Afternoon, 3rd March

The test is still ongoing for Aria. She’s on her way to the Abandoned ruins, following Presley’s instruction to be there. Presley did mention it was just right beside… the graveyard. Who knew the instruction would be more unsettling, the combination between the Abandoned Ruins and a graveyard? It sounded as if people would die in the Ruins, and easily bring their corpses to the graveyard without a hassle. Is this really where Aria should be going? She wants to believe that Presley is joking, but it’s very unlikely for him to joke around since he used to be a Builder like her. When she glances at the entrance, she can sense the haunting vibe from the hollowing room. She believes it’s dangerous, or intriguing. The ruins can be filled with rich minerals, she could even experience quarry for the first time. But knowing that it’s ‘abandoned’, she had second thoughts about it. Aria couldn’t just stand there forever and expect the minerals to magically appear in front of her. She takes out her pickaxe from her sling bag and took a moment to be ready by easing her nervousness.

It’s been 10 minutes, she still hasn’t moved an inch from her spot and keeps on glaring at the entrance. She’s hopeless. Trapped in her overthinking world. She couldn’t bring herself to try and come in. Her legs wouldn’t budge and she gulps in nervousness, giving an expressionless face as if everything’s okay.

Meanwhile, a black man sees her from a distant. He looks curious, wondering why she’s standing there for a long period. When he turns his eyes to the Abandoned Ruins, he knew what was up. He approaches her. When he’s right beside her, most people would ask her what she’s doing. Instead, he stood there with her, patiently waiting until she’s done living in her world. After a moment of silence, Aria finally notices a presence and slowly turns her head around to find the black man right beside her.

His expression is composed, as his smile welcomes everyone. His brown eyes show it all with his coily hair in green, he has white face paint on his face, like an eye black design which represents battle or war. Not only does his face paint show valor in him, but his attire suits him to go for an adventure. A combination of black and white in his leather jacket, with his backpack accompanied with a crow’s gas mask. He wears combat boots along with his brown pants, hiding his hands in his pockets. The black man didn’t respond but gives Aria a calm glare and smile, but that didn’t change the fact that she was startled from his sudden appearance. She takes a leap back from him after her startle, she didn’t expect someone to be here as she didn’t intend on blocking his way.

“A-ah! I-I’m sorry, a-are you going to the Abandoned Ruins as well?? I-I didn’t mean to block your way.” apologizes Aria.

She takes a side step, allowing the black man to walk past her. Somehow, the black man didn’t move. He shakes his head and smiles at her, “It’s alright, girl. Ladies first.”

Aria was not expecting the black man’s formality. She appreciates the black man’s patience towards her behavior, but she would feel even better if he’d go in there first. Otherwise, she’ll have to face the worse. But she didn’t want to reject his offer, he already did that to her. She would feel bad if she just stood there like a coward, her overthinking continues as she couldn’t decide on what to do next.

The black man notices from Aria’s trouble. She doesn’t seem to have the courage to go in there as she assumes that danger lurks in there, he wasn’t too surprised. He knew most people would feel unsafe for going in there, especially for a newcomer.

“First time coming here?”

“H-huh? Y-yeah...?” Aria turns to the black man, surprised that he guessed it right at first.

But her face then quickly hides from him by looking away. She was embarrassed. Embarrassed about how she couldn’t go in as fear took over her. It’s just the Abandoned Ruins, how can a person like Aria would be afraid for entering a simple building? Anyone would go in, but somehow she couldn’t. At this rate, she might not be able to pass this test. Then everything would be a waste for her.

“It’s alright now, I heard you’re the new Builder.” The black man took out his hand from his pocket and lures it to introduce himself with a handshake, “Name’s Remington, it’s good to see new faces here.” Aria slowly glances at his hand, she was rather nervous but still reaches her hand to Remington to show politeness. “A-Aria, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

They both shook hands, exchanging their greetings with a warm smile. Remington doesn’t seem to be a bad person, it somehow calms her down from her anxiety. He doesn’t show much of a reaction aside from a serene look, like nothing ever surprised him or fazed him. He seemed nice, at least for now. Remington turned his eyes to the entrance of Abandon ruins, and smiles as he glances back at Aria.

