The Inspection - 3

Zereth placed two of his fingers on Damon's wrist and Damon felt a wisp of unfamiliar mana enter his body. 

The wisp of mana had a purity that surprised Damon. It was as if every particle of mana that made it up had been charged and refined. 

It reminded his of the mana in the orb that been used to attack him, in that though the particles looked to be the same as normal mana particles, they were somehow denser and contained more energy.

Damon felt this wisp of mana roll through is body, attempting to assimilate into his mana veins. This was something that should be almost impossible, but something about this old man told Damon that he could do it.

For normal inspections, a reveal stone that had been refined specifically to sense mana was used. Through this tool, even within he same mana stat level, differences could be seen based on how much the reveal stone reacted when touched. 

What this man was doing was evidently much more thorough and would give more accurate results. Despite this, the longer Zereth inspected Damon's mana veins, the deeper the frown on his face grew.

Damon internally let out a sigh of relief. He had spent the past few days creating mana threads and assimilating them into his mana veins, temporarily holding them there. His hope was that whatever method of investigation was used; the property of intangible mana threads that made them difficult to detect would make it impossible to properly investigate his mana veins.

In the corner of the room, Kerron's eyes lit up at this as he laughed internally. The first Queen would be happy to hear that their plan had worked, and that the prince had ruined mana veins.

However, as more and more time passed, Zereth's frown turned to confusion. Eventually, he released Damon, collecting the wisp of mana back into himself.

He stood still for a few more minutes, stroking his short beard as he pondered what he had just seen until he eventually spoke.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure what to make of this." He said, talking to Kane and Ariel.

"What do you mean? Is something wrong?" Asked Ariel, fear on her face.

"Not quite. For some reason, I can't visualize his mana veins. I can feel that they are there, but they remain unreactive to my stimulation." Said Zereth.

This response cut through Kerron's glee and instead he became confused.

"Wha-what does that even mean? What does that mean for his future as a mage?" Asked Ariel.

Zereth pondered for a few more minutes before he spoke.

"Unfortunately, there is no way to measure his mana as of now. Even a reveal stone would be futile as they work through a lesser mechanism to achieve what I just tried. As far as I can see though, his mana veins seem to have some sort of property that rejects mana."

Zereth paused as he looked at Damon.

"I'm sorry child, but I won't be able to take you with me. Until you awaken, there is no way to measure if you are capable of being a mage or not." Said Zereth, his voice somber.

"Will he even be able to awaken?" The gruff voice of Beren cut through the silence in the room, voicing the worries of Damon's parents.

King Kane frowned as he turned to Beren, but Kerron chimed in to immediately smooth things over.

"My apologies for my deputy's rudeness your majesty. It's just that we are worried about our prince, it's a scary thought that his body rejects mana, because if his body is rejecting mana wouldn't that make it difficult for him to gather enough mana to awaken?"

Kane's gaze still settled on the two of them, but Zereth drew his attention.

"No, you misunderstand me. His mana veins have an odd reaction, but his body clearly has traces of mana, in fact, there are quite high concentrations of it through his bones and muscles. If he were to awaken, he would be a great warrior." Said Zereth.

Ariel gave a sigh of relief, but Zereth still looked disappointed.

"It is a shame child, with your intelligence and mana sensitivity, you had a legitimate chance to become the most accomplished mage this continent had ever seen." Said Zereth.

There was solemn silence in the room, but Damon seemed unperturbed.

"Father, is it true that you're the strongest in the world?" He asked.

Kane seemed taken aback at the unprovoked question but answered after some thought.

"I wouldn't call myself invincible – there are some mages out there that are tricky to deal with. But I am confident that there is no one alive who can truly defeat me." Said Kane.

Damon noticed that he had glanced at Zereth when he spoke about tricky opponents. Could Zereth be a Level 9 mage?

Damon nodded his head.

"Mister Zereth, how good is my father's mana sensitivity?" He asked.

"It is above average. He was not particularly gifted, but his other senses and reaction speed meant that even his level of mana sensitivity was enough for him to deal with almost anyone." Said Zereth.

Damon smiled a bright, wide smile.

