• Amanda looked around the city center. It was crowded, as usual. This made it very difficult to find Rachel.
    "Are you lost, little girl?" asked a voice from behind her. She turned around quickly, half out of surprise, and half out of instinct. The voice belonged to a tall, dark-skinned man with thick black hair. He had two small braids of this hair over his right ear.
    "Do you need help?" the man asked with genuine concern.
    The girl shook her head. The man shrugged and walked away, his twin braids bouncing with each step. Amanda then spotted Rachel among the crowds. She ran to the blonde woman while calling out her name. Rachel faced her and smiled.
    "Hey, kid," Rachel said with a grin. "How'ya been?" Amanda smiled, and that was enough.
    "I hear about a lot of things going on around town," Rachel stated. "I know about Jahn's plan. And I want to help you."
    She reached into her pocket and pulled out two rings.
    "Give him one of these, and keep the other for yourself," she told Amanda. The girl's face betrayed her confusion. She had no need for another ring. The one she had was enough.
    "Dou you really think," Rachel started to ask, "that Jahn could make it through by himself?"
    Amanda understood. She took the rings from Rachel and stashed them in her own pocket.
    "We," Rachel declared, "are going to compete in the Ringleader tournament!"

    "Page after page!" Thomas exclaimed. "All of it's the same! Unreadable."
    He was flipping through the book given to him by Ishmael. He couldn't read it, though. It was written in another language. One that seemed completely separated from any language he knew.
    Thomas threw the book in frustration. It hit the wall with a deep thud. The book fell open on the floor. He walked over to it. At that moment, The door flew open to hit him on the face. He now had a black eye and a bloody nose. Ishmael entered the room with an angry look on his face.
    "What do ye think yer doin?" he shouted. He then looked at the young man on the floor.
    "Get off the floor! An' stop throwin' things!" He slammed the door after that statement.
    Thomas picked up the book. He didn't know why. It had caused him nothing but frustration, but he didn't want to give up. Had he paid attention when he picked up the book, he would have noticed that the page he was on was written in English.
    Instead, he picked up back where he left off, around page 224. It wasn't until page 317 that he noticed a different language. Thomas was almost overjoyed at the prospect of finally understanding rings. He read the passage over and over again. Excitement coursed through him like electricity through a wire.
    From what he learned, Thomas knew he would be able to do his job correctly now. He knew what kinds of rings were which. He even had suspicions about the ring on the pedastal.
    He would soon find out.