There were many ways to say the same thing, to convey the same message.

The structure didn’t have to be the same.

The person didn’t have to be the same.

The words didn’t have to be the same, and sometimes, they weren’t needed. But other times, they were said, even if they didn’t have to be.

There were four knocks on the door. It was Mother.

“You’ll be leaving for Renard Academy," She said. She didn't enter. There was no lock on my side. “You have two weeks.”

----------------------------------------

“Still looking at that pillar, Missus?” the coachman asked. A smaller window connected us. It’d been closed most of the ride, mostly because I wasn’t sure what to say to him, but I had to open it when we reached the city gates.

“Y-Yes,” I said, unsure if he heard me over all the noise outside. We had waited in line for over an hour without much progress. Or, was it less? It was difficult to keep track of time with all the new sights and sounds.

Staring at the pillar was a way for me to calm down. Even from inside the city, the pillar was amazing. Whenever I heard Skychaser describe something in his journals as ‘large’ or ‘huge’, I thought of two or three houses stacked one on top of another and just as wide. I never imagined something that looked like it could touch the clouds.

The pillar was the empire’s landmark. Proof that The Seven Great Mages took down the self-proclaimed god of the navacks, Malkuron.

The academy was named after one of them, Renard, The Equalizer. Students came from the borders of the empire and beyond to attend. Most who came were part of powerful or wealthy families or sponsored like me.

“Missus, you could go out and explore. Nothing else to do except wait in line, you see.”

“Y-You don’t mind?”

“Not at all. I’ll get the door for you.”

“No, wait. Let me open it.”

“What was that, Missus?”

“Huh? O-Oh. I-I said to let me… do it…”

“Well, alright. No harm in doing it yourself. Just remember to come back soon. My best guess says half an hour? Also, make sure to watch out for the beggars. They’re usually harmless but some are a bit crafty. So long as you have your uniform, however, you should be safe.”

I nodded, though he couldn’t see.

Faced with the realization of getting to step out into a city, my heart began to pound. It felt strange grabbing the handle. It felt wrong. The cold bit into my hand as if warning me to stay away, like it knew the outcome of leaving. Could I really do it?

I thought back to Skychaser’s journals.

Adventure often presents itself in strange ways, but you have to always be willing to chase it.

Drawing strength from the books I’d read a hundred times over, I opened the door. Overwhelming noise bombarded me as I stepped out into the world. In an instant, the world expanded. The windows of the carriage captured only glimpses of the city’s magnitude, snapshots that betrayed a person’s perspective. Trapped inside the carriage, the crowded sidewalks were masses of hair and featureless faces, all blending together.

Here, in front of the very same people outside the window, I saw a woman. She was a woman, tired from a day of work, dark circles tugging at the bottom of her eyes, yet she smiled as she nudged the person next to her and pointed down the street. A man had broken through the protective line with a bottle and sheet in hand. He flung it at a pursuing guard, taking a sip of his drink before dancing around and around, wrapping the guard up until all he could do was jump. Now there were two people dancing. A child slipped onto the scene, carrying with him a bell. He grabbed ahold of the sheet-wrapped guard and rang the bell as he brought his knees high in gleeful skips. His ears stuck out from his thick hair, sporting tufts of fur, and his tail swayed to the rings.

An aremshai-ir?

Looking over the people, I saw a few more with those features. Some had scales, while others sported elongated noses and mouths. From Skychaser and other adventurers’ journals, aremshai-ir could conceal those parts of them, but most didn’t. It was who they were, and the ones who hid those parts grew up in human nations.

“Excuse me, Miss. The academy recommends that all students head straight for the dorm upon arrival in the city.”

“I-I-Is there something wrong with walking around a bit…?”

He looked at where the dancing man and child used to be. They had scattered and the reinforcing guards were helping their colleague free. “Unexpected things can happen, though the city is generally a safe place.”

“Oh, okay… Um, c-could I just visit the adventurer’s guild? J-Just very quickly…”

Without the distraction to garner everyone’s attention, they returned to observing the line of students. More gazes were falling on me. The simple, loose-fitting white robe sprinkled with gold embroideries formed the base of the uniform, and it was finished with a half-shawl held together by an emerald pin that marked me as a first year. But, they were probably looking at me because of something else.

