The delegation arrived at dawn, when mist still clung to the Ackerman estate grounds like a shroud.

Soren spotted them first from his position beside Fenix in the training courtyard. The boy had been working through sword forms since before sunrise - a habit that reminded Soren painfully of Zeke.

Six carriages, travel-worn and modest, bearing the faded crests of families he recognized from decades past. Families that had once held power in the Ninth Province before everything collapsed.

"Visitors," Soren said quietly, his eyes never leaving the approaching carriages. "Important ones."

"I see them," Fenix replied, lowering his practice blade. "Six families, at least."

"More." Soren's expression was grave. "This isn't a social call. They're here because of what you showed against the Richter boy." He glanced at Fenix. "I'll inform your uncle and gather the elders. Young master, will you come with me or meet us at the courtyard?"

"I'll come."

Soren placed a hand on Fenix's shoulder. Space twisted, and they reappeared in Khan's study.

---

Khan Ackerman looked up from his territorial reports, unsurprised by their sudden arrival. Years of living with a Grandmaster+ aura user who could Will Step had taught him not to startle easily.

"Khan," Soren said without preamble. "Six carriages approaching. Torren, Mallick, Grey, Drayton, Strand, and others. The untiered families are gathering."

Khan's hands stilled on the papers. "All of them?"

"The major ones, at least." Soren's expression was grave. "They're here because of the young master."

Khan stood slowly, his mind already racing through implications. "The elders should be present for this."

"I'll gather them," Soren said. He glanced at Fenix. "Young master, remain with your uncle. I'll return shortly."

Then he was gone.

---

Elder Davies was examining cultivation herbs in the estate's garden when Soren appeared at his elbow.

"Elder Davies. Visitors have arrived. Important ones. Khan wants you in the main hall."

Davies nearly dropped his specimens. "What? Who—"

"Now, Elder." Soren's tone was flat, brooking no argument. He was already moving toward Elder Silas's quarters.

Within minutes, he'd collected all the family elders, appearing and disappearing with Will Step. By the time the delegation's carriages reached the estate gates, Khan stood in the main courtyard with his elders arrayed behind him, and Fenix beside him. Soren took position slightly behind and to the left of Fenix - a guardian's position, not a subordinate's.

"Whatever they offer," Soren murmured to Fenix, "remember that nothing is free. Especially not loyalty."

---

The visitors looked tired. Road-weary in a way that spoke of more than just travel. These were people who carried exhaustion in their bones, ground down by years of struggle that showed in every line of their faces.

Geld Torren stepped forward first, moving with the careful dignity of a man who'd lost everything but his pride.

"Lord Khan," Geld said, his voice formal. "Thank you for receiving us without prior notice."

"Lord Geld." Khan inclined his head. "Your delegation is unexpected, but welcome. Though I confess curiosity about what brings so many family heads to my door."

"Your nephew," said a sharp-featured woman Khan recognized as Helena Mallick. "We're here because of your nephew."

Khan's expression didn't change, but Fenix felt Soren's presence sharpen behind him - protective, ready.

"Perhaps this conversation would be better held inside?" Khan offered.

"With respect, Lord Khan," Captain Sarah Grey said, still wearing her patrol armor, "we've been uncomfortable for years. A few more minutes won't matter." She gestured at the assembled delegation. "We need to know - is it true? Does Zeke Ackerman's son really have dual cultivation?"

The courtyard went very quiet.

Khan looked at the faces before him - desperate, hopeful, terrified all at once. These were people at the end of their rope, grasping for anything that might pull them back from the edge.

"Yes," he said simply. "It's true."

The reaction was immediate. Some delegates sagged with relief. Others exchanged glances that mixed hope with fear. Lady Catherine Drayton actually pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes suddenly bright.

"Then there's a chance," Geld Torren said quietly. "A chance to rebuild what we've lost."

---

The council chamber was more crowded than Fenix had ever seen it. Representatives from families he'd only heard about in passing now filled every seat at the long table. Weathered faces, hard eyes, the bearing of people who'd survived more than they should have.

Conversation died when he entered. Every eye turned to him, assessing, measuring, hoping.

Geld Torren stood slowly. "Fenix Ackerman. You look like your father."

"So I'm told," Fenix replied evenly, taking his position beside Khan's chair.

"Those of us who knew Zeke remember his strength. His presence." Geld's expression was complicated. "Your fight with the Richter boy brought back memories. The same confidence."

"Lord Torren," Khan interjected, "perhaps you should explain why you've all come."

"Of course." Geld looked around the table at his fellow delegates. "We've come to make a proposal. One that will sound presumptuous, but we ask that you hear us out completely."

Fenix inclined his head slightly. "I'm listening."

Helena Mallick took over, her sharp voice cutting through the chamber. "The Ninth Province has been fractured for years. We untiered families exist in pieces - too weak individually to resist exploitation from neighboring provinces, too proud to submit to outsiders. We're dying slowly."

"Your display against the Richter boy changed something," Captain Sarah Grey continued. "It reminded people that power still exists in this province. That we're not finished yet."

"We want to elevate your family to Tier Three status," Geld said bluntly. "With that elevation, you'd become district lords with formal authority. Not rulers of the province - yet - but legitimate nobility with legal standing to negotiate with other provinces as equals."

The silence that followed was thick.

