The night would soon arrive. Rin felt fine, despite the fact that everyone had spent the last several hours walking along the road. That training was paying off in more than just her ability to kill monsters. Eventually, though, as some sweat dripped down from her chin, she wondered when she'd get another chance to keep reading.

She wanted to keep going, but a few paragraphs after where she'd left off previously, she started getting a bit dizzy and she figured maybe she should take her time with it. The notebook wasn't going anywhere, after all.

Ahead, there were many broken down cars and a few wild animals searching walking along the tall grass. Troph approached one of the cars, and Vick stopped, prompting the students to do the same.

Troph crouched and searched through one of the vehicles, and Eve floated over to Vick.

"Uh, what's he doing?"

"Looting," Vick crossed his arms. "I don't think he's gonna find much, though."

"You never know," Troph countered, as he heard him say that.

Seth quickly went and did the same, searching through another car. John and Carla looked at each other, shrugged, and went to loot some cars of their own. All while Vick just watched.

"So, you don't think it's worth checking?" Eve asked Vick.

"Hm? No, he's right, you never know. There very well could be somethin' inside these things worth bringing back." Vick shrugged. "It's just that..." He smiled. "Well, I think it's bad luck to loot before a mission. That's all."

Rin raised a brow when she heard that. It sounded a bit too superstitious for her taste, but, at the same time, she was just a student. Maybe he had reason to think that.

By the time everyone was done, the night looked like it was about to arrive, and finally, the group gathered around a cluster of cars.

"You can sleep inside the cars," Vick told them. Cara nodded behind him.

"And, you can use a water spellsign to clean it up if you want to," Cara added.

"Personally, I think that Old World smell has a bit of charm to it, but you guys do you," Vick chuckled. "We're gonna try to find some materials to make a fire with."

"I'll keep an eye on them, take your time," Cara said, and Vick joined Troph as they walked north.

Eve cast some water spells and helped everyone clean up the cars they'd be staying in. Rin would be going to sleep in the same car as the fairy, they decided, and soon, once Vick and Troph came back, everyone was sectioned off in their own little spots. The makeshift camp was formed by a circle of broken-down cars, and Rin asked Eve if they could sleep in the one closest to the fire.

Simply so that she could have some light to read with.

As everyone settled in, the moon came out, the cars dried up, and Rin was sitting down in some car that was larger and bulkier than the rest, with Xhez's bag next to her, since she wanted to make sure nothing would happen to the sprite.

Eve flew over to her.

"Hey," the fairy greeted her.

"Hi," Rin smiled a little.

"Feels surreal, huh? We're almost there!" Eve exclaimed.

"Yeah," Rin agreed, letting out a deep breath. "I'm pretty excited."

"I can't wait to see what real adventurers are like! I... Oh, what's that?" She asked as she laid her eyes on the notebook.

"A journal," Rin explained, turning toward her. "It belonged to my brother. He was an adventurer too, so I wanted to see if there were any tips or whatever that I could get from this."

"Oh, damn," Eve replied. "What rank is he?"

"B," Rin answered, not bothering to inform her that her brother had died already. Eve's brows went up and the fairy looked impressed.

"Wow," she smiled. "I guess talent runs in the family."

"Ha!" At that, Rin barked out a laugh, blushing a bit. "I wish."

Eve let her head fall back and she looked pretty funny as she sprawled out on a chair that was way too big for her.

"You know," Eve said, her voice a little softer than normal, "you're actually expected to keep a life journal, and update it every ten years as a fairy. We live for a long time, so it's our way of recording how society changes, through our own perspectives."

"Oh, so..." Rin thought about it, remembering Eve's age. "you'd have to write again in about three years?"

"Yup!" Eve smiled. "I'm kinda surprised you remember. Anyway," she waved a hand, "I've only written in my life journal once. Then, I stopped," she said.

"Why?" Rin asked.

At that, Eve shrugged, turning to look at her with a pair of slightly sad eyes.

"Because I realized I didn't have much to write about."

---

{Tristan}

Okay, so, there's a pretty real chance this is going to be my last entry.

I'm heading out on my first mission, today. I'm going to be finding and killing a troll that's apparently hiding out about two hours away from Cradle. You know, when I took the job, pretty much everyone in the guild looked at me like I was going to get myself killed. Apparently, trolls are pretty strong monsters.

I took the job though for a few reasons, and I think they're good enough to where, if I do die, you can't call me a complete idiot. Only half of one.

Here's the rundown on why I took this mission:

1. It was the only mission they had on the Notice Board that revolved around fighting just one enemy. I don't want to start my career fighting a group. I feel like I could get distracted by multiple enemies pretty easily.

2. The reward is five gold varols! If I can net that much, I'd be able to get some good equipment and maybe pay someone to teach me a little. I don't know.

3. If I am going to die, I'd rather just get it out of the way quick.

Okay, that last one is just a joke. But, the first two are legit.

I'm on the way to the place right now.

By the way, Cradle is so fucking cold.

Dren could get cold sometimes, especially around the winter, but holy shit I'm freezing here. You'd never know it, though, if you just looked at the terrain. Outside the city, which is the greyest place I've ever seen, the land is so... vibrant. Walking through the land and seeing everything up close like this definitely has its charm, but, I wonder if this is just the calm before the storm.

Hopefully, I'm not too far in over my head.

In case I am, though, let my family know I love them.

Okay, my hands are getting sweaty. I'm gonna stop writing now. Goodbye.

---

{Rin}

The next day, they continued their walk along the road, and Rin walked over to Cara. Her teacher noticed that she seemed like she wanted to talk, so she slowed down so that the two of them would be at the back.

"So," Rin started, "are adventurers usually so, uh, paranoid?"

"Hm?" Cara raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, what Vick talked about yesterday," she gestured at him. "About not wanting to loot before missions and stuff. Is that kind of thing normal?"

"Ohhh," Cara nodded slowly. "Yeah, it is. I met a guy once who wouldn't wear the same armor twice in a row. There was one girl who genuinely, truly, believed that if she spent a week without bathing before every mission, her smell would distract the monsters," Cara chuckled. "So, yeah, adventurers do make up these good luck charms on occasion."

"But," Rin tilted her head, "they have to know that it's probably not true, right?"

"Half of them probably do, the other half definitely believe it all," Cara answered.

"Why?"

"Well," she sighed, "if you're heading into a nest filled with things that wanna kill you, I think it's natural to cope a little. Convince yourself that you're probably gonna win no matter what, you know? Personally, if it helps, it helps," she shrugged. "I don't judge them."

As she said this, Vick and Troph slowed down up ahead.

"Okay, there it is," Vick announced. "We're here."

And, as they walked up the hill, Rin saw the fortress in question. Along with many of the adventurers who had already arrived.