“Finally, I have caught you, you brat”. A husky voice spoke while the arm tightly held the throat almost to the point of choking Azalon. The initial burst of panic Azalon felt melted right away when he heard that voice. The owner of the voice was the only person who loved Azalon the same way as his grandfather. His Big Brother, Hank Wheld. But right now…

“Big… Bro... ther… I can’t breathe…” Azalon managed to gasp as the oxygen was cut out from his lungs under the steel grip of his brother.

“Ahh, Oh, Oops. Hahaha” with an embarrassed laugh that hand let go of his throat and Azalon took in large gulps of air. “Sorry, I was happy to see you and I didn’t think to hold back, he he…”

Azalon turned around to see a tall and lean young man standing scratching his head while laughing sheepishly. He was around 17 - 18 years of age, 6 feet of height with a wiry physique. The fiery red hair curled around his shoulders while those half lidded eyes brimmed with love as he watched Azalon. Both the brothers bumped their fists together before laughing loudly.

Hank Wheld was originally an orphan that his grandfather Eren Wheld brought back when he went to visit a neighbouring city. It was before Azalon was born and Hank treated Azalon like a brother which was reciprocated by Azalon.

These two brothers were a team that rampage through the city making mischief everywhere they went. They brought endless headaches to their grandfather but the family never took any severe actions against them. The reason? Because Hank Wheld was a prodigy when it came to cultivation. He broke through the cultivation levels like they are paper walls and quickly reached the Spirit Condensation Realm when he was just 15 years old! Eren Wheld once said to Azalon that this speed in cultivation was only seen the second time in the history of the Wheld family! Who was the first? Azalon never got the answer for that question and he assumed that it would be an ancestor or some old generation guy…

At the same time, Azalon was a rising genius who showed an awful lot of promise when he reached the peak of the Spirit Novice Realm in 8 months, a feat even his genius big brother never managed to reach. It was at that time that his Awakening failed and his Petrified Spirit was made known to the family. But the two brothers were as close as before and the status of their positions in the family didn’t affect the bond between them. His big brother was the second person Azalon truly loved and cared for.

Later on, Hank was admitted into an academy, and this is the first time he returned after a gap of almost 2 years.

“Brother, come inside. Let’s talk in my room.” Azalon was truly happy and he ushered his brother into his room before following him. His brother laid down on the bed while Azalon took up a chair facing his brother.

“So, how is the Academy, Hank? And more importantly what stage is your cultivation at?” Azalon asked with some excitement.

“Ha-ha… the Academy is great. You should see the environment over there, Az. Even after 2 years of my stay, I never managed to get used to the resources provided there. High quality Spiritual Medicines, Energy Congregation Arrays, Martial techniques, and more importantly the guidance provided by the instructors… it’s simply a paradise for the cultivators! Geniuses are as common as grass over there, and the competition between them is simply intense. Every one strives to prove their worth to the Academy and rise to the position of Core Disciples. I managed to reach the 4th Level of the Spirit Condensation Realm. But this level is simply at the mediocre level when compared to the true geniuses in the Academy. ” Hank kept on talking about the experiences he had during the 2 year stay at his Academy. And Azalon listened with interest as this was the news from outside the city which he always dreamed to roam.

Suddenly Hank sighed and turned his head to look at the young face of his younger brother. Hah… “So, what about you, Az? What happened when I was not here? Do you still visit Uncle Chad? And how is Nina? Let’s go tomorrow. I missed that little fire cracker who used to always chase after you.” Hank managed to cover up his expression in time before asking Azalon with a light laugh.

“Mmm… Nina is good and I too plan to visit her tomorrow. She will be surprised to see you and hopefully not angry. You know how she behaves, right. Get ready for some beatings from her.” Azalon laughed as he imagined that energetic girl pounding her small fists on the head of Hank.

“She didn’t change a bit, huh. May be I should get some candy to pacify her…” Hank smiled faintly.

“Ah, Hank. By the way, why did you come home this early? You said that it will take around 8 years before you graduate and the Academy doesn’t allow any breaks for the students. What happened?” Azalon asked with a puzzling face.

“Oh, I came here on Academy’s business, Az. It should be announced tomorrow.” Hank stopped for a moment in his speech before continuing in a low voice. “I shouldn’t talk about it but who cares. The 7 Great Academies of the continent including my own are starting a campaign to recruit a new batch of students, as you all know about it. But for some reasons, the campaign was scheduled to an earlier date. That is the reason why we were dispatched, to bring the announcement to all the cities of the Empire.”

“7 Great Academies? Hank, you are saying that all the Great Academies are conducting their campaigns at the same time? But how is it possible? They are considered to be rivals to each other! How the hell did they manage to conduct a common campaign?” Azalon asked with a disbelieving tone.

“Humph… who knows how they came into agreement. But there is a talk out there that the Alliance is somehow responsible for this campaign and even though the Academies are powerful and influential, they are not enough to against the Alliance.” Hank snorted as he responded non-chalantly.

Azalon went silent as he pondered over the words of his brother. He thought for a while before asking probingly.

“Do you know about the conditions set for the applicants, Hank?”

“Hmmm? Ah, there are 2 conditions for the initial stage. The applicants should be below and 15 years and above 8 years of age. They should have reached the 4th Level of the Spirit Sense Realm and higher the better chances of admission. The next stages are not announced yet, but I think it should be related to each of the individual Academies. Then the final screening based on some ranking method as decided by the Academy. Why the sudden interest, Az? You know that you can’t apply.” Hank’s tone softened as he knew that this younger brother of his was depressed on the matter of his Petrified Spirit.

