The Spark of Ambition, Part Ten

Tomorrow arrived sooner than Rin thought it would.

As the classmates who would remain here got ready for their regular classes, with the exception of Cara's, of course, Rin prepared herself.

[Okay, so,] she clapped her hands together, alone in her room. [I'm not really gonna do any fighting, so I won't bring the fancy armor Maria gave me. Xhez's bag is right there. I need to be careful while I'm walking so I don't wake her up. Got some bread and some water. They said they'll give us some of the food they hunt, so this should be okay. What else?]

She looked around then, as she finished putting on her unfortunately-tight leather cuirass.

[Ugh, this was not made for people with boobs like mine,] Rin thought with a pout.

Putting her gloved hands on her hips, she nodded to herself.

[I think that's it. Well, except for...]

And, as her eyes fell on the box containing her brother's things, Rin sighed.

[Crap.]

Someone knocked on her door, then. Rin turned around and went to open it, finding Cara standing outside.

"Hey," her teacher greeted her. "The adventurers are outside. Are you ready?"

"Y-Yeah, just... Can I get one more minute?"

"Sure."

Cara quickly left and Rin's shoulders dropped.

[I'm pathetic.]

With a huff, she walked back to her bed and sat down at the edge. She drummed on her hips a few times and balled her hands up.

[Come on, just do it! You've already moved on. It's alright.]

That statement gave her a burst of energy, and Rin knew that if she was ever going to open this thing up, it would have to be now. So, she looked over at it and picked it up, placing it next to her on the bed.

It wasn't too heavy, though considering how much stronger Rin had gotten there was a chance this fact could be attributed to her training. Still, the adventurer opened it up expecting not to find too much. Indeed, she was right.

There were three things in the box. A notebook, a badge displaying a symbol that Rin hadn't seen before, and a knife. What attracted Rin's eyes the most was that knife, as it was kept in a black scabbard decorated with tiny golden crystals.

[What the...? How much did this cost?] Rin asked herself, pulling the knife up. Then, her eyes fell on something else. There was a note that had been left underneath the knife.

It read:

"For Rin Asahiro, who Tristan loved and had the highest of hopes for."

And, as Rin's read those words aloud, her eyes got watery.

[... Dammit, don't start crying before your trip. Just get through the rest of this.]

Wiping away a tear that had been threatening to roll down her cheeks, Rin put the knife back where she found it and looked at the other objects.

She picked up the notebook and opened it, finding her brother's name on the front page and a short paragraph under it.

On it was written:

[Tristan Asahiro]

[In the event that I somehow get myself killed, which, considering my luck is pretty likely, please, whoever finds this, make sure this gets back to my family. And, tell them I died fighting a dragon or something cool like that. My family lives in Dren, though they might have moved by the time this notebook finds its way into anyone else's hands.]

Rin flipped over to the next page and found this:

[Day 1: Leaving Dren]

And, she soon realized what this was.

"He wrote a journal for us?" Rin said aloud, shocked. "By the Divine..."

[Wait,] she thought. [I should take this with me! I'll just read it on the way or something.]

With that in her mind, she went and put the notebook in her travel bag, before looking at the final object in the box a little more closely.

The badge.

"Wait..." Rin narrowed her eyes at this. "This seems familiar..."

The badge held the symbol of a crescent moon, not much unlike the one Rin used to display on her forehead to denote her status as a sex worker, or the one Sye had told her about when she came to Jade. However, there was one key difference between this symbol and that of the Mages Guild, which Sye had shown to her.

This was why RIn had failed to see that it was a crescent moon. It was because inside of the moon was another sphere of sorts, with spikes connecting it to the moon around it.

[Hm... Weird,] Rin thought. [Is this still connected to the Mages Guild? I guess I could ask Harriton, or Cara.]

She tilted her head as she thought about it.

[... Or, if neither of them knows, I guess I could write Sye a letter,] she thought. [I could take this to Mannon and have the Academy ask for me, but I'd rather hear the answer myself.]

Then, she heard a tick behind her. She looked back to find that the next hour had arrived, and her eyes all but bulged out of their sockets.

"Shoot! They're waiting for me!"

So, with a huff she put the badge into her travel bag as well, and, well, she figured she may as well bring the knife too, just in case Cara had anything to say about it. So, with her brother's belongings, she tied Xhez's bag to her waist carefully and walked out of her room, curious to see what the trip would end up being like.

---

[Cara]

"Ehm, I mean no disrespect of course, but is the last student going to be here anytime soon?" The ax-wielding adventurer asked.

"Yes, yes, give her a moment," Cara replied.

"Hmph..." Seth huffed under his breath, as he and the other students waited in the lobby. He didn't say anything, however, which, considering his propensity toward random insults directed at the others, was surprising.

They wouldn't have to wait much longer, however, as soon, a pair of hurried footsteps echoed throughout the hall, and Cara turned to find Rin reaching them. Dressed in some basic leather armor, some gloves, and some shorts, an outfit befitting a warrior who valued movement, she was carrying a bulky brown bag behind her back and a little bag on her left hip.

It was, admittedly, always a little funny seeing Rin in these outfits. She almost looked more like she was a model roleplaying as an adventurer rather than someone who could kick a man's head off his shoulders.

Coupled with how much effort she put in, Cara always found that to be rather endearing.

With her amber eyes looking quite apologetic, Rin said:

"Uh, sorry," she smiled sheepishly at Cara, aiming a guilty look at her.

[What are you looking at me like that for? It's them you should be apologizing to.]

Setting that aside, Cara turned toward the two adventurers.

"Alright, we're ready. That's everyone."

"Okay then," the blade-wielder said, stepping up. "Let's get some proper introductions out of the way then, before we head out. My name's Vick and that sack of muscles you see behind me is Troph. What about you all?"

"Go ahead," Cara said, crossing her arms. "Introduce yourselves."

One by one, each of the students gave their names. When they were all done, the two adventurers nodded to each other and turned around.

"Let's go."

And, with that, they departed.

Just before they left, however, Cara felt like someone was staring at her, and indeed that feeling was correct as she turned and found Maria there with a frown.

Sighing, Cara walked over to her while the others exited the building.

"Don't you dare mess up again," Maria said, tapping a finger on her chest. "Understand?"

"Loud and clear," Cara nodded, and as she turned away, a slightly sadder look fell over Maria, which she caught with the corner of her eye.

[... Do your best, Cara,] she told herself.

As she came out, she found that Rin was the only one waiting for her, while the others were several steps ahead. Raising a brow, Cara heard some of the students speaking with the adventurers and she walked over to Rin.

"Not interested in what they have to say?" She asked.

"Nah, just wanted to make sure my teacher didn't get lost all of a sudden. How would it make the Academy look?" Rin told her with a smug grin. Cara snorted.

"Aw, how nice of you," Cara replied quietly, with the tiniest of smiles on her face.