The Tower of Seekers was nothing if not impressive. The building was unusually clean and the streets lacked even the slightest sign of dust, a stark contrast to the peaceful village of the Five Hills.

Alaric noticed that not all the flying guardians that had arrived were meant to land.

A few stayed in the air, hovering with fearsome knights seated on their backs. Each one emanated an aura, unlike the people Alaric was used to.

‘Slayers, all of them,’ he thought to himself, ‘An aether crystal and a few powerful guards.’

This place was indeed heavily protected. Even then, many teenagers arrived with guards of their own unlike Alaric and his friends.

As the trio started walking towards the Tower, Alaric felt a gaze on him. He turned just in time to see a rugged boy disappear behind him, mingling effortlessly with the bustling crowd.

“Stay close,” Alaric told his friends.

Moments, later, a loud bellow rang out through the courtyard, “Where is my damn wallet?”

The angry shout had come from a large bearded man holding a giant steel mace. Despite his stout appearance and round belly, Alaric could tell he was good with the mace.

The man looked around until his face bloomed with rage, “There… a thief.”

The crowd parted as the sound of wingbeats rose in response to the commotion.

A griffin descended to the ground, parting the crowd to reveal a boy in black tattered clothes pinning under the clawed foot of the griffin before he could escape.

The knight on the griffin jumped down and searched the boy’s pockets until he retrieved a white leather purse.

“That’s the one,” the large bearded man grinned, “I’ll take this lad off your hands.”

“No… the boy will be appraised, then punished accordingly,” the knight announced sternly.

“You’re sparing this little punk. He’s a waste of space,” the man yelled.

“With all due respect, sir. He’s still fifteen. There is more he can do when compared to old fossils like us. The tower has a policy for punishing wrongdoers… but does not condemn children,” the knight announced.

Alaric was yanked from the scene by Darla only moments after this statement had been made. It seemed as though negotiations would continue and the boy’s fate would be left to the Tower.

Finn rushed along at Alaric’s side as they continued through the Tower entrance as did all the other teenagers who didn’t want to get involved with the pitiful thief, “Why pardon him though? He’s a thief. That won’t change.”

“Maybe the Tower is just that forgiving and believes in second chances?” Alaric tried.

“It can’t be that simple. Something about what that knight said got me thinking… It’s probably nothing,” Finn tried to shrug off the rising suspicion.

Alaric wasn’t far behind him on that front. He too found it odd that the knight was defending the thief against the guard. There were too many guesses he could make but right now, he had no way of telling which one was true.

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In the end, he chose to stop thinking about it which turned out to be surprisingly easy as their entire surroundings morphed into an even more captivating grandeur.

The ridiculously high ceiling of the well-furnished hall was covered with beautiful chandeliers that cast a soft amber glow on the children walking in. Guards were forced to stay at the entrance as the Tower could only accommodate so many.

Alaric marvelled at the opulent architecture of the Tower and even wondered how much it must have cost to build it all. As an orphan boy from a remote village, the limits of how rich one could be were new to him.

He was used to a casual life filled with liveliness, love and fun. He’d never found himself worried about the price of the material his clothes were made of or even if they had cool designs on them or not.

Of course, once in a while, he got to see Darla and the girls marvelling at some trinkets they managed to procure from the market and sometimes, travelling merchants but that was something he attributed to them ‘just being girls’.

He enjoyed sparring, playing games with friends, and venturing off into the woods where he and his friends would do all sorts of creative activities, his best being hunting.

In so doing, none of that fun involved spending crazy amounts of money.

Alas, his sharp mind easily picked up on the stark reality that plagued his world.

The clothes Sister Marla had salvaged to make them look their best for this day were proof of that. Alaric realised now that it couldn’t have been so easy for her to procure them… and that realisation stung deeper than he could have thought.

A soft hand tightened around his. He noticed Darla’s concerned gaze and wiped whatever melancholic look he’d inherited from his thoughts. Darla might have been the least expressive out of all of them, but she was more compassionate than the two boys put together.

She was also better equipped for this situation. A part of Alaric was glad he’d come here with his friends.

A few years ago, Adam, an older orphan had travelled to the Tower of Seekers all on his own. Alaric couldn’t imagine what the boy had gone through then.

Shaking off the dark thoughts, Alaric took another look around. His eyes finally noticed rich tapestries woven with fine thread depicting a myriad of images from scenes of past battles to portraits of the Emperor and his Imperial Court.

There were portraits of old men and women dressed in white garbs similar to the themed attire Alaric had noticed around the Tower.

“What’s the matter, genius? Cat got your tongue?” a familiar voice interrupted Alaric.

“It’s good to see you too, Aiden,” Alaric replied with a tight smile then turned to Darla and Finn, “This place is nice, isn’t it?”

“It’s pretty cool,” Finn replied.

“It’s alright. What’s on your mind, Alaric? You seem quiet,” Darla asked, “…well, quieter than usual.”

“I’m just wondering how this place was built. It was definitely through magic, right?” Alaric chuckled.

“No, it wasn’t,” Aiden intervened.

Alaric’s smile dropped, “Why are you still here?”

Finn and Darla hid their laughter.

Oblivious to this or at least pretending to be, Aiden coughed and puffed out his chest, “I’m glad you asked. I’m here to satisfy my own curiosity. You see, the Tower doesn’t segregate based on background. Being an orphan from some backwater place like the Five Hills does not mean you’ll be weak.

And from what Garin said, I’m curious to know more about you. Now come on, fake genius. Follow me.”

Alaric chuckled to himself and beckoned for his friends to follow the blonde hyperactive braggart. Along the way, Aiden enjoyed showing off his knowledge of the tapestries in the tower.

There were battles against legions of demons, portraits of heroes, Seekers, and bureaucrats who held high positions in Eastern Valeria.

The sheer amount of knowledge contained within these tapestries made Alaric wonder what kind of place this really was. They were only walking through the Halls and they’d happened upon hordes of captured events of the past.

As Alaric had suspected, the Tower was a lot bigger on the inside than it appeared.

Eventually, however, one of the tapestries caught Alaric’s eye. Enough for him to even inch closer and try to touch it.

Just before he did, however, Aiden pulled him back, “Don’t touch the tapestries. You’ll get sucked in.”

Alaric furrowed his brows in confusion, “What?”

Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose and pulled Alaric to rejoin the group, “Be more careful. This place is full of magical items. The tapestries are no exception.”

Alaric nodded and looked back at the tapestry one last time. The rich silky material depicted an image of a black sky with a single round glowing ring in the middle of it.

“Our generation is known as the Miracle Generation. It’s no surprise that you know that one. After all, we are the generation that was born in the year that had the Day of the Black Sun exactly fifteen years ago,” Aiden sighed.