Silence descended onto the room as I stared open-mouthed at Gerial. My fellow Marked one had a childish grin on his face that grew wider with every passing moment. I looked back at my parents, my hands already rising to stop their fear and confusion. Or maybe even their shock and awe. I'd seen people bow low at the mention of Gerial’s name and seeing him in person was enough to make someone faint.

“Aren't you going to invite your friend in?” My mother tutted. “I raised you with better manners than that.”

My father nodded at her words, and I stared at them.

They didn't know who Gerial was.

A quick glance showed me the reason why. My fellow Marked one was wearing his golem disguise, for the benefit of the people around him. I hadn't noticed it in the shock of seeing him, but when I thought about it, it made sense. If my parents had invited my friends, that meant they would come prepared.

"Of course, of course." I stood up. “Gerial, come on in.”

“Thank you kindly.”

The moment he stepped through the door he rushed toward me, his footsteps guided by the wind. A soft breeze rustled through my school uniform, and the ribbons around me rustled.

“I didn't know you'd be coming today.” I said. "Aren't you too busy with—”

Gerial swept me into a hug before I could finish my sentence,

“Forget work, you're a tri-element magician now! That's cause for celebration.” He said. “The others should be here soon too, and it's been a while since we were all in one room.”

A knock resounded from the entrance as though they’d been waiting for Gerial to speak. I glanced behind him and saw William grinning at me, his frame barely fitting through the narrow door frame. He’d taken more strength concoctions recently, and his muscles had grown exponentially as a result.

There had been a time once when I’d balked the idea of my friends visiting my place. After all, the decrepit and crumbling wooden walls around me even let through the moonlight at night. To people that were used to living in mansions and luxury it would be worse than nothing.

I knew them better than that now. Neither of them would judge me for my living situation. Besides, I could always make my own house or rebuild our current one. If I got the right permits from the city council.

“This is the first time we've been to your house." He looked around. "I like it.”

Gerial nodded in agreement, and I smiled.

"Dang right you do." I waved him over. "Thanks for coming."

"It doesn't take a wise man to know that I have to attend my best friend's attunement ceremony.” William smashed his hand against my back, almost sending me flying. “Oops, sorry, I keep forgetting my own strength.”

"Young Master Wilhelm, we're honoured.” My father said.

I could see sweat running down his forehead as he greeted William. I’d forgotten for a moment that technically William was the son of his Boss’s boss. In turn William greeted my father and mother with a low bow.

Gerial raised an eyebrow at me.

“How come he gets the VIP treatment.” He whispered.

“I asked William the same thing when I saw how differently he treated you and me.” I whispered back. “Sometimes friendships make for funny priorities.”

"You can say that again." A new voice called out.

A hand wrapped around my neck, and strands of red hair assaulted my vision as I was brought into a side hug. Amanda stood beside me, a smile on her face as I squirmed in surprise.

“Congratulations. If you're looking to ride the hot streak, we can set you on fire a few times to see if you unlock your fire attunement.” She released me from the hug but stayed by my side. “Or maybe we should try Roxxy’s opposite approach and drown you in water.”

“You should consider never becoming a teacher in the future.” I replied.

She gave me a small shove and I laughed. Behind her Roxxy was greeting Gerial and she gave me an enthusiastic wave.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Her smile was a beam of joy.

“Hey hey.” I waved back.

As Amanda let go of me a red bird landed on my left shoulder, followed closely by a purple bird on my right.

Agni, and Gold.

I fed the two birds a treat each.

"Which room has the famous dirt bedroom?” Roxxy’s eyes darted from room to room. “If it exists then William owes me coins.”

I pointed toward my room.

Her smile widened. "Wise bet my—”

Amanda coughed and Roxxy zipped her lips, her expression still lit with joy. Despite the intense curiosity threatening to spill out of her eyes, she didn't go and open the door straight away.

Instead, all of my friends greeted my mother and father. And together we enjoyed the food that my parents had prepared for us. I saw my parents breathe a sigh of relief as everyone was accounted for. Both of them looked nervous and it wasn't a mystery as to why.

Usually, entire families showed up to attunement ceremonies. They were events for networking just as much as they celebrated the individual’s accomplishments and every person around us was higher ranked than my family in the social hierarchy. But none of my friends minded that at all. We quickly became absorbed in our own conversations, as did Gold and Agni on my shoulders.

The afternoon turned to evening, and time passed in the blink of an eye. It was nice, and for the first time in a while I found myself lost in the fun of peace.

