Israr rushes with his suitcases from his underground room. "I'm late! I hope they haven't left!" He bursts past different Sharmeija members while he drags his suitcases.

When he gets outside, he sees the Harmony members waiting for him by their cart.

"Hey, you're late," says Marie-Jane. She glares back at Israr.

"Sorry! I had to deliver a letter to a friend." Israr places his bags on the cart. He thinks, "She's so much scarier now than last night!"

"Were you able to deliver it?" asks Consus.

"Yes! He isn't here now, but Master Cashel said he will ensure the letter is delivered."

"That's nice of him." Consus pets the horses and feeds them apples.

Israr notes Kiran is still not awake. "Is he okay?"

"Yes." Marie-Jane climbs on the front of the cart. "Sharmeija's medical staff informed us his vitals are fine. He's still sleeping."

"I'm relieved." Israr sits next to Kiran, who's lying down on the cart.

Easton sits on the other side of the cart. He is awake.

"How's your shoulder, Easton?" asks Israr.

"It's okay. Still a bit sore, but the wound has healed." Easton touches his shoulder, wrapped in bandages. "It was a deep cut. I'm surprised it healed so quickly" He looks at Consus, who's climbing onto the cart to drive it. "I can't believe he manipulates the growth of seeds. Even the medicinal properties of herbs? Given how delicate one must be with growing seeds, he must have practised a lot. That's… quite helpful."

Easton thinks back to some planting he had to do in The Trials. "To have someone who could speed up that process would have been amazing. But no one had gifts in The Trials. Consus must've been good at botany during his time. Does that affect your desire?" Easton gazes at his hand. "Does that affect how I can activate my gift?"

The time in the tube quickly flashes through Easton's mind, when an orange aura erupted from his arm. The power he felt. The joy when he landed that hit on the large man. "Man, I need to figure out how to activate my gift. I tried when I woke up, but there was nothing."

A Sharmeija member comes to talk to Marie-Jane. "Do you know which route to take? There's a migration of buffalos on the south side."

"Yeah, I'm aware. We will be going around Torrent, and taking that route. We should miss any animals that could derail our journey. But thanks anyway."

The Sharmeija member bows. "Of course, I should remember how good you are at sensing, Miss Marie-Jane. Have a safe journey."

Marie-Jane climbs on and sits next to Consus. "Everyone ready?"

"Yes," responds the group.

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"Good." Marie-Jane grabs the reins. "Then let's get to Harmony. We won't be travelling as fast as last time, so it will take about 12 hours. Israr, make sure Kiran doesn't fall off!"

"S-Sure?" Israr puts his hand on Kiran. "Why would I need to ensure Kiran doesn't fall off?"

To answer his thought, Marie-Jane cracks the reins and the horses start accelerating to 90 kilometres per hour. Israr hugs Kiran to not fall out of the cart. "OmniOne protect us!" shouts Israr.

A quarter-way through, trees and dirt have been the only sights present. Easton's frustration slowly builds up.

"Why do we have to travel so much!? First running, and now we travel there for half a day!"

"Hey!" yells Marie-Jane. "Don't complain while you sneaked on."

Israr tries to calm Easton down.

Consus says, "Well, that's what happens when 98% of Arkodia is uninhabitable. Guilds are spread out far and wide. We have to stay out of wild animals' reach."

Nothing of note happens on their journey. The red ranks in the cart hold on for dear life when the horses pick up more speed. Later on, Consus gives more medicinal herbs to Easton, and he sleeps. Israr reads one of the books he brought along with him.

The group reaches Harmony by the time the sun starts to set. The horses slowly gallop in, exhausted from the long journey. Sunlight beams through the forest.

"It's so beautiful." Israr looks at the vegetation of Harmony's forest. "It's so green. How long ago have I heard birds?" Chirps bounce around.

"We're here," states Marie-Jane. "Everyone, get your things ready."

Lanterns mixed with sunset warm the flowers and wooden structures. Israr takes in his new home. He doesn't see anyone else.

"Where is everyone?" asks Israr.

"In their cabins. I set a curfew because the animals around are restless," answers Marie-Jane.

"Why are they restless?"

"Who knows? The energy increase after the most recent cycle could be the reason."

Joseff walks out of the administrative building just as the cart pulls in.

"Hoho! You guys are back! Welcome home!"

"Thanks. We had some extra luggage we didn't account for, but it all ended alright." Marie-Jane shoots a look to Easton who looks away immediately.

"Right," says Consus. "I think some good things happened while we were there."

Joseff cheerfully strolls up. "That's great to hear! You must tell me all about it later. You know? It's curfew, so I'm going to my cabin."

"Before you go, can you complete some paperwork for us?" asks Consus.

"Huh? For what?" Joseph's smile fades as the grey Sharmeija attire appears from the cart with luggage.

"Wait wait wait! Hold up! What's he doing here??"

Israr freezes in his spot. "Did I do something wrong?" he thinks while quivering.

"What do you mean, Joseff?" Marie-Jane walks up to Joseff. "You knew we were going to Sharmeija to recruit protectors."

"But I'm the one that recruits people. I don't know this guy! Ugh! That's why I even let the newborns sneak on!"

This revelation causes a momentary silence. Marie-Jane slowly creeks her head to Joseff. "You… knew? Did you know… my jewels would be lost?" Her words grind through her teeth.

"I didn't know that would happen. But what does it matter? It wasn't even your expensive jewels. You're still stingy, Marie!"

"Joseff… I'll kill you!"

Consus hunches over and glooms. "I thought I did a good job with the recruitment."

"See! You even made Consus upset!"

Israr watches the grown-ups bicker. He alternates his focus between them all. He can't help but smile and thinks, "I think I'm going to enjoy it here."

While all this goes on, Easton notices something different about Kiran. "What's going on? Why is my mind telling me… to check on this red-rank?" He sighs and reaches his hand out to Kiran's face. "He shouldn't be sleeping so long."

Easton taps at Kiran's face. "Hey, wake up-!" He rests his fingers against Kiran's cheek for a while.

"Hey! The red-rank's face is burning hot!"

All the squabbling stops when Easton yells. He unwraps Kiran from his blankets. The adults rush over.

"Why does he have a fever?! We are trained against it during The Trials! He's not sweating! Our bodies are supposed to handle temperature increases!" Easton throws off the final blanket.

"Joseff, get Anu, quickly! He needs to check Kiran now," commands Marie-Jane.

"Right. I'll get him. I think he's in the outer section. I'll be right back." Joseff sprints away.

"What's going on?" asks Israr. "What's bad about a fever? Not sweating with a higher body temperature is a good thing. It means our blood circulates faster."

Consus grows and cuts bamboo. He then ties it into a makeshift stretcher. "That is normally the case Israr, when you purposefully do it. This is not natural." He lifts Kiran and places him on the stretcher. 2 members come to assist and carry Kiran to the Medical Centre.

"If we don't get the fever down, there's a high chance that Kiran will get overwhelmed with Negative Energy, which could cause him to turn into a demon."