Solera woke up to the sounds of imps fluttering around, delivering breakfast to all the people in the Grove. He wasn’t sure when he had fallen asleep, but at some point his consciousness had drifted away.

An imp had left a platter of eggs and bread on the nightstand under the window. From his bed, Solera reached over and grabbed it. After finishing his breakfast, Solera walked into the living room, where Vinoh was sitting. He looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at Solera.

“Hurry up, you have thirty minutes before it’s time to leave. Your new expandable clothing is on the shelf in the bathroom. Also, I have one last thing to give you before you go.” Vinoh rubbed a small green rock between his fingers. Solera had seen it many times before, sitting on a cupboard, but he had never paid it any mind. He figured it was some kind of keepsake.

Solera nodded and entered the bathroom. The imps had filled the bathtub with hot water, as they did everyday. After twenty minutes, he emerged, channeling some power into a square. With a crisp, unfurling sound, the expandable billowed into a shirt.

Vinoh opened the backpack, tossing in Solera’s toiletries and water pouch. After Solera put on his shirt, he stuffed the cards into the pocket of his pants and began strapping on his boots.

“You forgot all your other clothes.” Vinoh snorted, going into the bathroom to retrieve the rest of the expandable clothing. These were tossed into the backpack as well.

“You wanted to give me something, right?” Solera said, tying his shoelaces.

“Oh, right! Damn, this is the most important thing.” Vinoh hobbled back, snatching up the green stone. He had threaded a cord through an opening in the rock, making it a rather shabby-looking necklace.

“Solera, this is a power crystal!” Vinoh said, handing it to Solera. “Vast quantities of power is stored inside it. When you find yourself in a dire, life-threatening situation, you can channel power into it, just like you do with expandables, to unleash all of the stored power in one strike!”

Solera stared at the power crystal in his hands, fascinated. Inside the rock, he could see a tiny green oak leaf. “I can only use this once?”

“Yes, power crystals are one-use items.” Vinoh said, shaking his head. “Still, they’re very valuable! If they were cheaper, then everyone would have them! A power crystal is worth around five million Iotas! That’s why you should only use it when your life is on the line.”

Solera put the necklace on, tucking it under his shirt. The crystal was cold at first, but quickly heated up as it was warmed by Solera’s body.

Vinoh laughed. “Normally, you would keep it hidden until you are in the battlefield, but this power crystal looks very different from the ones sold by Zircon and the Pantheon! It’s made out of amber, not a gem, and even has a leaf in it. Only with close inspection would you be able to figure out that it’s a power crystal. I found this trinket in Old Eden, on that trip to the Wastelands.” Vinoh’s eyes glazed over as he recalled decade-old memories.

Solera hugged Vinoh. He never knew much about the Wastelands trip Vinoh had taken just after Solera had been born, but he knew it was a painful experience for his father. In an attempt to comfort Vinoh, Solera tried to change the subject.

“Dad, let’s go to the town hall now.” Solera separated from Vinoh and put on the backpack. Despite the sheer amount of things inside, it didn’t weigh very much at all. Expandables were both compact and lightweight, very convenient for travelers.

Vinoh looked up, shaking his head. “You’re a man now, Solera. Having me chaperone you there would be pathetic. You must go on your own.”

Solera frowned. “Then, this is the last time I’m going to see you?”

“Of course not, you’ll come back every once in a while.” Vinoh made shooing motions. “Go, go! I’ve had enough of you anyway.”

Solera thought he saw tears in his father’s eyes, but Vinoh had turned around. His emotions in turmoil, Solera turned around and exited.

Solera dragged each of his steps on the way to the town hall, but it seemed like he had arrived in the blink of an eye. Most of the other children were already there, along with their parents. He stood awkwardly next to a big oaf and his mother. Though Solera had frequently seen them, he had never met these two.

The boy was staring off into space, a blank look in his eyes. His mother was a short, mousy woman with curly brownish-orange hair. As Solera was looking around the room, he inadvertently made eye contact with her.

“Hi, how do you do?” The woman smiled weakly, extending a hand out to Solera. “This is my son, Guinness. Guinness, come over here.” Guinness ambled over, giving Solera a bright smile.

