A young man close in Darren’s age swiveled around at the sound of the door clicking open. “Hello, you must be the new knight in training. I’m Aispin.” He firmly shook Darren’s hand with an affable countenance.

“Darren.” He returned with a smile.

“Nice to meet you.” The young man had slightly messy bangs that parted flawlessly in three, framing his face and accentuating his sharp nose. The asymmetry of his hairstyle conferred him a charming character. He was a smidgen shorter than Darren by a centimeter, and his sinewy build was evident under his fitted, black T-shirt and narrow-cut, black pants.

“Darren! These rooms are pretty nice!” Essairyn cheerfully chirped as she abruptly poked her head into his room. Since Essairyn was currently the newest girl and wasn’t technically part of the new recruits, she had a room all to herself as the odd number out from the other female cadets.

However, she didn’t know this and expected Darren’s accommodations to be the same. Instantly, her keen eyes latched onto the unfamiliar person in front of Darren. Dark chestnut brown hair, deep ocean blue eyes… Beautiful. That was the first word that came to her mind as she paused to take in Aispin’s appearance.

“Hello~!” She flashed a brilliant smile and extended her hand in a greeting. “I’m Essairyn. Are you rooming with Darren here?” Based on the sparse positioning of items in the room, she deduced that he had also arrived today. Wah, I was so happy that I got a room all to myself, but now I wish I had a roommate too. She felt a little forlorn and wished to meet a girl her age as well. Lucky Darren. This guy looks so cool! She couldn’t help feeling a little awed by Aispin.

But, reflecting back to her arrival in this world, she realized that almost everyone she had met was more eye-catching than those on Earth. That red-haired guy…even Lachlan… Hm, although Darren is pretty good-looking himself… Guh. Why do I feel like I’m a squid among all these men?! Is magic some kind of beauty tonic too?? She internally fretted in dismay at the perceived unfairness while acting like she didn’t care on the exterior. Highly self-conscious and critical on the inside, and nonchalant and cordial on the outside, she could easily find the beauty in others but often struggled to accept her own unique charm.

Aispin quickly recollected himself and returned the handshake. “Aispin. Nice to meet you. Yes, I’m Darren’s roommate. However, I’m not a new knight trainee, so I won’t be joining you two in the training starting tomorrow.”

Both Essairyn and Darren’s were startled, so Aispin continued, “I’m actually here on a mission. I’ve already been studying for several years now at the Knight Mage Academy in Neu’arth.”

“Ohh…” Essairyn’s mouth opened a little in understanding and admiration upon meeting a student enrolled in the premier educative establishment at Neu'arth. “Is this mission the one about the group after mages?”

Aispin raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Yes, how do you know about it?”

“One of the Knights, Bodraig, initially offered free training in return for joining the mission.”

“So Bodraig invited you, hm? How interesting…” Aispin heightened his senses and directed them at the girl. As a C-ranked knight, he could roughly perceive someone’s power if he focused well enough. Higher ranks would be able to tell instantaneously. Feeling the sweeping surges of potent magic undulating tranquilly around her, Aispin nearly started back in shock. What is this aura? I’ve never encountered such a strange scorching yet cooling sensation before. It’s both alarming and comforting… Is she as strong as me? No…possibly more? Internally shaking away these perplexing thoughts, he now understood why Bodraig approved of a stranger in such an importance mission despite her lack of experience and schooling.

“So then, you’re not a knight? You didn’t want to take the Oath?” Aispin hadn’t heard of someone refusing to join the Order. Most people jumped at the opportunity to become a part of such a prestigious organization. Of course, most knights weren’t that much different from the average citizen in terms of their daily life. Like many other young people, cadets went to school and learned. The only difference was in their uniform, designation, and main area of study.

“No, I didn’t want to be bound by the Oath.”

