The first task, Contemplation (Day 4), Part 2

Senshinzako

As I listened to Fasnilthar, Nalfimiria and Sowanarcistvir talk, I gradually compared the things they said to my own reasoning by that point, both about their motivation and other similar factors. Ultimately, deciding to share them wasn't just a means of going along with this exercise the group had made up on the spot, though. A part of me wanted to hear what they thought about my motivation, as doing so might make it easier for them to point out any mistakes or flaws in my logic that I didn't realize myself. I didn't understand it well, but especially considering a sister was among us, I figured they likely could see problems with my stance that I wouldn't. Besides, although I couldn't understand the rest of the group well, by that point it was fair to say they each could likely contribute to my problem. And thus, for a moment I stood there silently, thinking back to when my dream started. 

—I was still a young kid. Probably before even reaching four. At times, I would watch mom, dad, or some of my siblings train in the garden near home. One of my older siblings didn't enjoy it as much as the others, but it was still a habit of sorts in that place. At some point, I asked to join them, and it was around that point where my magical training started in full as well. I had the skill at it, interest and both of my parents walked the path, meaning I got to start really early. I didn't think about it much at first, and just followed along with the motions, both with magic, sword fighting or archery. It all came easily to me, come to think of it. The idea of fighting never truly seemed unnatural. At first my training mostly happened at home, though shortly after I started taking part of classes in the temple as well. Seeing as I lived so near it, it became the norm to spend most of my time either on it or in school. — I wasn't sure where to start explaining things, so I turned to the start of it all. 

—But at one point, I started feeling like I was lacking. Maybe not compared to other kids, however there was clearly something different in the way the adults or older trainees practiced. And it wasn't simply a matter of experience. It felt like their movement had more power, or focus behind it. And to me, it seemed like if I couldn't harness that strength I would never grow to that level. So I decided to focus myself on observing others while I rested. This applied both to my parents and other sisters and brothers. Both during the moments they trained, or trained others, as well as moments where they talked about work and other similar things. This was also around the point where I started hearing about the Greater Aspects far more frequently. Be it when path tracers discussed work, or during the lessons about the Greater One's history taught to me and other children, hearing mentions of the different paths followed by the order I finally started to understand my problem. 

—Compared to others my age, I didn't believe I lacked skill. And yet, it was clear that my fighting… No, my training as a whole. There was no resolve behind it. No goal, or cause, simply a child skilled at imitation. I merely copied the motions my many teachers passed along, without ever absorbing the fuel behind their strength. As I grew to understand that, I noticed I was lacking even when compared to those my age when it came to motivation. If to me, grasping the basics was a simple feat, to them, that struggle seemed to have awakened that will. Perhaps my skills were better honed, though there were no flames behind my blade. As a result, it felt as if the gap between me and the others was ever growing narrower. This sounded troublesome. By that point, I was already somewhat comfortable with the concept of fighting. However, if I couldn't grasp at the same strength others on a similar path drew upon, no amount of training would place me on their same level. 

—Hence, the focus of my early life shifted. I wanted to devote as much of my time as possible between my two main goals. To deepen my training as a warrior, and to comprehend what it meant to bear resolve. For that, I tried spending more time listening to path tracers and my parents speak about work, as well to study as closely as possible the story that led to the sisterhood we see nowadays, especially so the many fights the Great Sisters had to go through in order to establish and protect the world we live in today. All so that I could better understand the drive behind their resolve, and what makes a true warrior. Thus, my goals for today are rather simple. To continue to hone my spirit and body as a warrior, through understanding matters of resolve, practice and active combat, and to be able to call the drive of the sisterhood… The resolve that pushed this path for such a long time. I want to be a part of it. And I want to dedicate my own strength to this cause, regardless of how small it may be. Even if I have been failing at doing so thus far, I want to continue pursuing this wish, and therefore grow to understand why I failed so far. This is what I'm focused on by this point. — As I finished explaining as much, I wondered if there was anything else I would have wanted to add. 

