I stood on the castle grounds. It loomed above me as I stood in front of the great gates.

Slowly, I opened and closed my hands.

I...was me. My hands were rougher than Sayanica’s, and I could tell the instant I looked down at them they were my own. My Seraph Robe hung down to my wrist, swinging as I rubbed my hands together, feeling the texture.

I was here.

The realm was almost silent as I walked about the stone path, clicking my feet against the stone. I did a little jig, tap-dancing on the stone, enjoying the silence while I had the chance. I smiled as I finished it up.

Once I was done with my fun, I looked about, trying to understand what was happening...

Humming.

I walked towards the noise, through the castle gardens, and to a tree I remembered well from my first memory of Sayanica when she and Zatchel parted.

An angel sat on the ground, leaning her back against the trunk as she hummed a familiar tune. She was younger than Seraph, clearly, and wore comfortable clothes. Her wings were bright white, shining in the frozen world, where light seemed nonexistent. She held a small, four-petaled flower in her hand, which looked like a simple weed, considering all the other flowers in the garden were beautiful and large, while hers was petite and simply colored, with two black and two white petals.

She paused her humming as I approached her from behind.

She looked back at me, over her wing, revealing her expression. Similar to Seraph, she looked pacified, lacking any particular emotion.

She signed to me, Saya?

I nodded, recognizing the lightning-quick finger movements.

She nodded back and stood. She closed the petal between her two hands as she walked to me.

Her expression melted into a pleasant yet deprived smile, one I could only describe as the expression of someone with nothing but hope.

Now, I could tell for sure who this was. Sayanica.

She walked to me, then suddenly pressed her face into my chest. I nearly stumbled back, but I steeled myself, shutting my eyes in reluctance. It had been a long time since I let anyone so close to me like...that.

Eventually, she stepped back from me to sign. He is watching over you. He is our friend.

Who? I signed back, struggling to recall signs from Sayanica’s memories.

Zatchel, she signed.

The wyvern? I asked, knowing full well I was playing dumb.

She tilted her head, confused. No, Zatchel. Him.

I nodded. How.

I don’t know. Please, I need to see him!

I don’t know how to help you. I signed back, confused. What did she want from me?

Zatchel was probably long-dead, at this point, or at least realistically should have been. They were alive before the age of gods, and that was centuries ago. “all sentience” was said to have perished in the changing of ages, but the gods mysteriously appeared and remade the races. That was to say: Zatchel being alive was...

Well, realistically, I would hardly have been surprised if he really was alive, by some strange magic, -Sayanica seemed alive, in a manner of speaking, herself- but I couldn’t exactly know how to find him.

I see. He needs me. Find him, and you won’t need to hear from me again.

I narrowed my eyebrows. You aren’t a bother or anything.

I’m not? she asked, confused. Her wings seemed to perk up as she did, almost like a dog’s tail.

I shook my head, signing, I’m learning a lot from you. Like your language.

I don’t think anyone speaks it anymore, though... she signed back, a little glossy-eyed.

I do. I said.

She blinked, then covered her eyes with her arm, looking downcast. You idiot, she signed, That... Suddenly, she hugged me again, resting her face in my breast, while her wings folded over my back.

While my old wing was strangely textureless, hers felt like the softest things in the world -like a cushion beyond compare.

I patted her head, not sure what to do. Whatever I had said, it meant a lot to her, clearly.

The strange sky of the frozen world began to rain. Static fell from on high, corrupting everything in sight into buzzing textures. The rain spread the static across the world, and as it all quickly dissipated into an epileptic mess, Sayanica looked up to me and signed:

Don’t forget your friends.

March 10th

“Is everyone ready?” Herbert asked, fully armored and standing in front of the guild’s entrance.

Me, Reco, and the Junior Squad stood about the recently pruned adventurers’ guild’s lawn, prepared to leave.

In the past day, I had begun to practice with my new equipment, trying to get used to Houndcleaver and my shield. I had decided to take my old sword with me as well since I wasn’t sure how good I could get while going to the mine.

Actually, I spent basically the whole rest of my day practicing and preparing in anticipation of the adventure. Practicing was, like, my hobby, so that should go without saying, but it also felt nice to practice swordplay without having a whole town at my throat, staring at me disapprovingly. I tried to connect with Cobaltio using our [draconic bond], and I swore I had felt something as I washed my clothes before the trip, but it was only for an instant. I had to retrieve my clothes from the clothesline once I woke up, and the sight of my pure white robes always filled my heart with joy and nostalgia. I ended up wearing them despite my better judgment.

