Glenn did not even think about protesting. Not to a Town Guard. He walked to Logain, and stared in dazed bemusement as the other guards fell in around him. They formed a diamond with him at his center. Even Mayor Coleman had never been escorted like this, and this was an escort.

“People of Wolfpine, return to your merriment and do not fear the Monsters of the night!” Logain shouted, with his booming voice easily audible over the crowd. “The guard has the walls! And your newest Town Guard, Glenn Redwood, has the favor of Celes Herself!”

“Praise Celes!” the crowd roared back.

Glenn barely heard them. He was just grateful that the backslapping and congratulations were over. He had been about done with those. Had Logain guessed how much this charge hurt him?

Yet they didn’t need to walk far. The Town Guard barracks was just off the main square, perpendicular to the Chapel of Celes, and Glenn had never been inside. No one could go inside, actually, save the Town Guards, the mayor, or someone the guards arrested. No one else was allowed inside.

The armored woman he didn’t recognize quickened her step and opened the door. Logain walked inside with Glenn right behind him. The other guards all filed in, and then, the door closed.

Like the church, the barracks was quiet. The endless cheering outside had reminded Glenn had much he appreciated quiet. Yet why was he here? Was this some sort of initiation ritual?

As one, as Glenn stared, all four Town Guards simultaneously removed their helmets. Glenn gasped at the strange sight. He’d never seen a Town Guard remove their helmet, yet apparently, there were no godly decrees about doing so inside the barracks.

He was shocked to see how young they all looked. He knew Logain to be his mother’s age, 36, yet the man looked to be in his late twenties at best, with a square jaw, piercing gray eyes, and short brown hair. Joanne, who he knew to be much older than him, looked perhaps 18, with her blond hair cut boyishly short and streaked with red. And Scott was a pale, narrow-faced fellow with a mirthful grin and wild dark hair who looked only a year or so older than Glenn, despite being ... four years older?

The last Town Guard, the other woman, also looked to be in her 20s, with brown skin, a pretty face, and her dark hair in a high ponytail. How was this possible? Glenn had assumed all the Town Guards would be far older than he was, likely his parent’s age.

“He gawked,” Joanne said, and thumped Logain on the arm. “You owe me a round, Captain. You too, Willowrose.”

“He didn’t gawk,” Scott said, with a bemused frown. “It was more of a desperate failure to take in a breath. You know, like a fish when you pop it out of the water.”

Joanne scowled playfully. “Don’t try to wriggle out of our wager, you wilting flower. Pay up!”

Glenn couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer. “How are you all so...”

“Young?” Logain asked. A wry smile softened his previously stern face. “One aspect of your new Blessings you may not have considered. Thanks to the constant and passive regeneration provided by [+Regrowth+], any time we’re not in combat, all of us age slower than others.”

“Like an Entertainer,” Glenn whispered. The revelation shocked him.

He knew (thanks to Zack) that one of the first Blessings an Entertainer could acquire rapidly slowed how they aged, at least physically. They remained fit and attractive long after those without such Blessings would have aged into retirement. A fifty-year old Entertainer looked barely twenty-five.

The woman with the dark hair snorted mirthfully. “Did he just compare us to the lovely Townsfolk at The Scarlet Rose?” She glanced at Logain. “Should I slap him?”

“Oh, shush Linda,” Scott said. “I did the same thing.”

“And I slapped you,” Linda said merrily. “Though to be fair, I wasn’t going to slap our new guard on the cheek.” She casually glanced his way. “At least ... not the cheek he’s expecting.”

As Logain raised one hand, they all immediately went silent. “Glenn deserves a full accounting of his new life, now. Later, you can tease him. He should know all that comes with his new duties, the good as well as the difficult. I’m sure every one of you remembers how difficult this was for you.”

Joanne nodded. “He’s all yours, captain.”

Logain held Glenn’s gaze. “I’ve now lived for 36 years, but thanks to [+Regrowth+], my body is barely 24. The Pantheon asks much of us, but also offers much in return. If you do choose to Adventure when you retire at 40 years, you’ll do so as a healthy twenty-five year old Adventurer, and you’ll do so with all the Blessings you’ve thus far obtained. That includes [+Regrowth+] and [+Unyielding+].”

Glenn gasped. Could that be true? He opened his Status Sheet as the statement flooded his mind with new possibilities.

The first thing he did was view [-Phantom Slice-] and compare it to [+Regrowth+].

[-Phantom Slice-] – Blade – Duelist – Vox, Goddess of the Bold – Uncommon: Inflict any wound you inflict upon two additional targets within 15 paces. Two Minute Cooldown. [+Regrowth+] – None – Any – Kya, Goddess of Duty – Rare: While outside of combat, your Health Bar and Blood passively regenerate at a vastly improved rate.

There is was. [+Regrowth+], unlike [-Phantom Slice-], had no Class or weapon associated with it. Therefore, any Class could slot it—but only a Town Guard could acquire it.

Logain was telling the truth.

Until today, Glenn had never known that Town Guards aged dramatically slower than others. Perhaps that was why they never took their helmets off. Otherwise, passing Adventurers would see how young they looked and assume they could mouth off with impunity.

