Around two years later, the blond man, Albert von Sideria, the protector of the family Vince was going to serve, returned to the mansion. His purpose was to see the progress of the young man he had chosen as an attendant for his niece. When he showed up in front of the gate, the guards made an astonished expression, and hurriedly opened the gate. The Dawmond family was a subordinate house of von Sideria, therefore, even if their protector showed up with no prior arrangement, they still had to show the utmost respect.

Albert then went directly towards Rupert’s room. Once he was in front of the door, he gently knocked on it two times while saying “It’s me, Albert”. He didn’t have to wait long before a man opened the door. The man was the lord of the Dawmond family, Rupert Dawmond.

“Why are you here, Albert? I didn’t expect you to visit me for at least another two years.”
Even though he was very courteous, there was a stern expression on his face.

“You should know, I came here to see the brat’s progress. I had said I would come back in two years last time, didn’t I?”

“I had guessed you would have come in four years since the matter over whom to send was already settled.”

“Well, even though it’s settled, I still want to see how well the one I chose is doing.”

“Fine, he should be training in the backyard, we can go and observe him.”

“Please, lead the way.”

Once they reached the balcony, they could see the entire backyard, which was used as a training ground for all the cultivators in the mansion. Usually, the noble would train in a separate area compared to the lords’ personal armies, but Dawmond family was a small noble house. It didn’t have enough resources to have a dedicated one.

From their top view, they could see hundreds of cultivators training simultaneously. Some were practising with swords, some were training their spells, and some were training their bodies. But no one was dozing off in this place. It was clear just from the amount of sweat beads everyone had on their forefronts.

In the corner of this field, one could see a small child being trained by a middle-aged man, who was stroking his beard while looking at him.
After having spotted them, the two moved towards them. Once they were close enough, they could hear the instructor sighing heavily.

“Kid, I’ll admit you’re pretty smart and have an outstanding amount of willpower. Sadly enough, in cultivation, the things that matter the most are talents. Although you are training twice as hard as your brothers, they still have a stronger cultivation base.”

“What can I do about it, instructor? I’ll work ten times harder if it’s necessary!”

“Sigh, you are an unlucky brat. Unless you make some really significant fortuitous encounter, and chance upon something big, you are bound to never lift off of the ground! Else you are bound to remain a ground worm forever.”

“Should I go on an adventure then?”

“You can’t, and you know it. In two years you’re going to have to start serving the von Sideria family.”

A new voice resounded at this very moment, one that Vince was already somewhat familiar with.

“Don’t worry brat, I’ll help you out. Tomorrow, come to my mansion, I’ll give you a chance to learn von Sideria’s cultivation techniques!”

Both Tyrak and Vince then turned towards the unexpected new voice. Once they recognised the blond man, both bowed deeply in respect.”

“Yes, sir protector! This junior is grateful for the chance!”

“Good, good. Rupert, tomorrow bring him over to the von Sideria mansion!”

“As you wish, Protector Albert.”

Since they were in public, Rupert had to speak to Albert way more respectfully, and call him with his title, to make his state of subordination clear to see for everybody.

Once Rupert and Albert got to a distance where they couldn’t be heard anymore, the former asked the latter: “Why did you give him such a precious opportunity?”

“The kid may lack talent, but he’s very determined, Rupert. I’m one of those who consider willpower to be the most important trait for a cultivator. Plus, the kid will have to sign a soul contract, so I don’t fear him spreading our family’s techniques. Making him stronger is only to my benefit.”

“A soul contract? Are you serious? You never had any of the previous attendants sign such a thing!”

“Rupert, old friend, you see… This time around, it’s not so simple. I would have never thought I’d have to do such a thing two years ago, but something has changed. I’m not privy to the details either, the family lord is keeping his mouth shut. I was only asked to relay this information.”

“To keep the protector of a family in the dark, what kind of reason could there be? May it be national secret?”

“What’s more intriguing is that I don’t even know the reason!.”

“It has to be a big matter then… well since you have your hands tied, I won’t ask for anything else.”

“Thank you, old friend.”

The next morning, as soon as Vince woke up, his father came to pick him up. Saying Vince was excited was an understatement, as he had never seen the city in all these years. He was also looking forward to seeing the von Sideria mansion to compare it to Dawmond’s. After getting dressed up, he went out of his room, where his father was waiting.

“Vince, you have to be very careful about your actions today. You might not know, but the von Sideria family is a duke household, while us, the Dawmond, are mere barons. We are also their direct subordinates, so you have to pay the utmost respect to anyone you meet. Also, don’t even think about interacting with the children there. To them, we are mere ants, and they can step on us as much as they want. The difference in our statuses is clear to see. Therefore, never. Ever. Provoke. Anyone.”

“Yes, dad.”

‘What? Is it really such a big difference? We are still nobles, even though of smaller status. How can they trample us without any repercussion? Am I overestimating our status?’

Those questions were soon answered. Once he and his father stood outside the gates, he understood why. The mere surface that the mansion occupied was at least a dozen times that of the whole Dawmond property. And if one considered all the gardens and training grounds too, it would skyrocket to a way bigger number.

Hell, besides the mansion there were also many other buildings, including a clock tower and a small scale stadium. The von Sideria also occupied a plot of land that was way closer to the downtown, so the land price here was incomparably higher to the area where most minor nobles resided.

There was an aura coming from a small hut, beside gates, that was probably dedicated to the gate guards, even stronger than his father’s. And that was only the gate. Just from this fact alone, Vince understood why his father said that they were nothing but ants in their eyes.

Once they were just five steps away from the majestic gate, one of the guards shouted: “State your name and the reason why you are here.”

“I’m Baron Rupert Dawmond, and this is my 56th son, Vince Dawmond. We have come here as instructed by Lord Protector Albert Goethe von Sideria.”

After the guard looked at a long parchment for a few seconds, he allowed them in.

“Lord Protector Albert has indeed instructed to let you in. I wonder what warranted this permission though.”

All the guards didn’t even consider hiding their ridicule. It was evident that they didn’t put the Dawmond family in their eyes at all.
Even though Rupert showed a frown for a quick second, he ignored the guards and simply stepped inside the vast outer court, and gave Vince a sign to follow him.

After walking for almost half an hour, and going through the countless gardens surrounding the main road, they finally arrived in front of a massive mansion. It could boast a whopping seven floors in height and extended in width and length for almost a mile. As they approached the tall double doors, that looked more like gates of an armoured fortress because of their size and thickness, they could see a tall and blond middle-aged man. Beside the man, there was a little girl, who had the same blond hair as the man and couldn’t even reach the man’s waist.