After everyone affirmed they were ready, Herbert began to quiz the Junior Squad on their packing, making sure they had everything. I wasn’t officially part of the squad yet, so I was fully accountable for my own stuff.

With Reco’s help, I picked up some things I hadn’t prepared before and restocked what I already had, maintaining the two weeks of rations I’d left my home with. I ended up spending 10 gold on Cobaltio’s food, picking up fairly refined cobalt so it wouldn’t weigh me down. In the end, I still had to carry a lot more than before.

Thraisly had her mule with her, of course, but Ritta had walked to the small gathering with a fully grown [gold drake] with a satchel on its back instead of a saddle. It wouldn’t stop eyeing Cobaltio, making me worry it’d eat him.

When Cobaltio and I got just a little too close, it growled, causing Thraisly to snap at it. “Asher, no! Don’t even think about it!”

It growled at her in response, only for Ritta to pull on his [drake]’s leash. “I’m not sure what you’re thinking, Asher, but you aren’t acting like a proper [noble].”

“Ritta says you’re not acting befitting of a [noble]!” Thraisly firmily relayed to the creature, making it tuck its head in, ashamed. Apparently, the [drake] was a [noble] class, and Thraisly could speak to animals, which was already a bit obvious.

{Can you talk to Cobaltio?} I asked her, curious.

When she saw my slate, she looked at him with a very strange expression, like a fusion between curiosity, disgust, uncertainty, and reverence. “He, umm...doesn’t talk much.”

Ritta looked down at Cobaltio. “Really? I figured a lively little guy like him would be a talker.”

Cobaltio yapped with dignity, making Thraisly back off for some reason. Before anyone could ask what Cobaltio had said, she changed the subject. “So, are we all ready, then? The journey to the mine is a little less than a week away, right.”

“Well, you all just said you were,” Herbert said with a passive-aggressive edge. “So I’d hope you are.”

“Then lets-a-go!” Reco yelled.

“Let’s-a-g-” the party began, before erupting in chaos, not knowing why they’d say such an idiotic thing.

I chuckled as they all blamed her outstanding charisma for it, then set off after Reco when she began to run off.

By the end of the first day, I could tell the adventure would be lively; maybe a little too lively. Herbert hadn’t joined since the guild needed him to function as a nightguard for the guild, meaning we had no instructor, while Reco was an agent of chaos who encouraged everyone to be loud and talkative on their way. Thraisly’s [mule], Milo, and Asher even talked to Thraisly sometimes, resulting in strange, seemingly one-sided conversations. Dota participated in most conversations too, egging people on, even if he didn’t talk that much, while Ritta and Julius were stoic. Though, both of them got into heated debates over certain things. A lot of the details flew over my head, since I knew so little about how that whole ‘noble’ business worked.

I’d heard of nobles before, of course, and I knew that they valued bloodlines a lot, but ignorance was all I had for the topic. The only time I had seen a noble, before Ritta(and perhaps the cloaked man) was when one visited the town, and my mother had briefly talked to them. I couldn’t remember much more than that, though.

When we finally settled down for camp, Julius, Reco, and Dota left to gather firewood. it sent shivers down my spine, remembering the last time I’d been sent to do that.

We had traveled on the northern road leading away from the Preclaimed City, a much more populated path along a riverbank, with bridges bending above irrigation channels, and beautiful, yellowish grass that kept the dirt tough. Almost eight hours in, we’d careened to a northwestern path, and traveled for another two before we’d settled down. The path we’d taken was more than rural enough for me to question its purpose, but it still seemed used plenty often. Instead of people, this place was populated by trees, most of which were only beginning to regrow their leaves, though there were also some evergreens. Closer to the mountain range, there wouldn’t be so many.

Since I didn’t need to set a bedroll up or anything, I began practicing my swings as soon as I got the chance. My right hand still stung a little from when it was scratched a few days ago, but it had mostly healed already. I could attribute my good health to my cushion, though, who knew how helpfull a full rest could be?

Come to think of it...I telekinetically removed it from its place in my hair then began to maneuver it around the clearing.

Ever since I had used it during my fight with the [wyvern] I had considered using it as a weapon in combat. With my mind alone it could move anywhere in a 10-meter certain radius of me, before being teleported back to my side. If I could get more dexterous with it, I figured, maybe it would be a less situational tool. I began a short training session to get better at controlling it. I swung my falchion at the same time, since the biggest issue with using it in combat was the mental toll of multitasking.