Aispin hummed in acknowledgement. “I guess I can see how you might think of it that way. But for him to offer you to join in this mission… Did he tell you how dangerous it is? The first reconnaissance failed terribly. Of course, they had sent in mere D and E ranked knights.” His face darkened at the memory. He remembered the pitiful state of the only survivor who had dragged his shredded body to the borders of Byar’non. If only I had arrived sooner, he had told himself countless times since the incident. He had been trailing the nefarious group since catching wind of their activities while sojourning in the countryside on school break.

Students in their fifth year or later could schedule short breaks at allotted points in the school year. Besides the two largest breaks in-between the fall and spring semesters, the Academy instituted smaller two week vacations as both reward and rest for older students whose education and training became more strenuous after the fourth year. By this point, students were considered more than just amateurs with only two years of meager mission experience. They became apprentices of a specialized field in Knight operations.

“Yes, I’m aware. But I believe I can handle it,” assured Essairyn.

Aispin calmly peered into her quietly determined orbs, then resolutely nodded his head. “I guess I’ll be seeing you in two weeks then.”

A small smile traced Essairyn’s lips. “Yes, I’ll see you then.”

Aispin grinned at them both and smacked Darren’s shoulder in a friendly gesture as he moved to leave the room. “Anyway, I hope you two enjoy the training. I’ll be heading out then.”

Before he reached the door, Essairyn quizzically remarked, “You’re going out now? But it’s evening.”

Curfew wasn’t particularly strict, but most students abided by it as it was the norm to sleep before nightfall when phantoms roamed about, even if demons rarely traversed human settlements.

“Ah, there are a few things I still need to do arriving in Byar’non. I’ll be back after you guys finish dinner and sleep.” He vaguely clarified with a departing wave.

Essairyn inclined her head to the side as she watched him stride through the dorms halls. “Well,” she began observantly, “he seems like a nice fellow, but I wonder why he left so quickly. Maybe he was in the middle of something and stopped in order to meet his new roommate and then he had to go back?”

Darren raised an eyebrow at her conjecture. “Maybe…he could have paperwork still to finish about the mission if he also just arrived here.”

She glanced at him briefly. Essairyn wasn’t sure if it was her newly developed habit of being overly cautious after everything that had happened, but an unsettling feeling softly churned in her gut. She looked at her hand that had touched Aispin and faintly narrowed her eyes. Why am I so tense all of a sudden? …Having second thoughts about the mission?

Darren’s subtle sigh and shrug of the shoulders broke her thoughts. He didn’t read into the situation heavily and nonchalantly walked around to survey the room. After the day’s events, he was ready to kick back and unwind.

“Oh, can I have the food?” Darren suddenly remembered that Essairyn was holding their dinners given by the Academy. Usually, the knight trainees would eat together in the main hall, but they opted out of it today in order to acquaint themselves with the area and settle down in their new lodgings. Essairyn retrieved two containers of food and sets of eating utensils from her magic cache. She handed a pair to Darren and then headed back to her room.

Meanwhile, Aispin had exited the campus grounds and was drifting soundlessly through the streets to an obscure corner. A hooded figure awaited his arrival in an empty alley, and the two men greeted one another with wordless nods.

“I heard you arrived yesterday,” stated Aispin with a trace of disdain before getting straight to the point. “We might be on the same side for now, but you know that our motives are entirely different. I don’t care if Lachlan and the Order are backing you up; they might tolerate it, but I certainly won’t––so don’t get in my way when the time comes, K.” And with those words of caution, Aispin sneered at the silent man and left.

Motionless against the wall, the mercenary let Aispin’s words sink into his conscience. He knew very well that underneath the surface, his given mission only benefited the side that he once swore to sought vengeance against as a young boy. Stripped of his peaceful childhood and identity, K could only live in the shadows lest he lose the only family he had left.

“How can I break out of these chains without losing sight of what’s most important?” He whispered to no one.

