"It's just not fair! I'm the {Systro}, why am I learning from a {Battlecraft}!?"

Agnes could only let out a muffled groan. She only ever agreed to work with Robern because Saul was making such a scene about it. If she had known what she was getting into, she would've made Saul pay in tarns first.

"-and, yes, I understand how important the (leader) is to a team, but the {Systro} can't just-"

"Sweet mercy, can you keep your maw closed for ten seconds!?"

"But I-"

Agnes took the brats head in both her hands, forcing his jaw shut.

"You keep your mouth shut," Agnes hoarsly whispered, "or I'll build a contraption out of prairiegrass and laxberry leaves that'll keep it shut for good."

Agnes slowly took her hands off Robern's head, making sure the mouth was staying shut before turning to glare at a nearby bush.

"Don't think I can't hear you laughing it up in there mister man-with-a-plan! I have half a mind to turn this cart around and turn you over to Freeda!"

The bush rustled before turning inside out. Instead of a bush, there were now two boys crouching under a brown sack.

"Well, that's all for stealth practice today!" Clive stood with a clap of his hands. "Now it's time for obedience training. Step one: do whatever she says and we don't get hurt."

Harold only snored in response.

"By Tip's Tarns, Clive! How many times did you whack that one in the head?"

Clive only shrugged at Agnes' question, then proceded to drag Harold to the cart. Agnes wanted nothing more than to reprimand the fool further, but eighty years of life let her know when someone was trying to play with her emotions. Instead, she whirled around to face the little brat.

"Saul gave you your first sygil, right?"

Robern only looked on confusedly, and Agnes couldn't help but sigh.

"Diagram?" She tried.

Robern's eyes lit up, and a slip of parchment was procured from within his patchwork pants. Agnes glanced over the slip of paper, and nearly choked at what she saw.

"I hit a bit of a snag with the visualization, and I can't figure out how to get further without-"

Agnes couldn't contain herself. Her laughter carried for miles along the rolling prairie. When she finally got control of herself she looked to see tears rolling down Robern's cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry. I know that most {Systro} would p-probably be ready for better diagrams by now, b-but I just c-couldn't get it right a-and-"

Robern broke down crying, and all Agnes could do was stew in her own regret.

Of all the {Systro}, of course I get stuck with the self-concious prodigy.

"Agnes- hrngh- you can't keep- grah- making kids- raugh- cry like that.."

"Says the elf dragging an unconcious Dwarf by the ankles. He isn't even old enough to grow a beard yet."

Clive tried to make a retort, but was too out of breath to respond quickly. By that time, Robern's wailing was starting to die down into a whimper. Agnes was considering how to respond to the outburst, but Clive rushed to console the child first.

"I think you've done enough, Agnes. You can't just bust a sygil at every {Systro} who isn't perfect."

"Clive-"

"No, Agnes. You showed this kid the worst of yourself today. You need to apologize before..."

Agnes got a front row seat as Clive's face went completely blank for the first time in years. The sygil in his face was more than even Agnes would have believed before seeing it. Clive did his best not to laugh out loud, but his silence was enough to set Robern off again. While that brush fire only grew hotter and hotter, Agnes lifted herself between cuts of cloth to check on her fellow Dwarf.

Harold was leaned up against the rear wheel of the cart, still snoring soundly. Agnes thought it best to get him in the cart before something even worse happened that day. After several attempts to wake the boy, it seemed Agnes ony had one option left to accomplish her goal. And so it was that a Dwarf heaved another Dwarf into an enchanted cart to the dulcet tones of two overemotional Elves.

Are you happy, Mom? Is this what you wanted from my life of adventure? Because when I said I didn't want to go, I had a thousand terrible situations lined up to tell you off with, and none of them are as bad as this reality. I swear, when I get back home you're going to have so much to answer for...

***

"And that's why we were laughing, Robern."

Robern did his best to fight back the tears that threatened to well up again. He had been so scared of failing his first lesson that he started lashing out at the {Battlecraft}. Robern knew what the books said about keeping good relations between teams, and he could tell he had nearly blown his chance with the only team he had ever known.

"I- I'm not a failure?"

Robern had hardly been able to understand the string of words coming from his superior's mouth, but it hadn't sounded like she was calling him inept. As Robern's blurry vision finally cleared, he saw two faces looking over him. Agnes seemed wary, as if she feared what Robern might do next. Clive was a different story. There was still concern in his eyes, certainly, but it was mostly overpowered by mirth, glee, and something else Robern didn't quite understand.

"Of course you're not a failure, just- don't cry again... please?"

Robern nodded shakily, and the tension drained out of Agnes' face.

"Clive can you work on... that? I think I need a minute alone..."

