Akai, Kidd, and Lamorie stared at this newcomer for a moment before Akai shrugged and said “I’ll see if I can find Coddsworth, who’s in charge right now for the Caravan.”

  He turned and began heading back to where the carriages were. While walking, Lamorie stayed closer to Akai’s side than before.

  After a few minutes of searching, Akai found Coddsworth. The fancilly dressed esquire turned and noticed the new person, it was hard to miss Langyao’s ears. Coddsworth looked at the group and asked “Yes? Who is this?”

  As Akai was about to speak, Langyao stepped forwards. She smiled cockily and said “I am Langyao, Heiress of the Lang Clan and blessed by the gods. I am here to join Legonia’s academy.”

  Langyao crossed her arms. Coddsworth seemed a bit shocked and asked “The.. Lang Clan. You’re from the Great Isles?” and the red head wolf girl said “Yes, I am Heiress of the Lang Clan, formerly dominant clan of the Water Dragon Isle.”

  Langyao looked to the side as her ears folded down when she had to say formerly.

  Coddsworth was about to say something again, but Langyao cut him off by drawing forth her power. Streaks of purple fire began to encircle her, the feeling of immense power radiated from her as she said “I have been blessed by the gods. Is it not your perview to bring me to your academy?”

  Coddsworth looked deep in thought before hesitantly saying “We’ll bring you to Elmswick City.. There, it will be in the Margrave’s hands, but I can’t think of a good reason to deny you.”

  “Good” Langyao barked, looking at the carriages and walking to one. Deciding for herself which one to sit in. Tossing her pack inside before climbing in and shutting the door behind her.

  “That.. Was something.’ Kidd said, nudging Lamorie. “She seemed interested in Akai, don’t you think?” and this caused Lamorie to give an offended look. “Absolutely not, she could probably just tell Akai has the stronger power out of us.. You can feel the other’s powers too.”

  “Sure, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.” Kidd said before letting out a pained yelp when Lamorie smacked him.

  The caravan had also found and brought 1 more awakened, stocked up on food and water, then finally set out. The carriages taking the road north heading to Elmswick city. It would be their final stop in the southern territory before heading to the capital city Thedifell.

  Akai was set in the same carriage as Kidd and that scrawny kid again. This time, the kid spoke up some. He brushed his shaggy brown hair to the side and said timidly “I’m.. Candell..” while looking up with pale eyes that had a shimmer of light behind them. Kidd stared at Candell’s eyes but Akai smiled and held out his hand. He said “It’s great to meet you, Candell. In case you forgot, I’m Akai and this is Kidd.”

  Candell did reach out and grab Akai’s hand. Unlike Akai’s or Kidd’s hands, Candell’s was smooth and gentle. He had never trained with a sword or worked with his hands, so he lacked any and all callouses.

  “What’s your blessing?” Akai asked, making Candell fidget a little, clearly not used to talking to other people. After a moment of awkward Silence, Akai answered first. “My blessing is from the Immortal Hero, and is deeply tied with my affinity to fire.” which got a slight shocked response from Candell. “R-really..? Are you sure..?” Candell asked and Akai nodded proudly. “I had the church check it out and everything.”

  Candell stared for a moment at Akai, but when his gaze lingered to Kidd, the red-headed teen said “Mine is from Ankhou, and my element is electricity.” Candell was less shocked at Kidd’s answer, that was until Kidd smugly smiled and said “And unlike Akai here, Ankhou himself told me to inherit his abilities to fight by his side some day”

  Candell almost broke into a coughing fit.. He looked at Akai and Kidd like they were some kind of monsters, he quietly murmured just loud enough they could both here. “Th-that’s insane.. Y-you’re, you are both.. I’ve never heard of something like that before..”

  After a moment of stammering, Akai coughed and asked “And yours?”

  Candell shook his head and said “I’m not special like you two.. I don’t have the rarest kind of blessing, nor some crazy invitation from a god..”

  The scrawny teen looked down in a bit of self pity.

  “I was blessed with purity by Lady Nao, and was given the element of light.”

  “Wait, light? Can you show us?” Akai asked, intrigued. Candell held up a hand and above his palm formed a radiant orb of luminescent white light. There was a nice feeling that came from it, but little else happened.

  Just now, Kidd groaned. He leaned back and put a hand on his face. After receiving confused looks from both of the other people in the carriage, Kidd said “Lamorie is going to say something about this when she learns.”

  “Who.. Who’s Lamorie? And why?” Candell asked softly.