“Now that’s quite the bizarre sight,” someone said behind me, causing me to jump, losing my concentration on my [soul cusion]. It was Ritta, sending me a curious look as he walked to my side. “A tenacious [drake] practicing swordsmanship beside a girl swinging a falchion while a green ribbon flies around to her will. You wouldn’t mind explaining what I’m looking at, would you?”

I looked down, confused, to see Cobaltio, standing bipedal, holding a tree branch the same way I held my falchion. He immediately dropped the stick and fell to the ground, pretending he hadn’t been doing anything, holding his head up, eyes closed in solemn peace.

Was that a pinch of embarrassment I felt from him?

Ritta chuckled. “Your [drake] seems to resemble Asher.” He looked back to his [drake], who was trying to fall asleep under the falling sun’s light. “No, I think there’s more to that...does he have [noble presence]?”

I slowly nodded.

“Curious. I wonder why Asher despises him so...” Ritta quietly cleared his throat, signaling a digression from the topic. “Though, your, hmm...device is unlike anything I have seen before.” He looked to my [soul cusion], then back to me for a response, not saying more than needed.

Well, it couldn’t hurt to say. {It’s a gift from Seraph.}

His eyes widened. “Like, a holy gift?”

I slowly nodded.

He put a hand to his mouth, thoughtful, or perhaps even disturbed. “Did you not say you were an [oathbreaker]?”

I wasn’t sure whether to nod or shake my head to that, so I let him continue on his own.

“That...that’s not right, not at all. No, that...”

{Are you alright?} I asked, a bit worried at his expression.

“Yes, there’s simply no way that’s a holy gift.’

No, it, like, definitely was one.

“I mean, why would she give one to an [oathbreaker]? That’s dumb.”

I frowned in aggravation -I hated being ignored, but tried to remain polite. {I wasn’t one when she gave it to me.}

“Well, she would have taken it away then. It is simply a magic trinket. Besides, what holy gift is a ribbon, haha!” You really don’t sound so sure of yourself.

{Its actually a bed cushion.}

He seemed quite perturbed, and quickly disengaged our conversation before getting ready to sleep while he muttered to himself like a crazy person.

Well, that happened. I looked back down at my slate to erase what I’d written, then gripped my slate in anger, my eye twitching.

I slowly gripped my chalk again, clutched in my fist, then scraped it against my board, adding an apostrophe. I then wiped it, and threw it to the side, letting my cushion catch it midair, slowing its descent a little.

I practiced my swinging for another few minutes before Cobaltio walked ten feet away and faced me, sitting on the ground. He gained an expression like he was thinking really hard, and eventually, after another couple of minutes of wondering what he was thinking, I felt his presence, just a little.

Then, in his mouth, he began to charge a fireball and shot it. Somehow, I naturally knew what he wanted, so before it could hit me, I activated [dead as nightfall] and sliced it in two with my falchion, detonating it before it could hit me. The blast of heat made my clothes billow, and felt like it would burn my forehead, but was too short to really hurt me.

I realized too late that I was trying to keep his [draconic lineage] a secret, but when I looked behind myself at the camp, Ritta wasn’t paying attention, and Thraisly was probably just figuring out what she already knew, considering how she could talk to two animals who seemed capable of identifying Cobaltio’s scent.

It wouldn’t be long before I called it a day.

Although it had been difficult to keep up with the Junior Squad on my first day on the road, that began to change as the days passed. With every day we spent on the road, usually waking early, everyone lost stamina, while I didn’t. My [life cushion]’s healing effects really couldn’t be understated -by the third day of grueling travel, I was keeping pace with everyone else, all of whom were higher level than me.

Reco actually seemed to gain exhaustion along with the rest of the party, which surprised me, since she gave off such an aura of confidence that made her seem insurmountable in strength.

Besides my own training, it was obvious that the whole squad was just as dedicated to adventuring as me and trained to the best of their abilities.

I watched during sunset on the third day as Dota and Julius engaged in a heated sniper battle. Dota hid behind a tree while Julius had activated his [camoflage tier 2] skill, letting him hide in plain sight, barely visible as light bent around him. I was safe to watch from afar, so I could see Julius was on guard, taking their fight very seriously. The skill was only helpful to keep eyes away, not so much to shake them off.

Both of them held crossbows, loaded with blunt bolts for training, and if either poked their head out or knew the other’s location, they could shoot in an instant, ending the fight.

To my surprise, Dota spoke from his hiding place, holding his crossbow in his claylike hands. “You don’t think I’m scared of that skill, do you?” he asked.

Julius leaped at the opportunity, rushing to his foe’s location, his crossbow ready to shoot, only to nearly be hit by a bolt from above, stopping him in his tracks.