But contrary to the gloomy expression expected by Hank, Azalon’s eyes were filled with excitement and a sly grin made that young face look like a bad uncle.

“You will not believe me if I told you, Hank. But just close your eyes for a moment. I have a nice surprise for you!” Azalon responded with trying to project a mysterious air but that exited face made it fail.

“What are you up to? But… alright.” Hank closed his eyes but his other senses closely monitored every movement of his brother. He sensed Azalon reach into his clothes and take out what looked like a small cat. Before he could feel puzzled by this, Azalon’s voice reached his ears.

“Open your eyes, Hank. I know you were using your senses to see what I was doing. To think that I actually forgot that senses are not limited to a Cultivator.” Azalon spoke with a scolding voice.

Hank opened his eyes and looked at the grey tiger cub Azalon held in his hands. Even though he was intelligent, he couldn’t guess the fact that this cub could be the Spirit Beast of his brother. Thus, the next words of Azalon took him by surprise.

“This is my Spirit, Hank. I am at the 3rd Level of the Spirit Sense Realm.” Azalon spoke with a gloating look on his face but he too was surprised at the reaction of his brother.

“WHHAATT??? Az… Az… your Spirit? 3rd Level? You are really at the 3rd Level?” Hank instantly jumped up from the bed before shouting loudly. Only now did he use his Spiritual Sense to inspect Azalon. And sure enough, he could feel the cultivation level of the 3rd Level Spirit Sense Realm from his brother. Hank’s mind immediately went into overdrive as waves of emotion and tons of questions overwhelmed his tranquil heart.

Azalon watched amused at the play of expression on Hank’s face. Surprise… disbelief… excitement… and finally a relieved and happy expression cleared out all the previous ones and once again the strong arms of his brother enveloped Azalon.

Hank’s body trembled lightly as he hugged his younger brother, but he was truly happy as from now on his brother can once again soar into the skies. He didn’t care what happened or how it happened. He had confidence in his brother’s character that even though Azalon was somewhat dismissive of the common ethics and morals of the society, he wouldn’t stoop low enough to allow something dark to rule over him. The brothers separated from their hug and Hank immediately bombarded Azalon with a barrage of questions.

“I can’t tell you the details, Hank. But this is really my Spirit. And it has been only about a month and half since my Spirit Awakened. That is the reason why I was asking about the Academies. I want to join one, Hank. I want to see the wide world out there. That was our dream. And I now have the chance to achieve it beside you.” Azalon held up his hand to stop his brother as he spoke with a low but firm voice.

Hank also reigned in his emotions and he calmed down after some deep breaths. He knew that whatever happened was something miraculous and he was happy that it happened to his brother. Besides that, he didn’t care about anything else! But…

“Wait a moment! You said that your Spirit has only Awakened a month ago? And you already reached the 3rd Level Sprit Sense Realm? Az, that shouldn’t be possible. Even though I have seen some prodigies advance faster than that, it was with the help of countless Spirit pills and various herbs! I know that our family can’t afford them. Did you advance to the next level without stabilising your cultivation?” Immediately Hank panicked as he asked Azalon. Generally cultivators will stay at a Level for some period of time to stabilise their cultivation. If not they will face problems in the future due to the shaky foundations laid out in the beginning. Hank was panicking because of this. He was concerned that Azalon had been impatient to advance in the ranks and didn’t take time to stabilise his cultivation.

If that happened, the future potential of his brother will be damaged! Once that happened, even with priceless medicines and herbs, he may not advance after a certain level!

“Ha-ha… you don’t have to worry, Hank. I know all about that. The reason why I was so fast in my cultivation is

another thing.” Azalon really wanted to tell that he had achieved his current level in only 10 days, but he didn’t want to scare his brother too much. So, he decided to show another reason to ease up the tension of Hank.

He once again put his hands into his robes and called onto LILY silently. With a soft light, the fairy materialised directly into his palm. He took out his hand along with his second Spirit.

“I have two Spirits Hank. And my other Spirit is this one.” LILY slowly floated from his palm and hovered between Azalon and his brother.

“A…A… A Fa…Fairy… A FAIRY SPIRIT???? You… you… you have a Fairy Spirit. AHHH… A Dual Spiritualist!!!! Az, you are a Dual Spiritualist??? OH MY GOD… and it’s actually a HIGH FAIRY SPIRIT? You Monster!!!!” Hank stammered as his calmed mind as once again pounded by the series of surprises his brother was giving him.

First, he Re- Awakens his Petrified Spirit… then his Cultivation Speed was something not commonly seen… and then he takes out another Spirit, that too the Rare High Fairy Spirit, that was confirmed by the hoop around the head of the Spirit… my brother is a Dual Spiritualist…

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…” Hank started laughing maniacally and the entire room shook from the loud laughter from the powerful cultivator of the Spirit Condensation Realm.

Azalon slightly smiled watching the happiness is brother was feeling on behalf of him, and a warm feeling emerged from his heart. So, this is how having family feels like, huh? Azalon felt blessed to be given such an amazing brother and a loving grandfather to him…

The two brothers talked late into the night going over the recruitment conditions for the campaign and Hank took time to explain the problems and bottlenecks he had faced in his cultivation to Azalon, so that he will be ready when he had to face them too. The family mansion was filled with the laughter of the two brothers that night…