Odyssey of the Guardian Emperor

The young boy clenched his fists and cursed his weakness. Nothing was going the way he'd hoped, and he hated it. Alaric watched this particular part of the memories with curiosity. He'd never heard of a guardian that couldn't be summoned. 'Was Aslan not properly awakened?'

The lion's answer came as an emotion—one filled with regret and shame.

Reginald walked up to LionHeart hours later, when the arena was empty and the duels were done. The sun was setting on a cold day for LionHeart and a bright one for his friend.

LionHeart sat in the bleachers with several bruises dotting his skin from the defeats. There was silence before the boy spoke up, "You okay? I swear I heard a bone breaking from one of your duels."

The injured boy looked up at his friend. Unlike him, Reginald was spotless, without a drop of sweat on his brow. "Yeah," LionHeart responded hoarsely, "The Healer stopped helping towards the end. She called it… 'A Historical Waste of Aether'."

With a sigh, LionHeart put his hand out and put his focus into the space before him. Through gritted teeth, he called, "Come forth, guardian!"

The air before him shimmered and sizzled, then went still, just like it had countless times before.

Reginald sighed. "Have you considered… quitting the Academy?"

"Never! REGGIE!" the boy growled.

His friend raised his hands and took a step away, "Easy, Lion. You and I both know having an A-class guardian means absolutely nothing if you can't summon it."

LionHeart stared at his friend with a firm expression. Reginald was right, but that did nothing to dull that relentless glint in his eye. The spotless boy sighed, "I've been invited into Squad Four. They aren't led by nobles but I think I can do something there. If you ever need me, you know where to find me. I'll visit you whenever I can, but Lion… Don't hesitate to ask me for help."

LionHeart nodded briefly, then whispered, "Congratulations, Reggie. I'll catch up to you… even if it kills me."

Reginald held the boy's hand, "I know you will. Catch up and challenge me again. I miss beating your relentless ass."

LionHeart chuckled at the retreating boy, "You wish!"

A lump of bile rose in his throat. How could two people start from completely different starting points in a world where they were appraised as equals? The realisation choked him. 'Just wait, Reggie. I'll make sure to wipe that smug look off your face.'

This was a lot easier said than done, though.

LionHeart couldn't summon his guardian despite the lion being fully awakened. And it remained that way for a long time. This created a problem for the boy.

It created a severe power gap.

The difference in power between him and the other cadets placed him at the very bottom of the food chain at the Elite Guardian Academy. The weakest of the cadets had a C-class guardian with the power to shoot wooden spikes from its tail, and LionHeart suddenly found himself weaker than that cadet.

To Alaric's surprise, he wasn't disheartened. The memories sped on. There were many times he saw the boy pause after being hit by his reality, but each time, LionHeart got back up.

He worked so hard, training so excessively that his body struggled to keep up. Without his guardian to protect him, he turned his attention to strengthening his body. He broke his bones, tore his muscles, vomited almost regularly and eventually became a regular visitor to the apothecary after he was banned from visiting the Academy Healer.

Still, he didn't give up.

That was until the memories slowed to a particular scene. The clouds were thick that day, and the air was cool. LionHeart had just collected his first win against a cadet with a B-class guardian that could spit acid, while the boy's Inborn Ability was to control metal.

LionHeart's opponent would have been powerful if it weren't for his overgrown ego. The fight had been comical to watch, but Alaric had witnessed the fruits of LionHeart's training, and they were satisfying, to say the least. It was even worth the celebratory steamed bun he'd bought and stashed away in the dormitory.

Still, Alaric couldn't bring himself to smile as he watched the boy traverse the halls of the esteemed Academy, heading for the top floor.

Finally, at the top, he knocked at a pair of large double doors."Come in." A stern voice beckoned.

Before he could place his hands on the doors, they moved on their own, swinging open to invite the boy in. LionHeart walked into a room with a ceiling so high anyone new would get vertigo just by looking up.

Tall, immaculate emerald pillars embedded into the walls of the room rose from the ground to the ceiling, leaving a large marble floor at the centre.

Seats lined the walls in ascending tiers that curved into a crescent of staircase-like seats—like a little amphitheatre, filled with distinguished individuals of Emerald City.

At the very front, an old man sat in a high chair, dressed in opulent enchanted robes.

The man spared the muscular lad a glance filled with detest before returning to the papers he had on his desk, peering through a pair of glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose. His voice was crisp and cold, "LionHeart, also dubbed the Failed Knight."

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The boy's heart sank, and he looked around. All around, the dignitaries spoke amongst themselves in snickers and chuckles. There were a few that spared the boy some looks of pity, but the arrow had struck its mark.

"No use stalling, I guess," the old man coughed, noticing the pale look on the boy's face, "LionHeart, in the six months that you've been here, you've participated in three demon hunts and fifteen rescues. In these events, you've been seen running, cowering, losing battles you had no business losing and even scrambling away at the sight of demons. Some reports even suggest that, at one point, you were… I'm sorry… swallowed by an Aether Beast."

LionHeart opened his mouth to speak… but then closed it. The aether beast that swallowed him had been a Brimstone Toad. What he didn't say was that their kind was reported to have weak spots inside them as well as pouches of Dark Ore that seeped into their bodies if not harvested quickly upon their death. Getting swallowed was considered the best way to extract the Dark Ore among adventurers.

They weren't going to listen to him, though. He could see the looks on their faces. They had already come to a decision.

Still, he didn't want to give up.

"I…" He opened his mouth to speak up, only to be silenced with the raise of a hand.

