Afterwards, I found myself sitting in between my parents, with both of them holding each of my hands. At first I was just going to sit next to my mother, but my father looked discontented by this, so my mother and I switched seats. Once we settled down, Grand Priest Darius took it upon himself to begin explaining things to me. I held up my end of the bargain. It was now everyone else’s turn.

“As you might have already guessed, Lord Gabriel,” Grand Priest Darius said, “You are not the first to transmigrate here to Lumina.” He paused. “Your case is unique, but others have transmigrated here from other realms. Most of them experienced what we call soul transmigration and reincarnated here. However, a few transmigrated here physically.”

I frowned at him.

“If that’s the case, why isn’t the phenomenon more well known?” I asked. “I don’t remember hearing about it or reading about it during my first life.”

When I mentioned my first life, my mother gave my hand a brief squeeze.

“There are two main reasons.” Grand Priest Darius said, frowning. “The first is that transmigration is rare. At most, it happens once a century, though that is a rough estimate. Perhaps it happens more often and we simply don’t know about it. It isn’t as if we check the souls of everyone who is born in this realm.” He nodded to me. “The only reason why I checked your soul when you were born was because your parents asked me to.”

I glanced at my parents. They both nodded.

“This leads into the second reason why transmigration isn’t more well-known,” Grand Priest Darius continued. “It’s a little complicated, so I need to provide some context. All those who transmigrate to Lumina come from the same realm: First Murim.”

That caught me off guard.

“Really?” I asked. “First Murim?”

Everyone looked at me with surprise.

“You know of this realm, Lord Gabriel?” Grand Priest Darius asked.

I nodded.

“Yes. In my second life, I met several people from First Murim, including Teacher. She was the one who helped me form a mana core and taught me martial arts.”

My mother seemed displeased by this for some reason.

“Well then,” Grand Priest Darius said. “This makes things a little easier to explain. We don’t know when it started, but at some point in Lumina’s history, martial artists from First Murim started transmigrating to our realm. They used the knowledge from their previous lives to form mana cores and begin practicing martial arts. However, they kept themselves hidden to avoid persecution and exploitation.”

I nodded. That made sense. In their shoes, I would have done the same thing. Hell, I tried to, except I got caught by my parents.

“These martial artists built up their strength in secret,” Grand Priest Darius continued. “Many of them passed down their knowledge to their descendants and disciples, which resulted in the creation of the martial arts Clans. However, they were eventually discovered. This led to a brief, but brutal, conflict between several Houses and the Clans.”

I listened to him, fascinated by the idea that Lumina had a secret history that I had known nothing about until now.

“Before it grew out of hand, the Church of the Sun intervened to put an end to the conflict. Afterwards, the Houses and the Clans held a meeting, with the Church of the Sun acting as a mediator. They wanted to come to an agreement of some kind, in order to avoid further bloodshed.” Grand Priest Darius paused. “Well, most of them. There were many within the Houses and the Church of the Sun who wanted to exterminate the Clans altogether. They considered them to be invaders and interlopers.”

I glanced at my father.

“Was our House a part of this?” I asked.

“Yes,” my father said, “We were one of the Houses that advocated for peace. Regardless of their origins, we believed that the Clans were Luminian. Most of them, including the transmigrators, were born in this realm. This was their home now.”

Grand Priest Darius nodded.

“That was the general consensus. In the end, the Houses and the Clans reached a compromise. As long as the Clans followed a set of laws, they would be left alone and allowed to remain here on Lumina. We call these laws the Accords.”

“Let me guess,” I said, “The Accords state that the Clans must keep their existence, the existence of transmigrators, and the existence of martial arts a secret.”

“Indeed.” Grand Priest Darius said.

I figured as much. The foundation of the Houses’ power was their magic. It was why they stood at the top of Luminian society. Martial arts was a threat to that. The Houses would’ve taken measures to mitigate this threat.

“In time, the Clans formed their own society, which operates outside of mainstream Luminian society.” Grand Priest Darius said. “To no one’s surprise, they called it murim.”

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course.

“Few outside of murim know of its existence.” Grand Priest Darius snorted. “Rather, that was the idea. However, if you take a closer look, you’ll see that murim is more intertwined with Luminian society than anyone cares to admit. Plenty of Clans disguise themselves as collateral families of certain Houses. Many martial artists are also members of the Adventurers Guild. In fact, the Adventurers Guild was founded by several Clans who came together for mutual support and protection.”

I stared at Grand Priest Darius for several seconds.

“Are you telling me that the Adventurers Guild is a front for murim?” I asked.

“A part of it, yes.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I heard that.

“Which brings us to my part of this story.” My mother said. “As you might have already guessed, I am a martial artist myself. I come from one of the Clans. Not only that, but my grandmother was a transmigrator.” She winced. “That is why I am more sensitive to transmigration, and why I know more about it than most. It’s part of our heritage.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that.

“I see.” I said after a while. “In that case, why didn’t…Why didn’t you tell me any of this? If you had… I wouldn’t… The Incident…”

A maelstrom of emotion raged through me, and I found myself unable to voice my thoughts. If my parents had told me about the Clans and murim, I would have discovered my talents in martial arts sooner. I wouldn’t have become obsessed with becoming a proper wizard. I wouldn’t have wasted my time chasing after an impossible dream. I wouldn’t have killed myself in the Incident. While it all worked out in the end, I went through a lot of suffering to get to this point.