Back inside her room, Essairyn spied a half-asleep and curled up Akari in the middle of the bed. Seeing the snoozing fox, Essairyn clicked her tongue in mock dissatisfaction. This girl, I already said I was taking this bed. But of course, she had to claim it behind my back instead of sleeping in the other one. She shook her head wryly and gently sat on the edge of the bed with Akari. I guess it’s been a long, past few days.

She quietly stretched out a hand and lightly began petting Akari. So soft… When you’re like this, you remind me of… Essairyn squeezed her eyes shut as she halted the thought of her beloved dog back on Earth. A light, strained chuckle escaped her mouth. She gulped down the ball of rising emotion and tipped her head back in order to stop tears from falling.

“Haah…” Her breath heaved shakily, and she blinked away the emerging droplets along her lower waterline. She dropped her gaze upon the warm container of food on her lap. Slowly, she grasped the utensils laid on top and pried the lid open. A soft rush of steam billowed out onto her face. Then, she stabbed a chunk of seasoned meat and brought it to her mouth. It’s… good. Tasting the succulent and flavorful beef, her eyes suddenly teared up again. She quickly forked more food into her mouth as salty drops fell silently from her eyes. It’s really good…

Akari squirmed uncomfortably in her sleep, catching Essairyn’s attention. She softly laid a hand on the fox’s back, and Akari settled down with a satisfied exhale. The corners of Essairyn’s mouth quirked up momentarily in a small smile. Tomorrow… tomorrow will be a good day. The girl solemnly finished the rest of her dinner and saved the empty containers and utensils in her magic cache. Even though she knew that laying down after eating wasn’t recommended, Essairyn didn’t care in this moment. She crept underneath the covers without disturbing Akari and closed her dry eyes.

The next morning, Essairyn was awoken by a fuzzy and scratchy sensation on her cheek. She furrowed her forehead in displeasure and somnolently cracked her eyes open. The white paws of Akari filled half of her vision. The fox had been prodding her awake.

“Geez, you finally woke up! Now get up, you’re late!” Akari shouted.

The proximity of her loud voice jolted Essairyn up from bed. “Shoot!” The girl leapt out, raced to the door, and flung it open.

“HEY! Wait for me!” Akari screeched as she skittered across the wood floor after Essairyn who was already dashing madly through the corridors.

The two arrived, breathing heavily. Although, Akari was the only one actually exhausted from the morning sprint. Essairyn was merely panting in adrenaline at the news of being late.

“Where were you?” Darren asked as soon as Essairyn approached. He was at the back of the group standing before the head trainer, the knight in command. And Akari had preemptively darted to a hiding spot.

But before she could respond, the knight called her out. “You there who’s late!” He stressed the last word while pointing at the girl. “Run twenty laps around this block!”

Essairyn’s eyes popped out. “Wha—?” Twenty laps?! That’s so—!! She grimaced at the stern face of the knight.

“Some might excuse this kind of behavior, but I, Hætherin, shall not. As a knight, it is important to be on time and build good habits lest you become distracted or miss the opportune timing in battle!” The brawny gray-haired man scanned the group with narrowed eyes. “All of you, make sure not to be late from now on! We have no time to waste.” He flicked his sharp gaze toward Essairyn. “Why have you not started? Get going!”

She jolted at the dictatorial tone and darted off. What the heck?! What have I gotten myself into? Essairyn internally groused. Ugh, twenty laps… Hm. Wait. Actually, thinking about it now, it’s not that much for me? Compared to the distance running to Byar’non and the Academy, twenty loops around the block was trifling. In a matter of minutes, she breezed through them all.

Returning to the previous location, Essairyn swept the area looking for the group. She huffed as she realized that they had left without leaving so much as a note to where they went.

“You’re back already? I should’ve guessed,” said Akari, manifesting herself from behind a row of blossoming plants which lined the front of the flower shop nearby. “That knight made them run to the hills outside of town apparently in order to hike and train at the peak.”