—In this sense, I would say I've long since accepted fighting as a part of my life. Yet, fighting isn't something to be done without any weight behind it. Thus, my goal is to put behind my blade the weight of a cause I believe in. Seeing as my cause sees life itself as the most basic of liberties, that naturally means I see killing as something to be avoided, though I can't say I'm not prepared to do it. But in the end, I wouldn't torment myself too much for causing it by accident in your place either. Each of those warriors accepted that risk when they challenged what they likely knew to be a group of mages, even if they didn't know our strength well. Based on what little time we spent with them afterwards too, the survivors didn't seem to resent you. Not that I think relieving oneself of guilt is as simple as merely thinking about it. Just keep this in mind as my view on the matter, if you like. 

Giving words to my own motivation did help me reflect better on my situation, as I hoped, but it seemed neither of my coworkers had any plans on replying to them in detail at that point. As it was Fasnilthar's earlier insistence that knowing each other could be helpful that partially inspired my choice at that point, I hoped at least she would at some point be helpful in this regard. Nonetheless, I didn't assume a talk like that would immediately give the intended results, especially since following its pattern I wasn't expecting my colleagues to give a reply to my doubts at that point, seeing as none had offered too many words for the other's confessions either. Either way, considering this had been a part of my test, I ended that speech with the hopes a group like that would help me understand my cause better in the future. This is the last note I'll leave you with as a writer in this book as well. As this long journey greatly aided in my growth, I hope the retelling of it will inspire something positive to you, as readers, as well. Until my next session, stay well. 

Fasnilthar

"Wow. I didn't think he had it in him to talk this much. I guess he adopted the spirit of the moment pretty well, huh?" When he first brought up his childhood, I had no idea where Senshin was heading with his speech either. By the end of it, the choice seemed to make more sense, though. As little as he talked to us, that didn't necessarily mean he didn't know how to explain himself, I guess. "He also showed little to no hesitation in going over this. Maybe he has gone through similar talks in the past or something like this. I wish I had that same sort of ease with things like this." Though in the end, it did solve one of my initial questions about him really well. The whole thing about a 17 year old traveling halfway across the globe, I mean. It was pretty clear joining the sisterhood meant everything to him at that point, so when he was given the task I doubt he hesitated for even a second in accepting it. "Still doesn't answer why his parents and superiors thought this was a good idea, but oh well. I doubt he knows this himself." 

When the speech ended, Chiaisei seemed pretty amped up by it as well. Or rather, I figured she was trying to gather the courage to follow up on it, based on the way she had been behaving. It was hard to tell with her, but once she finished doing it, she grabbed one of my hands, while whispering to herself stuff like "I can do this." I doubted I was the intended audience for that, though she didn't seem to mind the idea of me listening to her attempts at inspiring herself, considering she bothered with whispering that stuff even if we were literally in contact. Seeing this, I placed my free hand on top of her head, which was still in the same level as mine, before briefly pushing the two of us closer.

—I'm sure you can too. — I whispered just softly enough to where I didn't think even Nalfimiria would have heard us. What can I say, I'm used to elven ears. Usually, I didn't like the idea of keeping stuff between the two of us when we were surrounded by a group, but seeing as Chiaisei seemed to prefer that, I went through with it for her sake. Seeing this, Chiaisei asked to speak, without moving from my side. She ended up taking a step from the tree we had been supporting ourselves against, but she kept holding my hand, even as she started talking. 

—I have something akin to a goal as well. To be exact, I see it as a mission of sorts. It isn't directly connected to my working with the association now, however it was the main reason I sought this kind of work in the first place. And while it wasn't directly the cause of me moving from Xarzin either, it isn't unconnected to that, seeing as I believe having experience working abroad likely will help with my mission. — As she started talking about this mission, she sounded very hesitant at first. It did seem she was picking up speed along the way, but by her first break it still looked like speaking about this topic was hard on her. 

—I've… never truly chosen this mission. It was thrust upon me when I was still a child. And overall, it has definitely hurt me far more over the course of my life than it helped. However… It still feels like I can't turn away from it. That running away would be wrong. A lot of people are counting on me. Too many to count, and I have been offered so much in order to get this far. Hence, I'm scared of disappointing them all. I don't want all that I was given to be turned into a waste. — Still holding her, it felt like the more she talked, the less comfortable with this topic she got. 

