The next day, Yuriko began her day with her usual routine. She grabbed Krystal as she began her morning run, tacitly permitted by Sandra Farrow, Krystal’s mum, to drag her childhood friend out of bed.

“Hey, wha-what’s happening? Five more hours!” Krystal murmured sleepily while Yuriko stripped her pyjamas off and dressed the other girl in training clothes. “Yuri? Why you do this?”

“Come on, I need company.”

“So you just drag me out of bed?”

“Yup.”

“Urgh.”

“Besides, even your mum said it's fine.”

“Mum!”

Krystal grumbled all the way to the road but she grudgingly warmed up and started jogging with Yuriko. For her part, Krystal’s pace was so slow that Yuriko sprinted ahead a hundred paces then ran back to Krystal before doing it over again, essentially doubling the length of her run.

“If we’re doing this might as well spread the pain,” Krystal moaned. They came up to Mikel’s place and dragged the boy out of his bedroom, too. Heron was already waiting for them at a corner and he happily joined the exercise.

He tried matching Yuriko’s pace but gave up after a few rounds. The twins weren’t around this time. All the better, Yuriko thought; Braden needed to recover and pushing himself would only have an adverse effect on his health. Still, she did worry about him, so she resolved to send a messenger crane after breakfast.

Once she reached her home, Yuriko performed cooldown stretches. Today was bodyweight training day though as usual, Krystal and Mikel refrained from joining her. Heron performed the same exercises as she did and he grew visibly annoyed when he only managed to perform half as many repetitions as she did.

Afterwards, the two of them sparred lightly using training blades.

“Could you teach me your Flowing Water style?” Heron asked.

“It’s not really that style,” Yuriko said, embarrassed. “I didn’t even know my style was like that until the twins pointed it out.”

“Whatever you use is incredible,” Heron said frankly. “Using a spear is nice but I can’t lug a spear around all the time.”

“Count us in, too,” Mikel said.

“You?” Heron asked with a slight sneer.

“Yes,” Mikel said simply.

“I need it more for basic defence,” Krystal said.

“It’s fine, I’ll teach you what I can.” Yuriko frowned. “One of the sword dances my Facet taught me should be applicable. Though I have to adapt it for a single blade.”

She picked up a blade and started to move through the dance with it. By the time she finished, the three of them were staring at her with confusion.

“How does that go again?” Mikel asked.

Yuriko repeated the dance and when she finished, Mikel and Krystal threw up their hands.

“Was that supposed to be the same? Those were different moves!”

“Oh, er...” Yuriko chuckled, “It’s more how you show your Intent than the specific form. I can’t quite explain it properly since there are no definite movements. Here.”

She did a quick sword dance, envisioning an opponent that she moved against. It was easy enough to convert the dual sword dance to a single sword.

“I can see your enemy,” Heron observed while he shook his head.

“What enemy?” Mikel demanded.

“She is moving against an imaginary foe. Look, Yuri moved that way to avoid a strike and immediately moved to counter after evasion. But I can only see a shadow of it. Most of the time, it's just her waving the sword around. It’s nice to look at though.”

“So, how’s that going to work?” Krystal grumbled.

“Perhaps we should go into the foundational movements?” Mikel asked.

“It’s the same as what the school has taught us.”

Yuriko demonstrated the different strikes and parries of Imperial Basic Sword Art and then demonstrated it using the Golden Silhouette’s sword dances. The basic movements were there, Yuriko knew, but they had been transformed by her Intent.

“This isn’t working,” Krystal groused.

“I’m sorry,” Yuriko hung her head, “I’m not a swordmaster. I can only copy what my Facet’s taught me. There is an Animus circulation pattern for it though, maybe that would help.”

“You’re fine teaching us that?” Heron asked incredulously.

“You’re my teammates.”

“Those are secrets of your Heritage,” Heron said slowly. “They should be kept within your lineage.”

He had an odd light behind his eyes though. Yuriko shrugged.

“This is only the entry-level skill. If it helps you survive, it would be worth it.”

Krystal hugged Yuriko tightly, “Thanks.”