“You are familiar with Mammoth Cloudcrusher?” Logain asked.

Of course Glenn was familiar with Mammoth Cloudcrusher. Everyone was familiar with Mammoth Cloudcrusher, the legendary Dervish who was one of the few Adventurers who’d reached the Divine Level Cap of 40. The man might as well be demigod, regularly traveling beyond Balarel into the Six Hells to do battle with Demons Glenn could only imagine.

“Mammoth was once a Town Guard,” Logain said calmly.

Glenn felt like he might pass out, yet he refused to do so in front of the Town Guards. Could that really be possible? And more importantly ... why had no one ever told him?

“That’s a closely guarded secret, of course,” Logain said calmly. “Glory Heartseeker was once a Town Guard as well. Not all who reach the Divine Level Cap do so with the age and virility of Mammoth and Glory, but some who do so can do so because of the Blessings they gained in service to the Gods. Mammoth and Glory are both in their eighties, yet physically, they’re barely past forty-five.”

“No way,” Glenn whispered.

“I know you wished to leave the walls,” Logain said. “I know the idea of being trapped here is a shock. Yet now that you are one of us, you should know that if you do choose to Adventure after you have served your years guarding the gate, the path ahead of you will be more rewarding than you can imagine. Also, you are now bound by liege law not to breathe a word of this to others.”

Glenn swallowed. With Blessings like those the Pantheon had just bestowed upon him, he could reach the divine Level cap with plenty of time to spare. In fact, he’d have to work hard not to.

So while this was a temporary setback, it meant Glenn would, one day, be among the most powerful Adventurers in Balarel. An Adventurer spoken of across the world. A living legend.

That was a thought heady enough to ease the sting of his new blessing.

Glenn took a moment to wrap his head around what he’d just learned. Mammoth Cloudcrusher, Town Guard ... once upon a time. That meant that the Gods had chosen Glenn to walk the same path as his childhood hero. They Gods hadn’t cursed him. They’d given him an impossibly valuable gift.

This was better than joining the Blazers Guild, at least as far as Adventuring was concerned. This was a better deal by far. Despite the fact that this boon required twenty-four years of boring service, an Adventuring life unlike any other waited at the end of Glenn’s service to the Gods and Wolfpine.

Glenn would retire at the physical age of 25 with a fortune earned from twenty-four years of service. He’d wander the world of Balarel Blessed with [+Regrowth+] and [+Unyielding+], bolstering whatever Class he chose with his incredible Town Guard Blessings.

Glenn had always assumed Mammoth Cloudcrusher’s incredible Vitality was due to grit and determination, but these Blessings would make an already formidable Adventurer into one that was practically unstoppable. If one rapidly regenerated both Health Points and Blood out of combat, even a grievous injury taken while fighting a Monster or Demon would scarcely matter, so long as that opponent died.

Injuries that could suck up potions would heal on their own after a short rest. That meant one could theoretically defeat Monsters so long as one had the will to fight on, without sacrificing a constant flow of crescents to potions. One would never be sidelined for weeks, like Adventurers who took a grievous injury without a Lifecaster or fell victim to a powerful demonic curse.

As Glenn remembered his conversation with Becka about secrets Adventurers kept only for themselves by the Safe Stones, when they discovered the loophole in the Pantheon’s Law of Consent, he acknowledged the true blessing he’d gained today—painful as it might be.

“Mammoth and Glory’s former lives as Town Guards are loopholes. Incredible loopholes.”

Logain nodded. “The path we walk to Adventure is long. Yet if you walk it, one day, thirty to forty years from now, people may speak of Glenn Redwood as they speak of Mammoth and Glory.”

“They’ll actually be speaking of Scott Rosewillow,” Scott said, waving a hand. “Because once I retire, I’m going to become the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous Auracaster since Benjamin Ravendust. I’ll tour Landers and beyond. People across the kingdom will faint at the mere sound of my n—”

“Your singing is awful,” Joanne interrupted.

“My singing is divine!” Scott protested. “You just have a tin ear. And besides, no one cares how well you sing when you’re as devilishly handsome as I.”

“Devilish would be a better word for your singing,” Linda agreed.

“Martin and Seth are on the gate tonight,” Logain said calmly. “And it’s Chelsea’s night off. You’ll meet them all soon enough, but for now, know that while we are a small garrison, all of us have become as close as any Party of Adventurers. We watch out for each other.”

Despite the situation, Glenn found himself suddenly smiling. As shocking as the God’s choice had been, he was now among good people. Everyone here would support him in his new life. Every one of his fellow Town Guards would help him adjust and defend the town where he was born.

Wallowing in self-pity would help no one. The Gods had given him a charge. Even if the cost of fulfilling that charge was losing Becka, he would fulfill it.

The people of the town that supported him as he grew up needed his protection.

“I understand.” Glenn steadied his roiling emotions and forced himself to focus on the life that now lie ahead. “And for what it’s worth, I think I’d like a Party like this one.”

“Well I like him already!” Linda said, and thumped Glenn’s arm.

“Now,” Logain said calmly. “Let’s get you into your new [God Armor].”