“A room has been prepared for you, Adel, as well as one for you, Man,” said Kard.

“Thank you,” I replied, smiling. “I definitely need some rest before we discuss this whole backstory thing in more detail.”

“No need to worry about that now,” Kard said. “You guys take some rest and we will talk afterward. Most of us are also going to get some sleep, though unfortunately, we won’t be sleeping in the same room anymore,” he said, laughing and playfully slapping my shoulder with the back of his right hand.

I laughed, but then a thought occurred to me.

“Who is going to keep an eye on what’s happening out there?” I asked.

“No need to stress about that,” he answered in a calming tone. “Those eight were not the only ones I sent to catch some shuteye earlier. There are a score more that I’ll notify to take the position before going to bed. Thankfully everyone is very cooperative and eager to help.”

“You are blessed with good friends, Adel!” Man exclaimed.

“I am indeed,” I said, almost to myself. The mention of good friends had my mind thinking of Myriam once more.

As if he had noticed, Kard grabbed me by the shoulders, turned me around and pushed me toward one of the platforms that would take me to my bed.

“Go rest!” he said, in a demanding tone that left no space for denials. “We will talk more once you’ve slept a bit.”

When I arrived at the room they had indicated as mine, I found it furnished with one large bed and one small bedside table with a note on it.

The bed is fine. The table is also fine. I leave the rest to you.

Krysha’s name was signed at the bottom of the note, though I didn’t need to read that far to know that it was written by her. Only she would describe things as fine and in such a literal tone.

I sat on the bed, which was indeed fine. I would need to put some other stuff in here but that would have to wait. I laid down and even though I was extremely tired, I could not stop thinking of all the wrong turns my life had taken.

My parents were gone. Myriam was missing, along with Kai who had possibly killed The Divine. I had lost my chance to receive any mana.

Everything used to be perfectly planned and yet now all was in chaos. I tried my best to pull myself away from my spiraling thoughts and instead focus on the upcoming meeting and how we could best convince outsiders that we were ordinary manaless traders. Thankfully, I didn’t manage to get very far with this train of thought before I was fast asleep.

***

I woke up suddenly and gasped for air as I tried to orient myself. How much time had I been out for? I rushed to the door, pulled it open and saw people moving through the corridors and from floor to floor, carrying all sorts of furniture. I headed down to the foyer and spotted Kard who speaking with some of the younger manaless.

“Hey, Adel,” he said and tipped the hilt of his dagger to the side of his forehead while the rest of them simply smiled or waved at me. “Did you get a good rest?”

“Yes,” I replied hastily. “I’m sorry I overslept. I should get a device or something to wake me up. Or we could set up a system where each of us is responsible for waking—”

“Don’t worry about it,” he interrupted me. “We all deserved some shuteye. Do you know how many hours a dragon sleeps each day? Who are we to say that’s bad?”

“You’re right Kard,” I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder.

He was a good friend. He was a better friend than anyone I could have ever asked for in a time like this.

“I’m happy to report that nothing happened while we were sleeping,” he said, and turned his head toward the people he had previously been talking to. “This is the next team that will be staying outside the tower, and possibly riding the carts while we move. Should we recall the ones outside now and commence our meeting?”

“Yes, please.” I felt a bit uncomfortable with Kard asking me for instructions as if I was the leader, but it had to be done. “And let’s call everyone here apart from the four people in our watch room. They’ll have to be informed of what we say today by someone after the meeting.”

Soon I saw people coming down the staircases, as well as riding the large levitating platforms down. The foyer started filling up with people that were nodded or smiled at me whenever our eyes crossed.

These people were so brave. Tired and lost, having been through so much, and yet they managed to smile.

I found a small bench at the side of the room and brought it in front of the entrance as Kard entered with the eight people who had just finished their shift. I thanked them and climbed up the bench to be able to see everyone better.

Immediately, I spotted Krysha furiously taking notes, no doubt about placing some kind of podium in the foyer for occasions like this. Two minutes later, a younger manaless boy came and told me that everyone was there. I thanked him, took a deep breath and turned to the people waiting once more.

“Hello, everyone. I hope you feel rested. I know I do… more than I should really,” I said, and let out an awkward laugh. “Anyway, I’m glad to see all of you working so hard to make the tower a place we can call home. I wanted to discuss a very important matter with you.”

I tried to put the words that were running through my mind in the right order.

“It is safe to assume that the Order has dispatched battalions in order to investigate all liturgy locations,” I began. “Seeing that no battalion reached Nara while we were still there, we can also assume that their search parties have not yet progressed that far and that we have even fewer chances of meeting one the further south we travel. Nevertheless, we should be prepared for any encounter on the road, especially as we get close to big cities like Sumalen and Leskia.”

The mention of Sumalen, the city where my eldest sister was living, threw my thoughts into disarray and I needed to take a moment to recoup my concentration.

“Thankfully, Man has provided us with valuable information regarding his people and country,” I said, and turned my head toward him and nodded appreciatively. “As agreed, we will be heading south where manaless are more common but it won’t be long before the Order starts targeting all young manaless in order to solve the mystery of what happened in Nara. For this reason, we will need to pose as merchants from Leka An. Man will select those of us who look the oldest and only those people will be exiting the tower, at least until we reach the port.”

At this point, Man picked up my point. “I know this is going to be a challenging task for many of us, but it is necessary if we want to avoid drawing attention. Whoever wants to take on this responsibility, and looks old enough to pass as a trader, please come find me after we conclude. It would be great if we could gather sixteen people so that they can take turns in and out of the tower. Now, regarding our cover story, we are merchants from Leka An. We traded ores in Elysia and are returning with some magic items and artifacts to Leka An. This should be enough.”

“What if we get asked more questions, though?” asked one of the people that had previously been stationed outside of the tower.

“You tell them that your maejin will come shortly,” Man replied. “Maejin is a title used to describe the chief merchant of a trade expedition. You do not need to worry about more questions, as I will probably arrive before they reach you. Does anyone have any other questions now?”

The room was quiet. “Seeing as there are no additional questions, I’d like to thank you again,” I started, “all of you, for your efforts. Not just for carrying and moving all of this stuff around, but also for carrying each other with your smiles and your stamina. For moving when everyone else would have quit.” Some in the crowd smiled and I felt the energy of the room start to change. “We may not have mana, and we will never have it, but that does not mean we will live our lives being helpless. We are not manaless anymore. We are fighters!”

A loud roar sounded from the audience, and chills of pride and solidarity spread through every one of the people gathered.

“We are not boys and girls anymore. We are warriors!” I continued, and a second, even louder, roar echoed through the halls of our large tower.

“We are the first warriors. And we, are one.” Tears ran from my eyes as I climbed down from the bench. The people in the foyer were now ecstatic. They were crying, but I knew they were not tears of sadness. They hugged each other. Hugged me. I had never felt more proud in my life.

“We are one,” I whispered to myself.