Had it always been this sunny and bright? It was nearly one o’clock, so the sun started channeling far enough above the mountain range to the east to cast its light on the western frontier.

Even so, Niu felt that the weather somehow differed from the usual. Simply put it was a beautiful day. Summer was imminent, so the sun being this bright was natural, and yet it was not too warm and not too cold, but just perfect. The chirping birds and buzzing insects around her all seemed to agree. Niu almost felt like humming a song if she could, though that would be childish.

She could imagine how her hair hovering above her shoulder line, usually appearing as a deep shade of brown, revealed its reddish tint under the pleasant sun’s rays. Her eyes focused on the bright sky and her small mouth consequently eased into a soft smile. She had been striding on top of the soft grass with confident steps until she noticed the sun.

The sun: at a glance, it seemed like a great wheel of fire providing infinite heat and light throughout the hours of daytime, serving as one of the great constants of the world. If one examined it intently, however, during cloudier days perhaps, they would be able to faintly notice that it wasn’t actually a colossal sphere, but in fact a collection of many, many much smaller circles. A cluster of hundreds of millions of channels of light and heat all working in tandem to create this divine phenomenon.

Niu realized with a slight start that she’d been staring at the blue sky for a bit too long. She once again set out at a brisk pace, following the road to her destination—the town of Hayden, visible ahead.

At this time of the day not many people were taking the same road, at least not from her village; she’d viewed from afar some farmers driving their wagons on their way to sell their milk, eggs, crops or such in town, but they’d obviously set out much earlier than she did. Some of their farms were visible on all sides not long ago, but gradually vanished from view the closer she got to town.

It was not a trifling distance to walk by foot every day, but Niu had been doing it for a couple of years now. At first this daily hike was tiring and difficult, but she increasingly found it more pleasant and it’d become an important part of her routine. Moving her feet and seeing the nature around her served as an excellent distraction to take her mind off of her worries and calm her mind during the beginning and end of the day.

Already the town was so near that its various buildings and establishments began poking the sky. Niu entered the final stretch of the road, but once again stopped unexpectedly.

This time, the distraction came not from above, but from below. There was a flower on the ground near a young tree. It had soft-looking, gently curving orange petals with little spots of vivid white. Small reddish thorns were visible on its thin stem. As far as Niu could remember, she’d never seen this kind of flower.

Curious, she furrowed her eyebrows as she pondered. It most definitely wasn’t a rose, despite the similarity. It was also not a marigold. While by no means an expert, Niu did have a liking for flowers and knew a bit about them, but this was her first time seeing this particular one. Also, when had it shown up anyway?

Then again, while there was sort of a road, dirty and worn-out, Niu would often stray from it, taking a slightly different path to town every day—mostly avoiding the nearby forest, since there’d been cases of wild wolves even near the edge of it—so it was entirely possible she’d overlooked this flower blooming. An unknown solitary flower suddenly appearing like that was still quite mysterious, however.

Now Niu hesitated. She carried a notebook inside the small, tattered bag hanging from her arm. She wasn’t going to pick up the poor flower, but she could at least sketch it. Never mind her being curious about identifying it, she wanted to do it even for the mere fact it was so eye-catching.

However, she was almost about to run late as-is. She knew herself well enough to realize how much precious time would be lost if she gave in to her urges. Eventually Niu sighed and clenched her hands as if to prevent herself from reaching to her bag. After a moment she relaxed herself, smiled brightly and shortly waved her hand at the flower, as if saying she’d be back for it.

And so Niu finally reached the town of Hayden.

Despite its proximity to the Edge, and in complete contrast to the roads leading to it, Hayden was buzzing with activity at every corner. There were merchants yelling the names of their wares or else carrying them around in preparation for that, children running about in delight, and the occasional carriage, all heading somewhere in town.

Niu finally managed to reach Hayden, but the town itself was obviously not her goal—so she had to hurry. Any minute now the small bell tower in the center of town might announce the passing of another hour. She couldn’t be late for school.

After her physical exertion, the sun that had felt so comforting before now started making Niu sweat. She passed swiftly and quietly through the crowds and the shadows of buildings.

“Hey, look at that defect.”

Niu stopped her legs. Just as she passed a certain intersection, she heard this small whisper nearby. Immediately she saw two unfamiliar boys giggling together while they gazed at an old man walking on the other side of the road. Well, rather than walking, he was actually limping—he transported himself quite awkwardly with the assistance of a cane. Quiet anger bubbled inside Niu. She swiftly approached the boys and tapped their shoulders.

“What do you—"

“…!”

