Celebration

After a night of killing, Xilian returned to the two-story house.

Before he could open the door, waves of delicious aromas drifted out. He stepped inside and immediately saw Ava bustling about.

"Oh, you're back early. Did your night patrol go smoothly?"

Ava smiled when she saw him return safely.

"Smoother than ever."

Xilian pulled out a chair and sat down, exhausted.

Even after becoming a Torchbearer, the night's fighting had taken a lot out of him. And between killing demons, he'd had to think through one troubling matter after another.

The Year of Rebellion, the decline of the Sunflower Clan, and the mystery of his own origins.

Any one of them was enough to drain him and leave him uneasy about the long road ahead.

Now that he had time to reflect, he understood Nuen's words more deeply.

Ignorance was bliss.

"If I hadn't become a Torchbearer..."

Xilian watched Ava work and listened to the sound of deep sleep coming from upstairs.

It took little effort to imagine the rest of his life.

Ava seemed to like him, and he thought she was a lovely girl. Perhaps they would marry and start a family in White Cliff Town.

He would grow into a responsible adult and keep climbing the high wall with Tim and Mick, patrolling through the night until dawn as they always had.

Nuen might live for many more years. Or perhaps, before long, he would leave White Cliff Town without a word, walking alone into the Dark World and never looking back.

The Soflova Brothers would inherit his duties and continue guarding White Cliff Town's peaceful nights...

"No..."

Xilian rejected the future he had imagined.

It was a good future, calm and peaceful, as gentle as afternoon sunshine. Its only flaw was that it wasn't realistic.

The threat to White Cliff Town was close at hand. To resolve it, Xilian would have to say goodbye to that ordinary but happy life.

He didn't regret it in the slightest. Quite the opposite: he was thrilled, impatient to step into that new world.

So he suddenly spoke.

"Ava, I did it."

Ava turned to him, looking puzzled. She had no idea what he meant.

Xilian said it again.

"I did it. I became a Transcendent—a Torchbearer."

To convince her, Xilian raised his arm. The Source Energy within him stirred faintly, and the blood vessels beneath his skin glowed a burning red.

Ava stood frozen. It took her several seconds to react, and then she let out an uncontrollable cry and hurried over.

"You..."

She anxiously felt his arm. The red glow had faded, but his skin's unnatural heat was proof of his newfound power.

Xilian waited eagerly for her praise. Instead, he heard fear in her voice.

"My God, are you insane? Do you know how dangerous that was?"

Tears clouded Ava's eyes. She touched him again and again, and only after reassuring herself that he was really there did she slowly calm down. She breathed in, then out.

"It was dangerous. And crazy. But I succeeded," Xilian said, trying to reassure her. "It's over now."

Ava took a few steps back and sank weakly into a chair.

"When did you do it?"

"Yesterday. And last night," Xilian said carefully. "I'm sorry. To avoid another tragedy, and to limit the consequences if I failed, my teacher and I didn't tell any of you."

Ava lowered her head and gripped the hem of her dress.

"So if you'd failed, I wouldn't even have seen you one last time."

The joy Xilian had wanted to share cooled. Only then did he feel the weight of her words.

If he had failed...

Ava took a deep breath, brought over the breakfast she had prepared, and set it in front of him.

"Xilian, don't keep it from us next time."

"Of course," Xilian said. "I'm just glad you're not angry."

"Did I look angry just now?" Ava asked calmly.

"You were past angry. You were furious."

Xilian offered a comparison. "Like a sparrow that woke up early after a hungry night, found nothing to eat, and could only headbutt a branch."

"What kind of nonsense is that? Come to think of it, how do you come up with sentences like that?"

Ava usually ignored Xilian's odd turns of phrase, but this time she asked.

"I don't have to come up with them. I just pile words together. They don't mean much."

Xilian explained earnestly, "If you really want a reason... Ava, you know I love reading. A lot of authors have distinctive styles."

"So?" Ava asked, curious.

"I've never had an education, so I wouldn't know where to begin writing. But I'd still want a style people remembered. The only thing I can do is string together strange sentences full of adjectives."

Ava hadn't expected such an unusual reason for Xilian's odd remarks.

Her eyes lit up. "You want to be an author?"

"I haven't decided."

Xilian hesitated. "It's a crazy world. People might need something to warm their spirits. If I became an author, maybe I'd make a fortune."

"But everyone's working so hard just to survive. Maybe they wouldn't have time for my strange stories and would only find them boring."