“Well then, why don’t we head inside and I’ll show you some ropes about the Abandoned Ruins?” ”R-really?” Aria’s eyes beamed after hearing Remington’s offering, but her reaction changes for a short period. There’s probably a reason why he’s here, and she knows she’ll get in his way for being a dog on a leash. “Wait, no. It’s okay, I don’t want to trouble you.”

Remington doesn’t really mind helping her, he knew that Aria didn’t want to be a bother to him. But it’s his job to help a person in need, and he truly enjoys it. He pats Aria by the back gently, and walks his way to the entrance as he waves, gesturing her to come with him.

“Don’t worry about it, come on now.”

He stops by the entrance, waiting for Aria to approach. Aria looks unsure about coming with him, the entrance spooks her for a bit as danger awaits her there. But since Remington is already there, she didn’t want to keep him waiting. She doesn’t have to worry about being alone in there, she just needs a little courage to go in there. Aria was glad that Remington is a patient man, he didn’t rush or even force her to go in there. He’s a gentleman for waiting for her and understood her being nervous about coming in. She takes a deep breath, readying herself to face her anxiety and comes to Remington quickly. Finally, they both head inside to the Abandoned Ruins to start their quarrying.

-----

In the Abandoned Ruins, it’s hollow and dark as they venture in the halls. The path is rather long for the ruins, they had to go down. It seems new to Aria, as she sees many new things here. She knows well that they’re not in the mines yet, this place must a bunker room. A place where most people store their important equipment, or takes a break after their long work session? Seems like a locker room to her, which means that she can store some of her stuff and bring a pickaxe with her. When Aria’s done with storing them, she notices that Remington is preparing something at the compartment area. It looks like some sort of technology. Remington comes back to her with hands full of unfamiliar equipment that he had prepared for her. He hands them over for Aria to use them.

“Here, you might need these.”

“Hmm? What are these?” questioned Aria.

Aria notices that Remington had provided her two pieces of equipment, one of the pieces of equipment looked like goggles with a light beam on it, and the other one is a unique looking backpack. Aria first looks at the one with the goggles, Remington nods and answers her curiosity,

“This one is called ‘Relic Detector’, it’s very useful when it comes to huntin’ relics. Let’s say it’ll be like a metal detector. It’ll be a lot easier to mine for some resources when you have these. Some relics are lost fragments while other parts can be useful for crafting materials.”

Aria nods, understanding his explanation. She’s curious with the relic detector, she decides to wear it and activates it to see if it works. Sadly she couldn’t find any relics around.

“You won’t find anythin’ here, girl. It’ll only work once we’re down there” chuckled Remington.

Aria was slightly embarrassed with her overexcitement, but she knew Remington was a bit entertained by it. She doesn’t feel too bad about it. “I-is that so?.” Changing the subject, Aria twirls around to show him the next equipment for questioning.

“What about this one then?”

When Remington saw the unique bag behind her back, he smiles and approaches to the vault without answering her question.

“Showing you would be more interesting than explainin’, come on now girl.”

Aria was rather clueless with his words. Perhaps it’s a bit too complicated to explain this one? Well, it does look very advanced, it’s really heavy for her to wear it too. It’s made out of metal, and there’s also some sort of a hole in between the bag. It looks as if it has a function for something. Either way, Remington is waiting for Aria. She decides to leave that explanation to Remington and head to the vault-like elevator.

When both of them are in the elevator together, Remington demonstrates a few instructions on how to use the elevator. He first shuts the vault door tightly, then he sets the coordinates to the designated level with the console. Once everything is all set, the elevator starts to descend, reaching to that designated destination. It was rather confusing at first, but Aria manages to understand it as watching him do it shows the full picture of instruction. The elevators’ descent is slow, so it may take a while for them to reach there. To pass the time, Remington decides to tell Aria more about their destination.