  “Our friend from our village who is riding in a different carriage” Akai answered.

  “And she’s going to say something about your name and power reminding her of a candle, I bet.. I still remember her calling me ‘kidd the kid’ when I moved in”

  A soft bit of laughter escaped Candell’s lips at the mention of that last bit, it did bring a smile to his face for a moment. But with a brief glare from Kidd, he quickly turned and looked away, scooting back in his seat.

  For many more days, the group travelled north. Every time they stopped to sleep at night, Lamorie tried to stay close to Akai and Kidd. But after the 2nd night, she was told off by the military commander about it being improper. She needs to section herself to the side with the girls. This first time was just a warning, but it was explained to both Lamorie and Akai that if they were caught fraternizing further, a word neither Akai nor Lamorie knew the meaning of, that the behavior would be reported to the academy upon arrival.. They couldn’t ask for clarification on anything because the moment the commander was done speaking, he turned and walked away.

  Lamorie was left pouting as she was by herself on the other side of camp with the rest of the girls. Akai confused why it seemed like they were in trouble over it, and Kidd just watched from the side amused. Unlike Kidd and Akai who preferred the open air, Candell slept on the bench in the carriage.

  And come morning or dinner, they all could hear that new wolf eared girl complaining loudly about the food. About how it was ‘insulting’ to feed prodigal awakened such low quality food. She did get into a few arguments with the commander, but every time Coddsworth stepped in to try and placate things and at have the commander at least agree to take Langyao to Elmswick city to see if Margrave Sorray was willing to sponsor her for the accademy.

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  Soon enough, after more days of travel, they arrived at Elmswick city. The caravan posted itself by one of the gates and the news was spread that they would be staying put for 2 days.. The predominantly teenage awakened were told that they were explicitly disallowed entry into the city without permission and escort. The last thing the commander wanted was to get any of the teens in trouble with the law or lost and left behind. But otherwise they were free to relax until it was time to leave.

  Within the first two hours of them posting at the walls, they had gathered the attention of the members of the local church of the divine. Many of the members seen walking through the caravan camp had recognized Akai and Kidd. They had brought relics with them and set up a tent and encouraged the many dozens of awakened to come and attempt to connect with their patron gods. Most turned down the offer, explaining they were going to have to do it anyways in Thedifell, so they didn’t see a point in doing it early with no extra benefit.

  The church members were disheartened every time they were told no but when the occasional blessed awakened did accept, they seemed overjoyed about seeing the divine powers in action.

  Candell was one of the few who agreed, Kidd, Akai, and Lamorie had also joined along. A handful of others including the girl Akai accidentally bothered on the first day. A handful of others had decided to do so as well, including this Langyao girl.

  Akai was the first to enter, followed by Kidd and they decided to step aside, letting others head in. There were two of the church members working at a time to guide them between the relics to see who had a connection with who. Lamorie was among the first and she told them about what she had heard when first blessed, and what happened. It was fairly clear it was Miogh who had given her a blessing, so she was taken to his relic. When Lamorie closed her eyes and held out her hand, something completely unprecedented happened.

  Without her control, the green liquid energy of her might flowed from her hand down into the nail, soaking into it. After a minute of this, the nail would glow bright, then shifting to a deep verdant color. The new energy was deep and powerful, and soon coalesced into the form of a large muscular man’s upper body. It trailed into the ether the further down it went, but this persons face was clear to see. It remained a green hue, but a man with a square jaw and very short hair smiled down. Crossing his arms, he looked around. The church members and the other awakened were all stunned silent. Then the priests all lowered themselves into prostration once they regained their bearing.

  “So many of the extraordinary are here.” he mumbled as he crossed his arms, his upper arms thicker than most of the teenager’s torsos. His voice was gentle while undoubtedly holding significant power. He sounded like a kind man. His gaze landed on Akai for a moment as he said “And the Phoenix is here too.”

  Before anyone could linger on the comment, he looked down at Lamorie and landed a large hand on her shoulder. He said “You have grown well, Little Lamorie.. I knew I chose you well..”

  This was a manifestation of Miogh himself, appearing personally.. He said “Priests of the divine, raise to your feet. You will want to hear this.” he said, and all of the priests did not hesitate to rush to their feet and gaze with reverence and awe at the form of Miogh.

  “Lamorie here.” He said, gently shaking Lamorie’s shoulder to emphasize her, as the priests were having tunnel vision on the literal god.

  “She will be my champion.”

