"Young master!"
The maids greeted Grey before scurrying away in fear of provoking him.
The young lord had barely been himself the past few days. The head of the family had publicly announced the stripping of his rights and the young master didn't do as much as flinch.
Ever since then, the atmosphere in the Altharion house had changed. The master had become scarce and the Young lord had become detached. Some maids even claimed to have seen him drinking each day on the roof top at night.
The Grey they knew was playful and unserious, but he was also easy to get along with. All the maids and staffs of the house were quite familiar and comfortable with him, having been by his for a number of years.
The young master didn't seem like the type who would've been affected by a loss, but they couldn't find fault in his current state knowing the importance of that battle and the consequences his loss brought to the house.
They had tried comforting him, but they all backed off getting dismissed coldly by him. Now, they had to behave carefully around him, for fear that they might invoke his anger
"Found it!"
Grey smiled as he spotted his father's spear in one of the armories in the house.
He had been searching for it for while now.
Grey looked different than after the fight. He had successfully recovered from all the cuts Alex had inflicted with that last strike.
"A Runic attack, huh?"
His mind went to what was now the talk of the people in the capital and beyond.
At that moment in their fight. Alex had awakened his Runic name and a Runic attack at the same time, setting his position as the top genius of their generation. Even Aria showed no signs of awakening her Runic name.
After the ceremony of the ancestral connection, each candidate were to go back and meditate on how to use the blessing given onto them by their ancestors.
The blessing was but a catalyst that helped them take the first step on their journey as a warrior. To activate that catalyst, they needed to realize their Runic name or in other words, their true name.
'I would have been there if not for that shitty ancestor. What kind of family do we have, Dad?'
He cursed the white silhouette who refused to do the needful, saying he wasn't his to claim.
"That made absolutely no sense!"
Grey muttered grabbing the spear and making his way to one of the training grounds on the property.
"Hmm? Someone there?"
Grey paused, catching a show flick past, but all he heard was nothing but silence.
'Probably a maid!'
He shrugged his shoulders and continued along the path.
The maids and staffs had been creating some distance from him. He couldn't blame them after the outburst he had shortly after he had woken up and gotten stripped of his rights by his uncle.
He couldn't even go out anymore without hearing people whisper and point at him, talking about his losses. Or comparing him to Alex.
Staying in was the best way to avoid unwanted attention.
He couldn't even get in touch with anyone. They had all alienated him from the circle after losing his rights.
"Fucking delusional people!"
"Haaa.....let's begin!"
He emptied his lungs, taking himself to the centre of the training field while thinking that he should have informed his uncle to include it in the renovations they made recently.
Closing his eyes, Grey stood still, emptying his mind of all the recent events; his losses, his thoughts, till all that was left was a blank and empty mind.
Drip!
A drop of sweat dripped off his chin and it resonated in his head, going off like the signal he had been waiting for, as he finally moved from the fixed position.
His arms shot forward, pointing the tip of the spear at the sky.
His eyes opened, revealing a dull and unconscious look as his body moved of its own accord, dancing gracefully with the wind.
With each step he took, he more he resonated with the spear, his body's movement conveying the versatility of the weapon.
His movements were both fluid and sharp, containing the strength of the very spear he weilded.
As his movements continued, the aura around him gradually switched from graceful to violent and sharp.
The sound of dripping water appeared in his mind more rapidly and his body followed suit making more precise and intense movements.
His eyes suddenly regained clarity and his grip on the weapon tightened, but this didn't break the flow. It improved it as his mind flashed with memories of the last attack in his battle against Alex.
'Remember it...push to that feeling!'
Grey's eyes narrowed as he could feel something deep within him cry desperately, stretching out as it sought a connection with something.
'What was it??!!'
The agitation in his heart increased, reflecting in his movements which took a more decisive turn, slashing and cutting the grasses around him.
'Found it!!'
His eyes widened as he made a swift movement, sliding his palm along the length of the spear, uncaring of the cut from the blade as he smeared the blue blood across the length of the spear, feeling each engraving.
He followed the feeling, tracing out a path in his mind.
'Yes!'
He felt the change and surge of energy flow through him as the image completed in his mind. It was a long runic inscription that looked like drawing.
As an Altharion, the family which lead the race in diplomatic matters. He was well versed in the history and culture of their race, more than even his uncle gave him credit for.
Unknown to others, Grey had taken on the burning passion his father had concerning their history. He just didn't show it.
'It's ancient tongue!'
Despite his knowledge on the Runic language of the race, even being a little familiar in the old tongue, Grey had absolutely no idea what the inscription that had appreard in his mind meant.
It just floated at the center of the black space, radiating a uniquely old and weathered aura.
'It kind of feels like....that ancestor!'
His face rumpled in confusion.
It had a slightly similar vibe with that ancestor of his, yet he could look at it just fine.
Hummmmm...
The sudden vibration the spear in his hands, brought him back to place.
The blood on the body of the spear was gone and a part of the inscriptions glowed dimly. It was the same inscription that had appreard in his mind.
"Makes sense, since I traced it!"
He muttered.
The feeling of the spear vibrating lightly in his hand was the same as he felt back then, at the end of the fight with Alex. That was the feeling he was searching for!
At that moment, when Alex invoked his Runic name, something strange had also happened to him. He had also found a way to inflict a strike on him—the long cut on his face, only because he was off by a little.
He had no idea what it was, but he had just uncovered the first clue.
Clap! Clap!! Clap!!!
"That was beautiful young lord. You weild your spear similarly, yet differently from your father. It's good too see you've found your path. Easton thought you well!"
A voice accompanying the clapping sounds, reached his ears and he pointed the weapon to the side in caution.
"Who are you?"
He asked sizing up the lady who had shown up in front of him.
She looked like someone in the same age range as those middle aged folks—his uncle and the other lords, but there was something different about her, like a veil that prevented one from reading into her.
It gave her a mysterious air that for some reason annoyed Grey very much!
"I enjoyed the dance. I assumed you must have learnt that from your father!"
Grey's eyes darkened at her spilling information no one was supposed to know.
"That wasn't the question!"
He took a few more steps without regards to how dangerous the woman seemed to be.
"My, my, is that how you treat guests?"
She chucked lightly.
"Cut the crap! I've never seen your face before and this isn't a place where guests can just walk into. One more time, who the fuck are you?"
His voice rumbled deep with threats.
"You really are se—"
SWOOSH!
The winds flew loudly as the grasses were pushed back. He had attacked without a second thought the moment she answered with something that wasn't "I am..."
The air around the woman was no longer calm as she stared into the gray eyes of the man who just attacked her, holding the blade of the spear between her fingers.
"So impatient, unlike your father. The name's Michelle. A friend of your father. I came to visit an old friend's son after what happened recently!"
Her tone was flat and more formal.
Grey backed off, suspicion still heavy within those cautious eyes.
"I don't need your company. Thanks for the visit!
"Too bad, kid. I came for several reasons."
"Your father and I had a unique relationship, you see. And he entrusted me with something that should belong to you."
"And why would he do that?"
His voice was filled with doubt. His uncle would've received anything his father had wished to him, so why did a random stranger show up saying she had something his father entrusted to her.
"Sigh! You should recognize it when you see it anyways!"
She said taking out a bracelet.
"How the hell do you have that?!"