Alaric stared at the corrupted core the examiner, Harrow, was holding with an odd expression. His body stood frozen, the hair on his skin standing on ends whilst a curious gleam sparkled in his eye.
There was much he didn’t know and most of the time, he felt like he was learning things backwards. He knew for a fact that not all demons were the same. Some were more powerful than others… Whether this strength had something to do with the demon’s core, he had no idea.
But he knew one thing, the demons he’d dealt with before would only unleash a fearsome amount of menacing aura when they growled in rage. Even then, they didn’t come close to giving Alaric chills as severe as the ones induced by this one core.
Even in death, this core seemed more powerful than all the demons Alaric had encountered. He had no way of comparing it to the one that killed Jared though. As a child, all demons were frightening… no matter how weak.
[ That core came from a powerful demon, ] his guardian confirmed his suspicions. Alaric clenched his fists but kept his thoughts to himself. He could feel himself sweating just from being in the same room as the core that was sealed within an enchanted jar.
To put it into more context, the swarm of demons SwiftWind had flattened, when combined would still only come shy of this kind of aura.
The examiner conjured up a table on which he placed the jar, gesturing to it, “Take your best shot.”
“But this…” the girl wanted to say something only to see Harrow raise his eyebrow at her.
“Something wrong, girl?” he asked.
“N-No…” she stuttered, then approached the demon core.
Alaric could see her shaking as she stood before the terrifying object. It was as though every nerve in her body was telling her to run from the object… and Alaric couldn’t blame her if she did. It was a truly terrifying object.
Knowing this, Alaric observed the girl more intently. Out of everyone who had taken a test here, hers was perhaps the most nerve-wracking.
The oppression of the demon core wasn’t just in aura alone. The fear the core caused wasn’t just an emotion but the natural instinct to preserve one’s body. It was the body’s call for self-preservation. Alaric wouldn’t be surprised if the core itself had the power to inflict harm on the girl.
And yet, she stood before the jar and began to chant a long incantation in the Ancient Tongue. Alaric gasped when he heard the words, “World Beyond and World Before Me, purify this darkness and banish your enemies… from here and everywhere pure and good.”
Alaric watched in awe as her hands began to glow a white gentle light. The guardian hovering above her head began to hum as well. The white glow shot for the jar and a sizzling sound permeated the training hall.
Alaric’s aether began to circulate, elevating his senses and increasing his strength, should anything go wrong, of course.
A deep darkness covered the room as the purification ritual continued. Everyone watched in suspense, on edge, as though the demon would resurrect anytime soon and destroy Melbourne.
Several minutes of tense silence later, the darkness dissipated, leaving behind an exhausted girl and a dimmer guardian. The girl was panting, sweating far more than Alaric thought she should have. She collapsed on her knees and put her hands down.
The examiner, however, wasn’t interested in her state. He was more interested in the results of her work.
He cast a silent spell on the jar and the glass ornament came apart, floating away from the core in five curved pieces of glass and leaving a white luminous orb behind.
A touch of darkness still swirled within the orb but the intimidating aura of death had vanished from it completely.
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“Looks like you missed some of the miasma… Ha!” Harrow chuckled to himself, almost as if he was proud that she had failed.
The Guild Master spoke before he could assess the girl, “What was the percentage of the purification?”
“Percentage?” Harrow asked in a confused tone, “What use is a percentage when the core is still…”
“Harrow…”
“Fine, let me give it a look,” Harrow sighed, before taking a closer look at the orb. It was a few moments before he said, “Eighty Percent… but the point is…”
“That’s impressive.”
“What?” Harrow’s eyes widened.
“That was a high-grade demon core and yet you managed to get it to eighty-percent purity. Such a young age! I doubted your abilities before but now I’m convinced you’re the real deal. What’s your name, girl?” the Guildmaster boomed.
“Lucy…”
“Lucy. You’ve done well! Well, indeed! I missed this. I’m so glad I chose to attend today’s examinations. So many promising rookies today,” the fact that Guild Master Schiller wasn’t looking at Alaric when he said this told him everything he wanted to know, “How old are you, Lucy?”
