Punishment? For what? What am I being punished for, being forced into a class I didn’t ask for?! None of this was my fault. I’ve had no say whatsoever in any of these decisions. The punishment should come to whoever orchestrated this complete farce! I refuse to accept it! I did nothing wrong!

Orion’s booming voice snaps me out of my outrage, “Alice of Elziheir, you have chosen your path!”

My throat tightens, preventing me from responding, the words stuck in my throat. He is looking straight at me, expecting my reply, everyone waiting with bated breath, anticipating my declaration. I study the crowd, their faces filled with excitement, smiles, and encouragement. I can feel their emotions washing over me like waves crashing onto the shore, and it is more than I can take.

It’s not fair! I don’t want this. This is all wrong. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was to stand here tall and proud, smiling ear to ear, sharing the happiness with the ones that matter most to me. The news of my class would have been announced to everyone in the village and I would have embraced my new life with a sense of duty and responsibility. The awakening ceremony would have concluded with cheers of triumph. I’d go on the hunt to show off my newly gained skills, eager to prove myself. We’d feast on my capture to celebrate my accomplishment, and the entire village would share in my glory.

“Please, share your new name with us.” Orion’s voice draws my attention back to the priest. The people gathered below are whispering in anticipation. I swallow. A knot forms in my throat. The reality of what I need to do sets in, and I close my eyes, inhaling sharply through my nose as I fight back tears of frustration.

I refuse to accept this! They may have taken my class choice, my choice over my life away from me, but they cannot take this. I will not give it to them. This moment belongs to me, and me alone. They don’t need to know the full truth. I just need to omit some minor details and no one will suspect anything. Just let me have this. I need this. It’s mine!

Opening my eyes, I square my shoulders and try to summon my courage before answering with all the confidence I can muster, “I am Alice the Dawnbreaker!” My voice rings out loud and strong over the temple grounds, drawing gasps from the gathered spectators. “A new guardian to the village!” I continue, raising my arms high above my head as if making a proclamation before the heavens themselves. The sun responds, casting a blazing halo over me, shrouding my entire body in blinding white.

My heart soars. The voices of the people cheering and screaming fill me with immeasurable satisfaction as I bathe in the adulation. It doesn’t matter that this victory is tainted and fake. At this moment, it is real, and that makes me feel good, so I might as well enjoy it as much as I can. Now I only need to avoid looking at my mother’s sour face for a while until she comes to terms with her daughter being a guardian instead of a warrior or rogue. At least I’m not a scholar, mom, stop looking at me like that.

The noise dies down gradually as everyone gathers around, congratulating me, hugging and shaking my hands, and wishing me good fortune in the upcoming days. I revel in the attention, greedily soaking it up, committing every second to memory.

When most of the crowd disperses, my family finally steps up to the platform. Dad embraces me tightly, kissing the top of my head, before pulling back and squeezing my shoulder. A proud grin spread across his face. “Congratulations, sweetie. The Dawnbreaker, eh? You’ve chosen a glorious path for yourself today. You will have to tell us everything later!“ I wince a bit at that remark, but he doesn’t seem to notice as he continues. “Just be careful out there, okay? And remember, your safety comes first, everything else is secondary.” His brows furrow as he frowns, and he sighs heavily before adding in a serious tone, “Actually, you shouldn’t join the hunt at all, at least for the next couple of years.”

“What? No!” I cry out in dismay. Not joining a hunt?! Unacceptable! After everything I’ve been through, I deserve to take part in them! How could he suggest that?!

“You should listen to your father,” Mother interjects. “Guardians are not meant for solo hunting, and an inexperienced guardian in a party is more of a burden than a benefit. You never trained to be a protector, after all, your current skill set will leave you terribly deficient. I have no idea what came over you to decide to become a meatshield...”

“Honey!” Dad admonishes, giving Mom a reproachful look.

“Yes, you’re right.” For once, mother yields and falls silent, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she was experiencing a migraine. She stares into the distance, clearly struggling to stay calm before returning her attention to me, her face a cold mask. “We are very proud to see you follow our family’s tradition and pick a combat option, unlike some...” her gaze flickers over to Nael for a fraction of a second, but he pretends to ignore us, examining a flower on the side of the temple, and doesn’t respond to her jab. “And becoming a guardian is a truly honorable choice. You will serve our tribe admirably.” She speaks in a measured manner, stressing certain words. “However, I cannot agree with you going on a hunt.”