With her eyebrows lowered and her mouth curved to form a scowl, Niu exposed her teeth and put a single finger to her mouth vertically. She figured her intent was been clear enough. Normally she would have gone a bit further and tried to explain why they did a bad thing, but she simply hadn’t the time.

She departed as suddenly as she came, leaving the two boys probably very confused. “Who was that weirdo?” she thought she heard one of them mumble from behind, but she hoped they’d get the message.

Now she wore a smile again, hopeful that her thousandth distraction wouldn’t make her late. Before long she could finally, finally see the small building that served as her school. The place was a bit run-down, but compared to when it had been first opened it was actually in a great shape. For one, back then it didn’t even have doors, let alone windows. Now it had all those and more, and it was steadily improving.

Also, the clock tower hadn’t struck its bells yet, which meant she just barely made it there on time. That was good.

The bells rang twice just as she entered the classroom. It truly was a close call. She waved her hand around, receiving some murmured greetings from the other boys and girls inside.

“Started wondering if you're gonna be late,” a familiar voice called to her. She smiled and nodded cheerfully at the boy talking, going to her assigned seat which was directly next to him. Niu took out her notebooks and pen while the boy kept talking. “Oh, and good morning.”

Being amongst the tallest in the class, Gen always stood out. He had short, light-brown hair and at least for today the fuzz of a mustache with the same color; he started letting it grow a bit from time to time. He was smartly dressed in summer-use clothes with short sleeves that exposed the muscles of his arm. He was pretty popular and was thought of as quite handsome, but would probably be even more so if not for a certain lack.

“By the way,” Gen added, “d’you remember what were we doing last time? She’s definitely gonna quiz me again, I just know it.” He glanced nervously at the door.

Niu sighed. At times her friend would even fail to remember their weekly schedule, so it was no wonder he’d forgotten even the contents of the actual lesson as well. She opened her notebook and flipped through it, but another voice replied instead.

“Umm, we talked about the Lastian revolution,” said the girl sitting at the table one row ahead of Gen and to the right, Shaya. It was less visible when she was sitting like this, but she was also taller than the rest of the class. Her dirty blond hair was braided.

“Oh, thanks.”

Niu erased her expression for an instant and let the pen fall onto a half-formed word, but almost immediately wore a small smile again.

“—All right class, sit down.” The voices flying around the classroom ceased once a woman entered the room: Mrs. Tammy, their teacher for this period, in charge of History class. She looked around, her glance hovering over an empty seat only for a moment before she addressed everyone. “Now then, today we will continue discussing the Lastian revolution.”

Gen leaned toward Niu and whispered, “Wanna bet when he’s coming this time? I say he only comes for second period.” He also eyed the same vacant seat as Mrs. Tammy. Niu shook her head just as their teacher also spoke.

“Genro, please focus; surely you want to achieve better scores on your next test?” she asked him to some laughs from the other students.

Mrs. Tammy started talking about this and that while the students wrote her words down. Niu honestly hadn’t much interest in history, but since it mostly took writing down dates and names, she managed to be decent in it.

As the lesson and the lecture continued, she found her attention drifting away. Now that she was comfortable and calm in class, she recalled the warm sun she’d experienced on the way, as well as the unique flower she witnessed. What was it, anyway? Perhaps she could ask Mr. Norzen, their Nature teacher, but his class was two days away. There was also a small library in town, but its selection was very limited.

Her pen started sliding on top of the paper. She still remembered it almost perfectly: the flower’s proud shape, its gentle petals, and the hint of danger from its thorns. If not by speech, then she was at least adept at passing information by other means, like drawing.

However, Niu’s line of thought and her work were cut off by the sound of the classroom door opening. She almost felt like she could also hear everyone’s heads turning to look at the expected late student. If she took the earlier bet with Gen, he would’ve lost.

“Roah… when will you stop arriving so late?” Mrs. Tammy said with a sigh.

“I'm sorry,” was the boy’s nonchalant reply as he closed the door behind him. Nothing about his voice sounded truly regretful, though. Roah brushed his dark, rough hair so that it would cover the cloth on his right eye, while his other eye surveyed the class. The combination of the eyepatch and his piercing, metallic-blue eye often lent him an air of cold aloofness, as if he was not really looking at people, but through them.

Niu caught his eye and flashed a smile as if to welcome him despite being late. This made his eye flicker momentarily, and he then averted his gaze and went to sit in the back of the class as usual.

“Now then,” started Mrs. Tammy with a small pout, “since you came so late, I am sure you can tell us which king proposed the Three-way Resolution?”

“Manosus-T,” Roah replied, almost sounding bored.

The teacher sighed. “It’s Manosus-R. I don’t know how you always do it… but even if you do know the material—or most of it, anyway—please do come on time, Roah.”