“Perhaps this is the perfect time for me to share some stories about the ruins.” Aria's eyes widened, spooked from Remington’s idea of telling stories. She has a thought that Remington might tell a few facts about monsters down there. Now she’s worried. She doesn’t have any experience with combat or weapons to prepare for battle. And Remington is calm with that??

“A-a monster fact?” mumbles Aria. Remington glares at her funny, he places his hand on his chin and grins,

“Hmm, yes. There are a lot of creatures roaming around Portia sometimes” How can Remington say something like that in a cool matter?? “But I’m sure they can prevent that. For now, Just a little education about this place, yeah?”

Aria’s eyes wouldn’t blink, not only is Remington an easy going person, but he’s being way too relaxed with the danger part. Aria had one thing in her mind that she hope that Remington would talk about,

C-can he at least explain the part about the creatures roaming around Portia?

She was unsettled about that part. She could ask him that. But she doesn’t want to interrupt him and probably doesn’t want to worry him with her insecurities. Instead, Aria stands there quietly and continues to listen.

“Did you know that all the ruins in the Alliance of Free Cities are regulated by the Civil Corps? It contains many resources and relics from the Age of Darkness, that includes ancient weapons and lost world fragments.”

Aria didn’t know that fact. It fascinates her. She never knew that the ruins are controlled by the Civil Corps. Having these types of equipment, it must’ve belonged to the Civil Corps too. Guess that means Aria can only use them when she’s in the ruins. The one subject that catches Aria’s attention is the Age of Darkness, she heard a few history lessons about it but never understood the full details. But hearing about the phrase ‘darkness’, it doesn’t sound friendly to her. And living under the ruins, there might be creatures down there too.

“The Age of Darkness? E-even creatures and AIs lie beneath the ruins?”

“They used to, but the Civil Corps took care of it regardless. However, the Civil Corps will have to hand the ancient weapons over to the church for disposal. There’s no need to worry about it.” smiles Remington.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Aria is amazed by how Remington has knowledge related to Civil Corps. Not only the Civil Corps but the ruins as well. He knows all the types of equipment, relics, and the layout of the ruins. Does he come here every day? Is he an enthusiast when it comes to hunting relics? Perhaps he’s a teacher, gaining knowledge here. Aria’s mind is filled with curiosity about Remington, it would be easier for her to ask him about it. Instead, she got lost in her thoughts as her social skills wouldn’t allow it. Remington is somehow mysterious for Aria, but in reality, he’s giving her a lot of hints about him. Rather than him giving out an answer, he decided to let her mind surprise her.

After a long descent, the elevator stops. That must be the signal for our reached destination. Remington grabs the door handle and rotates it clockwise. When the vault is open, he pushes the door with force to show Aria the mines. Aria looks shocked. Her eyes zoomed from afar, to see that there’s the ledge by the end of the cliff. Aria seems nervous, unsure if this is the right floor. When she turns to him, he set his foot out from the elevator as Remington knows that he’s right with the coordinates. She gulped, and slowly leaves the elevator with him. As Aria stares into the depths of the unknown, Remington notices from Aria’s vision of fear. He has an idea to cheer her up,

“Hey Aria, remember the bag that you mentioned?” Aria had forgotten about it, she’s glad that Remington recalled it. She nods, curious with the answer. “Wanna see something cool?” questions Remington eagerly. Aria looks clueless with Remington’s question, but he seems excited about asking it. She nods regardless. She doesn’t mind it as long as he enjoys what he’s doing.

Aria’s eyes are wide, stunned with Remington’s action. She was supposed to be fascinated with Remington’s landing, but her mind is just filled with worries towards him after the fall. When she looks at him, he doesn’t seem to be injured at all. In fact, he looks fine. “R-Remington! Are you hurt??” exclaimed Aria. Remington smiles. He’s happy that she’s worried for him, but a bit baffled that she didn’t see his stunt. He then points at the equipment on his back and shouts from below

“Don’t worry, Aria! These jetpacks are useful in this situation.” Aria is staggered, she turns her eyes to the jetpack on her back. Hearing a word jetpack somehow surprises her. She never thought that she had a jetpack with her, or even use them in person. But to think that Remington is allowing her to use these, it’s out of the question. Worse, she missed the whole tutorial from Remington with the jetpack. “Come one, girl. Jump!” “W-what?! B-but--” Aria stutters, as her eyes are in fear when she looks down. She doesn’t want to risk falling. She knew something bad would happen to her, it would cause Remington more work for him to take care of her troubles. Even if he doesn’t want to take care of her, maybe he’ll just be disappointed in her and just leave her like that. Her mind couldn’t let her face the challenge. She has a jetpack with her, so why is she still hesitating?

