“Lara, did you see that? That was incredible! When did he even make the second cut? I couldn’t see it.”

  “I know! I know! I know! Do you think we’ll be able to do that after graduating? I didn’t see it either!”

  “Probably right? No wait, we’ll be even better! We’re going to be the greatest knights ever! We practiced, remember?!”

  Instead of the happy look he expected, Lara went quiet.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  Lara shook her head, but she still looked worried. He moved closer and rubbed her back in little circles; it always helped to calm her down.

  “Felix, about what Grammie said about our paths? What if I can’t be a knight and we have to split up?”

  The idea twisted his stomach into knots. If she really couldn’t be a knight, then forming a party would be hard, at least at the start. He’d never been told any details, but from what he managed to piece together from stories he’d heard over the years, mages and knights trained differently.

  If only he became a knight, then they wouldn’t be able to train together after awakening. He tried his best to squash the feeling of unease and focus on the positives. He wouldn’t accept the idea that their dreams could just turn to ash before they even tried.

  “Lara, Grandma only said we have to walk our own path and not Claire’s. Of course, we’ll both be knights. Claire is a knight, and she trained us. How many people can say they got real training from a knight before going on their journey? Plus, your dad is a knight. It runs in your family! You’ll definitely become a knight, just watch!”

  Thinking that that should do the trick, he gave Lara a confident smile and a thumbs up. Lara still looked worried, but he wasn’t sure how to comfort her anymore. It wouldn’t be long at least, they were almost at the crossroad, once they set off on their journey, she’d see.

  Thinking of all the training they’d put in, he’d probably be the first to pass the trial. Well, he hated to admit it, but Lara would probably be first, and he’d be in a close second.

  ‘I wonder if we will get a trophy or something for finishing first.’

  Alexander didn’t give him long to enjoy his thoughts of battling vicious creatures before claiming his trophy on a stage.

  “Your time is up, Miss Fèng. Please first show your juniors what happens if a mage doesn't have time to prepare.”

  Felix looked over to see that small streams spiraled around the seated figure of Huá Fèng. The book in her lap glowed blue, casting a light on her face that made it look like she was underwater.

  After Alexander’s request, she opened her eyes, and the rivulets of water around her crashed into the open book, disappearing inside.

  As soon as she was on her feet, she started to focus. She stretched her hand out in front of her. A little vortex formed in her palm, and water slowly gathered into a large ball. The water in the ball churned furiously, making the ball look like a frothing river.

  When the ball was nearly the size of Huá Fèng, it shot out towards the second boulder. It crashed into the boulder with a deafening sound as the boulder shot out, propelled by her attack.

  Alexander had to step in and stop the rock from blasting into the gathered ferries. The attack certainly looked impressive, but once the rock was back into position, Felix could see that it hadn’t done any damage to it.

  While impressed oohs and aahs sounded around him, Felix remained unimpressed. To him, the beautiful sword dance was far more impressive.

  Not to mention it actually did damage. This attack looked impressive, but it was clearly useless. Besides, with how long it took her to charge the attack, the knight could have sliced apart a dozen boulders in the time it took her to make a single one a little wet.

  “How in the lost souls could Grandma have the nerve to claim that wizards are better than knights? That was so lame!”

  He’d barely managed to get the sentence out before Lara’s elbow sent a sharp pain into his side. The moment before he bent over to grab his side it almost looked like Huá Fèng was glaring at him.

  Fortunately, he was too far away. Besides, there was no way she could hear him across the void of space, so he put the thought out of his mind.

  “And now please show them what a prepared mage can do.” Alexander’s voice drew their attention back to the demonstration.

  This time, Huá Fèng opened her tome. After getting a final nod of confirmation from the overseer, she raised her hand towards the boulder. In an instant, a massive torrent of water shot out of the book. Once freed, it split into countless columns of water that bent and twisted, crashing into the boulder from every angle simultaneously.

  The carriage-sized rock was instantly blasted apart. Adofo’s boulder was split into four clean pieces; Huá Fèng’s was so completely crushed that only fist-sized pieces remained.

  Felix was utterly shocked. He kept looking at the crushed boulder, then the harmless-looking girl, then the boulder again. He couldn’t believe the damage she caused. Which was why he felt a cold shiver creep from his tailbone all the way to the top of his neck when he looked at Huá Fèng again.

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  The girl gave him a smug smile, making it very clear that she had, in fact, heard him earlier.

  Lara was mercifully too distracted to notice Felix quietly freaking out next to her, because if she figured out that he’d been heard, she’d probably find a way to make him apologise for his careless comment.

  Suddenly, he remembered his grandmother’s ability to bust Lara and him every time they were about to get up to no good. Was super hearing a wizard ability or something?

  After thinking about it for a while, he frowned. The scene of his grandmother taking her stroll played through his head once again, as it had so many times since his birthday. Back then, she completely transformed when she came into contact with mana, and the air around her warped.

  It was like she was the very embodiment of fire. So how is it that during this demonstration, Huá Fèng remained the same?

  Felix didn’t have an answer, well, he did have one, but he didn’t like it.

  “Lara, if she could do that, then… what do you think Grandma could do?” Lara was quiet, Felix was starting to wonder if she’d heard him when she finally spoke up.

  “I think I’m going to have to write a letter to apologise for sending Grammie our parents’ way.” Felix’s thoughts drifted to the dirty cup he left in his room. He didn’t have to send a letter to say sorry for something so small, did he?

