In the great continent of Valeria, everyone was born with a guardian, a supernatural being blessed with wondrous abilities.

Guardians came in many forms, shapes and sizes, ranging from a rogue amalgamation of random creatures of the world, to inanimate objects like swords, statues or even plants.

The multitude of powers and abilities they possessed were just as numerous, as the stars that dotted the night sky.

Humans had tried to comprehend the wondrous existence of their guardians… but so far, such a task had proven truly daunting.

A few theories existed, many of them pointing to the twelve constellations and the stars.

Alaric read a lot about guardians whenever he got the chance and even with how much he’d read, he wasn’t at all shocked when a miracle he didn’t understand occurred right in front of him.

Miracles like Cody, for example, who looked less like a human with his fiery hair and rogue fire magic. More times than Alaric could count, he’d witnessed the boy control flames with just his mind.

When Alaric met an astounding guardian who went against all reason, it was common for him to get enthralled by them, searching for answers.

At first, SwiftWind had seemed ordinary for a guardian… but then, Alaric started to notice a few odd things.

Why was it that a creature belonging to the seas moved so freely through the air as though the ground had no power over it?

SwiftWind rarely touched the ground… and even then, he never looked to be struggling to stay away from it.

He simply floated through the air as though he was one with it. As though he was never truly flying but rather within his element. Garin had similar grace when he was aboard the stingray.

These thoughts had turned over and over in his head as he noticed the strange behaviour of the wind around the stingray.

It wasn’t right to just say the stingray had a high affinity to the skies.

No, it was more like the stingray ruled over the air around him.

It didn’t matter whether it was windy or not, his flight remained graceful, controlled and untouched by the wind’s whims.

Now, the magnificent creature had released a powerful sonic attack.

‘A-class?’ he wondered.

[Could be a High B-class or Low A-class] Alia observed.

Alaric saw the creature vanish into thin air as he and his group dived below the cover of the trees leaving the battlefield behind.

“Will they be okay?” Finn asked, jogging alongside Alaric with a worried expression.

“They should be. They’re trained for situations just like this,” Alaric tried, “Let’s get to the GateWay. The sooner we’re in Jack’s Fall the better.”

Alaric watched the flow of aether in his system with concern.

He’d been supplying the enchantment concealing his guardian with aether, maintaining a protective barrier around the giant Stingray and now, he was using it to keep six people invisible.

This much aether use was great, even for him…

The six aspirants dashed through the woods as fast as they could weaving around thick trees whilst trying to remain as silent as they could be.

As they ran, Alaric carefully took note of their states, slowing down when he realised one of them was growing too tired and signalling for everyone else to do the same.

It was thirty minutes before the green-eyed boy raised his voice, “Let’s take a break.”

As soon as he said this, the two girls, Red and Black, dropped to the ground with heavy thuds, panting heavily and covered in sweat.

Aiden was leaning against a tree, keeping his back to the direction they’d come. He didn’t look too well either but he held himself better than the two girls.

[He’s pretending] Alia shrugged.

[He’s doing well for a pretender] Alaric replied with a nod.

Meanwhile, Finn and Darla were fine, a fact that Alaric could tell didn’t sit well with Aiden.

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The pair sat on a large overgrown root and watched the others recover.

“So, what’s the plan?” Darla asked.

“No signs of the Outpost yet. It’s probably further than Garin said it would be,” Alaric noted. As he said this, his expression seemed to glaze over.

“How can you tell?” Aiden asked.

“I can use my Inborn Ability to check ahead,” Alaric replied absentmindedly, “We’ll have to walk to the Outpost.

I doubt our friends can handle a run for the rest of the journey,” Alaric explained, his gears grinding hard as he analysed the situation.

“What if we run into lions… or worse, Aether Beasts?” Aiden argued, “We should wait for Garin and the others to catch up. We’ll be safer.”

“Most animals won’t come out of their dens when demons are around. The Outpost most likely has a barrier that demons can’t cross. Most demons are nocturnal which means the forest will get a lot more dangerous when the sun comes out,” Alaric replied with the same dazed expression.

To Aiden and his friends, the dark-haired boy appeared to be multitasking using some clairvoyant ability that allowed him to see far away.

“How do you… know so much about demons?” Black asked, still out of breath.

“Alaric, Darla and I have been training to be slayers for four years,” Finn replied in Alaric’s stead.

Walking to the girls, the boy knelt before them, “Deep breaths… They will calm you down faster.”

Breathing deeply, he maintained eye contact and prompted the girls to follow his lead.

The girls took deep breaths following Finn’s instructions. They were on their feet within a few seconds, albeit holding onto the sandy-haired boy for support as they regained their balance.

