“Next time you think of insulting someone’s guardian, keep me out of it,” Apollo seethed, fluttering angrily in Finn’s face.

“What kind of guardian is Apollo? I’m not sure I’ve met one other than Alia who can talk,” Alaric suddenly asked.

The boy had been wondering about this from the moment he heard the little pixie’s voice. That said, all guardians could talk. Alaric had even talked to Aslan only a few moments ago but that had been through a telepathic connection he, as Alaric, was able to create.

Even then, his ability to talk to guardians other than his own was sort of a taboo that he kept between those his gut told him he could trust.

Apollo and Alia’s cases were different though. Both guardians were capable of forming audible words, a feat so rare that Alaric hadn’t seen another guardian like Alia before meeting Apollo. Even then, he’d be considered to have met one too many guardians who could talk without the need of a telepathic link.

“It’s because I’m special, obviously,” Apollo replied with a shrug, then floated back to his master and settled on her shoulder.

“Special is one way to go. I’ve never seen a guardian as small as you,” Finn grinned.

Apollo shrugged, “And yet they all fear me. Most guardians are all bark and no bite anyway. Just put us up against one of them and we’ll show ya.”

“As you know, Apollo holds the power of Concept. I wasn’t sure what it was at first even after his explanation before but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it,” Darla replied…

“He did mention the power of Concept earlier… That bow that came from your hand was a part of that power, wasn’t it?” Alaric asked in deep thought.

Darla nodded, then put her hand out, allowing a bow to weave itself from light, “It’s not complete yet since there is so much I need to learn about archery. But since I already know much of the basics, I can use Apollo’s power to amplify it. There are limits to it though, so I have to improve my skill with a bow to be able to use more of it.”

Apollo sighed, “You only got that partly right, Master,” the fairy-like pixie fluttered off her shoulder and faced her, “There is more to the limits of my power than you realise. On top of depending on your skill level, I can only enhance your body to what it’s capable of withstanding. So if you have a skill that’s further along its mastery than normal, your own body’s weakness will stop you from drawing out that skill’s full potential. You need to improve your skills as well as your body.”

Darla furrowed her brows, “You’ve been saying that ever since you woke up but I still don’t know what you mean. I have trained my body and honed my skills for four years. What else do I have to do to get stronger? Keep training?”

“Something like that,” Alaric said before the guardian could respond.

Darla looked around her guardian curiously, “You know what Apollo is talking about?”

“Sort of. I’ve trained for four years as well but I’m not yet strong enough to touch Alia’s power. There is more than one way to strengthen the body and the stronger it gets, the more of your guardian’s power you’ll be able to draw out,” Alaric responded.

“Are you talking about the stories from the books you read? The ones about elixirs, pills and rare materials scattered all over the Valerian continent. You said there were many ways humans could enhance their bodies with a special form of sorcery left behind by the Divine. You called it Alchemy, right?” Finn suddenly spoke up.

Apollo’s jaw dropped, “The melon-head can think?!!!”

Alaric’s eyes lit up, “Of course I can. What do you take me for, pixie?”

“I said my name. Is. Apollo,” the guardian fumed.

“More like A-Pole-No,” Finn bit back.

“You insufferable insignificant detestable little human,” Apollo towered over the boy.

Finn grinned, “You seem to be describing yourself.”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

The banter went on and on, getting heated as the two of them threw insults at each other. Darla giggled at their behaviour. Sensing no hostility from her guardian, she didn’t feel the need to stop them.

Alaric, on the other hand, was drawn in by his guardian’s voice, [Huh, even I’m surprised Finn can remember something like that.]

The green-eyed boy chuckled to himself, [ It’s not that surprising. When I told him about Alchemy, he practically stole all the books I had on the subject. Of course, it was never enough to give him enough information and any other book on the matter was much too expensive for us to buy… The problem now is where we start. ]

[Weren’t you listening to Elder Gregory? You start with the Awakening Orbs. Each of those orbs contains a power customized to the guardian they’ve been used to appraise. By absorbing that power, the human body is pushed to the beginning stages of Body Tempering. The lower Temper Rank, Glass.