—Chiaisei, do you really want to keep talking? — I asked, before she could continue. It looked to me like the others saw a point in my suggestion. As composed as she was normally, it almost felt as if addressing this issue was hurting her physically. 

—Don't worry, I won't go on for much longer. I know my limits by now. — It seemed our worry motivated her in this case. That was an unusual reaction from her part as well, seeing as by that point I had the impression she disliked causing worry in others. Still, it looked like at that moment it didn't bother her. 

—In order to accomplish this mission, I didn't necessarily have to become a combatant. There were other options on the table as well, however I still chose the association. And even if going through this battle brought pain, I don't want to quit. To me, this feels like the most personal way to accomplish my goal. The life of a heroine of sorts… It's a silly dream, though to me it feels like an appropriate way to devote my blessings. So that, by serving the good of others, I can pay back all that I was given. Not to mention, following this path would make it easier for me and Finarkzir to stay by each other. This wasn't a pleasant experience, of course. Even had I not killed today, I still believe no training has prepared me for how stressful real battle felt. I don't wish to drop my duty, though. As much of a failure as this task was on my part, it would have been childish to expect my path to remain clean for too long. Honestly, it is rather ironic I've failed right at the start of this, considering what's been expected of me. Thus, I have a favor to ask of all of you. — While smiling, she closed her eyes, and went through some form of bowing from her homeland. Based on what I knew about her cultural context, this sort of position was one to demonstrate humility before asking a favor to someone else, to symbolize the significance of the wish to the hearer. Thanks to the questioning I gave her about her homeland, it seemed like everyone present understood her meaning. 

—This isn't the last mistake that I'll make. It won't be the last time I'll waver, or that I will stumble on my way either. And seeing as I am something of a mess inside, this won't be the last scene of this sort caused by me either, or the last time I'll be taking part in this sort of speech. So please. Through all of it, can I ask you to tolerate me? But most of all… Please, never allow me to turn away. Even if I struggle to do it, let it only be for a brief moment. My mission has pushed me through quite a lot already, hopefully through the worst of it, by now. And so far, I've managed to push through it all. I want to continue this path. Even if it scares me, hurts me, torments me, pushes me, breaks me or crushes me. I never want to turn away. For I'll need to be much better still if I hope to accomplish my task, and I don't have many better people around me to ask to watch over me right now. Though mind you, I don't need an answer, especially not one now. Simply think back to this wish if it ever feels like I'm reaching that line, and decide what to do then based on it. Either way, thank you for listening to me. — During the speech, she interrupted the bowing so that she could look at each of us. After she was done talking, she gave the group a final bow before returning to the tree I was resting against. 

"A mission, though, one given from birth… I hope I'll be able to help her through it. It sounds tough to have something this serious sounding thrust on you." I couldn't help but ponder what in the abyss that mission could even be, though it was clear Chiaisei took it very seriously,at the very least. 

The group spent some more time in silence after that. We each took our time to think about the things we confessed and heard from each other. I still wasn't fully convinced starting this talk had been the bestest of ideas, but at least I could say it ended nicely, despite the fact none of us really knew what kind of effect it would have going forward. Confessing this kind of stuff with less than a week of knowing someone was weird to most of us, in the end. Other than Nalfimiria, most likely, seeing as she probably was far better used to this kind of conversation. Still, seeing as for the following months we would be working alongside each other, a part of me wondered if maybe this sort of talk really should be done early on. I doubted it would be soon before we got into actual dangerous fights, but even in the less tense situations, we still were being charged with watching each other's backs. "I guess we need to trust each of our lives to the others, in a sense. Maybe being a bit forward about our pasts wasn't that bad of an idea." Pondering about this, I looked at each of our companions around that circle. Chiaisei, Senshin, Sowanar, Nalfimiria… And Finarkzir. 

