Talia sat cross-legged on her bed, the journal from the Darkstorm Sphere open in her lap.

The leather cover was worn and water-stained, but the pages inside had remained pristine.

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the window, casting a warm glow over the room and illuminating the faded ink on the yellowed pages.

She had been reading for hours, pouring over what she believed to be love letters from her father to her mother.

The words were flowery and romantic.Talia's brow furrowed as she tried to reconcile this passionate, devoted version of Maui with the mysterious and potentially dangerous man she had briefly encountered.

"My dearest Yalena," one passage read, "your beauty outshines the stars themselves. When I'm with you, the world fades away, and all that remains is the rhythm of our hearts beating as one."

Talia rolled her eyes at the overly sentimental language. It seemed so at odds with the little she knew of her parents' relationship.

She shifted her position, causing the journal to slide closer to her wrist.

As the pages brushed against her skin, something strange happened.

The ink on the page began to twist as if it were alive.

Talia's eyes widened in surprise.

She watched, transfixed, as new letters seemed to form beneath the original text, like a hidden message revealing itself.

The effect lasted only a moment before the words settled back into their original form.

Intrigued, Talia deliberately brought her wrist closer to the page.

Once again, the ink writhed and shifted.

This time, she caught glimpses of words and phrases that were decidedly less romantic:

“...death of Mana…”

“...negative energy…”

“...canceling the Primary Affinity…”

Talia’s eyes went wide as she held her left wrist close to the page and gained more than one glimpse at ‘canceling the Primary Affinity.’

“Wait, so there is something here,” she muttered.

Perhaps her going to the Darkstorm Sphere might actually come in handy somehow.

But why was the journal only partially reacting to her wrists?

There was clearly more to these letters than the excessively saccharine quality of the writing, but what was the key to it?

Dark Water?

But Talia had no idea how she had even accessed Dark Water in the first place!

But then, she thought of something.

She recalled the vision she had experienced in the Darkstorm Sphere – her father manipulating Dark Water with some gestures.

Could this hidden text be related to that moment?

With some embarrassment for what she was about to do, she got up and attempted to replicate the movements her father had displayed, hoping it would, by some stroke of luck, unlock the journal’s hidden text.

Her hands awkwardly traced arcs in the air, with her fingers flexing as if grasping the invisible threads of water.

Talia poured all her concentration into the movements, willing the Dark Water to manifest itself.

She imagined she could feel it, cool and heavy, responding to her commands. But when she opened her eyes, the room was exactly as it had been before.

No Dark Water swirled around her, and no hidden power had awakened. Instead, she was left feeling foolish, waving her hands at nothing.

Talia's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“What are you doing?” She heard a barely contained laughter and spun around to find Nami standing in her doorway.

“Hey! You didn’t knock!”

Amused, Nami gave a faux-knock at the door.

"Come in," Talia grumbled, trying to keep her voice steady.

“What was that, really?” Nami frowned, peeking at the journal on the bed that Talia jumped on to prevent the girl from seeing the embarrassing letters her father had sent to her mother.

“Nothing,” Talia cleared her voice. “Why are you here?”

The older Moana sister was already dressed sharply despite the early hour.

Nami looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she took in her friend’s disheveled appearance.

"Still in your pajamas? You do remember we have Elder Kahua's Survival Class today, right?"

Talia glanced from the window at the rising sun in the sky, right beside the Spiral, and winced. She had completely lost track of time.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I... yes, of course," Talia stammered, scrambling off the bed. "I just got caught up in some reading. Give me a couple of minutes to change."

Nami leaned against the doorframe, her arms crossed.

"Are you sure you want to go? After what happened with Elder Kahua?"

Talia paused in the act of dressing herself in one of the simple and unmarked first-year robes Nami had provided her.

The confrontation with Elder Kahua while she tested for his school was nasty, and find an excuse to skip the class.

But a larger part, the part that had driven her to come to the Academy in the first place, refused to back down.

"I'm going," Talia said firmly, meeting Nami's gaze. "I won't let him intimidate me."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Nami's mouth.

"Hurry up, then. We don't want to be late."

As Nami stepped back into the hallway, closing the door behind her, Talia quickly changed into her robes.

Talia's fingers brushed against the golden bracelets covering her wrist marks.

For now, though, she had a class to attend.

Talia took a deep breath and, with one last glance at the pillow concealing the journal, Talia grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

She stepped into the hallway where Nami had been waiting.

"Ready?" Nami asked, falling into step beside her.

