“So…”

“What?”

“Why did you call me here?” asked Tim, leaning on his chair, looking at the old man opposite to him whom he was asked to meet in the morning.

“I called you here?” Enwyld stared at Leon with a confused expression on his face.

“Yes. Yesterday night.”

“Oh…I forgot.” The elder smiled slowly touching his forehead. “I am getting old huh…”

“Everyone does.”

“Yeah…”

“So… anything for me.”

“Yeah, Marquis Leon. I have something for you.”

“And that is.”

“This!” Enwyld placed some papers on the table and slid it towards Leon, who started reading.

“What is this?”

“I am giving you some of my land, combined with some of the duchy’s land to manage which you asked me two months ago.”

“Really.” Tim had no idea what this man was giving him but now it was clear and he remembered asking him about it.

“Yes! Look at those and sign it. You are a real lord now.” The old duke clasped his hands and fell back on his chair with a deep sigh.

“Was not I already a lord?”

“You were but just an honorary and a pretty useless one.”

“Ow! That hurts gramps.” Leon added in a sarcastic tone with a grin on his face.

“It should be. Now sign it and get ready to renovate your image. And if you don’t then, consider yourself doomed. No one can pull that ground shattering reputation of yours out of hell.” Enwyld just wanted his grandson to become a capable person who could rule this duchy in future but till this day there was no sign of him accomplishing that.

Leon just wasted money and time pursuing useless matters which only worsened his situation. No matter how he was warned he never changed his ways and the consequences were evident.

“I know.” Tim sighed. The topic of reviving his or rather Leon’s reputation was always the hot topic. Just remembering this guy’s doing was giving him a headache, let alone solving it. It would be one hell of a thing to achieve.

“Show me what you can do then.”

“I will.”

Tim nodded reading the paper and Enwyld took a sip of tea. Soon silence enveloped the area as none of them spoke anything.

“Also, Elizabeth’s lands are just beside your border. You can meet her if you just cross the line.” Added the elder with a sly smile on his face breaking the peace.

“Really…”

“Yes!”

“How nice of you… but no thanks. I am not going to hit on a kid.” Tim said in a firm tone, placing the papers back on the table. He was not going to attempt to flirt with a teen-age girl or marry her. He was a modern man not these primitive fools who did not understand biology.

“Kid! Who is a kid? She is an adult. She will carry your child within a year. How the hell does she look like a kid to you?” retorted the man slamming his palm on the table. He could not handle his grandson’s pointless arguments to get away with anything.

“Come on! She is just six-teen.”

“So what?”

“You know what, I will go say Hey to her, once I go to my lands. Ok!”

“Good and…”

“So, I should rule these areas as a lord, right?” Tim spoke cutting Enwyld’s words. He had to divert this guy’s attention elsewhere, otherwise the pointless argument would never end. He was not going to marry an under aged girl and that was final.

“Absolutely. You will do whatever you can to make people's life better. It is the job of the lord and he must fulfill it at any cost.”

“I understand.” Leon shook his head in a thoughtful manner. “And who is going to pay if I want to do something big?”

“How big?”

“Like to build a dam or a steel factory.”

“Do you have any freaking idea how those things work or how much they cost?” Enwyld snorted, dropping the cup on the table. “How in the world are you going to make those?”

“I am not that dumb and I know how those things works.”

“Really?”

“Yes! Now tell me who is going to pay because I know you are not going to allow me to spend however I want.”

From the memories Tim knew Enwyld was a strict person who believed in rules and regulation. He would appear sweet and amiable but once someone broke any rules, he would put them through hell to ensure the mistake never repeats.

Leon was a prime target of Enwyld because of his contravening attitude and senseless spendings. He could not severely punish his grandson because of his grandmother but could cut his stipend money which limited his expenditures.

“Your father will approve it, no matter how much taxes you collect. It is his land. He is the lord.” 

“Ok then. I should talk to him about this.” Saying that, Leon began to leave but Enwyld gestured him to sit again. “What now?”

“Take this.” The elder handed him a ring with a black stone in it and Leon took it with a surprised expression.

“What is this?”

“A dimension rune.”

