Alaric’s group silently made its way for the exit. They were mostly quiet following the stunning reality of the power Alaric’s guardian possessed.

As they walked, Alaric tried sorting through the thoughts in his head.

Fortunately, Alia was around to settle a few things for him, [Haven’t you always wondered why Marla must always keep the Anti-Detection Barrier active… especially when I intend to manifest?]

[I…] Alaric was stumped.

What use was there really for always suppressing his guardian’s presence?

Sister Marla had even gone to great lengths to teach him powerful Concealment spells just so he could keep his guardian hidden.

Now, it was starting to make sense to him. Alia was a very powerful guardian.

But that also brought one more question to light…

[Why would a guardian so powerful need to hide all the time?] Alaric wondered.

[I’ve seen you read stories of knights slaying dragons and behemoths. Imagine yourself the dragon] Alia shrugged.

The thought made Alaric’s stomach turn but he got the meaning behind it.

His power didn’t necessarily mean he was safe. In fact, it was the opposite.

[Humans fear powerful creatures. And when humans are threatened, they will stop at nothing to eliminate that which threatens them]

Alaric somberly digested the harsh truth of his reality, then tucked the thought to the back of his mind.

Unconsciously, he rubbed the silver bracelet that now wrapped around his wrist, humming gently with powerful undetectable enchantments.

This little trinket was one of many boons he’d walked out of the Tower Master’s office with.

After the appraisal, not only had the old man lost it but he’d also abandoned all decorum and practically begged Alaric to join the Eastern Tower of Seekers.

Naturally, begging would have involved getting down on his knees and grovelling but the old man was an expert of the art.

Elder Gregory, Master of the Eastern Tower of Seekers, had done something much worse than measly begging and grovelling.

Alaric currently wore a silver bracelet engraved with the symbol of the Tower of Seekers.

Beyond the bracelet’s lavish appearance and obvious opulence that contrasted with Alaric’s faded clothes, was a powerful enchantment that completely concealed Alia from preying eyes.

Not only that but this trinket doubled as a storage item. Alaric had placed his golden orb, along with his friends’ appraisal orbs inside.

By accident, he’d activated the retrieve enchantment while trying to stow the orbs and the three orphans had watched with open jaws as gold coins spilled out of the bracelet almost ceaselessly until they formed a pile that reached Alaric’s knees.

This was Elder Gregory’s way of ‘grovelling.’

To top it off, the trio was now following a pair of armed guards, each dressed in high-quality armour and oozing power.

Alaric could tell from their auras that they were both powerful B-class Slayers.

A-class Slayers were rare and S-class were nearly extinct…

While the pool of B-slayers remained small, they varied in strength, their training allowing them to reach the threatening peak of their guardian’s class.

Alaric stared at the bracelet once more…

He wasn’t yet in the Guardian Academy… and yet he already had more money than he ever dreamt of having.

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The gold in this one bracelet was more gold than he’d ever seen in one place, let alone a dream… and yet Elder Gregory had given it to him… all in the hopes of becoming his patron.

‘He’s going to spend even more money on me once he’s my patron. Why waste so much money just to recruit one person?’ Alaric wondered, astounded by the man’s methods.

Wasn’t he the one that had just hinted on his hopes of encouraging the Tower to use cheaper paper instead of parchment? Why then would he turn around and grace Alaric with so much money?

[Well, perhaps this is just a taste of the life you’d get to enjoy if you took him up on his offer] Alia took a stab at the topic.

[Can we trust that old geezer?] Alaric wondered.

[He’s not bad. It depends on what you want] Alia replied, [Just take your time and think.]

Outside, Alaric found Aiden and the two girls already seated on SwiftWind.

Garin stood with his helmet under his armpit and an exasperated expression on his face.

Only after noticing the escort bringing the trio to his stingray guardian did his face morph through a series of expressions before settling into angry curiosity, “What sort of trouble did you lot get yourself into?”

“Patronage trouble,” Finn blurted out, puffing his chest out.

Garin’s eyes went wide, “Yeah, right! Like that old geezer would let go of his money to recruit some random kids.”