  “Let me know when you do, I have to send one as well.” Better safe than sorry, he hadn’t forgotten giant flaming Grandma. For the first time, he thought that the rule banning mana on homeworlds might not be so bad after all.

  Alexander tried to remind everyone about the preparation time Huá Fèng needed to cast her spell, but a few words couldn’t wash away the sight of the boulder being utterly devastated.

  Felix wasn’t about to change his mind about becoming a knight because of one little performance. His Grandma had tried for years to convince him that wizards were just as cool as knights. One crushed rock wasn’t about to change years of stubborn resolve, but he felt a little better about their prospects of becoming explorers, even if Lara couldn’t become a knight.

  Felix was pretty sure that he would become the greatest knight the Alliance had ever seen as long as he tried his hardest and didn’t give up. But the road would be a lonely one without his best friend by his side. Even if she couldn’t be a knight, he’d help her become the greatest mage.

  He nodded to himself. That didn’t sound so bad, the greatest mage and the greatest knight forming a team together.

  Felix allowed his thoughts to wander. While Alexander started giving them some inspirational speech about being Travellers, Felix imagined their future adventures.

  He didn’t want to be a knight for fame or power. Sure, those things were nice, but they weren’t what he really wanted. No, Felix wanted to be an explorer. One of the heroes who set off into lands unknown to find treasure and adventure. He wanted to discover bizarre planets and creatures, to save a few princesses. Most of all, he wanted to be the hero of his own book one day.

  That’s why his heart was set on being a knight. Everyone knew martial artists made the best explorers, pugilists, fencers, and monks. They all had their champions, but none of them were quite like knights.

  In every book he’d ever read, knights were the heroes, the ones who went on the hardest missions and fought the toughest battles. When the alliance called on the Scattered stars to send troops, knights led the army. When a diplomat needed to venture somewhere dangerous, knights would stand guard.

  Since the time when the mad gods fell and the first Travellers began their journeys, knights have been the vanguard of humanity.

  Lara might think knights are cool because she wants to be like Claire, but Felix was different. He thought Claire was cool because she was a knight. Well, that’s not entirely true. Claire was cool because she was Claire, and because she’s a knight.

  A nudge in his side stopped his thoughts from wandering any farther. She gave him a smile that said she knew perfectly well he was daydreaming again. Only a nudge of her head in the direction of Alexander brought him back to reality. Felix realised that the boring speech was coming to a close.

  Fortunately, the overseer seemed to have known that no one would be in the mood for a long speech, so he’d kept it short. He just wished them luck and spent a bit more time trying to convince them to become Travelers before sending them on their way. With the festival officially ending, it was time to disembark.

  As they left the boat, Felix remembered his Grandmother’s words, not everyone getting off these boats would return. His eyes wandered over James, and he remembered his little brother’s tears before they left.

  He saw Eugene being teased by his friends and wondered how he’d react if they didn’t make it. His eyes briefly flitted to Lara, but the thought of her not coming back had his stomach turning so violently that he was forced to turn his head and try to think of anything else.

  He’d be there for her, he’d make sure she made it back.

  After getting off the ferry, everyone was handed a smooth and perfectly rectangular white stone. Without any explanation of what the item was, they were simply told to hold on to it and sent to their groups.

  Felix was relieved when he saw Lara joining his group. Sure, she’d told him that Grandma had pulled some strings, but that didn’t stop him from being nervous. Knowing they were going to the same crossroad was a huge relief.

  Their group kept growing as more people joined it. Felix kept waiting for more people he knew to join the group, and eventually one did. When Felix saw Eugene walking their way, he desperately hoped he’d gotten lost.

  Unfortunately, that hope quickly shattered, and Felix was forced to watch him fumble his way to them so he could tell Lara how happy he was that the three of them were going to the same Crossroads.

  Felix could only curse his luck. Honestly, what were the odds that with an entire planet of people to choose from, he’d end up with Eugene?

  Clearly, he wasn’t as adept at hiding his annoyance as he thought because Lara shot him a glare when he greeted Eugene.

  When their group reached about twenty people, they were escorted to one of the portals. One final boring speech stood between them and their life at the Crossroads. Fortunately, this one was shorter. After being told how important it is to keep their identity tokens with them and being sworn to secrecy about which homeworld they came from, they were ready to go.

  He took one last look at the place he’s called home his entire life. He’d tried to focus on the excitement ahead of them, but it was hard. He couldn’t help but wonder when he’d see his home again.

  He was still focused on the sight of their planet in the sky above them when he felt another hand take his own. Looking to his side, he saw Lara looking up as well. She was biting her lip, trying her best to hold back tears.

  He squeezed her hand, and when she looked over, he gave her a reassuring smile.

  Finally, they turned back to the portal in front of them. The patient clerk had allowed everyone a moment to say goodbye. When Felix looked forward, he saw the lady trying to hide an amused smile. He noticed she was looking at Eugene. He hadn’t paid any attention to their homeworld and was instead staring at Felix and Lara holding hands while balling up his fists.

  Finding this amusing, Felix smirked and pulled Lara towards the portal before she could notice and try to let go. Lara was surprised at the sudden movement, but she smiled and went along with it.

  The two were the first to jump through the warped space of the portal and set off to their new future.