Invitation to the Crystal Ceremony

Issac and Jason met halfway as Jason noticed that his grandfather was very serious.

"Jason, you are going to meet someone very important shortly so make sure that you remain the way you are. Don't try to please him too much." Issac said hurriedly.

After hearing the message, Jason started walking to the manor, curious as to what Issac meant.

'Who could be that important for grandpa to come right up to me and tell me to be my usual self?' He couldn't reach a conclusion by the time he reached the manor and entered inside.

Jason entered the living room as his eyes moved toward the sofa.

An unknown man with a neatly trimmed beard and salty white hair was seated on the sofa.

His gaze slowly moved towards Jason as he looked at him from head to toe.

He had been dressed in a simple shirt and trousers but the man seemed unimpressed by his looks.

It was expected considering the fact that he was wearing a shining gray suit atop a pink shirt. The man's hair was neatly combed back, and his gaze rested on Jason's face.

"Are you the one called Jason?" The man asked in a slow deep voice as Jason nodded.

"Who are you?" He asked back as the man narrowed his eyes a bit. His gaze shifted behind Jason as the boy turned back to see Issac standing behind him.

"I expected more from Michael's son but I guess I should have kept my expectations low considering the fact how the Syrward family lives." The man spoke without bothering to lower his voice as a vein popped in Issac's forehead.

"Everyone has a different way of living their life. We have our own and you have your own," He replied through gritted teeth before pausing and curling his lips a bit. "At least for the time being."

"Mhm, you are right. I guess you already know why his majesty sent me here?" The man asked while fixing the collar of his suit.

"Yes I know about it and I am not sending him there," Issac replied firmly as the man cocked an eyebrow.

"And you think I care? Unless he has a teacher and by that, I mean one who is qualified," The man replied, and as Issac opened his mouth to reply, he continued. "And no, Karna doesn't count as one no matter how much he helped the child."

Issac's mouth opened and closed without making any sound. He had no idea how the man managed to know about Karna teaching Jason because nothing traveled out of Duphia.

'Did a spy appear again?' Issac wondered curiously since he had nothing to reply to the man with.

"You are a very rude person, Brian," Issac muttered as the man scoffed and stared down at Jason.

"I will see you in a month child. If you are lucky or unlucky enough, you will end up under me." Brian said nonchalantly before turning his back on the two of them. He then walked out of the manor.

"Grandpa, why do I feel as though he just insulted both of us and left before we could even think of a comeback?"

"I feel the same Jason except that he really did insult us before moving out." Issac sighed as he sat down on the sofa, his eyes looking at Jason.

"I am sure you are itching to ask a question, but please wait for a few seconds. I need to come up with some retorts to shut Brian up the next time I see him."

Jason nodded and sat down opposite of Issac. It took his grandpa a few minutes to think of the retorts before he moved ahead and explained everything to Jason before he could ask anything.

"Brian came here to give you an invitation to the Crystal ceremony. It is a yearly event that takes place a week after the new year. All kids between ten to fifteen years of age are invited to it."

Issac's gaze then fell on a candy lying on the table in front of him. He raised his hand towards it and put it inside his mouth before continuing.

Crystal ceremony basically consists of kids fighting each other in front of an enormous crowd. You have to showcase your talent and have to battle using all of your abilities, hiding a few trump cards of course."

"So it's basically an all-out show-off competition." Jason summarized as Issac nodded before moving on.

"The goal of this ceremony is to get all the talented children in one place. All the guilds, sects, and other powerhouses of the kingdom would be there in hopes of getting disciples or students.

You are basically being asked to show off to get chosen by them." Issa revealed the truth.

"Can I decline them?" Jason asked immediately as Issac shook his head.

"Even if you only get a single offer, you have to take it and join it. This rule is only applied to nobles but it doesn't matter to most of them.

This rule only exists for the sake of politics since many of the children already get fixed positions inside the most prestigious guilds."

Jason and Issac sighed simultaneously as both of them were tired of such corruption.

"I am about to be targeted by a lot of such organizations and individuals, aren't I?"

"Well, you are one of the most famous children on the continent. The heads of the various organizations would be hungry to get you under their wing and use your powers." Issac replied truthfully as Jason took a deep breath.

"Nora would be coming along too, right?"

"Yes, he will."

"Then I will make sure that he enters a guild or gets a trustworthy master or something along those lines. I hate politics and pointless nobility games."

Jason had firsthand seen what politics could result in and how corrupted nobility lead to a corrupted kingdom.

Though he knew that there would be many who were against the idea, his goal was to find one such person for Nora.

"But what about you? Who will you choose?" Issac asked in a low tone as Jason smiled but didn't reply.

"Grandpa, why can't any of you or Uncle Karna teach me?" He instead asked a question that had been bugging him ever since he started his training with Karna.

"Well, the two generations of the Syrward family before you and Nora are under a curse that prevents them from teaching anyone anything more than the basics or they die.

As for Karna, he has bad blood with the king and they don't allow him to be an official teacher."

"So basically, all of you have annoyed the rulers of not only this kingdom but others around the world too." Jason finished as Issac nodded with a grin. "I guess now I understand why grandma taught me that way..."

Issac then stood up and bit the candy inside his mouth. A sweet and sour taste filled his mouth as he walked toward the door.

"Now that you have less than a month remaining till the ceremony starts, you have to practice a bit harder," Issac explained as the two of them stepped out in the light sun rays. "But before that, why don't we relax and nap a bit?"

"…" Jason sighed once again but despite that, he didn't argue. He and his grandpa took shelter below one of the trees in the garden and closed their eyes.

But before dozing off, a thought echoed inside Jason's mind.

'Will I be stuck in the middle of politics as a helpless child?'