—Hold on a second, we never gave a turn to the eagle, did we?! — I yelled out, a bit ashamed I forgot about her turn. It seemed most of the others also forgot about that detail, though both Nalfimiria and Chiaisei herself appeared to have been expecting that kind of reaction from me sooner or later. After hearing this, Chiaisei also fortified the link we shared with the bird once again, so that we could hear her thoughts easily. When we connected our minds to Finarkzir, though, it seemed she was also a bit surprised we even thought to include her in this kind of talk. 

—Fighting is a natural part of a magical beast's life. After all, most of my kind and others I've met have since birth longed to grow stronger. Seeing as fighting is both the easiest means of testing that strength as well as a handy method of training, I can say with confidence it would have been far stranger for a wind caller to reject this way of living than to take part in it Hence, I can't say I have a reason to need a strong cause or reasoning. Even had I never met Chiaisei or any of you, I would still be training and fighting to this day. — She explained briefly. Seeing as she wasn't the first magical beast I had met, I had heard similar explanations before, and it looked like most of us were at least somewhat familiar with their ways, be it through direct experience or not. 

—Still, if I had to say why am I here now… It has to do with a vow of sorts I made long ago, the day Chiaisei and I met. You see- — As the topic began to evolve, Chiaisei started protesting against it both non verbally and directly. 

—Finarkzir, it might actually be best not to speak over that day in detail now. Humans tend to react very differently towards this kind of topic, so the others likely might be shocked to hear it now. — Barely after the eagle started going, her companion interrupted her in a panic. Finarkzir probably didn't see it as such, but the impression I was getting was that she was about to drop something far heavier than the rest of our talk on our shoulders. Remember that warning I gave about trauma dumping? Yeah, I doubt our friendly raptor even understood the concept of that expression well at this point. 

"Right, magical beasts generally don't have a whole lot of limitations when it comes to this kinda thing, do they? She was probably about to hit us with her full background right away." That was the general feeling I gathered from both of their reactions, and the fact Chiaisei seemed to spend some time feeding thoughts directly into Finarkzir, by which I mean doing it in a way that wouldn't result in us hearing them. 

—Alright then. Since my girl is also intent on hiding her side of the story for now, let's just say… Since the day I've been accepted as Chiaisei's partner and sibling, I promised both to myself and her parents that I would keep her safe at all costs. Since then, I've been preparing myself to follow through with this vow, and everytime I feel she might find herself in some form of danger, I stick closely by so that I may assist her at any point. Based on the rules I've been given to work with, this is all I should be telling you. — Finarkzir's thoughts sounded a little annoyed by the interruption and the idea behind it in itself, but Nalfimiria made sure to affirm to the eagle Chiaisei's worries had some merit. Especially seeing as most of us had been avoiding going into the more deeply depressive stuff in detail during that talk. Between that and whatever Chiaisei had told her in private, this managed to convince our friendly bird her own planned speech likely would have been a bad idea to put in practice. 

—Okay then. We'll be sure to listen to the full story once Chiaisei judges we're ready, Finarkzir. Right, everyone? — I made sure to ask, and it seemed the rest of the group was in agreement. In the end, that part of the conversation oddly served to lighten the mood, before we decided to get back to walking and return to the town we had been fighting for. Since we likely would start our report as soon as we arrived at the association headquarters there, the job wasn't quite over yet, seeing as, like it or not, that part of things was unavoidable to us as well. 

At any rate, with the job being over, I'm thinking this is a nice point to finish off this section of mine as well. Later we'll still give some of the remaining details from that day, like how we got back to Zainlastris or some talks we had on the way, but for the most part, this sort of marks the ending of the main section for this first book of ours. As the remaining pages to be read might hint at, there will still be a few additional sections, though that is a topic for then. So for now, let me pass on the pen to the next writer and with it tell my short lived farewells. See you soon! 

