Elizabeth Wendir resembled her father in many ways. She shared the red hair and eyes of the man, and her expressions seemed to match his almost perfectly. The delicate woman looked more traditionally feminine compared to someone like Ciel—as if Valar even knew how to judge things like that. After all, all of his information on the subject came from the older boys of the orphanage and passerby conversations. Elizabeth was dressed practically, wearing pants and a well fitting jacket instead of the frivolous dress that was her mothers’s choice.
“I’ve introduced myself to these people now! Can we go to the academy already?”
Elizabeth’s petulant expression made both her parents laugh, both embarrassing and angering the teenager further. Even if an iron rank one, she was still a noblewoman, and noblewomen weren’t known for their endless patience. She was just about to storm back inside the wagon when Viktor’s voice interrupted the growing family scuffle.
“Interesting. Can you tell me when the next semester of the academy year is starting, Elizabeth?”
The silver haired man’s question made every family member turn around, their feud on pause. Their reactions to seeing Viktor were quite different. Elizabeth seemed like she saw the mage for the first time, taking on a polite smile. Her mother’s reaction was peculiar, the woman quieting down instantly. She only nodded silently, eyes wide with both recognition and confusion.
Adrien reacted quite differently to his wife and daughter. A smile stretched across his face as the man went in for a hug—Viktor hugging him back with a quiet smile.
“It’s good to see you, my young friend! What brings you to the capital gates, queuing like there’s no tomorrow, Viktor?”
“The queue is tradition itself. I doubt even the king would skip a fine ceremony like this!”
Adrien laughed good naturedly, slapping his hand on the slimmer man’s shoulder. They seemed to know each other quite well, but Valar couldn’t be sure. Adrien seemed like a man that went in for the bearhug on each and every small meeting, even if he only barely knew the person, so it was hard to judge.
“The next semester is starting in only a couple days,” Elizabeth answered the earlier question with a puzzled expression. “Why do you ask, caravan protector?”
That title earned the teenager a sharp glance from her father, but Viktor saved her from a later scolding.
“Don’t go talking your daughter's ear off, Adrien. I’m working as a protector on this caravan, so the title she used was completely right.”
That only prompted a confused expression from Adrien, as the man seemed to be at least relatively knowledgeable on Viktor’s power and apparent status. Truthfully, he probably knew more than Valar, as he had only known the mage for under a week.
“As for your question, I brought a prospective student with me from Lyndale. We’ll have to visit the academy for admission before the semester starts, so it’s good to know that we have some time left.”
Viktor’s answer made Elizabeth perk up. The girl—Valar estimated her age at sixteen—started scanning the group for a person of her age. Her gaze stopped on Alyssa. As she was beginning to speak, her father spoke over her in order to curb an embarrassing incident.
“Look at their auras, Liz.”
The girl stopped in her tracks, her eyes lighting up with a color that matched her natural eyes. She scanned the group, passing over Valar at first. She had a confused expression as she scanned the group again, finally looking a bit down from the others. As her gaze landed on Valar and his faint green aura, the girl’s jaw dropped.
“Umm… Nice to meet you, Elizabeth,” Valar said nervously. “I’m Valar, and we seem to be entering the academy at the same time, if things go right…”
The poor girl seemed to be in shock, leaning against her opulent wagon. Granted, she was looking at a thirteen year old boy with the clear aura of an iron ranker. That would be confusing to say the least, and her reaction wasn’t too different from many others that Valar had encountered during the days after his awakening. It was starting to get old.
“Valar here awakened only less than a week ago. You can surely understand that awakening at the age of thirteen isn’t normal, and I can assure you that his awakening wasn’t normal in any way.”
“You certainly aren’t lying old friend,” Adrien said, moving his gaze back to Valar, his hand and the faint marks under the sleeve of his shirt.. “Nasty scar you got there, kid. Having encountered fire in its many forms during the years, I can tell that you’ve met something truly nasty to get scars like that.”
Valar suppressed a shiver that attempted to run down his spine when Adrien mentioned his scar. Met something nasty… It seems that a gold rank fire mage thinks I’m ‘nasty’. I’m not sure if I should be glad or terrified.
“You… But you’re barely old enough to enter secondary schooling!” Elizabeth turned to her father. “How is it fair that a kid like this awakens three years younger than me? I wanted to awaken that young too!”
That rubbed Valar the wrong way... This noble girl, having lived all her years in absolute comfort, dining with noble fare and receiving the best education, was calling his awakening unfair? He, who had gotten dealt a hand even the dealer would call rigged, was being called unfairly lucky? He would show this-
“Shut your mouth this instant daughter!” Adrien’s booming voice shocked Valar out of his angry thoughts. “Did you listen at all, or were you so immersed in envy? Look at this boy’s scars and recall the lessons you have learned. What does someone need to awaken early, daughter of mine?”
Adrien Wendir was staring daggers at his daughter, creating an imposing atmosphere. Elizabeth was put in a tough spot, but the young noble managed to squeak out an answer to her father.
