A creaky door swung open to reveal a dusty dim room. Inside was a humble bed with a table and chair a distance away. “You two showed up unannounced so I didn’t get the time to prepare. It’s not much and, well, the dust…” Sariah bit her lip.

Sariah was half a head shorter than Alaric and built for combat. She was lithe yet graceful with freckles dotting her cute face. While she was nowhere near as beautiful as the silver-haired Marla, her bouncy red hair and round hazel-brown eyes kept her above average.

Alaric peered into the room. He’d followed her upstairs with no understanding of what was happening. Wasn’t he supposed to sleep in the living room? This was no orphanage and there was no dormitory.

So why was he showing him this room, “Is it… all for me?”

The woman nodded…

‘I get the whole room to myself?’ he thought again.

[ Isn’t that the same thing that happened at the Tower… and in Jack’s Fall? ] his guardian responded.

[ Hey, both of those places have much deeper pockets than this humble lady’s home. ]

“I… I don’t know what to say. Thank you,” Alaric replied with a gasp, trying to keep himself from spacing out.

“Were you expecting to sleep in the living room?” Sariah scowled.

“I mean, I wasn’t opposed to the idea,” Alaric responded with a nervous chuckle.

The short woman rolled her eyes, “Follow me! Gandalow filled me in on a few things you’ll need to learn about.”

His curiosity piqued. Alaric followed the woman through the halls of her humble home. Down the stairs, they went, to the ground floor and lower still to the basement.

One step into the room sent Alaric’s hairs standing on ends and a wave of shivers down his body. With the rhythm of a great heartbeat, the basement of the building pulsed with rich aether.

Sariah opened the door to reveal a room covered in crystals and runes similar to the place Alaric had used to blow past the Glass Temper Rank back in the Five Hills. Its ambient lighting was easy on the eyes, allowing one to focus solely on increasing their Temper Rank—whichever way that was done. Alaric still had no idea how people normally did this.

Alaric walked into the room and almost instantly felt the aether start to flow into him, replenishing his aether reserves. “How exactly does this work?”

“I’ll teach you once you’re settled in. Garin’s told me you know nothing of this so rest assured, I’ll show you the ropes when the time comes,” Sariah told him.

Alaric was of the Wood Temper Rank and was quickly adjusting to the power that came with that rank but he still had no idea how it was that he could advance.

A set of footsteps alerted the pair of an approaching individual. Alaric turned to see Garin entering the Chamber. The smile that had naturally bloomed on his face, however, vanished as soon as he saw the man.

That was because one of the knight’s cheeks was red as a tomato and at least twice the size, “Garin, what happened to you?”

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“A story for another time, Alistair. This here is a Chamber much like the one you used in the Five Hills. You can improve and refine your Temper Rank here and steadily climb through the Levels. Breaking through to the next rank though might require an alchemist,” the man explained.

It didn’t take a genius to realise there was already a plan set in motion. Garin didn’t seem like the type to just wait out the storm either. While Alaric had been coming up with some plans of his own, it was good to hear from someone a bit more experienced than he was.

“What’s the plan?” he asked, “Besides gathering power in this room. I doubt I can just sit back and increase my rank.”

“That’s right. You can’t increase your rank just like that. You need to throw yourself into the element of your guardian to increase the chances of you breaking through to a higher level.

So, to achieve that, you’ll become an adventurer under the name Alistair. That, however, will be a cover for your true objective. Find a good alchemist and work with him to secure Tempering Pills for when the time comes for you to perform the Tempering Ritual again,” the man explained.

Alaric nodded… It sounded simple enough. Alaric had done the Tempering Ritual before even though it was said to be the simplest Ritual. Perhaps the one thing no one had calculated would be him breaking through two thresholds.

Alaric could imagine he’d skipped a whole Tempering Ritual that was meant to happen once he’d reached Glass Temper Rank Level Ten. So finding an alchemist was important.

Not as important, however, as becoming an adventurer. Without getting to the height of the Wood Temper Rank, an Alchemist was still useless to Alaric.

That left only one question: “How do I become an adventurer?”

Sariah leaned against the wall and massaged her forehead, “Garin, he’s only fifteen. Shouldn’t he get some training first?”

“This boy’s been training for a long time. Becoming an adventurer will give him some perspective. Besides, the faster he rises to Steel Rank, the quicker his life can go back to normal,” Garin explained with a sombre expression.

Alaric walked to the centre of the Tempering Chamber and took a deep breath, [ What do you think? ]

[ I think it’s not a bad deal. A place to stay and someone to teach you the ways of an adventurer. ] Alia replied [ Sounds like fun. ]

Alaric balled his fists. A few days ago, he was excited to finally join the Elite Guardian Academy… and now, it was the last place he could ever set foot in.

“Who were they—the people that attacked the Tower?” Alaric asked.

Garin went silent for a bit, then answered, “They appear to have been old friends of Darth from the Flame Vipers. You know, the guy you went and beat up. Though in terms of power, they made him look like a child. They came in the middle of the night, threatening to break down the barrier and search every inch of the Tower looking for you.”

Alaric shuddered… He knew Darth was of the Stone Temper rank which meant his ‘friends’ were either a higher rank or at least higher levels of the Stone Rank.

“Try to get some rest, Alaric. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the Guild Hall and have you registered,” Sariah spoke at last.

It would be a while before Alaric learned to cope with the stress that came with being himself.

…………………………………

The next morning, Alaric awoke to the smell of eggs and meat. His room was sparkling clean after a long cleaning session the day before. Yawning, he stretched like a cat and rolled out of bed.

[Good morning, Alaric]

[Good morning, Alia] the boy responded.

He began going about his morning ablutions whilst thinking about what to do after breakfast. There wasn’t much for him to think about except getting to the Guild Hall, getting registered and starting on his journey to gain enough power to protect his loved ones.

That was all that occupied his mind. Something told him it would be all he thought about for many months to come. A few moments later, he was finishing breakfast and waiting for Sariah to finish getting ready.

As he sat at the table, he watched the petite girl dart from one place to another, cleaning this, donning that, checking this, packing that, counting this, straightening that… and so forth…

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Of course I am,” she responded timidly.

If Alaric had half a brain more than his current dumb self, he would have noticed the woman was trying her best to match the looks he effortlessly had on display.

“Are you sure you’re just Wood Rank?” she asked him as she stared into the mirror for the umpteenth time. Grumbling inaudibly, she added to herself, “The boy looks like a freaking Saint Rank.”