Chapter 3

In the world of Celestia, people can use magic through the blessings of the celestial guardians who look over the world in the celestial god's stead.

When a person reaches the age of 12, they are taken to the church of Celestials to awaken their magic element which is known as the 'Awakening ceremony'.

By praying before the statue of the celestial god and the 12 celestial guardians, people are granted blessings in the form of a magic symbol representing one of the 12 guardians and their magic elements are determined by the colour of their symbols; the deeper and brighter the colours, the stronger their magical powers or mana capacity.

There is also a rare chance of awakening their soul spirits that come in the spiritual forms of various creatures such as animals, insects, rare species, plants, etc.

However, there are also cases where a person may not receive any blessings or even after their awakening, they may not have enough mana capacity to use magic and still remain an ordinary person, just with a slightly improved physique.

Almost half of the human population is made up of such ordinary people which also clearly divides the people into different ranks in the society.

Such ordinary people are commonly ranked as commoners and climbing up the ladders of the social pyramid are the nobles and then at the very top are the royals. Only those with strong potential among the commoners have a chance to climb up the ladders to shed off their commoner rank which is also what most of them aim for and some put all their expectations upon their children.

As such, the awakening ceremony is seen as one of the most significant events in one's life. It is more so among the commoners than the nobles.

Every end of the year in oak city, the awakening ceremony is held in the church for all the children above 12 years old.

It is a grand festival where every corner of the city is decorated with colourful lanterns and flower garlands, and a crowd of people gather around the streets to watch the parade of children being led to the church in their most beautiful clothes meticulously prepared by their family to stand out among the rest of the children.

As long as they manage to stand out amongst the rest with good results in the awakening ceremony, they have a chance to take part in the examination to enroll in the magic academy where they can learn all types of knowledge and skills that can change their whole life.

.....

5 years have passed and winter has come. In the past five years, Asteria had gone through a lot of changes as she turned from a child into a young girl in her budding stage.

Her delicate facial features were slowly blossoming with a bit of her baby fat thinning down, her light brown hair now almost reached her thighs, the odd thing however was that her height stopped growing from the age of 8.

She was nearing her 12th birthday yet her height remained like a 7-8 years old kid.

Asteria was constantly worried about her short height so she tried everything she could to grow her height by eating more nutritious food, running from her house to the mountains in the outskirts early in the morning and even practicing swordsmanship along with her little brother to build her body but to no avail.

Asteria tried almost everything she could but her height stubbornly stayed the same and now even her younger siblings were about the same height as hers, looking nothing like the eldest sibling.

This matter really dealt a huge impact upon Asteria's self-confidence and even started to doubt if she could ever grow taller.

"Fufu, it's alright, Ria. You are only reaching 12 years old this year and still have a long way to go. Some grow up fast while some have late growth spurts and you might just fall under the latter. So don't worry too much about it." Paula smilingly consoled the little girl while wiping off the sweat accumulated from the sword practice from her forehead with a towel.

Asteria was still upset but she obediently let her mother wipe her sweat with a pout. She mumbled,"But this way, I won't be able to grow as tall as dad anymore."

Paula helplessly sighed and lightly tapped on her forehead with her finger. "Why are you still so stubborn about it? If a little girl like you really grew up into a tall giant like your dad then who will be willing to marry you in the future? All the young boys who come for your hand in marriage might get scared off instead."

"Then I just won't get married!" Asteria crossed her hands above her chest with a huff.

"Nonsense! If you don't get married then do you plan to forever live alone when you grow older?" Paula chided her.

"I won't be alone! I will have you, dad, Lynn and Len with me. We will always be together so there is no need for me to get married since I won't be alone anymore."Asteria confidently retorted with her bright eyes filled with innocence.

Looking at those bright eyes and hearing her confident words left Paula speechless. Unable to think of any retort, she just let it be and sighed in her heart as she thought.

'Forget it. She will eventually understand as she grows up.'

Paula then got up while saying: "Alright, you win. I won't say anything anymore. Go and take a bath then bring Lynn and Len back. They must be playing with the other kids outside. I will make some lunch for you all in the kitchen. You must be starving from all the practice, right?"

"Yay! Thanks mom~. I will go finish my bath quickly and bring them back." Asteria became energetic again at the mention of food and immediately ran inside the house after leaving two sentences.