“Alright,” Yuriko coughed, “Well, first thing to do is draw your Animus out of your core and separate it into several strands and then you move them around…”

“Wait, what?” Krystal sputtered. “Separate the Animus into several strands? How would you even go about doing that?”

“Just…split the strand and control them as if they were your left and right hand?”

“Wow. Just…wow.” Heron shook his head. “No wonder. Well, I can’t split my control over multiple strands. I haven’t tried yet anyway.”

“But any Knight could do that,” Yuriko said.

“After much training,” Krystal pointed out.

“Oh, hey, look at this,” Mikel said suddenly. He held both of his hands with palms facing up. A small tongue of flame danced over each one.

“How?” Krystal asked curtly.

“I just…did…it?”

Krystal and Heron exchanged looks then broke out into a laugh.

“I guess it comes easily for some people.” Krystal shrugged, “Maybe this is the next step of our training.”

“It doesn’t help that our Knight parents aren’t here,” Heron said grimly.

“Way to kill the mood,” Krystal grumbled.

“Anyway,” Yuriko interrupted. “I’m leaving on the Forty-sixth for the City. Will you join me?”

Heron sighed. “No, I’m afraid not. My mum wouldn’t let me. I’ll head out a couple of weeks later though.”

“Same here,” Krystal and Mikel said in unison.

“Sorry, Yuri,” Krystal muttered. “Mum said she couldn’t bear to see me go earlier since Dad isn’t around.”

“Dad said he couldn’t afford to send me early,” Mikel said with a blush.

“That’s alright,” Yuriko put a brave face on, “Kato will be with me anyway. Send me a messenger crane when you three get there?”

“Of course.”

With nothing left to be said, Yuriko saw them off and went inside for a quick breakfast. Rami, Kato, and Marron were already up, with her eldest brother making some oatmeal. He chopped some peaches and green lavan berries to garnish it and served all four of them quickly.

“Said your goodbyes?” Marron asked while slurping his spoon.

“We’ll see each other soon enough,” Yuriko said quietly.

“Watch out for her, Kato,” Marron said with a pointed look.

Kato grunted.

“I think I’ll leave Fri’Avgi here,” Yuriko said after a while.

“The artefact?” Marron clarified.

“Yes.”

“You’ve done the paperwork with the Legion Vagaris?”

“Yes.”

“Why not just leave it with them?”

“I, uh, I don’t feel comfortable doing so.”

“So, you’re just going to leave a potentially troublesome artefact at home where Rami’s staying alone?”

“Er,” Yuriko gulped, “I guess I didn’t think it through.”

“Well, I can keep it safe,” Marron hesitated. “But I think you’re better off lending it to the Legion.”

Yuriko shook her head. “Fri’Avgi doesn’t seem to want that.”

“How can you tell?”

“I get a feeling of…well, an ill feeling when I think about it.”

“Really?”

“Well, I get an ill feeling about leaving it behind but I don’t think bringing an eye-catchingly huge sword along is a good idea either.”

“We could wrap it up so it’s not obvious,” Marron grunted. “I think I can find a long enough bag for it. Greatswords and other big weapons are moved in such a manner.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ll look for one at the Watchtower. Also,” Marron said slowly, “the armoury is asking for their side-blade back.”

“Oh!” Yuriko blushed. “Uh, sure. I’ll give it to you?”

“Yes. You broke your side-blade and Plasma Caster.” Marron sighed. “There are spares in Da’s armoury. Use those. Try not to break them this time.”

“Yes,” she answered meekly.

“Maybe these would last past the Season,” Kato grinned.

Thonk!

“Ow!”

Later in the day, she headed back to the bank and met Zuldayn in the antechamber. He led her back to another side chamber, she wasn’t sure if it was the same one but it looked identical to the previous one.

Zuldayn handed over a small pink crystal card, about a couple of inches wide and three long. It had a small hole in one corner. The whole thing weighed a couple of HiJin, she supposed, less than a Chaos shard.

“This identification card holds information on your account such as the amount of Sovereigns and your home branch. You have to come to a branch to redeem your Sovereigns and there is a small fee per transaction.”

