Frostfell!

Frostfell was a magical place for most people, and a terrifying existence for all enemies, trying to siege this city would only end in bloodshed, and not for Steoteya. A city such as this, with its stalwart defenses and good trade routes, was very prosperous. The party quickly made their way into the city, normally they would have to pay a fee and show all their papers, but Morgana just showed the guards a badge, and they were all let in.

The badge had a specific magical aura, and when pushed up against a certain plaque, it would show a specific reaction. This was to prove the badge's authenticity. After entering the city, the entourage made their way toward a mansion in the depths of the inner city. Steoteya was a country which believed in both aristocracies as well as ability. The inner city was where the nobles lived, but not exclusively, if you had the power and necessary achievements, you could live in the inner city despite not being a noble. In most people's eyes, this was fair. Even though the nobles still had it better than the commoners in most cases, that was to be expected, if not, why would you want to be a noble? Nobles were nobles for a reason.

A noble title was something you got after meritious service toward your country, which could then be inherited by your offspring. Nobles also held a certain amount of responsibility and a great number of lives in their hands. If they were careless or reckless, then there would obviously be implications. They had different rights than commoners, but not to such a degree where they could do whatever they wanted.

The mansion was located in the very center of the inner city, only a few hundred meters away from the imperial palace. Its grandeur was like nothing Thufrat had ever seen before if you didn't count the imperial palace, but why would you, it was a palace, and this was a mansion, the difference was evident. The mansion was surrounded by its own walls made out of the finest of wood, namely Elderwood. Elderwood was highly sturdy, and after experiencing thousands of years in the world, its resistance to magic and mana had grown exponentially.

In the dead center, facing the street, were two dark-steel framed Elderwood gates. The gates were fairly big, about 3 meters in height and over 2 and a half meters in width. Two guards were stationed outside these gates, but upon seeing Morgana, they courteously bowed before opening the gates. Beyond these two gates was the front garden. Numerous servants walked around here, attending the bushes, cutting the grass, and watering the flowers. This garden was very beautiful, and it was one of the biggest points of pride Morgana's father had when it came to this mansion, it was their home after all, and he didn't want it to look shabby.

Even though that was his reason on the surface, deep in his heart, he did it for Morgana's mother. Morgana's mother had been one of the most beautiful women of Steoteya, and she had loved flowers and wildlife. Upon her tragic death, Morgana's father ordered his servants to make this garden one of the most beautiful in the entire country, in her loving memory. Morgana had grown very affectionate of this place, and every time she saw it, all she could think of was her loving mother. No matter how many times she saw this garden, holding back her tears had become a custom at this point.

Thufrat was very stunned by this garden, and he could feel the abundant amount of mana flowing around, interacting with his surroundings. After they laid eyes on the garden, the party continued into the mansion. Ark was still knocked out cold, and he was taken to a separate shed where he could rest in peace until he woke up from his slumber. Mana deficiency wasn't normally something dangerous. The worst part about mana deficiency was that it could cripple you for life. There was not a time limit on how long the sleep would last either, it was basically like going into a come, in some extreme cases, they never woke up.

Even though he wanted to believe that Ark would get well, Thufrat was worried nonetheless. After receiving his payment, Thufrat was offered a job in the mansion. This was mostly to tide him over until Ark woke up from his slumber, and the conditions were numerous, he was allowed to quit whenever he wanted, he got a place to sleep, three meals a day and a decent salary. All he had to do was be a sparring partner to the younger generation of the family.

This "family" so to speak of, was Morgana's family, the Windrunner family. Morgana's father was the head of the family, namely Arthur Windrunner. Arthur Windrunner was not a duke nor a royal, his existence was something which would be classed as something in the middle, namely an Archduke. There could only ever exist one Archduke at a time, which made Arthur a very influential and powerful man. Even though the Windrunner "family" was called a family, it was more like a clan.

With numerous mansion and thousands of servants and members, the Windrunner family was the most influential family in the entire country, second only to the imperial family, at least on the surface. Thufrat's job was to spar and teach some of the greenhorns of the family, to give them valuable experience and teaching about fighting in general, to prevent them from getting killed easily in the future. The Windrunner family had their own private army, which some of these greenhorns would likely join in the future. Even though they would get training at that time, laying a solid foundation would never hurt.

Like this, Thufrat started his new life of eating, training teenagers in fighting, tending to Ark and sleeping. Like this, two whole months quickly passed by...