31 Father And Son

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The dying fire hissed and crackled, announcing its desire to return back to life. As if an act of hatred for being on the brink of perishing - the rejuvenated fire expelled venomous smokes of air that started spreading outwards to the ones responsible. But before they were able to invade, the surrounding air turned many times chillier. The smoke became frozen in a mist, disintegrating into tiny ice particles that fell to the ground.

Bram dusted off the dirt in his hands and spoke up in goading praise, "spectacular work as always my wife." In a blur, his six-foot mallet somehow vanished from being clasped on his back, reappearing again in his mighty right hand. Like beautiful art, the icy crystals falling towards the fire were blown away with exquisite control. Bram looked at Elena and smiled foolishly, "but do be careful not to extinguish the fire. As someone who adventures the world, he is my most treasured companion."

Elena's arm was emanating with cold mist. She put it down and shot a disgruntled look towards Bram, his mallet now returned to his back. It was a weapon made for giants, but Bram handled it like a short sword that weighed a few feathers rather than a huge hammer hundreds of tonnes heavy. The trees some distance away had just stopped swaying from the momentum of his swing.

"You think just being out of action for a while has made me lose my touch?" Elena stared at Bram with reproach. The cold mist near the fire did not dissipate from the heat but rushed towards Bram in a hostile fashion. His figure was instantly surrounded in it, goosebumps now visible on the hairs of his arms and a small shiver coming out. Bram hugged his burly arms together like a lost child, immediately regretting his actions. He turned to Austin with pleading eyes, seeking a rescue out of this situation.

Austin was sitting on a small log next to the fire, looking on in entertainment. Elena then revealed a teasing smile and broke into a light chuckle. The chilliness in the air immediately disappeared and Bram strode over to hug Elena in relief. The campfire became warm once again - a warmth that flowed from the air into this sweet moment in time.

...

'Click'

In the deep of night, the door to the carriage opened with the large figure of Bram walking out. Inside, Elena was asleep on her own with two empty spots beside her.

A small region was lit up in the complete darkness. The light was not created with ordinary means - it was pure white, one that flickered in size as if containing life. Looking closer, however, the light was coming from an orb-shaped like a mini white sun. Below it was the palm of a child generating the ball of light with seemingly no effort.

Austin was sitting atop a small rock, gazing out into the starry night sky. There was a distinct craving in his eyes - one that wanted to grow wings and fly out to where the stars lay.

His ear twitched.

"Can't sleep, son?"

Austin's violet eyes sparkled in the dark; so deep in color it was hard to imagine they were the eyes of a human. He glanced around and spotted a smiling Bram walking towards him. Instead of his signature big, wide smile, the corners of Bram's mouth were widened only slightly. His body was a lot slimmer than one would think without his full-body armor.

"Yeah."

"Me neither." Bram came up and sat down next to Austin, glancing at the white orb in his palm.

"Is that light bolt? Must say, I've never seen any other Mage using it the way you are. Not like there are that many with the Light Attribute anyways. Hah..." Bram sighed in wallow at his deplorable luck. He was not born with any Magical Attributes, yet all of the elements blessed his son. He didn't have any and Elena only had the water element, so how did Austin...

"Do you want to use Magic, Father?" Austin asked him.

"Who wouldn't want to, it looks so fun. Of course I do!" Bram was twinkling in excitement imagining all the things he could do. Seeing the pure child-like joy in his eyes, Austin knew he didn't want to be able to use Magic for the sake of power and strength like everyone else, but simply for the fun of it. Austin smiled to himself, 'I guess it's true the apple doesn't fall from the tree.'

As if it was pre-determined, Austin's gaze turned back to the stars in the sky just as Bram's vision moved in the same direction, both with a similar spark in their eyes. Beneath them showed their dreams as well as an immature defiance.

A cool, night wind blew against their face and cicadas sung in the background. The two sat in peaceful silence with stirred emotions. Only after an unknown amount of time did Austin and Bram start talking. The father and son have not spent much time together because of Bram's absences. Through the night, they made up for all the lost time and talked about everything they missed out on, at times laughing, smiling and joking. Near the end of the night, Bram's eyes flashed with something Austin said.

...