Almenar

Perhaps I hadn't taken part in this section of contemplation personally, yet I shall share my thoughts about it regardless, reader. Though before that, I wished to verify if you noticed the nature of the trick Nalfimiria used at the end of their fight. By which I mean the method used to fake the death of the Daokinyev leader. Not to say you were exactly offered all tools to solve this mystery, mind you, but I do believe we've made it pretty clear needless killing goes extremely against the practices of Path Tracers of the Willpower. And her method, you might ask? Remember the moment she fully manifested her veil and magic in her direct surroundings? Not only did Senshinzako mention it drawing extreme focus over their magical senses, it even caused a massive distraction due to how much a spell of that intensity used through Iscathnerin would shine, I'm sure. Not only that, though the blast they utilized in itself temporarily blinded her audience, and the final offer between her and that chief didn't make a whole lot of sense, did it? 

The blinding of both the magical and natural senses of all those around them served a very obvious purpose, though. During the brief moments it lasted, another Watcher whose assistance she had required utilized teleportation to swap the chief of the Daokinyev with a familiar conjured to resemble him. Nalfimiria even went as far as to stall the conversations with him as much as possible, so that the one helping her could imitate his appearance perfectly, as well as some functions of the body, to make for a more convincing temporary corpse. This is also why she sought to hasten the burning of the body, or asked the Daokinyev spellcaster to watch over the body. As the girl had a magical bond with this junior chief, faking his death before her would have been impossible, so as her cooperation had already been needed, she was placed in the role to make sure none would notice the irregularities of the familiar's body. It was to confirm this assignment that Nalfimiria needed to speak to her, yet it was likely that during her brief moment of unconsciousness the one assisting the plan made contact with the girl as well. 

The second "dead" likely hadn't been an original part of the plan, yet as Chiaisei's choice of attack had been likely to cause such an accident, they probably decided to substitute one of the more wounded Daokinyev by a similar familiar dummy placed on reserve. By distracting her own friends with this, it also made it less likely any one of them would devote much scrutiny to the state of the "bodies" they had been readying to burn. As for why also deceived her colleagues, likely to make their reaction to the situation seem more convincing. Normally, I imagine her plan was to tell them the truth as soon as they left that camp, but in Chiaisei's case… I assumed there was a purpose to faking the killing tied to her. Likely to aid the girl in question in processing feelings tied to an event in her past life, based on the information I had available. At first I thought it might have been a risky choice, based on my judgment, yet by the time those speeches were done I realized that gambit might have taken its intended effect. Otherwise, there was no particular reason to keep it silent. Regardless, the center of my own contemplation happened after all those shared confessions were done, so let's return to that focus. 

—You know, I'm starting to think you are each really strange too. You should at least have given it a few months before going so existential with each other. — Watching the group of fools get back to moving towards that town, I couldn't help but complain out loud. They couldn't hear me, and the only person who could at that point (Stag) likely wouldn't respond to my critique either. Still, I did feel voicing frustrations like that out at times did help with processing them. 

As much as I would love posing like a mastermind right about now, and saying I had been expecting a conversation like that sooner or later, that wasn't the case. Personally, the idea of having talks like that with other people wasn't something that came upon me very often, seeing as I had an obligation to play my role around most I ever met. In this sense, watching the six of them talk parts of their hearts out so openly simultaneously inspired me with a bit of contentment, sadness and jealousy. Especially since, unlike their other listeners, I already had the full context behind each of their troubles. A part of me had pondered whether or not I should be observing the scene during that topic for most of them, however seeing as neither of them ever brought up anything I hadn't already noted, I considered my crimes to already have been completed by that point. Or rather, there was one of those speeches during which I asked Stag to block out my listening from the scene. 

"Sowanar… If you're willing to talk with them about these topics already, then perhaps I don't understand your pain as well as I think I do. I wish I could be doing more to help, whatever ails you." Once I realized he planned on talking about me, I couldn't handle the thought of listening in any longer. Hence, I had asked Stag to cut out the sounds of the scene from my end, despite the fact the image showing me their interaction was still in front of me. She still heard the scene, as by her words doing the contrary would go against the purpose of her presence there as a Watcher. Though at around the point it started to look like I would be the topic of his confession, I cut myself of nearly entirely from the scene, even going as far as to refuse to glance at that screen during most of the interaction. I watched it just enough to notice two things, with that said. 

