Standing over the crowd of students, Wilt stepped close to the edge of the stage. He could use Ein to speak loudly like Pali but would need to use a chant for it. It wouldn’t be a very impressive display, so he chose to just speak loudly and hope that everyone could hear. There was no plan to his words, and he just hoped he didn’t sound too foolish.

“Hello. I didn’t really expect this. I don’t know what to say, but at the very least I can show you what I can do. Thank you.”

That sounded good enough to him, and he held his hands toward the crowd. He noticed a few people stepping back in alarm, but he wasn’t trying to do anything harmful. In fact, his plan was to do the opposite. There was one thing that he could do that no one else could. It was due to the unnatural nature of his Ein. He spoke the chant slowly so that every word would be audible. Hopefully, that would assuage the panicking crowd.

“Purify my Ein and Pass it to another, grant them a portion of myself!”

He didn’t aim the chant towards anyone, in particular, simply trying to infuse everyone in the room. It might be more than he could handle but was sure that it would get his intentions across. His Ein flooded into the room, and he could feel it being absorbed by the students in front of him. The people behind him were exempt, but a quick glance showed him that the councilors at least knew what he was doing.

It didn’t take long for the other student to figure it out, and his attention was drawn back to the crowd as they pushed towards the stage. The students further in the back grew desperate and tried shoving their way past some of the people in front. Their earlier fear was gone, and their eyes were filled with greed and desire. Those looks frightened him, and he stopped his chant. There were obvious looks of disappointment and more than a small number of whines and complaints.

Wanting to desperately get out of the center of attention, he retreated back to his seat. As he sat down, he felt Stella rest a hand on his shoulder, and she whispered a quiet “good job” in his ears. Those two words did a lot to help draw his focus, plus she had drawn very close to him in order to whisper. Either way, he felt a little better now and watched as the councilors soothed the crowd and began the festivities in earnest.

Wilt was dragged about by Stella and introduced to countless people he didn’t recognize. While he didn’t like crowds, he did enjoy meeting people. It felt like this was somehow a compromise, as the people he spoke to tended to be separate from the other students. He spoke briefly to a few upperclassmen and several members of the staff. Stella was fairly well known, and he basically just had to follow her around to meet with important people.

Eventually, that path led to them approaching the councilors. They had left for a short time after starting the event and had only returned recently. Most of them were in normal dress wear now, with the exceptions of Janette and Pali. Those two still wore their military uniforms. A venture that was far more frightening to him. Stella was leading him by the hand, and he squeezed it tightly as she dragged him to the councilors. She was definitely finding the situation enjoyable. Once they got close, all of the council members turned their heads to face him. Wilt refrained from shuffling on his feet and stood unnaturally stiffly. The councilors didn’t seem to notice or mind.

“Hello there, I’m Councilor Brandon. This may be a bit rude, but can you show me what you did earlier.”

Wilt stared at the elderly man. White hair combed back in a fashionable manner, and wrinkles around the eyes that seemed to exaggerate his interest. It was strange, but the man gave off an aura of kindness, though Wilt didn’t know what that was about. He knew that attunements could cause physical manifestations, but this seemed different. He wore a heavy set of green robes, nothing that seemed overly formal. It honestly reminded him of what he saw at the local temples, but the color was off. It was a symbol for the order of healers.

He was one of the oldest councilors and was famous for his late start in developing his abilities. He had spent many years completely unaware of his abilities and had never developed the power. Only through using the power was a person’s body changed. Thus, the man had grown old before his gift had slowed him from aging. He reminded Wilt of his own grandfather, and he began reciting the chant immediately.

“Purify my Ein and Pass it to another, grant them a portion of myself!”

As he spoke the chant, he held out his hand toward the councilor, and the man gripped it in a firm handshake. Wilt was surprised by the strength behind the man’s bony-fingered grip. It almost made him stutter in his recitation, but he managed to avoid making a fool of himself.

The Ein rushed out of him suffusing the old man. Wilt saw a glint of greed and desire flash in his eyes, but he contained it quickly. It only took a few seconds, and Stella lightly tugged him back once he finished. He easily let himself be dragged back, and she quickly turned him towards another councilor. It was a bit rude, but Stella looked like that was what she wanted, and he was extremely grateful. He didn’t like the looks people were giving him now. Everyone was treating him like they found a hidden treasure.

“Hello Mister Wilton, I am Sofia Greymore. While I would like to ask for a demonstration of your previous ability, it seems my fellow councilor has spoiled your mood on that matter. I will settle for a small introduction for today, however, if I were you, I would prepare to use that chant more often. It would do much to aid our kingdom's defense if we could raise the ability of all of our chanters.”