Moving through a natural Earthy path surrounded by trees, the carriage was on the road again two days after leaving the Palace. Austin and his parents were close to approaching the borders of the Krashal Nation. They would have to travel on foot once they left its territory. Sitting at the helm, Bram was leaning back in relaxation and humming a song like a man who enjoyed the simple things in life.

It was a unique experience for him to enjoy the comfort of leisurely travel. Normally, he would either be on horseback or foot rushing about without enough time in the world. But right now, he looked completely free of worries having taken on the role of a family man. At least, that is how it seemed on the outside.

They did not encounter many people along the way and only met with a few wandering merchants. Unlike the rest of the continent, the Royal Nation was one of the only places free of conflict. After all, there was no real need for travel. Why would these fortunate citizens ever want to leave the safety of their homes?

Elena's hometown was in a secluded place not located in any Nation. To get there, they have not been traveling on any smooth roads.

Though they were being led by the strongest breed of stallion, and their carriage was one of the sturdiest, it could not prevent the bumping along the rocky roads.

Although the surface has remained the same, the carriage was currently bouncing up and down more than it had been for the past two days.

"Huh?"

Bram pulled on the reigns, making the horses come to a stop. He had to control his strength and only use a very small portion of it, otherwise, their heads might just accidentally snap off. Luckily for all the horses in the world, warriors strong enough to do so would not have any difficulties in controlling their power.

"Grandpa, is something wrong?"

In the middle of the road, an old man was sitting down on the ground. His white clothes were not dirtied at all and his relaxed posture made him look like he was in his own home instead of this random, remote area.

Bram jumped off the carriage and walked up to him. The old man's head was down and seemed to be asleep. He was murmuring something under his breath. When Bram was just about to reach him, he looked up and

!

"Fire needles."

Two projectiles darted out from his eyes, flying straight towards Bram's.

At the exact same moment, twenty masked figures dressed in all-black jumped out of the trees, looking towards the carriage. In the air, each of them fired off a slash of wind, aiming for the people inside.

'Wind Mages!'

Bram summoned his mallet to block the projectiles coming towards his face. He had to handle the attack in front of him and could not defend the attacks coming for Austin and Elena. Fortunately, the air slashes did not penetrate through the carriage upon impact, but the assassins were fast approaching. Unbelievably, all twenty of them were Wind Mages. Specializing in quick movement, they were the perfect assassins.

"Who are you? What do you want!" Bram shouted. He used both hands to heavily swing down in the direction of the invaders. The might of his swing reverberated through the air and was able to force the assassins back. The ones in front fell to the ground while the rest were pushed back by the momentum. Unperturbed, they immediately recovered. Not a single enemy suffered a wound and their movements continued. A light green glowing around their bodies - they were dashing through the air with the use of the Wind element.

Bram could not believe it. For his attack to have such little effect, the black figures had to be at least Gold-Rank Mages! And there are so many of them!

Who would send out such a force... What were they after!

Before he had the chance to take any more action, a deadly heat was rising from behind. The old man was casting another spell, and it looked to be his real attack this time. The fire needles he cast first was just a means of distraction to set up for this moment.

"Prison of fire."

A wall of fire suddenly descended upon the eyes-widened Bram, his entire figure now trapped within the burning flames.

'This is a Rank 4 spell... the old man is a Fire Mage, and he is Platinum Class at the very least!'

For Fire Mages that specialized in offensive Magic, Prison of fire is one of the most advanced suppression type spells available to learn. Although it did not have any attacking power, the spell's trapping ability is on par with Water Mages at the same level.

"Quickly, he cannot do anything for now. Eliminate the kid before he gets out!" The old man shouted.

He was Ral's Second Uncle - one of the secret leaders of the Krashal Family who had been sent here to take Austin's life.

He smirked. The execution was perfect, he had used his most powerful trapping spell on Bram, giving them more than enough time to complete the simple task. He felt like he didn't need to go through the effort of coming up with an elaborate plan. Bram was not as strong as he had thought and got trapped by him so easily. He felt like his brother was being too wary. Looking at the situation now - everything was so easy, there was no need for him to personally come out at all. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

The assassins rushed forwards, now only meters away from the carriage, all of them wielding two short daggers in hand.

The first one arrived, slashing the carriage open.

Then!