46th of Season of Earth, 56th year of the 32nd imperial era

While three men wept, six others stared without saying a word. Two of them had the decency to look away in shame, but the rest were just waiting for the sappy reunion to finish so they could pursue their own agendas.

"Teacher, I…" Newt hesitated through tears. "I killed him. I swear it was an accident, but I—"

"You did good, Newstar, all of this is your uncle's fault." Stronggrow's face was wrinkled, his yellow eyes shining with the wisdom of his old age. He opened his mouth to speak further, but Steward Brave spoke first.

"Tutor Stronggrow, Newstar has found a source of manarium in the mines. According to family law—"

"According to family law, you have robbed him," Captain Marrow growled the words, interrupting his senior.

Marrow's hair was a deep red, his eyes yellow, and his body firm and muscular. He was Newt's father's cousin, and the most upright man in the clan. His intense glare still terrified Newt, even though the young man sensed his senior's approval and support.

"You have taken the manarium reserved for expanding his realm," Marrow continued in an overbearing tone. "You almost robbed the family of a genius who managed to awaken on his own, as a mageknight no less, and you even dare demand a portion of the crystals he mined himself? What would you even do with them? Buy roast? Paint walls?"

"Everything we do is for the good of the clan," Rocky cleared his throat, but caved under Marrow's glare.

"Everything you rotten scum do is to line your own pockets. You—"

"Marrow," Stronggrow interrupted the verbal chastising, "every insult you throw at them insults both you and me. I taught half of them, my teacher the other half. You enforced discipline, your father enforced it before you took up his mantle. Their failures are our own."

Newt wanted to say that was not true. Simply educating a rotten man cannot make him better, it makes him devious, while enforcing the rules with punishments will just mask their true nature until the gain is worth the risk.

The youth had considered the matter during his three years in the mines. What had gone wrong with his uncle and the others was something which runs deeper, a character flaw beyond his understanding. Something he was too young, too inexperienced to pinpoint.

"They are still guilty of staging, or at least aiding, a coup." Captain Marrow shot a look at Stronggrow, who had also been his teacher. "They must suffer the consequences according to family law."

Stronggrow seemed torn. He was a kind man, which was both good and bad for his profession. He gave Newt a pleading look, but said nothing. He obviously had his opinion, but the decision was Newt's to make.

Newt wanted to mete out the punishment, but his teacher's desperate look made him change his mind. "I guess we can give them another chance?"

Captain Marrow grit his teeth, while Stronggrow sighed in relief. The six men, on the other hand, also relaxed, and Newt realized there was a moment they were ready to fight, and six against three, things looked grim for his side. Marrow and Stronggrow had been imprisoned probably as long as he had been, and while Marrow was an only true warrior, everyone except Newt had gone through decades of combat training. More importantly, the three of them were unarmed, while Newt noticed Rocky brought back a pair of salamandra's fangs along with the prisoners.

Perhaps Teacher isn't soft, but made the intelligent choice instead. Besides, if the others really change their ways and work for the benefit of the family, I guess I could forgive them.

A heavy silence suffocated the room until Stronggrow broke it. "You have done well, despite the setbacks you have suffered, Newstar. I can only hope you have correctly sculpted your first realm based on what we once discussed. I will help you establish your second realm properly."

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Newt could tell his mentor was rightfully worried. The way he had overpowered Victor, who had eight layers on the youth, indicated Newt had sacrificed a part of his first realm to strengthen himself, rather than focusing all his efforts on future growth. Detailed conversation could lead to awkward questions.

While Newt trusted the old man as much as one could, given Newt's circumstances, he had decided he would keep his condition a secret. The wealth Magmin's dualcore offered was much more tempting than anything he had ever heard of. It was probably worth more than the entire border region they lived in, and a trusted, loving senior had already betrayed Newt once.