"Maybe. But your strange remarks are certainly memorable, Xilian."

Ava stepped behind him and laid her slender hands on his head, drawing him close.

Surrounded by softness and warmth, Xilian heard her say,

"Congratulations, Xilian. You've become the person you wanted to be."

"But please remember," Ava said softly, "you're not alone."

"Mm."

Xilian answered in a low voice.

He had thought holding the ritual in secret was the responsible thing to do. But to those who cared about him, wasn't it also selfish?

Footsteps sounded nearby.

Tim and Mick were awake. They sat on the stairs in their pajamas, and Xilian had no idea how long they had been watching.

After a moment of quiet, they burst into cheers.

Compared with Ava's delicate feelings, Tim and Mick were much more direct.

It took Xilian a long time to recount the entire process for them.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, he left out certain details, such as the Sunflower Clan's painful past and the strange mystery of his own origins.

"Once I cross the wilderness and reach Her City, I'll find a way to get help. Even if they won't share supplies with us, I should be able to bring back a few scholars. With their guidance, you can wake from the Soul Dream and safely advance to Torchbearers."

"Don't worry about the ritual materials. I asked my teacher, and White Cliff Town still has plenty in reserve."

Xilian pictured White Cliff Town's future. "As we gain more Torchbearers, the town will become much safer. We can also refine Soul Marrow from blood.

"My teacher says Soul Marrow is accepted almost everywhere in some of the larger city-states."

Soul Marrow was closely tied to human survival and could be used in trade as a form of currency in many places.

"Then we can buy a few vehicles and travel between cities much faster. White Cliff Town won't be an isolated backwater anymore."

Xilian wrapped a slice of bacon in bread and stuffed it into his mouth. As food filled his hungry stomach, he could almost see White Cliff Town growing more prosperous.

"You eat. I'm going to tell my father the good news."

Ava quickly tidied up, grabbed a sandwich, and ran out the door.

Xilian waved to her. If he had to guess, the whole town would know by afternoon.

"Ah..."

After eating his fill, Tim suddenly let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong?" Xilian asked.

"It's just such a shame." Tim pressed a hand to his forehead. "Look at the way Ava looks at you. It was bad enough before, and now you're a Torchbearer. How's anyone else in town supposed to compete?"

Xilian smiled and ignored the teasing. Tim could talk about "anyone else in town" all he liked, but he was really complaining about himself.

The Soflova Brothers often chatted on patrol. By now, everyone knew about Tim's feelings for Ava.

But Ava admired Tim like an older brother, and the thought always left him beating his chest in frustration.

"I thought girls liked men who made them feel safe." Tim squeezed his muscular arm, baffled. "So why doesn't anyone like me?"

"You're too big. Standing in a doorway, you're practically a wall," Mick said, cutting straight to the point. "You don't make people feel safe. You intimidate them."

Tim had no answer.

Of the Soflova Brothers, Tim was the true giant. Mick was his opposite.

Mick was slender and delicate, and with his blond hair, people often mistook him for a girl.

Tim looked back at Xilian, still puzzled.

"What does Ava like about you, anyway? Mick's better-looking, and I'm stronger."

Xilian suddenly remembered a joke Ava often made.

She would point at Tim, Xilian, and Mick and say, "Big, medium, small."

"Who knows?" Xilian said with an amused smile.

He cleared away the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, then took half a sausage as a snack. After saying goodbye to Tim and Mick, he disappeared into his workshop.

Xilian was now a Torchbearer. Only one thing stood between him and the world beyond White Cliff Town.

A vehicle.

He could survive a night in the wilderness now, but Her City was still far too distant.

If he traveled on foot, he had no idea how long it would take to arrive—and that assumed nothing went wrong along the way.

Yellow sand, wilderness, ruins, rivers...

Xilian ran a hand over his battered motorcycle. Once he finished improving it and gathered supplies for the journey, he could set out for Her City.

Books described Her City as a place crossed by several rivers that formed a vast lake below it. Unlike the wilderness outside White Cliff Town, it was lush and full of life. That was why it was called the City of Confluence, the central hub of the surrounding region.

Caravans traveled from Her City to the Outer Flame Inner Ring. With one of them, he could reach larger cities and more prosperous lands. Her City was also home to countless Transcendents and a tangled web of mysterious powers.

People throughout the region dreamed of living in Her City. Moving there meant endless opportunities and safety throughout the night.

"It's all riding on you."

Xilian opened the rusted metal casing. The steady clanging of his work continued from morning until sunset.