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Mark Whitman's arrival with Luke in tow instantly drew every pair of eyes in the place.
"Governor, City Lord, Luke is here." Meeting the assembled gazes, Mark hurriedly performed a bow, feeling the pressure keenly himself now. Set against everyone present, his status and standing were only a touch above Warren Pike's and Bella Hartley's, dead last all the same.
"Our protagonist has finally arrived." Victor Ashford picked up the thread at the right moment. He was, after all, the most fitting person to speak here. "Come, have a seat."
It was only then that Luke noticed an empty seat beside Victor and Harrison, roughly on par with the level of Geoffrey and the other principals, evidently set aside for him on purpose.
Without dwelling on it, Luke exchanged greetings with everyone and walked straight over to take the seat. Seeing how composed Luke carried himself, Warren Pike and Bella Hartley wore looks of pure envy.
The two exchanged a glance, a thread of bitterness rising at the corners of their mouths in unison. They hadn't the strength or the backbone that Luke had, and that gap, falling into the eyes of Desmond Crane and Bianca Sterling, only had the two principals shaking their heads.
It wasn't only a gap in strength; in temperament too, the pair fell short of Luke. Geoffrey, by contrast, wasn't overly surprised. Celestine had left him with a profound impression a few days back, and by his subsequent reckoning, she was very likely a powerhouse on the same level as Aldric, an existence his own station could, at most, only just brush against. To converse and laugh easily with a being like that, Luke would naturally show no great stiffness before Aldric either.
"Luke, this should count as our first proper meeting." A slightly aged voice spoke up, and the moment Aldric opened his mouth, everyone fell silent. They understood perfectly well that Aldric's foremost objective in coming to Ashenvale, in attending the joint ceremony of the three schools, was Luke himself.
As for everyone else, even Victor and Harrison were merely there as accompaniment. In the understanding of Geoffrey and his group, of course, the main reason Luke had drawn Aldric here lay with the Original Card matter, which had been quietly circulating for some time now.
But only Victor and Harrison understood that the Original Card was just one reason among several. Beyond it, Luke was also Lilith's student. However much Luke's strength might fall short of theirs at present, his standing was enough to seat him as their equal.
And Aldric had been the very hand that brought about the teacher-student bond between Lilith and Luke, one of the few who knew this secret. His coming to Ashenvale now was unexpected, perhaps, but well within reason.
"Yes, Governor Aldric." Toward the old man before him, Luke held considerable respect. This was someone who had poured the energy of a lifetime into the Capital, and his contributions across the years governing it were there for all to see.
More importantly, the skill card Aldric had bestowed, the Crystallization Technique, had been of no small use to Luke. Although it had been his reward for destroying a Black Gate, Victor's reaction back then had made clear that an ordinary Black Gate reward would absolutely never include something as special as a skill card.
There was Victor's hand in that, certainly, but Luke also understood it was Aldric's investment in him, the same as it was now.
"Your performance in this exam was, it must be said, exceptional. Even the Governors of Mistral and Farhaven came wanting to ask me about you." Recalling the scene of Vivienne and Gideon coming to his door, Aldric's smile turned all the more radiant.
At Aldric's age, the contest over face had long surpassed the contest over strength, and Luke had let him gain a hearty measure of face before two longtime rivals. Naturally, the more Aldric looked at Luke, the more agreeable he found him.
"Ah." Luke hadn't expected the Governors of Farhaven and Mistral to come knocking on Aldric's door in person over a matter concerning him. After all, the sort of thing that could alarm all three Eastern Region Governors at once was generally a major event.
Luke figured Aldric had absolutely held every advantage at that meeting, flaunting to his heart's content. Otherwise the man wouldn't be smiling quite so radiantly.
As for the others in the know, a thread of envy couldn't help surfacing in their eyes. They understood why the Governors of Farhaven and Mistral had sought Aldric out, and it came down to that very point.
Of course, there were also the entirely clueless background players, the likes of Mark, and Warren Pike, and Bella Hartley. But that didn't stop the three of them from putting on a "Whoa! So impressive!" display. Cheering along the whole way was never the wrong move, after all.
"Grandfather, perhaps you should circle back to the main business first. Didn't you say you could only linger in Ashenvale a short while?" In the end, it was still Victor who spoke up to remind Aldric.
Grandfather?
Luke raised an eyebrow, though not with any great surprise. The two shared the Ashford name, so they were certainly related. He simply hadn't expected the relationship to be quite this close.
"If you'd put in a bit more effort yourself, I could retire and see out my old age in peace." Faced with Victor's reminder, Aldric tossed back a jab without missing a beat.
For crying out loud.
Victor could only manage a strained smile, though inwardly he was roaring without restraint. If the Immortal Realm were so easy to break through, the whole of the Ancient Kingdom wouldn't hold the mere handful it did.
As for the others, they turned their faces slightly aside. They hadn't the standing to cut into a conversation between grandfather and grandson. Of course, getting to watch the usually awe-inspiring Victor take a ribbing was quite satisfying all the same.
"Still, you're right. I genuinely can't linger in Ashenvale too long." Aldric, mindful of his grandson Victor's face in the end, let the single jab stand and returned to the main topic. "Luke, in coming to Ashenvale this time, beyond attending your closing ceremony, my other purpose was to meet with you."
As he spoke, Aldric raised a hand and plucked at the empty air. An invisible ripple passed, and in the next instant, a silver seed radiating a faintly profound aura took shape before him.
At the sight of that silver seed, the expressions among those present varied. Mark, Bella Hartley, and Warren Pike wore blank looks, having no idea what it was. As for Victor, Harrison, and the principals, they exchanged a glance, the conjecture and shock plain in one another's eyes.
A Space Seed!
A super-rare special item. Even across the whole of the Ancient Kingdom, even across the entire Magic Card Civilization, the rarity of a Space Seed ranked among the very highest.
After all, the thing surfaced only deep within the otherdimensional spaces beyond the Black Gates, and places like that, for anyone whose strength hadn't reached the Immortal Realm, were scarcely different from a death sentence to enter.
Victor and the others hadn't expected Aldric to produce something as all-conquering as a Space Seed at an occasion like this.
Still, since Aldric had taken it out, it meant the Space Seed was very likely about to be given away, and as for who the recipient would be, that went without saying.
For a moment, the gazes Victor and the others, who knew the Space Seed's capabilities, turned toward Luke brimmed with envy.