The Patriarch’s name stayed in the office for a few seconds.
Lian said nothing, he only slowly leaned back against his chair and looked at Damian.
The Patriarch... the Patriarch... the highest official position in the entire Vorhelm Family, but a person who had not been seen for years and was busy dealing with the situation in the Black Sea.
One of the strongest men in the whole world, one of the very few living beings who had completed five Evolutions.
The middle-aged man stayed silent for a few moments, as if he wanted to make sure his nephew truly understood how important this matter was.
Then he slowly said.
"Yes... the Patriarch himself." His voice was calm, but the weight of those words was so heavy that it felt like the entire room became heavier.
"The order for your return came from him, not from the Council of Elders, not from the main branches, not from those two women, and not from anyone else... the main reason we insisted on bringing you back was his order."
Lian raised his eyebrow slightly.
Even now, hearing this was strange.
Not only during the last two years, but during his entire life, he had never received a single message from that man.
No call, no letter, no sign that he even existed.
He had only been able to see him a few times.
But now... that same man had ordered him to return to the family.
Now he understood why the family had gone so far that they even wanted the Academy to expel him, so he would have no choice except coming back.
This was his father’s order.
And the Council of Elders was afraid that if they failed to bring him back, they would face that man’s anger.
But why?
Why did his father want him to return?
And why so suddenly after two years?
Damian continued.
"When he gives an order... even those two women can only obey."
Lian’s eyes slightly shined.
More than anything else, this sentence caught his attention, because during all the years he had lived in the family, those two women had controlled almost everything.
Even many members of the Council of Elders worked together with them.
But now Damian was saying with complete confidence that all of that power meant nothing before one order from the Patriarch.
The middle-aged man gave a bitter smile, as if he knew exactly what Lian was thinking.
"The surface can fool people, the council is powerful, the main branches are powerful, and the Patriarch’s wives have great influence."
"But all of that only matters while he stays silent."
Damian slowly stood up from his chair, walked toward the window, locked his hands behind his back, and looked at the gardens outside.
"The Vorhelm Family is an empire."
Then he slightly turned his head.
"And every empire has only one emperor."
Lian felt that his uncle truly feared that man.
Not normal fear, but the respect that comes from absolute power.
Silence filled the room for a few seconds.
"Then why now? Why after two years?" Lian finally asked.
Damian slowly turned around and thought for a few moments.
"I don’t know, but what I do know is that he hasn’t interfered in the family’s internal affairs for three years, three full years, and now suddenly his first order was about you."
Then he answered honestly.
Even he looked surprised while saying those words.
The more he thought about it, the less he understood it.
Even though they were brothers, he understood almost nothing about his brother.
That man never followed logic.
He never followed any rules.
He simply did whatever he wanted.
Lian also reminded him a little of that man.
Just like his father, this boy was extremely stubborn, difficult to understand, and acted without warning.
He did things that no one expected.
He was even willing to completely throw away one of the strongest family names in the world simply because he refused to give in.
Who would really do something like that?
The room became quiet again.
But this time Damian broke the silence himself.
He gave a small smile and sat back down.
"Well, I’m done talking, now tell me about yourself, I want to know what happened to you out there, tell me about the Ruined Realm."
"I was worried here too, I didn’t expect you would really be able to come back, you went far beyond my expectations."
Lian looked at him for a few seconds.
In the end, he decided to tell part of the truth.
Not everything.
Only the part that was necessary.
"When I entered the Ruined Realm..."
And the story began.
He talked about the Valley of Awakening, about the day everyone thought he had no talent, about the monster he met by chance.
About the battle that he should never have survived.
About the luck that allowed him to kill that monster.
And about the moment he finally became an Awakened.
Then he talked about the companion who had helped him during the journey, but he did not mention her name.
"She prefers that nobody knows her identity."
That was all he said.
It was Seris’s request.
During those one or two days while they were returning from Frost Fallen to the village, Seris had asked him that after they returned home, they should not tell anyone about each other.
Lian could understand the reason.
He was a Vorhelm.
If the Pendragon Family found out that their daughter had worked together with a Vorhelm, it could cause trouble for Seris.
Damian respected that and did not ask any more questions.
Then he talked about the hunts.
About the endless battles.
Lian talked about the cursed village, about the Mutated Monsters they found there, and about the battles where they came close to death many times.
And finally he talked about the end.
About the Level 20 monster, about the key they found, and about escaping because it was the only way to survive.
Of course, he did not tell the truth.
He did not say that the creature was an Unholy Monster.
He did not say just how impossible that battle really was.
He told Damian much more than he had told Instructor Aldric.
The reason was simple.
He needed his uncle to believe that he had told him everything.
But some secrets still had to remain hidden.
When he finished speaking, Damian did not say anything for a few seconds.
He only looked at him.
The more he had heard, the more he understood how incomplete the rumors really were.
Finally he slowly said.
"You really came back from hell."
Then he gave a short laugh.
"Now I understand how you managed to do those things in the border city, it’s obvious you went through something much harder before that."
This time there was no mockery in his voice.
There was only pride.
The pride an uncle felt toward his nephew.
But suddenly something came to his mind.
His eyes became slightly narrower.
"I have one question, what level are you now?"
Lian stayed silent.
Then he answered.
"Thirteen."
Damian blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then he sat up straight.
"How much?"
"Thirteen."
This time the silence lasted even longer.
The problem was not the number.
Level 13 was not strange for someone Lian’s age.
Even reaching it in less than one month was not strange from Damian’s point of view.
He had seen talents like that before.
The real problem was everything Lian had done.
All the monsters he had killed.
Everything that had happened in the border city.
None of it matched a Level 13 Awakened.
Not even close.
A full group of Level 13 Awakened would be needed just to defeat three Level 15 monsters.
But this boy...
He had saved an entire city by himself and slaughtered hundreds of monsters.
People did not pay much attention to this.
They were only shocked by how powerful he was as a student.
Because they did not know that Lian was only Level 13.
They also did not know what levels those monsters were.
If the public had known the full details, the whole country would have fallen into complete shock.
A Level 13 should never have such power.
"This doesn’t make sense." Damian quietly said.
Lian almost read his thoughts and gave a faint smile.
"It’s because of two of my skills, and a few special titles I got inside the Ruined Realm, finishing first in the Ruined Realm has its own rewards."
That answer was not the whole truth.
But it at least explained part of the difference.
Damian slowly nodded.
He knew that some titles really were extremely powerful.
But details like that were considered private.
So he asked nothing more.
In the end, he leaned back in his chair and simply looked at Lian for a few moments.
Then he quietly said.
"Without anyone realizing it, you’ve become the biggest rival for the position of Patriarch, the person who can destroy the entire structure those two women spent years building."
Then he paused, and his eyes became deeper.
"But there’s something that made me curious, is it possible that the Patriarch already knows all of this, and that’s why he wanted you to return?"