"Not only have you shown no results, wasted the Academy's resources and continued to make an utter fool of yourself and this academy, but you've not been able to summon your guardian consistently. When you have, it has proven to be far weaker than its appraised class and has even gone on to act against its master's interests."

LionHeart was panicking now, "I just need more time. I'm sure I can get…"

"Time is a luxury we don't have, unfortunately. We simply don't have the funds to take a chance on someone like you, no offence," the old man spoke up. "Furthermore, the Council has come to the agreement that your guardian is to be demoted from A-class to B-class, given your lacklustre abilities."

The boy gasped, the colour draining from his face, "Demoted!"

LionHeart had been appraised with an A-class guardian, making him a valuable asset to the Academy. He was treated like a gem, along with his friend Reginald. That was until his guardian refused to show.

Now, they were finally ready to get rid of him. That evening, as he planned to go home, a thought crossed his mind.

'Those Tower jerks are the ones who appraised me. They must know the reason my guardian's like this,' he thought to himself.

Two months later, the boy found himself at the doorstep of the Eastern Tower of Seekers, clothes tattered and his body malnourished. His six months of training had been reduced nearly to nothing, getting replaced with scars and bad memories of the journey to the Tower.

Fortunately for him, the Keepers of the Tower ordered that he get nursed back to health, then offered him the position of a Seeker, which he turned down without a second thought.

'Not after everything I've been put through because of that phoney appraisal,' he'd cursed.

Not fazed by his rejection, the Tower offered him a new position, so he became a protector. It didn't take a day for him to realise what a fool he'd been to turn down the initial offer. Still, he came to accept the situation for what it was.

He resumed his training, and his new life began.

Unlike the Elite Guardian Academy, the Tower of Seekers was a much more 'considerable' organisation. One in which he was ready to learn and strive to be the best version of himself.

This was where he met Gunther and made several other friends. His guardian eventually started responding to his summoning, eventually stabilising and even becoming somewhat reliable, although still never rising to the power of the A-class guardian he was once appraised.

Along the way, the boy accepted his guardian to be B-class—a slightly above average winged lion without a single ability. Perhaps the lion's ability was to fly. It had incredible strength and agility, though.

Despite the sudden docile nature of his guardian though, LionHeart refused to depend on him. Their synergy was the worst, and there were times when they didn't agree at all.

Still, the added power of his guardian was more than enough to earn him respect among his fellow protectors. When he started pursuing combat magic, he became even more powerful.

The memories didn't end there, though. Going forward, Alaric managed to see an interesting take on Aslan's point of view.

Aslan, once crowned the King of Lions, found himself bound to a scrawny boy who was lacking in everything one could call strength. The boy was wimpy, weak, unreasonably jolly and severely lacking in ambition.

If there was anything the boy had going for him, it was an unmatched sense of hope for the future. Even then, the lion was not happy with him.

Of what use was hope that thrived on weakness?

For a long time, the lion simply turned a blind eye to his master. He chose to only emerge when LionHeart was in true danger and ignored the boy's commands, requests or pleas.

He did as he pleased, at some point even going as far as to maim a couple of cadets who'd thought bullying LionHeart was a good way to show off to their friends. This spectacle only bred more trouble for the boy, though.

As time flew by, LionHeart shunned the lion in return, choosing to cultivate his own strength. At first, it was funny for the lion to watch. From his first pathetic attempt at standing up to a demon to getting swallowed by some frog.

But as the boy kept at it, he grew stronger. The boy grew twice his size in a short time and learnt how to wield a sword. Only after LionHeart started showing some promise did the once King of Lions truly acknowledge his efforts.

The memories once again slowed down to a scene of LionHeart standing on a balcony at the Tower of Seekers. He was admiring the view of the city below and the majesty of the Barren Mountains, proud of how far he'd come since his termination from the Elite Guardian Academy.

He wasn't the strongest Protector at the Tower, but his skills were nothing to scoff at either. Everything was right with his life until the air next to him rippled, letting out a large golden lion with wings. The lion shook its mane and in a deep, powerful voice, it echoed words into his head, "Child, it's time we got to know each other."

The man stared at the lion for a bit, then scoffed, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Don't play dumb with me…"

"Oh, I'm playing dumb? You could talk this whole time!" The man yelled, "You know what? I don't have time for this. You go back to wherever it is you come from. You go back to staying quiet and doing as you wish and leave me alone."

"No," the lion's voice boomed.

"Exactly! Do as you please. I don't care," the man yelled as he turned for the door. Before he could reach it, however, the lion barred his way.

"Listen to what I have to say first, brat," the lion growled.

Despite his intimidating stature, sharp fangs and powerful paws, LionHeart leaned in so he looked the beast in the eyes, "No, you listen. You don't get to boss me around. You left me to suffer for years, and now that my life's turning around, you're interested. I think your ears are stuffed, so I'll say this slowly. 'Leave. Me. Alone."

The lion leaned in close so their foreheads touched, then closed its golden eyes and sighed deeply, "I am sorry, LionHeart."

The worst part about all this, at least for LionHeart, was that he could feel the beast's emotions. He felt the sorrow, the pain, the wounded pride, the shame, the confusion. All of it roared inside the guardian's heart like a thunderous hurricane, spilling into his own like a broken dam.

Words couldn't describe what was said in the silence between them. Just that Alaric understood this feeling well. The bond between guardians and masters ran incredibly deep.

It was against their nature to shun each other, so he understood their pain.

As Alaric watched, the lion's voice whispered into his mind, "LionHeart was never the weaker one of the two of us."

"…I was."