Jase

  Jase slipped into his room, the door closing with a soft click that seemed louder than it should in the quiet. The faint scent of wood polish and lingering smoke from the inn’s hearth clung to the air. He stripped down, letting the hot shower wash away the grit of the day, steam curling around him like a cocoon.

  He dried himself off with the towel provided, wrapped it around his waist, then stretched out on the bed, muscles heavy with exhaustion. He stared up at the ceiling, the silence of the room felt almost comforting to him. That was when a familiar voice cut through the stillness.

  “You had an interesting day today, didn’t you?”

  Jase froze.

  In another life, a sudden voice in his room would’ve made him jump. But this last year, it had become commonplace. He knew the cadence and sound of that voice well.

  Slowly, he sat up. The dim lantern light flickered across the room from the lantern he had not yet blown out, revealing Dally lounging in a chair by the window, eyes fixed on him with an intensity that made him want to draw the surrounding shadows to him.

  “Interesting, huh… You could say that,” Jase replied.

  His eyes focusing on the Overseer. “That confident attitude I carried on the other floors felt paper thin today,” Jase admitted, voice low. Dally smirked, "you mean cocky attitude, right?"

  With a sigh Jase nodded in agreement with the words before continuing. “But Riven… he isn’t pretending. He just is. A mini-boss fifty levels higher came to either enlist him or kill him, and what did Riven do? Grabbed the bastard by the throat and cut his damn arm off.”

  A sigh escaped him, heavy with doubt. He met Dally’s gaze. “Is that what a true Outlier is like? If so, I don’t think I’m what you need.”

  Dally didn’t answer immediately. She studied him, her face unreadable, until finally she spoke.

  “You’re doing well enough. Don’t doubt that. I spoke with Riven's overseer, and I don’t think he’d mind my sharing a little about Riven. He was a warrior before he came here, an elite one in his world. He hasn’t even been in the tutorial long. Lawson said… a month, maybe.”

  Jase swung his legs over the edge of the bed, feet touching the cool floorboards. His voice cracked with disbelief. “One month? How is he so strong, leveling so quickly? I’ve been grinding at this for almost a year.”

  Dally’s tone softened, though her words carried weight. “His motivation is his own to tell. But his class… it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. A class that can literally break limits. If he continues to grow his talents and level, he’ll be a force that shakes the universe.”

  Jase’s hands clenched. “How am I supposed to compete with someone like that?”

  Dally’s anchor shimmered, casting ripples of shadow across the room. A dark ring materialized in her palm, its surface gleaming with an otherworldly sheen.

  Jase’s eyes widened. “What’s that?”

  She smiled faintly, holding it out to him. “The thing that will help you compete. When you sleep, put it on. It will take you to a trainer who specializes in your Talent type, someone who can push you to the next level.”

  Jase turned the ring over in his hand; its weight was oddly comforting. “Isn’t this… cheating?”

  Dally shook her head, her smile edged with mystery. “No. Riven and Balt both earned this training as a reward on the second floor. That’s why their aura control is so refined, even at their relatively low levels.”

  A small part of him felt disappointed in himself that he hadn’t earned this like they did… but the larger part? Just grateful for the chance to train. He slipped the ring onto his finger and lay back down, exhaustion pulling at him once more. “Thanks, Dally.”

  Her voice lingered in the dim light, solemn and resolute. “Good luck, Outlier. Work hard. This tournament matters, but remember, it’s only a stepping stone. The actual fight is saving a world after it ends.”

  The lantern guttered, shadows deepened, and Jase closed his eyes, surrendering to sleep as destiny waited beyond the veil.

  Balt

  As soon as Balt’s head touched the pillow, sleep claimed him.

  Space unfolded around him, his mind not even attempting to comprehend the vastness. Starlight streamed past his vision, galaxies wheeling in silence until, with a sudden shift, he stood upon a mountain peak.

  The mountain overlooked a vast lake, its surface shimmering like molten silver beneath the stars. Beyond it stretched an endless forest, dark and alive, whispering with unseen movement.

  Balt’s gaze fell upon a stone staircase carved into the mountainside. It wound upward toward a pergola perched at the summit, its silhouette framed against the night sky. With no other path before him, he took one last look at the breathtaking vista, then climbed.

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  By the third step, the air crackled. A sizzling hum permeated the silence, and creatures of pure lightning surged into existence. Balt summoned his staff, its weight familiar in his hands, and pressed forward.

  The sound rose again. More figures appeared, giant red birds wreathed in arcs of electricity. Their wings beat thunder into the air, their piercing caws echoing across the mountain as they fixed their gaze upon him.

  Balt raised a force field. The birds struck against it, talons and lightning hammering in relentless rhythm. He launched a bolt of energy, but one bird answered in kind, hurling lightning back at him with blinding force.

  Every time he focused on one bird, another blasted him with lightning or dive bomb his shield. He used Force Wave, but before the wave could land, they would scatter, and he just didn’t have enough force jolts to attack them all at once.

  He staggered, retreating down the steps to gain space. As his foot touched the ground below, the birds dissolved into sparks, fading into the night as though they had never been.

  Taking a breath, Balt turned, half-expecting another ambush. Instead, someone was waiting.

