Several hours later, Nickel was discharged from the hospital.
He and his siblings were in the family's auto-carriage on their way back to the Silver Estate, just outside of Tralken, where the hospital was.
Will and Liz were still coming to terms with the truth Nickel had told them.
"So, you've always been a Hex, but you had some kind of seal on you?" Liz looked bewildered.
Nickel nodded.
"And even though you've been awakened, the seal prevented you from benefiting from it?" Will asked.
Nickel nodded again.
"How much of a boost did you receive, then, now that the seal's gone?"
"Dr Slate said it was a two hundred percent increase, to everything." Nickel sighed. "It certainly felt like it when I woke up for the first time."
A look of concern appeared on Liz's face.
"What do you plan to do now, then? If you register with the Guild, won't your Rank be revealed? Recruiters will start coming for you."
Nickel responded lightly. "For now, I need to see that letter. Did Kal say where it was from?"
"He said it was important," Will answered, "but since it was addressed to you, you needed to see it first."
"Don't deflect the question, Nickel! What are you going to do if information about your Rank gets out?" Liz's voice was filled with concern for him. "You're the only Hex who's not a member of a large guild! None of them are gonna pass up the chance to acquire you."
Nickel leaned deeper into his seat, an impassive look on his face.
"There's nothing I can do about that. And there's nothing they can do to force me to sign. What are they gonna offer, money? I have more than enough. There's plenty of artifacts in the vaults, too. And if my initial boost is anything to go off of, I have just as much if not more potential than the number one rising star."
His eyes and voice hardened.
"If they try to get in my way, then I'll move them."
Will and Elizabeth smiled wryly at each other.
Nickel was already stronger than most newly awakened, even when he didn't have the initial boost. Now he did, and it was the largest they'd ever heard of someone having.
He could probably defeat anyone below the Second Circle.
But they couldn't let that go to his head. Even if his confidence was warranted.
"Alright, kiddo, why don't you get registered first, before taking on all the strongest guilds in the world." Will teased him.
Liz joined in. "He's right, you can't even enter dungeons yet. How're you gonna get big and strong if you can't?"
Nickel's expression relaxed, understanding what they were doing.
The three of them spent the rest of the ride home in silence, minds focused on what the future held for Nickel.
—
Kalvin was there to greet them once they arrived.
As Nickel stepped out of the auto-carriage, he bowed deeply.
"Welcome home, Master Nicholas," Kalvin straightened, unshed tears in his eyes. "Congratulations on your awakening."
Kalvin had been Nickel's caretaker for his entire life. He had watched him grow up, and had seen as Nickel recklessly threw himself into more extreme training after his parents disappeared.
Kalvin was also the one who had pulled him out of that self-destructive behavior, imploring Nickel to live as his parents would have wanted. Happily, and safely.
"I'm home, Kal."
The butler quickly wiped his eyes.
"Come. There's a letter for you." Kalvin turned on his heel, and led them inside.
He brought them to the west kitchen, where he handed a letter in a dark red envelope to Nickel.
The front of the envelope bore a symbol Nickel didn't recognize, though it looked familiar.
"Who's it from?" He asked Kalvin.
"That is the crest of Alyn Academy."
"The top adventuring academy?" Nickel was confused. "You didn't tell me you sent an application in for me?"
There were a multitude of adventuring academies around the world, from local no-name ones to ones that saw only the children of nobles enter their doors. While the quality of the curriculum varied, each taught future adventurers the skills and knowledge they would one day need.
Monster habits and dissection, combat against both monsters and other Pathfinders, and the most efficient use of their aspects. They also taught economics, skills for the road, and social skills for interacting with potential clients.
Each academy, assuming it was large enough, received a ranking. Of them, Alyn was number one.
And they never would have accepted Nickel.
His butler sighed. "That's because I didn't."
Nickel opened the letter, brows furrowed.
—
To Mister Nicholas Silver
Congratulations, Mr. Silver. You have been accepted into Alyn Academy, as one of our Scholarship Referral students. A personal escort will arrive to transport you to the Academy's campus a week before the start of the new semester, on the twenty-first of Septan, in order to provide you time to settle in, and be made aware of your privileges and responsibilities as a Scholarship Student.
We hope you look forward to your time at Alyn Academy.
From the desk of,
Charles Durand, Dean of Alyn Academy
—
Once he'd finished reading it, Nickel handed the letter to Kalvin.
"Could this be a fake?"
Kalvin shook his head.
"No, Master Nicholas, it could not. I checked. The arcsite of the Academy has a method of digitally authenticating any true crests. This is genuine."
Nickel sat down heavily in the chair at the head of the kitchen table.
"What should we do? Can we reject it?"
"While I'm certain we could…" Kalvin thought for a moment. "I'm not certain we should."
"Why not?"
Kalvin sighed.
"There are certain things that I, and the Wolf Pack and the Coin Purse, are ill-equipped to teach you. The academy would serve much better in that regard…
I am worried, however, that you might be treated as a… less than worthy student, due to your Pathfinder Rank."
Nickel blinked twice.
Right. He needed to tell Kalvin.
"Actually Kal… I should be fine."
"Oh, I know Master Nicholas, you would never let the opinions of others drag—"
"That's… not what I meant."
Kalvin looked at him curiously.
"I'm actually a Hex…"
Kalvin stared, unblinking, for a moment, before he covered his face with his hands, tears beginning to from his eyes
Before Nickel could ask him what was wrong, he heard Kalvin muttering.
"Thank the gods… he'll be fine. Sir, Madam… He'll be fine."