Ayden of Swardhaven did not think he’d lived an interesting life. He’d been born in a small village in the southwest of Veldia, a place where the grass grew no more than twenty feet tall. Swardhaven was a peaceful village, built atop a hill where the grass had been cut even lower.

He’d lived a normal childhood as the son of a molluk farmer, providing milk for the village and selling the excess to the few traders who passed through on their way between the western coast of Aeora and Precipice. In another life, perhaps he would have remained there, and living and dying in Swardhaven, content to raise molluk’s for the rest of his life.

But in The Grass Sea, where traders went, adventurers followed.

And of course, adventurers were fascinating to a child. How could they not be? If anyone lived the freest in all of Aeora, it was them. Even spirit knights, for all their power, answered to something—if not the crown, then some other, higher cause. And besides, spirit knights didn’t exist in Swardhaven. Ayden certainly never saw one, and his father hadn’t either. But adventurers were free, and they could come from anywhere.

It was always a dream within his reach, and unlike most children, as he aged, he held onto it. It helped that he was never alone—his friend, Emryn had the same dream, and with twice the hands, they were able to grab it.

Learning wasn’t difficult. The adventurers that passed through were always happy to show off for the bright-eyed kids that begged for pointers, and by the time Ayden turned sixteen, they were the strongest in their village. Pooling their savings, they chartered a strider to Precipice, hoping for untold opportunity in the big city.

Untold opportunity came in the form of rat extermination jobs, and escorting caravans over The Northern Plateau—sea work wasn’t for rookies. But they’d worked anyway, learning from others at the guild, and growing stronger little by little. Eventually, they’d met Reiss, a veteran who’d been working as a solo act for years. For some reason, he’d taken a liking to them, and took them under his wing.

Three years passed, and The Grass Sentinels found themselves as the foremost team in Precipice. It wasn’t that impressive truly—most of the strongest teams travelled east through Titan’s Passage when they outgrew the sea, and gold-rank in Veldia didn’t even qualify a team for silver outside the region.

They were just the strongest of the weaklings. It seemed like Emryn was fine with that, but Ayden—well, he wasn’t sure honestly. He hadn’t been unhappy before, but then the colossus appeared, Tor arrived, and suddenly the larger world had been thrust back into his face. It was like he was a child once more, watching in awe as the adventurers passed through. He didn’t know what to do, but when he’d brought up the idea of leaving to Emryn, it hadn’t exactly gone well.

Ayden didn’t tell his new acquaintance all of that. It would’ve been a bit odd to summarize his entire life story just to explain that he’d gotten into a fight with the girl he liked. Maybe it was impossible to ever really know anyone anyways, even if you knew their past. But it was still him. And it was important.

He slumped onto the table, looking up at the blonde girl across from him. She was sipping from a mug—ironically, filled with molluk’s milk—quietly as she listened to his tale of woe. He’d considered getting a cup for himself, but alcohol made the events of the day much easier to manage. It was late, and he should probably be sleeping to prepare for more of Tor’s training the next day, but Kei had promised she’d talk after she helped with the dinner rush, and he really needed advice.

“...and then she stormed off. That was basically how it went. So what do you think? Is there any salvaging things?”

She set down the mug, raising an eyebrow. “Salvaging things? Don’t be dramatic, it was just a disagreement, right? You’ll be fine. Still, I can see where she’s coming from.”

He slapped his forehead against the wood. “Not you too. Am I really in the wrong then?”

“I wouldn’t exactly say you’re wrong. But it sounds like you just sprang this on her, of course it was going to get a reaction. I’ve only got two friends, and even I can understand that.”

“Maybe…” Ayden stared into his drink, watching his reflection shimmer as the liquid settled. “So I was wrong to spring it on her, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong in general. We’ll stagnate if we stay here. I don’t get why she’s so opposed to leaving.”

“You don’t get why she’d be opposed to you uprooting your lives, traveling across the continent, leaving your families behind and giving yourself a one in twenty chance of dying before you’re thirty? One in ten since there’s two of you actually. Geez I wonder.”

Ayden glanced up. “That’s specific.”

Kei shrugged. “I have a good memory, and I heard it somewhere back home. Don’t dodge the question.”

“Alright alright, I see your point. Maybe I wasn’t thinking about her side of things. But that doesn’t change anything.”

She grimaced, and the table fell quiet. Thankfully the inn wasn’t silent, though the dinner rush had ended, a good chunk of the tables were still full, and the distracting buzz of other conversations filled the silence immediately.

A new voice joined in, breaking the tension. “Hey Kei, glad you’re feeling better! Mind if I sit here?”

She looked to her right and her face lit up. “Oh, Wyn! Let me introduce you.”

Ayden saw who it was and shot to his feet, pointing. “You!”

