The Strongest Spellblade

The wedding and the assassination attempt was over a month ago. I now had a very faint scar along my neck. When healing points bottomed out, permanent physical damage could be left behind. The scar was as faint as it was due to how quickly Healer Castelle had acted.

It would be barely noticeable, but I knew my mother would spot it and demand answers when she returned. Now was a family meeting that my older half brother Dereck asked me to attend. My father and grandfather were also present. None of the servants were in the room.

“You wanted this meeting grandfather, say what you want and then leave back to the Capital,” my brother said.

My grandfather let out a sigh. “I won’t talk about past failures and poor decisions,” he said while looking at my father. “But we came close to absolute ruin at your wedding. The Supreme Warlady is not a power we control. If Justin died, then we would also die,” he said.

“My father made his choice, so what are you proposing now?” Dereck asked.

“To begin increasing our military forces. Specifically, our elite forces. To also arrange for Justin to attend the College of Advancement and leave this estate,” he replied.

“You make it sound simple. But our current budget is well balanced for our needs. As for Justin’s future that is his mother’s decision to make along with his own. This is his home and he is always welcome here,” my brother countered.

“I hate legends. Do you know why?” my grandfather asked, and no one responded. “It is power invested into one individual that can act as they please, with little regards for rules and social decorum.”

“That is how it has always been. Unless you are some anti-System cultist?” my father asked with ridicule in his voice.

“A capable fighting force and a war is far better than being at the mercy of the whims of one woman. No matter her personality or strength, if she turns on us, we are finished,” my grandfather declared.

“And if she remains by our side and her son, my brother, then we have the strength to not worry for at least a century, possibly longer,” my brother said.

“You don’t gamble with the entire future of the family like this,” my grandfather declared.

“It isn’t the entire future. There are still relatives in the capital and abroad with the Burnstock name and heritage,” my father said.

“And if the Supreme Warlady hunts them down? The risk is high. All I am saying is that the family needs to move away from this risk and look for stability,” my grandfather said.

“Well I don’t plan on marrying a supreme legend, so nothing to worry about there,” my brother Dereck joked. “As for Justin.” He turned to look at me. “You are always welcome in the estate, even when I take up the title of Duke. I know you aren’t looking to replace me.”

“Thank you, brother,” I quietly said.

“More foolishness. How do you think nobles come to power in the first place? A powerful legend makes a claim and passes things on to their descendants. While Justin says he isn’t interested, what about his children, and their children. We have procedures in place for the rest of the family, but we cannot put any constraints onto him.”

“And you won’t try to or even think about that,” my father said without hesitation.

“You created so many problems with your choice to marry the Supreme Warlady. The ship that is our family had a hole that you rapidly patched over. Eventually that patch will fail and the situation will become much worse,” my grandfather said.

“Or we will make it to a harbor and the hole will be properly repaired in time. We will deal with each problem as it occurs. Not looking for trouble where there is none and we will give no offense to Supreme Warlady Elena Burnstock,” my brother declared.

“I agree,” my father said immediately afterwards. My grandfather let out a sigh and sagged back into his chair.

“If you could only understand. Fine. I said what I had to,” he replied and got up. Without a single glance backwards or goodbye he left the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

“My apologies for having you be here for this, but father suggested it and I didn’t want there to be any confusion,” Dereck said.

“It is fine, I understand. I am just surprised he is so upset, when everything has been done already. Not like we can rewind time,” I replied.

“Taking a second wife is something that is not done in polite circles among the nobility. A mistress is fine, but a second wife. There have been a lot of historical issues with such thing. That is why the nobility has very set rules regarding inheritance and family structure we inherited from the Eldarin Empire to avoid unnecessary trouble,” my father said. I had read about some of this in my history studies, but apparently not enough if it was such a big deal. I knew it was a concern, but not as much as my grandfather made it seem.

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“Legends that did that in the past would kill the first wife, their kids, and take over by force. Another reason why female legends are so rare,” my brother said.

“Wait really? But can’t anyone go into the dungeon?” I asked.

“But very few nobles will make it easy for such women. Only one out of every five or six legends is a woman. Due to this pressure. For your mother to reach such heights, is beyond impressive in spite of all the barriers put up against her. Not just in the dungeon, but the social barriers and other opportunities she would have struggled to get over her life,” My father explained.