“I’m Solera.” Solera said, shaking her hand.

“Oh, you’re Vinoh’s son, the one who’s always training.” The woman tittered nervously. “My son Guinness is a bit dim, but I beg you to take care of him. I’m afraid that with his temperament, he might get bullied and be lonely away from home.”

“Uh… okay.” Solera looked Guinness over. He was burly, with messy brown hair, chubby face, and a big nose. Even when Solera looked straight at Guinness, Guinness just stared blankly at the ground, as if he was thinking nothing at all.

Guinness’s mother seemed to be quite relieved, and she turned away, humming to herself. Solera saw Pinot walk in. She was fluffing her hair and complaining about not having enough room to bring all her clothing. Behind her was her father, who was carrying two trunks that were so crammed, Solera felt they could burst at any moment.

After a few more minutes, Chianti walked in, smiling to all the children. “Is everyone here?” She counted them all, before nodding to herself. “All right then, it’s time to go!” The giant hoof of a reindeer appeared behind the town hall doors.

Solera blinked in surprise as he saw it. This reindeer was huge! Just what kind of a Spirit possessed this animal?

The children waved, hugged, kissed, and cried their parents goodbye, before following Chianti outside to the reindeer. A swarm of imps hovered in the air outside, their wings flapping. The imps were used to carry the luggage up to a large carriage on the back of the reindeer. One of them, a chitinous creature with spindly arms and bulbous eyes, motioned for Solera’s backpack, but he shook his head. Solera thought these imps were definitely possessed flies. Other bugs wouldn’t have that sort of bulbous eyeballs.

Solera took a seat in the back, next to Guinness.

“Lunch!’ Guinness called out to his mother from the top of the reindeer, his stomach rumbling.

“It’s in your backpack!” The mother squeaked, her voice barely reaching them.

“Backpack? Where?” Guinness shouted.

“Behind you, on your back!”

Guinness whirled around, his backpack smashing Solera off his seat. “Where?”

Groaning, Solera got up and retrieved a sandwich from Guinness’s backpack, handing it over to him. The reindeer began to gallop away, but Solera thought he heard a “thank you” drifting faintly with the wind.

Solera turned around, watching the bottom part of the town hall disappear behind the other trees. Suddenly, the reindeer stopped, lifting a hind leg up. Solera paled as he heard something indescribable plop onto the ground. The reindeer began running again, but Solera took care to not look behind another time.

Within two minutes, they were out of the forest and running in the road dividing two fields. Solera could see people tending to the plants. Several dirt golems shambled through the crops, spraying water out of their bodies. As they passed another field of grain, Solera could see a cluster of imps on the rich soil, working to eliminate pests and weeds.

Solera sniffed the air, his face blanching as he smelled the remnants of the reindeer’s dump earlier.

“Guinness, I’m moving to the front!” He shouted to Guinness, who didn’t seem to understand. Still, he wordlessly followed Solera to the front. They sat down next to Chianti, who had a whole row to herself.

“Hey, Solera.” Chianti said cheerily. “How’s your day going?”

Solera shrugged. “Don’t know.” The day had just started. How could he evaluate his day right now?

Chianti laughed. “Yeah, some days are pretty iffy.”

“Are you a cultivator or what?” Solera blurted out. He had been curious ever since he had found out Chianti was an ex-mercenary.

Chianti nodded. “Yup, I was never good at memorizing mantras or controlling. I didn’t have any summoning aptitude, either.”

“But women have bad physiques for cultivating.” Solera said, confused. Most women were channelers, because being a warrior was very physical. For them, cultivating was a much more arduous task, requiring twice the work for half the gain.

“Well, what can I do about that. I wasn’t born a man.” Chianti sighed. “Maybe if I studied for another seven years instead of running away to become a mercenary, I’d be a Channeler.”

Solera scratched his head. “Um, okay. But why did you run away?”

Chianti blinked, staring painfully into the distance. After a moment, a grin appeared on her face.

“My parents were marrying me off to this ugly kid, and I wasn’t having any of that!”