Chapter 8

Standing patiently outside our home, my father, mother, siblings, and I waited for Zola and company to arrive. Noticing that the town looked almost abandoned, as only a few people were on the roadways, it seemed most people agreed with my opinion of Zola's entourage. Watching their carriage roll down the cobblestone road toward our residence, my father told us to be on our best behavior.

"As I told the three of you last night, please do not give your stepmother any problems during her stay. Keep your tone polite and respectful, and your comments to yourselves.", Balcus told us, assuming his first wife would be like a powder keg ready to blow, 'I am going to need several stiff drinks tonight…'

"Yes, father.", Nicks and I acknowledged.

"Do not tell me what to do.", Jenna spat, crossing her arms.

'I dodged a bullet by getting the hell out of this place…', I thought, hiding my grin behind a solid poker face.

Stopping the carriage a few feet from us, Balcus ran up to the door and opened it for them. Stepping out of the carriage with a scowl, Zola immediately set her eyes on Nicks and me. Bowing to her, as our father had asked us to, the two of us greeted her as instructed.

"Good Morning Stepmother, I hope you had a comfortable trip.", we said in unison, having practiced this many times before.

"It is good to see you are still properly teaching them etiquette, Balcus. There may still be hope for them to find a wife at the Academy, though their hideous faces will cause them plenty of trouble.", Zola laughed, insulting both of us without batting an eye, "You two may return to the shed where trash like you belong."

Lifting our heads to turn and leave, our stepbrother Rutart stepped out from the carriage and asked us to wait a moment. Begrudgingly doing as he asked, as Zola would blow a gasket if we disregarded him, he took a few steps toward us before asking us something.

"Rumor has it that one of you is a competent swordsman. Since I am rather skilled as well, I want to test my skills against both of you.", Rutart informed us, looking back at his mother, "Is that alright?"

"Of course dear, they might even learn something from you.", Zola said, with a proud smirk, "You go first."

Pointing at Nicks, my elder brother nervously stepped forward and received a wooden sword from Rutart. Attacking him the moment Nicks gripped the sword, my elder brother promptly received several blows to the head and body while Rutart laughed at him. Doing everything he could to block the onslaught, my parents stood there helpless to stop it.

Even though they were only two years apart in age, the difference in strength was enough for Nicks to be completely overwhelmed. Knocking the sword out of Nicks' hand, Rutart continued his attacks till Nicks blacked out. Glancing over at my mother, I could see blood dripping from her hands. Noticing that her fingernails had punctured her skin because of how hard she was clenching her fist, every fiber of her body wanted to beat the snot out of Rutart for hurting both my mother and older brother.

"Too easy!", Rutart said, placing his foot on Nicks throat, "Alright whatever your name is, you are next!"

Knowing he would try the same stunt with me, I used Telekinesis to pull the training sword to me. Surprised to see me use magic, Rutart immediately told me not to use it in this fight.

"I am just starting to learn magic so it would be cheating for you to use it!", he shouted, pointing his sword at me.

"Hmm, where did he learn magic Balcus? Are you secretly hiding money from me?", Zola inquired.

"Leon learned magic from the books in our family library, he is self-taught.", Balcus explained, trying to hide his proud smile, 'Throttle him, Leon!'

"Bet you feel real special that you learn magic all by yourself. Too bad you cannot use it against me now!", Rutart laughed, before charging forward at me, "Go!!"

Taking a deep breath, I let my body go limp for a moment before launching myself forward. Surprised by my sudden burst of speed, Rutart attempted to bash me in the head but I effortlessly sidestepped his attack. Waiting for the blade to get close to the ground, as he exaggerated his swing, I stomped on the weapon, grabbed the back of his head with my free hand, and slammed his face into my knee. Using Body Reinforcement Magic to harden my knee, I heard a satisfying crunching sound as I broke his nose.

"AHH!!!", he screamed, letting his sword go and backing away, "What did you do?!"

Watching blood pour from his nose, I did not hesitate to press the advantage as he had with Nicks. Flicking Rutart's sword to my free hand with my foot, I began unleashing a torrent of blows on him with the intent of fracturing or breaking as many bones as possible. Screaming for his mother to do something, as I broke his right forearm, Zola commanded me to stop just before I would have fractured his neck. Crumpling to the ground in a heap, Rutart began sobbing loudly while my mother did her damndest to hide the grin on her face.

"How dare you harm your eldest brother like that!", Zola howled at me, "Unlike you, he has a promising future as a high-ranking member of society. Just because you are jealous of him does not give you the right to beat him so brutally. You should have stopped after knocking his sword from his hand!!"

"He attacked Nicks without warning, disarmed him, and beat him till he was unconscious, where was your compassion then!", I shouted back, "Rutart is a cowardly boy, he got what he deserved!"

"Do not talk back to me!", Zola hissed.