"In that case, I just have to become a better warrior than father. Father is the strongest and he isn't a mage. If I did that, then with my mana sensitivity, no one would be able to stand up to me!" Damon declared.

"HAHAHAHA! Excellent! Excellent! You're truly my son". For the first time, Kane's blank expression broke, and he laughed out loud, his booming voice filling the study.

Ariel smiled as she watched the exchanged and some of Zereth's look of regret lifted.

Kerron, on the other hand, looked extremely troubled at the sight of the King showing a fondness for Damon.

"In that case, I will assist you." said Kane.

He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a black, metal plate, about the size of Damon's palm. On the plate, the crest of house Aristum was engraved in gold. 

"Take this my son. It is a mark of my will. When you get older, if there anything I can do to help you on your journey, you can use this to make a request of me." Said Kane.

Queen Ariel gasped in shock and brought her hands up to over her mouth. 

Kerron looked at the exchange with eyes that blazed with greed. A King's seal was an invaluable treasure, many Kings went their whole life without ever granting one as a boon.

"Thank you, father. Actually, there is one thing I want to request." Said Damon.

Kane raised his eyebrow at his son.

"There is no need to rush Damon, I'm sure you will be in a better position to use this gift properly when you are older." Said Kane.

Damn it! Thought Kerron. It would have been better for Damon to waste this gift as a child than to use it when he was older. This seal could prove to become an issue down the line.

Damon nodded at this father's words, then gave a cheeky smile.

"Father, you said that as a King, you must always act as a King, but you will still always be my father, right?" asked Damon.

"Those were indeed my words." Said Kane.

"In that, case, seeing as you gave me this reward as a King, can I ask for another reward from my Father?"

"Hahaha! Ah, you truly are my son. Tell me Damon, what do you want?" Kane laughed again.

"Well, you're the best swordsman in the world and I know that you're too busy to teach me and William yourself, but I think you're the best person to recommend a sword tutor for us!" Said Damon, a gleam in his eye.

William shot him a look of gratitude. Whoever the King sent would be an amazing teacher.

Damon already had someone in mind. Damon's father had a general in his repertoire that would retire from the front line in the next two years. If he could get that general as a sword master, both he and William would be able to progress by leaps and bounds. Not just that, but someone appointed by the King could not be interfered with by the first Queen.

His mind racing, Kerron seemed to realize the same thing. 

"A thousand pardon's your majesty!" Said Kerron, approaching Damon and the King with a low bow. 

He had a pained expression on his face. It was clear that he did not want to stick his neck out like this, but he could not let such a matter slip by him so easily.

"Speak." Said Kane, his deadpan expression back.

"It is wonderful for our prince to hold his father in such high regard – and rightfully so! However, the matter of a royal tutor falls under the jurisdiction of the government. I fear that breaking protocol could destabilize the Kingdom, especially now when we are at war and need the central government to be as robust as ever." Said Kerron.

Kane drew his lips into a tight line as he stared at Kerron, not speaking. 

Kerron trembled where he bowed. He knew that regardless of whether his words were accepted or not, there would be little to no repercussion for the King if he decided to kill Kerron here.

After a few second of deliberation, Kane turned to Damon, leaving Kerron bowing.

"You are still young my son, so I let's do this. Concentrate on growing for the next two years. I well send someone to you and William the year you turn five." Said Kane.

He looked up at Kerron.

"To my knowledge, there will be a review of royal tutors that year, as Richard will also be turning 10 and undergoing his awakening. I take it that there will be no issues with this." Said Kane.

Kerron quickly answered.

"Of course, your majesty, your judgement is wise as always. I will do my best to have William's current tutor prepare for a proper handover!" said Kerron.

Clearly, Kerron was not overly disappointed with this outcome. Two years was a lot of time to work on poaching William. Moreover, if it was after Richard's awakening, the first Queen's power would have further solidified. It wouldn't be too late to deal with Damon then.

"Thank you, father!" Said Damon, smiling brightly.

He was genuinely happy. Two years lined up perfectly with the timeline of his father's general leaving the front lines. 

Two years, and he could finally start learning the sword from proper basics.