“Oh, thank you. What would happen if I lose this?”

“As long as you register with the Rumiga City branch, you can get it reissued there. It would take at least two weeks for a re-issue though, to make sure all records are accurate and weren’t tampered with. So, try not to lose your card.”

Zuldayn smiled. “Most people thread a forceweave strip through the hole and wear it around their necks while I’ve seen some secure it to their belts. It’s really up to you, Miss Davar. You can also give your card over to the branch in Rumiga City and you can treat that branch as your home branch. You can make withdrawals and deposits, as well as receive funds through that branch. This service will cost a small fee and will give you peace of mind over the card. However, you will need to make the same transfer request in case you need to travel away from that branch.”

“I see. Thank you Mr. Madoc.”

“You’re welcome and safe journeys.”

Yuriko’s next errand was back at the campus to pick up her exam tickets. She had four silver crowns inside her coin purse, pressed into her hand by Marron just before she left home. The attendant received her coins, wrote up a receipt, and handed her the tickets, four leaves of stiff paper the length of her palm, with a complex runescript along the borders.

“Good luck, dearie.”

“Thank you.” Yuriko heaved a sigh of resignation. She had to attend each of the exams and those could take more than a day. She would have to do her best for each, not just Agaza’s, otherwise, she could get called out for it.

She wasn’t that worried, though, that the other Academies would find her more suitable for their curriculum. She barely knew anything about runescript, she didn’t really know the difference between a Sorcerer and a Spellweaver, let alone know how they used their craft, she wasn’t interested in learning Administration, and wasn’t well versed in the arts. Sure, she appreciated a good painting, let alone a lovely song, but she had no idea how to create either one.

Her one and only desire was to enter Agaza, learn how to be an effective leader or specialist, and join the militia and then the Legion Vagaris after her initial tour was done. That and she wanted to advance her Anima strength too, but that was something everyone in the Empire wanted. Well, she liked eating good food too. Which reminded her that she should ask her brothers which places had excellent cuisine.

She headed back home, deciding to walk instead of taking the Tram. In a couple of days, she would leave her birthplace, her home. She hadn’t even been to Cierra Village to the south or seen much beyond the Shillogu Woods. She had definitely never gone closer to the Zarek Mountains than the odd times her Da had taken her for a ride on the flying shuttle.

Her worries and troubles seemed to fade away at the thought. She would finally see other places, see their beauty, sample their food. She could see people other than those she’s seen all her life. What would it be like to live at a place where there were so many people that they would crowd together when walking the sidewalks?

The thought gave her a little thrill of displeasure. She rubbed her arms and shivered. Still, that shouldn’t discourage her.

When she got home, she took Fri’Avgi to the backyard and practised the greatsword dances the Golden Silhouette taught her. Afterwards, she made dinner for her siblings. Marron would be home again tonight, hopefully with a carrying case for her artefact, and the license to carry it. She still thought that it would be much easier for her to leave it here but she had to acknowledge the point that it might bring danger to Rami.

Her brothers came back in time for dinner, and they quietly enjoyed Yuriko’s fried chicken filets covered in gravy and served with baked potatoes with melted cheese and chives.

“I have tickets on the Commuter Tram for the Forty-sixth. We have to be at the station an hour after dawn,” Kato said. “Make sure your bags are packed.”

“I have a case for your artefact,” Marron said, “but the paperwork isn’t ready. It probably won’t be until the next Season.” He sighed. “Well, leave it with me.”

Yuriko sighed in annoyance. There wasn’t much she could do about it though. “Where will you keep Fri’Avgi?”

“At the Watchtower is safest,” Marron answered.

“Fine.”

They ate the rest of their dinner in silence. Rami suddenly hugged her, pressing his face against her side. He mumbled some words she couldn’t hear.

“What is it, Rami?”

“I said, you could just enrol in the local academy!”

Yuriko hugged her little brother, squeezing him until he squeaked. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

He nodded, brushing away tears. Marron and Kato patted Rami’s back.

She turned in early for the night and whatever dreams she saw faded into mist when the morning sun came.