"I see." Baelthon leaned back again, speaking now in a normal voice as if they’d been discussing the weather instead of so secret plan. "Then it could even serve you with your current situation. Distracting the boy a lot could be just what you need for him to have the possibility of failing at least one exam in the next trister."
"It’s..." Aldric processed the idea, his political gears turning again after the paralysis. "Risky. If he gets upset by any chance..."
"Everything is risky in politics," Baelthon responded with the ’wisdom’ of soone who’d survived decades of noble intrigue. "Even staying still affected us greatly, right? But this... this attacks sothing his brute power can’t solve. His supposed mana control, his apparent genius for battle and beasts if they’re real... none of that helps him when it cos to adolescent emotional navigation. Even if he turns out to be a genius, he can’t possibly have had the ti to be one at everything, right?"
He paused, letting that settle...
"And if it works, if it really distracts him enough, then he doesn’t just fail one exam. He becos vulnerable. Predictable. Manipulable in ways he isn’t when he’s focused, like any man."
The implications hung heavy in the air. Everyone had weaknesses. Historically even geniuses. Especially when it ca to matters of the heart.
Aldric looked at the papers scattered on his desk. The inadequate lesson plans. The useless notes about protocols Ren clearly already mastered. Evidence of his failure, his miscalculation.
Then he looked at Baelthon, weighing options, calculating risks and rewards with the instinct of soone who’d spent a lifeti in political warfare.
"What do you need from specifically?"
Baelthon’s smile widened, satisfaction evident in the curve of his lips. "For now, just continue being his tutor. Act... humble, maybe. Like you’ve learned your lesson about underestimating him or sothing."
"And then?"
"And then," Baelthon stood, heading toward the door with the unhurried pace of soone whose plan was already in motion, "present it to him as a ’prize’. So when the appropriate mont arrives, we introduce the catalyst elent. To capture his attention in ways power and politics cannot."
He stopped at the threshold, looking back over his shoulder. The light from the hallway cast his face in shadow, making his expression unreadable.
"After all, even geniuses are fools when it cos to matters of the heart. And teenagers... well, in matters of the heart, teenagers are the biggest fools of all."
And with that, he left, leaving Aldric alone with his thoughts and a new strategy that finally gave him so hope.
Maybe he couldn’t control Ren’s power.
Maybe he couldn’t manipulate his intellect.
But emotions...
Emotions were completely different territory. The kind of battlefield where intelligence and power could an nothing, where the strongest could be brought low by the simplest weakness.
And everyone had vulnerabilities there. Everyone made mistakes when their heart was involved.
Surely... Even Ren Patinder.
♢♢♢♢
The days after the exams passed in a strangely pleasant calm.
Ren had anticipated more drama, more nobles trying to challenge his results, more accusations of fraud or theater. But apparently, even the most vocal skeptics had decided to wait before making more aggressive moves.
Or maybe they were simply planning sothing more elaborate. With nobles, you never knew. Silence could an acceptance or preparation.
Larissa’s classes continued, this ti focused on the second trister’s protocols. More complex movents, more elaborate scenarios that separated "good" from "perfect".
"You’re going to have to demonstrate more real-ti managent," Larissa explained while showing him a particularly complicated sequence of formal gestures. Her movents were fluid, practiced, each one flowing naturally into the next. "Not just theory. They’ll put you in situations where you’ll have to make imdiate decisions while maintaining appropriate protocol. And the ’war gas’ will be important too... Sadly your Hydra won’t reach Gold 1 in ti. Still can’t believe it can..."
Ren watched with his mantis active, the jade creature copying each of Larissa’s movents with photographic mory. Every angle, every subtle shift of weight, every minute detail captured and stored perfectly.
"Understood," he said, then executed the sequence exactly as Larissa had shown it. His body moved like hers had, mirroring her grace with uncanny accuracy. "But I don’t think I need to have it on Gold Rank to win against the other schools anyway..."
Luna, watching from the side, made a sound of disgust. "I hate your mantis."
" too," Liora added in sympathy with Luna’s frustration. "It’s completely unfair."
"It took you years to learn what I can copy in seconds," Ren admitted with guilt coloring his voice and a sigh at having heard the line so many tis. "I know."
"Don’t feel bad," Larissa said, though there was a touch of amusent in her voice despite her attempt at sympathy. "Just... make sure you use it well. These abilities beco instinctive after sufficient practice. You can’t depend only on your mantis in all situations."
"I know," Ren repeated the sequence without the mantis, this ti with his own muscle mory. It ca out quite badly, though slightly better than before. His body fought the movents, trying to optimize when it should replicate. "But I’d never manage it in ti... Still, I feel guilty for not knowing, so I practice without it sotis too."
The admission carried genuine regret. The mantis was a shortcut, and his father said shortcuts always ca with a price.
"Very well," Larissa nodded with approval, satisfaction evident in her expression. "Then for the second trister, you’re more than prepared. Now you just need to focus on..."
"The mid-year interschool exams," Ren completed with another sigh, now one that carried the weight of accumulated responsibilities. "And normal classes. And territory managent with Zhao and Arturo."
"Exactly," Larissa smiled, though there was sympathy in the smile again. "Welco to being an ’elite’. The work never ends."
Classes with Zhao were intense as always. Preparation for advanced collection, survival strategies in hostile territories, resource evaluation. Zhao hadn’t loosened his training regin even a bit, if anything he’d intensified it now that Ren had proven he could handle higher expectations.
Though Ren was anxious to put everything to the test in sothing more practical than theoretical. Unfortunately for him and even Zhao, they had too many things to do to be able to get lost in the wilderness for several days.
Sessions with Arturo about territorial managent were equally demanding. Tax policies, resource distribution, dispute resolution between vassals, infrastructure maintenance. It was the kind of tedious administrative work that made Ren miss the simple days of just cultivating beasts.
"This is boring," he’d complained as always after two hours reviewing territorial zoning docunts. His eyes had glazed over sowhere around page fifteen of property boundary disputes.
"This is leadership," Arturo had responded without sympathy, not even looking up from his own paperwork. "Glory is in battle. But the bulk of real work is in papers nobody wants to read."
But all that was manageable. Challenging, yes. Exhausting, definitely.
But manageable...
Thanks to Ren no longer needing almost any classes with Aldric.
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