“The boy speaks the truth, Garin,” one of the sentries escorting Alaric and his friends spoke up, “We’re escorting them back. How did your talk with the Elders go?”

Garin’s shoulders drooped and he turned away from the guards, “I’ll tell you on the way. Climb aboard, kids. We should get going before I resign.”

Alaric and his friends hurried and climbed aboard SwiftWind. Meanwhile, Alaric was more curious about what the man had just said considering this was the same organisation that had just offered him patronage.

“What do you mean? Why would you resign?” he panicked. Was there something wrong with the Tower that he ought to know about?

Garin stepped onto the tip of his guardian’s wing and walked along the cool smooth skin casually as though he was on flat ground.

No, in fact, he walked along SwiftWind with more grace than he did on the ground.

He shook his head with a sigh, “Happens in every organisation. Once in a while, expect to disagree with someone.”

The two armoured men standing on the ground chuckled as the air around them rippled. In the next moment, two beings emerged from the ripples in space.

One, a black horse with menacing fangs growing out the sides of its mouth and a pair of black sizzling horns jutting from the centre of its head.

The horns were straight with jagged cracks running along them with the longer one between the creature's eyes and the other down closer to its nose, making it look like a two-horned unicorn of darkness.

Graced with a gleaming black hide, majestic black wings and four powerful limbs, the creature’s appearance sent shivers down Alaric’s spine.

The other guardian was a large lion with eagle-like feet and eagle wings. The creature’s golden mane shimmered in the sun while a gentle rumble escaped its throat.

The man riding the lion chuckled, “What did you expect them to do? The next generation of Eastern Valeria is coming here and you intend to spread the news about a demon sighting?”

Garin pursed his lips, “Bah! It doesn’t matter now. Scouts were sent out and they found nothing.

They are calling my report a Nerve Hallucination, the symptoms of a nervous breakdown. I’m being given time off.”

Before the trio could continue their discussion, Garin clicked his tongue and prompted the great stingray to lift to the sky.

With one powerful beat of his majestic wings, SwiftWind took to the skies and was shooting upwards in no time, two knights following along on equally majestic beasts.

Alaric took the time once more to observe the tower as it vanished behind the mountain. Once the trio had stabilised in the air, the conversation continued casually.

“So about this patronage? How did it happen?” Garin asked.

“You believe me?” Finn beamed.

“Have you seen the Storage item on that boy’s hand? The Tower doesn’t hand those out to just anyone,” the man laughed.

“You should have seen the old man. He was treating the boy like some golden egg in there,” one of the guards laughed, flying closer to the head of the stingray.

“I had rumours of an S-class guardian. Why didn’t he take that one?” Garin asked curiously.

Alaric covered his face with his palm.

“The S-class guardian belongs to Alaric,” Aiden said quietly when no one spoke up.

Silence followed this revelation as the information sank into Garin’s mind. An S-class guardian, the first in fifteen years.

Garin took in a deep breath as he struggled to fathom what all of this meant.

The man sighed, then placed his hand on the cool azure skin of his guardian and closed his eyes.

There was a small subtle change following this gesture. Alaric couldn’t tell what it was but he could feel them moving a bit faster as time went on.

Turning to the guards, Garin yelled out, “LionHeart, Gunther… try to keep up.”

“Is something wrong?” Aiden asked.

“It will be if we fly as leisurely as we came,” the man responded grimly.

[We’re late] Alia hinted.

[Yeah…]

There was nothing to be seen all around them and yet, Alaric had already picked up on the signs of trouble.

As they travelled, Alaric got to notice odd details about their surroundings…

The sun had slowly vanished from the sky, getting replaced by dark gloomy storm clouds that stretched out as far as the eye could see.

There were flashes of light within the clouds but no thunder…

There was wind but no cold… and what was more, their bodies still felt the heat of the sun, as though it never left.

When the air itself became palpable with the hum of aether and the slight tinge of malice, everyone went stiff with dark anticipation.

“Transporting big shots has always been such a hassle,” Garin sighed.

Moments later, their peace was broken.