In the House of Moonfyre, snow covered the grounds, creating a beautiful and serene landscape and excitement filled the air. It was the height of winter and today, the only son of the family head is having his firstborn. People bustled back and forth, trying to peek at the reason for the festivities. It wasn't until the shrill cry of an infant was heard that people let out sighs of relief and smiles appeared in the faces of every member of the family and every servant in the household.
Inside the room, a grizzled mountain of a man, who despite clearly no longer being in his prime was still imposing and possed an air of authority with his shoulder-length red hair and salt and pepper beard, meticulously trimmed, paced back and forth. This was Erick Moonfyre, the current head of the Moonfyrefamily and evidently, by the almost manic smile on his face, the newly minted grandfather.
As the door of the room opened, Erick froze in place and sent an expectant look at the individual standing there.
"So, does this old man have a grandson or a granddaughter? Nevermind, it doesn't matter! Is it healthy?!" Moving with a speed that belied both his age and massive frame, Erick grabbed the man by the shoulders, shaking him until it seemed the mans' skeleton might just fall apart.
"Father, I already told you! I'm not a body refiner like you, one of these days you'll kill me!" Complained the man, who seemed like a more delicate, if not less imposing, younger copy of his father.
"Enough nonsense, Ezra! When can I see my first grandchild? Don't make me bulldoze through you! I'll do it!" With his lion mane-like hair and his substantial size, there was no doubt about Erick's ability to bulldoze through the solid stone walls of the castle, let alone the flesh and blood of his only son.
"Sigh... Crazy old coot! Fine!" Now with his own smile on his face, Ezra Moonfyre looked handsome and happy.
"It is my pleasure to inform you, father, that you are now the proud grandfather of a healthy boy! Karina has decided to name the boy Kieran, after our Ancestor who died in the last Great Beast Wave."
"Well, I guess I can't complain about the child not being named after me then..." Erick pretended to be hurt and resigned, but the smile on his face seemed to become even more brilliant.
The original Kieran Moonfyre was Ericks' great uncle, and his death had always pained his father, the previous head of the family. The loss of his only brother was one of the things that drove him to an early grave, even though Practitioners have much longer lifespans than mortals.
"Karina is asleep, the birth was not easy on her. The boy took a lot of her magic during the pregnancy, so her body was already weakened by the time of the birth. Hopefully, this means that the child's talent is above average since not even mother suffered this much when giving birth to me, and she was a mortal." Ezra had an expectant look on his face, his hope for a talented heir evident.
At the mention of his late wife, Ericks' mood became sombre and deep sorrow flashed in his eyes for a second. His wife, Elsbeth was a force of nature, so beautiful and strong of will. Unfortunately, she had no talent for magic, which led to her early demise despite taking elixirs to extend her life and maintain her appearance.
"Indeed. Karina is quite talented herself, in fact being more gifted than you. The only reason her power is currently lower than yours being the fact she prefers to dedicate her time to the more arcane art of Formations. If it took this much out of her to deliver little Kieran, it must mean his talent and affinity is quite strong indeed. The only question remains, will he inherit our family's famous affinity toward fire or his mother's affinity toward wind." Erick became pensive afterwards.
The Moonfyre clan, despite having fallen from power, was, in fact, quite an ancient clan. Their history even longer than the Scarlet Star Empire. While never having reached the heights of some of the Great Clans, their gift for fire Magic and their unique Moon Flames made them quite famous in the past. Thanks to the strength of their blood, most children born in the Moonfyre clan possed an affinity for fire. Karina's talent, however, was something rarely seen even in the pinnacle of the Moonfyre clan's history, so it was quite possible for the child to inherit his mother's talent for wind magic instead.
"It matters not. While not having come from a powerful and ancient clan, Karina did get quite the inheritance when travelling in the past. Her wind magic techniques do not pale in comparison to our own fire ones, even her Chaos Wind is not any weaker than our Moon Flames, so the child will lack for nothing in that department." Ezra said with a firm attitude, and no little pride. He considered himself the luckiest man for managing to win the heart of Karina, whom he met decades ago during one of his training missions in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.
"Agreed. Anyway, when can I see my grandson!?" Seemingly forgetting the topic, Erick once more had a manic smile on his face and was fidgeting from foot to foot like a hyperactive child.
"Both Karina and Kieran are now asleep, so it might be a few hours. Time best spent preparing the spirit blood pool for his baptism. While there's no guarantee that he will be talented in body refining, having an above-average body from an early age is still very useful for his future training." Now that he was a father, Ezra knew he needed to be more responsible in his actions and behaviour, a new life depended on him after all.
"Let us make the preparations then, we shall use the blood of the Spirit Salamander we've been saving. Since we don't know if the boy will have an affinity for fire, it's the best option since the Spirit Salamander does not have any elemental affinities." With a task at hand, Erick Moonfyre once more looked like a proper Clan Head, with an imposing will and regal temperament.