Her voice had a strange echo to it, and he understood why they called her the chanter of echoes. After speaking to some other students, he had learned that she was someone who had formed an attunement to chanting itself. Not a specific action but the general application of Ein. It was extremely rare as most people would run into another attunement in pursuit of something like that. The attunement strengthened her chants, but it never went into specifics.

She was wearing a revealing blue dress, and Wilt made sure to keep eye contact. He was with his date and letting his eye wander in the slightest would have been a mistake. However, she was also beautiful, her green eyes seemed to shimmer with a foreign light. Furthermore, she had high cheekbones which made it seem like her face was sculpted, and her perfectly straight black hair only added to the effect. Meeting her eyes, he spoke sheepishly.

“Thank you, and I will try and get used to it. I just wasn’t prepared for…”

His words trailed off, and he just shrugged his shoulders to the rest of the room. That comment actually got her to smile and noticed that even Stella was smirking beside him.

“That, Mister Wilton, is how beautiful women get looked at. You will need to learn to get used to it, and I would recommend embracing it.”

She sounded a little tired as she spoke of the situation, and he could somewhat understand. He had only experienced those glances for a few hours, and he already wanted to run back to his room. It was not something he had planned on having to deal with in his life.

“Thanks for the advice.”

He didn’t really have a good response and could only nod his head and thank her. It was the only response that seemed appropriate. Stella gave the councilor a much more respectful goodbye, before pulling Wilt towards another of the councilors. This continued until he had met with all of the councilors. Well, everyone except councilor Janette and Pali, whom Stella was leading him to now. These two were off on their own discussing something, and their very presence seemed to have carved out a chunk of space for them to speak unheard.

Stella, like usual, had no problems barging into the space. She walked over to the two confidently, and Wilt followed a step behind. She had still been grabbing his hand, and he felt a reassuring squeeze as they approached the final two councilors. Returning it, he knew that she always felt a little stressed when speaking to her aunt. In a way, she placed her aunt on an even higher pedestal than being a councilor. He couldn’t even imagine where to place someone so that they would be above the councilors.

“Hello students, I hope you are enjoying yourselves.”

Councilor Janette sounded amused as she spoke, and Wilt guessed that he knew why. She had probably been the one that decided to not inform him that he would be giving a speech. It seemed like the kind of pressure she enjoyed putting on people. Many of her classes had demanded similar levels of innovativeness. He chose not to comment on it, and just greeted them formally.

“Hello, teachers.”

Feeling somewhat comfortable around the two, he chose for a more informal address. Councilor Pali didn’t look particularly happy, but Janette seemed even more amused now. Stella coughed a little, clearing her throat and drawing attention away from Wilt.

“Hello, Councilor Pali, and Aunt Janette. You said you wanted to speak with Wilt.”

Despite using formal words, her tone carried none of that formality. This was the first he was hearing of the matter though, and he looked at the two councilors with some confusion. Neither of them seemed to care, and Pali gave him a quick answer.

“Your first mission will be to tag along with Janette for one of her assignments. You will be strengthening her with your new ability. It is a bit of a test run to see what your gift can do for the ideal targets. Prepare to leave in five days.”

That was not the discussion he was expecting on having and seeing Stella’s face she hadn’t been expecting it either. Honestly, Wilt felt surprisingly relieved at hearing the information. It meant that he wouldn’t need to do any actual fighting and would only need to improve Janette’s abilities. That was something he could do. If this was the direction that he went in terms of the war, that would be a relief. Stella was already being used to make wards, and he was glad to know that she would be in the relative safety of the capital. Sticking by a councilor’s side sounded like the best position to Wilt, and he would be glad to fight alongside any of them.

It was a bit irritating that he would need to leave so soon, but that was still after his planned date. Plus, he would be able to go home for a couple of days too. Stella seemed more annoyed than he was, and he began to think about how much time they actually spent together. It was a lot, and he would probably start feeling lonely and bored when he went on the mission. That thought made him immensely happy and sad. His mind was wandering, and a cough from Janette caused him to come up with a response.

“That’s a little abrupt, but I will do as needed.”

Pali seemed to appreciate his response. Janette seemed eager too. They talked a little bit more about the details, and Stella had asked about how long the mission would take. Apparently, another councilor would actually be joining them too, and the whole mission should only take a week or so. It wasn’t anything too crazy, all they would be doing is fortifying a city called Thacktall, which was heavily guarded by its terrain. A very safe first mission, which would probably involve more ward making than combat. He was more stressed about the dance with Stella than the fight but let himself get dragged toward the dance floor. He knew the basics, at least.