  “Wh-what?” Lamorie exclaimed, looking up at the manifestation of Miogh.

  “For what is to come, I was told directly by the Cerna.”

  All of the priests, in unison, interrupted Miogh with a shout. “The Cerna!?” as they all seemed on the verge of passing out from this info.. With how much they revered the gods, the Cerna must have been even more important.. All of the kids except for Candell seemed confused, Candell also seemed on the verge of fainting.

  “Yes..” Miogh drawled. “For what is to come, there needs to be people with unyielding hearts and unbending will. These are the exact words that had been spoken by the Cerna.”

  One of the priests hurriedly pulled out a small booklet and a pencil and began quickly writing down what he had just heard.

  “Lamorie is going to be my champion.” He repeated, looking down at the shocked girl. “You are pure of heart and uniquely fit to inherit my might.”

  Miogh moved his hand from Lamorie’s shoulder and gently rustled her hair before the energy slowly returned to the relic, reverting to its original lighter color, then returned back to Lamorie’s hand.

  The priests wrote everything down and crowded around Lamorie who was just as shocked as the rest.. They began asking her questions but she raised her hands and said “I dont know anything more, I swear.”

  It took a few minutes for things to calm down, but they urged one of the priests to go back to the church and get one of the scribes.

  After it finally calmed, they resumed taking care of the other awakened. Nobody else had a similar reaction, only eliciting responses with their power to the different gods. Candell was confirmed to be blessed by Nao, a few others had been blessed by Svendar, Andarta, and even one teen had been blessed by Niohlenth.. When Langyao’s turn came, she stood in the middle and closed her eyes, ignoring the priest’s urging to step closer to the relics.. Then, at the end of the hall in a glass case, she marched towards the ancient crown. The priests panicked for a moment before she held out a hand and brought forth her own violet fire.. Nothing happened at first until the crown became enveloped in a similar but distinctly different fire of a deeper purple color. She stood there, expecting more to happen. But after a minute, nothing did.

  “You still refuse to speak to me again.” She scoffed, but the word again had immediately caught the priests attention. They all ran closer and the one with the booklet loudly said “Please, share what the Immortal Hero had said to you!” as he prepared to write thing down.

  Lanyao crossed her arms and sighed, saying with a slight attitude “If you must insist. He spoke to me when he gave me his blessing. My clan was under siege and he guided me to defend what was mine, then told me to sail north and go to Legonia’s academy.”

  “H-how long was he speaking with you?” a different priest asked and Langyao answered with a dismissive “Around an hour.”

  The priests stayed around Langyao, asking her questions and speaking with awe in their voice. They stayed around her until the scribe from the church finally arrived, until then everyone else was made to wait.

  The handful of other people were guided to the relics and finally everyone was done. Langyao was annoyed at the church members by now and said “This is enough!” before storming off. Unwilling to put up with this any further. She was not a fan of being asked so many questions and surrounded by these priests for something that wasn’t her own achievement. Langyao was proud she was blessed by one of the gods, but felt she should be praised for what she does with this power, not because she got lucky to gain the power in the first place.

  Afterwards, everyone was settled down some. The scribe was writing a report in the corner and was just about to leave before Kidd approached the relic for Ankhou. What proceeded wasn’t as impressive as Lamorie having the manifestation of a god appear before her. But Kidd’s actions were very notable as well.

  His lightning connected with the relic and then the voice familiar to him, but foreign to the rest, boomed through the tent.

  “Fuller.” The deep voice of Ankhou growled out. His voice always sounded aggressive, even when perfectly calm.

  “You heard Miogh’s words. You need an unbending will. I expect you to train your ass off when you get to that little school of yours. Because we are doubling what you do in the dreamscape.”

  The connection between Kidd and Ankhou was abruptly cut, and it seemed nobody knew what the god of war meant when he said the dreamscape. But the fact Kidd managed to commune with the god effortlessly, and while not explicitly said by Ankhou like Miogh had for Lamorie, It was clear Kidd was chosen as Ankhou’s champion

  All the attention from what happened with Lamorie and Kidd, it drew in a few of the other people but not many. And eventually the tent set up by the church is left alone.

  After time had passed and people settled in to staying here for the next 2 days, a messenger approached the camp and spoke with the commander in charge. This was after Coddsworth had returned to the keep and gave a report to Margrave Sorray.

  The messenger was bringing summons for four people.

  Langyao, regarding whether or not they will be sponsored for the academy since she is a foreigner. Then the iconic trio, Lamorie, Kidd, and Akai.