"Hu-the gate closed on Kyle, leaving him without a chance to voice his response.
'Where am I" looking around. He was back on the cliff, it looked different now. Hearing Cerci screamed, he recalled what the dark lord had told him. Locating Cerci wasn't that hard, one could easily see the tornado raging in the distance. Reaching where the tornado was, Kyle saw that Cerci had been screaming at a voice who was threatening her to her worse. She seems to be getting up to leave when he ran and held her hand,"Mom don't listen to him, let's go home" .
She hadn't noticed him running behind her so Kyle held her hand and spoke, she was surprised, she didn't how to respond, she tried to compose herself but she couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.
After a while, she let out,"I thought I had lost you" hugging Kyle tightly, afraid that he might disappear again, or he was an illusion.
"It's alright mom, I'm right here" he reassured her.
"H-what happened to you"she asked stammering.
" I'll tell you when we get home "
When they got home, Kyle explained everything to her, from his battle against the penthria, to Valthrax appearance and then to the Dark lord.
Cerci was more interested when Kyle told her about his conversation with the dark lord and how he said the gods were beneath him. She hadn't heard about anyone being able to distort reality to that extent.
Over the next few months, Cerci and Kyle noticed that the runes on his body helped Kyle channel the mana round his body better, making his spells stronger and more potent.
Three months had passed after the incident and now Kyle was a 7th circle mage, an abnormal feet for someone his age. Even after all this time Kyle was still bothered about what the Dark lord said about his true form looking like Kyle's,maybe he was joking, but it didn't sounded like it.
Back then when he had changed to Kyle, he looked different, broken but determined.
A year after the incident, Cerci got an invitation to her father's retirement party and that she was to bring Kyle along. Kyle knew that she wasn't on good terms with her dad, so it was a surprise to him when she accepted it. The event was to be held at the main house in the capital of Bain, three months from now.
Two days prior to the events, Kyle and Cerci arrived at dawn to the main house to prepare for the event. When they arrived, they where greeted by Zayne, Cerci's cousin, the next patriarch and former hero.
Zayne bowed in respect, revealing the mark on the back palm of his hand, his golden hair covering his eyes, "l heard you were coming so I wanted to be the one to receive you" raising his head to see Cerci, "I heard about you too Kyle, welcome to the Lucas family residence"
"We really appreciate you coming here" putting her hands into his as she alights the carriage.
"The rest are are gathered at the house, we have been waiting for you so we'll plan how it will go" gesturing her to the villa.
"Alright, let's get going then" walking towards the entrance of the villa.
Inside the house the rest of the Lucas family were talking to each other, waiting for the former patriarch to arrive so the meeting would commence.
The room went silent when the door opened and Zayne walks in with Cerci and Kyle,all attention on them, especially Kyle whose silver hairs stands out to their golden hair.
"Why, do I feel like I'm the one their staring at" commenting at their stares
"Relax, they just want to see how the Kyle they've been hearing about look like" Zayne said putting his hand on Kyle's shoulder. Cerci left them to go grab a drink on the table nearby when an elderly man walked up to her, his chest trying to break free from the brown suite he wore
"Cerci, you've grown so much, never expected you to show up"
"Uncle Fredrick how's your health"
"Never been better" flexing his arms "You know I recently earned the title of sword saint"
"That's nice to hear" she dropped the empty glass back on the table. It was good to be back home, although being here brings back bitter memories.
At the far end of the room, Zayne introduced Kyle to his family.
"Kyle meet my wife, Kathyln" referring to a woman with amber color hair and brown eyes.
"It's an honor to meet you, lady kathyln" kissing her hand
"The pleasure's mine, I've heard a lot about you, Kyle Lucas" she said receiving Kyle's greetings with a warm smile.
"And these are our kids" gesturing at them to introduce themselves.
"My name's Luke", he stared harshly at Kyle before walking away.
"Come on Luke, you don't have to be rude" the young girl spoke, smacking Luke on the head.
"Don't mind him, my name's Olivia, nice to meet you" reaching her hand to Kyle. Her fair skin complimenting her yellow hair and the black dress she wore.
"Nice to meet you to"
"Olivia since you have been eager to see Kyle, why don't you show Kyle around and get along" kathyln teased Olivia making her cheeks turn red.
Some time later, Kyle and Olivia are seen walking through the Patriarch's Hall.
"... And that right there was the ninth Patriarch and first sword god produced by House Lucas. It was said that he slayed thousands of demons in his last battle." pointing at a portrait of a gray haired man wearing the Lucas family crest with a sword in his hands.
"I thought House Lucas was known for their mages"
"Yeah, but doesn't mean we don't have warriors, take Sir Fredrick for example, he recently attain the rank of sword saint."
After learning about the patriarch, Kyle realized that all of them were past hero and they all had the same mark as the one Zayne has. He concluded that heros weren't chosen by fate or any sort, instead the powers were passed down to next-generation who becomes the next patriarch.
Most of the patriarch he had seen had died fighting the demon king or sustained a fatal injury removing him from the battlefield.
If he was correct then how was Cerci a hero and didn't inherit the mark.