Four boys from room 427 stood on the curb of a lively large building on the corner of campus, placed within a busy street full of student-run businesses. They stared out toward the road, where two other boys pulled up in a colorful little formations car.

“Hey!” The two arriving boys stepped out of the car and waved toward the other four boys.

“Is that… your car, Tauruk?” The four other boys gawked, glancing toward the well-built construction they had arrived in. “What, did you win the lottery or something?”

“Hehe,” Tauruk smiled. “It’s not mine, it’s Emmet’s. And he built it himself.” He patted the boy next to him on the shoulder.

The four other boys glanced toward Emmet with wide eyes. Was he joking? Even if given the resources, they knew that it would still probably be hard for them to construct something like that. Out of the four boys, Ralun’s squire Jiro was the most incredulous of all. A squire, like him, had built something like that?

Without further ado, the six strode into the restaurant, which Tauruk explained to be founded and ran by a pretty well-known current fifth year student - on the street, this was one of the most popular businesses. It had long become a goal of the four students to someday go there to celebrate, and it wasn’t until now that they finally had a chance.

The six approached the front desk and reserved a room for a few hours, a nicely decorated space where there was a long large table and large speaker system. Walking in and witnessing the luxurious atmosphere, all of the boys couldn’t help but get excited all over again.

“Should we get this started?”

The festivities began, and the boys went wild, putting on musical records and singing boisterously to songs that had become popular in recent years. At first, the interactions between squire and student were a bit awkward, but as alcoholic drinks flowed, the atmosphere quickly turned playful. Halfway in, they ordered five enormous platters of food, filling up the entire table’s space, and ate to their full.

Emmet was at first mystified by the experience as a whole, and in front of so many unknown people, was too timid to sing a song out loud - further, he didn’t know any of the popular songs that many of these nobles knew! However, three drinks in, after getting to know everyone and witnessing them sing loudly and completely out of tune, he began to feel at ease, and eventually crowed out the songs together with everyone else.

At the end of the session, the six finally finished off the food and went to the front desk to pay. Yet just as they were discussing how to split the check, sure enough, Emmet smiled and strode up to put the tab on his card. Seeing the payment go through with no problem, four of the others stared toward Emmet and were shocked speechless. It hadn’t been a boast, after all.

As they were walking out, Jiro turned toward Emmet and grabbed his shoulder with a drunken red face. “Man… you’re an inspiration, Emmet.”

Emmet could only smile earnestly.

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The next day, Tauruk, Emmet, and Fontezul all got together to talk about their future living arrangements. After some back and forth, they agreed that they all were getting along pretty well and agreed to room together once again in the following year.

Thus, the following day, the three promptly set out and toured campus to search through some cheap apartments. After some searching, the three found a nice one near the spacious grasslands, only a few blocks from the Maisy Debugging Depot. Although it was a bit on the expensive end, Emmet offered to cover a large portion of the cost, which initially caused Tauruk and Fontezul to graciously refuse. However, after a large amount of reassurance from Emmet, in which he revealed just how wealthy he currently was, they agreed and could only gratefully express their appreciation.

The day after that, the three signed a contract, and then began the moving process into the new apartment.

Days quickly passed, and the end of the year approached.

The day before the final day of break, Maisy gathered all the employees at the company and officially announced that Emmet would be taking over the following year. Upon hearing the news, many of the employees eagerly congratulated Emmet. All and all, Emmet was well-liked within the company, especially to the first years he had mentored all throughout the year, and since it was widely known he was Maisy’s favorite, the news wasn’t surprising. Although there were a few upperclassmen who were a bit disappointed that a relative underclassman had gotten the position, there was no one who doubted his qualifications.

With this passing of ownership, a new era of the Maisy Debugging Depot officially began.

And then, on the last day of break, the Gemini Academy graduation ceremony arrived.

This wasn’t just any graduation ceremony. This was the ceremony for the top graduates at the Gemini Academy! These 125 graduates had passed test after test, cut after cut, rising to the top of the most prestigious formations school in the world. Not one would not make some sort of impact on the formations world, becoming the elite figures of the new generation. Thus, this graduation ceremony was a major event, where thousands of notable personages would come to observe. Not only could they keep an eye on the rising new generation, but if someone caught their interest, they could rush to recruit them. Of course, that was easier said than done - every single student would certainly have many good options lined up for them.

