The group sat around, staring at each other for a time. They were all a bit stunned by the turn of events that came with the inspection that day.
Arthur was the first to break the quiet, turning toward the porch with a broad grin.
"Well," he said, rubbing his hands together as he looked over his family and the team. "I think that's more than enough excitement for one afternoon. Let's head inside, get some tea going, and actually sit down to talk about what just happened."
He turned his attention to the Lieutenant, his smile growing even wider.
Arthur stepped forward, extending a hand to the officer with a look of excitement. "And please, Lieutenant, join us. I've been looking forward to properly meeting Oren's master for quite a while."
The lieutenant accepted Arthur's hand with a firm, calloused grip.
"I suppose a proper introduction is long overdue," he said, his voice carrying the steady cadence of a seasoned soldier. "Oren has spoken highly of your family, Master Hemlock."
Oren shifted uncomfortably on his feet beside his mentor, his face coloring slightly. "I've mentioned them, sir."
"Repeatedly," Durand added dryly.
The brief exchange earned a few tired laughs from the group, finally breaking the thick tension that had suffused the yard like a morning fog since the carriage first rolled through the gate.
Arthur led the way onto the porch and into the house while May went ahead of the group to get the hearth fire going and prepare the tea.
The small crowd filed into the dining room, quickly filling the space.
Jacob and his companions stuck to one side of the table, giving Arthur, May, and the lieutenant the space they needed to converse near each other at the other end.
Caleb remained near the hearth with Lila, both of them keeping quiet but clearly listening to what everyone was talking about in the crowded dining room.
For a moment, a peaceful silence settled over the table as everyone took a deep breath of relief, happy to have found the best outcome from the inspection.
It had ended in their favor, and everyone at the table understood the significance of the victory. It wasn't often that a peasant family got one over a noble, even a minor noble.
Being recognized as a freehold was another wild card entirely, one that no one had expected to come from this event.
Yet, sitting there in the familiar warmth of his home, Jacob thought that it felt less like a political victory and more like they were walking blindly into a larger picture they were not yet at a far enough vantage point to see.
Arthur wrapped both of his weathered hands around his clay cup, letting the warmth seep into his fingers to combat the lingering chill of fall air that they had just escaped from.
"Well, Lieutenant," Arthur began, looking directly at the officer. "You've dealt with the crown's officers and the high nobility far more often than any of us. How bad was that, truly?"
Durand considered the question, staring at the steam rising from his cup before answering.
"For today? It went as well as you could have hoped. Your rights as freeholders were officially recognized, and the Baron's inspectors slunk away without placing anyone in chains. The bonus is that none of your boys were hauled away by the count. I could tell he was considering taking on a ward."
May's expression tightened at the grim phrasing and the narrow disaster they had seemingly avoided.
Durand caught her look and continued, his tone softening but remaining serious. "I don't speak lightly, Mistress Hemlock. Inspections involving disputed land boundaries, coupled with unusual magic and formal accusations against the nobility, usually end far worse for the common folk. And, it's quite normal for a new freeholder to give up a child as a ward to an overseeing noble when promoted in such a fashion."
Jacob leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table. "But this isn't over, is it?"
"No," Durand said, meeting Jacob's eyes, understanding that there was more to this young child than there seemed to be, thanks to Orens' compliments about the odd mage. "It's settled legally, for the moment. But a piece of parchment from the King doesn't mean everyone involved will simply accept the outcome."
"The baron," Bran murmured.
"The baron," Durand agreed with a serious nod. "And any other noble in the province who hears that a farming family in Ruvka successfully resisted a formal inspection backed by his authority. It makes him look weak."
Arthur's wide grin had faded, replaced by the grim resolve of a man who had worked too hard to let his land be taken and cared too much to watch one of his children raised away from his household, regardless of the benefits. "Then let them hear it. We followed the law, and we have the royal seal to prove it."
"That'll protect you in the Count's courts," Durand replied. "But it may not matter to a proud man who believes the law only exists to preserve his own position. He might not take direct action, but you should expect some sort of retaliation. Remember that you have the right to hire guards now."
The silence returned, a bit heavier this time with overtones of serious deliberation. As a peasant farmer, grown and raised, Arthur had never thought about needing security beyond Ellis.
Sera stared down into her own tea, turning her cup slowly. "So what are we supposed to do now?" It was the first time she had spoken since they entered the house, her voice carrying a bit of anxiety.
Durand swept his gaze across the younger faces gathered around the table. "You continue doing exactly what you were doing before the carriage arrived. Let the adults handle these more serious matters."
Mira frowned, her eyes narrowing. "Pretend none of this happened?"
"No. You remember every detail of today." Durand replied, "Commit to memory the trouble the nobles just put this farm through. Then you prepare for the next problem instead of sitting around waiting for it to find you. You're up-and-coming adventurers, and you should be focused on your power, not the farm. You should let Arthur and May handle that. They are quite competent, from what I've seen so far."
Looking at Arthur and May, the couple gave everyone a stern, solemn nod. They knew what they needed to do, and they wanted the kids to understand that this was not their burden to bear.
