Odyssey of the Guardian Emperor

Taking advantage of the opening she'd created, the copper-haired girl lashed out, her knife travelling with purpose. She went for his legs, only to strike the flat of the indomitable greatsword. At this point, the man's stellar defence didn't surprise her.

Unfazed, her frame blurred from sight, attacking from the other side. To the untrained eye, she could have come from nowhere, but LionHeart was anything but untrained. The big man stumbled back, still overcoming the imbalance caused by Scarlett's little distraction, his sword already travelling for a counter. His hazel eyes moved casually, following the copper-haired blur without a hint of desperation.

Their wooden blades, enchanted to handle the herculean strength of Wood Ranks, met and sparked from the collision, surprising Scarlett. The man was off-balance, yet he was still keeping up with her movements. A small smile bloomed on her face.

She parried the heavy blade and rammed it into the ground, then pushed forward into the opening. LionHeart let go of the greatsword and stepped back, just in time to watch the tip of the girl's blade skim past his chin.

The big man held his hands out in a strategic form, switching to the defensive. Big as he was, he was quick on his feet, and he'd need all that agility to survive her onslaught. The battle turned uglier as gusts of wind shot off every missed attack.

The pair danced in a chaotic flurry of one-sided attacks, with the large man always surviving Scarlett's whirlwind of attacks by a hair. He weaved in and out of her reach, pushing her hands off course when he found leverage and exercising agility when there was no option, all in a struggle to avoid being gutted by the wooden knife.

At this point, the fight only kept going because of the difference in Temper Rank and slightly because of skill. LionHeart was more powerful and more skilled in the Dance of the Sword, and that gave him the edge over Scarlett's formless style laced with murderous intent.

Still, something told him the girl wasn't done yet.

Amidst the flurry of attacks, she sent her last knife flying, aiming for LionHeart's face. The man caught it with a smirk, but by then, she'd dropped to the ground with a round kick to his knees.

The ground quaked and a gust of wind blew outward, but his knees barely budged as the Dance of the Sentinel was primed on standing tall and firm.

Alaric knew this, and so did Scarlett. The boy smiled, 'Nice.'

Before LionHeart could send a snarky remark her way, Scarlett dived shoulder-first into his torso. A shockwave shook the backyard as the pair went flying into the air. They rolled to a stop several paces away with Scarlett on top of the man, her blade to his neck. She was panting heavily, but this marked the end of the duel, and it had ended in her favour.

LionHeart raised his hands in surrender, regarding the blade with a baffled gaze, "When did you pick up your second knife?"

"When you thought you were doing a good job of evading my attacks," Scarlett smirked.

"Smart!" the man nodded approvingly, "There's hope for you yet. Now, are we going to skip to the part where you confess your feelings for me and…"

"Ugh! Keep dreaming, big man!" Scarlett groaned, getting off the man to return to the house. As soon as she turned for the door, she froze. There, seated on the stairs watching the two of them sparring were three boys, but only one made her freeze, while the others faded into the porch, "Alaric!"

"Scarlett. It's good to see…" Alaric had just stood up when the girl attacked him with a hug. It took everything for him to stay standing upright. "Careful," he coughed.

"You had me worried sick! Who told you to sleep for a whole week, you dummy?" the girl berated him. Alaric, ignoring her sweaty body, hugged her back. "All that time, we thought you were going to die? Do you know how expensive it is to sustain an unconscious body that's not undergoing a Tempering Ritual?"

"How else would I have known you cared for me so much?" Alaric smirked.

She pulled out of their embrace and smacked him playfully on the head, "You're such a fool! I want my money back."

Alaric chuckled, "Nothing a few quests can't fix. I see you finally beat LionHeart."

"Bah! He went easy on me. Not to mention, I suck at Aether Manipulation. No matter how hard I try to increase my speed, he can keep up with me," the girl responded. "Have you figured out where we are going next? I know you've just woken up, but I get the feeling we're leaving Melbourne soon."

"You're coming?" Alaric's eyes shone.

"Obviously! You're not getting rid of me that easily," the girl gasped, "Where else will I find a boy who can ask Aether Beasts to hand over the goods normal adventurers fight for?"

"You see. I knew it had to do with the money," Alaric beamed like a researching Seeker during a eureka moment. "Hopefully, the next Aether Beasts we meet are as kind as the High Sentinel. As you said, though, I have just woken up. There are too many options to consider. We might even have to pay the Tower of Seekers a visit first before deciding on where to go from there. Though I doubt you've all been idle for a week. Is there something I need to know?"

LionHeart came up to them, wiping his face with a towel, "As a matter of fact, yes. There is a lot to discuss. Let's convene in the Tempering Chamber in an hour."

Alaric ignored the big man's words and engulfed, or rather tried to engulf, the man in a bear hug. Tall as he might have grown, he still looked small compared to the large protector, "I might have been asleep for a week, but I felt the passage of time."

