Zhang walks through the hallway corridors, the walls stretch far into the temple. His footsteps stop in front of a large intricate, detailed door guarded by two cloaked guards holding their broadswords high in the air in a silent imposing display.

"Zhang He," one of the guards deeply utters through his expressionless mask, "How may we help you?" His voice is hollow and instantly cut through the silence in the air.

"I wish to talk to the Arbiter," Zhang calmly explains. The guards slowly look at each other then they slowly open the door to the Arbiter's office with an eerie slowness. Zhang steps into the room decorated with multiple art pieces and statues. His steps are slow but deliberate. The cloaked guards stand perfectly still and quiet at the corners of the room.

"Arbiter," Zhang says, fixing his posture, "You must have heard about Edward Meitner's sudden arrival." The Arbiter turns his chair to face Zhang. The middle-aged figure looked intently at Zhang with his soft gentle eyes. He slowly grabs the queen piece off the chess board and moves it in front of his own pieces- blocking their movements.

Zhang winces, clearly annoyed by the amateur move that Arbiter did with his queen piece. His arms tighten around his side. He tried to force a smile but his gaze lingered on the chess board.

Zhang exhales to himself, his shoulders raising up and down trying to remove the thought from his head.

"I did," the Arbiter calmly utters, fidgeting with his wrinkly fingers, "He arrived with his granddaughter, I suppose?"

"That is correct," Zhang says, his tone composed and weary, "Did you overhear the duel?"

"I did but I didn't expect you to spend your free time entertaining children," the Arbiter smiles intently, unwavering yet impossible to read, "Edward barely set a foot and he already found himself entangled in a duel." The Arbiter chuckles to himself but Zhang maintains his composed nature.

Zhang gives out a long deep breath.

"We will be scheduling an evaluation for Kiara Meitner. This is a way to know her strengths, weaknesses, and her official rank." Zhang softly utters.

The Arbiter's smile did not waver, "How would you describe Kiara's skills so far? Something akin to a large rouge marble block, waiting to be polished," Zhang's eyes dart around the room, the royal guards with their heads slightly turned in his direction giving a daunting feeling on his shoulders.

"I never got to see her skills yet but her grandfather believes she is a D-rank. The only way we can know is that we fully assess her directly" Zhang says, keeping his voice steady.

The barracks doors open, and Edward slowly enters his room, glancing at his and Kiara's luggage. He scurries through his bag to pull out a large document file. A smile tugged on Edward's face before he put the file under his coat jacket.

Kiara and her friend group walk through the hallway corridors back to the library. Suddenly Adam left a suggestion, "Kiara. Let me show you another way to the library. I want to show you something."

The group unknowingly follows Adam as they walk through the stone corridors, their footsteps echoing throughout the otherwise quiet hallways. A nicely groomed black hair warden in his black vest suit walks past Kiara's group sipping on his cup of coffee.

He gives a slight nod to the kids, "You kids like the duel? It was a great showing of power." His tone was light and gentle as he stopped his path to talk with Kiara's group.

"It was amazing," Seth interrupts, his eyes wide from enthusiasm.

The warden and the rest of Kiara's friend group chuckle to themselves from Seth's outburst. The warden sips on his cup of coffee and he swiftly walks off to his duty, his footsteps as quiet as a whisper.

Adam directed everyone to follow him and the group ended up in a multiple stone corridor passageway with names inscribed deeply on the walls. "This hallway is dedicated to the lives lost over time. It stretches deep into the temple itself." Their footsteps echo in the vast solemn space.

"I wanted you to see this. It really puts things into perspective," Adam calmly explains a shadow of doubt across his face. "It's easy to forget what we signed up for."

"It looks like it stretches far," Kiara mutters to herself, her gaze wandering to a specific inscription: 1970 Warden Massacre- 80 confirmed victims.

"It stretches for multiple levels," Anby interjects, her tone calm and informative, "You can easily get lost if you aren't paying attention to your surroundings."