“It’s okay, I promise you that you’ll be safe!” Dwelling in her mind had snapped her, Aria hears a shout from Remington. He has his support on her, making sure that Aria would make it down here. “Trust me, I’ll make sure to catch you if things gets worse.” Aria’s eyes beamed on Remington. She can sense Remington’s trust in her. He doesn’t seem like he’ll go anywhere until Aria jumps, he believes that she can land safely. With the jetpack that she has, there’s a guarantee that she’ll be okay. But does she even know how to control it?

Aria turns to Remington for a moment. His eyes are on Aria’s, ensuring her safe landing. He has faith in her, and Aria can’t disappoint him by being a coward. For the sake of the test, and Remington’s patience, she’ll have to have to jump no matter the situation. She’ll hate herself for this, but she doesn’t have a choice. She takes a moment to breathe, clearing her mind to compose herself. Finally, she closes her eyes, walks off the ledge of the cliff slowly and falls down.

She can feel the breeze as she falls. Her eyes are tightly closed, preventing herself to see the worst. As she was falling, she notices something seems off with the drop. She’s not splatting onto a ground, the speed of the drop is rather slow. It’s almost as if she were floating right now. She doesn’t want to do this, but her curiosity forces her to. She slowly opens her eyes. Her eyes beamed with astonishment, to see her descending slowly from the fall. She slowly twirls around to discover that the jetpack is doing the work, like it’s controlling on its own. She’s fascinated with how the jetpack has an autopilot system. When she moves around, the jetpack follows her movement as well. Her eyes are beam wondrously, then she turns to Remington. He gives her a thumbs up, smiling like a proud father, who’s watching his child riding a bike successfully.

Aria finally touches the ground after a great experience with the jetpack. Remington is impressed with Aria’s first jetpack experience,“There ya go, nice and safe. Cool, isn’t it?” Aria nods gently. Her heart couldn’t stop pounding from the thrill of falling, her hands couldn’t stop shaking. But she tries to hide it from Remington. Instead, she shows him with fascination and sparks in her eyes. Remington is aware of her shaking, but he shows a warm expression to her. Everything is all set. Remington goes on as he waves, gesturing Aria to follow him. She follows him from behind as she looks around the surroundings of the mines. So many minerals that Aria is discovering. The layout of the ruins are rather spacious. So spacious that Aria starts to roam around the ruins, while Remington is looking for a good spot to mine. It takes a while, but Remington finally finds it.

“Aria, over here!” Aria hears Remington loud and clear, and immediately heads towards him. The spot that Remington found is wealthy with minerals. Aria can believe his instinct as he’s familiar with the ruins before. Even the Relic Detector doesn’t lie, Aria wears it and she can already detect many minerals beneath the ground. While Remington takes out his pickaxe from the back of the belt, he turns to Aria and asks,

“Have you ever mined ore before?” Aria shakes her head, she never mined anything in her whole life. Not just mining, but any heavy activities in her whole life. She’s eager to use a pickaxe. She made her own after all, so now she can put up the test here. She begins by leaning the pickaxe from the back to gain her strength, and hits the ground as hard as she can. It made a small crack. No minerals are flying anywhere, just a small crack. A few more wallops and she’ll get the minerals. Remington is slightly impressed, but he stops her for a moment.

“That’s good, but it needs more force to it.” Remington decides to show Aria how it’s done. He stands in a steady position, raises his pickaxe as high as possible, and wallops it down rapidly to the ground. His results are different than Arias. This time his strength causes to fracture a big gap as stones fly off with iron ores. Aria manages to block the flying ones with her pickaxe to prevent them from getting hit. Her eyes widen, impressed with Remington’s strength and his mining skills.