“They would need to kill someone or something that had already awakened. If the person was younger than fifteen or possibly late fourteen, they would need to kill a bronze ranker without any help. Even supervision would be too much help, rendering the kill a group effort instead of a solo one.”
“It seems that the expensive schooling wasn’t useless after all,” Adrien nodded. “This boy has awakened at the age of 13, which meants that he has killed a bronze rank beast while unawakened. Alone. Look at his scarring and tell me, could you kill a bronze rank beast, even now as you are?”
The girl didn’t have to think hard, shaking her head almost instantly. Iron rankers didn’t kill bronze ones, especially untrained ones that had just awakened. Even if the noblewoman was trained in magic and encountered a favourable matchup, the fight would be risky to say the least.
“What beast did you kill, if I may ask?” Adrien asked.
Valar had to look around for help, as he had actually never asked anyone what the exact species of the cat was. I think it was mentioned, but I can’t remember! Surprisingly, Ciel came to his rescue, the tall woman speaking to the noble family with a flat tone.
“We found Valar when he had just killed an umbral terror. He was just starting to awaken. The process lasted for an entire day, your relative Ian Wendir actively healing him the entire time.”
All of the Wendir family members stared at Ciel for a while, their gazes eventually landing back on Valar. Elizabeth’s parents reacted in different ways, her mother taking on a worried face while Adrien started laughing uproariously. The teenage girl herself was looking at Valar with both curiosity and caution.
Noble families gave their children education on different beasts that lurked in the nation’s countryside, priming their young for the dangers of the world. Even small children were taught that an umbral terror was a solitary hunter, utilizing dark magic to hide in the forest until it encountered good prey. They were known for purposely tormenting their prey before the kill and for being strong for their rank. That meant that the boy standing in front of her had killed something many bronze rank adventurers would be remiss to duel….
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Would you happen to know Ian?” Valar’s question broke the family out of their musings. “I didn’t have a chance to thank the man for saving my life.”
“I don’t think I recognize him by name, but we can check our records,” Elizabeth’s mother said. “I’ll check if I can find a Lyndale based healer in our family and send him a letter for you, if you’d like that?”
“Yes, thank you very much ma'am,” Valar bowed. “I’d very much like that.”
“Very impressive kill, kid!” Adrien laughed. “Umbral terrors are dark affinity beasts though, how’d ya get the scars?”
That stumped Valar. Obviously he couldn’t respond to the question with the truth. Viktor had forbidden him from telling people about his fire and even provided him with a pretty good excuse, but was it enough?
Will the gold ranker see through my obvious lie? Can he just sense the falsehood in my words through my aura? Valar was paralyzed by nervousness and indecision, unable to utter a single word. What is the right thing to do here?
Viktor solved his issue for him once again, speaking to the gold ranker as his caravan started moving through the gate. “He had alchemical fire and stuck it in the terror’s throat. You can imagine the rest. Have a fine stay in the capital!”
The Wendirs said their farewells, leaving for the city with their caravan. As Valar’s caravan trundled in front of the gate, he sighed in relief. Saved for now, I guess… I’ll need to do better!
“Bullshit,” Elizabeth’s father grunted. “Alchemical fire my ass; Viktor’s lying through his teeth!”
She hadn’t seen her father this irritated in years. Last time was just after the latest Kilras beast wave. No… Maybe even that wasn’t this bad. The whole meeting with the young boy had been highly confusing for her, and she was trying to piece everything together. Her father had known the mage, Viktor, from the past, greeting him like an old friend. Granted, he greeted even mild acquaintances like that, but at least they knew each other. The unknown silver haired mage had been quite peculiar, but he wasn’t Elizabeth’s main interest. While the mage of unknown rank had commanded some of her father’s respect, she didn’t recognize him. He probably wasn’t that important...
The boy however… He had awakened at the age of thirteen? Elizabeth had never heard of an incident like that, but her father hadn’t been that surprised, so he couldn’t be an unique case.
“Father, how commonly do thirteen-year-old kids awaken? That seems terribly young.”
Her father calmed himself somewhat, taking on a thoughtful expression. He rubbed his beard for quite a while before answering, the family walking the capital streets all the while.
“Hmm… How should I frame this? You know the conditions for awakening that young yourself. How many thirteen year olds survive one on one fights with bronze rank beasts?”
“Before today, I would have said zero, but I don’t think you want that answer.”
That made Adrien laugh, Helen, her mother, joining in the merriment as her parents embraced each other.
“No, I think that answer is perfectly reasonable, daughter.” Adrien answered. “If we kept tossing endless thirteen-year-old kids against bronze rank beasts, I suspect each and every kid would be ripped to shreds. Never mind thirteen years old, any unawakened would be fucked.”
“Then how is that kid awakened? Did he cheat somehow?”
“No, he certainly didn’t.”
Her father didn’t seem to want to say anything more, and they continued walking. Elizabeth started to get annoyed by the silence after a while, but her mother started speaking just in time.
“Your father is not speaking further because this isn’t his area of work. It’s mine.”
“What do you mean mother? Father's at a higher rank than you.”
“I mean that I’m an academy researcher, while Adrien is an active adventurer. I’ve done some research on awakenings, and can confidently say that Valar didn’t receive any help.”
