Odyssey of the Guardian Emperor

The Emerlin Gateway, a great magical device powered by aether flowing from an incredibly large aether crystal embedded into the most crucial part of a giant, opulent archway. Adorned in gold and silver accents circulating into a grand tapestry of runes, the archway stood at the pinnacle of human ingenuity, boasting one of the most advanced magical circuits ever developed.

Aside from that, the archway could have easily weighed a few tonnes, towering at least five metres into the air. The entire compound on which the Gateway was housed floated high above the ground on the south side of the Emerald City, overlooking a scattered line of merchants and pilgrims seeking to cross vast distances in the mere blink of an eye. Without this Gateway, some journeys became too harrowing to consider.

The further the distance, the more expensive the fee. One of its limitations, however, was that it could only take one as far as another Gateway or to a designated endpoint. Endpoints were cheaper to construct but could only be used in one direction, unlike gateways.

Build all around the gateway, at the edge of the compound, a circle of pillars like this spread out beautifully, seeming to hold up nothing particular. Finn found himself standing by one such pillar that was similarly adorned in the golden accents covering the archway. Silently, he waited for his travel partner and tried his best to look casual and harmless.

With this many people coming in and out of the Gateway, it was easy to take him for someone waiting for a comrade or family member.

'Where is that Brett? He's always so late!' the boy fidgeted, pulling the scarf around him even closer. The thick clouds and cold winds didn't make waiting for Brett any easier. The longer Finn stayed exposed like this, the more anxious he got.

One moment he was looking around, and the next, his eyes went wide and turned to the ground. A particularly loud group of boys wearing the green colours of the Elite Guardian Academy were walking past, chatting amongst themselves and laughing loudly. Their voices sent shivers down Finn's spine, 'That's it. Just move along,' he thought to himself.

Their voices came and went, going dimmer along with Finn's heartbeat, before one of them said, "Hey, isn't that Finn?"

'Damn it.' The boy cursed inwardly.

"What? You mean Finn, the Sword Dancer?" another quipped.

A chorus of laughter erupted amongst them as they broke out of the sparse line to meet Finn at the pillar. Finn looked up and saw their faces, but remembered no name. There were too many groups like them in the Academy. Clicks that set themselves on some kind of hierarchy just so they knew who they could pick on. Unfortunately, Finn found himself at the bottom of the barrel.

"More like Finn the Bondless," another joked.

"Don't you have better things to do?" Finn asked the group. He could count five of them. Perfect for the dance of the serpent. If they summoned their guardians, then that could become a problem. Power meant everything in the Emerald City. 'Would be nice for Brett to show up right about now,' he thought to himself.

"Look at that! The Bondless one's got spunk," one of them yelled out, clearly ticked off by Finn's words, "After how many times I've pommeled him into the ground, it looks like he still wants more."

Finn was only barely listening, though. At Level Three of the Glass Rank, he really was just another average fighter. Without an active guardian, he was less than average. Almost human, actually. He activated Spirit Sight and watched all five boys turn to faint shades of white. They were all higher than him… but not that much higher.

Finn estimated about one to three levels higher.

"He must think we can't beat him up or something," another growled as he closed the distance, going right up into Finn's face, "Tell me, Bondless! What gives you the delusion of thinking you stand up to us? There are five of us… and only one of you."

Finn remained silent but kept his gaze.

The boy tilted his face with glee, "What? You're going to turn me into gold… or perhaps silver. Oh, that's right! You can't use that useless ability of yours on living things. What a shame!"

Finn chuckled in the boy's face, "The only idiot I see here is you for getting too close."

"What's that?" the boy growled dangerously.

"Ever thought to wear clothes made of water, dimwit?"

"You're the dimwit, half-brain! Those don't exist," the boy responded, then frowned, "Do they?"

Finn leaned in to whisper something in the boy's ear, "Of course they don't. If your clothes magically turned into water, they'd flow right off your body. I'd hate to show the world what lies beneath all that boasting."

The boy jumped back just as Finn's hands touched the armour on his chest. He was just in time to. Deep, wet grooves forming a palm print stayed permanently embedded in the steel. Finn wiped his hand off his pants and grinned.

Enraged, the boy summoned a ball of flames only for it to get snuffed out as soon as it roared to life. The silence that followed was so sudden, even the cold wind was loud.

"Such noise!" a bored voice cut through the tense silence.

The boys turned to see an older man standing behind them. The man was dressed in casual tunics, appearing normal with his long hair tied back and laid back expression, yet none of them approached. It was hard to see at first glance but the width of the man's shoulders gave his physique away.

Hiding beneath his loose tunics was a dangerous fighter. This man was the reason the fireball had been snuffed out. He was the reason the air suddenly felt oppressive. Even an idiot could tell he was not to be messed with.

The apparent leader of the group gave Finn one last one over before walking past him, "Let's go, guys."

Finn leaned back against his pillar and sighed. He had already gone through five different ways to deal with the boys, all ending in failure, but aiming to deal plenty of damage. He was strong for his rank, but even he wasn't delusional enough to think he could beat five boys all ranked higher than himself.

When the boys had descended the stairs and vanished from view, Finn addressed the older man, "I was handling that."

The man shook his head, "I've seen you with far too many bruises to believe such a thing, sir."

"Don't use formalities in public," Finn rubbed the back of his head.

"That would be an insult to you. After all, our auction house would not be as successful as it is now without your unique transmutation ability. I believe your pills have also come a long way," the man nodded with satisfaction.

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Finn's eyes widened. "You got buyers?"