The feathers on Dota’s arms had grown to full-on wings as he activated his innate magic, [avian ancestory], letting him fly high into a tree before shooting down at his foe. I hadn’t seen him use it, but the magic seemed significantly different from Cobaltio’s wings.

He stood atop the tree, shrouded in darkness. “You revealed yourself the instant you took my bait, Julius. Consider using lighter steps next ti-”

I saw him seemingly teleport to the next branch over as Julius shot his crossbow at him. “Julius?” he said, incredulous.

As Julius reloaded, Dota glided into the shadows again.

“You know what [shadow step] does.” Dota stated from the darkness. I couldn’t see Julius very well from my position, but I got the feeling he was on tilt, not thinking right. “You won’t be able to shoot me through visual cues alone, my friend. Think before you shoot, or force me into the sunlight.”

“That’s not as easy as it looks!” Julius yelled, shooting into the underbrush where he thought he’d find Dota. All he got from that was a bolt to the forehead, sending him sprawling to the ground with a yelp.

“Tut, tut. It seems I went too hard on you in that fight.” Dota fell down from a tree, holding his arms out as if they would slow his descent. His arms had already returned to normal, unlike Cobaltio’s magic, which would last at least a minute.

“Like Hell you were going hard on me!” Julius said, obviously frustrated as he shook off the bolt’s impact, his [camoflage] fading. “You made me look like a runt, and you’re three levels below me!”

“To be fair, you’re not even half my age. Though, our combat experience is similar in quantity. With that said and shown, I hope you understand what I was doing was more than simple mockery. I intentionally manipulated you into getting angry. That was my plan from the get-go, and it clearly succeded.”

Julius rolled his eyes, pinching his nose. “Yeah, it sure did.”

“You need to grow to understand yourself before you can handle strategies like that one.”

Julius walked off, shaking his head in anger.

After he left, me and Dota spent a few seconds of pointlessly staring off. Dota sighed then began to collect the bolts. That was when I approached him.

{Do you want to fight?}

The [viinrught] moved an eye to look at me from the corner of his vision“Hmm? Oh, hello, Saya...no, I think I’m done for the day.”

In which case, I had one other question. {Then can tell me how that ability works the shadow one?}

“Oh, my [shadow sep]? It lets me teleport instantly to nearby shaded ground. I can only use it once every five seconds, and three times a day.”

{That’s really powerful.}

“I suppose so. I would consider the [avenger] skill stronger, though. But maybe its channel time makes it far more limited.”

Wait, he knew what the [avenger] skill was? {What’s the [avenger] skill?!}

“Oh, you don’t know, even though you intend on getting the class? Tut-tut, you should know better than to make such rash choices.”

I didn’t need to hear that crap, man. Like, how was I even supposed to figure it out? Well, I guess I could have looked around for the knowledge during the time I had in the capital, but I just didn’t have the time to figure it out.

He continued. “The [avenger] class gives the ability, [certain prejudice], which teleports its user anywhere within a short range after two seconds. It gets its name from how it functions. Once [certain prejudice] is used, it cannot be canceled, so its user must be certain in their conviction to use it.”

Yeah, that 100% made me want it even more.

“It also has the passive skill, [vindication], which allows an [avenger] to see who has killed however many people and gives them a damage buff against enemies depending on the number of crimes they have committed. Fun fact: the [justicator] and a few other classes also have this ability, except it’s called [justice].”

Interesting. {Thanks for the info!}

“Not a problem, Saya. Ah, speaking of which, I ought to check on the rabbits!”

Dota ran off, back to the camp, and a few seconds later, I saw Thraisly approach me from the same direction. “Hey,” she said.

I nodded with a mumble of acknowledgment.

“You’ve been training a lot, from the looks of it. Do you like your new falchion?”

I nodded, shifitng it a little in its clip as I glanced down.

She seemed to find it a little awkward to speak to me. “Umm, anyway, do you want to fight? It’s important to get a good handle on how your allies do their thing so...”

It couldn’t hurt, and I was dying to get some practice in, so I nodded enthusiastically.

“Cool, I guess we’ll just do it next to the camp.”

I shrugged and followed her back, making it to an unoccupied part of the clearing. As we got closer to the mine, which was only two days from hannem, the forest got thinner and thinner, and the path less traveled.

Thraisly’s mule and Cobaltio watched from the sidelines, curious.