“Yeah, sorry again,” he mumbled back. Niu could see Gen shaking his head in the corner of her eyes. It was always like this; no one could understand Roah at all, and most people kept their distance from him. It seemed that only a miracle led to his continued enrolment there. That, and his excellent grades despite of his usual behavior.

Regardless, the class continued without interruptions after Roah’s arrival, so after a short while Niu’s thoughts drifted yet again and she resumed her drawing.

“Now, who can tell me what major historical event occurs this weekend?” Niu heard this just as she was putting the finishing touches on the flower. “How about… Niu?”

It took her a moment to realize she was being spoken to. Her head jolted upward in surprise to see Mrs. Tammy looking straight at her. Small giggles echoed around and Niu wore an abashed smile.

Despite being caught by surprise, Niu did know the answer. She took a small breath and rose to her feet, walking to the blackboard. Mrs. Tammy handed her a piece of chalk and she began writing with her back to the class. Finally, she moved to the side to reveal her answer.

This very weekend is the 399th—the penultimate day of the year—which is the annual founding day of Rumdon.

Mrs. Tammy nodded approvingly. “Indeed. This was one of the results of the Lastian revolution, after all. Do remember we will have a modest fair at school that day, too. And now, you’re all dismissed.”

The bell struck thrice moments later, as if she timed it perfectly. The next lesson would begin shortly so there was no need for anyone to rise from their seats, but the classroom began filling with chatter.

“Man, she was really sharp today,” said Gen, stretching his left arm. “Think something’s bothering her?”

Niu shrugged in response. She hadn’t noticed any particular change to Mrs. Tammy’s behavior.

“Oh, I heard she got in a huge argument with her husband lately,” whispered Shaya from the front, slightly turning around with her pen still in hand. “So that might be… ah.” She suddenly lost the grip on the pen, which sent it rolling on the floor toward Gen's seat from the right side.

He leaned forward as if to pick it up, a seemingly natural action. However, what wasn’t natural was that the pen suddenly started floating in the air as he approached it. No, if one saw it from nearby, as Niu did, they’d notice a shimmering, faint silhouette in the shape of an arm that picked up the pen and then handed it back to its owner. From afar, though, it would seem as if the pen simply floated on its own, as Gen had no right arm with which to hold it.

“Gods, that’s always so creepy,” a low whisper came from one of the onlookers nearby. Niu softly bit her lips and looked aside, but if Gen heard that remark then he made no sign of it.

“Thanks,” Shaya flashed a smile and accepted the returned item. There was no time for further talking, though, as a bearded man entered the classroom.

“Get ready, we have a lot to cover today,” called Mr. Laniel, their Poetry teacher.

When the town bell struck seven times school was finally over. As usual the students rose together, slowly evacuating the classroom in groups or by themselves. Niu, too, stretched her tired body and started packing her small bag.

“See you tomorrow,” said Shaya, waving her hand.

"See ya," said Gen while Niu could only smile and nod. Soon only the two of them and Roah remained in class. Roah, as usual, seemed to be almost ignoring their existence except for the fact he would glance at them from time to time.

“Well, we should go too, I guess.” Gen finally rose from his seat.

“I wish he’d just start using this classroom instead,” suddenly Roah joined in a grumble. “It’s a pain walking all the way to the other side.”

“Well, you don’t have to come, then,” was Gen’s cynical reply adorned by a smile, earning him a cold glare from Roah’s uncovered eye.

The awkward atmosphere was broken some seconds later by Niu waving a small paper she’d just written on. It’s just in case we damage the classroom or whatnot, you know.

“Like someone burning up the place by accident,” Gen said, again shooting another glance at Roah.

“Oh, shut up about that already.” For the first time some anger seeped into Roah’s tone.

Gen was about to reply something back but felt a soft tap on his shoulder and turned his head around. Niu gave him a chastising look and then pointed at the door.

“Yeah, I guess we shouldn’t keep Mr. Saburn waiting,” he mumbled, turning away from Roah and heading to the door.

Happy at her (relatively) successful peacemaking attempt, Niu also followed him, with Roah lagging slightly behind. As Gen had previously complained, the classroom they were heading for their special lesson was located on the other side of the building that served as their school. It wasn’t a big building at all, but it spread over a relatively wide area and corridors were rather narrow.

“Oh, right!” Gen suddenly said. “I completely forgot to tell you. Guess who’s in town?”

Niu only tilted her head quizzically, allowing him to continue the conversation he was planning. Roah, however, inserted a comment. “Your brother?” Niu also knew that one of Gen’s older brothers served as a soldier in the capital, though she’d never met him. It was a good guess.

