Demons were beings of fear. Creatures of Darkness that drove fear into anyone who saw them. Not to mention, they came in one shade: Black.

  Their existence threatened the entire Valerian continent. No one knew where they came from, and even more frightening was their resistance to death. It was as if they weren’t capable of it. Their only means of passing on was through the purifying aether of Holy Magic.

  Alaric had only seen a demon once before the Appraisal Ceremony but the sensation of being in the presence of one hadn’t vanished at all.

  The feeling of hopelessness. The stench of death. The sudden loss of that spark of hope that lay within all humans. The inability to feel happiness anymore… as though the world itself had abandoned him and left only despair.

  The strange chills that ran down his spine told him to run for his life. The sudden loss of confidence and yearning for a warm cup of tea, for the safety of home and the loving warmth of his caretaker, Marla and their family of orphans.

  Alaric took a deep breath and stared out behind the speeding carriage.

  They were here.

  The ground shuddered and the carriage swayed, bouncing erratically on the uneven dirt road. The trees groaned and shattered, and then they appeared.

  Two Beasts, at least three meters tall, with the heavy build of massive bears. They ran on six girthy legs, a black miasma rolling off the shiny black plates of armour that ran along their backs.

  Long tusks shot out of their abhorrent maws, which were filled with rows of sharp teeth, dripping with black saliva. A pair of small eyes rested at the sides of their head, so small and beady that Alaric was forced to believe these things hunted by smell rather than sight.

  Finally out in the open, the beasts barrelled forward at full speed, their six muscled legs propelling them forward like those of caterpillars.

  Maple was the first to react, her collection of ice-spears shooting forward with enough force to cut the air. The sound of shattering ice filled the air as the spears shattered against the armour of the beasts.

  Ice spread across the beast’s carapace, refusing to let it end with a mere shattering. The ice spread, mending the plates of armour together. The once shiny black surfaces were turning dull as the ice worked to slow them down.

  At the same time, Maple was already preparing her next volley of spears.

  CRACK went the sound of the ice shattering once more. Like glass, the ice coating the demons came tumbling down, only for another volley to strike the bodies of the barreling demons.

  By the time the third volley of spears was raining down on the beasts, Alaric’s mind had caught up, and he sent a mental command to the spell he too had been preparing.

  The aether in his body boiled and rumbled as five spots around him glowed. He held out his hand and fuelled his imagination.

  ‘Faster than an arrow… Sharper than a woodpecker’s beak… Stronger than an oak…’ he chanted to himself before letting the spell loose.

  Silence covered the carriage like a blanket for just a moment before the bullets of wind and ice made contact.

  BOOM went each impact, melding together into a thunderous chain of never-ending attacks.

  Alaric blinked…

  The demons were unscathed. They staggered and weaved around the worst of the ice spears and wind bullets… but in the end they remained unscathed.

  If anything, the beasts were more determined to catch up to the carriage now than they’d been moments ago.

  ‘Weakness… I need a weakness,’ Alaric’s eyes scanned… ‘There.’

  Maple must have noticed the way his eyes darted about, formulating ideas. She spoke fast, “Hit their eyes and they’ll get mad.”

  The warning came a second too late as the first of Alaric’s Icy Wind Cannons was heading straight for the beast’s eye.

  “Shatter,” Alaric commanded without a moment of hesitation.

  The flying ice bullet vanished in a puff of shards of ice before it could hit the beast’s eye. ‘I need to think.’

  He shifted his attention to pommeling the demons with an endless onslaught of annoying spells. They had no effect on the demons, but they did pack a punch.

  Alaric was willing to bet the demons found it hard to lunge under their assault. With Alaric and Maple pushing against them, these armoured demons were probably fighting against the weight of a battering brick wall just to keep up with the carriage.

  Either the demons were struggling to catch up or they were playing with their prey. Either way, their inability to catch up gave Alaric some time to think.

  What was he supposed to do against the demons now? Striking their sensitive spots was off-limits, and yet, the beasts’ bodies were covered in impenetrable armour. At this rate, they were going to be defeated.

  Time slowed for him as his mind went into overdrive. Was he supposed to pommel their shells with more powerful magic and see if they would cave?

  No, that wouldn’t work. His magic wasn’t infinite. He’d discovered that after waking up in the morning still recovering from a particular gluttonous healing spell.

  So what was he supposed to do?

  “Guardians!” Sariah yelled at the top of her voice, breaking Alaric out of his thoughts. The boy regarded the woman with a stiff expression.

  He’d frozen… without even realising it. His heart sank and his blood went cold, ‘Damn it!’

