"Huh? Is that Scarlett?"

It was a bright and early summer morning, and Ares stepped outside of the SEED Outpost to start his farmwork. As he walked toward his field, he noticed a blue-haired ranger training. Standing a good distance from the training dummy there, she charged and threw her spell seal toward it. Without missing a beat, she followed directly behind the seal, twin daggers in her hands. A split second after the spell seal bound the dummy, she slashed it with both daggers at once. She nodded to herself, "A good start. Next, I'll try strafing."

Ares recognized her as Scarlett, an experienced ranger who had recently returned to Rigbarth after a long-distance assignment. Though she was initially dismissive, borderline hostile, of Ares's recruitment as a ranger, Scarlett quickly gained a respect for Ares when he completed a difficult assignment ahead of her, albeit only slightly. Ares, for his part, still believed that he could learn a lot from Scarlett, especially since he had only been a ranger for a just over a month. His initial, prickly impression of her was quickly brushed aside.

"Good morning, Scarlett!" Ares waved at Scarlett as she turned to face him.

"Good morning, Ares. Are you starting your farmwork today?"

"Yeah, I'm not planting anything today, but I have two fields to water."

"I see. Keep up the good work."

Ares looked over to the training dummy, then back to Scarlett. Morning was the best time to train before the heat would be uncomfortable. "Are you working on a new technique?"

"Yes, well, almost. I've already learned it with wind blades." Ares knew that she was referring to a spell. "I'm practicing with the spell seal now, but the principle is the same."

"Oh, I see." Ares rubbed his chin in thought. "After you throw something, you follow behind it. The projectile covers you as you get closer, and even if your enemy blocks or dodges it, you can follow up with an attack that can catch them off guard."

"Exactly." Scarlett nodded with approval. "You do catch on to these quickly."

"Eheh, thanks." Scarlett scratched the back of his head before Scarlett suddenly pointed her finger at him.

"However! Don't let this get to your head. As rangers, we must always be improving, whether it's our weaponry, magic, or capturing proficiency."

"You're right, Scarlett." Ares reached into a pocket and took out his spell seal. "It took me a while to get used to, but the spell seal really is versatile."

"Of course. It's the signature tool of us rangers. Only we are entrusted with it, and it's invaluable in capturing criminals and monsters." Scarlett crossed her arms, and Ares could detect a hint of pride in her otherwise stern expression.

"Yeah. We can restrain enemies, we can grab distant items, and we can even curve it around obstacles."

"Wait, what was that last part?"

"Hm? We can curve it around obstacles?"

"That," Scarlett raised an eyebrow, "shouldn't be possible. The thrown spell seal is only semi-physical. You can't curve it on the wind."

Ares said nothing in response, but he turned his attention to the training dummy. About 10 meters away, he began charging his spell seal in his right hand. As he did so, he started to gyrate his forearm, and Scarlett could see that the seal was oscillating in a way she hadn't seen before. Finally, with a large windup and a shout, Ares threw the seal to his right, about 30 degrees off the direction of the dummy. The hoop that was the spell seal seemed to roll as it flew, and the spell seal indeed curved leftward before meeting and entrapping the training dummy.

Scarlett stood with her eyes and mouth wide open. "I… didn't know that was possible."

"I was experimenting with my spell seal, and one day I got a different reaction from it. It requires a long charge, but it seems pretty useful."

"Can you teach me how to curve the throw?"

"Sure, I think you can pull it off. The way I do it is by spinning my rune power as I focus it into the spell seal. It needs to spin at an angle compared to how the spell seal normally spins. It also helps if I rotate my arm."

Ares charged the curve throw again, and Scarlett paid close attention to his arm, making mental notes of how rune power was flowing. "And with that…!" Ares threw the spell seal, this time at a much wider angle. The spell seal curved faster this time, still meeting its target by hitting it from the side.

"I see. Then…". Scarlett began charging her own spell seal, this time applying what she had seen and heard from Ares. After she felt she had charged enough, she threw it at the same angle that Ares had initially. Although the spell seal did indeed curve, it didn't curve enough, and the seal flew behind the training dummy before dissipating. Scarlett also realized that this took noticeably more rune power than a typical charged throw.

"Wow, you got it to curve already!" Ares's eyes lit up in excitement. "You should get it soon."

Scarlett paused briefly at the genuine compliment before charging another throw. This time, with her adjustments to rune power spinning, her spell seal flew true as it curved and bound the training dummy.

"That's amazing! You picked it up so quickly!" Ares was smiling at Scarlett, not a trace of envy in his eyes.

"Uh, thanks." Scarlett quickly shook her head. "No, moreover, I must thank you for the new technique, Ares. It's absolutely revolutionary."

"Aw, I don't know about that."

"It's true. Being able to curve the spell seal gives us more options to capture criminals hiding behind obstacles. Even better, I've never seen this mentioned in training, so nobody should know to watch out for it." Scarlett then sighed. "And to think, I once doubted your ability as a ranger…"

"Oh, that's alright. I think… I think you were right to be cautious." Ares looked Scarlett straight in the eyes. "I think I can learn a lot from you too. I don't really know much about SEED yet, and I'd like to borrow the technique you were working on earlier, if you don't mind."

"Of course, although it's far less impressive than what you've invented."

"Ah, well, it doesn't matter." Ares extended his hand. "I hope I can count on you more in the future, Ranger Scarlett."

"Likewise," Scarlett completed the handshake, "Ranger Ares."

The two smiled together before Ares suddenly realized, "Oh right, I need to do my farmwork! I'll talk to you later, Scarlett!"

Scarlett waved to Ares as he ran to his field. She watched him water the crops there with a few spins before warping onto the earth farm dragon using its magic circle. "Sometimes the biggest obstacle to something is knowing that it's possible, huh?" She pondered to herself before beginning her daily patrols.