“I do hope Rev comes to visit soon, but nah. Well, it’s close.” He stopped in place momentarily and wore a mischievous smile as if victorious in some competition they weren’t even having. “It’s Stard Molton!”

Niu widened her eyes in surprise while Roah just looked more dubious. He asked with a raised brow, “Really? Have you seen him?”

“Well, I’d love to, but no," Gen admitted. “I just heard he’s coming here today.” Meanwhile, as he reached the classroom first, Gen opened the door and they all entered. The room was smaller than all the other classrooms, and in fact used to be a cupboard of some sort.

“Then it’s just a rumor? I should have guessed,” Roah said, sighing.

“No, it’s not like that!” Gen insisted. “I heard my parents talking about it when they thought I couldn’t hear them.” He smirked again. “So it’s obviously not just a rumor. They always know what’s going on around here.”

Gen’s parents were well-known figures in town, being the wealthiest family around. Their ancestors were among the founders of town, a fact which was reflected in their very family name—Hydeen. If anyone knew about some important person coming there, it would surely be them. They had many connections and ways to gather information.

Meanwhile, Niu flashed yet another note: You really admire Molton, don’t you?

“Obviously,” said Gen, sitting down at his preferred seat in the middle table. “I wish I could see him fight… no, I wish he’d teach me how to fight. Oh, but I’d even give anything even just to see him soar through the air… incredible.” His eyes almost seemed to sparkle as he probably imagined the battling figure of the man known as the strongest in Rumdon. “And he’s one of us.”

A short silence flowed as they probably all thought about the common point they shared. Eventually Roah broke it.

“Why would Molton come to this shithole anyway?”

“Hey, our town is great!” Gen sounded hurt.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Oh? How do you know about Stard being here?” a third voice sounded from behind. The three all turned to the door at the same time, where they saw a man sitting on chair. More accurately it was a wheelchair, and it was just barely able to pass the threshold.

Normally, Salom Saburn was their Math teacher, but he also conducted special lessons for Niu, Gen and Roah. Even without regarding his obviously unused legs, his entire body was slim, on the verge of being sickly thin. He often wore a calm smile, and small wrinkles converged around his gentle eyes covered by glasses. His face was covered in uneven, short stubble as if he only lazily shaved, while his brown hair was mottled with many lines of gray and white. He looked both old and young at once.

“Well, I just heard my parents speaking about it, is all…” Gen said, and then realized with a start, “wait, so it’s true!”

Roah was even sharper on the uptake. “And you called him Stard, did you? Are you two perhaps on familiar terms?”

“Ah, well,” Saburn muttered a bit awkwardly with a strained smile, “you could say that, yes.”

Gen also grew suspicious. “Now that I think about, you also came here from the capital… do you know Molton?”

“As much as any of you, really…”

“Liar,” said Roah, his eye locking onto Saburn’s expression, “I can tell from your face you know him a bit more than that.”

Fortunately, Saburn was saved from the interrogation by the sound of a stomp, with Niu providing a written commentary as usual: May we please just start the lesson?

“Ah, so glad that Niu’s got my back,” said Saburn with a wide smile. “Take your seats, please. It is time for a quiz.”

Saburn placed an old-looking bucket on his table and a small sheet of paper on each of their desks. Niu had several ideas about what was going to happen here, but merely waited for Saburn’s instructions.

“Now, I want all of you to draw a water icon,” he said.

“Of what kind?” Roah’s question was lightning-quick.

“A good question," Saburn praised him, nodding. “But do as you please. That is also part of the quiz.” He smiled mysteriously.

“I mean, I guess we’re going to fill the bucket or something,” mumbled Gen, “finally some practical channeling again!” Saburn’s smile and silence neither confirmed nor denied his words as Gen looked at him, so the boy frowned and simply set out to work.

Niu’s pen was already running on the piece of paper. Her hand moved delicately and accurately. Depending on how one would write it, a water icon usually consisted of curving lines, so it was a bit harder than most icons. Even so she worked elegantly, perfectly drawing the base. Next were the functions. What did Saburn expect of them, exactly?

“You made a mistake there,” Niu jumped when she heard Saburn’s admonishing voice, but his wheelchair passed next to Gen.

“I-I know,” hissed the other boy, clicking his tongue. Niu returned to her own work.

She still had no concrete idea what Saburn was aiming for, so she decided on doing it as simple as possible. While he valued innovation, he also appreciated an apt execution of the basics rather than aiming for something too complicated and failing.

Icons were, after all, nothing but a tool to focus the mind. They were made by standards, so the only ones those standards affected were those who set them in the first place, or something like that. That was one of their very first lessons.