The lieutenant shifted his focus, locking his eyes on Oren. "The arrival of the inspectors revealed several weaknesses in your group. Your coordination was inconsistent. Some of you reacted simply on instinct before understanding what was happening. Others simply froze because you were waiting for Jacob or Arthur to make a decision."
Jacob opened his mouth to defend them, but Durand raised a hand to cut him off.
"This isn't an accusation, young mage. It's an observation. You're on the path to becoming a true team, but you're not there yet."
Oren straightened his shoulders, sitting up taller on the bench. "Then we need more training, sir."
"Exactly."
Bran glanced toward Jacob, a nervous energy in his eyes. "We were supposed to return to the dungeon tonight."
The mention of the dungeon seemed to shift the entire mood around the table. It was a place of immense danger, certainly, but it was a familiar kind of danger. One that they had seen before and had survived without much incident.
The open fields and ravenous monsters under a false sky made far more sense to them than noble authority, legal scripts, freehold recognition, and royal law.
As the talk started to border on system dealings, Caleb led his little sister around to the bedroom hallway through the other side of their living room to play with some of her toys in her room.
She resisted at first, but at the mention of a tea party with her favorite dolls, she was soon dragging Caleb to the room instead of the other way around.
Mira sat a little straighter, her fingers tapping against the tabletop. "We still haven't properly tested our full group configuration anyway."
"And we barely started learning how our classes actually work together in a real fight," Sera added, her anxiety beginning to morph into focus.
Jacob looked around the table, watching the lingering shock of the inspection turn into something active and useful. He turned to the officer. "What do you think, Lieutenant? Should we head back down to the dungeon today?"
"I wouldn't suggest it," Durand answered without need for deliberation. "You're all distracted and emotionally exhausted from the Count's visit. Entering a dungeon, even F-ranked, in that condition is a quick way to get yourselves heavily injured or killed."
May hummed in agreement with the Lieutenant's advice.
Jacob nodded reluctantly, recognizing the wisdom in the advice as well.
"Tomorrow morning," Durand continued. "You can return to the gate rested and fully supplied. I'll accompany you far enough to observe your entry and your initial combat formation. After that, I'll decide how much direct supervision you require."
Oren blinked in surprise. "You're coming down with us, sir?"
"I came up here to Ruvka, away from my camp and the goblin menace, to evaluate your progress. Watching you stand in a farmyard while royal officials argue over an herbarium provides a rather limited assessment of your combat capabilities."
Arthur let out a low chuckle into his cup, clearly amused by the lieutenant's dry humor.
Durand turned back to Jacob, his expression hardening. "There's another reason you need to return to your training, Jacob."
Jacob waited, listening intently.
"The royal writ changed your position in the county. Whether you wanted it or not, the local nobility now knows the Hemlock family possesses unusual capabilities and backing. You can't make yourselves invisible again." Durand leaned forward, his voice low and commanding. "So you need to become strong enough that being noticed is no longer a threat to your lives. Arthur can handle himself and the farm, but he needs the peace of mind knowing that you can handle yourself out there."
Jacob looked down at his hands, feeling the truth of those words.
The inspection had made him feel powerless in a way the dungeon never had. Inside the dungeon walls, raw strength, careful preparation, fast reflexes, and quick judgment were the things that actually mattered.
Outside of it, titles and ancient laws could decide whether his family kept everything they had built or were thrown into a dungeon on frivolous charges, all because some noble was embarrassed by a lesser class.
But the lieutenant was right. Jacob couldn't control what the Baron planned next in his castle. He could, however, control what happened when the next monster charged his line. And he could be prepared for any reach around the law to try to deal with them directly.
Jacob looked around at Thomas, Bran, Oren, Sera, and Mira, his resolve locking into place. "We leave at dawn."
Mira nodded first, her expression fierce.
Then Oren.
Bran leaned back on the bench with a nervous but genuine grin. "I suppose I should go check the equipment and the dungeon drops before we lose the light."
Arthur's broad smile returned, the tension fully leaving his face as his shoulders relaxed. "There we are. That sounds like a proper plan, and much more productive than staring at the grass in the yard."
May sighed, though a trace of fond amusement played at the corners of her mouth as she began clearing the empty cups. "Fine. But none of you are going anywhere near that gate until you have eaten a proper meal tonight. Tea and dry biscuits are not nearly proper preparation for a dungeon."
As everyone dispersed in agreement, the lieutenant was talking to Mira, Oren, and Thomas about the training fields while corralling them towards the back door with Arthur in tow to see how the lieutenant trains with them.
Bran grabbed Caleb and practically dragged him back to the barn, and Sera went to Lilas' room to keep her company since Caleb was in the middle of a tea party with her and her stuffed animals.
Jacob, however, approached his mother as she was picking up the loose dishes from around the table.
With a wave of his hand, he thoughtlessly grabbed the dishes his mother would have had to walk around the table to grab and pulled them into the kitchen with him. May followed, with a grin on her face.
"I suppose this means you want to talk about the dungeon," she said as she placed the dishes next to their washbin, where Jacob was directing the cleaning with a wag of his fingers.