  [ Don’t beat yourself up. ] Alia consoled. For once, Alaric wanted her to yell at him, [ It’s your first real quest. This might not be a balanced party, but it’s best you leave the strategy to someone more experienced. ]

  Sariah’s orders came as soon as the guardian had finished talking, “Alistair, keep attacking. We’re unlucky to be dealing with these kinds of demons, but your attacks are needed to keep them from drawing on their abilities, if they have any… And don’t freeze up again.”

  Alaric nodded, turning his attention back to the demons. He took in a deep breath and opened his aether reserves, unleashing a hail of Icy Wind Cannons on the attacking beasts.

  The chaotic impacts drew everyone’s attention to the boy for a brief moment—silent glances going around before they all quietly decided to let it be and started summoning their guardians.

  The air about the carriage shimmered as the adventurers summoned their guardians. A phoenix shot out of a tear in space and flew up into the sky, hovering high above for a wider view of the woods.

  On the right side of the carriage, a large bear emerged, bringing with it a wave of heat familiar to Alaric. Although calling it a bear would be doing it an injustice. Alaric only thought of this beast as a bear because that was the animal that shared the closest resemblance with it.

  In truth, this creature couldn’t be called a bear. Its fur appeared to be burnt in various places, as though it was still on fire, while its entire back was riddled with cracks flowing with a fiery orange liquid.

  As it kept up with the carriage, its large feet trampled the ground, leaving sizzling footsteps of fiery glowing liquid. Even then, the ground continued to melt and sink long after it had passed. Its eyes shone with a fiery rage that sent chills down Alaric’s spine… ironic as that sounded.

  On the other side of the carriage, the air rippled, drawing the boy’s attention. He felt shivers before he even saw it. A serpent, at least an oak tree in girth, shot out of a ripple in space and slithered forward at a speed terrifyingly fast yet smooth enough to allow Sariah to caress its head for a moment before snapping her attention back to the battle at hand.

  Alaric was surprised the serpent was even able to keep up with the carriage, considering its enormous size. The serpent’s coils spread about in massive meandears as it shot forward, a testament to how much it was really holding back.

  A translucent wraith weaved itself into existence around the white-haired girl as she stared at the demons in the distance, “You have quite the amount of aether, Alistair.”

  Alaric looked back at the demons that were still unfazed by the onslaught of ice spears and bullets of wind and ice, doing his best to act like he hadn’t met that wraith-like guardian in the In-Between.

  The spell he was using was basic enough that it didn’t draw too much on his aether reserves. So it was easy to imagine how one would be mesmerized by his aether reserves.

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  He shrugged at the girl’s words, “You could say that. Maple… have you summoned your guardian?”

  The woman chuckled humourlessly, “That’s disrespectful, Alistair! I should be the one asking you that question, considering I summoned my guardian before we even left Melbourne.”

  Alistair’s breath hitched…

  Guardian? What guardian? What was this woman babbling on about? Perhaps these were signs of how tired Maple truly was. She was sweating badly, and he could tell her aether reserves were starting to dwindle.

  Absentmindedly keeping up the barrage of Icy Wind Cannons firing, he approached the woman, then froze. He’d locked eyes with Lucy’s knowing blue orbs. The Holy Mage remained silent, but her eyes spoke volumes.

  Lucy knew what Alaric wanted to do… and very subtly shook her head against it.

  The boy sighed.

  Where was Maple’s guardian anyway? Wouldn’t he have recognized her guardian immediately if she had summoned…?

  He froze.

  Maple didn’t stand to lose anything from summoning her guardian… so it was unlikely that she was lying. But then, where could her guardian have been? Alaric searched around before his eyes locked on the blue ornate stick she was holding up, trembling with the staff in hand.

  ‘Her staff?’

  [ TidalWave, a guardian with the power to control water. She’s powerful… even more so when she’s near water sources… or in the hands of someone capable. ]

  [ Can she be used by someone else? ] Alaric wondered.

  [ Not exactly. She is limited by her master’s mastery of aether manipulation and magic. I’m not even sure Maple knows what kind of gem she’s sitting on ] the guardian sighed.

  Alaric was impressed by the revelation and yet it wasn’t enough to draw his attention away from what happened next. Everyone had summoned their guardians except for LionHeart—and, of course, Alaric and Byron.

  LionHeart stood from his place in the carriage, crouched, then jumped up high, leaving a shockwave of wind pushing out in his wake.

  The air rippled high above the speeding carriage. As the coachman struggled to take control of the horses, a majestic beast of white fur emerged from the ripple in space just in time to catch LionHeart on its back.

  Covered in white from head to tail, LionHeart’s guardian glistened in the sunlight. At the top of his head, a metallic ornament caught the light of the sun. Powerful aether washed over the carriage, changing the entire atmosphere.