For one, it was the fact he softened his usual act during that speech. I like to call that mask "the perfect hero", as I understood this was Sowanar's way of trying to imitate such a figure. Although seeing through it had never been difficult for me, he rarely acted naturally without wearing that mask in front of me. And most of the times he was without it, it was in instances where he was breaking down. The hardest part about helping him in this state was that he disliked being consoled by others, especially by me. "A knight should never show weakness, especially in front of their master", as he had told me many times, to the point I had even memorized his inflexion while he usually said so. And though I knew the pain of living behind a mask better than most, with him, I always felt powerless to help. Whenever he wasn't acting depressed as a result of them, he also always seemed very frustrated, and revolted, at a great deal of things around us. 

The second factor I took note of, was the small change of glances that he had with Nalfimiria, and the fact she briefly made contact with Stag. Basically, she was verifying whether I had been watching that part of the conversation. In other words, Sowanar knew I likely would be listening to the conversation and made sure to verify I was before getting to speak about me in detail. I suspected he understood I didn't like the idea of hearing him talk about me, yet still, this felt like a sign he didn't want me to hear this part of the talk either. I didn't mind that in itself, necessarily. Having someone who is essentially your boss hear you talk about them all of the time likely would be unnerving for many people. 

—Sowanar. We've been friends for so long… — He disliked it when I referred to him as a friend. Not merely due to attachment to the role, but because he felt both of us would play our parts better if we never grew too attached to the other. Still, I felt the definition fitted the situation well enough. 

That he wanted to hide some things from me, I didn't mind. As I said, I was basically his main employer, even if not the only one. But I also knew he trusted very little into everyone else around him. The impression I had was that I was one of the few people who he ever accepted showing any vulnerabilities in front of, however unpleasant doing so in front of me must have been for him. If anything, the fact he chose me for this role regardless of his feelings towards our work situation in a lot of ways served to intensify in me the impression he had no one else he had any sort of trust towards. That was why I was so worried. I knew something different from the usual had been hurting him around that period, and I had a strong suspicion it had to do with me. Thinking about it hurt, of course. Still, I felt a sense of responsibility for this problem, especially if I was a part of it. 

—I wish you would trust me more. — I said, so quietly that not even from Stag's position besides me, a normal person would have been unable to listen. 

I was then reminded of our meeting. After hearing about his family situation, one that felt rather notorious, and hearing of his involvement with knight training, I got curious enough about him to ask Stag to arrange a meeting between us. By which I mean, to arrange a convincing disguise, seeing as I knew I wouldn't have the permission to do so as myself. It was on the training ground where he spent most of his time. When he couldn't train magic, he was almost always either trying to push his body through physical training or martial training. Observing him briefly, I challenged him to sparring, under the identity of a high noble from Forsgilme, one tied by bloodline to the knight orders. 

Even while restricting myself to his level and to using a sword despite my preference for the bow, I still beat him repeatedly for some time, though each loss appeared to wound him personally. After doing this repeatedly, I finally found the courage to ask what was driving him. He wasn't completely honest with me while answering, but in his eyes I felt the hint of despair, one that ran far more deeply than what any child should ever experience. Whatever was happening, I felt it wasn't something the future queen of the nation had the right to ignore. Just as our Knights vow to act under the crown, turning away from their suffering goes against what we're taught to protect as their leaders. At that moment, I childishly decided to forge him an escape route, unaware my hands would end up binding him in the process. 

—Maybe this is to be expected. Starting a friendship while under another's name. Is it really that strange that he finds it hard to trust me? — On that mellow turn, I returned to silence and merely kept watching their group return to the place where they would be reporting their job's completion. 

I imagined Sowanar's own report would reach me sooner or later, even if it was only a formality, and while continuing my observation I would occasionally give myself a break for the sake of reading a document or anything similar that might have reached me that day. Thankfully, I have always been good at using my head well even when my attention on a subject was low. At any rate, as depressing of a final note as this might seem as, this is the end for my writings of that day's events. This also marks the end for the narrative sections of our collective story of this book, although the exact contents of what remain I will not explain myself. Either way, until my next chapter, I hope your days, readings and all else pass by happily to all of you. Goodbye. 

