At the far end of the rundown classroom, Mr Mura leaned against his wooden desk, despite the dark-haired man's thin build the old wood lurched under his weight.

"In just a few short weeks the rite will be held in the capital and those of age will receive your Anima-blade. So if any of you still feel uneasy, rest assured that those thoughts are natural but also that there is nothing to fear."

Over the day he'd managed to calm the nerves of my classmates but as the class dragged on I only found myself getting more fearful of the coming rite.

"You guys might be feeling your bond forming."

I don't.

"Maybe you've had a listless dream about your Anima-blade?"

I haven't.

"Maybe you can feel a pull towards the capital?"

Not once.

"It's all completely normal."

Then what does that make me? I looked around my classmates' faces for a kindred spirit but found none. Everyone looked at least a little relieved, their minds at least partially put at ease.

Unlike the others, I couldn't find peace in our teacher's words. How likely is someone to hire a worker with a crooked back? Or a seamstress with shaking hands? No matter how good one could have been or once was, all that mattered were results. The type of weapon and power contained within one's Anima-blade often decides their career and despite my hard work and study, I'd yet to experience anything to indicate this connection that I should feel.

I can't be the only one.

I scanned my classmates' faces for the thousandth time but if there was anyone who shared my worries they didn't show it. I looked towards my only friend Alessia with pleading eyes but was crushed when she noticed my stare from one seat over and radiantly smiled back. Finally, my senses came back to me.

What was I doing?

Was I seriously wishing the same misfortune upon her just to make myself feel better? What kind of a friend am I? The selfish thoughts burned me with shame as I turned my anger inwards.

"Do any of you have any questions?"

No one attempted to raise their hand.

"Any questions at all guys, there are no right or wrong, smart or dumb questions."

Mr Mura said, his voice soft and reassuring. He paused again but no one attempted to raise their hand. I caught myself about to unconsciously gnaw on the end of my patchwork dress's sleeve. Yet another hole was starting to form from the nervous habit despite my attempts to stop it. I had questions, many of them in fact but they were caught in my throat for fear of the answers.

Satisfied that no one wanted to ask anything, our teacher spoke up once again.

"Okay well if anyone has something that they would like to talk about in private then y–"

His offer was cut short by a hand that was thrust into the air. The whole class looked around until almost all at once they stared at the plucky, brown-haired girl with her arm raised high.

"Yes, Alessia?"

"I've heard that some people don't end up with an Anima-blade. Is that true?"

There it was! The question I was too cowardly to ask, she must've seen something in the look I gave her, it's not often that she participates in class.

"Yes. It's not common but not that rare either. It affects about one in fifty people, not forming a link with an Anima-blade does… limit you somewhat but none of you should worry too much about that. Late bloomers might only start feeling the connection as late as a week before the ceremony, there's even the story that the Flying swords captain didn't feel his connection until the moment before he received his Anima-blade. So there's no need to worry even if one of you doesn't feel anything yet."

I knew of the captain's story, everyone did, the flying swords served as the emperor's bodyguard detail and while information about them was scarce, rumours have a way of slipping through the cracks. Every child must have pretended to be like them at least once.

Though I knew this information already it was somewhat reassuring to hear it from someone else. I shouldn't lose hope yet, there's still time. Still, I couldn't fully shake my fears. The options available to the unlucky ones were worse than even our poverty: homelessness, slavery, dirt-cheap labour jobs, human shields/fodder for adventurers/the guard or–

"What about Blade Tenders? I've heard bits and pieces here and there, but dad refuses to talk about them."

Alessia pressed further, her green eyes shone with unusual determination. The deathly silence that crept over the room was quickly cut through by our teacher's words.

"I can't say I agree with the stigma those people receive but I understand it. About half of those without an Anima-blade develop the ability to become one. That said, I don't want a bunch of angry parents knocking on my door tonight so I hope you'll understand if I steer clear of that topic."

He said with a small nod and meek smile, Alessia didn't try to hide her annoyance at the evasive answer but didn't try to push any further either. Shortly after it was clear that no more questions would be asked we were all dismissed for the day. Alessia and I started walking the dirt streets, leaving the shack we called a classroom together, the same way we had since we first started school. We walked in silence for a short while until I felt a light nudge.

"Sooo…"

Alessia said.

"What sort of things have been happening to you? I mean like, to do with the rite?"

I didn't want to worry her so I pulled myself together and dismissively waved my hand in the air with a smirk.

"Ah, You know, I've had the odd dream about a powerful force but I forget the details when I wake up."

"Oh… Yeah, it seems like dreams are the main thing that people are having."

At first, I thought I heard something off about the way she spoke but she was back to normal in an instant.

"You excited? Seems like the closer we get to the rite, the more on edge everyone gets."

"Yeah I'm pretty nervous but that's to be expected right? After all, your entire life could change depending on what you get. I'm hoping for something that'll make me smarter or maybe think faster."

"A true bookworm."

Alessia nodded as if I'd spoken a fundamental truth like the sky being blue. The lighthearted banter continued back and forth and I'd almost pushed my worries to the back of my mind until hearing

"You've probably read a bit about those blade tender people right?"

she probed.

"Yeah. Yeah, I've read about them before. Before I got the dreams and stuff I was worried about getting my Anima-blade so I prepared for the worst. Just in case."

In truth there wasn't a huge amount of information on them, what little information I had was fragmented and anecdotal. Alessia swept a stray brown hair behind her ear as she continued.

"I won't lie, it sounds a little crazy. Being able to tell what sorts of problems someone has just by looking at their Anima-blade. I wouldn't mind taking a look at some of those books. If that's okay."

As we rounded a corner I could see my place up ahead. Each 'house' along our street bore the same shack-like design of our classroom, the only way to tell mine apart from the others were the handmade metal ornaments that my mother nailed to the door, twisting thorny vines and leaves that started at the bottom and were made to look like they were creeping up the door.

"Sure," I said. "I don't have any ones specifically about the Tenders but there are bits of information about them in a couple of different books. Hold on, I'll run ahead and get them for you."

After a short jog, I pushed open the door to my empty house and headed straight to my barren room. A bed, a small table with the usual new item that I avoided acknowledging, a chair and my bookshelf, all of my earthly possessions fit into a room that I could cross in two and a half steps. I went straight to picking out books and scanning their contents with practised eyes.

I had little in the way of entertainment, my books weren't new but most of the wear was from my constant reading. The dog eared pages, the covers worn at the edges and the bindings that were starting to come undone were all caused by me.

From what I could gather, blade tenders were some sort of doctors for the mind. They could somehow sense what plagued someone's mind through their Anima-blade. Their abilities made them simultaneously necessary for keeping an Anima-blade at peak performance and hated because of how invasive to someone's privacy they were. It was the only way a Bladeless could benefit society and avoid the worst fates.

I grabbed the few books with any information on them and headed back. When I returned outside Alessia was sitting on the grass just out front, she plucked a few blades at a time and threw them into the wind until my arrival.

"Just make sure you bring these back, you still haven't returned the one about flowers."

I chided.

"I know, I know. I'm almost done with it, I swear."

I was tempted to remind her about how many times she's sworn to be almost done but at this point, I was almost tempted to just let her keep it. Instead, I handed over the three books I'd selected and we parted ways after a little chat, waving at each other as she ran off towards her house at the edge of the village.