“Mom! I can fight! I could do just fine on my own, even before I got my class. It’s not like I suddenly became a cripple.” My voice shakes with anger as I object vehemently, “Even Nael could hunt after his awakening. And he is a scholar!” I don’t intend to let go of the issue so easily, no matter how upset it seems to make my parents.

“Times have changed, daughter,“ Father says, gently taking me by the shoulders. There's a new, unsettling presence in the woods, and our usual approaches are no longer effective. Please trust our experience. It is for the best that you do not venture forth, not yet at least.”

“But I can hunt! I proved it by killing that human in the ceremony...” Right, I was supposed to ask about that, wasn’t I? Completely slipped my mind, because of what happened after... Should I bring it up now? No, they will use it to distract me. Focus on the hunt, “And it’s our tribe tradition for one to provide for their feast.”

He shakes his head. “It’s not that simple. I am sorry, Alice, you have to understand this. We will discuss it at home.”

I clench my fists in frustration, resisting the urge to yell at him to let me go to the hunt. This isn’t how things were supposed to go. I fought hard to earn my place among the hunters, and I’ll be damned if I let someone take it away from me on the day of my awakening ceremony! I’ve suffered enough today, dammit. If someone tries to deprive me of the reward I fought for, then...

Father hugs me tightly, almost lifting me off my feet, whispering, “Let’s not fight in front of everyone. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.“ Then, more loudly, “I will provide for your feast and it will be a fitting celebration of your arrival to adulthood. Don’t you worry about it.”

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Is there even a point in arguing with them? No matter what I say, they’ll never change their minds. I cast a longing glance at the path leading to the gate and the forest beyond it; the treetops swaying gently in the breeze. If I push the matter, I’ll probably only anger them and end up stuck at home, or worse. It’s not like I can’t sneak out without them knowing. Just a small hunt, one hour or two. I need to test my new skills and collect my thoughts.

I let out a defeated sigh and nod. “Fine, but you owe me an explanation. I am not letting you go so easily, with only vague excuses as answers.”

Mother scoffs at my demand, but Father nods with a smile. “Deal. I owe you that much, at the very least.” Then, turning to my brother, he adds, “We will leave for the village. There are matters we need to attend to. Take her with you. We’ll see you both at the feast tonight.”

With that said, he releases me from his embrace and grabs my mother by the arm, leading her towards the main temple gate.

“Ah, well, that could have gone better,” Nael mutters under his breath as we watch them depart, “anyway, congratulations, sis! You chose a... class? A bit unexpected, but interesting, I guess? I never noticed you being particularly interested in becoming a defender or anything.”

“And I never knew you would turn out to be a scholar. Life is full of surprises, brother!” I answer with an overly exaggerated, mocking sweetness, gritting my teeth and putting on a bright, cheerful smile, “Oh, I also had an option of becoming a herbbound.” Or at least I would have had, had I been able to choose. The mental image of me watering plants and pruning bushes comes to mind and I scowl instinctively. Honestly, it’s hard to tell which is more humiliating - becoming a gardener or a glorified torch.

“Really? But it’s a myth rarity class. It shouldn’t appear again for generations...” Nael muses aloud, ignoring my sarcastic response. I mean, it’s not like he knows any better. I am just venting my anger over something that’s out of his control. Calm down, no need to take it out on him. You will go on a hunt and release some of that pressure on unsuspecting prey, like a civilized person, rather than snapping at your family, Alice.

“Where did our parents rush off to? I kinda expected to spend the rest of the day being lectured by mother about my, umm, choice,” I ask, changing the topic of discussion, trying to find anything to distract me from the rising surge of negative emotions.

Nael gives me a curious look, tilting his head to the side. “To the smithy, of course. You are gonna be needing some good plate armor with your new designation. Such a shame, too. You really look good in this one.” He gives me an appraising look from head to toe and sighs dramatically.

Damn, I completely forgot about this. How do I explain I won’t use heavy armor without giving away that I got a guardian class with virtually no defense? It’s gonna raise so many questions if I show up dressed in light gear like a bladedancer, despite my class being a tank. “I... don’t really feel like it’s right for me. It’s not what I... I mean, I can’t see myself wearing such a thing. Can’t we wait a bit longer? I thought I would get more time to think it over before we settled on an armor type?” I stumble on my own words as I try to come up with a convincing excuse.

“Why would we wait? It’s a critical piece of equipment for any protector. If anything, this needs to be the highest priority, so you can start to train properly,” he raises an eyebrow in confusion and I can almost see the wheels in his head turning. “Okay, out with it! What kind of class is this? Your behavior is really suspicious!”

