Book excerpt: Ren faithfully sweats over the forge day after day, to raise her skills and create the most powerful magic swords possible, while still taking time out to teach her old friend, Triela, how to read and write. Her turn as teacher leads to a reunion with Lycoris, Maricle, Ares, and Kuro, all children from the orphanage! As if designed to revive their friendship, an herb-gathering quest appears for them all to complete, but in this world, nothing is ever what it is appears to be...