With the previous day being action-packed, Eli was a heavy sleeper. He could not feel the grass lightly grazing his legs, nor did he react to the wind delicately blowing his hair. And while he rolled around in his sleep, he did not move around enough to cause problems. On the other hand, Albert had been too excited about his newfound powers and could not stay asleep for long. In the previous four hours, he had woken up a total of seven times.

Sighing, he realized that he would not get more rest. The martial artist sat up and rubbed his eyes. Looking around, he found the sky had turned a lighter shade of blue; the sun was about to rise, and he would have to be up shortly anyway.

Albert stood up and stretched, ready to take on the rest of the day. Walking around for a few minutes, he helped his body wake up sufficiently enough. Glancing at his sleeping friends, Albert could not help but feel envious. Each would eventually wake up with a full night's sleep while he barely got any. As Albert walked closer to his friends, he found something loose close to Eli's chest. Moving in closer and not wanting to wake anybody up, the martial artist held his breath as he reached for the item.

Just before he touched the item, Eli rolled around more. Albert jerked his hand back, making sure not to come into contact with his friend. He was not aware Eli would not wake up so easily. When Eli stopped moving, Albert tried again. When his friend moved again—this time onto his stomach—Albert could have sworn the man was not asleep. Albert stood up and sighed. Scanning the area, he wondered if he could prepare a healthy breakfast for his team. He noticed a set of fruit-bearing trees of varying kinds not too far away.

Just before he walked over to them, he read Eli rolling again. As he looked at his friend, he noticed a stack of paper falling out of the Mienard's uniform. Swiftly picking them up and scanning through them, he understood they were the glyphs he had wanted to research. After walking a short distance away, he sat down and began sifting through the notes, trying to memorize as much as possible.

Albert danced in his seat as he researched every detail, from the glyphs' shapes to their uses. He began picturing how he would mimic the glyphs when creating them. While Albert found some to be convoluted, he believed he had a solution for each. He read each paper three times before confidently placing the notes into his pocket and walking towards the line of trees.

Once he arrived, Albert's stomach growled. "Surely I can spare some for myself," he muttered with a smile. Crossing his arms over one another, Albert drew loops in the air with both his arms, connecting them in the outermost spiral arm. As he pushed forward, each gauntlet generated gusts of wind. Aiming the gauntlets at the trees, Albert watched as some of the fruit flew away from him. As he picked up one of the nearby apples, he heard a quiet thud, followed by a louder growl.

The martial artist looked around in the direction of the growl and found a grey-furred hound barking at him. When the beast barked again, it lunged at Albert, who raised a gauntlet to block an oncoming bite. It latched onto his weapon, but he shook it off and kicked it away. Not wanting to use pure martial arts, Albert thought about what glyph he would take it out with, but his unfocused mind gave the hound another opportunity to try and attack him again.

When it tried headbutting the man, Albert narrowly dodged and thought to use Vertila. When his gauntlets glowed green, the martial artist swung his fists from the side. Upon colliding in front of his chest, a projectile launched from his gauntlets and toward the creature. Unable to react quickly enough, the shockwave knocked the hound into a nearby tree with a loud thud.

Instinctively, Albert glanced back to his friends, hoping none of them would wake up from the loud sound. When it became apparent they were all asleep, he walked over to the beast and searched for a pulse. When he did not find it, he reasoned it died after one strike. Disappointed by the lack of a challenge, Albert walked back to the tree. Though he figured the hound would be enough for his friends to eat, he wanted to prepare more for them.

Albert motioned a Bursor-shape in the air before punching close to the tree's base. Shattering the trunk, the tree began to fall. Concerned by the crashing sound it may make, Albert grabbed the falling tree before it could hit the ground. He gently lowered it to the floor. He ate a few berries before taking branches and vines from the tree.

Knowing any fire he made would have the potential to spread quickly, Albert looked around to find loose rocks. When it became apparent the only rocks were those in the Craglands, he rushed over to the biome and traced Repeiletus. Cupping his hands together and slamming them into the ground, large stones came out. Next, he drew Bursor to break the sharp rocks off.

Because he was not too far away, the minor tremor from his gauntlets found its way to the group. Though most of them managed to sleep through the shaking, Sarah slowly woke up. Drowsily rubbing her eyes, she tried to find the source. Noticing Albert carrying many large stones beside a fallen tree, she curiously stood up and trudged over to him.

"Albert?" she asked. The man's heart sank as he watched the tired alchemist walking in his direction. But he also could not complain much; he enjoyed having her company. "What are you doing up so early? The sun is not even out."

"I could not sleep. I wanted to prepare breakfast for when the team wakes up," he explained, pointing to the hound lying beside the fallen tree. "Would you like to help?"

Sarah smiled at the man and picked up some of the fallen fruit. "Of course," she said, yawning in the middle of the statement. When she started eating an apple, Albert could not help but chuckle. Albert dropped the stones by the tree. Using her feet, Sarah tried kicking and pushing the rocks into a circle shape. Then, she grabbed some twigs and leaves, placing them inside the circle.

Meanwhile, Albert had gone off to break down larger trees to peg them into the ground. When he returned, he grabbed Devon's sword and carved sharp spears at the end of a few logs, digging them into the terrain below. He punched them to make sure they were secure enough.

"We are almost done with the mission," he said excitedly. "In a few days, it will all be over. One way or another."

"Yes, yes we are," Sarah replied, still half awake.

"If we make it out of this—"

"When we make it," Sarah interjected, an energy boost from his lack of confidence waking her up.

"Of course. When we make it out, we can finally have more time for one another."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Sarah joked, a sly grin creeping across her face.

