-Vizbourne, Monday, 05/03/2000-

The winter holidays, which lasted a whole month, finally came to an end and kids from all over Austria gathered inside Vizbourne again, to finish their first year as aspiring Force manipulators.

The school area was covered with covered with a soft layer of icy snow as it was still the beginning of march. A frosty wind was blowing through the compound, making the students shiver while making their way towards the warm and comfortable insides of the school.

Alex had the fortune that his grandfather had enough time to take him there, avoiding waiting for public transportation in this freezing weather. Kazimierz brought him to his dorm room, where he spent the days between weekends, and made his way to Mrs. Natpiea's office.

Once the door opened itself automatically, like always, he took a seat while greeting the teacher of his grandson.

"Well, let's skip to the important matters right away since I will have to attend to the class soon." the Paketa brushed over the pleasantries once again to not waste time.

"That would be a real time saver. Then let me start with a heartfelt thank you from our whole family. We are really grateful for your advice and kind intentions, however, we would like to decline the offer to make contact with your species' elder council. It would be too risky for us to trust strangers from a different race to wholeheartedly protect us." Kazimierz expressed his family's gratitude while politely declining the Paketa's request for a blood probe.

Without waiting for the now slightly dejected teacher to respond, he continued, "My grandson trusts you to a high degree though, and therefore we would like to request you request your services as a private tutor. He will need a lot of attention with his talent and as none of know how to educate a Force manipulator we don't wish to waste his potential. You will be handsomely paid, of course. I appeal to your consciousness to not let Alexander squander his chance on a fruitful future!"

Kazimierz almost blurted the last sentence out when he saw that the teacher's expression turning sour.

The Paketa took some time to answer, in which Kazimierz was sweating bullets while waiting for a positive response and hoping his request didn't anger the normally kind teacher. Before he could drown in anxiety though, her expression turned delightful all of a sudden

"Don't be alarmed I'm not angry at all that you didn't take up my suggestion to exchange with my species' upper echelon. I'm rather relieved honestly, you should keep that as the last option as it is entirely possible that Alex's secret will never come to light. I just feared you would put a lid on the monstrous talent of your grandchild. To train him personally would be my absolute pleasure as his future feats would be contributed to me to. I would take massive pride in having a personal disciple like Alexander." the now content cat-folk spoke hurriedly as she saw the anxious countenance of her student's grandfather, "Although I will have to dampen your expectations a bit, though I am a Force instructor I lack in several advanced fields. I'll be able to teach your grandson about all the theory I know and guide him on his path to invent and improve spells. Anything related to fighting or crafting, that would be taught from the eight and sixth year respectively, isn't really my forte however."

Before Kazimierz could thank her for her efforts, the Paketa held up her hand and continued, "But we still have some years to worry about this problem so for now I will have to finish our talk for the moment, as I have to rush to my class in five minutes. How the time flies, right? I will contact your daughter and son-in-law soon through Alex, after thinking about how to schedule his private lessons." with that Mrs. Natpiea wished Kazimierz a good day.

Kazimierz could only nod with a smile, feeling like a heavy stone fell off his heart. He accomplished his goal to secure the Paketa's support and could drive back home feeling at ease. The next five years Alex would be able receive personal tutelage from a trustworthy Force teacher. What better news could there be?

The house where family Strono lived was painted in a yellow hue. It was three stories tall and had a garage on the south-east end of the side facing the street. Above the entrance to the parking space, for the family's vehicles, grape vines could be seen growing over a wooden frame. This wooden structure provided an additional roofed parking spot in front of the two car garage. The house was already showing signs of the corrosion of time, it's paint having peeled off of various spots and some small fine cracks could be seen here and there.

Nonetheless it gave off a welcoming and warm feeling with it's beautifully maintained rose bushes, lawn and all sorts of flowers. At this time of year they naturally didn't bloom but the sight in summer was truly marvelous. Even then the snow covered walkway to the entrance of the building made someone feel like walking in a winter wonderland, especially with all the decoration Alex's mom put on show for the neighborhood to see.

Each of the generations living in the homey house had their own floor to their own. Alex still slept either with his parents or grandparents but after he reaches middle school he would inhabit the top floor, giving him the space he needs for his training. Kazimierz and Irena lived on the lowest level, therefore avoiding having to climb five flights of stairs every time they went out of the house. Alex's parents took residence in the middle floor while a cellar connected the house to the garage and garden with pool.

Kazimierz took his time enjoying the little nuances all around him and made his way into his and his wife's flat.

"Irena, I have amazing news! Mrs. Natpiea agreed to tutor little Alex, at least for as long as she is able to. We can safely guarantee his next five years!" Kazimierz hugged his wife and gave her a long exhilarating kiss.

"That is truly wonderful, Kazik! I will tell Dorota too when she comes back from work. We should all celebrate with our cutie pie this weekend!" Irena couldn't contain her joy and jumped around as if she just got younger 30 years.

"I will study some magic spells with his parents too so we can be of some help in his training. Although it will take some time for my Force pathways to form, all the notes from Alex's classes helped me with finding a decent personal circulation technique. According to Dorota, Harald and her also made some progress and should be able to finish theirs in a couple months time. It's unfortunate you don't have a core but while we focus on magic you can improve your weapon skills and impart them to Alex once he needs them. Ah what a joyous turn of events! As long as it stays this way I will be able to die peacefully!" chirped the grandmother as she was practically dancing on cloud nine.

"That's exactly what I had in mind! I will spend the next ten years learning all kinds of weapons and when the time comes I will be able to teach Alex any kind he would like to learn. Whether it will be swords, spears, whips, axes, daggers or hand-to-hand combat, I will master the novice techniques in this decade and help our grandson to the best of my ability!" Kazimierz swore solemnly, finding solace in the thought that at least he won't be completely useless with his identity as an inept.

Several hours later Alex's parents came home too and Irena announced the joyous news. Now all that had to be done was getting their hands on a bloodline strength measurement device. It would be hard to get illegally but even harder to do so legally, as such devices were quite rare and expansive. Not to mention the track record of them buying one, the less proof others had, that there was something special about their blood, the better.

Although it would be the family's next goal to secure said apparatus, it didn't have to be quick. They could take their time making a plan, locating a few spare ones and finally getting them unnoticed. Dorothea already discovered some storage rooms where they could be found.

She described the security measures, even the ones inside, as staff she was allowed to enter those locked spaces and check on the inventory as she pleased. Security cameras prevented her from pick-pocketing one, right then and there, though.

Since Kazimierz and Irena couldn't help in this operation they went back to their flat, while Dorothea and Harald still cleared a few details about how to proceed with this theft.