"Fufu, she is back to being lively again." Paula let out a chuckle then followed the girl inside the house to prepare for lunch.

After taking a refreshing bath, Asteria changed into a set of clean clothes and tied her half-dried hair into a half-bun with a hairpin, letting the rest flow freely on her back.

Flashing a contented smile to the mirror, Asteria went downstairs and headed for the front entrace after leaving a single, "Mom, I'm heading out now."

"Be careful on your way~." Paula shouted back from the kitchen.

"Okay~" saying that, Asteria cheerfully walked out of the house.

She strolled around the streets while familiarly greeting the people around as she headed towards the plaza where Lynn and Len usually played with other kids.

"Oh? Out to get your little siblings, Ria?" A chubby aunt from the nearby stall greeted Asteria as if used to it.

Asteria smiled and nodded: "Yes~ Aunty Linda, how are your fruits selling today?"

"Still the same. Now that winter is here, not many people come out in the streets to shop around." Aunty Linda sighed then picked out some fresh fruits and placed them in a bag.

"Here, take some back to eat with your siblings. Instead of letting them rot, I might as well give some for our little Ria to snack on." Aunty Linda handed the bag to Asteria with an amiable smile on her chubby face.

Not refusing her kindness, Asteria accepted the bag of fruits and sincerely thanked her with a smile, "Thank you, aunty Linda! Aunty Linda's fruits taste the best! I really profited from this."

"Oh you and your sweet mouth. Hohoho~" Aunty Linda laughed amusingly at her praise and went back to looking after her stall.

Asteria encountered such scenes as she leisurely made her way to the plaza. When she finally reached the plaza, her hands were already full of small bags of snacks.

However, it was no big deal to her as this happened almost every time she went out for a stroll, and her stamina and physical strength was also very good from daily training so carrying several bags full of snacks was a piece of cake.

The plaza was at the centre of the city and was the busiest place where crowds of people walked here and there. Occasionally, a few carriages drawn by horses could be seen driving past the streets, leaving long trails of wheels behind.

The plaza was spacious and had many shops and inns around targeting the crowds of potential customers.

Papa Matthew's company was also located near the plaza along with the adventurers' guild, merchant's guild, bank, etc. All the biggest attractions were centered here so the plaza was seen as the heart of the city.

Lynn, Len and the other kids usually played around the water fountain in the centre of the plaza or near the bridge connecting the plaza and the west streets, chasing the ducks, etc.

Asteria looked around the plaza and only saw a sea of people flitting about dressed in warm clothes. It wasn't snowing yet so the days weren't very cold so most of them only wore warm outerwear over their dresses.

Seeing that the time was still early, Asteria decided to pay a visit to her father's company then go find Lynn and Len to head back home.

Humming a lively tune, Asteria skillfully flitted through the crowd of people when she suddenly saw a group of uniformed guards standing before the notice board and pasting a paper on it.

After the group of guards were gone, the people who saw the scene curiously gathered around the notice board to get a glance at what was written in the paper.

However, Asteria's attention was still fixed upon the group of guards walking away uniformly with stern faces, her eyes shining in admiration.

"So cool..." She whispered under her breath with a hint of envy and worship in her voice.

But then, her attention was quickly grabbed by the discussion entering her ears from the people gathered around the notice board.

"...the sun of the empire, his majesty the emperor was targeted by a group of assassins on his trip to our Cygnus kingdom. Fortunately, the assassins were suppressed by the royal knights and captured. The investigations are still ongoing. His majesty the emperor will be staying in the castle to await the results." A man read the notice out loud.

"Oh, how terrible!"

"To think someone would actually dare to assassinate the emperor..."

"They must be tired of living."

"Right? I don't know where those people get the guts from. I mean, just think about who they are even targeting! It's the emperor!"

"Tsk, they are just seeking their own deaths. To actually go against the devil-"

"Shhh-!! Don't say that!" Someone quickly stopped the man from speaking. The man then realised what he just said and his face immediately lost all colours as he shut his mouth in fear.

The others who saw this also went silent and after looking at the notice once more, they went their own ways. Only a few remained to look through the notice board, however, no one spoke about it again.

"...devil?" Asteria muttered in a low voice, her eyes thoughtfully staring at the notice board.