Fasnilthar

Hello there! You thought I was done, but you were wrong! "But you warned u-" Shut up, let me talk to myself in peace. Anyways, what's this about, you might be thinking? Our princess just wrote we weren't writing anymore about that day's events, yet here am I, still in the space we've been using, typing away with all of the fury of an archmage while some of my friends watch me from the sidelines. "Hold on, weren't you using pens?" Noooo, the bosses said that would take far more work, so they gave us the materials to make this as simple as possible from the start. Tangents aside, the topic! What was it again?!

Right! This book, and the series of stories that will follow after it. I guess this is what people normally would call an afterward? Not really that familiar with those, but my sources say they exist, and that's good enough. Basically, I wanted to talk about expectations, plans and all of that crap, as well as explaining some of our current editorial decisions. For starters, sorry if you got a little tired of me by this point. This section of our story was mainly written by me, though as things will progress the others will get more chapters compared to me along the way. Almenar wasn't really directly involved with things yet, so giving chapters to her was made a bit harder. 

And Senshin, well… If that wasn't clear enough by now, the Senshin of the story had nowhere near as much interest in the rest of the group as I had by this point. Hence, as a means of respecting our past selves ways of being, we decided only to give him chapters that covered stuff he was actually interested in at that time. Sorta. Not for his memory's sake mind you, the spells on us are intense enough I can sometimes even remember the moment of my birth. There is not a whole lot that we realized at the time these things were happening that we couldn't explain in detail right now. 

We also all agreed I was the best candidate to have all of these super direct talks as authors for the most part. I think people normally call this "breaking the fourth wall", right? Yeah, it worked with my character much better than it did for the others. As for the other two, Chiaisei and Sowanar also will gradually be getting more and more sections along the way. Since those two kinda placed a lot of effort in remaining a mystery to the rest of us up to a certain point, we decided getting inside their heads all of the time from the start wouldn't have worked well with their past selves. Finarkzir is really resistant to writing as well (As with most of the magic beasts with us to be fair). But don't worry, I won't give up on the "Eagle Chapters" either, reader! I know someone interested in that is out there as well! 

Either way, this wasn't the biggest thing I felt there was a need for explaining. I guess the biggest question in some of our readers' minds by this point is likely "Why are you starting the story at this point?", right? As much as I like to think my person and weird adventures as a mage are what's attracting some of our readers, I'm sure a lot of it also comes down to titles as well, both on our end as the main writers, as well as on those of the ones who decided on writing this series of books. In case you don't know who I am by now, and the name Fasnilthar Lanphzeis didn't tell you enough, you might also recognize me by the names "The Star of Joy", "The Spear of Rebellion" or "Humanity's Bravest", at times. I really like those titles, by the way. From spending most of my life hearing jokes about being named after a star, to growing into someone important enough to change the meaning of that very same constellation that named me, it feels like I really surpassed every expectation placed on me, in this sense. 

If my current efforts end in a success, "The Immortal Sage" or something of the sort might also be added to this list later on, but hey, I myself don't know about that one up to this point. Considering how much of an idiot I was at this point of the story, saying stuff like that almost feels kinda surreal, especially since, in my humble opinion, Heroine or not, I still think I'm a bit of an idiot. But idiot or not, the question for which I sorta went on a different tangent to speak about likely is: "Why are you all starting the story at this point?" And I mean, I get it. Not like I dislike writing so far or anything, but if we skipped straight to the point that led us to our current reputation, like, there would be a lot less writing for me to do, right? I mean, as quick as things are progressing currently - and even if we have a ton of writers on hand constantly - this project will likely take some years. Maybe even around a decade, one during which we will all still need to pull through with our normal jobs. If we went to the point, it wouldn't take a full year, if I had to guess. If our bosses - which most of the times I will refer to as "the Editors" - didn't give us an excellent reason to write a story this long, I would still have been complaining to them about this idea. I mean, as over the top as it kinda is in this case, I gotta earn the name "The Spear of Rebellion" occasionally. 

