A palpable gasp swept through the Colosseum followed by a deep silence as the gathering of humans and spirits watched what could just as well be considered a miracle right before their eyes. A transcendence from B-class to A-class was unheard of, only ever surfacing in myths and fantasies children liked to make up.

It wasn’t just the orb’s colour that changed or the amount of power held within it… but the very aura surrounding the unconscious boy as well. His unconscious guardian had gone through a transformation just like the orb had.

Subtle waves of power radiated off his body now that his sleeping guardian had just undergone a complete metamorphosis. The boy’s presence was a lot more imposing, much like Darla’s was.

The announcer’s voice came only about a minute later…

“It’s the first I’ve seen of this. For the first time in Fifteen years… no, for the first time in my life, the Coming of Age Ceremony had produced an A-class guardian,” the announcer’s voice, usually professional, sounded stunned by the sudden development.

The man lost his former sense of glamour and decorum and just started speaking his mind. Several giggles rippled through the audience as they noticed him fumbling. This too, was a first.

Alaric held the orb in his hand with a smile.

‘Congratulations, Aiden. You’ve earned this,’ with that, he turned to the crowd and scanned through the masses.

His eyes landed on a familiar group of people not so high up in the stands. Alia lifted the boy into her arms and followed Alaric off the podium, ascending the stairs to a family too stunned to speak.

Alaric recognized the family from earlier that day. Picking out Aiden’s sister, he knelt and held out the emerald orb, “Hold onto this for your brother, okay? He’ll need it in the days to come.”

The girl gingerly picked the glowing emerald orb from his outstretched palm and gazed at it in awe, “Thank you for healing brother.”

It was only then that Alaric noticed the tears on Aiden’s sister’s face. Not only hers, but the whole family in fact, including the older spirits that bore a resemblance to Aiden’s parents.

Aiden’s father walked up to the towering black knight and bowed his head in respect.

“Lift your head, sir. You’ve raised a fine young man. You should be proud,” Alia’s voice thundered, “He’ll need plenty of protein-based food in the coming days to build a stronger body. Now that his guardian’s class has changed, his body will need all the strength it can get to accommodate that change.”

After this, she handed the boy over to his father and dissolved into the shadows. With her disappearance came numerous breaths of relief as the oppressive pressure of her presence was released.

Alaric gave a small bow and was about to walk back to the VIP booth when he noticed a handsome spirit floating down from the VIP section. Master Jack was visibly glowing with pride as he took Alaric’s hand.

With this simple gesture, the boy’s feet left the ground and they began to float back to the VIP booth. This time, Alaric didn’t resist the Great Ancestor’s power.

“You scared me for a moment there. Just how high are your standards? Could you not see that the boy had reached his limit?” the handsome spirit asked.

Stolen story; please report.

“I don’t know much about my standards. I just didn’t see him get past the basics of the Dance of the Sword,” Alaric replied indifferently.

Master Jack’s face grew pale and his smile withered, “Basics…? Have you already mastered every step of the dance Aiden just demonstrated?” the man asked.

“Yes… and so have my friends,” Alaric responded again with a small nod, “Besides, Aiden’s forms were unstable. I could tell it was his first time going through that many.”

“Then why grant him a new class?”

Alaric paused for a moment as he allowed the Great Ancestor to fly them back to the VIP booth. He knew the answer to this too. Aiden hadn’t trained as hard as Alaric had—or any of his friends for that matter—, but he’d demonstrated something that quite easily negated his former negligence to training.

Tonight, Aiden had demonstrated a will stronger than any Alaric had ever encountered. He’d forged forward even after his muscles had repeatedly raptured. He’d demonstrated his unwillingness to give up.

“It’s one thing to be strong… but another to have the will to fight when all your strength has been taken from you. To stand up to a basilisk and fight even when the odds are clearly stacked against you. Today, Aiden showed me the might of his Warrior’s spirit,” Alaric explained.

“The strength… of a Pillar,” Master Jack mumbled to himself thoughtfully.

Alaric returned to the VIP booth and took a seat, this time between Finn and Darla. The two were quiet for a bit before Finn spoke up, “Was that wise?”

“I don’t know?” Alaric replied. Had he missed something? No one told him wisdom had anything to do with what he’d just done.

“Since when can you change the class of someone’s guardian?” Finn asked.

“I didn’t think it was possible.”

“Finn, cut Alaric some slack. All the spirits and humans here contributed power,” Darla stopped the angry sandy-haired boy, “Besides, Alia approved of this. So, it must be fine.”

Finn went silent, then mumbled to himself, “This place is too weird.”

“It’s weird because it’s peaceful. In a world ravaged by demons, crime and dark magic, a place like this is weird,” Master Jack suddenly spoke up, “If you ever feel like you need a peaceful place to rest your head or recuperate, feel free to return to this village. You’ll always be welcome here. Any friends of Alaric are.”

With that, Master Jack left to rejoin Master Jill, his wife and the other spirits in the VIP section while the Coming of Age Ceremony continued. None of the children had noticed him lurking… but they did notice how he sulked when he took his seat beside Master Jill.

Of the three children, only Darla felt sorry for the man for being silently rejected a second time. Of course, Alaric was none the wiser.

He merely continued to watch the rest of the Ceremony play out in the company of his two best friends. He watched dances from the other two girls who had travelled to the Tower of Seekers.

Much to his slight disappointment, the girls didn’t perform the Dance of the Sword. Instead, they performed different dances, recognized within the fields of the professions they wished to follow.

One chose to follow in the path of a songstress while another chose to become a Seeker. Their dances were not as aggressive or ambitious as Jack’s but were equally elegant.

If anything, Alaric noticed how hard they worked to put on a show that wouldn’t be dwarfed by Aiden’s spectacular demonstration and unlike Aiden’s dance that had come from his inner desire to prove himself to Alaric, these girls had mastered their dances going through each step of their choreographies with gracefully refined poise.

Eventually, however, the event came to an end. It had been a long night and the three children needed to rest. Garin showed up moments after the end of the ceremony to make sure they went off to bed early.

Before Alaric could leave, however, a voice called out to him.

Master Jack sat in the corner of the VIP section beckoning for him to come over, “I’ll only be a moment. If I take too long, don’t wait for me.”

Alaric hurried up to the spirit, noticing on his way up that he’d become a bit paler since meeting him. Now it was all too obvious that he wasn’t a being of this world, “Master Jack, you’re pale. What’s happening to…”

“It’s just Jack to you, Lord Alaric,” Master Jack replied.

“I wouldn’t think off…”

The boy was cut off by the spirit shaking his head fervently, “Don’t make me beg in the few minutes I have left. The moon is no longer at its peak which means the barrier between the spirit world and the human world is closing… I won’t be here much longer. Care to talk to me while I wait?”

“What about your family?” Alaric tried.

“I can always talk to them on the next full moon… But I don’t know when I’ll ever talk to you again,” the man replied with a sad smile.