Different masters can draw out the full power of their guardians at different Temper Ranks depending on how much it takes to contain their power, so not all humans have to hunt for methods of reaching the heights of the Divine to use their power to its fullest. They usually stop as soon as they can fully merge with their guardians. To be honest, I envy them ] the guardian spoke.

Alaric’s heart sank as he realised what the guardian was saying. Of course, he’d read about this concept before… The only problem was that he hadn’t been able to fathom it fully. Even now, he felt as though there were still several pieces missing like how Alchemy was really performed. The whole concept left him stunned without as much as a clue as to how it would help them grow stronger.

Alaric vaguely remembered Darla firing an arrow from her own hand, an arrow so powerful that it continued to pin down its opponent, imposing her will on the steel arrow. An insidious arrow like that one was the product of Darla’s understanding of archery and her guardian’s power of Concept and from what Alaric could tell, what Darla had achieved was incomplete.

[ Oh, it’s more than that. Body Tempering doesn’t just prepare your body to contain your guardian’s power. Anyone who’s undergone Body Tempering can no longer be considered an average human. They are far stronger and more superior to humans. You wondered why that man could stare at you even when your consciousness was spread through the forest, how he could slice through the forest vines like they were nothing even after you reinforced the with aether.

You must have wondered how he could be so strong and fast at the same time. He didn’t even need an extra ability to counter Thomper’s unbeatable abilities. He’s a human just like you and yet, he was faster and stronger in so many ways. That man three whole ranks above the first Temper Rank which meant he far outclassed you. Being able to pin down someone like that tells you just how much Apollo is capable of. There are other factors that could have contributed to that but you know what I mean ] Alia explained.

[ Factors like what?]

[ His guardian’s abilities. The nature of his Inborn Ability. There is a possibility that his power was focused on every facet of his power other than defence. Some idiots can be that stupid, ] his guardian explained.

Alaric could feel a slight headache coming on as more and more information filled his brain… The possibilities.

His heart beat a lot faster. For the past four years, he trained his body and grew stronger, learning the Dance of the Sword to staggering levels for a fifteen-year-old. As it stood, he was approaching a bottleneck in his progress of the elusive Dance of the Sword.

But now… Now he was uncovering an entirely new faucet of power that wasn’t available to him before.

Naturally, this wasn’t the first time he was hearing of Temper Ranks and he had indeed asked his guardian about it a long time ago. Surprisingly, at the time, Alia hadn’t withheld the information she had on Body Tempering as she did on his Inborn Ability.

What she did say, however, was that they couldn’t start the process without an Awakening Orb from the Tower of Seekers and to get that, Alaric needed to be fifteen years of age.

“You have an idea, don’t you?” Darla was the first to break him from his thoughts.

Alaric blinked, “Huh…”

“You get all quiet and pensive when you’re thinking. It’s even more intense than when Alia is talking to you,” the girl replied with a small smile.

Alaric nodded, “I have been thinking about what we’ll do once we return to the Five Hills.”

Finn and Darla both tuned in, their expressions turning grim and serious at once. Only the flying guardian seemed out of place when the mood suddenly changed, looking back and forth at the faces of the three children with a hint of worry.

“So, we’re moving on to the next phase,” this was more of a question than a statement.

Alaric nodded solemnly, “Now that we have our Awakening Orbs, we can move our plan forward. When we return to the Five Hills, we’ll start work on absorbing the power contained within them. I doubt our guardians are complete without that ritual. It’s the reason all we could do these past four years was train.

The power in the orb will awaken Finn’s guardian as well. After that, we’ll need to increase our Temper Ranks. That’s a lot harder said than done. Our biggest disadvantage currently is a lack of information so that will be our priority.

While at the Eastern Elite Guard Academy, our primary mission will be to gather information and use that information to grow stronger.”

“Doesn’t hurt to pommel a few demons on the way,” Darla shrugged.

“As long as you don’t draw the attention of the Demon King, that’s fine. Otherwise, all of this will be for nothing,” Alaric added, “We are still far too unprepared to face him.”

“That’s obvious,” Darla chuckled, then went dead serious, “Finally, we can take another step forward. For Jared.”

“For Jared.” Alaric and Finn replied in unison.

……………