That night, Alaric slumped in his bed feeling a great deal of exhaustion. A refreshing warm bath had drained the last bits of energy from him and now, his body began to slowly unravel the stress it had accumulated through the day.

The pain began slowly with a whip-like slit of pain burning through his bicep, then another in his thigh, then one more in his calf and before he knew it, his body was peterred in similar minute sensations of flame burning him from the inside out.

[ I’m sorry, Alaric… I think I overdid it. ] his guardian apologized immediately.

The shadows in the room bubbled as she resisted the urge to tend to him personally. Alas, emerging from the shadows would plunge the whole tower into an aura much more terrifying than the one Alaric had unleashed on Crystal… and that was a bad thing.

Alaric shook his head and gritted his teeth, “No… it’s fine. I’ve been worse.”

To reduce the pain, the boy began to circulate aether through his body and breathe evenly. Applying the slightest healing element to the circulating aether, Alaric held on as the pain of the wounds went down if only by a little.

[ Remove the healing magic… You can try a Paralysis or Numbness spell ] Alia interrupted. [ Using magic to heal yourself will reverse your progress. Unless you have an Alchemist’s Healing Potion, you don’t heal yourself ] Alia yelled from the shadows.

“I know all that… You’ve been training me for four years,” Alaric replied with a groan, then rolled to his side and started a breathing rhythm he normally performed on nights like this. It was a method he used to go to sleep even when he was going through extreme pain.

Of course, he also wanted to forget some parts of the day. As it turned out, the Elders were not about to let him walk around as if he owned the place without bringing something to the table… and so, most of them questioned him about the one thing they knew he wouldn’t talk about: his guardian.

Only after Elder Gregory personally intervened did the Elder Seekers stop hounding him with questions he was simply unwilling to answer. Thankfully, nothing in his contract said he was obligated to share personal information, a contract that he signed a few hours before it was time for dinner.

For Dinner, Crystal joined Alaric and Garin in the Sitting Duck. This time, however, she decided to order the food herself, earning an eye-roll from the stalwart knight.

Alaric assumed it was because Garin’s pockets weren’t quite as deep as the girl’s. Either that or the knight was trying to save up some money for something else. In any case, Crystal ordered more food than Alaric had ever seen for a small group of people.

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The scents from the various foods and spices had been enough to strip Alaric of most of his decorum. He still managed to keep himself from appearing like a boar… but he wouldn’t stop eating until he’d had his fill.

Despite that, however, he ate the lion’s share and even managed to ask for a few cups of water to wash down the food and quench his thirst.

The memories rolled through his mind, allowing a warm smile to appear on his face. ‘I think I caught Crystal staring at my stomach back there,’ he thought to himself.

[ You’re imagining things ] Alia replied.

Alaric pursed his lips then shrugged, “You must be right.”

The small movement of his shoulders, however, had him wincing in pain. It had been a long day indeed and while most of it had been ecstatic, Alaric had been forcing his body to comply. The backlash was one he was not going to forget for a while.

‘Is this what a hangover feels like?’ he wondered.

[ I… don’t think that’s how hangovers work… Just go to sleep, Alaric. ] Alia replied with a facepalm.

She might have been invisible, tucked away in his shadow but Alaric was perfectly capable of perceiving her reactions.

[ Good night, Alia… Now that we’ve finished signing the contract, we have access to information. We’ll be leaving for the Academy soon and be reunited with Finn, Darla… and Aiden… ] The last name came along with a yawn that sent Alaric tumbling into a deep slumber.

………………………

Far from Alaric’s room, at the edge of the town stood a man barred from entering the sacred grounds of the Eastern Tower of Seekers. A sizzling sound came from his bloodied fists as evidence of his assault on the barrier.

No matter how much he’d struck the barrier with his fists, he’d only managed to sear off the flesh of his knuckles of the Steel Temper Rank.

His dark cloak rested on his shoulders, revealing a frightening face covered in scars. Black hair sprouted from his head, slicked back to reveal a pair of eyes so black they were like dark pools of death, pulling everything that dared to stare into them to their inevitable ends.

A dark aura emanated from the man’s form as he looked on at a scrambling group of Protectors, all wielding weapons and holding back their eager guardians. The man stared at them with a look of indifference.

“Fodder…” his deep voice rumbled, “Where is Gregory? I bring with me… a message.”

“Send it by mail like everyone—” a high-ranking protector began only to get cut off.

“I am here, Avaros. Forgive my Protectors as they have never had the chance to interact with someone of your calibre, Avaros the Shadow,” Elder Gregory’s voice boomed.

“You don’t have to butter me up, old man. We both know the kind of power you wield. I’d be caught dead trying to contend against you,” Avaros chuckled darkly.

“Then what brings you here? Did you come to make noise with your fists and make demands… in the middle of the night, no less?” Elder Gregory’s voice was neutral but his words conveyed his annoyance at the manner with which the man had caught the Tower’s attention.

Avaros smirked, “Oh, I’m merely a messenger. A sacrificial pawn like many before me… and I bring with me a message. Relinquish the boy with the S-class guardian and no harm shall befall the Great Tower of Seekers.”

“Ah yes! Curious boy that one. He left six months ago along with every other Aspirant. Now I’ll skip the part of the boy and get to what I didn’t like. You see, Avaros, I don’t lightly to threats. Even if I had the boy, it would take more than mere threats to frighten me,” the man responded with a hint of finality that made Avaros’s eyes turn even darker with rage.

“This… was not a request, Gregory,” he hissed, disregarding the protest the Protectors raised from his lack of respect.