Alaric doubled back as his face went white as a sheet, ‘Heh!’

What had Darla just said? Scanning around, Alaric saw normal people. Everyone around them looked normal… but as he concentrated even harder, he began to notice a few oddities.

For every person he saw, there were at least three to four people moving with them, talking amongst themselves and sometimes talking with the person Alaric had now pinned to be, ‘the centre.’

Sometimes, ‘the centre’ would be more than one person and the people surrounding those were even more. It would also be important to note that Alaric only noticed these people who seemed to have those crowds surrounding them as far more vibrant in appearance.

The difference was subtle but after knowing what to look for, everything snapped into focus. The spirits were simply paler than those that were still alive. It bothered Alaric that he hadn’t noticed at all.

‘What? Why? How?’ his mind rambled on as he looked around even more.

[Don’t you remember me talking about powerful spirit energy in the air?] Alia asked.

[You didn’t mention they were actual spirits] the boy whined.

“You really hadn’t noticed?” Darla asked, snapping him out of his conversation with his guardian.

“I…”

“Darla, cut him some slack. Even I hadn’t noticed until you told me,” Finn suddenly spoke up, “To be honest, even you only noticed because of your guardian.”

Darla shrugged, “I hadn’t told Alaric because I thought Alia had already told him.”

Alaric’s eyebrows twitched at the mention of Alia. The guardian had indeed told him… in a way.

Turning to his surroundings, Alaric shifted his attention to his surroundings. Just like he’d noticed earlier, for every ‘centre’ of attention, more than four spirits swarmed, dwarfing the number of actual humans that were present, “The question that remains now… is why there are so many spirits here.”

As though sensing his question, a man in front of them turned and gave them a gentle smile, “Hey… Lord Alaric. I know I’m… no one and shouldn’t even dream of talking to someone as great as you but would you grant me the honour of answering your question?”

The people in front of the line all turned to the man with varied expressions. Some were freaking out that he’d just talked to Alaric while others stared on with looks of… envy?

Trying to ignore the attention they’d drawn, Alaric allowed his mind to engage the conversation as smoothly as he could, “We were that loud, huh?”

Alas, the boy’s body betrayed him a bit, turning his cheeks a light shade of pink from the embarrassment. What’s more, he wasn’t just catching the attention of fellow humans but spirits as well.

“Oh no! Not at all. If it makes you feel any better, a few of my friends called me Nosy back in my day,” the man responded with a wink.

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“And you’re sure it wasn’t because you had a long nose?” Alaric replied with a smirk.

“Perish the thought,” the man curtsied.

“Alright. Tell me what I’m missing here,” Alaric gave up.

“Okay. Since you’ve already met Master Jill, I take it that you already know that Old Blood runs deep in Jack’s Fall,” the man started.

“I might have heard the phrase a few hundred times. Go on,” Alaric nodded.

“Well, today is a special day, you see. It’s the day that we see our young ones blossom into adults. For many years, our children train hard for this day so that when they dance, the work and effort they poured into perfecting their choreography would fill our hearts and in turn reward them with a fruitful Awakening,” the man said in a giddy tone.

“I’ve heard this year we have a promising contestant. He’s a swordsman who’s trained tirelessly under the instruction of Master Jill himself. Naturally, we all have high hopes for him,” the man responded.

“What does the Coming of Age Ceremony have to do with spirits?” Alaric asked.

“When we die, our spirits are sent over to the realm of guardians. What happens there is not to be disclosed to mortals… but for those of us with strong ties to our past, there are times when the boundaries between the two realms are just weak enough that we can visit our loved ones again, to cherish and sometimes, bless them,” the spirit explained.

“This is one such day, Lord Alaric. Today, the spirits of Jack’s Fall return to bless the next generation and keep the village prospering for aeons to come,” the man explained.

Alaric looked around… “Because of the past though, these people here can’t move on.”

“Oh, you misunderstand, my Lord. Staying true to Jack’s Fall has nothing to do with being bound to the village. It simply requires one to perform certain rituals in their family homes. Rituals like childbirth, burials, and marriages. Those are the rituals that bind us to Jack’s Fall… You must have heard that Master Jill’s daughter is serving the Elite Guard. When she’s done, she’ll return and the cycle will continue,” the man responded.

Alaric sighed, “In a way, you never truly die, do you?”

“Nope! Now, did I ever tell you of the story where old man Jack fell down the hill and broke his leg? It’s a famous tale that gets this colourful village its name,” the man started.

Just then, a large woman turned and smacked the back of his head, “I think that’s enough out of you, Nosy. Keep talking and Master Jack will hear you. Pardon me but this one will cause you far too much trouble, Lord Alaric,” the woman apologised before dragging Nosy out of line and away from Alaric and his friends.

Alaric held his laughter in…

He still remembered the look on Master Jill’s face as he thought of the rather distasteful tale of Master Jack’s fall, inevitably giving the town its name. Of course, a tale like that would have to be funny for Nosy to find it amusing enough to retell.

The boy had no doubt it had been spiced up over the years that followed its first narration. Alas, Alaric would not get to hear that tale today. Or at least, not now. Who knew? Perhaps later, he could get to hear it from someone else.

“Lord, huh…” Finn broke the silence.

“It’s this thing that Master Jill insists on,” Alaric responded.

“Oh no… I’m not judging. But humour me… First, the Tower of Seekers offers you patronage… and now, you’re a lord. What next?” Finn asked.

“Don’t go growing a big head and forgetting where you came from Alaric?” Darla tried.

“Never,” Alaric responded.

Yes, in the end, these two were the reasons he gave up seeking answers to why he was being referred to as a lord by everyone in Jack’s Fall. He’d resigned to getting used to it rather than asking questions.

As he’d noticed from his experience with Master Jack, any question he asked only unravelled more questions… and after the mess, he’d been through today with the mercenaries, he was not about to put his brain through more hell just to find out something he had no idea about.

What he did know, however, was that his friends were the most important thing to him. Perhaps another day, when he was well-rested and bored, he’d return and ask the old Master why he insisted on calling him a lord.

After all, his intuition had already told him enough to quell his curiosities anyway. All of this had something to do with Alia.

And from past experiences, his intuition was never wrong.