“How can you be so sure? Couldn’t someone have given the kid amazing gear or prepared spells?”
“That would count as help and most of the energy would be lost. It wouldn't have been nearly enough for him to awaken. No, he killed the beast with his own power. That doesn’t make the boy a cheater... It makes him dangerous.”
While the line had been long, it had been worth it. The capital was wondrous, making Lyndale look like a slum! Why is everything so big? The stone houses are massive, even the smallest house being three stories high!
“Lyndale didn’t have houses like this! Why is everything so big here?”
“It’s the capital!” Carla said. “The city needs buildings to be built upwards to fit the half a million residents inside the walls.”
“Half a million people live here? The whole city must be packed full!”
The houses were built of stone and many stories high, but that didn’t mean that they were undecorated. Beautiful murals of trees, beasts, flowers and everything he could imagine covered the colourful buildings’ walls. The city was clearly well cared for, and the residents seemed happy too. All kinds of people bustled through the streets, working or just walking around. The streets didn’t have as many terraces as Lyndale due to the more busy wagon traffic, but cafés and restaurants were clearly visible on the lower floors of the buildings.
The street was made of a similar smooth stone as Lyndale, allowing easy travel for wagons and people alike. They walked through the streets, and Valar spent his time looking at the families spending their days in the safe and seemingly happy city. He had to admit to himself that he envied those families, but he tried to not show it on his face.
Another grim face in the group was Alyssa’s. Their caravan rolled through the streets, bound for the caravan workyard and her inevitable fate. She would be handed to the guard with Viktor’s good word and they would decide her fate. She would have to wait for her judgement, but it was coming closer by the minute.
The caravan reached the workyard after only a few minutes of travel, the large clearing full of caravans in the process of loading and unloading bustling with action. Their caravan took a free spot, Trent hopping off the first wagon and walking to the party. He shook every party members’ and Viktor’s hand, nodding to Valar when he walked past the boy.
“Thank you for your work, adventurers. I will be sure to leave good marks for your team, and I’ll even try my best to get you a bonus for slaying the bandits!”
“Thank you for your kind words, mister Miller,” Rodrick said. “Don’t hesitate to call on us again if you need good guards for your caravan. We’re always looking for work to do!”
Everyone in the party laughed with Trent, parting ways with good graces. They wouldn’t have to stay for the unloading, every members’ stuff already taken from the wagons. Before leaving for the guild, the party made a final stop in front of Valar and Viktor.
“It was nice meeting you both,” Rodrick started. “Valar, when you graduate from the iron rank classes, don’t hesitate to look for us for an internship opportunity. If you have good enough marks, we might just take you on as a healer.”
“I’ll be sure to do that if adventuring turns out to be my calling. Thank you for the time and for saving my life, everyone.”
They said their farewells, Carla and Arthur even giving Valar hugs. Viktor got some thanks from the party, shaking hands with the members before they finally managed to leave.
“Do you think that adventuring could interest you? They seem like a good team, if a bit of a strange one,” Viktor asked.
Valar didn’t answer, not that sure himself. He had already gotten that spark when he saw the team fight, but some of that fire had been stifled by the bandit attack. I would have to kill people, or at least participate. Everything else looked fun though… He didn’t know, but he didn’t need to, yet. Maybe a few months of academy lessons would make him stir crazy enough to start adventuring solo instead!
Their final stop before they were free was a more somber one. Viktor and Valar escorted Alyssa to the guard barracks opposite of the workyard. It wasn’t a long walk, but Valar’s steps felt heavy. Am I not just escorting her to lose her freedom? I just gained mine, and now I’m here, just watching as someone else’s freedom is taken away.
The situation was different though… Alyssa wasn’t purely a victim. Sure, she had grown into the profession, but she was still a bandit. Valar had even helped her by explaining the situation to Viktor, and that could give her a chance for a very light sentence. I’m not like her… I’m not like the matron.
They entered the barracks, Viktor explaining the situation to the front desk clerk. She took in Alyssa with disinterest, beckoning her over. The guards had a lot of traffic in the capital, and the clerk wasn’t about to waste time not doing her precious paperwork. Alyssa stopped halfway to the clerk, who had already called for a guard to escort her to a holding cell.
“Valar… Thank you. If I get off light, I’ll be sure to remember this,” she didn’t mention Viktor or even look at him—the reason clear enough.
She was escorted away, Valar and Viktor staying for a while, Viktor filing paperwork as a caravan protector to give Alyssa the good word he had promised. Eventually they left the barracks, no fun guards like Rodrick’s father emerging in the much more boring premises.
“So, now that the grim and dour stuff is out of the way, do you want to go to the academy right now?” Viktor asked.
“Weren’t we supposed to head there tomorrow? I’ll gladly go though, if it’s better for you.”
“We arrived faster than I thought, and the queue wasn’t that long. There’s a lot of day left, so let’s get you admitted and sponsored!”
Viktor had assured Valar that the admittance would be an easy thing. After the past week, Valar really hoped that it would go smoothly. After all, nobles were all polite and kind people, right?
