?Andar swallowed, not knowing what he was feeling at this moment. He had just partially resolved his lingering trauma with Rowan’s departure and now another bombshell might have just literally dropped into his life.
The last time he had seen or heard from his mother she had been on the tumultuous path to becoming an Arch mage, a position that was harder to enter than a camel walking through the eye of a needle. She had sent him to his grandfather who had quickly handed him over to his master.
He did not remember much about his grandfather, who did not even look him in the eyes the entire three hours he had spent with the man, but he did remember his mother.
She had spent even less time with him, according to his maids, when his mother understood his condition she had abandoned a newly born Andar, and he had been nursed entirely by maids.
Whether by accident or design, the head maids always insisted that Andar referred to them as Mother. So before he was six years old, he already had three different mothers.
He barely saw her growing up, only knowing she was a powerful Mage and a figure of great importance, leading the entire Black Federation was a vaunted position that only a few could ever manage.
The last thing he remembered about her was when she sent him out of their home when she finally decided to take the leap to become an Arch mage.
She had talked for a few minutes about what was required to become an Arch mage, and at that time he had not been listening very clearly to her, he had just been afraid of leaving the only home that he had ever known.
Andar recalled she mostly told him that the quest to become an Arch mage mostly led to madness, death, and even worse outcomes, and 99 percent of Rank 9 Mages would fail, so the esteemed Rank of Arch mage was held only by the few.
She had shared with him that becoming an Arch mage was the most important purpose in the life of a mortal, as anyone who was not an Arch mage was nothing but a fleeting cloud. In the grand scheme of things, they did not matter, and would never matter.
“Do I not matter…” Andar had shakily asked her, he had never called her mother and he did not know if he should.
She cocked her head to the side as if in deep contemplation of his question before saying, “We don’t matter.”
She turned away and left. This was the last time he had ever seen her.
His mother had neglected him because she wanted to focus on her elevation to the rank of Arch mage, and apparently, she had succeeded. She had chased power and true immortality her entire life, and she had succeeded.
Andar gritted his teeth as he struggled to adjust his posture, there were not many ways to fight against the Aura from an Arch mage who was physically present.
Presently he was using his physical body to resist the pressure and with a sudden onset of madness he wanted to pit his Aether against this pressure, but he held himself back, it was unreasonable to resist an Arch mage when he was still but a Rank 1 Magus.
He tried to glance at the position where the other Arch mages were sitting, while there were multiple Arch mages in the arena, these were not their true bodies and were only shells.
Most Arch mages resided in their towers because it was the best location for them to stay and their presence was much too powerful for mortals due to the nature of their power and Immortal Soul. They spent millions of years in experimentation and the elevation of their souls and power, and the best tool to explore the universe and reality was their Tower.
The fact that his mother was physically present here strikes him as shocking, almost as much as her successful ascension.
The purple sun pulsed as it shrank until it became smaller than a teardrop and it descended until it stopped over Andar, and he suddenly felt the pressure from her Aura disappear from his body and he straightened.
“You have grown taller, and far more handsome than you should have been. You have grown into your own and I can see that power suits you Andar”
Andar looked at the figure covered in a purple veil that had appeared before him, hovering a few feet from the ground, she resembled a poisonous purple flower, her presence so outlandish it almost felt unreal.
He arched an eyebrow, “I am surprised you even remember what I looked like, also, that was quite an entrance. I have never seen anything like this. It is almost as if someone is overcompensating.”
“I can see your tongue has loosened, but is that any way to speak to your mother?”
Andar scratched his head, “Oh, I don’t know… I have spoken to many mothers for most of my life, so either I’m out of practice or I don’t see you as one.”
“You have not changed, that means that your education is lacking,” he could hear the smile in the voice of the woman, which quickly disappeared and he wondered if it was his imagination, as she continued speaking, “After thirty years I would have thought you would understand…”
“Understand what?!” Andar could not help himself and snapped, feeling a growing sense of irritation in his heart because he knew without Rowan he would have long turned to dust on Ikaron V, and his so-called mother would have filed away his death as a minor inconvenience, a mistake that nature had corrected.
She continued without even acknowledging his retort, “…
understand that, without power, you would not be standing here, and I would not take the time to be here with you. You are a Magus Andar, not a child, in our world, it is the survival of the fittest. Leave sentiments to the mortals, we are above all that.”
Andar chuckled, “So this is the reason you are here, to tell me I’m finally worthy to become your son?”
“Well, you don’t pick up your calls. I have sent you many messages, and you have not even considered opening a single one.”
“I have never read my messages or taken any calls for the last twenty years, except from my friends and teachers. You did not answer my question, but I should have realized that your deflection is everything I needed to know.”
The figure of his mother shook her head and surprisingly she began to laugh, “Oh my dear child, you would think that by now you would understand. Your time inside the Body Farm has done nothing for you except give you power and not wisdom.”
A sudden feeling of disquietness stole over Andar and he unconsciously took a step back,
“Why are you here with your true body Mother? You are nothing but a One Star Archmage, and you of all should know you are not invincible.”
His mother laughed, “Now you are beginning to think like a True Mage my dear, why don’t you tell me the reason?”
She chuckled as she rose into the air and headed toward the Arch mages.
Andar unexpectedly called out,
“Tell me something, Mother, do you matter now?”
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