“I see…” So that jerk ditched me after all! She huffed and decided to play a trick on the stringent knight. Or more precisely, she didn’t feel like following his rules considering she wasn’t even a trainee. Essairyn scooped up Akari and dashed over roofs once again to pass through the dense city quicker in the direction told.

Soon enough, she spied lagging members of the group running toward the outskirts. She noted that civilians moved out of the way at Hætherin's thundering shouts, causing stragglers to bump into the public who had moved back to their previous positions.

Using the buildings as cover, she deftly maneuvered ahead of the whole group before flying toward the hills once she exited Byar’non. Rather than attracting attention by traveling high through the air, she sat cross-legged on the magic circle and skirted above the grass.

She and Akari reached the so-called hills which looked more like a miniature mountain range due to the craggy, steep slopes. Instead of flying up, Essairyn felt like hiking. While rocky, the hills boasted dense, luxurious forests. She was curious about what it was like compared to the Spirit-Demon Forest. She leisurely trekked, hopping over streams, bouncing up jutting rocks, strolling through the undergrowth. It was a quaint woodland in comparison to the colossal trees of the Spirit-Demon Forest. But by regular standards, it was still quite large.

About a third up, she discovered a rock ledge with an unobstructed view of the landscape below the hills. Essairyn stepped out and surveyed the grasslands for the knight’s group. She pinpointed Hætherin at the front of the group and the lagging dots in the distance and snickered. They wouldn’t be arriving here any time soon at the slackening pace the trainees were going.

“Is it that funny to you?” Akari chuckled while sitting beside her on the ground.

“Just a little.” Essairyn winked. “I kind of feel bad for them actually. From the Academy to here, it’s probably… ten? fifteen miles? That knight sure is harsh. Twenty laps around a city block were really nothing. Now, I wonder if he was going easy on me because I’m a girl…”

She had noticed that she was one of a handful of girls in the group. It seemed that gender divisions still existed in this world, but it was a cultural or societal divide rather than ability-wise. Magic didn’t discriminate based on gender, so a girl was just as likely to have a high amount of regular m’u as a boy.

Thus, women theoretically could compete as equals to men in combat. It was a bit baffling to accept for those who were used to differences in physiology serving a deeper, straightforward purpose. However, men being built typically larger and therefore stronger still held true for non-magical humans.

Akari snorted at the speculation. “That is one old-fashioned knight. It sounded like he came from my era.”

Essairyn perked up at the mention of Akari’s past. “Your era?” She curiously yet carefully inquired.

The fox glanced at her from the side of her honey-hazel eyes. “Yeah, the knights were righteously stiff back then. That’s probably how the virtuous image of knights was created.” Her words dripped with sarcasm, making Essairyn snigger.

Akari smirked while adding, “But this one tops the cake. What a bore. Who makes knight trainees run this far before hiking up a huge hill and then sparring? Tsk.” She shook her head disapprovingly. “He’s scaring the poor cadets away. Oh well, they literally can’t run away from being a knight at this point after taking the Oath.”

“PFT.” Essairyn stopped herself from laughing at the blatant pun.

“Aw, come on, that was pretty good.” Akari smiled brightly with eyes that seemed to wink.

“Yeah, yeah.” The ebony-haired girl waved it off while turning back to the woods.

As they climbed up the miniature mountain, various plants and flowers caught Essairyn’s eyes. She inspected them before picking and placing them inside her magic cache for safekeeping. Like scrapbooking, most were kept because it tickled her fancy. A few, however, were apparently useful, according to Akari. They were herbs that could be formulated into salves, potions, and other concoctions. Although the medicinal, almost alchemical, applications intrigued her, Essairyn wasn’t currently keen on brewing anytime soon. That could be saved for future slack time if she ever desired to experiment like a mad scientist.

