The cart rattled to a stop in front of the chapel gate.
Alaric climbed down with his bag over one shoulder and the folded paper from Larethin tucked inside his shirt. Before he could take three steps, the gate burst open.
"There he is!" Rin shouted.
She ran first, boots slipping a little on the packed dirt. Kellan came behind her at a steadier pace. Mira, Lia, Elaina, and Father Corwin followed, along with a trail of younger kids who had not been told to stay back firmly enough.
Elaina reached him first. She grabbed his shoulders and looked him over from head to toe.
"No new holes," she said. "Good."
"I did not plan on getting any," Alaric said.
Elaina pulled him into a quick, hard hug and let go before anyone could say anything about it.
Rin elbowed Alaric. "So? Did you pass? You did, right? If you say you failed I will hit you."
Kellan just watched, eyes steady, waiting for the answer.
Mira stood a little behind the others, hands folded, a small smile on her face. Lia grabbed the edge of Alaric's cloak and refused to let go.
Alaric took the paper from his shirt and held it up. "Corwin should read it," he said.
"Inside," Corwin said at once. "All of you. If we block the gate, Torren will run someone over."
They moved into the chapel hall. The benches filled with children and a few curious townsfolk who had drifted in at the sound of commotion.
Alaric handed the folded paper to Corwin. The priest broke the wax seal and read it silently once, lips moving. Then he cleared his throat.
"From the regional office of the Church in Larethin," Corwin said. "By their decision, Alaric of Horsin is placed in the Church‑sponsored training track for the Royal Knight Academy of Shersia's capital. He is to remain under the care of Saint Elyss's Rest, continue his studies and practice, and will be called to the capital when he reaches the proper age."
A small murmur ran through the hall.
"So that means…" Rin began.
"It means," Corwin said, "that he did well enough they want to invest resources in him. When the letter from Larethin comes again, Alaric will leave not for a test, but for years of study."
Elaina folded her arms, but her eyes were bright. "Better come back taller," she said. "If you return as a famous knight and still look like a stick, I will be disappointed."
Lia tugged his cloak harder. "You are not leaving now, right?"
"Not now," Alaric said. "I will be here for a while yet."
Good. Time to grow. Time to close the gap more.
Torren leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. "Remember this when you complain about lessons," he said. "You asked the world to take you seriously. It just did."
He pushed off the wall. "My job here is finished. Try not to make me escort you to any more exams for a while."
He gave Alaric a short nod that might have been respect, then left.
That evening, supper was better than usual.
Elaina produced a pot with more meat than they normally saw in a week, and there was even a small sweet bun for each child. She blamed it on "leftovers that would go bad anyway," but no one believed her.
Rin pounded the table with her cup. "To Alaric, who is going to be a big fancy academy," she said. "Remember us when you have a title so long it does not fit on one page."
"I will remember to duck when you throw things," Alaric said.
Kellan smiled. "If they took you, they will have to take me next," he said. "I will go to Larethin too."
"You will," Alaric said. "I will be waiting for you there."
Mira leaned in a little. "Tell us later what the exam was like," she said quietly. "Not just 'it was hard'. I want details."
"I will," he promised laughing.
Lia sat pressed against his side on the bench, chewing her bun slowly, as if afraid it would vanish if she finished it too fast.
They are happy. They are expecting things from me now.
After supper, when the smaller children had been herded toward beds and the hall had quieted, Alaric slipped outside.
The sky was clear. Stars were already appearing above the chapel roof. The yard felt familiar, the rough fence, the patch of dirt where he and Kellan always sparred, the corner behind the shed where he practised spells out of sight.
Larethin was just one gate. The capital will be harder than that. I have a few years.
He took a slow breath.
"Confirma," he whispered.
Aura wrapped his legs. He launched into a run along the edge of the yard, boots thudding on the packed earth, breath even.
This time it was not just a boy running in circles but towards a goal.
He finished the lap, stopped, and let the aura go. Mana in his reserve dipped slightly and then began its slow rise again.
Tomorrow, he would make the laps longer and work on new spells he had only sketched in his head.