Chapter 84 Berry

Gran recalled everything this kid did and said. What puzzled him was the weird question about his vision about porters.

At some point, he couldn't help but steal a gaze at William, sizing him up and down. 'Damn! Was he trying to assess me back then or what?!'

He guessed it right. William wanted to do this exactly. After knowing everything about William, Gran knew that question was never a simple one.

William wasn't a porter, and yet he spoke as if he was still one. He didn't lie when he said he was once a porter, never lied about anything he said actually. And that made Gran add more points to William's assessment in his mind.

William wasn't playing around, not acting as what kids of his age should. If such a kid got himself powerful in such a short time, turning from a mere porter into a spirit master of bronze grade, then he should be acting arrogant, or jumping around and screaming in joy, showing off what he accomplished.

Yet all he noticed from William was calmness, like what happened wasn't that big of a deal to him. Gran didn't even feel a speck of joy or pride inside William, not even once.

He was acting like a grown up man, one with a deep and unfathomable mind.

"We are here," after half an hour of walking, and as Gran didn't answer any greeting coming from spirit masters who met him on the way thanks to his disturbed mind, he finally stopped in front of a big mansion.

It was the clan patriarch's residence, lying in the heart of the entire region. William looked at such a grand building, five stories high, spanning over a wide stretch of land as if ten buildings merged together to form it, with a large wall and big gate.

It was a nice building indeed, one that reminded William of the big residence he once had before in his past life.

"Impressed by our patriarch's place?" Gran noticed and mistook the longing gaze over William's face when he saw this mansion.

"It's… Ok," but what William said made him want to punch that kid, teaching him lessons about how to behave in good manners.

This mansion was even grander than the academy's headmaster's mansion. Gran didn't know what to say and so he led the way towards the inside.

Passing the big gate led to a wide garden. William noticed the presence of many good herbs here, giving him a good impression about the long vision and care for alchemy of this patriarch.

Others might use good looking flowers and plants to decorate their gardens. But this patriarch placed the important use of these herbs for his clan's alchemists above anything else. Which was something that would benefit the spirit masters of his clan in the end.

"Oh, isn't it brother Gran? When did you arrive?"

Just as the group was passing through the garden, a loud shout came from inside the mansion before a tall and robust middle aged man appeared there with a wide smile on his face.

"Brother Callom, I see you are in better health than when I left."

The two greeted each other, not in the usual formal way in the spirit master world, but in the way family members would do.

They patted each other's arm in such a way that told William both were related by blood.

'Are they brothers perhaps? Or cousins?' William muttered while looking at the two seemingly close to each other in age and also in features.

And surprisingly enough, William found a similarity between the two and someone he knew.

"William! You are here?!!"

And just as William was thinking about her, a loud shout came from the direction of the second floor, where a head full of hair just turned and vanished.

"She is coming," William smiled while the others around, including the two middle aged men, didn't get what was going on here.

"Is she someone you know?" Just as everyone was puzzled, Ary leant over William and asked in such a low tone, as he didn't get to properly see the face or Berry.

"I do," William recognised the voice, just like the two puzzled elders standing not far away.

And just as Ary said this, Berry appeared from the door, running towards William before she threw herself into his embrace.

"I was deadly worried over you," she said, and William could feel his sincerity from her tone.

And also, he felt she got a little stronger than before, making him grin in satisfaction.

"I see you are having your fun during my absence to even forget about me," the elder who led William here said in such discontent.

"U… Uncle?! And… Father….?!!!" Berry seemed to get a little scared here for a second. William couldn't help but step forward and cupped his hands, showing his fast reaction and quick wits to extricate Berry from such an awkward situation.

"Sorry for that, uncles, but I didn't see her for a week or so," Gran noticed that William changed the way he addressed him from senior and elder to uncle. And that made him feel how sneaky William was with words.

"Stop dreaming about coating your way out of here, little kid," the one who Berry called father said. Callom's eyes kept moving up and down, assessing William for more than three times before adding:

"A weak looking kid, wearing white clothes of the academy porters, daring to act this way with my daughter in front of my eyes… Are you the one rumoured to help my daughter?"

"I'm William," William thought he was going to be let out of this unscathed, "nice to meet uncle."

"I'm not that glad about meeting you," yet the next moment a sword was drawn out and got pointed towards William, "a kid claiming to be my daughter's friend must prove his worth before taking a single step out of here. Come, take out your weapon. Let's have a proper spirit master duel."

"Father!" Berry instantly got scared when she heard that.