The only reason Newt would have to entrust his secret to Stronggrow was to get the experienced man's advice on how to sculpt his realm. Advice which might be inapplicable, and even redundant, since Newt had the original creator residing inside his realm. What he needed were the clan's ancestral techniques with which he could eventually challenge Magmin's realm. In the short term, those abilities would make him stronger, just in case his uncle's former supporters tried to pull anything, or if the visit to Hailstown ended in a fight.

The silence stretched a bit longer than comfortable, but Newt had sorted his plans and priorities.

"Thank you for your offer, Teacher. I would like to see the clan's secret techniques and spells, if you don't mind guiding me."

Newt saw Steward Brave's mouth twitch as the man wanted to ask about the manarium one more time, but he wisely kept his mouth shut under Captain Marrow's glare.

"Very well. Follow me, Patriarch." Stronggrow stressed the last word, leading Newt towards the basement.

"Do you think they will attack Captain Marrow?" Newt whispered.

"Almost certainly not, unless he attacks first, which he won't. They believe they have us in their hands, and the only thing on their mind right now is manarium. Your father controlled things with undisputed might, and they dared not reveal their true colors. Your uncle bribed them to keep them in check, but our situation right now is perilous. Enforcing any sort of justice while we are weaker is suicidal."

Stronggrow opened a heavy door, leading the way down a flight of stone stairs lined with glowstones, which started shimmering when someone with enough mana approached them.

"Under normal circumstances, they might call imperial or royal law enforcers. You murdered a man, after all, but the investigation would be long. In the end, the imperials would have acquitted you while they might end up imprisoned, so they will keep quiet for now. I'll write a letter to the law enforcers to let them know what happened and let them know that we have settled everything within the limits of family law. In the letter, I will ensure to mention none of them had done anything wrong and that it was all Victor's fault. Then all of us will sign it, and that should cover the murder charges."

"Can we get Mom and Dad back that way?" Newt blurted, addressing his parents informally, and blushing for it a heartbeat later.

Stronggrow ignored the outburst and shook his head.

"The family has taken the money for the transaction, and your parents signed the papers, allowing themselves to be consigned to voluntary slavery. Disentangling that mess would be difficult, if not impossible. Counselor Mildflame could maybe do something, but he's aligned against us in this conflict, and I wouldn't dare trust him."

Stronggrow sighed. "No, our best bet is to follow the trail and buy them off, if we can. But it's been three years. Your parents could be anywhere in the empire by now. Perhaps the best thing we can do is just let matters play out naturally and focus on preserving the family as it is."

Newt bristled up at the suggestion. He was supposed to do nothing but wait for his parents to get back?

"No." He shook his head. "I'm not abandoning my parents. I will do whatever I can to find them, and when I do, I will do whatever I can to free them."

Feet echoed against the stone stairs for three steps before Newt's tutor found his words.

"Newstar, you are young. The subject of slavery is something we haven't covered yet, so allow me to explain. There is criminal slavery, debt slavery, and voluntary slavery. Your uncle first wanted to get your parents into the second category, but your father refused, agreeing to the third type."

Newt paid attention. The subject wasn't interesting, but it concerned his parents' fates.

"Voluntary slavery is something a large percent of awakened enter. Those who lack resources consign themselves to extended periods of servitude with a large number of clauses. The most important one for us right now, other than the guarantee of your parents' dignity, is the duration of servitude. Your parents signed a contract for twenty years, but each additional resource your parents' masters spend on them would extend the duration, assuming the resources aren't gifts, which is also possible. Every service, merit, or amount of money your parents earn for their master reduces their debt. Sometimes awakened end up in lifelong servitude, other times, they fulfill their contracts in moons, or even days."

They reached the door at the bottom of the stairs, and Stronggrow turned around to face Newt.

"What I'm trying to say is, your parents might not be leading bad lives, they might be enjoying better conditions than we do, and when you find them, their debt might be so massive, we might not be able to pay it back. If that happens, forcefully freeing them would be against the law, and we would be in trouble."

Newt clenched his fists — getting his parents back could take years.

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