Soon, she neared close enough to the peak to fully see the hilltops below. It was at this point that the knights group had reached the base of the mini-mountain range. Proceeding onward, Essairyn gathered an assortment of grasses and stalks and fiddled with them. When she reached the summit, she had a spool of fibrous rope coiled loosely around her arm. Then, she discovered two sturdy, neighboring trees with low lying branches. She looped the rope around a branch from each tree and knotted the ends together. Afterwards, she began weaving a mat within the rope loop, creating a hanging bed.

“Why’re you making a hammock? Of all things, you’re making a hammock in your free time before the bore gets here?”

Essairyn understood that the ‘bore’ referred to the knight trainer, and a corner of her lip curled up in amusement. “Might as well rest now before working later. Besides, wouldn’t it be fun to greet the group by dozing away in a hammock?”

Akari squinted her eyes in partial incredulity. “Where the heck do you even get these weird ideas and notions?”

The girl shrugged at the fox’s words. “I just start something on a whim and it turns into something else. I wondered how the plants here were different from the Spirit-Demon Forest, so I tried entwining them into a cord. When I saw the trees at the top, the idea just popped up.”

“Huh.” The fox gave her a side-look but said nothing else. She simply observed Essairyn weave grass from one end of the rope to the other like a loom. In an hour, she finished.

“Akari.” Essairyn gestured and patted the hollow of the hammock next to where she was sitting on it. The fox complied, curious to the durability of the girl’s creation.

“Hm, not bad!” Akari commented as she pressed down on the material. “However, in a few days this hammock will wither and become useless.”

Essairyn angled her head to the side to glare at Akari. “Tch, party pooper. It’s biodegradable then! Good for the environment!”

“Not for the plants you pulled out.”

“Peh.” Essairyn could only retort with a cough-snort at the fox’s comeback, making Akari’s eyes wink with an entertained smile.

For a short spell, they snoozed in the serene shade of the forest. Since the knights group hadn’t arrived yet by the time they aroused, Essairyn ventured to the skies to discern their location. Seeing that the group barely reached halfway up the slope, she frowned in disappointment. What do I do in the meantime? I still have an hour or two before they arrive. No wonder we had to get up so early this morning. It’s already the late afternoon. While a sun didn’t exist to approximate the time, the dimming of light intuitively signaled the passing of day into night.

With nothing else better to do than collect plants or sleep, Essairyn opted to train her magic weapon summoning. Each successive summon of various weapons resulted in quicker retrieval times. She didn’t expect to encounter dangerous beasts in the next two weeks, but it never hurt to raise one’s efficacy ahead of time.

In the middle of target practice with her magic bow, Essairyn heard the crunches of leaves and twigs nearby. The group had finally reached the crest of the hill. Before anyone could see her, she absorbed the bow and arrows back into her magic flow and threw herself onto the hammock. Essairyn managed to scramble into a decent position of repose just as the knight trainer swept aside the foliage blocking his path.

Espying the leisurely girl on a random hammock seemingly made of grass, Hætherin halted his step, not quite knowing what to make of the scene before him. Recollecting himself, he strode promptly over to Essairyn.

“How did you get here before us? Didn’t I tell you to run twenty laps?”

His sharp gaze almost unnerved Essairyn, but she calmly searched the frontrunners for Darren instead of responding. Seeing that the boy wasn’t present, she returned her steady gaze to Hætherin. “I ran twenty laps and then ran here after I found out about the training location.”

The girl didn’t appear to be lying; however, her words were unconvincing. Unless she reinforced her speed and stamina with magic, or flew here, then she couldn’t have possibly arrived here before them. With that consideration, Hætherin suddenly remembered that Bodraig had mentioned in passing about someone being allowed to join the knights training without accepting the Oath. Although that didn’t explain how she made the hammock with this forest’s plants, Hætherin asked if she were that rumored mage. Essairyn directly confirmed his supposition, making him mentally note to keep a close eye on her.

