Chapter 406: Home Sweet Home
Nathan was silent for a few seconds, staring at Ethan in awe as he tried to process what he had just heard.
"What exactly does this power allow you to do?" He eventually asked.
"Right now?" Ethan thought briefly. "For one, I can summon a lot more summons than any normal Summoner should be able to."
"How many?" Nathan asked.
Ethan shrugged. "I’m not actually sure there’s a limit."
Nathan’s brows rose slightly.
"I mean, surely you noticed this house was surrounded by summons the last time you were here." Ethan added.
"I noticed." Nathan replied. "But I assumed some of them belonged to other Summoners. Perhaps you paid some powerful people to station their summons around you, or something along those lines."
Ethan gave him a strange look. "You expected Summoners to just be somewhere else while their summons stayed here?"
"You’re hardly short of the money required to make something like that happen." Nathan said. "I simply never considered it natural for one person to possess that many."
Ethan shrugged again.
Nathan stared at him for another moment before another question immediately came to mind. "Then how did you come across so many powerful summons?"
Ethan looked at him without saying anything at first.
"I’m trying to wrap my head around this." Nathan continued. "Even one summon catalyst of that calibre would sell for a fortune. How exactly do you have more than ten?"
"And not just that, how do you determine which catalyst you’re compatible with?" Nathan asked further.
Ethan sighed. "Going into all the mechanics is such a hassle that I’m not sure I want to do that with you, old man."
Nathan gave him a look, but Ethan continued. "What I can tell you is that, however powerful the Spirit King’s abilities might be, I’m nowhere close to their full potential. There’s still a lot I haven’t achieved, and it’s going to take time before I reach anything close to its fullest capabilities."
Ethan was also referring to the last key fragment to the summoning space, which he believed was the last thing left to actually reach this full potential.
"How much time?" Nathan asked.
And Ethan quickly answered, "I don’t know."
This put a frown on Nathan’s face.
"There’s only so much control I have over my own growth." Ethan said. "If you could at least tell me how strong this Dragon Emperor is, then maybe I’d have something to prepare towards. Unfortunately, you don’t know how strong he is either."
Nathan shook his head. "Time isn’t exactly something we have, Ethan."
"Unfortunately, that’s what we’re going to have to work with." Ethan replied. "Because Ishtar is completely out of the question."
Nathan sighed. "You told me yourself that you’re fully aware of the lengths I’ll go to get that girl."
"And my wife and I just killed one of the most powerful people I’ve ever fought." Ethan stared directly at him. "So before you consider going any further with Ishtar, ask yourself how much you like your chances when everyone in here is standing against you."
Nathan held his gaze for several seconds before eventually shaking his head in frustration.
Ethan nodded. "Yeah. I thought so too."
He turned and began walking towards the doorway, but stopped just before leaving the study.
"And however it is you keep magically appearing at people’s houses..." Ethan glanced back at him. "Do it at Miss Bernadette’s sometime."
Nathan’s expression changed slightly at the mention of her.
"But only when you’ve decided where you stand with me." Ethan added.
Nathan said nothing.
There was a reason Ethan hadn’t told Miss Bernadette that Nathan was alive.
He still wasn’t entirely certain whether his father was ultimately a friend or an enemy. And until Ethan knew the answer to that, he wasn’t going to bring Nathan back into her life only for her to lose him a second time.
Especially when it was obvious that, even after all these years, Miss Bernadette still held Nathan very dearly.
With that said, Ethan walked out of the study.
-
Later that night...
Two cars drove through the gates of the newly reconstructed Stark Residence.
The manor itself and the immediate compound surrounding it had already been restored, leaving almost no indication of the destruction that had torn through the property three days earlier.
The same couldn’t be said for the farther reaches of the estate.
Several acres surrounding the manor still carried extensive damage from the battle, with enormous sections of land torn apart and numerous craters scattered throughout the landscape. Work had already begun on those areas as well, although restoring that much land would naturally take longer.
Percival drove the first entering the compound, with Ethan seated in the passenger seat beside him. Hayley drove the second vehicle, accompanied by Isabella in the passenger seat, while Francesca and Ishtar occupied the back.
Both Eduardo and Valerie were already outside waiting for them when the vehicles arrived.
Ethan stepped out and took a moment to look over the restored manor before Percival walked around the vehicle towards him.
"I gotta go see Aliyah." Percival said. "It’s already late."
"That’s alright." Ethan replied.
Percival nodded, but before returning to the car, a grin crossed his face.
"I gotta admit, by the way...those blessings or whatever actually feel pretty damn good." He chuckled. "Fighting off those dickheads would’ve been a lot more difficult without them, I won’t lie."
Ethan scoffed. "Told you."
Percival laughed as the two clasped hands, pulling each other briefly shoulder-to-shoulder before separating again.
"Later, man." Percy said.
"Later." Ethan nodded.
Percival returned to the driver’s seat and pulled away from the manor shortly afterwards.
Meanwhile, Hayley had already parked the second car. She stepped out alongside Isabella, Francesca and Ishtar as they all approached the entrance.
Unlike Percival, Hayley wasn’t leaving. She intended to stay over at the Stark Residence for the night.
Everyone headed inside shortly afterwards. And the moment they entered, their eyes naturally began moving around the newly reconstructed manor.
It wasn’t far from what they remembered. Most of the interior had been restored to resemble how the house looked before the battle, although there were several noticeable differences.
For one, certain areas somehow felt larger than before.
The living room had been expanded slightly during the reconstruction, giving the entire space a more open appearance. Some of the furniture had also been replaced, including the couches. They retained the same light colouring as the previous ones, but now carried a different and considerably more stylish design.