I’ve fought mudcrabs more fearsome than you.

Loid stepped out of the Höllvania Central Mall into a world on fire. It was not actually burning, of course, but bright saffron light filled the narrow street outside the small door at the back of the warehouse. Loid looked up and his breath caught in his throat.

Trees!

He had seen trees before, of course. But other than the small specimens kept in pots and under glass by only the wealthiest Orokin houses, and the metallic, void-born, structures Albrecht had brought back from his excursions, Loid had never encountered any in the flesh—trees had been found to adapt poorly to any environment other than Earth, no matter how much effort or expense was poured into nurturing them, and most extraterrestrial colonization relied solely on fungi to fill their ecological niche.

The street was filled with trees.

Perhaps not filled—that would have been quite disruptive to any attempt at movement. But at regular intervals tall trunks stood sentry at the side of the road, and on their branches fluttered a hundred thousand leaves in brilliant gold and red hues.

A gust of wind, not biting but carrying a hint of colder weather to come, swept down between the tall brick facades, sending the leaves fluttering down from the branches and tumbling along the paving stones.

Without thinking, Loid reached out and caught one. It was larger across than his hand, and a brilliant orange fading to yellow at the edges. A delicate, fractal network of veins stretched over its surface.

“It is known as a Trøndelag Maple.” Loid startled at Albrecht’s voice at his elbow. “The trees,” Albrecht clarified at Loid’s puzzled look. “That is the colloquial name of the species. I have been unable to find any record of them in the archives.”

“A pity…” Loid turned the leaf over. A small brown beetle had been clinging to the underside. It took the opportunity to spread its elytra and take flight into the morning sunlight. It suddenly struck Loid that this was the first time he had ever truly visited Earth. He had been to Lua many times, of course, but Earth, with her scarred surface and irradiated atmosphere, was not a place one would generally visit unless one had a very compelling reason.

“It is not unlikely that the species evolved into something unrecognizable from the ancestral stock,” Albrecht said, his voice taking on a solicitous tone as it always did when he was trying to convince Loid of something he did not fully believe himself.

The signs of tension in Albrecht’s posture would have been invisible to anyone other than Loid: the way Albrecht’s expression was carefully neutral while watching Loid’s face, the set of his shoulders, and the way his feet were slightly too-wide apart.

It is important that I enjoy this city, this time, Loid thought. He is worried I won’t.

“It’s beautiful.” Loid gazed up again at the riot of color above their heads.

Albrecht held out his hand, and Loid handed over the leaf without a second thought. Albrecht pulled out his journal and carefully slid the leaf between its pages before pressing it closed. “We will have to put it through the decon chamber when we return, but it should not be damaged by the process.”

“A souvenir?”

“The ring does this?” Acelta touched the ring, felt the magic in it.

“Yeah! It’s Telekinesis.” Volanaro couldn't held back his big grin.

“You made a Telekinesis enchantment? I thought it was impossible.”

“Oh, it’s not easy I tell you. The ring itself can’t control the movement. I have to set it to constantly pull everything around it. That's why I need to seal it in that metal box.”

“Fascinating.” Acelta picked the ring up, inspecting its enchantment. Volanaro smiled. He didn't know he needed to hear that. Volanaro allowed himself be proud for a while, but only a short while.

"It’s pretty much trash, though. The enchantment itself can't be manipulated to pick up any decided object by the wearer. So I settle for it to constantly pull. It cost so much energy to imbue the effect, and the magic itself is so weak, it can’t be used to pick up any decided object and can’t lift anything heavy. It can only affect a short range radius.”

“But you manage to pull the enchantment off."

A quiet remark. Volanaro took a quick peak at him again. He seemed… genuine. Volanaro could felt he was smiling again.

"Well… Thanks…" Volanaro were not a person like to turn down compliment, but he did take his job seriously. "Unfortunately it was still too inefficient in energy and practice. For the Guild's stander, it's still worthless."

"Hmm… It doesn't seem worthless to me. You've achieved something that's never been done. You may not find a use you want for now, but maybe you'll find a good use of it in the future. And, if you submit it to the archive, someone in the future who needs it will appreciate you for your work.”

Volanaro could felt himself blushing.

"Maybe you can enchant a pair of item, so they can pull each other in a strong bond."

"You're describing a magnet."

"Oh." They both laughed.

"Have you use it to turn pages?”

"No I haven't" Volanaro laughed even more. "Oh, the future library enjoyers will love my creation."

He grabbed a random book from the shelf, and held the ring next to it. He opened the hard cover, and the pages flipped automatically.

It worked!

Well, it sure worked, but the pages flipped too fast to read.

"I can't read a single word."

"I didn't expect it to be this fast."

Guilbert looked up from rubbing his thumb and pointer finger together to frown at Lecrinn. "When does it get easier?"

Lecrinn blinked. To her credit, she offered Guilbert a confused smile. "When does what get easier?"

"Conviction." Said with a sigh and Guilbert leaning back on his seat. He felt so sore and tired. "I've thrown myself at many opportunities this past few months and I'm not sure I can stand to watch yet another one fail. If the crop I'm growing at Weatherleah fails—"

He stopped mid-sentence, feeling his throat tighten.

The two were silent for a moment after. The sounds of the surrounding wilderness continued unbothered, the only thing that kept Guilbert from hearing his heart pounding in his ears. He was afraid that Lecrinn would simply have no answer. No balm for the ache in his soul.

"It's not your own conviction that troubles you," Lecrinn said, causing Guilbert to startle a bit. "It's the lack of it from others. They don't return the favor— so to speak."

"Hm."

"You're a passionate man, Guilbert, throwing yourself into whatever it is you're doing. You ran across the breadth of Cyrodiil for your brother!" Lecrinn smiled kindly. "That's why you were able to help Chorrol when it needed help the most. Even if you don't feel that way."

Guilbert chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know what would have happened to Chorrol— or Cheydinhal— if heroes such as you and Miraina weren't there to aid us."

Lecrinn finally frowned. Or rather, her expression cooled to something neutral and nearly unfitting for her features.