So, after hearing them make this point a few times already, if I had to make the gist of it, heroes aren't made over the course of a single day, you know? Of course, me and the group got to enjoy growing at a far faster pace than most other mages could dream of, but even then, from the fact we all still devoted most of our lives to training or preparation, to the simple fact it still took us quite a while to get to this point all of the benefits we had or not, this still took quite a while. Realistically speaking, you could even say the formation of this unit wasn't really the individual start for each of us. Our journeys started beforehand, being that mine, Nalfimiria's, Sowanar's or Almenar's being the most obvious examples. 

Some flashbacks of varying sizes will be used for the sake of this, but overall, our unit's formation is more or less the point where everyone's personal history started colliding with each other. Not to mention, it's the point where she enters the picture, and seeing as most of our potential readers likely were drawn out by her name far more than any of ours, starting at that introduction seemed to make the most sense. For the sake of preserving the illusion of the mystery our past selves were faced with, though, don't expect any of us to talk about her directly around this part of the story, with that said. Besides, if someone at some point got a hold of this series without really knowing what it's about in detail, that's the one surprise I should want to keep quiet for a while. 

Anyways, with that out of the way, let me just go over once again what this is about and all. As you might have realized by now, our journey so far has been told in a great deal of detail. Our conversations, training, walking, eating, other routine stuff and in the case for this last part, working. We'll more or less follow the same trend in most of the following volumes from this opening book. Though admittedly, as this is the introduction of this work, we put a lot more description around this part, so you could each get a better grasp of what a Pact Warden does and what our lives in this field were like. As the story continues, the days won't last as many words, be it because explaining the same things over and over wouldn't make that much sense or simply due to the fact, as we grew to know each other better, at some point it stopped feeling like our every talk as friends carried as much of a discovery as these ones closer to the start. 

Lastly, I wanted to talk about the title of this story for a moment. Or rather, I'm carrying the words of everybody else when saying this too. Gems of Aeyxos, right? This was something one of the Editors first brought up quite a while ago, that initially referred not only to us but to many more people. Basically, her point at that time was the following, if I can summarize it nicely. Be it in the scale of a city, a country, a region or a planet, the people and creatures inhabiting it are always the biggest treasure there. Or at least, this Editor claimed so. 

As rare as it is in the grand scale of the universe, life by itself is already such a precious thing. Like, be it diamonds or special crystals of any kind, or rare metals who behave uniquely… When you take into account all the planets and asteroids around, calling those things rare when searched throughout the universe would be overstating it a lot. Those things can only seem rare when viewed from the perspective of a single floating rock. And as for life? Our universal sector likely barely crosses the 2 digit line in regards to places where it ever developed, much less in the same variety as it has back home. It takes a really long time simply to appear, and the development and growth of life sounds like such a long process I couldn't even begin to imagine what so many millions and billions of years might even feel like. And as life always seems to push itself towards changing and getting better at handling the world, it could be said the search of growth by living beings in many ways reflects this search. 

It doesn't matter if it is in a physical sense, through magic, general experience, knowledge or simply maturing. Seeking out to better ourselves, or to better the world around us, this is the way each of us fights to realize the potential that life carries. Like how gems and other shiny rocks need to be polished and tinkered with in order to look the best they can. And in this long journey of attempts, repeated mistakes, persistence and stupidity, each of us "heroes" really was seeking out to accomplish that potential, in our own ways. It was a slow process, and honestly, not to repeat myself but I still think I'm an idiot to this day, so I would say it is far from over. So be it working, training, talking, discovering more about each other and ourselves, walking (so much walking!), eating, drinking, sleeping, looking, hearing, fucking and whatever else we did over this time, the goal is to register here each step we judge significant, be it in our growth as individuals or as a group. It will take a while before we can impress an audience in many ways, but we'll get there, this we can all promise. If you wish to stick by this journey, I welcome you, and until my next words, stay well! 

The End. 

Written by: Fasnilthar Lanphzeis, Senshinzako Renkyushin, Almenar Lairnisflaiz, Chiaisei Liengchi-Suhen. 

Special thanks to Nalfimiria, Sowanarcistvir and Finarkzir as well for providing their own memories to help with some of the scenes, though they have yet to write anything directly, as well as some of the people we had met over those four days.