"Ah, damn, it feels good getting out of the library every now and then!" Harriton told Rin with a wide smile as they walked up the road to the north. "Can't remember the last time I actually went on a mission of my own."

"Do you guys still go on missions? All of you, I mean," Rin said.

"It's been a while since any of us have, but yeah," Harriton nodded. "If something comes up like, say... A lich gets spotted in a ruin somewhere near Libera, I can tell you with utmost certainty Cara would leave for a week to go handle that. Or, if a blacktail yariko gets spotted, Eli is for sure gonna go take its head off."

"Oh. So, has that just not been happening lately or what?"

"Eh, stuff like that is still happening, just not near Libera. A lot of the big, high-rank monster stuff has been happening up north these days."

"What do you mean?"

"As quiet as things have been around Libera, there's been a huge upswing in monster activity near Cradle, recently. It's kept a lot of the higher rank adventurers busy, which is great for them since they get to put more food on their tables and all, but it's kept things down here fairly stable."

"Hm... Is it always going to be that way?"

"Not necessarily," Harriton answered. "Monsters and beasts migrate often. Maybe one of these days it'll change and we'll have to take a break from classes. Heh, with how close you are with Maria, I wouldn't be surprised if she brought you along with her, if she ever heads out to do anything."

Rin chuckled a little.

"Nah, that's not gonna happen."

"Eh, we'll see."

It felt strange going on a trip like this with Harriton. He carried different energy than that of Maria or Cara. On that first mission when Rin had gone with Cara, the walk had been tense, as her teacher's demeanor solidified the gravity of the mission. With Maria, Rin just felt comfortable. She felt like she could just relax anytime Maria was next to her. In a way, being with Maria made her feel like she was back home at Dren. With Harriton, her cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling as the man spoke. And, at the same time, she felt like she was learning a lot.

"So, if Eli would leave the Academy for a blacktail yariko, and Cara would leave for a lich, what would you leave for?" Rin asked.

"Oh, shit, good question!" He said, before he took his eyes off Rin and looked up at the sky. "Hm... I'd leave for an aedroth."

"I... have no idea what that is."

"Eh, just an incarnation of evil itself. No big deal, really."

Rin blinked.

"On a serious note though, aedroth, like a few other monsters, are immune to conventional weapons. They can only be killed by Essence-related attacks, spellweaving being the main thing they fear," he told her. "So, if the guild let me know about one of them, I'd probably take a day or two off for that."

"They sound a little strong," Rin said.

"Oh, absolutely, they're Rank S monsters."

"..." Rin blinked again. "But... You're rank B."

"I am, yes," Harriton replied with a smile, as though he didn't see what was wrong.

"So, uh, no offense, but are you sure fighting that would be a good idea?"

"Absolutely," Harriton replied. "I might be at a slight disadvantage, but I think after years of planning cold vengeance against them, I'd do a decent job."

"... I feel like there's a lot of backstory here you're holding back, do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not at all!"

It took a couple of hours after that conversation for the two of them to arrive at the place they were looking for. The difference between this venture and the one Rin had gone on with Cara, was that after heading north for a bit of time, passing broken down cars and unreadable metal signs poking out of the grass, they arrived at a spot to the northeast that looked like someone had cut out a piece of Libera and dropped it off here.

What quickly stood out, however, was a huge sign placed atop a metallic pole that reached high up into the air, one that Rin saw from a far distance as they arrived. It had green and red colors, and a faded, barely understandable drawing of a bottle next to it. As Rin read the name on the sign aloud, wishing she could show this off to Xhez right here and now, Harriton spread his arms.

"We're here!"

"Cola Town?" Rin asked, raising a brow. "What's Cola?"

"Beats me. I'm guessing it had something to do with bottles?" He shrugged. "Anyway, that's not why you're here."

Then, as he said that, Rin heard something in the distance.

It resembled the sort of scratching sounds you get when you grind metals against each other, muffled and paired up with a low, equally muffled animalistic growl.

[What the...?] Rin narrowed her brows as she looked around. [Is something...?]

The ground began to tremble. Rin put her fists up as a smirk grew on Harriton's face before, suddenly, something Rin could only describe as a metallic snake burst out of the ground.

Rin's jaw hit the ground as the tip of the snake opened up, shining a red light down on top of her.

"There it is! That's what you're here to fight!"

"Uh..." Rin said as the snake-like metallic creature looked back and forth between them. "How the hell do you fight something like this!?"

"Well, you're not gonna fight this one specifically. You're gonna fight a weaker one," Harriton clarified. "Anyway, you should probably get behind me."

"What? Why?"

Her question was answered after a couple of seconds when the head of the snake began to spin, before shooting out a strange, silver-colored spherical object directly at Rin.

Harriton was in front of her before she could even react, creating a spellsign that ultimately made a barrier where the object exploded as it came into contact with it. All while Rin had no idea what was going on.

Then, as the snake launched itself toward them, Harriton made another spellsign and launched out two transparent blades that cut the snake's body in half. As soon as that happened, sparks flew out from the spot Harriton had cut, and the snake's red eye lost its glow, as it finally stopped moving.

Out of nowhere, a second one appeared from the ground as well, just a few steps away from Rin's feet. She jumped back, clumsily putting Xhez's bag down and putting up her fists as Harriton casually turned toward it. This new one had a body that almost looked gold, and three different red eyes instead of one.

From all three, those same spheres shot out again, and Harriton created a barrier that blocked them all.

"Ah, damn," Harriton muttered, "this really gets the blood flowing."

His next spellsign, however, covered his hands in blue fire, and he charged toward this new metal snake. With his bare hands, Rin saw him slash through its body, and the new snake ended up in much the same way as the other one had.

"Hm... Seems like the last one," he said, as he looked around.

"What the hell were those things?" Rin asked as she picked Xhez's bag back up.

"Hm? Oh, these things," Harriton told her, as he walked up to one, "are ancient machines designed to protect these towns. They're rare, but they exist," he told her. "Cradle had some of these, though no one ever figured out how to turn them on. Point is, though, these things are rare, but they are seen enough to where you're going to have to learn how to fight them at some point. And, that's what we'll be doing today!"

[...] Rin took a deep breath. [The Old World must have been scary.]