"Made a whopping five thousand goals from your previous brand of hand-made goods. Got good feedback too. At this rate, you'll soon qualify for an entrance test into the Pill Faction," the man told him.

Finn frowned at the man's choice of words. He had heard words like these before. Words of encouragement and hope.

Noticing his sour mood, the man raised his hands, "Apologies for making you feel bad. I just call it like I see it. Seriously, who broke you?"

"That's none of your business," Finn growled.

"I know," the man shrugged, "In any case, who are you waiting for? It's not like you to come to the Gateway."

"He's waiting on me," Brett suddenly appeared behind the man, who didn't even flinch.

Bored, the man cast a gaze back at the dark-skinned boy. Sparks flew between them before Brett took a step back to reassess the situation, "And who might you be?"

"Brett. Squad Four," the boy answered, "Are you picking on my boy?"

"I just saved him from a squadron of barbarians. I advise being less tardy next time. I hate seeing him wounded," the man growled at Brett before turning away to leave. "Drop by the Auction house later, Master Finn."

There was a short moment of silence as Brett tried to understand what had just happened. "Master Finn?"

"It's a long story," Finn replied, "Can we get going now?"

Brett looked between Finn and the man, trying to understand when it was that these two could have ever crossed paths, "In what world are you friends with… with HIM? Isn't that the patron of the Auction House?"

"So you do know him."

"EVERYONE KNOWS HIM," Brett cried, "It took me some time before he mentioned the auction house, but…"

Finn then cut him off, "You know my Inborn Ability is transmutation. An auction house is one of the best places for me to work. I work there when I can find the time."

Brett blinked, then ran a hand through his hair. "Now I feel bad for dragging you out to Melbourne."

"Brett!" Finn groaned, "Hold my hand while we cross through the Gateway."

"What? You're scared," Finn stared at him with a plain face, too exhausted for words. "Okay, okay! You don't have to be mean about it. Sheesh!" the boy gave in, following behind Finn as they accessed the Gateway.

On the other side, they strolled into a bright room. A smaller version of the Gateway at the Emerald City stood raised on a white dais inside an isolated room with no windows and only one large door.

At the bottom of the stairs, a man dressed in white armour and a white cloak was gently nodding off with his spear balancing his half-asleep body. Aside from this one sleepy guard, the room was silent.

"This is the Gateway of the Tower?" Brett mused, "Why is it hidden?"

"It's a private Gateway," the boy responded calmly. "Only members of the Tower can use it."

It didn't take long for Brett to realise why he'd been asked to hold hands as they walked through. Without Finn, there was no way of crossing to the Tower of Seekers. Finn was more than just a tag-along for this trip.

"That's why Darla gave you the money and not me," Brett responded.

Finn scoffed, "If that's the way you saw it, that's fine."

The sound of an unceremonious crash interrupted the conversation as the guard had finally lost his balance and fallen on his face. The protector stood up with his cape over his head, spear waving in all directions, "Who goes there? I have an enchanted spear and I'm not afraid to use it."

"The name's Finn. I'm a Seeker at the Elite Guardian Academy," Finn answered.

The protector fought with his cape until he could see again, "Wait! As in Finn, the friend of the Keeper-Candidate Alaric?"

"That very one," Finn groaned.

The man's eyes went wide like saucers, "Woah! I'm a big fan of you guys. You swooped in and turned the tower upside down. When you see him again, send him my thanks."

"Thanks… for what?" Finn raised an eyebrow.

"For ending the bottlenecks, obviously! Haven't you heard? All the protectors have suddenly overcome their bottlenecks. It happened after Alaric paid us a visit a few days ago. Everyone's saying it's because of being in the presence of his S-class guardian," the man added.

"Right!" Finn allowed a smile to grace his face, "Actually, I must be going. Can you point me in the direction of Melbourne?"

"Oh, right! You're busy. Don't mind me. Melbourne's west of here. Go west," the man answered eagerly.

…………………………

Finn and Brett made it to the City of Melbourne a few hours later. The line into the Merchant city, surrounded by a wall of sharp wooden logs, had a short line at its entrance.

"Ever wonder how they got so many logs of the same shape, height and size to line that wall around the whole city?" Brett scratched his chin.

Finn shrugged, "Could have been a guardian's ability. Not so hard in a world like ours."

Unsurprisingly, Brett had more such small things to say about their environment. The purity of the air, the tense mood that was quite the bummer, the lack of a domain and how free it felt, the suspicious nature of the Barren Mountains, the implications of the word 'merchant' in Merchant City. It all worked to wear down Finn's vitality.

The pair, having changed out of their Academy's green colours, approached the entrance with normal names and backgrounds. "Name and Origin."

"Finn and Brett. We've come here from Emerlin," Brett spoke.

"Oh, the Emerald City? And how does that work?" the guard looked up with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Beauty is a frail and feeble concept," Brett answered with a smug look.

The guard was about to comment, then he paused and turned to his friend, "Bring the green roster."

"The dusty one?"

"Yes, that one."

A thick roll of parchment wrapped in green leather was brought and unrolled for the two men to peer through, going over the information line by line. After a few minutes, the man's eyebrows eased up, "Ah, Brett… you're here alright. Think you can solve our Red Cloaks problem?"

Brett shrugged, "That's what I'm here to find out."

The guards nodded, "We'll be more than happy to assist you with anything you need. The bastards have made our lives unbearable. So we welcome any form of help."

Just like that, the pair was allowed into the City of Melbourne. Brett branched into the small office of the city guards first, "First order of business is to get all the information I can from these men. They'll know everyone who's come and gone as well as the common rumours that surface from merchants and citizens."