However, she quickly put aside the matter after not being able to think of anything and walked away from the notice board with brisk steps.

....

Asteria took a few turns around the street and finally came to a less-crowded place which wasn't too far from the plaza.

Rows of buildings were lined up as she skipped past some and came to a stop in front of an inconspicuous building. There was a signboard hanging over the wall that read 'White Clover' with a four-leaf clover sign.

The building was two storeys tall and had red painted roof and creamy white exterior. The door was low-key in design and had a chime attached so that it would ring when the door was opened. Overall, there was nothing notable about the building on the surface.

After getting in, however, one could see a spacious hall decorated in a simple yet luxurious style.

There was a long counter between two staircases leading up to the second floor with a backdoor leading further inside behind the counter that could only be accessed by the staffs, comfortable couches and tables made of good quality wood were placed by the window, and cupboards and bookshelves were lined up by the walls.

The floor was made of checkered black and white marbles and carpeted with soft red carpets while the walls were painted with reddish brown wallpapers.

When Asteria walked in from the door, the soft chimes rang from the door which immediately attracted the attention of the people inside the hall.

There were some customers lounging on the couches or standing on the line before the counter to wait for their turns and the receptionist was speaking to the customer while other staffs were either busying themselves with entertaining the guests or doing their own works.

So when the door chime rang, most of the people inside immediately looked towards the door to see who came in and when they finally saw that it was just a little girl, some were disinterested while those who knew the little girl had huge smiles on their faces.

They all greeted her one after another with familiarity. Asteria cheerfully greeted them back.

Asteria held the bags of snacks on one hand and closed the door with the other.

Seeing her carrying so many bags with a hand like that, one of the staffs quickly came to help her carry them with a gentle smile on her face.

"Miss Ria is still so popular with the people around here! Are you here to visit the boss again?" She asked.

She was already used to the sight of her coming to the shop with bags of gifts and snacks.

Asteria casually handed over the bags of snacks to the female staff and nodded: "Mhm! I had something to do and came by the way for a visit. I will trouble you to please set these bags aside for now."

"It's no trouble at all! The boss is currently receiving some guests upstairs so it might not be suitable to find him right now. Miss Ria can wait in the boss's office till then or would you like to have lunch here as you wait?" said female staff whilst placing the bags inside a cupboard.

Asteria smiled as she said, "Since dad is busy, it's fine. I only came here to see how everyone's doing so there's no need to worry about me. I will just look around for a bit and go home for lunch. You must be busy too, I cannot keep hindering your work."

The female staff was touched. "Then please enjoy looking around. I will have someone send you a cup of hot chocolate to ward off the cold."

"Okay, thank you!" Asteria didn't refuse and nodded.

"Then please excuse me." The female staff politely took her leave after settling her down on a couch.

Asteria obediently sat on the couch and quietly observed the busy people in the hall.

In no time, another staff came over with hot chocolate and cookies, and set them down on the round table before her.

He smiled and said, "Young miss, here is your hot chocolate and some snacks. Please enjoy."

"Thank you!" Asteria politely thanked the man and lifted the cup of hot chocolate to her lips for a sip.

Mm~~ sweet!

While she happily scarfed down the snacks and hot chocolate, there was finally some movement from the second floor.

Lifting her head up still with some cookie crumbs stuck to her lips, Asteria saw three men walking down the stairs. She immediately recognised one as her father, Matthew.

Matthew was currently seeing the two guests off with no expression on his face. Although he was still very polite, one couldn't see any other emotions on his face.

It was very unusual of him.

Did something upsetting happen? - thought Asteria as she stared at her father with concern in her eyes.

The two guests besides Matthew weren't too conspicuous and only looked average, nothing special at all. Only that the man at the front had a slightly haughty look in his eyes and even his mannerism showed his arrogance, meanwhile, the man to his side was silent as he humbly stood beside the man. He was likely the haughty man's subordinate or servant.

Asteria couldn't guess their identities from their attire or appearance and only noted down their demeanor that stood out most as well as her father's slight indifference or even hostility(?) to them.

The three men stopped at the door and exchanged some perfunctory pleasantries before the two guests finally stepped out of the door, leaving the grim-faced Matthew and the ringing chimes behind.