Jacob guided the last floating plate into the soapy water with a flick of his wrist, turning to face the worry hiding just beneath her casual tone.
Jacob offered her a warm, reassuring smile, raising his hands in a gentle motion to let her know she could relax. "Nothing bad," he promised, keeping his tone light. "I actually just wanted to ask for some of your advice regarding the miasma on the boss floor."
May paused, her hands freezing just above the suds of the washbin. She turned her head, fixing him with a sharp, questioning look. "Are you and the others truly planning to face the boss floor so soon?"
Jacob nodded in reply. "Yes, I think we are." He leaned against the counter, confident in his decision. "I trust the group to be ready for it once we finish clearing the second and third floors. After seeing how well the team dealt with that berserk random gatekeeper, I know we have the combat skills and the coordination. The miasma is honestly the only variable I'm worried about right now."
Jacob raised his hand, summoning a small sphere of light that hovered just above his palm. "It's just that my light magic feels different than the spell Elara used from her staff to weaken the boss last time," he explained, watching the pale illumination reflect in the soapy water.
May dried her hands on a towel and looked closely at the glowing orb. "That's because she wasn't using standard light magic, Jacob. She was using holy magic."
She paused to let the words sink in before continuing. "Holy magic is a true elemental fusion of light and fire magic, although it's not actually 'holy' like the dead religions used to teach. It's called 'holy' magic because it's a special type of light magic that harms demons from the demonic realm. They don't really come to this dimension anymore since The Farmer kicked them out about a thousand years ago, but it's the magic the old religious institutions kept secret to remain important in the fight against the darkness, if the old stories are to be believed."
With a smile and a shake of her head, she got to the point, "The gist of the situation is that you can't simply cast a fire spell and a light spell at the same time. The two elements need to be combined at the very core of the spell so they function as a single, unified phenomenon."
She explained the requirements, noting that such a feat usually required an enchanted ruby augmented with either a D-rank fire core or a light core to properly channel the fusion. "That specific fusion produces a purifying light," she said, her voice dropping to a serious whisper.
"It's the only thing that can truly burn away miasma and other corrupted or demonic energies that ordinary light can't affect. Even though demons are only a rare spawn in high-level dungeons today, we still use the 'holy' magic or purifying light commonly to clear out miasma and certain types of poisons. If you can create it, then it'll save you some coin. If you can't, I'm sure a merchant or two in the village could supply you with one for the right price. The adventurers have been able to get to the boss floor lately, after all."
Jacob extinguished his light and nodded, a look of fierce determination. "Thanks, Mom. That's exactly what I needed to know."
Overlooking the surprising amount of history and magical theory his mother knew, he left the kitchen and headed straight to his bedroom. He would need to make a mental note to question her further about that stuff she said about The Farmer and demons later.
Once the door clicked shut behind him, his mind was already racing.
He knew he had a D-rank fire core tucked away in his supplies, but he currently lacked a ruby gem.
However, his eyes landed on the Void Gauntlet sitting quietly on its shelf. It seemed like the perfect candidate to bypass the standard specifications by combining all three of his unique enchantment methods.
He pulled the heavy gauntlet off the shelf and blew a thin layer of dust from its surface. It had been neglected for long enough.
Focusing his tier-1 mana, he intentionally overloaded the artificial nodes he had previously created out of runes and a weaker monster core.
The old enchantment crumbled successfully, leaving him with a blank canvas of dark metal.
First, he laid down the foundational two-dimensional runes. He etched them all over the gauntlet in a precise pattern designed to promote the emission of light while simultaneously strengthening the physical material of the armor.
Next, he layered his malleable three-dimensional runes to shape specificity into the enchantment.
He carefully structured them to focus the light into the palm to create a concentrated beam, or to emit outward from the outer shell of the hand like a powerful lantern.
He designed the runic enchantment array to actively pull from a designated core for its power supply, connecting all of the two-dimensional runes in an intricate web of light.
Reaching for the D-rank monster core, Jacob used his magic to delicately extract its internal core structure.
He guided the fiery essence out of its original housing and merged it directly into the framework of the void gauntlet.
With trained precision, he connected the runic arrays to the newly implanted core, forcing the volatile power of the fire core to merge completely with the light-producing runes.
Finally, he applied his intent shaping to smooth out the clashing enchantments, ensuring that the combination of fire energy and light runes produced the correct type of purifying light his mother had described.
Due to the precision he needed for this type of meshing, he decided to forgo the system's robotic assistance, sacrificing a level or two in gains in order to make the enchantment work correctly.
He added a couple of minor enchantment effects to give the gauntlet some variability in use while he was shaping the magic energies within the artifact.
To ensure he could pin down the elusive holy magic, he added one final enchantment through his intent, creating an adjustment mechanism that allowed him to manually fine-tune the balance of light and fire.
The gauntlet shone brilliantly for a few moments, the raw runes glowing fiercely as they could be seen visibly.
Then, the intense light slowly calmed down. The weapon accepted the powerful mana Jacob had channeled into it and absorbed the complex concepts he had imbued through his visualization and intent.
Thankfully, the material was powerful enough to handle his power, and he didn't wipe out his room or part of the house in a magical explosion.