The sparring sessions immediately began after this unforeseen welcome at the summit. Not all of the trainees had arrived, but Hætherin wasted no time partnering those in attendance. Besides being a suitable exercise, the long run had also naturally separated the trainees into groups of similar strength and stamina.

Thus, he could moderately ascertain their potentials and create comparatively equal match-ups. To the trainees, though, their hell merely continued. But even this was necessary to engrain into their bodies the importance of perseverance. On the battlefield, they would be weary all the time, but they would still have to fight with the best of their abilities by continuously drawing out hidden stores of strength.

Even so, the trainees groused about the unwarranted arduousness of the day’s activities whenever Hætherin was out of earshot. Of course, the middle-aged knight was quite aware of their complaints but paid them no heed. One day, they would be grateful for this experience. At least, that’s what the old-fashioned knight always believed even after countless years of relative peace. Rather than war, his generation and the ones before only fought skirmishes with rabid demons, miscreant humans, and the rare elemental.

Recently, however, the clashes with malefactors had markedly increased in frequency. And the discontent of the civilians grew more manifest with time. In the past few years, the understaffed Order of the Knights was running on overtime. It was because of this that they began to heavily recruit more young people and had to employ increasingly more Academy students on missions.

Currently, the number of trainees were odd, so Hætherin opted to spar with Essairyn in order to ascertain the extent of her mysterious abilities before placing her with anyone else. Without an option to refuse, Essairyn agreed and accepted the blunt, wooden swords that Hætherin handed out to the group. Later on, if the trainees so chose, they could fight with different types of weapons other than swords. But as a foundation, swords were the standard of the Knights.

Essairyn was quite confident in her budding swordsmanship when they began facing one another. But as the seconds ticked by, she grew more apprehensive. Equipped with magic, her movements became as fluid and quick as the billows of air itself. But coordination that mainly relied on superior speed only achieved so much in light of entrenched experience and technique. In just a minute’s time, she was completely overwhelmed by Hætherin’s skill.

“Not bad, young lady. You have successfully surprised me,” praised Hætherin as he inspected the nicks that Essairyn served to his wooden blade. “If you were allowed to fully back your strikes with magic, then I certainly wouldn’t stand a chance against your might as a non-magical knight. But even with magic supplementing your body’s motions, it is you who doesn’t stand a chance against me. Now try once more with just your raw abilities devoid of magic amplification. Let me see the true scope of your skill.” He pointed the tip of his weapon at Essairyn as if to egg her on.

She inwardly groaned at his candidly complacent remarks and glanced over at her sword which was lodged high in a tree trunk. Just like how the Knight Bodraig tested Darren to discern his abilities in the entrance examination, this Knight Hætherin did the same. Both senior knights merely played with their challengers and didn’t end the bout even when they could have from the start. Essairyn was certain of this from their spar. He countered her strikes far too easily, almost as if he anticipated the exact angle and direction.

As she leapt in a graceful arc and retrieved the sword embedded several meters from the ground, Essairyn resolved to readjust her thinking. Magic was a trump card, but it didn’t guarantee invincibility. Once her magic was exhausted, she would be left almost defenseless. Starting from scratch, huh… I need to improve my basic techniques without relying on magic. She already had used various types of weapons since appearing in this world. But magic couldn’t replace true skill and weapon mastery. Essairyn gripped the handle of her wooden weapon in renewed determination. I’ll become a ‘Knight’ as well as a Mage.

Without magic, the spars with Hætherin lasted about one or two dozen seconds. It was due to her physically enhanced body that Essairyn was even able to keep up this much. If it had been her body from Earth, even a second would be a victory.

In between these fleeting spars, Hætherin would pair up the arriving stragglers. Darren reached the main group shortly after Essairyn’s tenth magic-less spar. When he saw that she was training with the senior knight, a dash of rancor twisted his gut. Since he hadn’t seen her after they departed for the hills, he could only surmise that she quite literally, magically arrived here before them all. Now, as expected, she was the only one capable of properly challenging the knight.

