"So how did everything go?" said Kurt.

"You mean at Sylvain?" said Stacy, "surprisingly well. The shadows had made everyone uneasy, and Mordor was tyrannical."

"That's good to hear."

"Yes, and by not replacing anyone but the one at the top no one can really argue favoritism, yet. Even if you're fair, it will always lead to appearances."

"And the other species?"

"That will take more time."

"So do you like it?"

"Like what sir?"

"The role? The position? Negotiations?"

"Are you suggesting I should rule Sylvain for you my lord?"

"No, not exactly. But I was impressed by how you handled yourself. You kept your eyes open and acted appropriately and swiftly."

"Thank you, my lord."

"And I'm kind of low on people I trust."

"Kurt," said Jacob.

"You'd of course be able to bring him too."

Stacy smiled, "If he doesn't get lost on the way."

"Hey!"

"But I have a lot of territory that has a lot of acting chiefs. This would be on Earth."

"Earth."

"Yes."

"And what would I be doing?"

"Ruling for me."

"Like a…"

"Baroness I think is the term."

"Are you sure that I'm the one.."

"You should bring help, and listen to them. Also, there are people there already. I still need to talk to Layla about it. But if you don't want it."

"No it's not that," said Stacy. "Can I think about it, it's a really big decision."

Thinking about the situation for a second Kurt suddenly had a great idea. And flew from house to Dutchery.

There he found Sara. This time not in council but relaxing by the river.

"Kurt!" said Sara. "Why are you here?"

"To tell you of my conquests of course."

"Is this some sex thing, you know I'd tell Talia."

"Really, some friend you are. That makes this easier."

"What easier?"

"Well, I've been thinking about how you've been going around calling yourself Dutchess Sara."

"And…"

"But you don't have anything under you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ohh, I've conquered Sylvain."

"The elven kingdom? I've heard."

"Yes, that's the one."

"And."

"Congratulations, it's now your problem."

"My problem."

"I hereby grant the Dutchery the authority to appoint a Viscount of Sylvain."

"Wait what?"

"It means you rule Sylvain and your first job is to find someone to do that for you."

"As my subordinate."

"Yes."

"You're just pushing it all on to me."

"Delegating. Most ladies of high society would be pleased with gaining a whole kingdom under their domain."

"I don't know anything about Sylvain."

"And like I do."

"Then why'd you take it over? How did you take it over?"

Kurt took a bit to explain what happened.

"And now it's just mine."

"Yep," said Kurt."Also, I'm sort of a god now."

"A god."

"Well, I have temples and stuff."

"As in plural."

"Yes. You should be able to slip to the one in Sylvain."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's hard to keep track of. But actually, let's go." Kurt grabbed Sara's shoulder and slipped to Sylvain.

There were a few elves there praying. Really thought Kurt. That's easy.

"Lord Kurt," said one of them.

"Hey stop it," said Kurt turning back towards Sara, "so right now Boris is in charge of the day-to-day. So find someone you trust. And put them in charge permanently. One of those people you have in court."

"I know I know," said Sara. Looking up at the pyramid. "I was expecting, like, a big tree."

"I know right?" Kurt had the same thought as no one had mentioned that Sylvain was based around a massive step pyramid.

"But still impressive," said Sara, then turned her head back down to Kurt. "And the destruction at the top?"

"Yeah, that was me."

"Well, I guess it could be worse."

"I have a feeling it will get there."

They had made their way up the step to the top. Though the mansion wasn't completely a makeshift throne tent, Boris was there.

"Lord Kurt, Lady Sara," said Boris. "We weren't expecting you."

"Yes there has been a bit of a change," said Kurt. "I've decided that Sylvain will be under Duchess Sara, and she shall appoint a Viscount."

"So you're saying I should be reporting to her directly instead of you."

"Yes. It's more of a reorganization. Hopefully, this will hurry your return when Sara finds someone."

"Yes," said Boris, "then we have much to discuss."

Kurt left them to discuss the future of Sylvain.

He had told Ethan to meet him at his house in the morning. Kurt wanted to see if anything felt different about the Minotaur's strength.

"Before we begin is there anything you've noticed?"

"Actually," said Ethan, "besides the slipping between wells," he brought up a face-up palm. And a small red ball had formed. "I seem to have this."