The big man gently ruffled Alaric's dark hair, "I missed you, too, kiddo. We'll talk about how long you're allowed to sleep after a big fight later. For now, let me go bathe, and we'll meet in the Tempering Chamber."

"Okay." The sweaty pair left to freshen up, leaving Alaric with Finn and Brett.

Finn's eyes remained pinned to the door Scarlett went through a second longer than normal, "I didn't realise how close you were to that girl. I mean, I saw how worried she was about you, but…" he trailed off, staring Alaric down for an explanation.

"We've had our share of adventures," Alaric answered dismissively, "I think now's as good a time as any to see what's up with your guardian."

Finn perked up, "Really? You don't want to go to the Tempering Chamber first."

"No, here is fine," Alaric replied. "Alia… how do I go about this exactly?"

The shadows on the back porch bubbled, admitting a black knight who took a seat on the stairs, right beside a startled Brett, "Try to summon Finn's guardian."

Alaric's mouth dropped. In what world was it casual to ask anyone to summon a guardian who wasn't their own? 'The nerve on this woman! I don't even know if I consider calling on her 'summoning' and she wants me to summon someone else's guardian!'

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You want my help or not?"

"Of course I want it! Sheesh!" Alaric threw his hands up and turned back to Finn. He held his hand out like he was about to conjure a magical portal, pointing his palm at Finn. This was something he'd seen LionHeart doing in Aslan's memories. The knight saw this and rubbed her temples silently.

Alaric, on the other hand, was dead serious. "Guardian, come forth!"

Finn furrowed his eyebrows at his friend, then turned to Alia, "Has he ever summoned you like this?"

"Quiet. I'm trying to concentrate," Alaric squealed, "Guardian, I command you. Emerge."

"You look like you're about to take a…"

Before Finn could finish his sentence, aether blasted his back like water from a broken dam. The air behind him began to ripple and twist, shattering a moment later like glass. The aether in the area roared in response to the violent attack on space.

This was a rift unlike anything Alaric had ever seen when summoning a guardian, like the world had been pried open by force. He couldn't tell if it scared him more than the fact that he'd just called out a guardian who didn't belong to him.

Perhaps that was why space was so violated. From the chaotic ripple, something emerged, dropping to the floor a moment later, malformed and unnatural. The aether coming off it pulsed in waves, sending chilling waves through the bodies of all who felt it.

The guardian, or whatever it was that had crawled out of the rift, looked like two creatures mashed together by a god's indecision. On one side, a female head and torso emerged. Her blue skin, pale and frozen, was covered at the chest by a glossy film of metal constantly shifting like armour made of living metal. The female guardian had four arms and a sceptre.

Where the torso should have emerged from this vague chimera, however, something else took root. The guardian's skin turned dry and scaly, forming a weathered pair of rocky legs.

The rocky behemoth, however, stood with an almost complete body, bearing a vaguely humanoid face with flames burning in its mouth and horns curling around its face. It looked as though the female guardian was sprouting from the torso of the male in a way that looked excruciating.

"A Job Clash," Alia stood, her voice shocked yet mysterious, "Those are rare indeed."

"I've heard that word before," Finn spoke out, "What does it mean?"

"It means your guardian got stuck in the middle of an evolution and failed to pick a proper ability… or appearance, for that matter. It's rare, but it happens before the Awakening of a guardian, much like what you saw back at the Coming of Age Ceremony," Alia explained, "If Aiden was confused about what he wanted, then this would have been the result."

"Confused?" Finn wondered, "You mean to say I'm confused. About what?"

"About what it is you would like to do, Finn," Alia explained, "Tell him, Alaric."

No sound came to her rescue. She turned to Alaric, but stopped when she saw him going around the messed-up guardian in deep thought, "One of these guardians is blessed by Banethra: The Constellation of Guardians, while the other… The other is a derivative of Mechanum: Creativity and Innovation. Finn, you have two Inborn Abilities, don't you?"

Nursing a building headache, Brett struggled to keep up with what he was looking at. Guardians could evolve? And General Aiden had achieved that same thing, apparently. Two Inborn abilities? It was unheard of for someone to have two Inborn Abilities. In what dimension did such a thing happen? The rule was that everyone got just one.

Finn bent down and picked a rock, then, with everyone watching, the rock crumbled into pieces. "I rarely use it. The ability to destroy anything I touch. Since I've never been one for destruction, I stuck to the other one: Transmutation. They are similar, but where one excels at destruction, the other excels at creation. "

Again, with everyone watching, the dust shimmered and swirled, condensing into a single spot where a pebble of grey rock remained shimmering with metallic dust inside it. It was a piece of iron ore. "The rarer the item, the harder it is to make, but I can basically turn one thing into another with Transmutation."

Brett walked up to Finn and gripped his shoulders. "Do you know how many demons you can kill with your destruction ability?"

"I know," the sandy-haired boy pressed his lips into a thin line, "And I've tried, but every time I embrace the power of destruction, Transmutation grows weaker, and I don't want that."

