“Faein’s thread,” Norren cursed. “Those bastards have already made their move.”

  “Did they go challenge us last night itself?” Zain grumbled. “Are they trying to catch us off guard?”

  “Even if they did challenge us last night… How did the council approve of their application so quickly?” Ralph added. “Were they not supposed to take a week?”

  “They can withhold applications for a week,” Karl said. “But it was never said that they cannot approve the application as soon as it goes to them.”

  “…Are they not even pretending to check the grudges filed in the applications?” Ralph mumbled.

  “Why should they pretend? And more importantly, who should they pretend to?”

  “…The city?”

  “They already control the city.”

  “Then why do they not just kick us out of city?”

  “There must be some reasons that we do not know of…”

  “How many people do you think challenged us to the Trial?”

  “Probably not many, I guess,” Karl said. “More than a hundred, that is for sure. But not many people should have had the time to challenge us yet.”

  “…It does not matter. There is still some time before our Trial begins. The rest will probably challenge us in that time.”

  “The council should not… Forget it.”

  “…Do they really take us as pushovers?”

  “We are though. They can do whatever they want, and we will still have to follow their rules. Does that not make us pushovers?”

  “…Somebody, please shut him up.”

  “Alright, everyone,” Alnea said, raising his voice to draw everyone’s attention to himself. “Let’s stop panicking. What has already happened cannot be changed. We can only try our best to meet the future. Take a deep breath, and calm your Heart.”

  “I want to calm my Heart too,” Ralph said. “But whenever I think of the Final Trial…”

  “Then do not think of it. Leave the thinking to the rest of us. You just calm down, and try to control your nerves,” Alnea said, before turning towards the rest of the Star Seekers. “The same goes for everyone else. Those who think that they cannot handle the pressure, the just stop thinking, and do what the rest of us tell you to. Just do not let your emotions overwhelm you.”

  Pausing for a few moments to let his words sink in, he said, “Has everyone calmed down? Good. Then let us discuss what we should do next.”

  “…Do we still have an option?” Fran said, clenching the Token Alnea had given him earlier.

  “Of course, we do,” Alnea said. “Although we have been notified of the Trial, we still have a day to report to the Blood Hall. Even after we report to the Blood Hall, it should still take the city a few days to decide when to host our Final Trial. That gives us enough time to do quite a few things, and complete our preparations.”

  “…Then when should we go to the Blood Hall?”

  “Let’s get everyone’s opinion,” Alnea said. “Do you want to go to the Blood Hall now, or do you want to delay it as much as possible?”

  “…Will it make any difference?”

  “…Not much, I guess. At least not to us. Though, there is a chance that if we delay reporting to the Blood Hall, it will give more time to other people to react, which might lead to an increase in the number of people we would have to face in the Final Trial, the increase would not be to an extent that it would prove decisive. As for the Trial itself… The city will decide when to schedule our Trial depending on its own mood. Probably when it thinks that it has gathered enough people to take us out in the Final Trial.”

  “So, whether we report early or late, it would not make any difference?”

  “I would not say that it would not make any difference. You still have to go to the Blood Hall to collect your share of memory crystals. And the sooner you collect your share, the more familiar you will be with the new rules of the city, including the rules of the Final Trial,” Alnea said, before turning towards Karl.

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  “You were asking for a list of all the different kinds of Trials we can expect in the Final Trial, right? You can get the list when use the memory crystal. And so will everyone else. That will make it much easier for us to discuss our plans.”

  “…But what does collecting our share of memory crystals has to do with reporting to the Final Trial?” Ralph said. “They have different counters for both, right? We can just go collect our share of memory crystals, and then go report for the Final Trial later.”

  “That is not how things work,” Aren said, fiddling with the Token in his hands. “Once we go to the Blood Hall, we will have to report for the Final Trial, or it will leave a mark on our Hearts.”

  “What mark?”

  “The mark of cowardice.”

  “…We are not cowards.”

  “So, we must report for the Final Trial once we enter the Blood Hall.”

  “…This is so confusing,” Norren mumbled, scratching his head, before giving up thinking altogether, and turned towards Alnea. “Just tell us what we are going to do next.”

  “…Let’s head to the Blood Hall. The sooner everyone knows all the rules, the better we would be able to plan our next move.”