It wasn't water exactly but a flowing red energy in a small almost liquid form. Kurt assumed this would be strengthened by drinking from Layla's main fountain.

"Okay," said Kurt, "can you do this?" Kurt made his normal water fist. Then thought about what he was doing for a second.

And pulled back the water to just use the red power, and then it looked the same. He had naturally always used it together after a while, never separating the concepts.

Ethan attempted the same, only without the water, and it encased his fist, though it was much thinner.

"Minotaur don't normally gain powers from fae waters do they?"

"It normally requires an additional blessing from the fae itself. Our clan is blessed by the Kitsune."

"Well, I think we have that. You might be able to now. If it's one of Layla's fae."

But Kurt made a few hops. It didn't work as well as water boots but it had a similar effect.

"So see how my feet," Kurt looked down to see hooves, "maybe you can try to use them as a spring." Kurt leaps fairly high and easily.

Ethan tried a few times but he wasn't having the best footing for it.

"Unfortunate. I'm sorry," said Kurt. "It's probably best if we test the theory if you can now gain the full powers or some form of them."

There were several choices which was the main problem for Kurt. He wasn't actually fully aware of all the options because there must have been other mana springs that had blossomed since the fae had arrived.

"Which one though," said Kurt.

"If I may," said Ethan, "I would prefer to attempt Barney first."

"Barney really? Why?"

"Simple, there are a lot of wyverns, and it's become apparent to me that Minotaurs are vulnerable to an air attack. The straightforward forward solution is to take their wind away."

"Interesting. I have no problem starting over there. But before that let's see how much you have improved physically."

They had a small spar. Kurt was able to defend everything the Minotaur had thrown at him.

Ethan then dashed much quicker than before and caught Kurt by surprise. Kurt was still too fast for it to hit but it was closer.

Kurt started to realize Ethan had begun using the power in a somewhat different way. Instead of using the more bounce Ethan could gain a lot of traction and momentum he couldn't before. Pushing some mana into his eyes he could see he was also focusing some on his muscles mid swing.

"Good," said Kurt.

"Yes, I was feeling something there," said Ethan.

"Hold that feeling for a moment and try to push a little into your eyes."

Ethan made a few awkward movements, then closed his eyes, and opened them after a moment.

"I see, more" said Ethan. "Your glory is more than."

"Yes," said Kurt. "But it still can't see past the shadows, don't be too confident."

"I understand, thank you for showing me."

"You seem to have a knack for it," said Kurt. "But let's go see Barney."

Kurt slipped to Barney's well and Ethan followed him. Kurt hadn't seen Barney since his battle with the student.

His well was above Helmsbrig. Overlooking the castle. Barney wasn't there. He was actually running the cattle; it was one of his terms.

A few moments later Barney had flown up to see who had come. "Sir Kurt."

"Hi Barney, we are just here to give Ethan a little test."

"Ethan? He would be this Minotaur, are you asking for a blessing?"

"No not quite, Ethan's a little special. So if you don't mind."

"Of course not my lord. Though I'm afraid minotaurs usually require a more involved process, and there is a limit to the number I could."

"I understand, don't worry."

Ethan went to the pool. Barney's fountain was different from Layla's. It had a large donut with a hole in the center. The water was being blown sporadically by a wind that seemed to come from nowhere.. All of it was in a tint of red. Because it was Kurt who had formed it. A simple pool of water below.

Ethan took a drink from a cup he made out of his hands. That was usually enough. Kurt could see it pour through his body as he watched the man's eyes.

"That should do it," said Kurt. "You feel something."

"Yes." Ethan took a step past the two others, "I wish to try something to stand back."

Ethan fit into a stance. And made a simple forward punch. A red glowing wind shot out of his hand in a violent fashion scurrying dust and pebbles lifted in the air around a blast.

"Very good," said Kurt.

Ethan did it again, only the gust was a lot smaller and there was no red glow. The difference between a tornado and a soft breeze.

"I understand," said Ethan. Taking another punch that reacted similarly to his first punch.

Kurt understood as well. It wasn't that Minotaurs had no powers at all, it was that they were extremely weak normally. Ethan though could supercharge it with his new red powers from being a follower.

"This will take some practice," said Ethan, he bowed towards Barney, "thank you for your gift."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.