"The Transmutation power must belong to the blue guardian. That's why the Job Clash persisted this long. You kept the weaker side alive," Alia surmised. "This is a mess. You must pick a guardian. There is only one person on this continent who can hold more than one guardian, and that person isn't you."

"I want to help Alaric. I want to help the way Aidan, Brett, and Darla can," Finn countered.

"Aidan, Brett and Darla are not the ones who helped the Matriarch manifest a domain," Alaric answered, "You can't solve all your problems by hitting them. That's why the Tower of Seekers is powerful. That's why the Matriarch is powerful. That's why this Merchant City thrived for that many years. There are things only you can do."

"You want to become an Alchemist, don't you?" Brett chipped in, finally catching up to the general flow of the conversation, "Your transmutation ability puts you ahead of several alchemists. I heard from a few squadmates one time that Transmutation elixirs can be used to cure poisons and purify water. They are essential in the homes of the Noble Houses. Rich people can't do without them. The Clover House knows this, don't they? They know about your ability. That's how you were able to make the money and stock up on all those supplies."

"I didn't have much of anywhere to go when the White Faction threw me out at the Academy. Darla couldn't always protect me with all the opportunities thrown her way and the leads she had to chase down, so I needed a way to survive on my own. I discovered my Inborn Ability and decided to put it to work. Although I might have overdone it that first time.

When I turned up at the Auction House with ten kilograms of copper and a bad case of Aether Depletion, they got curious and asked the right questions. Before I knew it, they offered to take me in and even started paying an Alchemist to give me lessons."

"That's a lot to take on by yourself. Adding that to all your tasks as a cadet!" Brett sighed, "I'm surprised you even made it to the third Level of the Glass Rank."

"I… actually came to the Academy at that level," Finn corrected.

Brett did a double-take, his eyes briefly growing to the size of grapes. He let out a long breath and put his hands on his waist. "You bastards from the Five Hills seem to think it's normal to change the way things are done."

"You should visit Troy. You too would get along," Alaric called out while staring at Finn's mess of a guardian. Approaching the armoured side, he lightly touched the guardian's head before whisking his hand away like a whip, wincing through gritted teeth, "Son of a melted piece of iron… Nghhhh."

"Don't rush or do anything stupid. This won't be easy," Alia warned, "Both guardians are tied to him, and both guardians would love to serve you through him."

"Can't I do it without touching them?" Alaric asked through clenched teeth, "Touching these guys is like touching Old Thomper."

The pain pulsed from his head to his hand as though boiling water had just been thrown into his muscles. His skin was cool, but everything inside burned like it had been mangled. It was enough to make him think twice about all this.

"Steel yourself. You don't want Finn to stay like this forever, do you? You know he loves Alchemy despite his loyalty to you," the guardian answered with a smirk.

"Wait, all of this nonsense is because I have dreams of becoming an Alchemist?" Finn scoffed.

"And because you want to help Alaric beat the Demon King. You're only human, Finn," the knight put a hand over his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze, "You just happen to be a human associated with Alaric."

Alaric stared at the guardians, ignoring the conversation happening behind him. Why did he have to rip one guardian out, and why did he have to touch the guardian he was trying to rip out for him to achieve this goal? There was no win-win situation here.

Alaric knew Finn well, and the boy wasn't conflicted. He might have felt obligated to help Alaric fight the war against the demons, but that didn't have to affect his dreams of becoming an Alchemist. This felt so much like an unnecessary dilemma.

So what if Finn wanted to be a fighter and an alchemist? It made no sense for him to have to lose one of the two. Alaric thought of a situation where both guardians co-existed. Was that so hard?

Alia's head snapped in Alaric's direction when she sensed his train of thought, "Alaric, what do you think you're doing?"

Rather than respond to the guardian, the boy put one hand on the blue female guardian's head and another on the male guardian's head. The power of the two guardians flowed into him and knocked him unconscious instantly.

Alia arrived in time to catch the boy falling to the ground. The chaotic rift behind them came to life again and sucked the half-merged guardians back in. The black knight gave the boy's body a shake, "Alaric, wake up."

Finn rushed to the pair and got down to feel his pulse. "What happened?"

"This idiot was trying to merge the two guardians. A stupid idea he had no business trying. Not even the previous Guardian Emperor attempted this," the guardian explained hysterically, "Kair'ak!" she called out.

Finn's blood went cold, "Right… Alaric's the Guardian Emperor." The thought rang in his head like a gong on repeat.

A woman with white and golden hair burst out of the door and was with them in a second, her hands casting a green glow over the boy's body. "What happened?"

Brett, the only one of them who could speak coherently, went over what had happened while Kair'ak checked Alaric's vital signs with magic. A few moments later, however, she sighed, "He's fine for now. Get an Alchemist here and tell them to bring all the Bases and elixirs necessary for a Wood Rank. Whatever's happening to him is very similar to what happens during a Tempering Ritual."

……………