After a short while Saburn clapped his hands. “Alright, I will give you just another minute.”

“D-don’t rush me,” grumbled Gen, his head lowering further and further to the piece of paper in front of him. Roah, on the other hand, seemingly already finished and was watching the others. Niu herself was putting the finishing touches.

“And… time’s over.”

Niu was pretty sure it was actually less than a minute—at times Saburn could be a bit mean—but none of them complained. Saburn extended his hand, gesturing them to pass their papers to him, which they did. He glanced at each of them, nodding a bit before handing them back.

“Well, you’ll see the issues soon enough,” he said, smirking. Gen made a small groan and even Niu pouted; she actually thought her icon was more or less perfect. But Saburn gave no explanation yet. “Now I need you all of you come here.” He rolled his chair to the teacher's desk. The three joined him.

Niu took a peek inside the bucket placed there, but at a glance it seemed completely normal. She looked at Saburn instead, again waiting for further instructions.

“Taking turns, you will each use icons to fill the bucket with water,” he explained, his face wearing the usual gentle smile. That much was to be expected. “Now, who’s going to go first?”

The two boys and one girl barely managed to glance at one another.

“I’ll do it!” called Gen, raising his hand. “You know what they say, morning only comes after the sunrise.”

Saburn chuckled, “I don’t know if that's a real saying, but you are right. You hesitated too much, you two.” He smiled at Roah and Niu. Roah grumbled something under his breath. Niu just shrugged and resigned to watching Gen’s attempt.

“…Fine, here we go,” mumbled Gen, taking his piece of paper and carefully putting it inside the bucket. This was perhaps an advantage of his going first, since he could simply place the icon inside—the next attempts would possibly be harder after the bucket started filling. Gen’s face stiffened as he concentrated—and flinched as a splash of liquid hit his face. Roah snickered from behind, causing Gen to shoot an angry glance at him.

“Yes, I figured something of the sort would happen,” said Saburn. “Your icon was quite… sloppy, I’m afraid to say.”

“Crap... sorry.” Since Gen had stopped almost immediately, the bucket was only damp. The paper inside was covered in spots of moisture. He frowned and went in for another try. A small spray of water leapt at him again, but this time he managed to preserve the channel properly.

Not much of the bucket was filled by water before the paper melted too much to be readable. Gen huffed as if he was after a marathon.

“Decent,” Saburn concluded, obviously to Gen’s dissatisfaction.

“Then I'll go next,” Roah announced without waiting. Niu frowned but couldn’t really do anything to stop him as he snatched his piece of paper and held it inside the bucket, above the water surface.

As before, the channel opened and water started pouring out of it. However, it quickly covered and ripped the paper that Roah tried holding delicately. He clicked his tongue. The bucket wasn’t even half-full yet.

“Yes, I imagined that would happen,” Saburn said nonchalantly. “Also, the channeling itself seemed quite weak, Roah. It seems that your skills are often in extremes to either side… we’ll work on that.” Roah didn’t reply; he merely scowled and appeared to retreat into his own thoughts, perhaps reflecting on his work.

It was finally Niu’s turn. She felt a bit nervous as everyone’s eyes focused on her, but took her piece of paper and held it inside the bucket. Then she gritted her teeth and concentrated.

Channeling was much like trying to control nature itself. The sky would naturally channel light, heat and wind, and at times water. There were also the other less common channels, but all of them operated under the same principle. Then there were the very few people that could do even better—meaning that they could willfully and purposely open these channels.

However, even just trying to imagine controlling channels was very mentally taxing. And so a mental aid was born: the icon.

Niu focused on the symbol she herself had drawn. All of its intricacies, shapes and curves consolidated into the act of opening the channel of water. She was prepared and she was in control. It happened as smooth as flowing water, to use a suitable simile. It was as if the piece of paper was leaking water, since there was no sign as to where all the liquid came from; it was just there.

However, in the end, just like before, the paper got wet, the ink became smudged and the icon lost its effectiveness. The channel of water closed and Niu was left holding a sodden, mostly-torn paper. She hung her head in disappointment. Although she was careful and deliberate, her attempt had actually lasted for much less time than those of her peers.

“Don’t feel down, Niu. Your icon was wonderful.” Saburn’s voice wasn’t as comforting as it should have been due to the implicit statement that everything else was less than wonderful, but she still nodded and tried wearing a smile.

The quiz finally ended.

“Now, your results were mixed,” their teacher said, “but I’m sorry to say that you have all failed.”

“Failed?” Gen’s confused voice was the first to break the somewhat tense silence. “C’mon, Mr. Saburn, it wasn’t that bad… sure, we could’ve done a lot better, but we did manage to do exactly what you told us to.”