“Wow, that girl is pretty amazing,” commented one of the trainees while taking a breather with his sparring partner. “That man is a top-tier, Class C Knight! Even Leœss here couldn’t last more than three seconds against him!” He jabbed a thumb at the aforementioned trainee who was a few meters away with his partner. Leœss glared at the other boy, and his sparring partner whacked him teasingly in the side.

“Hey, don’t pout, Ace. A girl beat you, but it’s okay since Chaera is your idol, right?” His partner laughed and dodged a kick from the peeved Leœss.

The first boy who mentioned him added to Leœss’s annoyance, saying, “But first, he needs to get past Classerth!” Everyone who understood the inside joke and was within earshot erupted in laughter. Only Darren stood blankly amidst the banter in confusion.

Leœss rolled his eyes and retorted, “That’s a one-sided relationship anyway. Chaera has no interest in him.”

“Haha, and what makes you think she’ll be interested in you?”

“More than you, you—!” Leœss smacked the back calf of his partner with the blunt of his sword. The other boy instantly jumped up on one leg while holding the other.

“Okay, okay, you win! My bad. I guess we’re all just frustrated.”

At these words, everyone’s teasing smiles faded. For sure, the training was more rigorous than presumed. They had all entered the Academy aspiring to become upper-echelon knights. But even for Leœss who had a regular m’u worthy of low-rank C but an overall score of top-tier rank D, the road to become an A class like Lieutenant Classerth Ajenak was inconceivable. For starters, Leœss was twenty-one, just one year younger than Classerth. The lieutenant was a genius child who was rank C before turning double digits in age. Most people rarely grew more than a class from birth to adulthood due to the almost exponential increase from the lowest to the highest classes.

However, the apex of genius was none other than Chaera Ch’tahur, the lone “true” S-class human currently living in Sol’h’meyr. Many believed that she was the last of the true S-classes who were noted for having one million or more in regular m’u. The previous one who reached that peak of strength was nearly five generations ago. Usually, at least one S-class arose in every generation of humans, but the number had dwindled drastically over the years.

Thus, the top echelons of knights were regarded as real-life heroes of old. Commander Ch’tahur and Lieutenant Ajenak were some of the sole beacons of hope for a race that scraped by due to the goodwill of the neighboring kingdom of As’rien. The abundant magic existing among all peoples in the ancient days of Sol’h’meyr when elemental gods still prowled the world had trickled down into these remaining powerhouses. It was human nature to admire and crave such all-encompassing power. It was power that was bountifully bestowed upon elementals and sparingly on humans. Struggling like underdogs, humans wished to return to the top of the food chain in this world.

Leœss patted his partner’s shoulder. “Yeah, I know. For the sake of your parents, you became a knight. I’m sure everyone here has a reason for putting through with this crap.” He turned his head and looked stoically at the trainees before him. They all nodded one by one in accord. The accumulating demon attacks, escalating pressures from neighboring kingdoms, and vanishing magic from their race, everyone felt the silent weight of impending doom. The human realm of As’pyze had to fortify the last frontier of their existence. No one spoke of it, but they all knew that peace could never last. Whether it took a day, a year, a decade, no one knew. They merely felt it in their bones and in the air.

“Hey! All of you over there! What are you all doing just standing about? Get back to training! Or did you want to train with me instead?” Hætherin broke the strange, sudden silence, and the trainees jolted in full attention. They quickly began sparring with one another as none wanted to face the senior knight.

Darren too started exchanging blows with his partner, but he couldn’t get the trainees’ conversation out of his head. Since he hadn’t fully exerted himself in the previous run and hike in order to allow Essairyn to catch up with him, he had been paired with a weaker trainee. Of course, his intentions proved futile, so now he was free to think about the content of the conversation while fighting.