"You ever wonder if all of this fighting is ever worth it," Adam questions, "We'll be like everyone else- another name on the wall."

"I don't see how anyone could have the drive to be a warden," Adam questions, staring endlessly at the names engraved on the walls.

"A drive?" Kiara questions. Adam stares at Kiara for a long time trying to process her question, "It's basically your motivation.The thing that makes a person tap into their spiritual energy. It's very superficial in the first place"

"I never thought about it before?" Kiara says sheepishly, "I guess my drive is to just help people." A smile tugs on Adam's face but Kiara feels like she said something wrong, "Was that a bad motivation?"

"Oh no Kiara," Anby says, twirling her long curly hair, "It's a noble goal but it's very…. How do I say this? It's kind of…uh.. It's very–"

"It's very superficial in the grand scheme of things," Adam says bluntly. Anby awkwardly shrugs her shoulders agreeing with Adam, her shoulders rising like a nervous kitten. Kiara felt very crushed about their honest opinions.

Anby seeing Kiara demoralize, tries to cheer her up, "It's okay." She tries to be sincere, maybe a bit too hard, "You don't have to take it seriously, helping people is still a noble goal around here." She tries to lift the disappointment off Kiara's shoulder.

Anby turns her gaze towards the youngest of the group, "Seth. Help me out here." she says softly but urgently to the little kid. Seth's big wide eyes widens and flickers between Anby and Kiara.

"Kiara," Seth chirps, his voice high-pitched yet confident. He begins to clap his hands together, "You can do it. Even if it's hard, it's okay. You will become a great hero." Anby just stands there all embarrassed and quiet.

Kiara and Adam laugh to themselves, their hands covering their mouths not letting Anby see them laughing.

"Thanks for helping Anby. Seth." Kiara thanks, placing her hand on Anby's head clearly confusing her. Kiara quickly retracts her hand back.

I'm becoming more like my grandfather, Kiara jokes to herself in her head.

Anby looks at the clock placed on the stone wall, her expression changing as soon as she sees the time.

"Oh sorry Kiara, me and Seth have to get to our spell training." Anby says urgently, grabbing Seth's hand, "We don't want to be late or else our mentor is going to be bonkers."

Kiara waves her hand as she watches Anby and Seth run off into the distance. "Those are some good kids," Kiara says softly.

"They are," Adam utters to Kiara, "You still want to go to that library?"

"Sure. Why not?" Kiara says, shrugging her shoulders. The two walk forward together as the names engraved on the walls disappear into the background.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

As Kiara and Adam walk through the hallways, two familiar figures walk through the Crimson Pineglade. Their steps echo through through

Hirano steps through the forest floor in his black formal wear, his loafers echo softly on the forest floor. Kawata quickly follows her brother, her appearance changing to more of a grungy tomboy with typical street attire.

"I feel like I've seen that exact tree for the hundredth time already," Kawata mockingly jokes.

"Calm down." Hirano calmly says, looking at his map, "We have already cleared around eighty percent of the park so far. Maybe one more week and we'll free our brethren from his prison."

Hirano looks down on his map while Kawata takes pictures of the nearby clouds overhead. Hirano turns around in Kawata's direction, annoyed by her behavior.

Suddenly a loud noise echos through the national park instantly alerting Kawata and Hirano. The birds swiftly flap away from the danger, their caws echoing throughout the blue skyline. Hirano and Kawata immediately rush over to what is happening.

"Trajan!" a voice scornfully reverberates as the plague doctor emerges out of the shadows of the forest. The Roman soldier turns his head towards his partner, his surroundings covered in a mix of dead animals and Elusives.

"What?" Trajan questions, confused by the ordeal, "I'm just taking care of the infestation in the area, Azrael."

"Then what are these?" Azrael points at the dead animals scattered across Trajan's surroundings.

"These animals just got in my way." Trajan casually explains swinging his blade and killing an Elusive leaping towards him. "There are hundreds in just this small area alone," Trajan gleefully smiles, swinging his blade in a large arc destroying many hordes.