A hand tapped against my shoulder, and I turned around to see Gerial’s hand retracting. It was strange to think that his skin was actually a golem wrapped around the real Gerial’s body, but I got over it quickly.

“Much better than the last one I went to.” He said. “There's actually people I like here.”

I chuckled at his words. The last attunement celebration he'd gone to had been for our classmate Unice. Gerial had shown up for approximately a minute, barely said a word and then left. The entire time he had been stared at by the crowd, most of whom looked like they’d wanted to cower in fear or devour him.

To me this celebration was a thousand times better than that one.

"It's about time for the exciting part." Gerial said.

My friends nodded their heads and my parents smiled.

“Time?” Confusion made its way into my voice. “Time for what?”

“What do you think?” Gariel motioned with his hand and a box appeared in his palm. It was inscribed with symbols and made of solid white wood. "It's time for us to give you your gifts.”

Knowing smiles spread across the table and I felt a familiar memory stir in my mind. Unice’s ceremony had something similar, though she'd gotten so many gifts that they'd been placed onto a table at her arrival.

"You don't have to do that for me." I said.

"Nonsense, how else would we compete with each other." William waved my concerns away.

"Yeah!" Roxxy pumped her fist in agreement. “He's already lost one bet today. He can't afford to lose more pride.”

Agni chirped, her and Gold synchronising as they spoke.

Presents!

With my friends and family united against me, I had no choice but to accept the gifts that they presented. My parents and Gold had prepared gifts but told me that I'd have to wait for after the celebration to receive them.

That meant that Gerial was the first to present me with a gift. Both because he was sitting next to me, and because he was the most important person in the group. I caught my father shooting a worried glance at William, afraid that the boy would be insulted or become angry, but William shot him a smile in return.

I found myself holding a white box in my hand and stared at the symbols on its surface. They were protection runes far more advanced than the ones that I’d been working with. Studying them would yield even more benefits for my studies into inscribing.

"The box isn't the gift, what's inside is.” He said. “But trust me, it should be opened later on.”

"Thank you, it's already more than I could have imagined and more than I deserve.” I said.

“Don't sell yourself short, we’re brothers after all.” He smiled.

William was next, and in typical Wilhelm fashion his gift came in a solid gold box. Enclosed inside was a bar of silver. I chuckled at the irony of silver being gifted in a golden box, but when I reached out to connect with the material it jerked immediately. With little prompting it rose into the air and transformed into a liquid form, shimmering around me.

It was far easier to control than normal.

“It's called [heart silver]. It's far easier to manipulate, and you're free to use other manipulation skills while you use it, such as water and earth.” William explained. “My dad said to let you know that he'd procured this gift personally. And that you should keep the box as well.”

"This is perfect." I placed it in my inventory immediately.

The box was worth its weight in gold. Literally. And the [heart silver] was more than I could have asked for.

As expected of William, he’d gifted me something that could immediately help me with my newly acquired attunement. Being able to use silver manipulation while using my future water manipulation skill would make things much easier for training and fighting.

"Mine next.” Amanda stepped in William’s place. “Hey.”

“Hey.” I said.

Amanda’s hair flared up as she stepped forward. For a moment I was reminded of the shy girl I’d first met at Koshima academy, sitting alone in a window seat with Agni on her head. I compared her to the girl I knew she really was, and relief flooded through me. Both because I’d taken the chance of talking to her, and because a friendship had bloomed from there.

She raised her hand to reveal another box. This one was made of a rubbery material I didn't recognise. It was cool to the touch, and I gripped it gently just in case what was inside was fragile.

Inside the box was a line of red beads. Each one was bursting with fire mana and could be considered a valuable lifesaving treasure. Or a source of fire mana to help me attune to the element.

I lifted a single bead toward my eye and examined it carefully. It was twice as big as her usual beads at two inches long, but there was more than fire in my vision.

There was something inside it.

It was a tiger.

The animal had been intricately carved with lines of fire. Like a painting trapped inside a crystal it shimmered as I gazed at it, roaring ferociously.

“It's your favourite animal.” I grinned.

Each new bead revealed a different image. I recognised myself and Gold in one and a small lava ball in another. The fourth one—

"Is that what I think it is?" I stared intently at the bead.

"If you think it's a pit donkey you are correct." She beamed.

"I didn't know that was a real animal." I laughed.

One by one I examined them carefully. I reached the second last bead, which was a recreation of the image we'd taken of all of us together at Gesti Sky and realised what the beads were.

It was a history of our time together. Every important event we'd gone through since we'd met. The last had an image of us cultivating together, one of the numerous times I’d tried to attune to fire.