Wyn nodded. “Ayden right?”

“You’re Corrin’s friend!”

“Do you two know each other?” Kei looked back and forth between the two of them.

“Kind of,” Wyn said. Ayden tried to respond but he could only sputter. “He’s got a big rivalry going with Corrin right now. It’s a whole thing.”

“Really? I guess that makes sense, they’re pretty similar.”

A sound came out of Ayden’s throat that he didn’t know he could make. “I don’t consider that twerp a rival! And no we are not!”

“You think so?” Wyn ignored him. “Maybe a little, but I don’t know. How do you know him?”

“He um… helped me with something earlier.”

“Is that so?”

Ayden took a step towards the younger boy, looking up to meet his eyes as his water mana began to gather. He would—

Wyn stuck his hand out, offering a handshake. “Nice to formally meet you Ayden, thanks for helping my friend out.”

He paused, staring down at the hand. After a moment, his mana fell back down and his anger evaporated. “Oh um, of course. It was nothing. That soldier was completely out of line.” He took the hand and shook it.

“Soldier?” Wyn raised an eyebrow. “What do you—”

“So Wyn!” Kei interrupted, “maybe you could weigh in on this? He’s asking me for some advice.”

“Miss Kei, I’m not sure if I’m comfortable—”

“It’s fine,” she waved a hand. “You can trust Wyn. Merchant’s promise.”

Hesitantly, Ayden gave yet another brief rundown of the situation, pausing only for Wyn to request food. When he finished, he waited for a response.

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Wyn thought for a moment before responding. “Yeah, I can understand where you’re coming from.”

“Really?” Ayden and Kei both exclaimed at the same time.

“Of course. How could I not? I’m basically doing the same thing right now. I’ve got a little brother back home, my mother too. Leaving them wasn’t easy.”

“Well then what was the point?” Kei asked, and Ayden got the suspicion she really couldn’t understand.

“I have a dream,” Wyn said quietly. “And it’s a bit embarrassing, so I’m not going to say it out loud.”

As if that didn’t make Ayden curious. Kei, too, studied him for a moment as the tips of his ears grew red. But he kept talking.

“To accomplish it, I have to leave them for a while. But someday I’m going to drag them out to Taravast with me. And by then, I’ll be strong enough to keep them safe from anything.”

Ayden couldn’t speak for a moment after that. Wyn had to be at least two, maybe three years younger than him. But even if it seemed like he was leaving something out of his explanation, there was no hesitation in the way he said those words.

I want to go to Ord, he thought. Could I say it like that? Like he can?

Kei sighed. “I’ll never understand you people, you’re all the same.”

“With that said, I think people are complicated,” Wyn tapped his fingers on the table, face pensive. “There’s no right way to live life. Each person has to figure it out for themself. And sometimes, I think the why is more important than the what, because what works for me, what works for Corrin, what works for you, or Kei… it’s all going to be different.” Wyn paused, then turned to Kei. “You know, I never actually asked. What is it you want to do?”

She pursed her lips for a moment, her eyes wandering before they focused back on Wyn. “I guess… I just want to support my brother. Wherever that takes me.”

Wyn frowned just a bit. “You really love him huh?”

Kei nodded. “Yeah, he’s amazing. Without him, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Well, in any case, what I’m trying to get at is, I can’t tell you what the right choice is. You just have to live in a way that makes you happy.” Wyn clapped his hand on Aydens’ shoulder. “But whatever you decide, just be honest with her alright? That’s all you can do. I’m rooting for you, and if you need help with anything, just let me know.”

Ayden searched his eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find anything but honesty. Wyn really meant each word.

“Thanks…” he murmured.

The swordsman was already moving past it though, looking at Kei as she took another sip of the milk. “What is that?”

“Would you like to try?” She offered him the cup.

The two fell into small talk, and eventually Wyn’s food arrived. Their chatter faded as Ayden’s mind sat back, trying to piece it all together. But no matter how hard he thought, the answers wouldn’t come.

He wanted to become a sun-ranked adventurer, and he wanted to stay with Emryn. But which one was more important to him? And why?

He didn’t know.

***

The sword slipped out of Corrin’s hands, clattering onto the deck of the ship as he collapsed along with it, panting. He held his hands up, blistered and numbed—he could hardly feel his fingers, and his whole body ached. He was improving, but he really needed to sleep. His blanket and pillow weren’t too far away, easily within rolling distance, but he waited a bit longer while he recovered.

Footsteps approached from his right, clearly audible against the wood of the deck.

“Wyn? That you?” He asked.

“Sorry, but no.” A girl’s voice replied.

He rolled over just a bit, it was Emryn.

“Oh hey there. Listen if you want to spar I’ll get up, but I need a few minutes.”