“Normal!” I answer a bit too fast, before freezing in place, realizing my mistake. Crap, why am I so terrible at lying?

“C’mon, tell me!” Nael asks with a sly grin, clearly enjoying watching me struggle. “Do I need to bring it up with our parents? I have no qualms with ratting you out if it means I get to see that drama unfold.”

“Ughhh...” I groan in exasperation, running my hands through my hair, “Look, I didn’t lie! I am a guardian through and through! But...”

“But?”

“But it’s a bit of a weird one, okay? And I really don’t want to talk about it!” I plead, my voice rising a bit at the end.

“More reason for me to get involved,” he chuckles, smirking like the cat who caught a mouse. “How bad is it?”

I purse my lips in irritation. Nice job, Alice! Your grand plan of subterfuge lasted almost a full fifteen minutes before crumbling at the slightest hint of pressure. Now what? Do I just straight-up tell him the truth? That my class is unique and one that I didn’t even choose? That will lead to a lot of questions that I really don’t want to deal with right now. But on the other hand, I still prefer to have that talk with my brother than my parents. Maybe he will give me some useful advice on how to deal with them.

“You won’t tell anyone if I show you, right? This stays between us.” I try to strike a bargain, giving him my most desperate, pleading look.

He glances to the side for a moment, contemplating the question, then looks at me with a smirk. “Depends on what I see. I’ll keep the secret unless it threatens the wellbeing of the village.”

Hey, my class may be bad, but it’s not THAT bad! I mean, I think... Oh, whatever! The only thing left to do is to get this over with and move on. I’ll deal with the aftermath as I go. No use delaying it any further.

With an annoyed sigh, I spread my arms and tense the muscles in my stomach and chest, “Punch me. You will see for yo...”

I stand frozen, my mouth agape, as Nael's fist slams into my gut, knocking the wind out of me. The blow sends me staggering backward and I fall flat on my ass, wheezing. I cough weakly and bend over, wrapping my hands around myself, a pained moan escaping my lips.

“Oww, what the heck, Alice?” My brother cries out in pain, his hands pressed against his eyes, trying to soothe the discomfort.

“That’s my line. Couldn’t you wait until I finished speaking? Jerk!” I spit the words out as I rub my stomach and slowly stand up.

“Well, it’s not my fault. The word ‘punch’ was just too tempting to ignore,” he protests. “Anyway, turn it off already. This hurt.”

“I, I don’t know how. I just got it after all. Just don’t look at me and it should stop soon enough.”

He nods in understanding, carefully averting his gaze. We stand in awkward silence for several seconds as Nael avoids staring at me while I gather words to describe my situation. Where do I even start? My class? The disastrous ceremony? Those broken quests?

Fortunately, my brother spares me the effort and breaks the silence, “So, unique?”

“That obvious?” A weak chuckle escapes my lips.

“Quite,” he shrugs, “This fits my observations. You still have shared no actual information about it, your reaction to news about getting you heavy armor. And that unique skill of yours, if I’m guessing right, must be the most misplaced ability possible for someone with your class archetype.”

“Pretty much, yeah...” I admit sheepishly, nodding along as he lists everything, feeling stupid at my attempts at deception.

“Why did you choose it, then? I’m pretty sure...”

“I DIDN’T CHOOSE IT!!!” I explode in a sudden surge of fury, yelling in frustration at the unfairness of the world. Tears threaten to break out as my vision blurs, but I squeeze my eyes shut to prevent them from escaping. My shoulders shake as I take deep, ragged breaths, trying to rein in my runaway emotions as quite a few heads turn in our direction, wondering what the commotion is all about. “Sorry... I lost it there for a second. I didn’t choose it… It sort of forced itself onto me when I tried to become a bladedancer. For the entire ceremony, I was deprived of any real choice. It’s all the fault of that damn rabbit!“

Nael watches me cautiously, studying my face, trying to gauge whether it’s safe to speak or if I might be pushed over the edge once again by some thoughtless comment. When I settle down somewhat, he steps closer and puts a comforting hand on my shoulder, “How about we go home and you will tell me everything there, away from the crowds.”

I nod in agreement, wiping the moisture from the corners of my eyes with the palm of my hand. He lets go of me, turns, and starts walking toward the village. I hesitate for a second, glancing at the forest wistfully, but follow my brother. Maybe I can still find time to slip out in the afternoon?