Thirty minutes later, Garin stepped out of Elder Gregory’s office and onto the floating platform, slumping his shoulders. He stretched his shoulders and yawned the tiredness away, ‘That man’s a workaholic for sure. I better get my equipment checked later.’

Their discussion had called for a little more detail, specifically about what resources he would be availed and the details of his mission with the Seeker named Licht. Dark magic was a dangerous topic, forbidden even within the largest collection of knowledge which was the Tower.

To access any of the books on Dark magic would require special circumstances such as these. Even then, however, he was restricted in which books, scrolls, and reports he could access from the Tower.

As he mulled over the different things he would have to start doing as soon as he dropped Alaric off at the Academy, he heard a commotion from down below.

Blinking out of his thoughts, he looked down at the sea of Awakening orbs, then rubbed his eyes and looked again, ‘Aren’t those Alaric’s new… oh.’

The realisation struck like a meteor, ‘What’s that brat up to now?’ he mentally screamed. The interior of the Tower stirred as the wind reacted to his emotions.

He let the aether in his feet change the nature of its flow, and the platform reacted, banking towards the white coat as it descended even faster. As the sea of orbs parted to let the Knight through, he grabbed the white coat and looked onward with a determined expression.

What he found below, however, stopped him in his tracks. The Great Hall had cleared a large space at the centre and every single scholar within it had turned to the spectacle going on at the centre of it.

Crystal held her wand in her hand, her hair was a little messy, which was messier than Garin had ever seen it. Quivering, she chanted a string of complicated enchantments Garin was all too familiar with.

‘Ice Wind Canon, huh… From the looks of it, you’ve already cast this spell,’ he thought to himself, noticing signs of exhaustion from using too much aether.

The spell was powerful in the hands of someone gifted, packing a punch equivalent to the amount of aether the caster put into it. Knowing Crystal, her aether reserves were deep enough to level even the hardest rocks with that spell.

Garin’s curiosity climbed higher when he realised Alaric was still standing. Scratch that! The boy wasn’t even sweating. What was even more interesting was how Alaric was dealing with the Icy Wind Canon.

Did the boy know a spell that could deflect it? Such spells existed but having Alaric, an Orphan from a village like the Five Hills have mastery over defence magic, would be a boon. It would mean he was more prepared than Garin had initially thought.

The Guardian Academy was an unforgiving place… so Garin stopped the platform and watched in anticipation. The bullet of icicle-filled wind shot through the air and struck a swift effortless palm.

Garin’s jaw dropped…

Alaric’s idea of defence was to simply swat the air bullet away… ‘Who swats magic? Hold on…’

The man looked closer at Alaric’s form, enchanting his vision so that he could have a better view of Alaric’s aether channels. Coating his palm in a radiant protective shell, Alaric had reinforced one part of his body to block the girl’s attacks.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

‘He’s using Shield… on just his palm,’ the man thought to himself. The ‘Shield’ spell was a basic defensive spell, however, it was often used to protect someone’s entire body from attacks.

Alaric was not doing that at all. The rest of his body was completely open. But there was one more detail that nearly escaped Garin’s eyes… and that was the fact that Alaric’s hand wasn’t just coated in Shield… but five layers of it.

This he noticed when a particularly strong bullet shattered the top layer of his Shield spell only to reveal another one beneath. Further concentration on the Aether coating Alaric’s hand revealed four Shield spells with a fifth pushing the other four outwards as it replaced the shattered Shield at the top.

[ Even you don’t have that kind of Aether control ] Swiftwind’s deep voice chuckled within Garin’s mind.

Crystal unleashed bullet after bullet at the boy, breathing harder with each attack. The audience watching had stopped cheering as they watched Alaric take one step after another towards the sheltered princess swatting her bullets away with frightening ease.

Everyone knew Crystal boasted an insane amount of aether. Born with a powerful A-class Guardian, she was a prodigy among prodigies. ‘This is getting sad to watch.’

“What trickery is this? You’re only Wood Rank! My spell should have an effect on you,” the girl yelled.

Alaric’s eyes went wide in shock after which he laughed, “Oh, you noticed?”

Suddenly, he felt that he’d overlooked a very important detail. Summoning his Spirit Vessel to coat his eyes and flood them with Spirit Essence, he cast his gaze on the brilliant white, yet tired figure of the girl before him, “You’re a higher Temper Rank!” he mused.

This explained everything… The way the world reacted to her. Her enchanting beauty and frustrating levels of confidence. ‘How?’ was his only question.

[ You thought you were the only special one! ] Alia chuckled.

Before Alaric could respond though, the flustered princess yelled at him, “And you’re a lowly Wood Rank Level Two. It’s impressive for a village rat like you but how are you blocking my spells?”

“Oh… I’m using Shield,” Alaric smiled with his hand raised. Garin was silently nodding in approval from high up, though not many noticed him.

The crowd went silent as did his opponent. Alaric looked around at the people surrounding him. Had he said something odd? Shield was a relatively basic spell, wasn’t it?

Crystal’s eyebrows twitched with fury, “First of all, you dare to challenge me to a duel on your first day here… then you proceed to mock me?”

“Am I not allowed to mock a soon-to-be fellow Keeper Candidate?” Alaric grinned. Gasps rolled through the room as the Seekers stared back at the princess.

“You won’t sign that contract. You’ll become a Protector like the terms of this duel stipulate…” the girl growled through gritted teeth.

“That’s only if you win fairly,” Alaric responded, being sure to add the keyword at the end.

“Alright, that’s it… I’ve had it with this kid…” the girl yelled. The world around her rippled as a giant beast was summoned. Before the beast could manifest, however, Garin yelled out loud.

“Not in here…”

Crystal’s face turned white as a sheet and she stiffly looked up, “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to know you are trying to get into the way of a contract your father proposed. I also found this on my way here,” Garin raised Alaric’s coat in the air.

“Umm, Garin… The Storage bracelet… Did you get it?” Alaric asked.

“I’ll find it. Finish the duel outside, then I’ll deal with you two. Also, Alaric, try not to lose,” with that, Garin ascended beyond the veil of Awakening Orbs to search for Alaric’s new bracelet.

As he left, Crystal yelled after him, “You’ve chosen the wrong side, Knight…”

But he wasn’t listening, so she turned her rage on Alaric, “First, my position… and now my own people.”

Alaric smirked, “You can have them back… if you win.”

[ You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? ] Alia sighed.

[ Have you seen this girl? Her face has been red half the time. She casts spells with all the energy she can muster, wasting aether in the process. Flies off her emotions almost all the time and reacts just as I expect each time. It’s too hard to take her seriously… How did she get to this Temper Rank in the first place? ] Alaric was visibly holding back his laughter at this point. This too, however, drew a reaction Alaric was expecting.

“You’re dead!” she yelled.

At this, Alaric ran for the exit, his infectious laughter echoing through the chamber like an angelic chime. What shocked everyone present though was the speed with which he shot off. Tables flew up as experiments were thrown off in a heavy mess while a powerful wind shook the great chamber in response to the sudden use of force.

Not paying attention to the ruined experiments in the Great Hall, Crystal followed, fire burning in her eyes. ‘I’ll kill that brat!’