CH76 Letter from Home
Alex walked out of the training room, which had remained undamaged despite taking the full brunt of the training dummy’s explosion, and made his way to freshen up.
Just as he had finished bathing, a message from Merlin arrived.
"Come over to my office. You have a letter from your family."
"Yes, Master," Alex replied.
His gaze flickered briefly as he considered the message.
He had an inkling of what the letter might say, and the thought filled him with a sense of melancholia.
Rather than using the portal to instantly teleport to the Tower Master’s office, Alex chose to walk there instead.
He took his time, calmly absorbing the sights of the Enclave, a place that had become his home over the past five years. In truth, it was the only home he had known since reincarnating into this world.
No matter how slowly he walked, his feet inevitably brought him to the door of Merlin’s office.
After knocking, Alex entered and found Merlin seated in the Tower Master’s chair, with Zora preparing tea by the side of the table.
"Master, Zora," Alex greeted politely before taking a seat.
Zora poured a cup of tea for both of them, and then for herself.
Merlin casually pushed the letter across the table toward Alex before sipping his tea.
Alex picked up the letter, instantly recognising the unmistakable seal of Earl Drake Fury. He opened it and read through the contents with careful attention.
The letter wasn’t long, and in fact, it was extremely concise.
As Alex had suspected, Earl Fury was calling him back home... Back to claim his rightful place as the heir of the Fury family line.
However, there was a catch.
The letter stated that Alex was only to return if he believed himself to have the strength to reclaim everything that belonged to him.
"Father has asked me to return," Alex said after reading the letter.
"I’m aware. I received one too," Merlin replied evenly.
"You can either return to your family and reclaim your position, or remain here and peacefully continue your research."
"What is your choice?"
Merlin sipped his tea, his sharp eyes quietly studying the youth before him.
Zora, graceful as ever, was also sipping her tea with calm poise.
Alex, however, was silent.
His eyes were fixed on the cup in front of him.
No, that wasn’t quite right. He wasn’t looking at the liquid itself, but at his faint reflection shimmering on its surface.
So many thoughts flashed through his mind in that brief moment—memories, emotions, possibilities.
Eventually, he looked up and turned to Zora.
She offered him an encouraging smile.
Alex responded with a wry one of his own.
He turned to face Merlin once more.
"To be honest," he began, "I like what I have here. I can do my research, grow in strength, and raise my standing peacefully... without danger lurking around every corner."
"But...?" Merlin prompted.
"But I have responsibilities," Alex said solemnly, "and a purpose I can’t run from. Whether I like it or not, I am the heir to the Fury line of nobility. To shirk that duty would cause more instability in the long run than anything my return could spark."
His eyes flicked to Zora.
"And besides... my father has invested too much in me. I won’t show him a coward’s back."
Then, in a quieter voice, he added:
"But more importantly, I need to grow. Faster than I ever have before. There’s someone I care about deeply—someone I must save. And the only way to do that... is to enter the Planes and conquer them for myself."
He looked back at Merlin.
"While I know you could offer me a Planar cordinate, I wouldn’t be able to claim it in my name. And if I can’t hold it myself, then I can’t exploit it the way I need to... to push my limits and unlock my true potential."
He paused. Then continued with quiet certainty:
"To be honest, I believe I’ve exhausted the potential growth I can achieve within the safety of the Enclave. The only path left is forward—through challenges, through hardship. Only by throwing myself at the obstacles the world has to offer can I evolve."
"Power. Responsibility. Purpose."
"Whichever way I look at it... the road to fulfilling them lies beyond the comfort this place provides."
As he spoke those words, Alex came to a quiet realisation.
Every leap in his progress—be it strength, insight, or Rune-Tech innovation—had come on the heels of adversity. Every breakthrough had come at the edge of some difficulty.
Now, as the secret True Disciple of the Tower Master himself, there were few obstacles left here that could truly challenge him.
’It’s time to leave the novice village... and step into the real world.’
"Good." Merlin nodded approvingly.
"As expected, you do not disappoint."
His tone turned firm.
"The eaglet must leave the nest to become king of the skies. The tiger cub must leave the den to rule the jungle. You must leave the Enclave and face the outside world if you are ever to conquer it and carve your name into history."
Merlin took another sip of tea, then added bluntly:
"Even if you had chosen to stay, I would have thrown you out myself. I didn’t spend all this time grooming you just to watch you grow into a greenhouse flower—pretty to look at, but hollow inside."
Alex gave a helpless smile.
’So I never really had a choice in the matter, huh?’
Zora, however, gave Merlin a strange look.
But it wasn’t for the reason one might expect.
If someone unfamiliar with the situation were to hear Merlin’s words, they’d think Alex was about to set out from home for the first time into some vast, unknown world.
When in fact... the opposite was true.
He was returning from the world to his home.
Yet Merlin made it sound like he was returning to a battlefield.
’Well, then again,’ Zora mused as she sipped her tea, ’this is the Fury family we’re talking about... Might as well be a battlefield.’