Darla watched them in silence, keeping a neutral expression.

“Must be nice to be S-class. You probably think we’re dead weight,” Aiden mumbled.

Darla and Finn regarded the blonde boy for a moment before turning back to Alaric with expectant expressions.

‘These guys…! What am I supposed to say to that?’ he mentally cried.

Alia chuckled into his mind, [Be the prince that you are.]

[Not helping, ALIA.] he screamed back at the dotting guardian.

Biting down on the slight agitation he felt, Alaric spoke up, “Jealousy is not a good look on you, Aiden.”

“Jealousy? Give me a break. You got lucky,” Aiden spat back.

“Then what’s your problem?” Alaric countered.

When no answer came after that, Alaric sighed and turned to the others, “We should get moving.”

“No, we should wait for Garin,” Aiden was quick to answer.

“I just told you why we can’t,” Alaric turned back.

“Why would I listen to you?” the boy replied flippantly.

“I didn’t say you had to. We’re the same age and we’ve never met before today. Do what you want for all I care,” Alaric replied with a shrug.

Aiden snorted and looked away… agitated for reasons Alaric could only guess.

The dark-haired boy turned his attention to the recuperating girls. He’d looked ahead as far as his abilities could let him and knew a long walk was all that awaited them.

What he feared was the darkness of night descending with them in the woods.

He walked up to the girls who were still getting their footing with Finn’s help.

“Can you walk? We must start moving. Demons are more active at night and we don’t want to risk running into any that can see through my spell.”

The girl with long straight black hair looked up at the translucent apparition that was Alaric with a curious expression, “How can you keep this spell up for so long?”

Alaric resisted the urge to get flustered. He knew his aether reserves were potent for a fifteen-year-old… but he had also grown used to that fact.

“I’m sure you too can get used to it with practice,” he replied.

“Why couldn’t we just wait for Garin and the others?” Red mumbled.

It shouldn’t have taken long for Garin and the others to defeat the demons. Alaric had thought of this… and yet, something told him that would not be the case.

Something about the way the knight had rushed them away from the battlefield made his stomach turn.

The way the guards had cast illusions of them on the back of the Stingray Guardian.

‘Didn’t the illusions vanish when Garin released SwiftWind?’ Alaric’s stomach turned… ‘I have a bad feeling.’

A short moment later, Alia’s voice echoed, [Me too.]

It took the girls a few more minutes to regain the energy to walk and even when they did, Alaric noticed how they gritted their teeth and held firm expressions, suppressing the pain of their aching muscles.

Finn soon rejoined him and Darla as they walked on.

“You okay?” the sandy-haired boy asked his friend.

“Yeah, I’m f-,” Alaric froze all of a sudden, then raised his hands abruptly.

At that moment, the forest went still along with them and the wind stilled all at once. Instinctively, Alaric turned to Aiden and placed a stern finger on his lips before the boy could raise another complaint.

As it turned out, he’d still followed them after they’d started walking.

Aiden furrowed his brows in frustration but obeyed and remained quiet.

For everyone but Alaric, the world had gone all but silent.

Alaric’s senses were better than the others though owing to his guardian’s awakening, a boon the others would get once their guardians awakened as well.

To Alaric, a foreign sound had interrupted the peace of the quiet forest. It was the sound of running footsteps.

The boy checked his spell and aether reserves to make sure he was keeping all six in his group well-concealed.

When it was that his friends finally heard the sound of footsteps, they turned pale.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the forest, coming fast in their direction.

The six aspirants waited in silence until the source of the sound finally broke through the cover of the woods.

The source of the sound was Garin. The lower half of his armour was missing, replaced by a strong fabric trouser which was also covered in cuts.

His face, no longer covered by a helmet, was ragged, as anyone would expect of someone who had just been involved in a battle.

As he appeared, a look of glee crossed everyone's faces. They sighed, chuckled and at some point, Aiden said, “You scared us, Garin.”

But as all this happened, Alaric waved his hands frantically at the aspirants who took a second too long to notice his warning.

A sinister expression bloomed on Garin’s face. The man plunged his hand into his pocket and fished out a metallic object that Alaric recognised to be a whistle… “I found them boys,” he cackled, then blew on the object as hard as his lungs could allow.

As he did, his skin bubbled and his armour vanished, only to be replaced by a more sinister-looking appearance, the visage of cunning and evil.

He was still human… but nothing like the kind-hearted boisterous knight that was Garin. This man looked a lot more… vile.

‘Crap.’

[You can say that again…] Alia groaned, [And he’s not alone.]