Before this journey happened, Anders was praying to the divines for the strength to last until his children were safe. They were the only legacy of the love he had with his late wife. He thought that he wouldn’t have the strength anymore since his body was crooked and unhealthy due to an accident that happened when he was a mercenary.
When Anton lost his memory, Anders knew that he couldn’t make the choice that the others who experienced the same thing had taken which was to treat the victim as another person entirely since the person before didn’t exist anymore. Anton was his first child and Annette loved their son too much for Anders to abandon his son.
It was all for the best since Anton became more. His son became a powerful wizard but the important part was not even that. The important part was that he became more caring of his family.
Anders felt that his wife was looking out for them. His son kept saying that somebody powerful gifted him the gifts that he received but Anders believed that it was influenced by the spirit of his wife to make sure that they survived in these trying times. He was a simple man and he didn’t need to believe in something complicated so he believed that his wife was looking out for them.
Now he was back at his peak and Anders felt that he was even getting younger. He even looked younger. His son’s spell was truly powerful curing him of his illnesses even the hidden ones that his children were not aware of. He was even starting to look like a noble since the blemishes on his skin caused by battles and farm work were slowly being eradicated by his son’s powerful healing spells. Anton could even conjure what he called mana water that refreshes their body and his daughter Anna believed that it was the cause of their skin turning fairer and smoother.
The campsite was brightly lit due to his son’s spell and the horses were taken care of and were already asleep. Anders was truly amazed at one of his son’s spells that caused them to have full energy and stamina and erased exhaustion from their body. The only side effect was negligible which was to consume more food.
Every one of them, instead of looking exhausted, looked healthy and rested. The fact that they were full of energy but the moment they lay down they would be asleep immediately was a boon. Not only that, they would all be fully rested just sleeping for a few hours.
After all of them had taken a bath, Anders saw his son handling their laundry which took him no time at all. The clothes disappeared and reappeared looking clean and brand new.
That was one of his favorite things with his son. Even though Anton was now a mighty wizard, he was still very obedient to his father, and not only that, he was still humble and would not hesitate to use his magic to do what other wizards would consider degrading like laundry.
Anders saw his children going inside their tents to sleep while Lucas allowed his son to rest as well taking in the first shift of the guard duty. Lucas kept thanking him for hiring them since ever since they had become part of their group, they received the full benefit of Anton’s powerful healing spells which the adults knew would have cost them a great deal of coins if they were performed by mighty wizards.
The mana water alone would have cost them a fortune but unfortunately, according to his son they wouldn’t be able to sell it since it would lose its effect as time passed so it was only most effective the moment Anton conjured it.
Anders entered his tent to rest and lay down on his sleeping bed which felt soft and looked brand new. Every item they had looked brand new due to his son’s spell so they looked like rich merchants. The clothing they all wore was only fit to be worn by very rich merchants or nobles since they were all new. That was also the reason why Nemina was adamant about joining their family to them as their attendants since that spell of Anton alone which was able to repair any items and make them brand new would cause them to become very wealthy.
Before he fell asleep, Anders also thought of the fact that he was also able to play as a wizard due to the wands they had received from the vampires. The fact that the wands could cast an unlimited amount of spells due to his son being able to recharge them anytime excited him. Who didn’t dream of becoming a wizard who could cast endless spells one after another? At that thought, Anders fell asleep.
Anders woke up after a couple of hours and it felt like he slept the whole night. He went outside and began cleaning their campsite. After a few minutes, everyone else woke up and got busy cleaning the camp. Anton fed and watered the horses and then served the still-hot food from his magical space. He was really proud of his son. He was beginning to have the demeanor of a powerful wizard but did not hesitate in doing humble chores like feeding the horses or even cleaning their makeshift toilet although he watched his son and Anton actually didn’t touch anything, he just lifted the dirty things using his magic.
Lucas and Devon assisted him in hitching the horses to the carriage and he thought about his son’s suggestion of finding a coachman to drive their carriage. The fact was he was a bit hesitant about doing that since Anders didn’t know what he would do with all those times inside their carriage doing nothing. At least when he was driving the carriage, he could concentrate on driving and he would not get bored but if somebody were driving, he would probably do something else like plan their business venture, listen to his son’s beautiful voice and wonderful lute playing or listen to his son tell stories.
Anders could even start reading the newly written novel by his son that Anna kept raving about.
“I guess having a driver had more benefits than downsides,” Anders thought.
Anders saw his son dispel his powerful mage light since the sun was coming out from its hiding place on the horizon. He loved the fact that his son kept joining him in the driver’s seat and they had talked so much about everything that Anders felt closer to Anton more than ever.
He remembered that before, Anton was as Anna described it “a lump.” But now he was so knowledgeable although that knowledge pertained to his spells, songs, and stories but he was more engaging.
Anders truly believed that his son was not a different person but a person who came into his own after he survived that awful plague. He thanked the divines again and his wife for watching over their family and he couldn’t wait to get to the city where they would stay so they could live their lives as a wealthy family.