  For a moment, the chilling feeling of death and unhappiness was banished, replaced with light and hope. Plates of shining steel covered the magnificent beast at select spots. Its chest, sharp claws… as well as its back were all covered in stylish armour.

  “Is that lion wearing armour… and a crown?” Byron exclaimed.

  “Leon’s guardian is… different from what I expected,” Sariah mentioned, an unexpected expression on her face as the lion flew lower for Sariah’s instructions, “Holy Mage! Can you enchant weapons with your power?”

  Lucy nodded.

  Alaric had heard LionHeart talk about his guardian changing… but none of that could have prepared him for what he saw today. When did Aslan turn from gold to white? What’s with the armour?

  …And that crown?!!!!

  LionHeart’s guardian, or rather Leon’s guardian, looked so different from the last time Alaric saw him that the boy found himself momentarily unable to tear his gaze away from the beast.

  A majestic haze settled on the beast, commanding attention from everyone who saw it.

  [ Would you look at that? ] Alia mused.

  The lion’s golden fur had turned white with a silvery shine that rippled in response to the wind blowing through it. A silver crescent-shaped crown adorned the lion’s head, coming down the sides of its face, and settling back into the billowing mane, almost blending in with it.

  To top it all off, Aslan appeared with a powerful wave of aether, flowing out of the fissure unrestrained. It was then that Alaric was also able to sense the difference in LionHeart himself.

  ‘He’s stronger,’ he thought to himself.

  [ Naturally ] Alia responded.

  With a giant serpent on one side, a bear made of lava on the other, a flying lion in the air and a flaming phoenix darting high above, Alaric was starting to see no use for his expertise anymore. He kept his Icy Wind Canons firing and continued to watch the battle in silence.

  The bear of lava fell back and away from the demons, vanishing under the cover of the trees. The demons didn’t pay the guardian any attention.

  [ Do you think the demons could be after me? ] Alaric asked his guardian.

  [ I’m not sure. Demons should fear you… But for as long as I’ve known you, it’s been the opposite. I wonder why. The guardian pondered.

  Alaric remembered something similar from the words of the Three-Cut Bone Tiger. It did sound odd to him, though. Why would demons fear anyone? They were destroyers who only sought destruction and death.

  It wasn’t long before the bear came barreling into an armoured demon’s side. The ground shuddered, the carriage rattled, and the demon staggered.

  Angered, the feral six-legged fiend opened its jaws and snapped at the intruder. The bear was further behind to be reached by its maw, however, keeping itself safely away from the jaws and tusks of the beast.

  Alaric saw the bear’s magma roll off the demon’s shiny carapace without leaving as much as a scorch mark.

  Bumi’s hands curled around his sword as he watched his guardian fight. The man gripped his shield as though he could attack at any moment.

  Alaric could even feel the hum of aether coming off his body, as though he was casting a spell or using an Inborn Ability. There was no evidence of that though, so he cast that thought aside.

  ‘Wouldn’t it be more effective for him to attack with his shield and sword while using his bear as a mount?’ the boy thought to himself.

  Then again, the bear was dripping with lava. Perhaps he wasn’t resistant to his own guardian’s flames… or maybe he wasn’t trained in that style of combat.

  [ Or maybe he’s learnt to rely on his guardian that much ] Alia took a guess.

  Alaric gave the man a brief glance before turning back to the fighting demons… [ You think so? ]

  [ The Adventurer’s Guild places a lot of importance on the power of one’s guardian. Remember Crystal? The guardian responded. The memory of Crystal’s defeat the instant her guardian, Gurlag, refused to fight for her was still fresh in Alaric’s mind.

  The boy sighed as he returned his attention to the battle. He could also still remember the scream that left Scarlett’s lips as she watched her guardian nearly get trampled.

  The only difference was that Scarlett didn’t take advantage of her guardian as much as she was capable of. She had actual skills and could fight without needing to call on her guardian all the time.

  Lava spilled onto the side of the demon’s carapace, only to roll off without making as much as a scratch.

  The demon spared the bear a glance, as though assessing the danger it posed, only for it to shift its attention back to the carriage and add more energy into attacking the speeding carriage of delicious humans.

  Meanwhile, Sariah drew her sword and mounted the great serpent. The sword glowed with the faint white hum of Holy Magic, ready for the task of killing demons.

  “Armoured demons are especially weak against Tanks the likes of Schiller,” Byron’s voice cut through the air, “Now do you believe me when I say you’re unprepared for this mission?”

  The serpent, now carrying its master, glided away from the carriage as Sariah looked back at Byron. “You lost the right to comment on how I do things when you left the guild, Byron.”

