34: Legacy Ceremony (2)

There was a reason why the ceremony was called a Legacy Ceremony and why it was such an important ceremony, especially for the Spartan youths.

After burning the weapons or most important belongings of a Spartan, the Everfire Brazier kept the souls of the fallen Spartan. 

If any outstanding Spartan youth emerges from the academy, the Spartan youth could be given the chance to appear in the depths of the Grand Amphitheater and choose one of the legacies. The success of a Spartan youth getting a legacy was dependent on certain conditions.

Also, the souls of fallen Spartans contained the memories of the Spartan when he or she was alive, which meant that the Spartan youth could gain cultivation insights or very important information from the soul. 

It could be anything. Absolutely anything.

But there was one thing everybody knew, a Spartan youth who was able to get a Spartan legacy always came out stronger.

"To those who knew Kael closest," Orion continued in a voice thick with grief. "He was more than our commander - he was the brother whose bravery and heroic compassion we sought to emulate in our own small ways. When the threads of fate grew tangled and frayed, it was his friendship and counsel that helped weave them anew into an unbreakable bond."

One by one, those assembled in the honor guard came forward, each grasping an unlit torch that they used to draw a sliver of flame from the Everfire Brazier. As the new flames sputtered to life, those assembled in the honor guard went to the ground and gave certain people the torches.

Silver glanced at the people who had been given torches and realized they were artisans. Blacksmiths, to be precise.

To Silver's disbelief, the artisans brought out anvils and strange metals from thin air… and they started hammering.

As the blacksmiths hammered on their respective metals, the sound of trumpets shook the Amphitheatre.

"What?"

Before Silver could figure out what was going on, the sound of the drums shook the Amphitheater to the core.

It was loud.

It was intense.

The Amphitheatre trembled.

Silver's heart shook.

His soul shook.

The hearts and souls of everybody present shook.

Even the flames from Everfire Brazier shook and came to life.

The sound of the metals getting hammered, the sound of the drums getting beaten, the sound of the trumpets… Everything sounded… beautiful.

Silver and everybody watched in rapt fascination as the blacksmiths hammered with their eyes never blinking even once.

A blacksmith finished his piece of metal, and he threw it at the center of the Amphitheatre. Silver glanced at it, but he could not figure out what the metal was or what the blacksmith had done. The metal was white hot, and the steam that was emitted from it caused Silver's scalp to tingle.

Another blacksmith finished his piece of metal and threw it at the center of the Amphitheatre.

Some seconds later, another finished. Then another… Then another… Then another… Then another…

Finally, all the blacksmiths finished, and everybody including Silver finally realized what it was that the blacksmiths were making.

It was a statue of Commander Kael!

The arms, hands, legs, feet, abdomen, and every other part except for the head were completed.

Silver's mouth was wide open as he gazed at the headless statue. It was eight feet tall, and the heat that was emitted from the statue was so hot that Silver and every other person without an appropriate cultivation base was drenched in sweat.

Silver felt somebody walk beside him, and he saw his grandfather walk to the front of the elevated viewing box.

"And so we gather here to forever bind Artheus Kael's spirit to the enduring heart of Sparta," Orion's voice rang out and his grandfather stepped out of the viewing box.

His grandfather calmly walked on air to reach the ground, and when he did, he stretched out his right hand. Space rippled, and in the next second, a large sized head appeared from thin air.

Gasps reverberated throughout the Amphitheater as the audience saw the last part of the statue of Commander Kael hover above his grandfather's right hand. His grandfather approached the Everfire Brazier with a calm expression with the head of the statue hovering above his right hand.

When he reached the Everfire Brazier, Orion bowed and stepped away. Abel Morningstar nodded, and then he looked at the audience with a solemn expression.

"Let this ceremony mark the continuation of his legacy – undimmed and unbroken until our mighty city's final flame is extinguished into the endless night!"

As those words echoed through the amphitheater, the torches held by the honor guard arched in unison, their flames moving to the Everfire Brazier. In an instant, the ancient relic flared with blinding new light, its eternal pyre roaring to life in defiance of the encroaching dusk.

His grandfather grabbed the blazing brazier, and with a calm expression, he threw the flames into the head of the statue that was hovering beside him.

The statue glowed intensely, and Abel Morningstar floated towards the floating statue and then he placed the glowing head on the statue.

"MAY COMMANDER KAEL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!" He shouted, and in the next moment, a hole appeared directly beneath the statue and the statue dropped into the hole.

BANG!

The whole Amphitheater shook, and before Silver could regain his balance, he felt a thunderous boom reverberate throughout the Amphitheatre.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

The drummers, blacksmiths, and members of the honor guard slammed their feet on the amphitheater's ground. Despite the small number of people in the honor guard, the intensity with which the amphitheater shook for every powerful step they took showed that the members of the honor guard were not ordinary men.

Some seconds later, the trumpeters blew their trumpets once more, and the Amphitheater was filled with a beautiful melody.

"MAY COMMANDER KAEL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!" Abel Morningstar shouted once again, and this time, the audience, including Silver, repeated his words.

"MAY COMMANDER KAEL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!"

"MAY COMMANDER KAEL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!"

"MAY COMMANDER KAEL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!"

"MAY COMMANDER KAEL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!"