A week had passed since Blanc's conversation with his mothers. A week full of movement, stress, and preparations that had to be taken care of before his approaching departure.
The first good thing that had happened was that on the same day Blanc had his talks, Bezel Domini came with news.
"I do not have words to describe how impressed I am with Kael's abilities and genius," he said, just before dinner. "After another conversation with Kael today, during which I tested him, he passed without even trying, as I am uncertain he was aware he was even tested to begin with."
"I thought we were talking about your works," Kael muttered, confused.
"Which is exactly why you passed, Kael," Bezel Domini chuckled, utterly baffled. "I would be the one honored to take you in as my pupil; however, you are still young, and as such, I cannot take you to Archivum Civitas yet, as I will not have the time to look upon your growth properly during the turmoil eating at the fabric of our Empire. But, as soon as things calm down a bit, I will come for you, personally."
Kael was shocked, speechless as he looked upon who his new teacher was.
Blanc was not sure if he even heard the sheer number of claps and the volume of the cheers that followed from everyone else present.
Afterwards, Bezel Domini moved his sight towards the Matriarchs of Blood Denegis, "My Ladies, you have brought upon this world a child who might achieve greater things than I ever did."
"You honor us, My Lord," Auren said as she and Mera curtsied.
He then moved to look at Blanc. "And you, Lord Blanc, by giving them Raw Vita to harvest as survival, have brought forth an intellect so developed for his age that I tremble at the thought of what he will become when he is your size. Yet another achievement you gave this world. For that, and for the pupil your Blood gave me, I promise you, and the Vita Herself, that the Archivum Civitas will aid you in whatever means available to us, even if the city is to burn with your Blood."
"I will remember your words, Lord Bezel, until the day I die." Blanc bowed deeply. "I thank you for giving my younger brother the opportunity to achieve his dreams."
The next morning, Bezel Domini, accompanied by a few skilled guards of Blood Maroux, left, returning to Archivum Civitas to resume his work.
Two days later, the second thing that happened came.
Blanc, with the help of Celine, Miyanna, Kael, and Lune, managed to finish the list with all the Raw Vita they wanted to buy.
Celine, Miyanna, and Lune went for a combat approach, each choosing eight beasts that would grant or add on top of their Marks, be it strength, sheer instinct, durability, speed, or reaction time.
With a promise from Blanc to teach them how he managed to defeat Heru by using that claw strike he received from the wolverine, they each chose five wolverines, two bears, and a cheetah.
Kael, however, due to him now being the first pupil of Bezel Domini in existence, chose not to disappoint his teacher and master and shove aside any Raw Vita that might give him an advantage in combat and focused solely on improving his intellect when choosing his eight beasts.
Unfortunately, as he was not able to buy humans to harvest, he opted for two elephants, a mammoth, and five chimpanzees, making, by mistake, a choice that would not only improve his intellect but also his combat abilities, especially his defense.
As for Blanc… that was the most difficult part, as the one thousand gold Lucien offered to give him to strengthen himself before he embarked on the journey, gave Blanc too many options when choosing.
After a bit of thinking, he first chose to focus on his already existing Marks that were not fully black yet.
Three boars, three owls, three bears, four lynxes, four badgers, three sun bears, three foxes, four wolverines, three water buffaloes, and two hippos. Somehow, after all that, he was still off by sixteen beasts.
But, when these were to arrive, only two Marks would remain of a different color.
The Mark of the Rabbit, as… he had no use for the extra stamina, and the Mark of the Human, as humans were not available for purchase for hopefully obvious reasons.
Next, by training with his wives, mothers, and elites of Blood Maroux, he checked over and over what he lacked and needed most when it came to combat. And the answer was… mostly everything.
When he fought against his mothers, who had True Vita in them, and hundreds more beasts of Raw Vita harvested, it was obvious how lacking he was in everything.
They did not even use the powers they received from the True Vita for them to be able to dodge the weird power Blanc received from the wolverine.
Although curious to see more about it, they focused on helping Blanc, since they were unable to dissuade him previously. And they succeeded wonderfully, for through them, Blanc finally understood what he lacked and what he would need most.
Five crowned eagles, five cheetahs, five rhinos, and one singular tiger, a rare sabertooth that cost double the usual beast, which Lucien offered to cover. With that, the waiting game for all the beasts to be brought to the Maroux Domain to be harvested began.
During this week, Blanc had also told Kael and Lune of his soon-to-come journey.
Luckily, as they passed through many things together, they understood why he wanted and felt like he had to go, especially if it came to bringing Sera back, so they did not argue.
Though sad that he would be off for a few months, they wished their good luck and chose to spend as much time with him as they could, leaving the books and weapons aside a few hours per day, in which they trained, spoke, or played around with Blanc as they did in the past, back at the mansion of their Blood.
This made Blanc beyond happy, as he missed such activities with them, fearful that the younger, playful side of them had all but vanished because of all that had happened.
So, when they came to play, joke, or train with him, he accepted it with a smile on his face, although his mind was elsewhere, even if he did not wish for it.
What worried Blanc from the beginning was Velakia and her protectors, which he did not manage to solve during the week that passed.
So, he hoped he would manage today.
"Your Highness," Blanc sighed after lunch, "Lord Maroux has more than likely told you what we are doing together, so why are you refusing for us to train together and make sure there are no issues with our coordination and gauge each other's abilities before we have to use them in real combat?"
"As I have told Your Lordship at least four times during the last few days, we are prohibited to show our combat style unless it is necessary for our own survival," Velakia replied, "We agreed to aid Lord Maroux in this quest, if he can help us get home, but until you or we are in danger, we will not act. If you fear for our lack of combat abilities, please rest assured that we are more than capable of defending ourselves."
"I never assumed otherwise, Your Highness." Blanc shook his head. "But I hope you forgive me for insisting, as I only want to make sure we are ready to defend each other's weak spots when the time comes."
"There are no weak spots in us, Lord Blanc," Velakia giggled. "However, we took notice of yours and have made sure to assist you… when the time comes, of course."
And another bad thing that had happened over this past week was the absence of Sophie, Celine's younger sister, who was ignoring Blanc, making sure to leave whenever he approached, trying to talk to her.
Each time he did so, he wanted to make sure that no bad blood was between them, wishing to hold a good relationship with all of Celine's sisters, as Sisters-in-Law.
But he never had the chance.
The only constant had been the itching sensation he felt whenever Sophie looked at him, a sign that she was nearby. Whenever he felt it, he would try to go speak with her, only for her to run off before he could.
Confused, he went to talk with Celine.
"My love," said Blanc towards her, as she was doing some pushups inside their room.
"What is it?" Celine asked, lowering her body for another repetition.
"I wanted to talk with Sophie and make sure all is good between us, after… You know, the thing from a few nights ago, but she always runs off. Was that your doing?"
"Leave her be, my love," Celine sighed, sitting on her knees, catching her breath. "She is acting defiantly, trying to prove something."
As she said that, the itching came back, grabbing at Blanc's skin for a second before vanishing.
"Is something wrong?" Celine asked, narrowing her eyes.
"It must be my mind." Blanc waved the feeling off before changing the subject to another matter.
And so the week flew by.
Although in many ways successful, he did not feel like all was properly handled.
But time was running out, as word of the beasts they bought being a few days away approached their ears, signaling that the final preparations before his journey were soon to be underway.