There was the usual mass being held in the barracks main church, but a special outdoor mass was being held for this year’s exam applicants. The barracks would be opening up afterward for the start of the exams. A couple dozen applicants had shown up that morning and they expected a hundred more before nightfall.

Zaniyah was beyond nervous. Speaking in front of crowds was fine, right? But this was all about teaching stuff and religion and… She took a deep breath to steady herself. Plenty of friends had shown up to support her. She wasn’t going to fail them.

“Hi!” Zaniyah did a big wave with both of her arms. “I’m Zaniyah! I mean, I’m, uh, Paladin Zaniyah Krogastein! I’m going to be performing mass today! It’s my first time, so just know that I’m trying my best!”

Shaw had buried his face into his hands. He had done everything he could to help his sister, only to fail to consider that she would show up wearing one of her old training outfits. The stark contrast between Zaniyah’s fashion sense and her claims of being a paladin had several applicants staring in confusion. None of them had expected her to be the one conducting services.

“Welcome to Braytons!” Zaniyah exclaimed. “Today, I want to talk about Brayton and his battle against Tyrtain.”

“She was supposed to go over Mart’s sermon of perseverance,” whispered a worried Veximarl. He was absolutely certain she had memorized it. She was muttering it to herself over and over again until she had passed out the night before.

Zaniyah continued. “Long ago, before these barracks existed, even before even Lustro itself, there was a man who sought to discover why the world had changed. Blood iron was still new, and suddenly no one needed to be in a mist region in order to cast magic. Entire kingdoms were breaking down into chaos because of it! Can you imagine? One day, for what was literally an eternity, magic worked one way, and then, it was different! How weird is that?

And every day, more and more people were being born with new and weird powers! Necromancers and paladins ran about without any god to guide them. Mist regions were no longer safe havens guarded by prophets. Worst of all, just when the people needed them most, the gods had fallen silent.

That’s why Brayton set out in the world. To him, it wasn’t about the prophets versus the newbies. Brayton was a master of time magic. He was one of the old guard but he didn’t want to challenge change like the other prophets. He simply wanted to know what was going on in the world, you know?

The old gods weren’t helping anyone, so he sealed them away. With them gone, the new gods were able to take over. His actions weren’t out of hate or fear, but out of love for humanity. After he thought all was settled and done, he decided that he wanted to settle here. The Gilded Region. That’s when he realized that there wasn’t a chance to end things peacefully with Tyrtain.

And yeah, you all know the story, right? Brayton showed with his crew and the big ol’ dragon started to rampage everywhere! He didn’t care about anyone! Neither this mortal or these new gods were gonna tell him what to do... Hey!” Zaniyah began to wave her arms about. “Sybil! Lend me your sword!”

Sybil cupped her hands around her mouth. “No!”

“But I need it for the sake of accurate storytelling!”

“Double no!”

Zaniyah scowled at her for a moment. “Fine, it’s not like anyone wanted to hear the violent parts anyways,” she muttered. A pout and a shake of her head was to be had before she continued. “What happened next was a battle that hammered out the very definition of what it means to be a knight! It’s the reason why this place exists!

Last year, my mentor stood right here and looked out at all these kids and said that Braytons is a place that creates monsters to defeat monsters. Each of us has the capability to break past our mortal limits and become humanity’s defense against the unknown terrors that threaten us.

That’s what Brayton did. That’s why he built his barracks here. This place is to remind everyone that humans aren’t weak. We have what it takes to stand up for everyone who can’t do it themselves. That is, uh, unless you fail the entrance exams. Then you’re gonna have to go home…” She smiled as the nervous applicants stared blankly at her. “But, anyways! What can we learn from this? What is the moral of Brayton’s tale?” She began to tap her foot and mutter to herself. “What was it again..?”

Veximarl clasped his hand over his mouth. He felt ill. This is why he told her to practice her sermon, so that she wouldn’t make a fool of himself. These were applicants that she was preaching to. She was their first impression of a Braytons squire.

“Differences!” Chickadee called out.

“Eh?!” Zaniyah tilted her head to the side while Chickadee held his hands up in the air. He moved them up and down like he was balancing a scale. “Oh! You’re a genius, Chi!”

The corner of Alton’s nose raised as he sneered. “Did she bother to practice any of this before-” His arm snapped up and his bracer unfolded into a shield. A loud clang rang out as Fling embedded itself into the metal. He then stood up and tore the axe out. “Why?!”