“That’s how you mine properly, you might lack the strength along with your positioning.” “A-ah, is that so? Guess I was a bit rusty…” Aria is flustered. The fact that she made a minor mistake, it made her ashamed of herself. Remington wasn’t the lecturing type, he shook his head as he shows no worries, “Hey now, there’s always room for improvement, yeah?” Aria glances at Remington, her eyes beam with relief. She’s worried that Remington might be mad for not keeping it up. But to know that he’s okay with it, it made her feel better. She nods gently, insisting Remington to teach her more basics about quarrying. And so, they spend most of their time quarrying.

As Remington teaches Aria about quarrying, she’s quick to learn from her full concentration. The more she understands it, the higher the performance she’s gaining for her strength. Her wallop skills just changed from a small crack to a wide cracking hole. As a result, she receives an amount of not only stones, but new minerals like iron and tin ore. Remington had to watch her from a distance while mining. But seeing her improving drastically, it’s surprisingly impressed him. He doesn’t have to worry about looking out for her.

“That’s it girl, you’re a quick learner!” Hearing Remington’s cheer made her feel delighted. She wanted to turn to him and thank him, but her smile appeared. She doesn’t want to show it as she’s embarrassed. Instead, she nods and lowers her head to hide it. However, Remington notices it. He couldn’t do much but to smile and shake his head, hoping that she’ll do better.

-----

Hours had passed, both of them have spent their whole time quarrying. Due to Aria’s dedication and her excitement in quarrying, she was digging too deep in the mines. But knowing that she already had enough amount of materials, she decided to stop for today. She doesn’t have to worry about being down here, thanks to the jetpack, she can fly up back to the surface of the mines on her own. When she's done, she notices that Remington was already at the vault waiting for her. She wasn’t expecting Remington to wait for her, she’s been down there for a long time. But knowing that he’s been there patiently waiting, she had to bow down and apologize. He wasn’t mad, just glad that she’s having fun experiencing for the first time. Without wasting time, they both finally left the ruins together.

-----

Outside of the ruins, they’re out from their hard work of quarrying. Aria is carrying a lot of ores on her hands, along with some stones stored in her sling bag. Remington offered her help but she declined it as Remington has helped her enough.

“So Aria, how’s your experience in the ruins?” asked Remington. Aria turns to him quietly. She doesn’t really know how to answer that. It’s simple. But somehow she thinks hard about it. Aria twiddles her finger, trying her best to give him some words as her face turns away from his.

“Well...to be honest, I was actually scared. I thought that there might be monsters there so I was hesitant to get in.” She pauses for a moment. She was a bit nervous about admitting her nervousness, but she doesn’t just stop there. But looking at Remington, she knows that he’s not the type of person who wants a quality answer. “But I was wrong, you showed me around and I got to have my first experience in quarrying. I...thank you for that.” Aria lowers her head, hiding her smile from him. Remington’s eyes are sharp, she is good at hiding her face but he can slightly see it. He would point it out, but instead, he nods gently and roams his eyes elsewhere.

“Anytime, girl. And don’t worry about the danger there, we made sure that this place is safe enough for everyone to explore.”

“You.. made sure? Sorry to ask but...what do you mean by that?” questioned Aria. Remington smiles. As expected from him, he didn’t answer her question. He knew Aria could figure it out despite that he has given her a lot of hints.

Aria is a bit irritated at Remington for not telling her, but perhaps he has his reasons for it. However, Aria did have some clue about the recent activities. She went into her zen world to think deep. He knows everything about the ruins, he has access to the relic equipment and knows how to use them, and he can do vigorous moves. Just piece them all together and she’ll probably find an answer. After a long deep thought, her eyes widened. She is shocked by the answer she found. Her head slowly turns to Remington. She doesn’t know how to react, unsure if she’s right about it.

