"I am deeply disappointed..." Mr. Marvin Arcorys said after hearing the story from Percival. "The first ti you boys fight, and it’s over a woman?"
Both Percival and Ethan had their faces turned to opposite sides as if trying to hide their sha.
They were now in his private study. Both of them stood before him, looking smudged with dirt, while he remained seated on a cushioned chair, watching them with that unmistakable look of disappointnt.
"To be fair, Father, it’s the most common reason why boys fight," Hayley, who still held Phoebe by the hand, said in an amused tone.
Marvin glanced at her with an annoyed glare and said, "You too, young lady. You saw them tearing up my courtyard and let them continue, then told the entire house not to interfere either."
Hayley still had an amused expression on her face until it went sour at what Marvin said next.
"I’ll be taking the repair costs out of both your allowances."
"What? Father, that’s not fair..." Hayley groaned.
Percival just gritted his teeth in annoyance but said nothing.
That was when Ethan chipped in. "If we’re being honest, my magic caused most of the damage, so let handle the repairs. You don’t have to take it off their allowances."
Marvin turned toward him and said, "Ethan, that won’t happen. You’re our guest. But don’t think there’s no punishnt in it for you either."
He paused, then added, "Since you ca here with the intention to settle this, you’re not to leave my residence until it’s fixed."
Ethan offered no words, only exhaling quietly.
Then Phoebe randomly chipped in. "Father, big brother has opened his ri... ri-doo..."
She looked flustered, trying to pronounce the last word, until Hayley looked toward her kindly and said, "It’s ridian, Phoebe."
Marvin glanced at her with surprise, then turned back to Percival, who currently wondered who the hell had asked the five-year-old to speak.
"You opened another? The fourth?" he asked, genuinely curious.
Percival nodded.
Ethan stared at them, trying to understand the full scope of the conversation.
"When?" Marvin asked, now looking mildly excited.
Percival exhaled. "Soti today."
"Well, why did no one lead with that? I’m impressed, Percival. And for that, I’ll be taking less from your allowance and more from your sister’s."
"That absolutely makes no sense, Father," Hayley said with a distraught expression, extending both her hands out in protest.
"As my firstborn, you should have known better and stopped them, but you did not. So your punishnt is whatever I say it is, and at my own whim," Marvin replied firmly.
Hayley quickly added with a sly grin, "Then I guess you’ll be pleased to know that Percival used Cannon style right after to attack Ethan."
"What?!" Marvin exclaid as he turned sharply toward Percival. "Were you trying to kill Ethan?"
"Father, it was the most basic one!" Percival tried to defend himself, then turned toward his sister and exclaid, "Hayley, what the hell?!" He threw both arms up in disbelief.
"It’s fine, Mr. Marvin. No harm ca to ," Ethan tried to defend him.
"Because he used the basic form. It could have been worse," Marvin said, then turned back toward Percival. "You broke one of the house rules. We do not use the family’s technique unless our lives truly depend on it."
Percival was silent and could not et his mildly annoyed father’s gaze.
"I will touch nothing of Hayley’s allowance. Just yours. You will also receive no allowance this month or the next," Marvin decided.
Percival threw his hands up in exasperation and turned toward Hayley. "I hope you’re happy now?"
Hayley shrugged. "Sorry, Perc. I did what I had to do."
Marvin sighed from exhaustion and said, "Everyone except Ethan, please leave."
Despite the tension in the room, his children all bowed respectfully and left.
Unfortunately, nothing in the conversation could directly explain to Ethan the most important thing in regards to the warrior class: ridians.
For warrior class awakeners, ridians were the points in the body that limited its full potential. Therefore, by opening more of the ridians in your body, you would gain more speed and power to accomplish certain feats, all of which were beyond regular human capabilities.
Talent level, of course, determined just how many ridians a warrior class awakener could possibly open.
Percival, as one with A-level talent, could potentially open up to five ridians at his peak. And each new ridian opened caused a significant difference in the body of the warrior compared to the last one.
Certain warrior class skills were also dependent on how many ridians were already opened. One such example was the Arcorys family’s Cannon Style technique, which needed at least four ridians opened.
The whole thing about ridians was also the fundantal reason why Ethan could not compete in a physical exchange against Percival.
A dragon hatchling was, unfortunately, still a dragon hatchling, with no real strength or speed that could compare to a warrior-class werewolf with multiple ridians opened.
If perhaps this battle had happened a week ago, then maybe Ethan might have been able to exchange punches on almost equal terms with Amplification involved.
But not now, when Percival had significantly grown so far beyond that point.
-
Now it was just Ethan and Mr. Marvin in the room.
The middle-aged man sighed, stood from his cushioned seat, and walked all the way to his chair behind a large desk, then gestured to Ethan to co forward.
When Ethan got close, Marvin heaved a sigh and said, "Ethan, I’m sorry about my boy. But you know how he is. You know him better than anyone."
"Yeah," Ethan said with a smile.
"Please, take a seat," Marvin gestured to the chair in front of the desk, and Ethan sat down.
"So I asked you to stay because I was going to ask, when did you remove the restrictions your father placed on you?"
Ethan was slightly taken aback.
Marvin leaned back in his chair and said, "Co on now. I saw the transformation. My children and the others may not know what it is, but I know what dragons look like when they are not fully transford."
Ethan sighed and leaned back. "I thought my father kept the whole restriction thing a secret."
"Oh, he did. He really did," Marvin said, then added, "But your parents ca into this country as strangers, and I was their first friend. In fact, I was the one who told Nathan about Jenner."
Ethan’s eyes widened at that realization. Then he made a face and said, "You advised them to place a restriction on ? Why?"
"Oh, of course not. If anything, I advised them not to," Marvin then sighed and shook his head.
"But Nathan did not want to leave anything to chance, so I suggested the best person I knew who could give him a solution. The Hemilton matriarch."
"I see," Ethan took a breath in. "Well, to answer you, Mr. Marvin, the restrictions beca undone about a week ago."
Marvin nodded and said, "I won’t ask any further questions about how it all beca possible. I think you’re still safe here, but I ask you to remain careful."
Ethan nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Marvin."
Marvin nodded back with a smile, "You may go."
Ethan stood and was just about to leave when Marvin quickly added, "I know I asked you not to leave, and I can’t really stop you. But please... fix things with my boy. You’re the only real friend he has, and the closest thing to a brother he’s ever known."
Ethan smiled. "I know."
Marvin smiled back with a nod.
Ethan eventually left, and Marvin leaned back into his seat. He pulled open a drawer and brought out a photograph.
It was a picture of a jovially grinning female werewolf. She had the sa large ears and blonde hair. Her smile was warm and full of life.
He smiled softly as he looked at the photograph and said, "Our children are quite the handful, Diane. Just like you said they’d be."
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