POV: Elsa Rigarium

As I walked up one of the many stairways of the fort I heard shouting from down below. When I reached the nearest window I opened it and leaned outside, the breeze feeling wonderful as it blew against me. Down, on the training grounds, I could see a large group of people standing in a large circle. And fighting in that circle were the two giants, Bera and Lera, and a smaller figure that I only recognized due to the fact that two long objects protruded from his forehead, Altair Obern Lyrius. And they were sparring. Although at this point in time Bera was already on the ground and only her wife Lera was still standing, trying to hold on against the fighting machine that Altair had turned into.

Due to certain reasons, we could never send him on any missions, although that would soon change, so all he could do was train and train and train even more. He had already been dismissed from all classes by the time the rest of the volunteers were deemed to have made some progress.

I watched as he jumped into the air, seemingly flipping. Moments later Lera fell, no, was pushed to the ground in nearly an instant. Even from way up here I could hear the ground crack as a crater was created beneath her. That move was followed by loud cheering from the people forming the circle around them.

I smiled as I continued to ascend the stairs.

"He really grew well these past four years," I said to myself.

After walking for a while I finally reached the door I was looking for. Next to it was a sign that had the name of my brother on it. I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

My brother sat at his desk, reading over some documents as the light coming into the room from the large window behind him cast a shadow over me. I sat down on the bed that stood in one corner of the bed and crossed my legs, putting one hand on the upper knee.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"What do you think of this coming mission?" Lestul asked, not bothering to look up from the document he was currently reading.

"What do I think of the coming mission? What do you expect me to answer? We have too many people on our side to mess it up even if we tried-"

"So that's what you think?"

My brother's words sounded dry, and bored in a way.

"It is," I responded.

"Well, if you say so. Let's move on to a more... interesting, topic," my brother said, finally looking up from his document. "What can you tell me about, that man, about Altair?"

I smiled when hearing his name. He had come to me often over the past four years. For council when he needed help when he simply needed a shoulder to cry on or for any other matter. He had almost made me feel like a mother.

"Altair is what we have been looking for," I said.

"Is he?" Lestul asked, his interest piqued.

"Oh please, you must already know what he is capable of," I scoffed.

Lestul smiled.

"Yes, yes. Dreifus has talked about his fast progress. During his first month here he had already been excused from his lessons until the other made enough progress. In less than half a year he learned to use partial activation perfectly and was once again excused from the lessons. He had reached a level at which his ability to draw in mana in difficult environments surpassed that of every other mage here during his first eight months, he managed to fully use his spirit abilities during his first year, and that is not even stating that he managed to summon a high-level spirit right away. All of these facts are according to your and Dreifus' reports. Laura said that forcing him to come to the sparring lessons was a waste of time since he clearly wasn't taking it seriously in any form or way during his first three months and he simply stopped showing up to Haral's lessons on his own," Lestul summarized.

I nodded.

"At this point in time he is easily capable of defeating a caller," I stated.

"While that is impressive, even most callers would agree that they are nought but fodder when standing against the army of the demon lord council," Lestul said.

I coughed.

"He is also capable of fighting against paladins, which is based on his abilities from two years ago when Rudolpho left. He grows so fast that I would say he is already at the same level as a paladin, he is capable of wiping entire towns from the map if we ordered him to!" I said, my voice filled with energy.

"If you say so then I'll believe you, my dear sister," Lestul said, in a way where I wasn't sure whether or not I could believe him.

"I know it's hard right now. I know you're not optimistic, not after what happened a year ago, but don't worry, alright? Altair may be our last hope at regaining standing within the church beyond my title but with him, it's not a question of whether or not he can do something but it's a question of when!" I said. "If we keep going we will have a future saint under our control!"

"And how do you plan to keep him under control?" Lestul asked, sceptically.

"I know him, possibly better than anyone here," I said.

Lestul raised an eyebrow.

"What about that group of his? The Signia boy, Nara, the moon elven girl Evergreen, and who were the other two?"

"Servil and Ivory," I answered.

"Right, what about those four?" my brother asked.

"Oh please. He may see them as friends but even if that's the case, they're not particularly close," I said.

"Really, I heard he and that... lycanthrope, are quite close."

"You may not see it because you're always holed up in this office of yours but those two don't seem that close when you observe them for a little longer. Trust me on this one brother, he has a lot of issues and trauma, he needs a motherly figure and I am willing to fill that role," I said. "Not that it would be a large sacrifice, I have to admit that I quite like him," I added.

Lestul chuckled.

"Alright sister, this next mission will serve to convince me of his abilities. And over the next few months or years or even decades you will need to convince me on how well you can control him," Lestul said.

I nodded.

"Will that be all then?" I asked.

"Yes, you may leave," Lestul said.

I smiled, gave him another nod and left the room.

"Why does he always make me run up here?"