Ryn lay in his bed, pondering over what he’d seen earlier. He had his right arm outstretched, grasping Lunar Whisper, his eyes tracing over the runes on its guard.

‘Firm in the night sky, it answered one and gifted itself to the other. Both yearned for the celestial body's aid, but only one received. The other slowly extended itself towards the heavens, bearing fruit for all those who remembered him. A deep scar from a branch, etched on the heart of the Sun and Moon. One from which they would never truly recover.’

Ryn repeated it in his head a few times, almost like a mantra, he felt as if he were on the cusp of realising something which would alter his life from here on out.

‘Song of Stars….Lunar Whisper…. The Sun and Moon……..’

Ryn’s eyes widened as he realised the implications of what he was thinking, it all lined up too well for it to be brushed off as mere coincidence. From Dahlia’s sword mimicking his to the runes engraved on his guard, there was something greater at play. A thought blossomed in Ryn’s mind causing him to immediately get up, throw on his uniform again and leave the dormitories. He should be asleep right now but he wanted to check one thing, just one.

Ryn had never been stupid, he could identify patterns and discrepancies within miniscule things. He knew he wasn’t an idiot and it was for this reason he couldn’t dismiss his thoughts, he couldn’t just write it off as chance. Almost jogging, Ryn briskly walked towards the silver pyramid, not a single one of his peers in sight. He could see its imposing structure getting closer and closer.

Upon reaching it, he immediately went to the engraving depicting the Sun, Moon and Earth. There’d always been something odd with the pyramid, it looked almost out of place on this Earth, as if it was some otherworldly structure. He needed to know more, he had to.  He felt a sense of belonging when he looked at the engraving, sure it was just an image but to him and what he’d seen it felt like so much more than that.

‘A deep scar from a branch, etched on the heart of the Sun and Moon. One from which they would never truly recover.’

Those words rang like a bell inside Ryn’s head, he couldn’t stop thinking about them.

‘A branch… A branch… The engraving has the Earth, Sun and Moon, but even so, what does a branch have to do with it? Why am I assuming it has anything to do with this in the first place? Some architect simply designed this and this image happened to be on it. Sure mine and Dahlia’s swords have some sort of link, but that doesn’t necessarily signify a link to this engraving.’

Ryn was at his wits end, unsure what to make of it all, thousands of questions appeared in his head, unsure what to make of them.

‘Aspirant Claudia saw me summon Lunar Whisper, she must have seen Song of Stars already. Even an idiot would be able to tell that they’re both connected somehow, so why did she dismiss my sword, saying it could merely be a relic?’

Ryn felt a growing sense of unease building up within him, he didn’t like it one bit. Something was at play and Ryn needed answers. He had to speak with Dahlia, some way or another, he had to.

‘We both have our own swords and we’re both going to go to Anvil at the same time. Wait? She might also have a class, I need to ask her about that too. But… speaking so much would be suspicious, there must be a reason why Aspirant Claudia rejected me then, she knew I wasn’t lying there’s no way a mere relic could be so powerful and coincidentally look exactly like her daughter’s sword.’

Ryn glanced at the engravings once more, his eyes meeting the engraving of the faceless man stood in the cavity of a tree before leaving. Other murals Ryn tried to look at, but the more he tried, he’d feel an intense headache building up in his head, as if his skull was slowly being caved in. He instantly left, an uncomfortable feeling within him, unable to shake off the feeling of having his strings pulled by a force he didn’t know.

Reaching his room, Ryn threw off his uniform, draping it over the chair besides his desk, not bothering to hang it up. He quickly changed into the clothes he’d been wearing before he left his room and drew his curtains, a tiny beam of moonlight penetrating through a minute gap.

Falling onto his bed, Ryn wrapped himself in his covers, right now what he needed was sleep. It’d been a long first day and his mind needed rest more than anything else. He shut his eyes, trying to calm his mind. He thought of his mom, his dad, how much they both loved him and how much he wanted to survive and return to them. Just like that, Ryn’s consciousness slowly faded away, the sweet embrace of sleep taking him.

The next day Ryn had woken up early, it was only natural seen as how he’d slept during the day yesterday due to Serene Sleep’s effect on himself. In around half an hour his first lesson for Wilderness Survival would begin, though from what he’d seen it was quite the unpopular course, not many wanted to take it over their practical combat lessons. Ryn would have been taking those lessons too, had it not been for Aspirant Claudia’s timely intervention. However why had she only intervened in Ryn’s case? Surely there must have been many others of a similar situation to himself, so why did only he receive such special treatment? Not wanting to overthink so much in the morning, Ryn entered the classroom for his Wilderness Survival lesson. A small amphitheatre like lecture hall stretched out in front of him. The rows of seats were slowly ascending, a path of stairs running across both ends and the middle.

“You must be Mr. Sylzar. A pleasure to meet you boy it truly is!”

Ryn was met with a loud overly cheery voice, he turned his vision to the source of the sound to see an older man, roughly his height, smiling at him. His face would shrivel up slightly when smiling giving him a seasoned look, the whites of his eyes maintained their youthful brightness, he seemed like a man who had plenty of experiences in life.

“Ah, yes I am.”

Gesturing towards the seats, Ryn wondered where he should sit, if he should sit?

The man quickly spoke up again, moving closer towards Ryn whilst outstretching his arms.

“Sit wherever you’d like dear boy, after all what matters not is your seat but what you learn when sat in it.”

He gently patted his thinning grey hair as Ryn slowly moved to occupy the seat closest to the desk at the front of the room. There was nobody else here so it’d be awkward to sit at the far back or anywhere else besides the front. Left with no choice, Ryn took a seat on the front row, directly in front of the teacher’s desk.

“So Ryn, I’m Professor Ginya, it’s certainly a pleasure to be able to teach you. Not everyone has an eye for the finer things in life. Most kids your age will go waste their time in sword combat but not you my boy, not you. Anvil is a fascinating place, but to survive there you must make use of your environment.”

Professor Ginya stopped, he seemed to have a superiority complex towards those who dismissed the value of his course in pursuit of combat.

‘Man, Tobi should honestly debate Teacher Ginya, that would be a sight to see.’

Ryn pictured the usually cheery student and teacher both dead serious, arguing over the practicality of one another’s course, which is of more importance.

Ryn saw the board behind Teacher Ginya, it looked like a specification of sorts, the topics he’d be studying listed out. Ryn was about to read through it however Professor Ginya spoke up again, cutting off Ryn’s chain of thought.

“My boy, in this one month I will transform you into a force of nature. Anvil will think twice before attempting to take your life.”

Professor Ginya shot him a toothy grin. Ryn didn’t particularly mind the over zealousness of Teacher Ginya, in fact he found it rather refreshing, a breath of fresh air from all the chaos ensuing in his mind.

Looking at the cheery old man then the empty room around him, Ryn felt a tinge of sympathy developing within his heart. How could such an enthusiastic teacher not have anyone to share his thoughts with, his ideas with?

Matching Professor Ginya’s smile, Ryn spoke up, showing his determination.

“I’m ready sir, teach me as much as you can this month.”