"There should be hundreds here," Azrael annoyingly says, not paying attention to his partner, "The wardens are leeching off the talisman's energy to train their recruits in this restricted zone."

The dark spiritual energy of the dead elusive quickly transfers over to Trajan's weapon. The blade glows purple energy from the absorption.

"We have to follow the Master's orders," Azrael calmly explains, "We need to get moving to find the talisman before those two get it before us."

"Why can't he do it?" Trajan annoyingly questions, "It's so boring just walking around and searching and he's making us do this mission just on the words of two strangers he's never met before."

"Even if the Master is wrong about the location. You must have felt this powerful source of spiritual energy here," Azrael retorts, pointing his dagger at Trajan, "You don't want to question the Master or the Hero, don't you?"

"No, I wouldn't" Trajan begrudgingly mutters, his eyes narrowing at the plague doctor. Azrael slowly puts his dagger back in its holster.

"Good job." Azrael congratulates, cracking his knuckles, "Still. We need to do a better job of blending into human society better. Right now, we stand out like a sore thumb."

"Well. I thought you were supposed to be the smart guy," Trajan mockingly jokes.

Azrael glares through his mask, clearly annoyed by Trajan's mocking nature but out of nowhere a twig snaps in the area. Azrael slowly turns his head towards what made that sound, his eyes widening and annoyed at what he is sees. "Oh great." he sarcastically mutters to himself.

Meanwhile in the Warden temple. Kiara and Adam sit across from each other analyzing and reading the books in the sacred library.

"Are you actually this interested in books, Kiara?" Adam questions, tapping his pencil on the textbook, "The first thing you wanted to see was the library and now we are here a second time."

"Okay. The first time was because I was just curious what the library looked like because it had the word sacred in it," Kiara jokingly says, "The second time around is more about preparing myself for this evaluation or whatever."

"Oh. Do you care about that?" Adam wonders, "It isn't anything special, it's just a series of difficult tests meant to challenge a recruit for their covenant rank."

"Yeah but after seeing my grandfather fight Zhang and showing what he can actually do made me feel like I should try and do harder," Kiara softly mutters, her eyes darting across the room.

"Kiara. Your grandfather was known as the Rising Star of his time," Adam explains, "You look like you are still a beginner. You can't reasonably suggest you could be as strong as him when he was your age."

"The only thing you worry about is those snobby C-rank recruits who think they are better than those lower than them when the only thing from their rank is solo missions." Adam annoyingly says.

"So what rank are you?" Kiara smirks, her eyes gazing at Adam.

"C-rank," Adam shrugs casually.

"So you are one of those snobby recruits that look down on others." Kiara jokes around, a mischievous grin across her face.

"Hey. I never said I was!" Adam says waving his hands frantically, causing Kiara to laugh to herself. She looks over to the mural portrait of the wardens fighting multiple humanoid spirits covered in armor. The humanoid spirits stood tall, covered in large amounts of armor, commanding hundreds of Elusives to fight the ancient wardens.

Each figure exudes an overwhelming sense of power.

"This world of spirits and magic just seems so much more bright than my dull life at home," Kiara calmly says, her eyes tracing back to Adam, "I love my friends back home but the world just seems so—."

"Plain," Adam finishes for her, listening intently as Kiara gives her explanation.

"I know it's selfish but there's something about this. The adventure, the inhuman experiences, and the danger- makes me feel more like myself," Kiara meekly says, fidgeting with her fingers.

"I get what you mean," Adam utters, "That adrenaline can be exhilarating," he pauses to himself before talking in a quiet tone, "but you should be happy with the life you have right now."

"Some kids here really want to know what normal life is outside of being a warden," Adam explains. The smacks of the wooden blades hit against each other as the mentors yell and command the kids to train harder.

"It can be quite isolating when you spend most of your life training, studying, fighting…then repeat.." Adam says softly, "Giving your lives out to a cause that seems like a constant cycle."