Saburn shook his head. “No, I am sorry to say that you completely failed. And I have to say that I expected more from you. Especially from Roah.”

“Me?” the boy asked in disbelief, eye widening. Based on his expression it was obvious that he actually thought he was pretty good, if not the best among them.

“Yes. For example, I fully expected you to take Niu’s paper for your turn,” Saburn said nonchalantly and to their utter surprise.

“Taker her…? But I thought we had to—" Roah stopped in the middle of the sentence, his mouth hanging open.

“Yes? Had to what?” Saburn asked back with a gentle smile.

Roah snapped his fingers. “Right, you didn’t actually tell us to use our own paper.”

“W-what?” Gen still didn't seem to understand. “But I thought we had to…”

“Again, had to what?”

Niu now realized; Saburn’s only instruction was to open a channel of water inside the bucket. Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, since it was preceded by the instruction to draw an icon, perhaps it was inevitable to think like that. It was sort of cheating, but that was probably the point behind this whole quiz. Wait, but if so, then…

“Crap, you really got us this time,” Gen sighed and smiled wryly, scratching his head.

Saburn nodded. “Yes. I have already practiced small tricks like these on you before, but let this serve as your first lesson to expect things to get much trickier indeed,” his smile seemed almost one of great anticipation. “Also, what I said just now was only one of the possible tricks. Can you think of any other?”

Even Roah looked stumped for a change. As Niu already pondered this before he asked, she immediately reached an answer. She hurriedly turned toward her desk, grabbed a paper and a pen and started writing. The other three all watched over her in silence, probably curious at her answer. Finally, she presented them with her idea.

We could simply write—or etch, even—our own icons into the bucket, could we not? Just like you didn’t tell us to use our own papers, you actually haven't told us to use them at all. Is that another trick, Mr. Saburn?

“Yes!” Saburn sounded jubilant, “yes, excellent. Well-reasoned, Niu.”

Niu nearly blushed from being praised like that and couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear.

“In the ideal scenario, one of you who isn’t confident in their iconwork was going to steal the work of their friend. Then perhaps another would realize that using the bucket directly as a medium is for the best. And there’s another final trick that relates to that. Come here.”

Once again, they all gathered around the half-full bucket. Smiling, Saburn pointed at a certain spot in the interior of the bucket, right above the slightly-rippling water surface.

“Wait,” This time Roah was the first to understand, his lone eye widening. “That’s an icon?”

It was hard to see, since at a glance it only seemed like one of the many scratches already covering the bucket all over, but now that their attention was fully brought to it, it was indeed an obvious icon. It was somewhat crude and simple due to its size, yet still recognizable enough to probably work.

“Just like this,” Saburn mumbled as he looked inside the bucket. A thin stream poured down the icon and then ceased. He opened the channel almost lazily and closed it just as casually. To him it was as simple as snapping his finger. This wasn’t the first time Saburn showed them his channeling prowess, but it was still just as impressive even when on such a small scale. He turned back to the trio with a smile.

Gen leaked a sigh. “I’m starting to think this whole channeling business is meaningless,” he grumbled. “We'll never reach that kind of level, and besides, why bother with that when I already have something like this?” He lightly raised his shoulder and with it a silhouette of an arm faintly shone for a split second.

“As useful and incredible as your ability is, possessing more skills is never bad. In time we will work on that, as well, but for now channeling is just as important. Imagine yourself getting stuck out in the desert, dying of thirst. A simple icon on a rock could save your life.”

“There aren’t any deserts in Rumdon anyway,” was Gen’s response.

“It was just an example, idiot,” spat Roah.

Gen was about to say something but his shoulder was grabbed by Saburn. “Don’t worry, Gen. You have your own valuable skills. All I’m doing is trying to teach you enough so that your talents do not go to waste. That is part of why this school was founded, after all.” He smiled. “Keep your mind open and persevere. That’s all.”

“More like keep your eye open for nasty tricks,” mumbled Roah.

“Sure, that too,” Saburn said. “At times lying is even more important than telling the truth. But that is a lesson for another time, perhaps.”

“Anyway,” said Gen, “I get it. I wasn’t going to give up, you can be sure of that.” He flashed their teacher a smile. Roah, meanwhile, seemed somewhat resigned.

“I think we will finish with this for today, even if the lesson seems a bit short. Which reminds me, we will not be meeting tomorrow. Take some time off and think about what we’ve done today and prepare yourself mentally for more to come.”

“Why is there no lesson?” asked Roah.

“Let’s just say I have some business in town,” Saburn replied with a mysterious smile.