Thraisly mostly wore gear for riding, but on her belt, she always carried a crossbow and shortsword. Bows were more popular in my village, but crossbows seemed like standard fare when it came to people from urban areas. Aside from those, she had what looked like two component pouches. Component pouches carried spell components and were made to be small, so one could simply put their hand in and be touching whatever they needed for a spell.

“Sorry about this, but I won’t be going easy on you...and, uhh, don’t, like, actually try to hurt me. That wouldn’t be very helpful,” she said with a chuckle.

“Mmm-hm,” I responded, affixing my shield and unclipping my falchion. She didn’t seem intent on bringing out her own weapons.

“So, start whenever.”

The instant I took a step forward, she reached into her component pouch. I stopped before her spell went off, and stepped backward as two vines on nearby trees shot towards me like spears. They buried into the ground, making a criss-cross barrier. They were obviously intended as a warm-up attack.

“Make sure you use everything at your disposal so I know what skills you have,” Thraisly said as I ducked under the two vines and continued my approach.

So, spells put on a good deal of mental load, which is why it is difficult to fight with spells, especially when multitasking physical actions, such as dodging or fighting. I was pretty used to it after training for a long time to do so(it was one of the few parts of my magic regimen that I found helpful in a lot of ways), but other people didn’t have the same level of tutoring I did.

Using a ‘natural magic’ required an understanding of what it did, the algorithms involved in its use, a vivid imagination even under stress, and encoded runes, but a [druid]’s magic was easier, since it was a ‘class magic’ rather than a naturally trained magic.

Focusing on Thraisly’s eye, I dashed towards her, shield and sword outstretched a foot in front of me.

She calmly watched me run towards her, then, her eye drifted towards the ground below me, forcing me to step back just before the grass grew out and entangled the midair, attempting to trip or restrain me.

Magic is strong in combat, but very few people could imagine a scene without moving their eyes, at least not in a tense situation.

I cut the grass then kept running to her, closing the distance.

“Not bad,” she said just before reaching her other hand into the other bag and sweeping her eye across the ground in front of me again. I backed off once more, only to feel my back hit a wall.

I glanced back at the translucent yellow wall behind me, and didn’t hesitate to propel myself off it, continuing my dash towards Thraisly.

Apparently, she had planned. “But you’re trapped!” Her eye made too many movements for me to follow, even as I ran straight towards her unmoving position, leaving me unsure what she had cast.

I didn’t know how her [plant manipulation] skill(as I shall temporarily dub it) worked, as far as its cooldown and functionality went, but I was certain it could be used at least one more time. Meanwhile, the magic she just used, [barrier], had a minute long cooldown and was intermediate magic, meaning she probably knew other skills like [fireball], [heat control], or [misty step], since I’m not sure what idiot would learn [barrier] as their first intermediate spell.

I had an idea of what she might use, though, and took a double-take, activating [dead as nightfall] as I prepared to take a u-turn, trying to keep my intentions secret.

Then, she jumped far above me, blasting far above the height of [barrier] with what I recognized as [leap], and landed on the narrow top of it.

A strange choice, but it made sense for a druid. Actually, I had expected her to use [misty step](a spell that lets a mage teleport a short distance after a delay, but only once a hour), but [leap] was way easier to handle from this position. It, uhh, did what you’d expect it to, except it could reduce fall damage and affected the caster for a whole minute straight, empowering their jumps greatly. It could also be cast on allies.

I instantly u-turned, then jumped, raising my hand to catch her midair.

Suddenly, bursting from below me, the grass tried to catch my foot, anchoring me to the ground and causing me to trip. Oh, no! I was not going to trip again! Like, ever- I hated tripping sooo much. I nearly died because I randomly slipped and fell!

With raw power and inertia, I broke through the tough grass, then rolled on the ground, running towards Thraisly as she pulled her crossbow out, loaded with a blunt dart, apparently surprised to see me break through her grass.

She shot it, but I stepped to the side and deflected the bolt with my shield far faster than she had anticipated. Then, I leaped onto the barrier, while throwing out my foot to kick her off.

Thraisly landed safely ten feet below me, then reached back into her component pouch, staring right at me.

I had no idea what her plan was, but I really hoped it was what I thought it was. She raised her other hand to meet me as I fell atop her, and cast [fire bolt].

Sucker! I reached my left hand into my bag of charcoal, then imagined the fire blowing out of my way, redirecting the attack, and taking what remained with my shield.

I ended up standing above her, sword at the ready.

“W-what...” she said, mouth agape at my perfect planning. “You know [fire manipulation] of all things!?” she asked, looking absolutely flabbergasted. “Who learns that spell!? Who?!”

Me.