Cale

  “I don’t think you understand the importance of this,” Rade was saying.

  The bell rang, and the noise of the hallway swallowed half his words. We stepped out of the lecture hall into the bright courtyard, the kind of afternoon that made everything feel more serious than it probably was.

  I shook my head. “No, I understand the importance of it to you. I just don’t understand the importance of it to everyone else.”

  Rade grinned. “Because you’re not paying attention. These games are basically life. You conquer the game, you conquer life.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Explain to me how conquering a role-playing game helps us conquer life.”

  He stopped walking long enough to fix me with a very serious stare. I almost laughed, but I didn’t want to make him feel bad for believing what he said.

  “The Dungeon Diver game teaches you everything about life,” he said. “It teaches you the basics you need to survive. You have to make proper decisions for the situation you’re in. For example—what do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to do? Diving the Dungeons gives you a class, gives you abilities, and helps you make a determination about yourself.”

  I put up a hand. “I’m not sure that’s true. You pick a class and abilities at the start. Who really knows at the beginning what they’re going to turn into? Making a conscious decision about where you want to be in ten years—and having that choice define everything from the start—doesn’t sound particularly fair.”

  Just then, Ellara and two of her friends joined us from the other wing.

  “My brother has a point,” Ellara said, sliding into the conversation. “That’s why I always thought picking your core at fifteen feels like making a really important decision way too early.”

  Rade gave her a surprised look. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, there are essentially four core types you can choose from,” she said. “Most people can develop two cores—some even three—but that first choice shapes everything afterward. Making that decision so early in your life… I don’t know. It feels like you’re locking away every possibility you haven’t met yet.”

  She glanced at me then, thoughtful. “Maybe that’s why I like your argument, Cale. The idea that who we are at the start doesn’t have to decide who we become later.”

  Rade rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Sure, sure. Philosophers, the both of you. Meanwhile, I’ll be over here grinding dungeons and getting results.”

  Ellara laughed. “And maybe that’s the real secret—just keep playing until you figure it out.”

  Rade pointed a finger at her, grinning. “Exactly! Progress through experience.”

  “Or you just get better at the game,” I said.

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  “Same thing,” he said, already halfway ahead of us, talking about new builds and patch updates, while Ellara shook her head and smiled.

  For a moment, it felt almost normal—no whispers, no rumors, just a conversation about games and choices, and how sometimes you don’t realize you’ve made the important ones until much later.

  “That actually makes for an interesting segue,” Rade said as we crossed the courtyard, the afternoon light spilling across the stone. “Everyone’s talking about picking their cores lately. What about you, Ellara?”

  Ellara hesitated. Mira and Selene, walking on either side of her, perked up instantly. I watched her. We would have to talk about this core thing later. There were things she needed to know.

  “Well, everyone knows Aura’s the most popular,” Ellara said. “It’s the easiest to form because it’s closest to the body—people can feel it naturally. Most start with it for the physical boost alone. Strength, endurance, reflexes. You can’t really go wrong with Aura.” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “But… I’ve been thinking about Arcanum too. It has a broader range of applications. I know I want at least Aura or Arcanum if I have to pick one. I’m just not sure what to do for the second or even if I can make that happen.”

  “Sanatio’s underrated,” Selene added softly. “People forget how much flesh magic changes a fight. A good Sanatio user can keep a whole squad standing.”

  Mira shook her head. “If you’re looking long-term, Technica is the smart path though granted probably not for your first core. It does have massive applications for career and advancement though. The Dominion army practically runs on it now. Even weak casters can channel Aura into Technica weapons. A single-core soldier with a Technica rifle can fight like a dual-core elite. It’s a complete game-changer.”

  “That’s why I’m so torn,” Ellara said. “Everyone talks about Aura and Arcanum like they’re the only real choices, but Technica and Sanatio have just as much potential in the right hands.”

  Rade stretched, his tablet flashing faint blue in the sunlight. “You’re all overthinking it. You pick Aura, you hit harder, you live longer. Done.”

  Mira groaned. “Typical.”

  “It’s true!” he protested. “Half the Academy starts with Aura, and the other half wishes they had. You can talk all you want about Technica rifles or fancy Sanatio healing, but it’s Aura users that actually survive the first year of field training. I am not exactly the jock type but having Aura is sort of no brainer it gives you time, life and health. Cannot beat that.”

  Selene laughed. “You sound like Professor Halden.”

  “Good! He’s the only one making sense.”

  Ellara smirked, then turned to me. “What about you, Cale? You haven’t said a word this whole time.”

  They were all watching now, curious but cautious. No one asked outright because the thought would have been redundant. The whole Academy knew about the fight even if they didn't get the details and record devices confiscated. Everyone had drawn the same conclusion.

  “He clearly chose Aura and Arcanum already,” Mira said before I could answer doing so in a whisper so they weren't overheard. “No one moves like that unless their body’s conditioned, and the lightning during the fight—what else could it be?”

  Rade nodded. “Yeah, that pressure you give off? Definitely Aura. And the Arcanum’s obvious. You don’t throw lightning by accident.”

  I didn’t correct them. I just looked out over the courtyard, where banners hung from the stone arches, rippling in the late breeze.

  “Maybe,” I said.

  Ellara frowned slightly, sensing the deflection. “You don’t like to talk about it, do you?”

  “Not much to talk about.”

  Rade chuckled. “Right. Some of us are still trying to get our first core created or stabilized, and you’ve already mastered two. Nothing to talk about at all.”

  The others laughed, but the sound carried that strange mix of admiration and unease that followed me everywhere now.

  Ellara changed the subject after that, thank the gods. Mira went back to rambling about Technica rifles, Selene about the Sanatio field exams. But as we crossed the quad, I caught the looks people gave us—half awe, half distance.

  They didn’t ask what I really was. They just assumed they knew. Aura and Arcanum. The perfect, textbook combination.

  If only it were that simple.