I tugged on my long braid. Seeing my blue hair reminded me of how much I stood out. I couldn’t see them, but my eyes weren’t much better. Roluks all had blue hair and two different blue eyes. One was an ocean blue, while the other was as bright as a clear sky.

Is he just thinking of what to say? Please, hurry. I don’t know how long I can take this.

“What family or sponsor do you belong to?” he asked.

“Um…” I felt around for the letter and gave it to him.

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He skimmed over the contents, searching for a name. When he found it at the bottom, he straightened and handed it back with both hands as well as a slight bow. “I’m sorry, Miss. I can escort you wherever you want to go.”

What?

Was my sponsor that important?

“T-The adventurer’s guild, please.”

He nodded eagerly and pushed through the crowd. “Make way!” I squeezed the shawl tight and stuck as close behind as I could, avoiding as much attention as possible. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have refused the offer.

Nervous as I was, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the city. The houses often had multiple stories and glass windows in contrast to the stout homes and wooden shutters of my village. Several buildings were made with bricks and topped with clay tilings. Skybridges connected various stores and hung over the end of most paths. Located along the street, merchants beckoned to people, trying to entice them with shining trinkets and fine cloth. One vendor roasted food on top of a small stone stove. Heat and smoke wafted out, blown by the chill wind. A trace of cooked meat lingered in the air.

“Are you hungry, Miss?” the guard suddenly asked.

“Huh?”

“You’ve been staring at that seller for a while now.”

“I-I-It’s nothing! I… I was lost in thought.”

He shrugged. “We’re almost there.”

A minute later, a clock tower came into view. People sat around its elevated base while a trio of children spun around its metallic pole. Two girls around my age, sixteen, pointed at a tall blonde adventurer and giggled as he passed by with his party. Around his wrist, a thin iron plate encrusted with magic crystals showed the letter, ‘B’. It marked his rank and was proof of his abilities. The third highest achievable mark according to the journals.

“Miss.”

I jumped, “Y-Yes?”

“It looks like you’re always lost in thought. We’re here.”

“Oh, thank you.”

He offered to go in with me as well as take me back, but I turned him down. I ascended the steps to the guild and though there weren’t that many, I was almost out of breath once I reached the doors. I wasn’t sure whether to blame my lack of fitness or my excitement. The entrance was at least two people tall and four people wide. It was left open as parties continued to walk in and out. A hint of sweat and metal carried in the guild’s air, masked by light perfumes and alcohol.

Jovial adventurers sat at the tables, discussing requests, team members, equipment, rewards, and lodging. Five countertops, two of which had barrels of alcohol, were manned by receptionists. Above them, signs listed their affiliations: Almorac, Bronzeford, Eternal Insight, Fortuna, and at the center, Chrysalis. In the Kaldora Empire, the adventurer’s guild housed all organizations, and Chrysalis was the one they officially endorsed.

At Chrysalis, however, stood a man in seemingly loose but well-fitted clothes. Dark as they were, dust and dirt-stained the silvery stripes along the jacket’s arms. His hood was up, but sweat ran down his brow and dripped from his hair. He rested his whole body on the countertop as he argued with the woman running the desk.

If possible, I wanted to wait for him to leave. A few of the adventurers were sneaking glances at him.

“A new adventurer?” the Fortuna receptionist patted her counter. “We’ll take care of you.”

“Their starting rates are fine, but if you really want to get into labyrinth exploring, join us,” the man managing Bronzeford said as he slid a drink over to someone.

I considered the two organizations. Skychaser’s journals that I had access to were about twenty or more years old, and while Chrysalis and Eternal Insight were mentioned, neither of the two beckoning me were. The two women at Eternal Insight were handling requests, while the Chrysalis receptionist was still speaking to that man. In the middle of their conversation, she stopped him, swung the hatch up, and walked over to me, grabbing me by the hand.

“Renard’s students are affiliated with Chrysalis,” she said, glaring.

They shrugged. “We know,” said the Fortuna receptionist. “Just keeping you on your toes.”

“I’m Petra."

"I-I'm Ellar."