"Get up," a mentor orders, commanding a recruit to stand after being struck blank in the side. "If you stay down for too long an Elusive can snatch you right up." the mentor lectures. The smacks of the wooden blades reverberate around the courtyard. Many recruits practice their spiritual energy control while others try to summon shinigami of their own.

The commands of the mentors and the looks of the seniors keep everyone in a tense position making sure not to fail their lesson on their first try.

Watching above everything, standing on his stone balcony is the Arbiter. His face exudes a blank, emotionless expression as he watches everyone train below him.

Everyone is training hard to become something greater than themselves, to match the skills and actions of Zhang and Edward. As the mentors shouted their commands, pushing them harder, the recruits only pushed harder. Their resolve is unwavering. The Arbiter moves a couple more chess pieces forward as he watches intently.

"That's why I felt inspired by your grandfather's beliefs to make a difference here, maybe around the world," Adam says enthusiastically, his tone full of conviction, "I want to get stronger so I can help influence and change the circumstances of everyone living here."

"That's a noble goal, Adam," Kiara says, a smile wide on her face. The sincerity in his voice is unimaginable and for a second, it made her question her own hesitations. "But that's a pretty big task by yourself. You really think you can change the world by getting stronger."

Adam meets her gaze, his tone unwavering, "Your grandfather believed in the strength of others, maybe I can do the same."

Kiara looks down on her thoughts. Could strength really be the key to change? Could she follow both Adam's and her Grandfather's route for herself? The weight of Adam's words press heavily on her shoulders.

Kiara knew she had to keep moving forward to find her own path just like Adam yet that feeling of something outside of Warden society lingered in her head.

"You know Adam, even if the evaluation isn't that special, I still want to do my best," Kiara says wearily, tapping her pencil on the textbooks. "I want to show to myself that I can do better and I can't put myself behind everyone else that already seems so much more than me."

"You know you are strong for telling a person you barely know about your thoughts and feelings," Adam jokes around causing Kiara to be flustered.

"Hey. I thought we were getting close enough that I can tell you how I feel," Kiara says, her tone brash and cheerful, tapping the textbook on Adam's head.

"Don't do that," Adam chuckles to himself trying to get Kiara to stop attacking him. Kiara momentarily stops for a moment before giving out one last tap on Adam's head.

Kiara looks over at the mural, her eyes more intrigued than ever,"Adam. How do you feel about this mural?"They both slowly get out of their chairs to look at the painting.

"Oh it's just an ancient painting of history," Adam calmly explains, "That's been there since the construction of this temple like uh…150 years ago. It's just something that happened millennials ago."

"It must have been scary for wardens to fight hundreds of thousands of Elusives like that," Kiara says, her tone calm and weary, "It feels like they were unstoppable."

"I mean it's just a painting but I can see where you are coming from," Adam jokingly says.

Kiara looks intently at the same humanoid spirit covered in armor, its gaze exuding a power almost overwhelming to her, "I almost feel something strange whenever I look at this certain creature," she points her finger at the figure depicted for Adam to see. The spiral dark clouds depicted illuminate the battlefield covered in dead bodies.

"You two seem very interested in that mural," Zhang inquires. His figure entered the library room, the librarian raising her hand in a gesture to greet him. Adam stands tall and straight as Kiara follows his exact movements.

"I was just wandering around and I happened to catch wind of your conversation," Zhang explains, placing his arms behind his back, "What were you saying about the mural, Kiara?

"I just have a weird feeling about it," Kiara sheepishly says.

"Do you know who is depicted in this painting," Zhang questions.

Kiara ponders for a while but she shakes her head in response to Zhang's question. The air in the room seemed to grow heavy as Zhang answered Kiara's doubts, "I suppose you would know about the Ascendants."

At the same time, Hirano and Kawata look at their opponents standing in the middle of their path. Hirano glares his eyes as Azrael looks scornfully through his mask.

"Ascendants," Azrael softly mutters to himself as he prepares for a skirmish against his enemies.