Clive gave a mock salute as Agnes started to waddle away, still half buried in countless pieces on unfinished clothing. As she began to lay down on a particularly large rock, a rustling of parchment caught Robern's attention.

"Well, then!" Clive remarked cheerily, "Let's see if I can't fix this little problem of yours..."

***

"Of course! How could I have forgotten!"

Once Clive had laid everything out for him, Robern hadn't needed much time to figure out his problem. The diagram he had been given wasn't a control sygil, it was the control sygil. He remembered reading about the control sygil in one of the more advanced books he had been able to find. Every squiggle on the circle was actually a seperate sygil with it's own unique properties. The control sygil couldn't be memorized as a whole because it represented all of Systro. Someone able to control that much power would be considered sacrilege by the Council of Scrolls.

"Well now that we have things sorted out in that head of yours, why don't you try some hands-on lessons?"

Clive rummaged under the seat of the cart for a moment before pulling out a simple wooden disk. inscribed on one face were four short lines, each meeting another to form mirrored points. Robern instantly recognized them as the top and bottom sygils from the control. As Robern continued to look at it, he started to notice other sygils carved around the first two. Some were so small that they almost blended in with the wood grain entirely. Before Robern could examine the disk any further, Clive was pushing it into his palms.

"Focus on the top and bottom sygils. Try to sense the flow through each part of the disk."

Robern did as he was asked. At first, he couldn't quite understand what he was supposed to be feeling, but that soon changed. Robern could almost see the sygils in his mind as something started to curve its way through them. The 'something' flooded into the top sygil before slowing to a crawl as it moved through increasingly smaller passageways. Eventually, the 'something' reached the bottom sygil, and flooded back out into the air. Robern realized that he must be looking at the Systro moving through the disk. The top sygil was drawing it in from the air somehow, while the bottom one sent it back out again. As soon as he made the connection, Robern could feel the sygils thrumming their assent, encouraging him to go further. Robern started to notice the same top-bottom sygils throughout the entire disc, directing Systro in countless directions. Some paths seemed to lead to sygils that stored and condensed the Systro before sending it into a new type of sygil entirely. Other paths moved directly through the disk, not really doing much of anything. A lot of the sygils Robern focused on only seemed to be there as a supressor, stopping the Sytro from flooding in too quickly. Soon, Robern had been able to map out the entire disc, feeling each part acknowledge him as they went about their duty. There were still two sygils he didn't quite understand, however. Robern did his best to focus on any impressions they might give him, but a ring of supressors masked anything that might have been gained.

"Give me that!"

The disk was gone, but after-images started flashing across Robern's eyes, causing a mild headache. When Robern opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sky. Clouds were moving in from the East. Robern figured they probably wern't going to hit the cart any time soon.

"What were you thinking, Clive!? This is advanced level sygil work! One wrong move and he could have been half way to Evergreen by now!"

"What were those two sygils?"

Robern knew this might be a bad time to ask, but he wasn't sure he would remember to if the conversation got away from him.

"You mean the in and outs?" Agnes asked, eyebrow raised.

"No, the two surrounded by all those supressors. I was going to get in by the 'in-out' line to figure it out, but I thought that it might overload if I did that."

Agnes' second eyebrow rose to meet the first, and the two of them went on a nice trip together, as far North as they could get. After a moment of silence, Agnes moved to put the disk back in its rightfull place.

"Trade secret, and yes, a stunt like that would've triggered the self-destruct function."

"Why does it have a self-destruct function?"

Agnes turned back towards Robern, her eyebrows now happily married in a smug expression.

"Trade secret." She replied with a wink.

Robern wanted to object, but Harold had chosen that moment to start waking up.

"...Why do I feel like a sack of grass flour..."

Agnes' eybrows started to have a heated argument as the reason for Harold's condition grimaced. Luckily enough, Clive and his happily divorced eyebrows were there to patch things up.

"You forgot rule number one, Harold: never mess with an eighty-year-old grandma Dwarf."

Agnes' eyebrows also became hapily divorced as she let out a snort. Harold pulled himself up with a flat look laid towards Clive. Harold's buff eyebrows were too insecure to confess their feelings yet, but Robern was sure they would get there after at least three more chapters.

Robern stood up and tried to clear his head. He really hoped that eyebrow thing wasn't going to be permanent, or he might have to quit adventuring right then and there.

Yeah, right. I'd rather eat laxberries...

Robern chuckled at his own joke as Harold tried to argue with Clive. Harold's eyebrows had finally gone on their first date, and they both thought they had ruined it for the other. Clive's eyebrows had met at the same tavern again, and Robern was starting to think they weren't actually divorced. Agnes' eyebrows still hadn't moved on from each other, but the right one had heard that his childhood best friend was still single and-

Robern really hoped this stopped soon.