"Hello, Ellar. I’ll be with you once I finish with this gentleman,” she said, straightening her auburn hair as well as her white and dark blue uniform. “As I’ve said, Sir, we cannot provide you drain stones without identification. If you could simply write down your name and take off your mask-”

“Forget it,” he said. He turned his head but hadn’t left. His whole body moved when he took his shallow, pained breaths. The damp mask hugging his lower face only seemed to make it worse.

She regarded him with suspicion, but she turned to me. “What can I help you with?”

I tried my best to ignore him. “I-I was wondering if I could r-r-register and take on a quest?”

Petra smiled, “I would love to register you, but per our contract with the academy, they will be the ones with that privilege. Before then, we can’t allow first year students to take on any requests. Feel free to come back after they register you. In the meantime, you may purchase items and supplies from us if you would like.”

“Oh… That’s okay. C-Can I at least look at some quests?”

Petra nodded. She reached under the counter and pulled out a list of requests for F-ranked adventurers. I slid to the other end where I wouldn’t be bothering anyone. Although I couldn’t accept any of them, just reading it made me giddy. Here I was, inside of an adventurer’s guild looking through quests.

Images from their stories came flooding back. I saw it, bright, early mornings where my party and I would gather at the front of town or in the inn’s lobby before setting off. At first, it would be cold until the sun rose and began warming us as it climbed the open sky. We’d find the place marked on our map and explore, searching the forest or cave for whatever treasures we could find. Maybe a monster would attack, surrounding us, but then we would fend it off.

At the end of the day, whether we found what we came to look for or not, we would gather around a campfire. It was our own little sun. A small, warm center where we’d cook our food or dry our socks. A place of warmth we could make as large as we wanted. Someone would tell a story or a joke, and we would all laugh. We’d share a warm, freshly cooked meal and then head to bed in our tents, freedom just a flap opening away.

“You can't sell me the stone at all?” asked the masked man.

“If you refuse to show your identification tag and refuse to give us your name, we can’t assist you, Sir.”

“I’m... nearing mana exhaustion.”

Petra’s eyes widened. She searched one of the crates nearby and pulled out a red crystal. “If you pour whatever mana you can spare into here and prove your claim, then I can provide a drain stone.”

He tentatively reached out but at the last second, thought better of it. He looked as if he wanted to leave right then. Of course, if what he said was true, then he couldn’t. Not yet, anyway.

Why, though, wouldn’t he accept unless he was trying to hide something. Red crystals, referred to as detector shards, were among the cheapest crystals. Their only use was figuring out one’s general capacity of mana and their base magic, like fire or water.

All of a sudden, his face twisted. More sweat fell. Petra handed him some water and her handkerchief. He wiped his brow but didn’t drink.

He needs help.

“U-Um…”

He looked up at me.

“I-I-I could uh… Um…”

I could buy it for you.

Why was it so difficult to say? I spoke to the guard and Petra just fine, or as well as I could. Why not now? Was I too high off of the excitement to worry?

The gazes of the other adventurers felt heavier now. Their indiscernible words felt directed toward us, the strange pair occupying the attention of Chrysalis for no purpose. Seeing my hair, I just wanted to hide away. It felt out of place. I hadn’t said anything for a while. I stopped as I was trying to speak.

“Um…”

He sighed, “That’s the third time you’ve just trailed off…" he took a breath. "Can’t say I’m much better. Can you buy me a drain stone?”

I nodded because words didn’t seem to want to come out.

“Here.” He gave me five gold coins. More than what I had on me.

Petra frowned when I asked for the drain stone but said, “I understand. I’ll give it to you on the condition that he drains it here. Is that alright with you?”

“Y-Yes.”

She gave me the stone and I handed it to the masked man. His body shuddered as it glowed. Color returned to his face as the light weakened, and he stood a bit taller as if he’d been hunched this whole time. He wiped his hands free of the dusted stone and gave me a slight nod. “Thanks.” I could feel a youthful energy from him. He seemed younger than I thought. He left as Petra handed me the change.

“Students get a discount. Here are your four silvers and five coppers. I let it go this time, please try not to resell items you buy from here. Though, I don’t suppose this is resel- Miss, are you alright?”

I held the coins in my trembling hands. It felt a bit silly, but it was true, wasn’t it?

“I-I just finished my first request.”