I hadn’t realized things were so oppressive. “The issue comes down to children. Something we inherited from the Eldarin Empire and a lesson learned from the grasping Eternal Emperor. It is why the elves struggle so much as a species. Once people begin to level, having children is harder, but what isn’t spoken about is that it is harder for women since they have to bear the child,” my father explained.

I liked this about my father, he was willing to explain things to me, so I wasn’t confused. “The elves let their people gain levels however they want from the moment the System unlocks their status. Unfortunately, this leads to extremely low birth rates, even with all their research and efforts. And why we humans have pushed them back in our wars along with nations with more liberal cultures.”

“What kind of restrictions are imposed?” I asked, curious about the challenges my mother had to overcome.

“Access to the dungeon. That is why she stayed down there for long periods of time, constantly fighting before coming back up. Undercutting the prices on monster cores for a female adventurer. Hostility from other adventurers and refusals to team up. Then you have schools with teachers and tutors who will refuse a woman. All inherited prejudice to keep the population as high as possible. In the past it was used to fuel the expansionist efforts of the Eldarin Empire. While it has crumbled over a millennia ago, such prejudices and cultural practices aren’t easily changed or overcome,” he explained.

“That is unfair,” I replied while thinking how hard it had to have been for my mother.

“It is, but that is also what has allowed humans the numbers to dominate the elves and dwarves, pushing them back and claiming more land for us humans. While they refused to change their cultures, us humans have adapted and thrived. That is why noble marriages are skewed as they are.”

My brother then spoke up. “Indeed, it is the reason why the family line passes down through the male line and women are completely excluded.” It didn’t escape my notice that his mother, the Duke’s first wife, wasn’t present for this discussion. “Men marry later to ensure they are stable and won’t ruin the family, and women marry young to have children and then gain levels after that.”

“While it mainly the nobility, these practices trickle down to the rest of the population. The Eldarin Empire did a good job of wiping out any other dissenting viewpoints. While slavery was outlawed and racial prejudice has greatly declined, not everything has improved over the centuries,” my father explained.

“It doesn’t seem fair,” I replied, and my father chuckled.

“Life isn’t fair. Anyone who looks at you thinks that. With your mother being the Supreme Warlady, opportunities will fall into your lap and people will try to gain your favor,” he said while the First Prince came to find at that statement. I pushed that intrusive thought to the side to focus on the present.

“You want me to know what my mother has gone through?” I asked.

“That and why your grandfather is so frustrated over the entire situation. He is much more traditional than me as you might have guessed. Also, your mother isn’t one to complain, ever. She takes all the setbacks, the leers, the insults, the commentary, and has used that to strengthen her resolve,” my father explained.

“Then she had me. Did she ever say why?” I asked.

“Only that she had seen as far as she could reach with her skills and levels. They would take her no further and she wanted something different. She has always missed her family. Their deaths when she was younger than you are now sent her on the path to become the Supreme Warlady. I think she wanted to recapture some of that, but you would have to ask her. While we understand each other to a degree, ours wasn’t a marriage of love, but one of simple understanding and transactional,” my father said, with a small sad smile on his face.

“Thank you for telling me,” I said. I really was grateful to not be kept in the dark about all of this.

“Too many parents coddle their children. While I won’t let the monsters in our society get you if I can help it, I won’t hide the truth of this world from you. Making the world a better place is only something we can do if we understand what is wrong with it,” my father said.

“You are going soft now father?” my I asked.

“Just getting contemplative as I get older. Might start a fund for women looking to become adventurers once I retire. Create an elite female fighting force in honor of Supreme Warlady Elena,” he said.

“You really don’t like grandfather,” I replied.

“The fact it might kill him from sheer rage is just a side benefit. I have to find something to keep me busy once your brother takes over all of this,” my father said.

While life might be unfair, I wouldn’t complain. My mother never complained, and I wanted to complain about training mental skills. I was such a selfish idiot. I vowed to work harder and use the opportunity I had.

I would work so hard, that my levels would go up so much that Tutor Damian would be even more shocked the next time I checked on my status. My mother didn’t have any of these benefits growing up. She had been a poor peasant girl starting off and had climbed to such heights through sheer tenacity and determination.

If I only had a tenth of what she had, then I would make up for the rest with hard work. I would put everything I had to increasing my mental skills. It wasn’t enough just to work hard, I needed to embrace the hardship and the suffering. Even if I was bored out of my mind, that was no excuse. There were no more excuses.

I had survived death another time. I needed strength of my own. One day my mother would depend on me, not the other way around!