“I wanted to.” My mother said, pleading with her eyes. “Believe me, I wanted to. However, I couldn’t.”

“Why not?” I asked, my voice coming out sharper than I intended.

My father sighed.

“It’s my fault.”

My mother shook her head.

“No, it’s mine.”

I looked between the two of them.

“What do you mean?”

“I come from a prominent Clan.” My mother said. “They wanted me to marry a man of their choosing. However, I fell in love with your father and wanted to marry him instead. Things turned ugly, and I ran away from home. As a result, my Clan disowned me.”

My father smiled at her, though I saw the guilt in his eyes.

“While I am grateful you picked me,” he said, “I wish you hadn’t had to make that choice.”

My mother snorted.

“I have never regretted my decision.” she said. “Not once. If I had to make it again, knowing what I know now, I still would have picked you. I love you, Bryce.”

“I love you too, Claire.”

I felt very awkward sitting between my parents as they professed their love for each other. Grand Priest Darius smirked at me, enjoying my discomfort.

“Moving on,” I said, “How does this lead to you being unable to tell me about murim and martial arts?”

My mother’s expression grew dark.

“As I said, I come from a prominent Clan.” She said. “Many of my kin hold high positions within the Martial Arts Alliance, the governing body of murim. They used their influence to declare me persona non grata and expel me from murim as a whole. They also forbade me from telling my children about murim and teaching them martial arts.” She clenched her jaw. “When we realized that you had no talent for magic, I wanted you to learn martial arts. I couldn’t teach you myself, since that would cause a conflict between House Sturm and the Martial Arts Alliance. So, I tried to find someone who could teach you. However, everyone I asked said no. They didn’t want to offend my Clan.”

I frowned.

“Couldn’t you have trained me in secret?” I asked.

My mother glanced back to Caitlyn, who stood right behind her, an exasperated look.

“No. I couldn’t. You see, the Martial Arts Alliance assigned me a watchdog, to ensure I didn’t break their precious edicts.”

Caitlyn smirked.

“Someone needed to keep you out of trouble, Lady Sturm.” she said.

I blinked at her in surprise.

“What?!” I said. “I thought Caitlyn was your bodyguard.”

“She is,” my mother said in an amused tone, “However, her loyalty lies with the Martial Arts Alliance, not me. Otherwise, I would have asked her to teach you martial arts.”

Caitlyn looked me over, before shaking her head.

“It wouldn’t have mattered.” She said. “Lord Gabriel doesn’t have the right elemental affinities to learn my techniques.”

“You still could have taught him the basics.” My mother said in a wry tone.

I looked between my mother and Caitlyn. Their relationship was far from simple. My mother called Caitlyn a watchdog, yet treated her like a friend. It was clear that the two of them had a history together. Maybe one day I would learn about that history.

“So, is that why you insisted that my marriage would fix everything, Mother?” I asked, taking a guess.

“Yes.” My mother said, turning to face me again. “If you joined murim by marrying a woman from a Clan, that would solve all of our problems.” She frowned. “At least, that was the idea. I’m not sure if it’s necessary anymore.” She closed her eyes and slumped forward. “I’m such a useless mother.”

I pulled my hand free from hers and wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

“No, you’re not.” I said. “You made the best of a terrible situation.” I grinned. “Besides, you gave me a pretty face. For that alone, you have my gratitude.”

My mother opened her eyes and glared at me, before she snorted and gave me a wry smile.

“I suppose that’s true.” She said.

Silence fell over us as our conversation fell into a lull.

“What are you going to do now, Lord Gabriel?” Grand Priest Darius asked.

I shrugged.

“Form a mana core and join murim.” I said. “They’re going to find out about me, one way or another.” I gave Caitlyn a sideways glance. “I might as well make it happen on my own terms.”

My father nodded.

“Your mother and I will do everything we can to support you.” He said. “We failed you once before. We won’t fail you again.”

I opened my mouth to say that they hadn’t failed me, but I couldn’t. A part of me believed they had. I knew it wasn’t their fault, but acknowledging that didn’t erase the pain and humiliation I endured.

“Thank you.” I said instead.

“I’ll do what I can for you as well, Lord Gabriel.” Grand Priest Darius said. “If you don’t wish to join murim, the Church of the Sun is also an option. We have plenty of martial artists among our ranks. Unlike with the Houses, the Clans aren’t a threat to us.”

Huh. I hadn’t considered that before. After thinking about it for a moment, I shook my head. While enticing, if I joined the Church of the Sun, I would have to abide by its rules. That sounded suffocating.

“No.” I said. “At least, not right now. Becoming a priest comes with too many restrictions. I prefer to keep my freedom. Maybe I’ll consider it in the future. Regardless, thank you for the offer.”

Grand Priest Darius nodded in acknowledgment, before standing up.

“Well then,” he said, “My job here is done. I see no reason to linger.” A mischievous grin spread across his face. “If I leave now, maybe I can make it back before Kaya discovers I’ve disappeared.”

After he left, my parents and I talked well into the night. We discussed our plans going forward. When midnight passed, I left my father’s office and headed back to my room. With everything out in the open now, I could go forward with my plans. It looked like I would be busy for the foreseeable future.