Khan's face had gone carefully blank. The family elders looked stunned. Even Soren, standing behind Fenix like a sworn guardian, had stiffened at the pronouncement.

"And what do you gain from this?" Fenix asked, his voice cutting through the quiet.

"Protection," Lady Catherine Drayton said simply. "Legitimacy. A family with enough strength that the other provinces must acknowledge our existence. Right now, we're resources to be harvested. Under an Ackerman district lord, we'd have legal recourse, trade agreements, security."

"You want us to become your shield," Fenix said.

"We want to become yours," Geld corrected. "Elevation to Tier Three requires support - resources, territory, manpower. We offer all of that. Our lands, our loyalty, our families. In exchange, you provide what we lack: strength, legitimacy, a future."

"This is madness," Elder Davies muttered. "We're barely holding our own territory. You want us to take responsibility for twenty-plus families?"

"We want you to accept what you're capable of becoming," Thomas Mallick said, his aged voice carrying authority. "Zeke Ackerman's son has proven his strength. Now we're offering him the opportunity to use it."

Fenix felt the weight of twenty-three sets of eyes on him. Desperate people, offering everything they had left because they'd seen him fight and recognized his father's bloodline in his techniques.

"The families that killed my father will see this as a threat," he said quietly.

"They see you as a threat already," Sarah Grey replied. "The moment you revealed dual cultivation, you became a target. At least this way, you'll have numbers when they come."

"And come they will," Gerald Mallick added. "The question isn't whether other provinces will move against you. It's whether you'll face them alone or with allies."

Fenix looked at his uncle. Khan's expression remained neutral, but tension showed in his posture. This wasn't a simple decision.

"We need time to discuss this internally," Khan said. "This affects the entire family."

"Of course," Geld said. "But time is limited. Word of your nephew's abilities is spreading. If we're going to unite under a common banner, it needs to happen quickly, before external forces interfere."

"How quickly?" Fenix asked.

"Within the month," Helena Mallick said. "We've prepared everything needed for formal elevation - territorial documents, resource surveys, pledges of loyalty. All we need is your acceptance."

"And if we refuse?"

The delegates exchanged uncomfortable glances.

"Then we continue as we have been," Sarah Grey said bluntly. "Scattered, weak, dying by inches. And when the other provinces eventually come for you - because they will - we'll all fall separately instead of standing together."

Fenix recognized the construction of the offer. They'd presented it as a choice, but there was really only one path that didn't end in disaster for everyone involved.

"Three days," he said, making the decision before Khan could respond. "Three days to discuss and prepare our response."

Geld Torren's smile was thin. The boy was already acting like a leader, making decisions his rank didn't justify but his bearing supported.

"Three days," Geld agreed. "We'll await your response."

---

After the delegates departed, Khan turned to Fenix and Soren.

"That was bold, Fenix," Khan said. "Committing to a timeline without consulting me first."

"You would have given them the same answer," Fenix replied. "Just with more diplomatic phrasing."

Khan couldn't argue that. "They're asking us to gamble everything on your strength. If you can't protect them, if you're not as strong as they hope..."

"Then people will die," Fenix finished. "I understand that."

"Do you?" Soren's voice was quiet but intense, his eyes fixed on Fenix with something like reverence mixed with concern. "Your father's strength wasn't enough. Power alone doesn't guarantee survival."

"No," Fenix agreed. "But my father fought alone against multiple Tier One families. These people are offering to fight beside us. That changes the equation."

Khan studied his nephew's face - those crimson eyes that showed no uncertainty, no fear. Just cold calculation and determination.

"You've already decided," Khan realized.

"Yes," Fenix said. "Tier three. District lord. Legal authority. The ability to negotiate as equals. Right now, we're vulnerable because we're isolated. This gives us legitimacy and numbers."

"It also paints a target on your back."

"That target was painted the moment I displayed dual cultivation in public." Fenix's voice held no regret. "Now I'm just choosing whether to face what's coming alone or with an army behind me."

Soren made a sound that might have been approval. "You think like a strategist, not a warrior. That's good. Your father thought like a warrior." He paused. "That's why he died."

The words hung in the air - brutal, honest, painful.

"Three days," Khan said finally. "We use them to ensure we understand exactly what we're accepting. The benefits and the costs. Then we make the formal decision as a family."

"Agreed," Fenix said.

As Khan left the council chamber, Soren remained with Fenix. The older warrior placed a hand on his shoulder - a gesture that held both affection and something deeper. Devotion.

"Your father's son," Soren said quietly, his voice carrying weight that went beyond simple words. "But wiser than he was. I served Zeke Ackerman until his death. Now I serve you, young master. And I will see you rise higher than he ever could."

---

That night, Fenix stood alone in the estate's highest tower, looking out over the grounds. Somewhere beyond these walls, twenty-three families waited for his decision. Beyond them, an entire province that had been bleeding for years. And beyond that, the families who'd killed his father, who would see his rise as a threat to be eliminated.

The weight of it settled on his shoulders, heavy and undeniable. But Fenix didn't shy from weight. He'd carried burdens before - the knowledge of his reincarnation, the responsibility of protecting Abigail, the necessity of hiding his true capabilities.

This was just another burden. Heavier than the others, perhaps. But not unbearable.

In three days, he would give his answer.

And he already knew what it would be.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.