"You have achieved what I wanted you to achieve, son. And I am damn proud of you for that," the baron said casually, resting a hand on Theo’s shoulder.
Theo stared at his father, dumbstruck. Both Clara and Elias were just as surprised by the interaction. Clara’s eyes soon filled with tears, and she turned away, trying to control herself.
"It couldn’t have happened without you. I hope you know that," Theo said, a wide grin on his face. His lower lip trembled for a second as he felt a strange mix of shivers and proudness for himself at that one line for so reason.
The baron’s expression shifted. He shook his head, sadness in his eyes despite the faint smile on his face.
"All I did was push you close to death’s door. You would have reached it eventually anyway; there was no need to go to such extres," he said.
Theo didn’t know how to respond to that. An awkward silence lingered, stretching a little too long.
"Bahhh! This is exactly why I need Seraphina by my side," the baron muttered, rubbing the back of his head before taking a deep breath.
"Alright," he continued, "the goals I set for all of you are complete now. Whether you want to continue or not is up to the three of you."
Theo went silent for a mont as the realization sank in.
"Are you saying we are ready to go face the real world?" he finally asked.
"Aren’t you?" the baron asked instead of answering, then continued. "You have reached level 10, and you also have the strength to back it up. I might have been a little harsh throughout the journey, but I don’t know a single kid your age who would be able to beat you in a duel or with a beast."
"I am even certain that your mantis can easily cut down the body of a lesser dragon’s pup. And you have gained aura on top of that?" The baron grinned proudly, almost wildly. "Things are a lot different now, Theo."
Theo opened his mouth to speak, but the baron continued before he could begin.
"You already know there’s a fight coming, one that is beyond anything anyone can handle," he said. "The state of the entire world will co to an end if we don’t do sothing about it soon."
It didn’t seem like he wanted to stop.
"The outer devils have been preparing to destroy our ho for hundreds of years now... At first, their weapons were devastating, but they failed to work against our strongest beasts." His voice tightened as anger bubbled within him.
Theo had seen his father angry before, but never like this. It was as if the man carried so sort of PTSD about the situation.
"In their last attack... we lost a very powerful beast, one that belonged to one of the legendary tars from our history. With that beast gone... the chances of us being attacked again anyti soon are very likely," he said.
While Theo was still absorbing the information, both Clara’s and Elias’s breathing had already turned erratic.
"At this ti, it is you who will step forward. A prodigy kid from the rrick family, reaching level 10 and breaking through at the age of 11. Gaining your lesser sword aura at the sa age. Anyone who dares to question your strength, we will obliterate them."
"YOU WILL BE THE GREATEST ASSET IN SAVING OUR WORLD; I CAN ALREADY FEEL IT!"
The way the baron said it left Theo unsure of how to react.
All this ti, he had been growing selfishly, only to save himself and his family.
Now, the sa family were speaking of him being a key asset to winning this war... when he wasn’t even sure if he was ready yet.
It felt like a massive burden had dropped onto his shoulders, but when he looked into the baron’s hopeful and confident eyes, he just went silent.
’His trust in ...’ Theo thought. ’Isn’t it too ridiculous? Even I don’t trust myself this much, yet he is trying to show as so kind of a big shot for the upcoming wars...’
While Theo thought that, a grin slowly crept onto his face.
’But I can’t say I don’t like this... Another goal to achieve in the upcoming future.’
The amount of excitent surging through Theo was so intense that everyone in the camp felt a tingle in their spine; even the baron burst into roaring laughter.
Theo didn’t realize this, but his emotions were leaking from his body, sothing that was very rare to complete. Usually, such leaks ca out as bloodlust at extre levels, and when those emotions got out, their presence made everyone around feel unsettled and disoriented.
Theo nodded and forced himself to control his emotions from leaking out. He then looked at his two attendants, who were both lost in their own thoughts.
"Clara. Elias," he called out loud, snapping them out of their daze.
"Would you like to complete your level 10 breakthrough here or in the real world?" he asked.
"This... you can decide for us, young master. We are fine either way," Clara replied imdiately.
Elias, however, was more practical and on point with his stuff. "I don’t think staying here will help complete the requirents, young master. I have seen Clara’s requirents as well; both of ours are sowhat ti-consuming. It will be better if we complete them out in the real world."
He spoke with a thoughtful tone.
Theo nodded and glanced at Clara, instantly reading her eyes.
"Clara will leave to refine her accuracy and strengthen her beasts. Elias will leave for a journey to seek a new weapon and a beast that can use a sword..." Theo said aloud.
"I guess we have done a lot for a single gate, am I right, Father?" Theo added, turning toward the baron.
"It’s about ti we face the real world too, right?"
The baron nodded at his son’s words, but his gaze shifted to the attendants.
"For that, I need to hear both of your requirents. If we can complete even one of them right here, we will do that."
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