“W-wait...are you..part of the Civil Corps??” stuttered Aria. Remington nods precisely, he’s happy that Aria figured it out. After all this time, Remington was part of the Civil Corps all this time? Aria looks surprised. It took her hours to figure it out that Remington is not just a person, but a prestige man who’s protecting Portia. She’s been misperceiving him. She didn’t mean to disrespect Remington’s high prestige. She immediately bows down, showing her formality towards him.

“I-it’s an honor to have a lesson from you, I’m sorry for taking your time to--” Remington stops her for a moment as he shakes his head, “ Ho-hold on there, girl. There’s no need for formality, I’m really happy to help you along with the lesson.” Knowing that Remington doesn’t feel comfortable about it, Aria feels embarrassed about it. She looks away from him, not wanting him to see her flushed face. She wasn’t satisfied with thanking him. Since he’s the Civil Corps, she truly feels bad for not noticing it so soon. The only thing she can do is to show gratitude. “I-I’m sorry, but really I do appreciate your help and I’m thankful for that.”

Remington nods as he gives her a warm smile. Now that they both have settled with their task in the ruins, it’s time for them to part ways. When Aria was about to head back, Remington notices that Aria had switched her pickaxe from her sling bag to her axe. He had to stop her for a moment to give her some advice about logging. She’s glad to hear from him a few tips. Not only does he spare his last minute to explain it, but he wishes her good luck for her test. Then he left, off to his patrol job.

Aria is glad to meet this kind of person for helping as she’s never fond of spending time with strangers. She really does think that he’s a nice man, but somehow her mind couldn’t accept it. She knows that Civil Corps are part of the society to help people in need, but she doesn’t really want to keep relying on them. That thought has made her dwell in her head,

What if he’s only helping me because it’s his job? No way Remington would help me out of his kindness, maybe I’m just causing him too much trouble… N-no! It’s okay, I’ll finally leave him alone. I-I just need to get the logs by myself! It’s fine, I need to finish this test as soon as possible after all.

She brushes off her thoughts and decided to head back to the workshop to store all of the minerals that she gathered to prepare for the logging activity.

-----

Outside somewhere in Portia, Aria is chopping some trees for gathering. The technique seems almost familiar with mining. What shows the differences is their resources of course. The axe requires a good sharpness for the logs to cut loose. However, she can only cut the small ones like baby trees or saplings since this axe is not strong enough for cutting the huge ones. Well, it’s better than nothing. She does consider upgrading her tools if she has time to do so. For now, all she can ever think of is the test. Once she has cut all the remaining trees, she assembles the logs to make it easier for her to carry. Some can be placed in her sling bag while the remainings will be on her hands. That’s what she thought, until she realizes that she had too much of them. She couldn’t hold all of them at once, otherwise some of it might fall off from her hands. She could leave the rest here and come back, but she’s worried that too much time would be consumed or someone might snatch it… or maybe both. Perhaps she should’ve seen this coming. Aria remembers seeing a wooden cart somewhere in her workshop before. It’s very likely for her father to have it, but where would he store it?

While Aria went into her thoughts, a woman was having a nice stroll around. She was currently on her way, until she saw someone familiar to her. When she looks closely, she smiles and rushes her way to meet her. Without sensing the presence, a woman gives her a cheerful call on her name.

“Hiya, Aria!” “E-Emily??” Aria jumps from Emily’s sudden appearance, her startle causes her to drop one of the logs from her hands. Luckily, it was saved by Emily’s quick grasp before it hits the ground. Aria seems to be nervous as Emily holds onto it, she means no harm but Aria couldn’t help but ask her. “W-what brings you here? Or what are you doing here?” Emily giggles, not bothered with her questions too much and smiles. “ I was on my way to see my friends, but you seem to be in a pickle!.” “R-really? It’s okay, I’m fine. I just need to--” Aria was about make a run for it by walking away. But with the amount of the logs that she’s holding onto, her walking speed causes several of the logs to fall off from her hands. Seeing it dropping from her hands, Aria froze in disappointment. Not knowing why this was happening to her. As Aria is in her dejection, Emily approaches to her. She kneels down and helps Aria by picking up the logs. Aria is shocked by Emily’s kindness, she didn’t want her help as Aria was a bother to her. She kneels down as well and picks it up to help out.