Along with thousands of other observers, Emmet was joined by a few other members of the Maisy Debugging Depot and funneled into the large ceremony hall, the very same used for freshman orientation. Maisy had used her influence to save them a spot near the front, so they were rather comfortable and could see the stage clearly. After a long aggrandizing speech from the headmaster ‘Stinger,’ the graduates were one by one called to the stage.

As soon as Maisy was called, a resounding cheer erupted out throughout the crowd, everyone rising in a standing ovation. Among the graduates, she was undoubtedly the most famous. Who didn’t know of her radical new theory creating waves throughout the formations world? Many felt that this was a historic moment before she would inevitably rise to prominence.

Emmet also stood up to cheer her on. Just looking at her standing gloriously on stage, he felt a strong sense of pride, his eyes even watering a bit. This was her moment! There was no doubt, the entire world was now hers for the taking. And she deserved every bit of the glory.

After the ceremony, Maisy was immediately inundated with hundreds of figures and reporters, some giving her generous offers and others bombarding her with questions. After patiently answering a few of the questions and denying the offers, she snuck off and met Emmet outside.

This was Maisy’s last day at the school. In just a few hours, she would have to leave campus and head out to the new position she had accepted a few months prior. Rather than taking a high-paying job within the city, Maisy had chosen to take a theoretical research position out in the undeveloped frontier - there, she would be more free to explore her formations craft, rather than be forced to assimilate to common city goal-oriented culture. Since it was far away, however, she would have to leave quickly after the ceremony, so there was only a few precious hours left.

The two spent the last few hours together, happily chatting, as if this was just another tuesday. At this point, Maisy had already taken care of everything regarding her businesses, and the ownership deeds had already been passed on to Emmet, so there were little worries, and they spent the time leisurely.

The hours passed incredibly quickly, and before they knew it, Maisy had to go.

She gathered up her stuff, which consisted of five enormous formation-powered carriages, full of not only many of the various complicated formations she had created over the years, but mountains of expensive materials she had splurged on with her remaining points to take with her. With this backlog of materials, she would continue to be free to build whatever she felt, whenever she wanted.

Before she left, the two shared a final hug. Then, Maisy got into one of the carriages, and the caravan set off.

“Stay in contact! Take care of my stuff for me!”

“Of course! Good luck on the frontier!”

Maisy gave a final wave, and then she was gone.

Emmet stared at her fading figure traveling down the city streets, an empty feeling pervading his chest. What was this feeling? Loss? He instinctively glanced down at the angel wing pendant lying across his chest and grasped it softly. There was no reason to be sad - he would eventually see her again.

Right?

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That wasn’t the only sad farewell.

Later that day, Emmet, Tauruk, and Fontezul all gathered to send Ralun, Torkam, and Jiro off. They exchanged some final goodbyes, promising each other to stay in contact, and then the three left, dragging their baggage behind them.

Unexpectedly, not only Tauruk and Fontezul, but Emmet also felt a bit sad seeing them go. Even though he had not talked with them much, in the past few days, he had suddenly felt that they weren’t all too bad. Most of all, after two years of living in the same space, he had long gotten used to their presence, and no longer seeing them would be strange.

However, what impacted Emmet more was sending Borokov off that night. As Borokov had anticipated, he had not made the cut from fourth year to fifth, and was heading home - however, it had been surprisingly close. He had only been fifty places away from the halfway point.

However, Borokov wasn’t disappointed. In contrast, he was happy to be heading back - he had missed his family dearly. Further, he was excited to start saving up for his dream car - at the academy, it was hard to earn excess income, unless you owned your own profitable business. At home, he had a job lined up, where he would finally start making the big bucks.

Still, even knowing Borokov was happy, Emmet once again felt melancholic watching him go. During one of Emmet’s vulnerable moments, Borokov had kindly helped him out, not looking down on such a ‘bumpkin’ at all. Since then, they had become good friends, always engaging in friendly discussion whenever Emmet visited the admissions office. Emmet couldn’t imagine visiting the admissions office without him.

They exchanged a final well wishes, and then Borokov left, his tiny figure waving casually from ahead before disappearing at a turn.

With his two mentors leaving, Emmet suddenly felt that he had entered a new era of his school career.