The black ring rolled and stopped in front of the door. Renji moved forwards a few steps and felt something hard under his foot. "I didn't see any rocks when I searched the ground. This must be from the cabinet that broke." Renji was feeling annoyed by all the mess from the collapsed furniture and stamped at the object under his foot, expecting it to be a piece of splintered wood. But to his surprise…
"It's solid!" Renji exclaimed as he stepped sideways to look at it. It was a jet black ring that had lain on the ground, dust-covered and easily missed. "A ring?" Renji's eyes widened with interest as he bent to pick up the ring, cleaning it off with his grimy sleeve to reveal its true form. The ring was composed of some sort of wood/boulder material, and there was a faint, indistinct carving on it.
"Looks like an earthworm?" Renji examined the carving. It looked like some sort of sinuous creature. He laughed in his heart: "The carving isn't great, and there's no gemstone or magic crystal on this ring." Most rings were inlaid with precious stones, but this one seemed very simple. It didn't seem to be worth much, yet Renji rather liked it, probably due to the difficulty he had in finding it.
"It's too thick to wear on my finger. I'll string it on some silk and wear it around my neck." Renji decided, finding that due to his small hands, it would be pretty impractical to wear the ring properly. "What should I name it? Earthworm Ring sounds awful." A moment of thought later, Renji's face lit up. "How about 'Serpent Dragon Ring'? The carving could be seen as a dragon coiled around the ring."
Renji looked at the ring now called Serpent Dragon Ring with renewed excitement. "Wait, I'm running late for training!" Renji realized as he looked at his dust-covered self. He looked so dirty. "I need to get cleaned up quickly." He hastened to the washroom, where he washed away all the dust under a rushing stream of water, revealing his well-toned physique from rigorous training.
Renji dressed himself in his training outfit and looked around for something on which to string the Serpent Dragon Ring. His eyes fell on an old, strong washcloth from which he extracted a resilient string to string the ring with and make a makeshift necklace.
"I'm going to be late!" Renji sprinted out of the gate, stuffing the Serpent Dragon Ring under his shirt. The ring felt refreshingly cool against his chest, and despite his lateness, he felt a sense of satisfaction. Racing out of the Baruch clan manor, he set off toward the training ground east of Dragonspire Village. The streets were empty for the most part, but what few passersby recognized his rush and wished him well.
"How is Commander Draven going to take this?" Renji thought as he quickened his pace. He arrived at the training field where he found squads that were lined up. Commander Draven's piercing glare encountered Renji's as he arrived. Renji took a position beside the squads and began to wait for instructions.
"Today's training exercises will be doubled for you. Back to your team!" came the calm voice of Draven.
"Yes, sir!" Renji replied resolutely. The looks of the youths standing near these two were thrown at how a minor delay had resulted in a harsh penalty. Renji might as well miss dinner.
Just as Renji took off to jog to his usual spot, a tremor caused the ground to shake, and uneasiness spread around. "East. It's coming from the east," Renji observed. The continuous shaking of the ground foreshadowed something huge in approach. It was but a serious atmosphere as Renji's eyes turned eastward, fixing on what would approach next.