Garin was a man of lean build, exuding an aura of power and kindness… as well as something else. A glimmer of mischief resided deep within his dark azure eyes.

His looks were enchanting and so was his smile, almost unnaturally so.

“You’re late,” Sister Marla growled, walking up to the approaching knight.

Garin’s grin fell off his face, replaced by a worried expression Alaric had never seen before, “I ran into a few demons on my way. But you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Loners?” Marla asked, somewhat worried.

“Yes and no. They were too small a group to belong to a Stampede but not so little as to be Loners. Perhaps a Coalition. They didn’t seem coordinated enough to have a Leader either, so I’d set my worries aside,” Garin explained.

“Did you subdue them?” Marla asked.

“I didn’t have much time. I dealt with it but you know how demon-hunting is without a holy mage,” he replied with a sigh.

Marla didn’t look satisfied by this answer but she nodded.

“Alright then. Alaric, Darla, Finn! Off you go! Don’t take your charms off and if anything happens…”

“Listen to Alaric! We’ve only heard it a few thousand times, Big Sister,” Finn groaned.

The woman sighed, “And Alaric.”

“I’ll listen to Alia,” Alaric responded with a nod.

“Exactly. Come here, you three,” the three children embraced their caretaker, “If you get too hungry, just ask Garin. I’ll pay him back.”

Garin watched silently with a warm smile, his azure eyes reflecting a mix of duty and compassion.

“We’ll be back before you know it,” Alaric gave Marla a reassuring smile.

The trio approached the armored man and bowed deeply, “Good morning, Sir Garin.”

“So, you’re the brats leaving the orphanage this year. If you do well, your lives will change drastically after this,” the man chuckled. “Up you go.”

Alaric and his friends turned to the floating beast and looked between each other. The stingray guardian could not be more bothered with their presence even when they approached its floating body.

The only problem was, the creature’s wings were floating at least a meter off the ground.

Alaric sighed…

[This old man’s up to his tricks again.] Alia’s voice resounded within his head.

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Finn and Darla stopped when approaching when Alaric did. Finn opened his mouth to speak, then closed it with a look of realisation. Darla let her shoulders drop with a sigh.

‘Yup! Never changes,’ Alaric mentally sighed.

“Something the matter?” Garin’s voice came with a slight hint of amusement.

“Seriously, old man? We saw this with Adam,” Finn argued.

Marla chuckled while the knight grumbled, “The kids get more boring each year. Let them up, SwiftWind.”

Only after this did the azure beast lower its wing and allow them to climb… or rather, amble up onto its back. Atop the guardian’s back was an impressive setup of seats made of light metal alloy and wrapped in leather.

Considering the nature of the guardian’s body, the seats weren’t raised and would require one to sit with their legs out in front of them. Because of this, they were well spaced to allow plenty of leg room.

A better view of the creature’s back came the revelation of another group of children.

Occupying three seats in the middle of the long column were three other kids the same age as Alaric and his friends, waiting for the ride to continue.

“Tch! That was boring,” a boy with messy blonde hair clicked his tongue. Alaric was no expert but he could tell the boy’s hair wasn’t a mess by choice.

A girl with red hair seated behind him laughed, “I thought it was impressive. How did you guys know about the trap?”

Alaric took a seat on the second row from the front and simply said, “It’s gotten obvious over the years. He pulls some random stunt every year. I just didn’t think he’d pull the same one as last time. I guess he’s getting less creative.”

Finn held himself from laughing, “I still can’t forget Adam’s first time. This guy tried to jump onto the SwiftWind’s wing and got tossed around like a ragdoll.”

Darla giggled while Alaric joined Finn in mirth. The blonde boy with messy hair turned a shade redder.

His comrades, however, didn’t spare him as they burst into laughter as well. It seemed they had witnessed a similar event themselves that very morning. Only this time it had been the blonde boy getting tossed around.

“Oh, shut up!” the boy growled and looked away.

Garin joined them only moments later, “Alright, brats. Strap in and don’t fall out. I’m not responsible for catching you if you do.”

Flying stingrays were limited to the number of people whose guardians had manifested as such creatures… and considering how varied the forms guardians took were, the probability was extremely low.

Alaric fastened the leather harness in his seat and held onto a pair of alloy handholds on the side as the great beast took to the sky with a single flap of its massive wings.

The sudden jerk and quick acceleration threatened to tear a scream from Alaric’s lungs.

‘AAAHHH,’ went Finn.

The wind howled in their ears as they shot into the sky, swallowing the remainder of the Finn’s scream and Alaric’s laughter.

The three orphans who’d just just joined were thrust into the backs of their seats from the recoil.

Moments later, Garin’s guardian reached a good height and levelled out into a comfortable soar. Up here the wind died down enough for them to relax…

However, the world below them also exploded in all directions. When Alaric failed to recognize his surroundings, he turned just in time to see their small town of Five Hills becoming smaller and smaller.

A translucent bubble that was the protective barrier protecting the village illuminated its position. Looking at it from this high for the first time, Alaric was awestruck. ‘My whole life in a bubble.’

From this high up, the world looked so small. The orphanage was only but a spec now… ‘I guess calling him SwiftWind wasn’t for show,’ Alaric mused, taking his eyes off the village.

[He’s among the fastest of his kind,] Alia replied.

[You know him?]

[Not in the way you think] Alia replied with a chuckle.

There were times when the stalwart female knight would tell Alaric something about magic or the world around him in ways so vague that his mind just turned to mush trying to comprehend them.

This was one such moment and Alaric wasn’t ready to have his mind blended with concepts beyond his understanding. When something didn’t make sense ‘the way Alaric thought,’ then it most certainly wasn’t meant to make any sense at all.

Guardians were just mysterious that way.