"So, Sarah? How long has it been since you learned the miracle to summon weapons?" Sally had been curious about this since seeing her summon the chains earlier. She had been impressed by Sarah's initiative. Despite being injured and barely conscious, Sarah was still aware enough to create an opportunity for Tobias.

"Oh yeah, Tobias said you summoned chains?" Raelith had been meaning to ask about this as well. She was a weapons expert not by trade, but experience.

The ability to summon weapons required an individual to have some understanding to what they summon. In the clergy it is taught how to summon basic weapons like axes and swords or even simple bludgeons. Training to use the spell for anything else is rare.

The idea is that when you summon something, it must maintain its shape in your mind even while you are in the midst of battle, so basic weapons are easier to maintain.

Something like a chain though? Chains are nuanced tools. They are made of individual links which all react uniquely to each other. Maintaining the image in your mind during battle would be hard. But even summoning it would require an immense amount of understanding.

Raelith was extremely impressed by Sarah's capability. Later she considered even training up that ability herself.

Even Feylin looked over. When he heard what happened, he was probably the most surprised of everyone. He never thought Sarah would be the type to learn that miracle. He had been attempting to learn it himself and was still a hairs breadth away from actually being able to cast it.

"I was close to finishing it before we left…" Sarah said, sneaking a sidelong glance at Feylin. "I didn't manage to complete it until we set off on the assignment."

Everyone looked at each other. For her to have reached that level even before coming under their tutelage was impressive. Feylins’ eyes narrowed. For that long?

He thought about how hard he worked to catch up in his studies. He thought about the time he asked how far along she was in her miracle-casting. She had told him she was working on a healing spell and he bragged about his progress with the miracle to summon weapons…

A frown worked its way on his face, but it was subtle and disappeared quickly. Feylin let go of the tension with a sigh. Sarah had always been ahead of him ever since she arrived at the temple years prior. It was nothing new.

The look that crossed his face did not go unnoticed by the two clerics.

"May I see your summon spell Sarah?" Raelith was curious to see how refined her skills were. Sarah merely shook her head.

"I don't have the energy to use that level of spell again until I rest. I can show you tomorrow though if you want."

Raelith was shocked for a moment before remembering how young they were. They haven't even graduated from being acolytes yet, she realized. It would be weird if she could use the spell twice in a day.

"Tomorrow then." Raelith said. "Tonight, you both go to sleep. Sally, Tobias and I will take watch. We can function better on less sleep. You both will need to be rested. You haven't realized it yet, but that fight will have exhausted you more than you know." Sally nodded along. She was going to suggest it soon if Raelith had not.

Both the acolytes nodded and set up their sleeping bags a little way away from the fire. They spotted Tobias kneeling down in the distance, presumably talking to the Grand-Priest.

They both laid in the dark of night, blanketed by an immense starry sky which threatened to swallow them whole. Various thoughts ran through their minds.

"Sarah, why didn't you tell me you were so close to advancing?" Feylin rolled on his side, looking at Sarah.

She thought about it for a moment. Six months ago, when he had asked her, why did she hide it? She didn’t have an answer.

"Well." Feylin continued. "At least tell me this." Even in the night she could see his eyes clearly. "Why chains?"

The silence of the cool night air became deafening as he waited for an answer. To Feylin, the reason didn't matter. Not really. He just wanted to see if she would tell him the truth.

As they looked at each other, Feylin couldn't help but feel a small intimidation from the intensity in Sarah's eyes. Feylin noticed that he had to fight not to look away.

"Because…" Her voice was soft and carried no further than his ears.

"There are things in this world that deserve to be chained to hell."

She rolled over in her sleeping bag, leaving Feylin alone in the night with those words. However, exhaustion soon came over both and they were quickly lost to sleep.

…

"How did it go with the HQ?" Sally asked. Tobias sat down near the fire, tossing another small log in the pit.

"Hmph. They told me about as much as you would expect. Just south of nothing." Seeing his big frame hunched over in front of the fire, Sally and Rae couldn't help but admire his sturdy nature. Ever since the beginning of this assignment they had traveled together for two years, and no matter what situation they were in Tobias remained calm and reliable.

Even after losing two students to the drow…

"So, what do you think about those two?" Tobias asked. Sally and Raelith looked at each other, each considering their words.

"Feylin, I think, has a lot of potential in the order of life." Sally said. She had taken charge of training Feylin for the most part. They both used a single hand weapon and shield combination, so she easily transferred her experiences into something teachable.

"He is reliable when needed, but still green behind the ears and it shows. He would get along well within the Burian and would probably grow remarkably fast next to his peers." Tobias responded. Due to his level within the order, he was blessed with a keen insight into people's hearts. Especially the hearts of the youth.

"And Sarah?" He asked.

There was a pause of silence.

"Sarah is a prodigy, frankly remarkable in both weapons and learning. She never seeked out guidance from me or Sally with summoning weapons, and she was able to learn it on her own even without our knowledge." Raelith said. "And the fact she can summon something as complicated as a chain is even more impressive. However… she's not a good fit for the order of life." Raelith spoke clearly and with only minor hesitation. If anyone else were there to hear her they would assume she was being unnecessarily harsh. However, Raelith felt that at her age there was no reason to mince words.

Sally nodded her head. She felt the same way.

"And why not?" Tobias said, his face neutral. Raelith and Sally looked at each other.

"To summon a chain… the chain in her heart would first need to be actualized." Sally said. Tobias nodded, he understood what she meant.

He had heard from Jakobson about her history, and he wasn't surprised by the conclusion the clerics came to. She indeed had a chain in her heart, and this assignment may have been more than enough to actualize it into existence.

Tobias stared into the flames.

"There's something else that's bothering me." Tobias' voice was slightly strained. "With all the commotion we caused… I don't know why we haven't seen any of the epoch tribesman yet." Sally and Rae both considered this… Tobias was right. That was worrying, indeed.