"Very funny, Sarah. But I am being serious!" he whined, walking up to her and placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I know," she sighed. "Before you say anything, let me speak my mind. We may be free from Ilkama, but I do not want to leave our friends. I want to grow with you, but I want to grow with them differently too. They are family."

Albert sighed with relief. His racing heart began to calm. "Then we are on the same page," he concluded. "I do not want to leave them either. It is as you said: they are family. And so are we, but in a different way."

"Really?" Sarah's eyes filled with stars as all her aspirations seemed to fall into place. Relaxed about the future, she only knew to react by hugging Albert, who hugged her back.

"Of course," he replied. The two stood there for a moment, swaying in the calm breeze before pulling away. Albert gently placed a hand on Sarah's cheek, saying, "Come on. We must prepare to eat. We have not eaten since before meeting Zhotan. The rest will surely wake up hungry soon."

Sarah nodded as the two went back to work. Albert dragged the beast and began tying its limbs to the remaining log. While Sarah struggled to start a fire, Albert used Devon's sword to skin the hound the best he could. Once the two finished their tasks, they worked together to place the log carrying the hound over the fire.

"You may need to spin the meat to evenly cook it," Sarah inferred, grabbing Devon's sword and carefully carving out a wooden crank and attaching it to the hound-carrying log.

Albert walked to the crank and slowly began spinning it. "This is why you are the brains of the team," he laughed. He extended his other harm to her, and she gladly accepted it. Sarah's heart filled with ecstasy; the moments she stole with Albert were rare. Life had become much more serious under Ilkama's rule. The two trained themselves to be unaffectionate in public. If word ever got to Ilkama that they cared for each other as much as they did, he could use them against one another. Sarah allowed herself to relax with him for once, leaning her head on his shoulder. She knew this feeling would return when they freed themselves—and the kingdom—from the tyranny.

As the two prepared breakfast, Devon was the first to smell the cooking meat. Though he was hungry, he noticed their intimacy and decided not to intervene. Laying there as though he were asleep, he understandingly allowed them to enjoy the moment. Sarah, glancing in his direction, noticed and mouthed, "Thank you" to the swordsman. Devon nodded and closed his eyes again.

As the minutes slowly passed by, the rest of the Bronze Foxes began smelling the mouth-watering hound. Slowly waking up, they watched as Albert stood by the campfire and Sarah quietly hummed a tune. Half awake and mesmerized by the smell, the guild slowly walked toward the duo. "How long have you been awake?" Charles muttered, noticing the care Albert and Sarah had put into the campfire.

"Long enough," Albert joked.

"He has been up since before the sun rose," Sarah explained.

Eli, more intrigued by the designs of everything, took a closer look at the creation. From the fallen logs to the strangely shaped stones, the Mienard quickly understood how Albert had made so much progress. "You have been training," Eli gasped. "But how did you know to—" he cut himself off when he saw the notes barely in Albert's pocket. "What the—"

"Please do not be mad," Albert quickly said, raising an arm above his head in surrender. "I could not sleep, so I thought about beginning training. I saw your notes and started reading them." By the time he started explaining, Eli had already stopped listening. He patted himself down just to make sure those were his notes.

When he realized his notes were missing from his uniform, Eli laughed, "I am not upset. I am just amused that you managed to take my notes without me noticing. It seems like I am a heavy sleeper." Eli walked up to his friend and lightly punched him in the shoulder. Albert joined in laughing before promptly returning the stack of papers. "How did it feel?"

"I love these powers!" Albert cheered, staring at his gauntlets. "I wish I could keep them forever. Perhaps we should have kept the Dragon Heart," he joked before explaining the glyphs he used to create the campfire. Devon stood in awe and jealousy of his teammate, who was more proficient with glyphs than he was. Despite having two other swordsmen—one of whom being a part of the most knowledgeable kingdom on glyphs—Devon felt inferior to Albert. As Eli and Albert went back and forth, Devon subconsciously gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"Did you try a chain?" asked Eli, matching Albert's energy.

"No, I did not get that opportunity."

"Would you like to? We could have a quick fight for you to try some tricks," Eli offered.

Albert's eyes lit up suddenly. Without skipping a beat, he replied, "Yes, please! But after we eat." As if on cue, Albert's stomach growled loudly. The group laughed as Eli's stomach grumbled as well. Albert looked at the hound and noticed it looked cooked enough. He smiled as he dragged it off the campfire.

When he dropped the log and hound, a loud thumping sound followed. Sarah took out a few small, clear bottles containing extra seasonings. Lightly applying them to the meat, a delicious aroma overloaded their noses again. Eli sighed in satisfaction. However, Charles stared at the beast, asking, "How do you expect us to eat that, though?"

"Step back," Eli said, unsheathing his sword.

"No! Let me do it," Devon begged to feel included in the glyph users. Eli was shocked to see his friend with a burst of energy. "It will let me practice the glyphs," he insisted. Eli nodded at his friend as he stepped back. Devon walked up to the hound and grip his sword tightly. Closing his eyes and relaxing his breath, he reassured himself this is what he wanted. What he needed. Though his hands were shaking, Devon drew Bursor on the sword and opened his eyes to see the blade glowing bright pink.

In swift emotions, the swordsman began slicing through the hound. Though the slices were uneven, they were very clean-cut. The chunks of hound meat were small enough to pick up and finish in only a few small bites. Devon began panting after the motion. Warmth filled his heart as a smile crept across his face. Satisfied by his work, he sheathed his sword and turned to his friends. "Breakfast is served."