“No talking during my sermon!”

“You could’ve killed me! More importantly, you could’ve hit Sybil!”

“My aim is great! I wouldn’t have hit her!” Zaniyah shouted back. “Now sit your butt down! I’m trying to think here! It’s really hard to make up stuff on the spot!”

Alton grumbled to himself as he flopped back down. He undid his bracer and handed it off to Chickadee... Then he pouted at Sybil. He pouted until she nuzzled up next to him.

Zaniyah was tapping her foot again. “Alright so…” She put her hand to her chest. “Inside all of us, there’s both Brayton and Tyrtain, right? Brayton did what he thought was best for everyone, but that’s what Tyrtain did too.

If you think about it, all of us acolytes have weird and strange powers. Those folks a couple hundred years ago were all used to people just doing people things, then BAM! Your leaders are getting overthrown by crazy strong folk who can heal like super fast and make zombie armies. If I wasn’t used to it, I wouldn’t want to deal with any of that either!

Tyrtain was only trying to protect his old way of life. He wanted to protect the humans who had put their faith in him and he wanted to avenge the gods that had been sealed. I’m certain that deep down, Tyrtain was frightened. Brayton was a symbol of change, and no one could really tell then if what he was doing was good or bad… Only history could, and a lot of times, we can’t afford to wait for history to tell us if what we’re doing is wrong or right.

Both sides had the best intentions, but they were also wrong. Maybe Brayton had been a wackadoodle, but maybe that was necessary? Who's to say, right? I’ve never met the guy. But, at the same time, I don’t think Brayton care if history turned him into a hero or villain.

He wanted to defend our right to change.

People can’t change the magic they are born with. They can’t change their circumstances either, but they can find a way to get past them. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and I’ve found something that I believe in. As long as people are being smart about bettering themselves and those around them, you can’t judge them for where their came from. Brayton didn’t. As long as we call ourselves squires of his barracks, we can’t either.

Our society is always evolving... And that’s okay. We just gotta be ready to move along with it. Right now, there’s a war going on in the Crimson Region, and it’s scary. It’s really super scary. A lot of you are being brave because you chose to come here despite not knowing how long this war is gonna last or if you’ll be called on to fight in it.”

Zaniyah looked over the crowd. She hadn’t expected any of this to happen. The past year had been a crazy one. Aside from gods and tainted beasts, she thought that her personal changes were the most bizarre. She never imagined she’d learn to accept her magic or try to be an acolyte, yet here she was.

There were a lot of people who had come to support her. Her squad, Beat, Shaw, and even Duxton. The prince was likely only here because he thought she was going to mess it all up, and the smirk on his face meant that he was having a grand time. Even if she resented him, she was also kinda glad to have a bunch of familiar faces present.

“... I’ve been through a lot,” she said. “This place makes you different. I don’t mean different as in you’ll be getting stronger or smarter and stuff. I mean, it forces you to focus on who you are as a person. That person whose deep down inside your squishy little self.

There’s a lot that you learn about other people too.” Zaniyah glanced at her squad and then at the ground for a moment. “Each of us has our own goals, but at the end of the day, we’re all here to improve ourselves. We don’t all share the same start and finish line, but we can all help each other out along the way.

So don’t worry about being the best or the worst. There isn’t a point to it. The squires at Braytons all have something that makes them special, even if it’s something weird or scary, that doesn’t make them weird or scary people… Actually, some of us are weird and scary people, but none of us are bad people. Wait, some of them are pretty bad...” She wrinkled her nose in thought. “Yeah, but, you know, not all of us are.

And I know that I’m still trying to figure it all out myself. After all, I’m only a year older than you kids, so it’s not like I have all the answers. There were times when I cried, like, an unbelievable amount, and other times where I laughed way to much. I learned that you can’t force yourself to be a better person overnight. Another thing I know is that I’m happy. I’m a lot happier now than I used to be.

I hope that someday, all of you will end up finding your place too. It might be at Braytons, or it might even be someplace entirely different. Planning out the future isn’t as easy as you think it is. Something unexpected is always going to be lurking out there.”

Zaniyah smiled at everyone. She then quietly laughed at herself. “Yeah, I know it’s not the greatest sermon ever,” she muttered. “But at least I tried. That’s all any of you can do over the coming days. Try your hardest. So go out there and be the best damn version of yourself! Good luck with your exams! I know you’re all going to do great!”