"Kiss my ass, bitch!", I retorted, unable to suppress my anger any longer, "Rutart, if you ever lay your hands on Nicks again, I will personally cripple you for life. Just because you feel inferior to me does not grant you the right to take it out on him. As you just discovered, I am more than capable of defeating a novice like you. Now if we are done here, I will be on my way to be out of your hair for the duration of your visit."

Tossing the two wooden swords, I bowed my head to my parents, flipped off Zola, and promptly headed toward the dock to leave the island. Dumbfounded by my sudden backbone, Zola and Merce watched me depart without a word.

"Dear, I am going to take Nicks to his room.", Luce said, hurriedly running to her son's side, "I will join you in the study shortly."

Scooping him up, Mom quickly carried him to the shed.

—3rd Person POV—

Keeping her mouth shut till they were in the shed, Luce gently laid her eldest son on his makeshift bed and began checking him for injuries. Watching the bruising start to form all over his arms, back, head, and legs, she began to weep looking at her poor boy.

"I am sorry Nicks…", she whimpered, "I could do nothing to spare you from that devil. Please forgive your terrible mother."

"It is…okay…Mom…", Nicks told her, regaining consciousness, "You did what you had to protect us. If you had stepped in, it would have been Zola's servant beating Leon and me."

Groaning as he sat up in bed, Nicks glanced over at his brother's bed and noticed it was empty. While he knew Leon would be gone for a few days, Nicks was concerned that Rutart might have hurt Leon even worse. Looking at his mother, he inquired if Leon was alright.

"I know Rutart really hates him, is he…alive?", Nicks asked, hesitant about knowing the answer.

"Haha, he is fine.", Luce answered, happy to see that the two brothers deeply cared about one another, "Leon delivered a big helping of karma to Rutart, he messed him up worse than you are. While I am not certain of it, I think he broke Rutart's nose and several other bones for harming you. Moreover, he threatened to cripple him if he ever laid hands on you again."

Startled by this information, Nicks felt a mix of emotions come over him. Grateful that Leon avenged him, he also felt a little humiliated that his younger brother was protecting him like that. In his eyes, it was the older brother's job to defend his siblings, yet here he was being protected by Leon.

"Anyways Nicks, how are you feeling? Do you have any broken bones?", Luce asked him.

"No, just sore and numb in places.", he informed her.

"I will have our doctor check you out just to be safe.", Luce said, with a relieved smile, "Get some rest now, I will bring your lunch out to you in a little bit."

"Thanks, Mom.", Nicks replied, laying his head and closing his eyes.

While Luce was returning to their home, Zola was chewing her husband out over Leon's actions. Fuming with anger that her son was humiliated and that Leon showed her no respect, she demanded that he be shipped off to a monastery and disowned. Immediately shooting that down, as the Royal Family and Guilds would crucify him for doing so, Balcus asked her to please forgive Leon.

"It is normal for boys their age to be a little rebellious and roughhouse. Please forgive him for going overboard, he is not even six years old yet.", Balcus said, "Besides that, the Crown, Guilds, and Airship Workshops would immediately denounce any attempts to do so. Living in the capital, there is no way you have not heard about the waves he is creating."

"I am well aware…", Zola said, through clenched teeth, "The Capital Nobles are all talking about him and his ability to repair Lost Items. Not only that, the Adventurer's Guild seems to think he could become our next great powerhouse but I doubt that. Since I am getting some attention thanks to him…I suppose I can overlook this once."

Even though she said that Zola actually wanted to smother Leon in his sleep. Brutally beating and humiliating her son was unforgivable, but arguing any further would change nothing. As the only person in the Kingdom who could fix Lost Item Ships, Leon was untouchable by her. If Rutart had injured him, Rutart might have faced execution for harming the so-called Holfort Kingdom Prodigy.

"Moving on to more pressing matters…", Zola remarked, "How about we discuss why you only increased my funds by ten percent instead of the twenty I requested?"

"That…that was because the harbor was in dire need of a renovation!", Balcus blurted out.

"Ah yes, the famous harbor the Merchant's Guild is in a frenzy over.", Zola said, recalling hearing something about that, "I did notice that there have been many major improvements made to the harbor. All the changes have certainly moved this rural place closer to the capital's standard of living, you should increase the taxes accordingly."

"I…I will look into it.", Balcus promised, 'Increase the taxes!? The people barely have enough to put crumbs on the table. Much more of this and people will start selling their children to make ends meet. I do not want that weight on my shoulders, it is too much to bear.'

"By the way, who is the one that designed everything for you? I am certain that some of my friends will want similar renovations done in their territories.", Zola inquired.

Knowing the answer would not sit with her, Balcus was about to tell her when Luce walked in. Relieved to his wife, he attempted to switch topics to Nicks' condition but Zola interjected herself.

"Is there a reason you will not tell me who performed the renovation?" Zola asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Leon planned everything and did most of the work himself.", Luce answered, proud of her son's achievement.

Watching Zola's face contort uncomfortably, both knew she was about to lose it. Promptly excusing herself from the room, the couple listened to her begin cursing their son the moment the door closed.