“You sure gather them a lot, let me help you with that.” “N-no, it’s okay. Your friends are waiting for you, I don’t want you to be late because of me.” “Don’t worry, I insist! They’ll understand if I’m late.” Aria turns to Emily dazzled.

She’s puzzled with what Emily told her about her friends. She couldn’t understand how her friends are okay with her being late. They might be impatient and scold her, or worse. They’ll just leave her by the time she’s there. Aria couldn’t take that risk, she doesn’t want that to happen to Emily. Aria shakes her head. She stands up with the logs that she had picked up and tries to convince her to stop helping,

“No really, you’re on break and I don’t want you to waste it. I’ll be okay on my own.” Emily glares at Aria silently. Her eyes are away from her as she told Emily off. Emily can sense from her that Aria was trying to push her away. She wasn’t sure why Aria would do that, Emily believes that she really didn’t mean it. Thinking that Aria doesn’t need help, she questions whether she’s being too nosy around her or not. But it doesn’t upset her. She stands up and smiles. Aria was hoping that Emily would place all of the logs on her hand to hers and leaves her be. But she didn’t. She continues to carry it and walks on the sidewalk.

“Well your test is more important than my break. After all, you need to pass it by today right?” “W-wait, how did you--” “Come on, We’re bringing this to your workshop!”. Aria looks at Emily from behind. Puzzled, she doesn’t know how to respond or react at all towards Emily’s action. She wonders, what’s going on? Why would Emily want to help her? More importantly, how did she know about the test? Emily is already on the road, waiting for Aria. She can think about this later, she catches up to Emily and decided to walk back to the workshop.

-----

After a long walk, they’re both finally at the workshop. Aria was at her work table, sorting all of the materials in her chest while Emily is outside of the gate. Emily did offer Aria some help, but somehow Aria manages to convince her to stay there. It’s hard, but it worked regardless. She’s wondering why Emily is there. She already did the work for her, and yet she’s still there. Is there something that she needs? Aria didn’t want to keep her waiting, so she decides to arrange it quickly and comes to her. When Aria approaches her, Emily beams a smile for Aria. She looks delighted to see that Aria came back for her.

“Oh hey! Do you have enough wood for the test?” “Y-yes, Thank you...” “No problem, I’m glad to be a big help!” Aria turns her head away, avoiding her eye contact. She feels like a burden for asking for help. Even without asking, it doesn’t feel right somehow. Emily has been around since lunch and it’s almost working hour soon. And waiting for Aria just to check on her, she had wasted too much time already.

“Umm, Emily? Why are you helping me?” Emily looks puzzled, she answers with a common phrase like everyone else. “We’re neighbors! We help each other when we’re in trouble.” “...but I’ve wasted too much time on you. I don’t want your friends to leave you because of me…”

Aria’s hand holds onto each other. She grips tightly as she’s at fault for it. She didn’t mean for this to happen. If she had the wooden cart with her, Emily would’ve been there on time and spend most of it with her friends. Aria's guilt doesn’t last long. As she feels the soft pat on her shoulder. When she feels it, her head lifts up to see Emily’s lighten.

“It’s okay, Aria. I really do insist on helping you” Aria’s eyes gleam on Emily. She can feel the kindness towards Emily’s smile. “And don’t worry about my friends, they know that I’m busy gal. I think it’s worth my time to help my neighbor.” Aria still doesn’t understand how her friends allow her to be late. But knowing that Emily is happy with what she does, she forces a smile on her and nods gently. But she wasn’t satisfied with Emily helping her, she bows down to show her gratitude.

“T-thank you, Emily. I’ll repay you somehow.” “Hehe maybe someday, Aria.” giggles Emily.