  Master Kim stood calmly behind him, a steaming cup of tea in hand. The fragrance of jasmine drifted through the charged air.

  Kim smiled, serene and unshaken. “Welcome, disciple.”

  Balt bowed. “Greetings, Master Kim.”

  Master Kim’s smile deepened, his eyes gleaming with quiet amusement. He lifted the cup slightly, letting the steam curl between them like a signal.

  “Your task,” he said, voice calm yet resonant, “is simple in form, but not in trial. You must climb these stairs, step by step, and reach the summit. Only then will you share a cup of tea with your master.”

  He sipped, unhurried, as if the storm of lightning and thunderbirds had never existed. The jasmine fragrance lingered in the charged air, a promise of serenity waiting at the top.

  “But, disciple, I will not leave you without hope,” Master Kim said.

  Lightning energy gathered around him, condensing into six radiant orbs that flared into existence over his shoulders. In an instant, they shot outward like lightning strikes, slamming into the mountainside. Massive slabs of stone sheared away, tumbling down into the lake below with a roar that shook the air.

  Through it all, Master Kim remained perfectly composed, sipping his tea as if the destruction were nothing more than background noise. “Lightning is momentum. Impact. Instantaneous force of nature. Your force magic pairs with lightning better than you realize.”

  “I will teach you this Talent, and I will teach you to wield lightning with your force magic to achieve power far greater than you currently have. “You’ll reach the summit and drink tea before the tournament… or you’ll die trying. I will not tolerate less from one of my disciples.

  Balt swallowed. Every time Master Kim displayed his strength, Balt remembered the gap between them, and his Master was truly something, and that not a few months ago he was just getting by alone with no hope in sight. But now he had a true Master teaching him and if Kim believed he could learn this? He’d take him at his word.

  Balt tightened his grip on his staff, gaze shifting back to the staircase that wound into the heavens and then back to Master Kim. The old Masters tea was gone now. “Let us begin with one of your Force Jolts. Summon it, but do not release it. Focus your aura.”

  With Master Kim’s orders echoing in his mind, he did as instructed. Balt knew these training sessions were going to be as much a test of perseverance as skill.

  The first jolt flickered to life in his palm, small, unstable, hungry to be set free. He took a breath and steadied it. The climb had begun, and he would not fail himself.

  Riven

  The Dojo was quiet, save for the sound of torches flickering along the edges, their light painting long shadows across the floor. Master Matt stood with his arms folded, his gaze sharp but thoughtful as I finished recounting what had happened on floor three.

  “So,” he said slowly, his voice carrying the weight of contemplation, “you talk about how, on instinct, in the cave you would turn… and sure enough, your opponent was there or some form of danger was there waiting for you?”

  I nodded. “Yes, Master. It was like I could sense I needed to move. No thought. Not reason, just… inevitability.”

  Matt’s brow furrowed, his expression shifting into something pensive. “You achieved Aura control not long ago. But what you’re describing… that kind of instinct isn’t usually gained until Level Three of that Talent. It’s… curious.”

  I shrugged, uncertain how to explain it further. But before my shoulders could settle, the same instinct flared again, sharp and undeniable. My body moved before thought could catch up. I Flash Stepped, Ember materializing in my grip with a hiss of flame.

  The air behind me split with the sound of steel. When I turned, a familiar figure stood where I had just been, a wolf mask gleaming in the torchlight, blade drawn and poised for the strike that would have ended me.

  Dan.

  I grinned, raising Ember in a mock salute, the firelight dancing across its edge. “You almost got me.”

  Master Matt’s eyes widened, his calm composure cracking for the briefest moment. “I’ll be damned…” He stepped closer, hand rising to his chin as he studied me with an intensity I hadn’t seen before. His boots echoed softly against the stone as he circled, examining me like a puzzle that had just revealed a missing piece. “I completely concealed his presence from you, but you sensed danger anyway.”

  “This changes my training plan,” he murmured, almost to himself. Then, quieter still, so faint I barely caught it, “Wouldn’t that be something… for someone not even Level One Hundred to possess the Talent of Foresight.”

  The words hung in the air like a spark waiting to ignite.

  Master Matt’s gaze burned with something I had never seen in him before. His usual calm, measured demeanor had fractured, replaced by a glimmer of raw excitement. His eyes didn’t shine with discipline or patience, but with the thrill of discovery. The kind of fire a master gets when he realizes his student might bend the rules of the world itself.

  For the first time, I wondered if my instincts weren’t just survival. Maybe they were something far greater.

  Matt flicked his hand, and three wolf masks materialized in the torchlight.

  “These will attack you from different angles,” he said. “Store Ember. You won’t need it for this exercise.”

  I obeyed. Ember vanished in a curl of flame, and Matt stepped closer. His Anchor flared, casting long shadows across the dojo as he tossed something toward me. I caught it and unrolled it between my hands.

  A blindfold.

  A cold ripple of fear crawled down my spine.

  When I looked up, Master Matt was smiling, a sharp, predatory grin that did nothing to calm my nerves.

  “Put it on,” he said. “Let’s get this party started.”

  As I tightened the blindfold, I said "Your idea of a party is questionable, Master." With that said, I moved.