Darren sunk into his thoughts and ruminated the meaning of the bizarre silence. Did that guy’s parents die? Why did it seem like everyone understood Leœss and shared that other guy’s feelings? Just what is going on here? Going in circles, he frowned and halted his thoughts. He didn’t know enough about this world to answer his questions. Other than being Knights of the Order, he didn’t know who or how strong Classerth and Chaera were. All he was sure of was that the trainees idolized them.

So, he reduced the force behind his blows and struck up conversation with his sparring partner. Relieved for the partial break having previously pushed himself to his limits, the slightly younger boy readily explained. But even with learning about who the two famed knights were in the backdrop of the Order and society as a whole, it still didn’t clarify everything.

“Do you know what happened to that guy?”

His partner followed where Darren was pointing. “Oh, Leœss?”

Darren shook his head. “No, the guy sparring with him.”

“Oh, him.” The younger boy paused in momentary hesitance. “Not really. But, apparently he’s from Farinheld. His parents were murdered by that rotten group going around kidnapping mages.”

Surprise mixed with sympathy spread over Darren’s face. He almost wanted to apologize for asking about the whole matter, but his partner wasn’t the one involved in such tragedy. “Why did they kill his parents if they’re after mages? Were they mages or just regular people?”

“I’m not really sure either since they were just regular folks minding their own business. That group… they’re a bad lot, all of them. Anyone who stands in their way gets torn down.” The boy shook his head sadly.

“How do you know so much? Did you encounter them too?”

The boy’s eyes quaked a little, but he shook his head again. “No, not personally. My best friend was visiting his relatives in Farinheld, and….” His lips trembled. “They were all slaughtered.” Bleakness shadowed his eyes as he remembered seeing their sunken corpses. It was like the energy had been sucked out of them.

Realizing that Darren was speechless, the boy waved his hand in assurance that he was okay. “Actually, a lot of people have family from Farinheld since it’s so close by. It’s a small town in comparison to Byar’non, but because of its proximity, lots of families opted to live there since it’s less expensive than the city. Most people think that Byar’non will expand to include it one day, but with everything that’s happened there now… Well, people are afraid that something similar will happen in Byar’non.” The boy sighed and cracked a smile to lighten the mood.

Darren pursed his lips, reduced to silence once more. The situation was more dangerous than he had initially thought. Despite his envy of Essairyn’s abilities, including being able to make money when he could only fix a fence to pay back a stranger’s kindness, he was still concerned for her safety.

Although she had survived more days in this world without him, he felt he had to be the logical one to curb her reckless abandon. Darren was familiar with what overconfidence could beget. So, he resolved to talk to Essairyn about this again. But whether that would repel or attract her was uncertain. Considering her daredevil streak, he bet on the latter.

At this point, Hætherin announced to the trainees that it was break time. Relieved, everyone broke out in cheers. The senior knight grinned while adding, “Ten minutes. And then we start three versus one training.”

The trainees’ overjoyed faces turned sour in a flash. But they quickly made the most of their break by chatting amongst one another while eating and drinking from containers stored in their magic caches. Even if water was needed less in Sol’h’meyr, it was still refreshing to drink after a strenuous workout. So, those who hadn’t brought water retraced their steps down the mountain to locate the fresh spring that they had passed in the earlier hike.

Meanwhile, Essairyn whipped out her own container of water. I guess the magic cache really is an ordinary facet of living in this world, she noted as she took a single sip. Though, most of them are using a mimicked inventory system. She glanced at some of the trainees’ accessories bearing a jewel and thought back to Lachlan’s teachings. Besides mana stones which stored magic, gemstones could also store items if imbued with the proper spells. These lacked the privacy that a personal magic cache could offer, but it was a more accessible method that was widely commercialized as an indispensable device.

However, these artificial inventory stones were severely limited in storage space and were the size of a small purse. Essairyn inwardly smirked at how she had inadvertently presented a similar image of carrying an inventory stone with the single jewel earring that she wore. As she capped her water container, she spied Darren making his way toward her.