  By now, it was clear to see that Byron was once someone they all trusted. Perhaps there had been a time when he too would go out on adventures with them… Now, that had changed.

  Alaric shifted his attention back to the attacking woman. How she kept her balance on the slithering creature’s back remained a mystery to Alaric.

  He’d learnt how Garin stayed on top of SwiftWind, but now he struggled to understand this. SwiftWind was gigantic. SwiftWind’s movements could be predicted and were a lot less ‘slithery’… which made this something else entirely.

  The blonde woman shot back with her sword ready. A soft white light sang in the wake of her blade.

  Clang Clang went the sound of her blade against the armour of the creatures. Alaric could only watch as the battle went on. On one side, a black bear covered in rivers of hot boiling magma continued to ram into a demon, sending tremors through the ground.

  Five rams later, Alaric noticed a sudden shift in the air. As the bear reeled back for another attack, Alaric thought he saw the demon’s muscles tense before…

  WHAM the demon and bear meet with an explosive clash that sent the bear sailing straight for the woods on the side.

  “No!” Bumi gasped.

  An audible profane gurgle came from the demon that had struck his guardian.

  On the other side, a serpent carrying Sariah approached, her sword ready and shimmering with the white light of Holy Magic. The guardian went straight for the demon’s side only to careen to the side at the last moment.

  At the peak of the turn, the woman shot forward, leaving her guardian and leaping into the air with the grace of a stork. Her blade flashed across the steel carapace before she was caught by her guardian moments later, only to shoot back for the demon in a convolution of coils. The serpent never attacked itself, only sometimes ramming the demon as its serpentine coils rolled past it.

  The true core of their attack was Sariah and her blade infused with holy magic. They started slow before coalescing into a terrifying mass of slashes and twisting coils. Alaric was yet to see the guardian bear its fangs.

  Each slash left a sizzling line of white magic that left nothing but a small inconsequential groove. This continued for a while, littering the demon’s body with marks in search of a weak spot until… nothing. Sariah returned to the side of the carriage moments later, sweat beading her forehead and a pensive expression on her face.

  “I can’t find a weak spot. Even their eyes are protected by some form of defensive ability,” Sariah reported.

  Alaric stared at her weirdly…

  “You have something to say, Alistair?”

  The boy blinked, then his curiosity gave in, “How come you can make it back here and those demons can’t?”

  “For a prodigy, you’re quite slow. Look at the ground they’re running on,” Bumi spoke up.

  Alaric did as he was told… and for a moment he saw nothing. The demons forged ahead with far more vigour than their speed suggested.

  As Alaric stared, he noticed how the ground caved around their feet and flowed backwards, pushing the demons back with each step they took forward. The magic… seemed to be coming from Bumi.

  ‘So he’s not so reliant on his guardian after all.’

  From the front, the coachman yelled, “You butchers better think of something fast. My horses can’t take much more of this. They need to rest.”

  Alaric looked back at the horses and then at the attacking demons. How was someone supposed to fight something indestructible?

  [ There is no such thing. ]

  Alaric’s mind went quiet. What was his guardian getting at? He looked up at the firing Icy Wind Canons and the mirror of ice spears.

  [ Aren’t those attacks—I don’t know—weak for a guardian? He wondered.

  Alia’s confirmation came as an emotion rather than a reply. She often did this when he was trying to think so as not to break his concentration. A moment later, though, she broke his concentration with a request, [ Might I take your Vivid Clone out for a walk? ]

  Alaric nodded absentmindedly and continued pondering the problem at hand. As his mind churned, Bumi spoke to Sariah, “I’m going to try raising them above ground. Perhaps, their legs and bellies are not as hard as their backs.”

  Sariah nodded, and at the same time, Bumi’s guardian retreated into the edge of the woods as the man walked up to the back of the carriage and put his hands forward.

  The world seemed to go silent for a short moment. Alaric and Maple stopped firing, and for a brief moment, Alaric felt the influx of aether as Bumi tapped into what Alaric now guessed to be his Inborn Ability.

  The ground shuddered before erupting right beneath the demons and throwing them into the air. Alaric’s eyes went wide with shock. He could feel his blood rushing, and it took everything for him to keep from acting on his impulses.

  The ground groaned as monoliths shot from beneath the demon’s feet, throwing the beasts high into the air. Something gnawed on the boy’s mind as he watched the beasts rise into the air… unfazed.

  His expression paled and the aether in his body swirled. Sariah’s serpent was already going in while the lava bear went in for the kill.

  “Stay back!!!” the boy yelled at the top of his voice, aether singing in his palms.

  Right then, the demons coiled into a pair of black death-dealing spinning wheels of destruction, one on top of Sariah while another on top of the fiery bear.

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