The loud crack of metal breaking echoed for a few moments before being drowned by the burning flames of the furnace. In the Forgemaster Rosett Evergold's workshop, Oscar's hand trembled, gripping his hammer; if not for the gloves he wore, his nails would surely pierce his skin. Before his eyes was a cracked piece of metal, a layered metal of four sheets that he had worked so hard to maintain, but now he had ruined it.

"Another failure." Rosett shook her head and placed the failures back into the crucible to melt. "Do you know what you did wrong?"

Oscar let out a restless cry, letting go of the tension that gripped his body like a python on its prey. His body slumped down on the stool, with tiredness hovering in his mind like a disease. "I had the Ein separate the four sheets well enough, but I put too much force into my Ein nail, and it cracked all the sheets."

"Good. Before, you were too lax and let the sheets meld together, and now you were too eager and destroyed them by reckless use of Ein." Rosett dusted Oscar off to give him a refresher. Her black glass visor stared straight into his as if their eyes could see each other. "I can't say when you might achieve mastery of this, but the only thing to do is keep trying. That's what you did all your life as an Exalt, right?"

Oscar smiled and nodded. "That's true."

Rosett laughed; her laughter rang melodiously across the workshop. Oscar thought such laughter belonged more in a field of flowers rather than this bleak place of earth and fire. Then her hand reached out to pat him on the head; he didn't know why but all the elders, like his master and her, seemed to have that tendency.

"It's getting late. This session took all day. You should go back home to rest. When's the next time you want to come? I'm sure as an Exalt, you must be busy with many other areas of study." Rosett cleaned up her hammer, putting it away in her space orb.

"Well, this is my schedule so far," Oscar told her about the seven hours he spent on Reis training, on Ein and spars with his friends, and fabricator work, leaving himself only three hours to sleep at the end of the day. "And that's about it."

Rosett did not respond but stared blankly at Oscar.

Oscar didn't know what was wrong and waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention. "Uh, Aunt Rosett. What's wrong?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Like an erupting volcano, Rosett let out a shockwave of a shout that shook the entire room.

Oscar nearly fumbled on his feet, and the furnaces spewed out large flames that nearly engulfed the room. Thankfully, he was protected by Aunt Rosett's Ein before the flames could burn him to ash. He stared in confusion at her. "What was that?"

"Are you serious? Only three hours of sleep? How are you not tired every day?" Rosett jabbed her finger at Oscar's chest, making him flinch.

"Well, I'm used to it because master forced the same kind of schedule on me for six months," Oscar explained that he was fine, but it only fanned the flames that were Rosett's frustration.

"That is not ok!" Rosett grabbed Oscar's shoulders and shook him around. His head bobbed all over the place, nearly causing him to hurl. "That bastard. I thought he had recovered some sense around you, but this is insane."

"Aren't we supposed to do everything we can as Exalts?" Oscar sighed. "I'm only a Grade Four, and I'm learning several things at once. I cannot keep pace unless I do this."

Rosett sighed and led Oscar outside. Like before, she flew him up and away through the silo of smoke and straight to his house. She tossed him to the front door and said, "Go get as much rest as possible. Just come back when you are ready."

"Yes, Aunt Rosett." Oscar coughed from the sudden flight. He bowed to thank her for taking him home. "Do you want tea like before?"

"No. I have something to say to that maniac." Rosett turned around, and Oscar gulped at the pressure he felt emanating from her fierce figure. She faced slightly back to him. "Make sure to get rest."

In an instant, she disappeared into the air, flying toward the direction of the Abyss Prison. Oscar took off his fabricator helmet, wiping the sweat off his brow. "How many times did she tell me to rest?"

He turned around to walk inside but found a basket by the front door. In it was a note from Serena, saying that the food shouldn't go to waste and it was for me. Oscar's mouth curled into a small smile at the food in the basket, thinking about Serena's stubbornness, but it was also one of her good qualities.

However, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, not just from the Reis forging efforts but also the thought of how cruel he was for rejecting someone like Serena, who showed so much care for him. Oscar didn't want her to be stuck to him because he knew he could not love her in the same way.

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"Tomorrow might be a bit awkward." Oscar got into the shower and pulled out his inhibitor, allowing the ringing pain to wash away his guilt. His face turned pale white as a ghost, and he shivered under the cold waters raining down on him. Leaving the inhibitor by his bed, Oscar slept away the rest of the night.

The next morning, Oscar opened the door to the familiar sounds of knocking and the smell of hearty food. Serena swayed her hips with her basket hanging from her hands and greeted Oscar before entering his home. They had done this many times to the point it became a routine.

"How was the Foundry yesterday?" Serena tucked her red hair behind her ears as she bit into her sandwich.

"Tiresome." Oscar munched on his food with a tired expression. Then he turned to Serena and bowed his head. "I have to tell you something."

