The blonde boy went pale at Alaric’s reply, either appalled by its randomness or the sheer possibility that Alaric had a point. Was he arguing that humans were as durable as guardians… or perhaps that they could be?
His devious mind was churning fast enough that in one second, his pale shock had turned into a smug smirk, “Are you suggesting we use you, then? The Tower is the one paying you so you have to do what the Tower asks of you.”
“Last I checked, my contract with the Tower is not yet set in stone. Do you want to jeopardize that with some minor mischief? I wonder what the Elders would say of it,” Alaric asked with a neutral expression.
There were a few chuckles around the room before a girl walked up to them, “Ease up, Earl. He’s going to be a Seeker just like us. There is no use picking on him… unless you’re afraid of a little competition, of course.”
The girl had brown hair, a face littered with soft freckles and a calm air about her that dissipated all the tension immediately. Not knowing anything about these people, Alaric was at a loss. He knew not what their personalities were nor what they were talking about.
‘Competition… what competition?’ he wondered.
“I’d be caught eating a rat before some newbie threatened me with a little competition. I’ll have you know that I’m still the best around,” Earl scoffed.
“Second-best. Your Oracle pills might have performed a few miracles but they are far from giving you any potent results. Until then, better get used to being second to my Spirit Research,” the girl countered.
Alaric leaned back into his chair and absorbed the information he was hearing… or at least, tried to. He already knew about what pills were from what little he knew of Alchemists but the term Spirit was a lot broader.
He couldn’t understand whether the girl was working on Tempering, Spirit Vessels, Spirit Essence, Spirits themselves or even whether he was thinking about it the right way… so he listened.
Surprisingly, the argument only managed to attract a few glances followed by a few eyerolls and shrugs. It seemed something of this sort was either common or these particular two were fond of arguing amongst themselves.
Three minutes into the heated argument, a voice boomed above them, “What is the meaning of this?”
The Great Hall went silent as a platform descended through the cloud of Awakening Orbs. On the platform was a familiar bearded man along with Garin.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea and allowed the platform to place the Head of the Tower down gently. Elder Gregory looked just like Alaric remembered him: large, old, frail-looking(he doubted this man was as frail as he looked), and gentle on the eyes.
“Victoria, explain,” the man said calmly, trying to hide the anger brewing inside him.
“We were just having a discussion. Purely academic, Elder Gregory,” the girl responded with a bow. This was an obvious cover-up for the far-from-healthy competition Alaric had just witnessed.
“I appreciate the dedication to your studies but perhaps you should refrain from letting that vigour affect unconcerned parties,” Elder Gregory responded, beckoning to a quietly-seated Alaric.
“Yes, Elder Gregory. It won’t happen again,” she confirmed with a slight look of dread in her eye.
“Right then… My my! Is that you, Alaric? Do youngsters grow this fast in the Five Hills?” Elder Gregory chuckled.
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“It… was a side effect of the Temper Ritual,” Alaric responded. Then, realising from the Elder’s grin that he was being messed with, he said, “But you already knew that.”
The man turned to Garin for a bit, “This is amazing. Has he always been this easy to mess with… Don’t answer that, Garin. Alaric, follow me. I had your new clothes prepared as soon as I got the measurements from Garin’s owl.”
With that, Alaric gingerly joined the pair on the platform and they ascended beyond the floating sea of Awakening Orbs.
Of course, Alaric didn’t miss the stares he was getting from the other scholars. Most of them had curious expressions while some broke their pencils in quiet anger.
‘What makes this kid so damn special?’ he heard a whisper. ‘I heard he broke through the entire Glass Temper Rank in a single Tempering Ritual.’ ‘No way anyone can believe such hogwash. He’s probably using some Forbidden Magic.’
“Did I do something to upset them?” Alaric asked when he was sure they were out of earshot, heading up the tall tower.
“Your existence itself upsets many. There are people who can only dream of the kind of power you have while others find it unfair that you were born stronger than them,” the Elder explained.
‘Born stronger?’ Alaric wanted to burst out. Did any of those thoroughbred half-wits have any idea how much effort he’d put in to get to where he was. He’d broken his bones a few times just trying to push the limits of human body.
Alaric thought back on all that he’d been through. The death of Jared, the attack on his friends in the woods, the fact that he always had to hide his aura and that of his guardian when they were in public just to blend in, the pain he received every time he tried to use a power that was far beyond his physical capabilities.
“Only a fool would want to be me,” he mumbled.
The Elder heard every word… but chose to remain quiet. Who was to know just how much the boy had been through? Instead, he shifted his attention to something else, “Do you know what happened to the man you helped us capture in the woods after your Appraisal Ceremony.”
Garin’s eyes opened wide and bulged, “Hey, we said we wouldn’t tell him that.”
“He deserves to know, Garin. That way he’ll always have his guard up,” the Elder silenced the knight with a calm expression. It didn’t take a genius to know how authority worked. Garin didn’t have the liberty to deny any of Elder Gregory’s words. It was impressive enough that he could talk back at him though.
Garin ground his teeth and looked away. By now, Alaric could already guess something bad had happened to the captive, “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yes…” after a short silence, Elder Gregory added, “Powerful Dark Magic was at play. My best guess is that it was a way to silence him in the event that he was captured, otherwise, there was no way anyone could get to him from within the barrier.”
“Could it have been one of your own?” Alaric wondered.
“The Seekers are sworn to the Tower. Such an act would only work against them,” the man sighed, “Besides, what we offer here is too valuable for someone to throw away with an act of betrayal. He was killed by his own… That and the fact that we found traces of Dark Magic in his cell prove it wasn’t done by a member of the Tower.”
“You’re telling me to be careful?” Alaric responded.
“I’m telling you to watch your back. There is no end to the number of ways your enemies will try to take you out. Part of me even suspects the demon that killed your childhood friend wasn’t there by accident. According to Garin, there were signs that it was a high-ranking demon that attacked you that day… a Cardinal,” the man responded gravely.
Alaric’s blood went cold at the mention of Jared’s death. That one incident had driven him mad with the hunger for strength and he’d suffered for it. He’d latched onto those of feelings of loss, guilt and rage to fuel his mission to put an end to all demons. Knowing that the attack wasn’t random, however, was a little too much for him to take.
Elder Gregory noticed his silence and decided against continuing the conversation, “Just be careful.”
“I will.”
Looking up, Alaric recognized the rich wood door that was placed closer to the top of the tower, adorned with intricate designs and various protective enchantments. Alaric could already guess there were other protection mechanisms in place besides the spells that restricted the platform’s access to the Head Seeker’s office.
As they neared the office, a door opened below them revealing a face that made Alaric’s stomach turn. Elder Casper stepped onto a platform extending out from below the frame of his door and floated down.
He locked eyes with Alaric for only a moment… but the animosity behind his gaze was unmistakable. Soon enough, Alaric was safely within the Head Seeker’s office where he let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.
“Did something happen between you and Casper?” the Head Seeker asked, not missing the tension between the boy and one of his Elder Seekers.
“Well…”