“What?” Tim asked in a perplexed tone. “What does it do?”

“It does what it is supposed to do.” Answered the man in an annoyed tone. “Don’t act like a moron Leon.”

“I am not acting like a moron. I am just…”

“Enough of that, go now.”

“I will but why did you give me this?”

“Because I don’t need it anymore.” Replied Enwyld in a casual tone as if it was the most obvious answer and Tim did not complain. He got up, bowed, and left.

***

Dimension rune was nothing extraordinary but a small space linking into a pocket dimension which could only be used by the respective owner. It was used for storing items like weaponries, or food.

It worked or could only be opened by scanning the mana signature of the user, hence there was no fear of stealing or getting used in the wrong hands. But its only drawback was if the stone ever broke then all things inside would be lost forever.

“That’s it…” Tim whispered, turning the page of the book he was holding. It was a handwritten journal produced by the mage association and was distributed to its backers. So, they could keep track of how their money was getting spent.

And one of the artifacts they were working on for the last five years was this storage rune. It was only available last year for the high-ranking nobles like the emperor and the dukes to try and give their feedback.

Enwyld and the duke had access to it but Leon had not. So, no matter how Tim tried to remember his brain returned nothing. But that was not the problem anymore as he now had this journal.

There were many cool artifacts that mage or mana users were making like invisibility cloak, a sword that could take any form upon the holder’s will, some potions to recover mana and health at a rapid pace and many more.

Honestly all of these were awesome but for someone like Tim who believed in science was excited to see how it worked.

He put the ring in his left ring finger after carefully looking around to find no one in the library. For some reason he wanted to be discreet which he clearly did not need.

Inspecting the black stone, a little more, Tim waited for a couple of minutes for something to happen but nothing happened. Then he tried to push the journal into that tiny rock but it did not vanish out of existence like he expected. Even tapped the grit many times but had no reaction.

“How does this work then?” Tim again examined the ring for any sort of switch but found none. And soon he got irritated over this little thing and began removing it until he remembered about mana.

Mana was a form of energy and was inside everyone. Every living species absorbed it from nature and used it however they like. This outlandish thing allowed them to become mages who could bend nature to their will.

They could fire off spells which could blow entire towns into ashes. Create fire or ice out of thin air. Some could even fly; some could walk over water. Pretty bizarre things but Tim believed it as his mind gave him the images of proof he needed.

So, he channeled mana into the ring which glowed faintly for a moment after absorbing some mana. But the lighting disappeared immediately and was replaced with a connection only Tim could feel.

He was now sure that this thing was on and now was the time for testing which only took two minutes. Tim grabbed the papers from the table and thought about sending them inside the ring and within seconds they vanished from his hands.

“Woo…” Tim exclaimed with an excited smile on his face before thinking about bringing the papers back. And just like before they magically appeared on his hands in the same exact way, he sent them. Not even a single scratch or tear was there.

“Yes!” Tim nodded hearing his own words with a proud grin on his face which perfectly captured his excitement, but it soon disappeared when he remembered how he did it. “Wait…”

There was no explanation for how he channeled mana into the ring, he just did it. It was like he had been doing this for as long as he remembered. He just knew it.

So once again the experimentation phase began. Tim could feel the mana moving inside his body. It flowed seamlessly and he could maneuver it the way he wanted. It obeyed all his commands.

Soon Tim tried to pull a book out of the shelf using his mental power which obviously did not work. So, he moved to manipulate the air to get the book which just flew into his hands.

“Nice!” Tim mumbled, catching the book. And just like before he just knew how to manipulate air. But this time didn't ask any questions. Just followed what his instincts dictated.

Next, Tim channeled mana into his hands which felt lighter than ever and slammed them into the wooden table which broke into pieces upon impact.

“Just how powerful is this?” Tim looked at his hands with a surprised gaze. The table shattered into pieces but he did not even feel any pain. He sensed nothing.

So, he moved outside, towards the open space in the garden. The garden was hundred times bigger than the one from the capital which provided more space and peace he needed.

Tim clasped his hands a couple of times, stretched his body, and got ready to experience the abomination he was about to create.

“Archlight!”