“Sixteen, sir,” the girl responded timidly. The Guild Master leapt into the ring with an easy hop and presented her with a bottle of water, “That power of yours will take you places, Lucy. Normally, you’d qualify for higher than Silver rank but we have a policy here that restricts us from awarding anything higher if the applicant doesn’t have experience. That would put you at risk of fighting stronger demons and aether beasts. So, we’ll award you Silver Rank while you gather the experience needed to advance. How does that sound?”
The girl simply nodded.
Now that everyone other than Alaric had been assessed, it was time for him to step up. He took a deep breath and listened to the Guild Master continue to talk.
‘Should I warm up? Stretch a bit,’ he thought to himself.
[ Don’t be ridiculous, Alaric. ] his guardian sighed.
Guild Master Schiller continued, “I’d like to extend my gratitude to all those who participated in today’s examinations and congratulations to those who passed. Now, normally I’d attend all the tests but alas, I have something urgent to attend to, so I’ll be leaving. Thank you all for coming. You’ll have your licenses in a day’s time I’m sure. For now, you’ll be given provisional licenses,” the man explained before getting out of the ring and walking out of the training hall.
Alaric stared at the man’s retreating form with a curious expression. Was not having a guardian that bad of a trait?
He sighed… In a way, this was better though. He didn’t have to prove his power to anyone now. He did, however, want to get himself an adventurer’s license. Even a copper license would be a large help to him.
“Alright, Alistair was it? Step up,” Daphne called out when the Guild Master had stepped out of the training hall.
Alaric nodded and entered the ring. Lucy was still on the floor so he crouched down near her, “Need some help?”
The girl shook her head, still panting, “Just… Just a bit of aether depletion.”
Alaric shuddered, “Oh, say no more. That’s rough. Here…” he held out his hand.
The girl looked between his hand and face with an odd expression, then sighed and took it. The moment she made contact with his hand, however, she felt a rush of aether flooding her system.
Her eyes went wide with shock before she pulled her hand back.
“Sorry if I scared you. You okay now?” Alaric asked.
“What… What did you do?” she whisper-shouted.
“I gave you some of my aether,” Alaric replied in a similar tone, “And, why are we whispering?”
“Because…” she yanked down his ear, “No one… and I mean, no one goes around handing out aether like chocolate.”
Alaric got even more confused, “Can’t you share aether?”
“No… That’s not a thing. Aether only leaves your body as magic. This is a basic concept of magic,” she yelled into his ear.
“Oh… Can we keep that between us then?” Alaric asked with a bright smile.
[ ALIA!!! ]
[ What?! How was I to know that something so basic was lost magic now? ] the guardian shrugged.
Lucy pulled herself off the ground and walked off in a turmoil of emotions. Her guardian had regained its colour and was now looking between its master and Alaric. If it had a face, he could imagine the look of shock on its face as it wondered where Lucy’s timidness had gone.
Daphne stared at the exchange through her peripheral vision. Her primary focus was Harrow, though.
The man looked like a ripe tomato boiling within his opulent robes. Furrowing her brows, she approached him, “The girl’s gifted. I don’t get why you wanted to fail her.”
“Since when do we let low-grade mages into this guild?” he growled.
“Who’re you calling low-grade? You’re understaffed and you know it. You need a mage like her,” Daphne argued.
“No, I don’t. We’ve been managing just fine,” the man replied.
“Right…” the woman shook her head, “Get out of my ring. I have a boy to test.”
“That one’s useless. Cut him loose,” Harrow sighed, “You heard it from the Guild Master.”
“The Guild Master said nothing about cutting him loose. He just lost interest,” Daphne clarified.
“And you haven’t?” Harrow raised a brow at the woman as he put the jar back together around the glowing core with subconscious waves of his hands.
“No, I haven’t. I think that boy is the most interesting of them all. Just watch and see. And tell the others not to go anywhere,” the woman said to him.
“Ugh! Fine. You’re so bossy,” Harrow rolled his eyes with boredom and left to relay her message.
It was time for Alaric’s examination.