Death, Devotion, Dissonance

The next couple weeks, Evin's schedule got a few additions, but it stabilized soon enough.

Like she promised, Bella did not complain about Evin leaving to his mother's once a week anymore. But she did act much more passionately when they were together. Though, of course, they never did anything more than kissing.

After Endra had his little sex education class, Evin became much more worried about casually having sex. He didn't know that all sorts of illnesses could be transmitted through that, hell, he realized that didn't even know how pregnancy worked.

Evin of course, knew how babies were made. At least the act necessary for it. But he realized that his previous concepts of it were oddly flawed. He thought that women only got pregnant if they had sex in the morning. He didn't know where he got that idea, but he lived for about two years believing that and never bothered to check if he was correct.

The revelation made him wonder how many of the things he believed in were actually wrong, but Evin was just going about his business thinking he was right.

Anyhow, about the sex, Endra was saying that there should be some way to prevent pregnancies, considering the existence of magic and the World of Life, but Evin was too ashamed to actually go searching for them. He figured that maybe Leanne knew about it, but was he really going to ask her that?

Whatever the case, he was fine with the relationship being the way it was now, so he wasn't worried. He was satisfied with cuddling and kissing.

And of course, he was becoming closer and closer to his mother and her family. Before that he noticed that they only thought that Evin was doing this because he felt like he had to do it, but after a month of Evin coming to visit them without breaking his promise, they were starting to accept him.

Funnily, he felt the change most when Sasha started to run over to him to get hugged, giggling all the while. She was very shy around him at first, but Evin's friendliness, playfulness and gifts (mostly the gifts) finally paid off. Ssatsko didn't accept any gifts himself, but he couldn't really deny them to his granddaughter.

The old man also started to accept Evin as his own grandson, despite how politely and distantly he acted at first. He even brought him hunting one time, during which Evin learned that Ssatsko's horns could give him access to Irratas and Apdenul. Ssatsko explained that they could only absorb one lodestone's worth of mana, but they offered much precise controls over the World energies and showed it.

Even Endra was impressed by Ssatsko's demonstration. The old man used a chant to cast, but the fine control of the World energies made Evin feel like he was Imagination Casting.

From his Social Studies classes, Evin knew that some Northerners could receive a horn during the Horn Ceremony if their efforts were recognized by their Pillar, which was basically the king of the North. Every three years, the Pillar would go through a list of the North's most talented citizens and decide which of them were eligible to receive a horn, that allowed them to cast magic of a certain World.

But Ssatsko lamented at Evin's enthusiasm, saying that those days had ended. It definitely was like that a century ago, when the Northerners were still the nomadic, battle-loving people, running all around the North, fighting each other all the time. They could still survive while being so scattered like that, because whenever a foreign threat appeared on the horizon, the Tribes unfailingly united to take care of it.

But things changed when one of the tribes, the Paradra Tribe finally took over the North and united it.

Why was that a bad thing? Because the North could finally allow for cities that could house hundreds of thousands of people in it.

Before that point, building large cities were too risky, considering how easily other Tribes could raid the farms that fed the city. Every town had to be small sized, even for the strongest Tribes, so that every part of it could be defended more easily. And even then, it wasn't rare for Tribes to conquer entire towns, making large cities very appetizing meals for everyone else. Who wanted to work so hard on something, so that they could just lose it to another?

Anyhow, all that changed when the North finally became united. Larger cities were built, allowing for the centralization of power. Some of the stronger Tribes could finally dedicate all their resources to one place. Before then, they couldn't do so, fearing to lose it all in an unlucky war, but they didn't have such worries now.

So, all that clustered power led to Tribes only caring for their own, turning the Horn Ceremony into something akin to a formality. Nowadays, only the family members of the top Tribes, or people who had very strong bonds with them could receive Horns.

Ssatsko also received his horn that way, though he was lucky to have served a fair Tribe, who was graceful enough to let him retire peacefully. It was a large Tribe named Tendu, who had very close ties to Paradra.

Evin decided to use the mood and ask his grandfather about Lora's marriage with Theor, but Ssatsko refused at the time, saying it was getting late. Evin was still curious as to why her mother was like that when he first met her. He really believed that there was something more.

But seeing Ssatsko shrug off the topic like that, Evin started to feel like he was being too paranoid. He felt like Ssatsko wouldn't allow for Theor to do anything to Lora… but thinking of his own father, Evin couldn't help but feel suspicious.

As for Theor… Evin was learning that he wasn't as unbearable as he first seemed to Evin. He was annoying with his principles and bragging sometimes, but Evin could tell they were good natured. In the end, as long as he didn't try shoving them down Evin's throat, Evin decided to not care for the man's philosophies.

In the first place, he cared much more about his mother, who was practically turning into someone else.

She looked much younger, acted much more at peace, spoke much livelier, and overall, was much happier. Evin couldn't really believe how much someone could change during such a short time.

But this change further cemented Evin's suspicions that there was something unsavory going on before Evin appeared there… coz, why else would Lora look so disheveled?

But, he couldn't be too forceful, so for the time being, he just decided to let it be. If he notices something wrong, he'd act on it, but otherwise, he'd stay low.