“Is that related to Molton?” Roah asked again, but Saburn merely shrugged. Which was as good as a confirmation, really, but Roah pursued it no further. Even Gen knew that Saburn would not budge in situations like this. Instead, he went to get his bag.

“Alright then,” said Gen, stretching. “Should I escort you to the edge of town, Niu?”

In response the girl shook her head, which made Gen puzzled. She smiled, pointed at Saburn and then waved with her other hand. He knew her well and long enough to understand even such simplistic gestures.

“Sure. See you tomorrow, then!”

Roah had already left the classroom, and soon also Gen was out.

“Yes? You wanted to ask me something?” Saburn spoke quietly. Niu nodded and began writing on a piece of paper. She softly bit her lips and averted her gaze while presenting the text to her teacher.

Is it really fine for me to be here? My icons are fine but my channeling is horrible. And unlike the other two, I don’t have any compensation.

She heard Saburn take a long breath and then he started speaking. “So that’s what you were worried about... Niu, you’re doing great, I promise you that. As for your compensation, it’s probably your ability to express yourself in drawing and writing instead of verbally. Perhaps not flashy, but it is very useful still.”

It wasn’t the first time she’d heard this, and she still felt it was dubious. Then again, according to Saburn, he himself had researched this phenomenon back when he was in the capital of Copius. Even if he was saying this just to make her feel better, it had some persuasiveness.

“Also, I don’t have any compensation either, you remember? You and I are completely different from someone like Stard, but that’s fine. You’ve got something great waiting for you—I know it. You just need to persevere and control your life.”

Still not quite convinced but a bit encouraged by his choice of words, she nodded and smiled at him.

“Go along then,” he said. “You shouldn’t stay outside too late.”

Niu smiled somewhat shyly, took her bag and went. Saburn was left sitting alone inside the desolate classroom.

Niu’s way back home was much less eventful than that morning. By the time she had left town, descended down the hills and reached the outskirts of her village, the light in the sky was already starting to tilt toward the west. It was already past 8 o’clock, so soon the sun would start sinking behind the trees growing at the very edge and vanish entirely.

The surroundings were quiet. Most of the day’s work was done and the various field workers returned to their homes and families for the night, just as Niu did. Presently she reached her place of residence, a rickety wooden building. It looked like a joke when compared to even the poorest in Hayden, but for Niu it was home.

She entered, making the door creak. This sound caused the head of a woman sitting at a table with pieces of cloth and needle in hand to raise her face. She was Niu's mother, Naria.

If described in a single word, that word could probably be "haggard". Even at the best of times (not that Niu could remember any) Naria’s eyes were always narrowed as if carrying her wrinkled brow. Her once-brown hair had already faded to gray despite being only around Saburn’s age. When she looked at Niu her green eyes seemed to look past her and into empty air.

Only when Niu waved with a plastered, stiff smile did she respond.

“Welcome,” Naria spoke dryly. “I will make some dinner soon.” And she returned her gaze to the needlework, working sluggishly.

That was the sum of their interaction. Niu’s mom asked nothing about her day. Nothing about school or friends or even the small packed lunch that she made for Niu. It was a dry greeting, only going through the motions without any thought behind it.

Niu erased her smile and headed to the other part of the house, where her “room” was located. It was only about big enough to have a dingy mattress and a small desk, yet it never felt truly cramped. Not physically, anyway.

Switching into her second pair of clothes, drawn from the small chest under her desk, she checked her notes from the day. As she did, she found her sketch of the flower from this morning, realizing with a start she’d completely forgotten to try looking for it on her way back home.

Oh well; that could wait for tomorrow. Instead, she began doing her homework from the day. The setting sun provided her with barely enough light to solve some equations, recount the names of metals and analyze a piece of silly poetry from a hundred years back.

Soon after this Niu heard her mother call to her. Dinner was so mundane that there was no need to describe it; it was simple eating, and Naria wasn’t even in the room with her, probably gone to take care of some other chore. Niu knew that her father probably wouldn’t return home tonight either. She merely left the dishes behind and returned to her room.

Next Niu opened her notebook yet again. This time what she wrote had nothing to do with schoolwork, though.

She wrote solemnly and carefully yet also powerfully, packing every single word and letter with her emotions, her face stiffening as though in effort. This process filled a page and then it was all over as suddenly as it began. Following this she methodically plucked the page out of her notebook, took a firm hold of it, and ripped it into two. She stacked both halves, ripped them together yet again, and repeated the process multiple times until nothing remained but shreds.

Her grim mask vanished, all tension left her body, and the thin line of her mouth broke into a wide grin.