"You'll confess to the princess after Ashen Grove is over." Serena pouted and rested her cheek on her hand.

Oscar froze. His mouth slowly parted as his tired tone spilled out. He didn't expect her to know, and for how long? "You knew all along?"

"I knew the day you spoke about it with Frederick." Serena got off her seat and sat next to Oscar. Their eyes met; Oscar's eyes, full of apology but a hint of firmness, stared into Serena's, mixed with sadness but a fierce unwillingness. Her face drew closer to Oscar, but he leaned back to maintain a respectable distance, making Serena sigh. "That day, Frederick found me before your door and led me away."

"That guy…." Oscar felt the urge to strangle Frederick at this moment. But his main focus was Serena. "So, is that why you strangely got closer to Celestina?"

"It's always good to make a connection with royalty, and I wanted to gauge her properly, but I can't find a single clue from her expressions at the times I mentioned you." Serena looked defeated as she thought of the perfect princess who stole Oscar's heart. "Also, if I got close to her, perhaps you'd notice me more."

"It was certainly eye-catching." Oscar made an awkward face as Serena leaned in closer. He looked at the clock and was relieved to see the time. He got up and said, "We should head out. Today is a good day to train."

Serena scoffed and clicked her tongue. "Fine. You are so serious."

The two came into the training room. Oscar noticed Frederick and grabbed his shoulder. "Fred~"

Frederick turned with a meek expression, seeing Oscar's chilly pair of eyes that rarely showed themselves. "Yes, Os?"

"You never mentioned that Serena knew," Oscar said in a low tone. "Let's spar."

Frederick cursed but was dragged by Oscar to spar in their corner of the room. Frederick fought his all while Oscar sought to beat him black and blue. In the end, Emily stepped in and smacked the two to settle down.

"Get it all out of your system?" Frederick rubbed his arm, which was bruised.

"Next time, tell me if something like this happens." Oscar treated the small cuts on his body.

Frederick smiled. "Don't worry. That was a judgement call I made at that moment. You can blame me all you want, but I still think it was the right decision. The poor girl was hurting, and I didn't want to bury you in more guilt."

Oscar smiled. "Still, we're friends. Just make me feel better afterward, and it's fine."

Frederick propped his fist on Oscar's chest. "Alright."

Emily smiled at the two idiots. "Get back to the training."

Months flew by.

Oscar spent most of his time in long periods of training. He took slight recesses to go on missions to acquire some contribution points for a new spell and more elixirs, but the key was progressing in Adamasreis and Reis forging. Both were incredibly slow.

He often failed to complete the first step of Reis forging, constantly breaking the sheets or accidentally relaxing his Ein. Still, the progress finally began to show as he used up half of the crucible mixture without ruining it, to Aunt Rosett's applause. As for Adamasreis, he consistently used more Hytr elixirs as the skin around his stomach burst out, trickling blood all over, worrying everyone.

Five months have passed since the last Grand Gathering. Oscar felt more anxious as it was only about a year until Ashen Grove. Today, Oscar was in his room as most others had gone out on their missions.

"Oscar!" Emily barged into his house. Frederick followed behind.

"What?" Oscar patched up the rest of his abdomen, a thick layer of white bandages around it.

"I got an invitation from that Elizabeth Raeven to visit her in the northern sea regions." Emily held an envelope with a malicious smile. "I've gotten stronger since then. This time, I'll smack her face at least once."

"Let's go." Frederick rustled Emily's hair with a warning gaze not to take it too far. "Mary is the only one else who's here. We can take her along."

Oscar wanted to stay and train more, but he saw the empty bottles of Hytr elixirs scattered on the floor. He had run out. "Let's take a mission there as well. I need more points."

"Then it's settled!" Emily jumped up in excitement. "Follow me!"

Along the way, they picked up Mary, who was raring to go. At the mission hall, they settled on a mission with great rewards for all of them, and Frederick reached out to grab it, but someone else grabbed it before them.

"Oi!" Frederick shouted. He was about to shout more but soon stopped. The person who took the mission had an eyepatch over his right eye, Austin Taylor, the one who fought Frederick a long time ago and lost his eye as a result.

"Fancy seeing you here," Austin spoke expressionlessly. He waved the mission details in his hand. "Want this mission?"

"Haven't seen you in a long time, Austin." Oscar greeted him. "Where have you been?"

Oscar never saw Austin in the Inner Hall, but he could feel the presence of an Elite Exalt from him. Austin was also absent during the Grand Gatherings. However, Oscar felt Austin had become sharper, like a blade, barely contained in its sheath, ready to strike at any moment's notice.

"If you're going on this mission, take me with you." Austin ignored Oscar's question and glanced over the mission details. "It requires a large group."

"Fine." Frederick agreed. Emily did not bother offering her opinion because getting to the northern seas mattered to her.

"Then let's work well together." Austin extended his hand with his expressionless face.

Oscar gripped it candidly. "Let's."