking at every person in turn. 

 "This boy here beside me, is Michael. He awakened a Gold grade tome during the recent awakening ceremony." Crow gestures at Michael.

 "And this is my son, Grant. Everybody knows these two, right?" Crow asks everyone, with his baritone voice booming to the crowd. 

 "What is going on?" Grace asks herself in confusion.

 "Yesterday," as Crow begins to start, Grant is restless.

 'Here it comes!' He thinks, excitedly.

 "My son decided to try to court a young lady named Alicia, who awakened a Gold grade talent at the same time as Michael. He was rejected." Hearing this, Grant is livid.

 However, this lasts for only a moment as he knew that this information would get out eventually. Besides, his father is getting to the part where he punishes Michael!

 Michael, after hearing what Crow had to say, had some realizations. Yesterday, Grant had said something about Alicia and how it was his Michael's fault.

 "My son decided to confront Michael, at the entrance to the village this same day. The reason?" Crow continues on talking to the crowd. Everybody is listening intently, including Grace.

 Grant hearing what his father is saying, felt his heart skip a beat. His father was here to punish Michael, so why was he revealing this? Grant knew something was up.

 "He did it in anger over Alicia's rejection! He blamed Michael for it and tried to have three men from the village beat him. He didn't even have the guts to face Michael head on alone!" Crow kept going revealing what actually happened to the people. 

 Grant felt his heart tighten. So did three men who were also in the crowd of people. Grant knew that his father was angry. He decided to slowly slip into the crowd as his father talked.

 "Luckily, Michael managed to scare my son and the men with him off by attacking them with a spell. Moreover, he even warned them before he did so!" Crow suddenly looks at Grant, who is trying to sneak away in the crowd of people.

 Everyone else turned to look as well, noticing what was happening. They tried to stop him from leaving by forming a wall with their bodies. It worked quite well.

 "Lastly, Michael is also the one he saved my son from the attack he himself had made. I invited you all here today to get the truth out, punish the guilty, and reward Michael." Everyone is awed by Crow. 

 Crow is a man with a reputation. He does not like corruption, and is always fair. He is the opposite of his son, who is spoiled and arrogant.

 "Michael, this is up to you now. What do you want? Punish Grant, or select a single item from my personal treasury?" Crow looks at Michael, giving the choice to him.

 Everyone is watching Michael, awaiting his answer. However, before he even gets a chance to speak, Grant interrupts.

 "You can't do this to me Father! I am your only son, and I will one day be the village chief!" Grant yells out, trying to get the people on his side.

 He doesn't realise that he only made his situation much worse. The people were already against him because they knew the truth of what had happened.

 "Grant, be quiet." Crows deep voice pierces all the murmuring of the people. His voice contains a trace of anger in it, and it seems to make the air heaver. 

 This is the effect of putting mana in your voice. 

 Grant decides to stop, and shuts his mouth after hearing his fathers voice. He drops to his knees, awaiting his sentence.

 "What is your answer, Michael?" Crow turns around once more, looking at Michael now.