Now that she felt somewhat calmer, and in order to take advantage of the last rays of the sun, Niu lay her stomach on the bed and reached under it to pull out a tattered book. This was one of the very few things she owned.

The cover was already faded and half the pages seemed likely to fall down at any moment. Half of it was due to the age of the book, and the other half was due to how frequently Niu leafed through it. She opened it pretty much at random and found the title of a story.

"The Soft Rose"

Long ago, when fairies were still in this world (which was a very common sort of introduction in these types of stories), there was a certain forest. A farmer’s boy lived nearby, spending his days helping his father in the field or his mother in the house while longing for the forest.

Whenever he had the time—or whenever he’d sneak away from his duties—he would go and gaze at the beautiful flowers growing between the tall trees. And the most beautiful of all were the roses, red and pure as blood and life. However, whenever the boy tried plucking a rose, their thorns pricked his fingers, deterring him.

He wished no harm for the roses, merely to admire their beauty and perhaps show it to others, but they refused him nonetheless. Day after day he tried devising new ways to reach out to his treasure, but it would always end with bleeding fingers and a broken heart.

One of those days, a fairy happened to pass nearby, observing the boy’s daily ritual. The fairy fluttered its wings around, sinking between blades of grass, mixing with swarms of butterflies and hiding behind flower petals to silently watch the boy’s silly yet charming endeavor.

Filled with a bit of kindness and more than a little mischievousness, the fairy decided it would help the boy gain his wishes, albeit at a price. And so, the next day, when the boy came to attempt to take a rose yet again, the fairy suddenly

At this point Niu had to stop, however, for it was getting too dark outside to read. She closed the book along with a soft sigh. Well, by now she knew the entire story almost word for word, anyway.

While the fairy was going to play a trick on the unsuspecting child, it would serve to teach him a valuable lesson. For although they were capricious, fairies always helped humans—this was why Niu loved their stories so much.

She wanted to be like that, too. Likely the only way for her to make that dream come true was to excel in her studies, which had been granted to her like a present from the heavens (or from a fairy?), and move to the capital. Perhaps there she could follow in Saburn’s footsteps…

That was a still faraway dream, though. She still had a lot of work left before she could move in that direction.

Not wanting to go to sleep just yet, Niu once again reached beneath her bed and pulled out a small object. At a glance it looked like a glass orb with a handle, but there was a large icon engraved on its surface. It was drawn such that it would be prominent and clear even in the dark, so Niu immediately focused in it.

Unlike her attempt this afternoon, this time her channeling was perfect. The orb started emitting light: this item was known as a channeling lamp. Light was known to be among the easier—if not easiest—to channel, at least in its most basic form, so it was perfectly suited even for beginners; Saburn had given each of the kids one such lamp as a gift after their first successful practical lesson.

Apparently, it was created with some sort of gem that stored light in it for a short while, meaning that one had to reactivate it only after a short while, and it was designed to be easily usable even in darkness by its simple icon design. Even this, of course, was difficult to operate at first—but after a long time of usage, Niu managed to master at least that.

She placed the small source of light on her windowsill and gazed outside. While the usual hours of darkness began descending on their world, it was actually not completely pitch-dark. Viewed just above the horizon was another source of light.

It was known as Fairland, world of the fair folk.

Fairies, while a subject of many legends, actually existed in this world—or so ancient history told. No person in many centuries had seen them, and yet it was common knowledge that they continued to exist in the other world viewed in the sky.

Just like on Plainland—their own world—the fairies’ world also seemed to channel light for half of the day, yet their daily cycle was different. Here it was night, but on Fairland it should be midday.

On the opposite side of Plainland there were also the lights of Blissland—the holy domain of the Gods. However, they couldn’t be seen from Hayden due to the mountain range to the east. Niu was more interested in fairies anyway, so she never thought much of Blissland. She heard that the channeling of light there was chaotic and unreliable, anyhow.

Looking for a while, Niu suddenly felt as if she could see another light in the dark sky. She furrowed her brows and squinted, but wasn’t sure. Perhaps Roah would be able to tell, but for a moment she was sure she could see some small glint—no, several small light sources, even.

The only things in the sky should be the two worlds, so was it just her imagination? Niu rubbed her eyes and gazed at the sky again, but still she felt like she could see small lights hanging there. It was truly bizarre, but also somewhat pretty—it almost seemed as if there were even more worlds out there.

Niu kept pondering this for a while until the lamp went dark. She took that as a sign to finally conclude her activities for that day. Tomorrow would be a better day, she felt. She returned the lamp to its place under the bed, got on top of it and crawled into the thin sheets.

The darkness closed its curtains on another normal day, perhaps her last.

Above the spheres a bright light

Shows that something isn’t right