She glanced down at him and giggled. “Yeah okay. I’m not here to spar Corrin. I just wanted some quiet, and to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind.”

That was understandable. The docks were quiet at night, especially compared to the inner island where parties ran late after sunset.

Corrin rolled across the deck to grab his blanket, then he rolled with it over towards one of the bulwarks, wrapping himself up as he went. When he reached the edge, he pushed himself up, his hands stinging, as he got into a sitting position, leaning against the wall. “Sure, what’s up?”

Emryn watched him in silence, eyes following him across the deck until he was settled. There was a faint smile on her lips, but she didn’t respond until after he was finished.

“You want to become a spirit knight right? I heard Tor say something like that. You’re traveling east to become one?”

Corrin looked up towards the stars. He’d never bothered to learn the constellations—what was the point? If you looked hard enough, you could fabricate a pattern in anything.

“Yeah, me and Wyn both. Why what’s up?”

“Why?”

“Yeah, like why do you want to know?”

“No,” Emryn giggled. “I mean why do you want to become one? Aren’t you strong enough already?”

Corrin looked back at her. It wasn’t the first time he’d been asked, though it had been a while. The answer hadn’t changed. He shrugged. “I just do. Maybe it seems cool, or maybe I just like getting stronger, but I couldn’t really tell ya. Does there always have to be a complicated reason for wanting something? Sorry if that’s not very helpful.”

“Yeah maybe not,” she sighed.

“Is this about your argument with Ayden earlier?”

She blushed. “Ah, we were yelling pretty loud huh.”

“Yeah just a bit. He wants to go to Ord, you want to stay? I think I got the gist.”

“I mean—it’s not that I wouldn’t like to travel to Ord. But it’s a big thing. He might be strong enough, but I can hardly mantle in a real fight. If we left, he’d have to find a new party, one without me in it. And—even besides that! I have friends in Precipice, we visit home three times a year, and of course there’s Reiss, and Melanie. If they don’t want to go, we’d have to leave them too. I don’t want to rebuild my life.”

Corrin let out a slow breath, which fogged in the cool night air. He didn’t talk to them much, but Corrin had older siblings. Three of them actually, though one had left the orphanage before he was old enough to even remember them. He hadn’t been close with any of them really, but they’d still lived together, and he remembered playing with them in the forest by Straetum. He’d been sad when they left. He hadn’t understood why they had to go, and he hadn’t liked it at all. But that was what being young meant—there was so much you didn’t understand about people, and the world around you. Even still, he didn’t think himself particularly wise.

“Honestly Emryn, I’m a terrible person to talk to about this. Wyn and I both left our village behind, and I was ready to leave even without him. I left my siblings, my family, the girl I liked, everything. And to be honest, if I have one regret, it’s only that I didn’t do it sooner. I’d go even if I thought it’d kill me—I’m already so far behind. Someday I’ll go back, I’ll see them all again, but whether that’s three years from now, or even ten, I couldn’t say.”

She studied his face. “Yeah, you’re pretty much the opposite of me huh?”

“Not at all.” He shook his head. “I mean, you left home too didn’t you? You just didn’t go as far. And that’s how it is. Some people are going to travel across the continent, some people will go to the nation over, and some people will stay in their village till the day they die, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s not what I want. And in the end, my happiness is the most important thing to me. Guess that makes me pretty selfish huh?” He laughed.

“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” she smiled. “At least you’re honest about it.”

“Well, I figure there’s no point in lying about it,” he chuckled.

“What if you get to the end, and it turns out you don’t like it?”

Corrin paused. “Huh. This might sound crazy, but the thought never actually crossed my mind.”

Emryn blinked, and then she started to laugh. “Are you serious? You’ve never even given it a thought?”

“I can’t say I have,” he chuckled. “But I know the answer anyway. If I don’t like it, I’ll go do something else.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.” He smiled. “Everyone likes to pretend life is complicated. The way I see it, you figure out what you want, then you do whatever it takes to get it. If you do that, you’ll be happy, no matter what happens. Why overthink it?”

“You have an interesting way of thinking about things.”

“You think so?”

“Can I ask you one last question?”

“Sure.”

“If you’d stayed in your village. Could you have been happy?”

Corrin was silent for a moment, and his eyes drifted east. “I don’t know. Maybe I’d eventually move on, and maybe I’d find some sort of happiness there. But if I stayed, I’d be eating food, hanging out with Wyn, or even just laying in bed at night, and the moment I stopped to think, I’d wonder—what if? Somebody important to me said I should live so that when I’m old, I don’t have any regrets. This is me doing my best.”

Emryn’s eyes widened a bit, and she held his gaze for several long seconds. Eventually, she looked down at the deck, smiling sadly. “Yeah… I guess that makes sense.”