  “Good. Then let us go to the Blood Hall.”

  And they did, walking together in a group. They were not alone though. After the message they saw last night, the entire city was flooded with Wanderers. Literally. There were so many Wanderers on the streets, that the Star Seekers had to weave their way through the crowd in pairs. Though that in itself was a rare sight. Wanderers standing so close to each other on the streets.

  There had always been a trust issue between Wanderers living in the Lost City. Even with the city’s strict regulations of its laws, they still did not dare to stand too close to each other. After all, there were always ways to bypass the city’s rules. But that was in the past. With the new rules in place, no one would dare to fool the city. Naturally, no one was afraid of being harmed by other Wanderers on the streets either.

  Thus, was formed the rare sight of tens of thousands of Wanderers out on the streets, laughing and chatting with each other, with no fear of being backstabbed right in the very next moment. They still twitched from time to time, and reacted a bit stiffly to people coming too close to them for their comfort, but they were adapting, getting better with each passing moment.

  It was not just the other Wanderers who were adapting to the changes in the city though. The Star Seekers were the same. Especially Alnea. Loud, incorrigible noises, riding the wind to come to his ears, the frequent brushing against his shoulders, and the chaotic hustle bustle around him… For the first time since he had come to the Lost City, he felt that he had truly come to a city, and not just some training camp of Wanderers. On second thought, the Lost City was indeed a training camp. Just not of the typical kind…

  Subduing his thoughts into the depths of his Heart, Alnea walked into the Blood Hall, and led them to receive their share of memory crystals.

  “We meet again, Wanderer Martha.”

  “…What are you here for?”

  “You know what I am here for,” Alnea said, pointing to his teammates with a smile. “They need their share of memory crystals.”

  “Tsk. Give me your Blood Cards,” Martha said, and handled their request as soon as she could, as if she was afraid of getting infected by him if she did not act fast enough. “Here. Now, get lost, and stop disturbing me.”

  “…Thank you for your hard work, Wanderer Martha,” Alnea said, before turning around and leading his team towards the counter of the Final Trial.

  “And where do you think you are going?” Martha said, calling out to stop Alnea, the moment she saw where he was going. “A hairless little brat like you… Do you want to challenge the Final Trial on the day it is announced? Are you so confident in your strength? Even if you are confident, you should still exercise caution. Try to gather as much information as you can… Do you not even have the most basic qualities of Wanderers? Maybe you think you have lived long enough? Are you so eager to die?”

  “…It is not that I am eager to die, Wanderer Martha, but that some people just do not want me to live,” Alnea said, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. “I—Our team has been challenged to the Final Trial.”

  “…Already?”

  “What can I say, our team has been really popular recently.”

  “And they approved it?”

  “I am afraid, yes.”

  “…Those bastards… What are they doing? No, there is definitely something wrong here… Hey, Vania, cover for me. I need to go confirm something.”

  “…What are you talking about?” said the other red robed girl manning the counter with Wanderer Martha. “Do you not know the consequences of leaving your post?”

  “…This is important.”

  “…It’s alright, Wanderer Martha,” Alnea said, feeling a little confused by Martha’s unusual behaviour. “The city has already made its decision. It is not going to change it just because of a bunch of False Wanderers like us.”

  “Do you think that I am going to those bastards for you? Stop being so narcissistic. I do not know you well enough to risk everything for you. I just do not want to see those bastards having a good time.”

  “…Then I wish that you may have the blessings of Goddess Ilea,” Alnea said, before turning around, and leading his team away.

  “…I did not think that a day would come, when I would see someone calling our Captain narcissistic.”

  “Why? Are you jealously that our Captain stole your only defining characteristic?”

  “What do you mean by my only defining characteristic? I still have many other defining characteristics.”

  “Like?”

  “My talent and strength.”

  “…See, this is what I mean.”

  “I see. So, you also agree that my talent is my defining characteristic,” Zain said, sifting his hand through his hair, as he let out a sigh. “It is so hard being a talented Wanderer these days.”

  “…We are already here, so let’s stop embarrassing each other for now,” Alnea said to Zain and Karl, as they reached the counter of the Final Trial. A wooden table, just like the rest of the counters in the Blood Hall. But that was where all the similarities between the counters ended.