Tension rose between the three Slayers of the Tower of Seekers. It was clear to see that these weren’t your ordinary members of the village watch.

Far from it actually. This group of ragtag bandits was the exact kind of group Garin had been hoping to avoid on this journey despite knowing how foolish it was to make such a wish.

In truth, after hearing Alaric had been appraised S-class and further assigned two guards to help him get back to the Five Hills, he’d expected an encounter such as this.

What he hadn’t expected though, was for this attack to happen right after fending off a large swarm of demons.

SwiftWind was winded from using his powerful sonic attack. Their aether reserves were running low and yet the sky was dotted with bandits, reeling with menacing auras, fresh aether reserves and goofy grins.

The repulsive leader of the bandits wore barbaric clothing torn here and there from head to toe… and yet the fabric seemed expensive, wreathed in minimal enchantments. The permanent wicked grin on his face made the knight’s stomach turn.

Garin kept his expression calm and tried his best to keep himself from snapping at the man. They were outnumbered so the worst thing he could do now is lose his cool.

“Village we’re from? You don’t need to trouble yourself with the details old man. We just want to help. Rumour has it that one of the boys on that stingray got an S-class appraisal. Now I don’t know much about rumours but anyone would be starstruck to meet such a promising young chap, am I right fellas?”

The gathering of ruffians bubbled into barbaric cackles as they listened to their leader ramble.

“Maybe we could even get his autograph?” some of them voiced.

“Here that old man. The boy already has some fans…”

“We’d like to see the S-class orb…”

“Ah! The S-class orb… Now that’s something even I’ve never seen outside of the Tower of Seekers,” the man responded to his men’s words boisterously.

“We could teach the boy a few tricks too,” another yelled out.

“Yes, yes… Hey, I happened to be a slayer back in my day too. Killed me a couple of demons while serving the Elite Guard and all that,” the leader added to the chaotic mess of suggestions.

Garin had heard some darker suggestions like getting to know Alaric’s guardian or helping keep his female friends cozy while they taught him a few tricks to being a slayer.

The knight scuffed down the urge to punch the man in the face for making such a bold claim, “Which unit?”

“Ah, only the best of them. When I served the force, I was stationed in the far South of the Valerian continent.

Lots of them shady fire types and all down there. You know… the type that love their meat seared but a little raw on the inside with the slight taste of fresh blood.”

“Flame Vipers,” Garin growled.

“That’s right, old man,” the multi-pin-wearing ruffian beamed, a look of deranged bliss blooming on his twisted face.

“From what I heard just a few minutes ago, the screams of that flying Blue Devil would make you the Sound Knight, Garin of the Eastern Tower of Seekers… and Tyrant Slayer,” the man’s expression hardened, “You’re a legend.”

“I don’t go by that title anymore,” Garin raised his sword and got ready should they attack.

From the man’s tone, this did not look well. Not only was the group sporting quite several flying guardians, but some of the guardians were carrying more than one person.

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In a battle of numbers, Garin and his comrades were heavily outnumbered.

“You’re no humble villagers,” Garin sighed. LionHeart and Gunther readied their weapons as well.

The man responded in a dead tone, “And you’re no random travelling slayers either, imagine that! Fan out, men… Those kids couldn’t have gone too far and bring that S-class Awakening Orb to…”

Before the man could finish barking his orders, the sky crackled with lightning. He looked down in time to see a black unicorn with two horns crackling with black lightning stepping out of a spatial rift.

Not far, a large lion stepped out of a similar rift, its mane shimmering like flowing gold.

“Ah, Elementals. What luck I have!” the man’s empty voice echoed.

He lifted his hand and made an odd gesture with his hands.

Ten of the flying guardians flew off at tangents, spreading out and away from the battlefield while the other ten turned their attention on the slayers on the ground.

“You three might be top-notch slayers… but there is only so much you can do against so many,” the smug look on the enemy’s face only grew more irritating as a long scythe appeared in the man’s hand, seeming to be pulled out of thin air.

Only when the menacing weapon had been fully drawn out did the man jump down from his flying panther to meet the knights on the ground.

A black arrow streaked through the air, its sizzling path fizzing with smoke as it shot for the falling bandit.

As quickly as it appeared, it vanished, downed by an impossibly quick slash of the black scythe, moving with pinpoint accuracy. A wicked grin bloomed on its wielder’s face, “You guys are fun.”

More bandits dismounted and before the three Tower Slayers knew it, they were completely surrounded. Surprisingly, Garin didn’t flinch.

“Can’t we talk this out like civilised humans?” the knight asked with a half-smile.

The fear that seemed to have gripped his being only moments ago was suddenly gone from his system. Instead, now he held his sword with a relaxed careless swagger that made him appear to have lost his mind.

“Tch…” the leader of the bandits snorted, “Kill these fools.”

………………………….

Just as guardians came in many shapes, colours and sizes, so did humans and the powers they derived from their guardians.

Aether was the most fundamental form of energy humans derived from their guardians. Upon awakening, there were several changes one would experience.

The infusion of aether from the bond they shared with their guardian, the increase in strength, speed, agility and the enhancement of their five senses.

Even their very perception of the world changed. However, even beyond that came an ability derived from the very nature of one’s guardian. An ability that could not be regenerated using magic.

An Inborn Ability.

In some rare scenarios, this ability could even manifest before the guardian ever awakened… like Cody’s fire abilities.

Alaric’s ability was particularly potent while at the same time, difficult to master.

It was because of his ability that his heart went cold the instant he saw Garin’s face.

Unlike the Slayer he’d come to know, this one bore no connection to the wind around him. That change, no matter how minute, was one that Alaric’s strange Inborn Ability, allowed him to recognize faster than his eyes could capture the light from ‘fake’ Garin’s face.

He looked very much like Garin… and yet, to Alaric, he couldn’t be any far off.

He was a completely different creature altogether simply because he didn’t feel the presence of SwiftWind.

[ALARIC!] Alia warned.

Alaric waved his hands at his friends frantically, desperate not to make a sound while at the same time desperate to protect them from the terror of the imposter.

The imposter might have been blind to the invisible children… but he could perceive their actions if they shifted something around them or made a sound.

Alas, Alaric’s attempts had been in vain.

Following Aiden’s sudden outburst, the man’s body had morphed from that of the steadfast knight to that of a ruffian dressed in rugged clothes and covered in piercings that made him look less human.

The devilish expression on his face and his sinister smirk sent shivers down Alaric’s spine as he witnessed the man’s true appearance come to light.

Something else shook Alaric’s core, however, and that was the presence of a guardian connection so fundamentally wrong that it made the boy’s stomach twist in horror.

Aiden took a step back, fear written all over his face…

At the same time, the man’s hand rested on the pommel of a lithe dagger.

Aether coursed through Alaric’s body and before he could think of what was happening, he shot from his spot and slammed into boy’s body, pushing him out of the way just in time for him to witness the sharp tip of a deadly blade glide past his eyes.

This wasn’t over though…

Not only had they avoided the blade, but they’d also erased all doubt from the man of their presence with their sudden actions. A grin covered the man’s face as he slashed more times at the space in front of him, yielding no results except to confirm that the children were no longer there.

“An Invisibility spell… No, magic like that is too advanced for children like you… Perhaps an Inborn Ability. Comes in handy when hiding.

Where is your guardian, little boy? You can’t possibly believe that a guardian is a good thing… They control us and try to show us the right way to live… I say screw them. This world belongs to us humans.

Come out, boy! It’s no use hiding. You’ll never run from me… Not while you carry an orb that hasn’t been seen in fifteen years,” the man cackled.