There were twenty in total.

Fire mana wasn't the same as metal or water. Carving intricate shapes within a bead of pure flame required more than time and talent. It needed dedication and a concentrated power of will beyond the norm. I couldn't imagine the amount of time that she’d taken to do this.

"When you're in an emergency, you just have to pour your will into them and focus. They'll hurt anything but you or the people you want to protect.” She said. “Or you can use it to make a campfire.”

“I love it.” I clasped the box tight in my hands. “I don't think I'll ever use them. They're too precious.”

“Don't hold back. There’ll be more to make later on.” She smiled gently. Her hair told another story, blazing red as she took in my compliment.

A full head of blonde hair bobbed up from behind her shoulder.

"Me next, me, me.” Roxxy beamed.

Amanda moved to the side with a smile and Roxxy shoved out her hands, a box clasped between her fingers. It was smaller than the others, and I could see unfamiliar symbols gleaming on its surface.

"It's a portal key to my household's water cultivation room. It'll lead you right there.” She said proudly. “It glows green when the room is available, and red when it's not.”

I looked closely at the box and saw that it was glowing a gentle green. I poured my mana into it, and purple mana started to appear around me. With a jolt I stopped the process, and the mana twinkled at me in disappointment.

I'd been about to summon a portal directly in the middle of the kitchen.

“Oopsie, my bad, I should have warned you.” Roxxy grinned. “Whenever you use the portal key our room counts it as a session and marks the room as closed. Each session is an hour. During that time frame you can use the cultivation room however you want.”

"Thanks so much. I'll be coming to you for a lot of advice in the coming weeks." I said.

I'd thought Roxxy’s gift was the final one, but as I put the portal key into my inventory there was a gentle tap on my shoulder. A pair of beady eyes gazed into mine as I turned my head. Red feathers ruffled on my shoulders.

It was Agni.

Gift.

She chirped happily.

I gazed at the phoenix curiously. As far as I knew she didn't have any possessions. Similar to Amanda, the phoenix followed the principles of the Divine Mehta and kept her material possessions to a minimum.

Also, she was a bird. Which meant she didn't have pockets.

Her feathers brushed against my cheek and a swathe of fire mana engulfed my head. For a moment I wondered if her gift was to make me bald, but then the fire mana disappeared and a warmth enveloped my chest, spreading out across the rest of my skin. I blinked in surprise at the sensation and a quick pat down showed no new bumps or bulges. I hadn't grown wings or feathers.

Something had changed, but I couldn't tell what.

Have fun.

Agni chirped happily. She hopped off my shoulder, flying through the air and landing on Amanda's outstretched arm.

“Thank you, Agni. May we have many more winning battles.” I said.

She flapped her wings in response, her feathers transforming into flames that danced joyfully above our heads.

With each gift given and the moon high in the sky, the celebrations soon came to a natural conclusion. I walked outside to see them off and with a pat on my back and a quick hug goodbye each of my friends summoned portals back to their homes. All except for one.

Gerial was still in the yard.

My fellow Marked one had his hand pressed against the lone tree outside my house, admiring Gold’s handiwork as his eyes skimmed over the symbols etched into the bark. As I approached, he turned his head toward me, a smile on his face.

“That was a fun ceremony. I didn't get to talk to anyone at mine. I just sat there bored out of my mind as everybody knelt down toward me.” He said. “No cake at all.”

“That's a travesty.” I smiled. “Thanks for coming today.”

“Of course I came.” He motioned at my side. “And I stayed so I could see you unwrap your gift. There are instructions for use inside as well.”

His eyes gleamed and the tree rustled as a breeze washed over us. I clicked my fingers and the box Gerial had given to me appeared. I ran my fingers over the inscribed white wood, the material glowing softly.

“Don't lose that. It's pretty important.” Gerial said. “It protects what's inside.”

I raised the panel that served as the lid of the box, and it unhinged to reveal a soft velvet cushion. Resting on top of it was a bottle.

“What is it?” I asked.

The bottle itself was glass, that much was obvious, but inside the glass was a transparent drop of liquid. It shimmered with power and when I gazed into its depths my eyes slid off of it. My mind rejected it instinctively, as though it was separate from the world itself.

“Three years.” He replied.

There was a moment of silence, broken only by the swinging of the bottle as I swirled the droplet from side to side.

“I don't get it.” I said.

“It means exactly what I said. You absorb it, and your life freezes for three years. You don't age. At all.”

His gaze rested on me, a knowing smile on his lips.

“In your hands is time itself.”