When they’ve finally settle with their small talk, Emily decides to head to the Round Table to meet her friends. As she walks away, she turns her head and gives her a big wave goodbye. “I’ll be going now, good luck on the test!” And there she goes. Aria waves back gently, watching her leave. She’s glad that Emily finally went to her friends, hoping for the best that her friends would treat her kindly. When looking at her, she gets curious about Emily. Why is she being so nice to me? Clearly there must be the reason that a person would do such things, as if they desire something in return. Was it because Aria was too timid? Does she have a favor to request if she helps me? And most importantly, how did she know I have a Builder’s test? Questions remained unanswered in her mind as she digs deep in her thoughts. Then she shakes her head vigorously, snapping herself out of overthinking. She doesn’t have time to think about it now. It’s already 4pm. She only has a few hours left before the test ends or the Commerce Guild closes. She had forgotten about the deadline. In fact, did Presley ever mention a deadline?? She can’t panic right now, the clock is ticking. Aria immediately rush back inside to gather her materials and starts crafting as soon as possible.

Evening, 3rd March

Hours had passed since Aria started crafting. It’s a challenging item for her to prepare. It had to be made in 2 processes. She first needed to craft something that holds onto the item, which is just a stone stool. Could be used as decoration or furniture, but she can save that for later. Then to assemble the materials onto an Assembly Station. It takes time to assemble, as the materials are hard as stone. It’s heavy, but strong enough from breaking itself. Finally for the finishing touch, and that is burning the wood. That’s right, this item requires wood for fueling. It’s an important part of the items, you could say that it’s used for smelting. It’s risky. The handling is too hot for Aria to hold onto it. Her hands are burnt a bit, but she keeps on biting the bullet and continues on. After working carefully, she’s finally done it. She finally finishes crafting the required item for the test. All it’s left is for her to bring it to the Commerce Guild. Except, this item is huge and it’s heavy as a rock. Not even her hands or a sling bag would be enough to take it there. Thinking about this situation, she has the same problem with her recent logging. And she already knows the answer, all she needs is a wooden cart. She went around her workshop to find that cart. Luckily, it was hiding behind her house all this time. She’s delighted to find the cart, thanking her father in her heart for having this in his workshop. She brings it to the assembly station and carries it slowly to place it on the wooden cart. A perfect fit, and easy to bring it anywhere she goes. She can use this wooden cart for heavy gathering or even deliver. But that can be put to good use for later. Aria just needs to do one last inspection to ensure the quality and efficiency of the item is good. Once she’s satisfied, she’s ready to bring her items to the Commerce Guild. She’s nervous about handing this to Presley. This is the last test after all, and it cost her pain, sweat, and energy to make this one. Would Presley really approve this one? Will that flamboyant man witnesses Aria with the examination? What if Aria actually fails? Does that mean she’ll have no choice but to head back to Barnarock and face disappointment from her aunt… and her father? No, Aria has already come this far. She did whatever she could to work hard. She can’t afford to fail this test, she knows Presley is counting on Aria. Not only Presley, but her father is also watching her. Her… father, Aria’s hand starts shaking, she can feel the grudge by thinking about him. Her hands had held onto a grip handler of the wooden cart, stopping her hands from shaking. Aria doesn’t want to think about that. She may not know if she had done it right or wrong. But she’ll get that answer, and that is from Presley. Who will determine whether she really was meant to be a Builder here in Portia.

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In the Commerce Guild, it’s slow during the work period. As the working time is almost over, Presley is busy as usual with his paperwork on his desk while Antoine is cleaning up the counter to prepare the closure. Just when they’re about to finish, the door from the entrance opens. It catches both Antoine and Presley's attention from the sudden sound. Looking at what’s going on, Presley stands up from his seat. He looks astounded. Seeing not only Aria came in with her hand slightly injured from her crafting scheme, but the item that she had brought in. Antoine is speechless, he would react or say something. But he grins, deciding to let Presley do the judging. Presley approaches her with a smirk, as he pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, the lenses glinting ominously in the light.

“Ahh, I see you’ve finished your last assignment. This may take a while, so hang tight.” stated Presley.

It might not be simple for Aria to sit tight. She can feel the pressure from Presley’s inspection, he doesn’t seem to play around with examining it. His eyes are on to the item vigilantly, like a detective searching for clues. With a serious look on Presley’s expression, this is an intense moment for Aria to know her end results.