Talia nodded, her jaw set with resolve. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Together, they made their way through Elder Krakatoa’s School grounds, heading toward the pier to get a boat that would bring them to Elder Kahua's classroom.

The journal and its secrets would have to wait.

For now, Talia had a different kind of survival to focus on.

***

Elder Kahua surveyed the students gathered in a large arena similar to the one where Elder Krakatoa taught his classes.

Talia felt a twinge of nervousness, remembering their last encounter when the man had nearly attacked her after she used Dark Water against his student.

For a moment, Talia wondered if Kano, the student from the Kāne Family she had defeated thanks to the Dark Water, had actually been kicked out by Elder Kahua.

But Talia’s attention snapped back to the present.

The last time she met the man, only Riala's intervention had prevented the situation from escalating further.

Now, she looked at him, standing in front of a semicircle of students, waiting with his arms behind his back.

Only several minutes later, as the last of the students taking his course arrived, did Elder Kahua begin to speak.

"My class, unlike the others, does not have any arbitrary thresholds that must be passed. This is not about your control of Mana or your proficiency with weapons, casting, herbs, or other such skills. This is about fighting the monsters that are out there."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the assembled students. Many shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny.

"Do not be mistaken, young ones. ‘Abyssal Survival Class’ is quite a misleading name. The monsters I speak of are not just Abyssal Creatures. Many Water Riders think their sole purpose is to fight such beasts and, perhaps, one day, the Kraken. However, that is just a small part of what we do."

Elder Kahua's voice grew more intense, commanding the attention of every student in the arena.

"I personally prefer to call this the Survival Class because to truly survive at the Academy, in our organization, and on the Four Seas, you will have to deal with much more than Abyssal Creatures. Humans can be as treacherous, if not more, as the Dungeon Bosses that you can find in the nastiest nooks of the Deep."

A murmur rippled through the crowd at those words.

Elder Kahua waited for silence before continuing.

"So, listen well. To be a Water Rider, it takes more than power and strength, more than talent and a prestigious family name. To be a Water Rider takes honor. And the bane of honor is arrogance.

"The moment any of you become more concerned with the other's perception of you than your own self-awareness, you will be lost. Arrogance has led many Water Riders astray. Some have even joined the Cultists."

Gasps and whispers broke out among the non-noble students who had never heard of such a thing.

It was almost unthinkable for them that the Water Riders, the most respected institution in the Great Archipelago of Nā Moku Kai, could have traitors in the midst.

Elder Kahua raised his hand to silence the murmur.

"If you're asking yourself what would bring a Water Rider to join such heinous people, such disgusting worshipers of the Scourge of the Deep, look no further than to your left and your right. You will see both future Water Riders and future failures and possibly criminals—hardly heroes. All of the people around you will shape what you think is right and what you think is wrong.

"Cultists are nothing more than Water Riders who cared more about petty squabbles and politics than seeing justice being delivered and upholding our honor code. A Water Rider without honor is nothing. A Water Rider who only thinks of their talent and their strength and meaninglessly hurts others just to prove something is nothing!"

As he said the last part, Elder Kahua's eyes fell on Talia. She felt her jaw tighten and had to bite back an angry reply.

Gesturing toward a door that had just opened, Elder Kahua announced, "This is my assistant, the champion of my school, Riala Solara, the daughter of the last Hākai Pō, the Kraken Slayer, Yalena Solara."

Riala entered the arena to a few gasps, and a few daring students even cheered.

She glanced in Talia's direction, but her younger sister averted her gaze.

"Today, she will help me select a mission for each of you," Elder Kahua continued. "In fact, the only requirement to pass my class is to complete three missions before the end of the year. And for those who think that three missions will be easy, you'll soon see how challenging even the 'easy' ones can be.

"I know that some of you already belong to Schools, including mine, which means you'll be interested in how this class ranks its participants. The most important measurement we'll keep in mind, and perhaps the only thing that counts, is how difficult these missions are. And this is decided by Principal Kaimana’s aides."

Elder Kahua's tone became more businesslike as he explained the logistics.

"Since all of you are first-years, you can only choose from missions assigned to novices. For those who might not know what that means, they are missions meant for those below Level 20. You will be divided into groups. If you prefer, you may choose your own teammates."

A wry smile crossed his face.

"I always find it refreshing when students form their own groups. They soon realize that casual conversations or sharing a dorm is not a good indicator of whether they can form an effective team or not.

"Sadly, you won't be able to start the first mission right away if you're already enrolled in Professor Iakopo's class. I have been requested by our esteemed professor not to provide any further details about this matter other than that those of you who’ve signed up for his class and have not dropped out already will be taking their first field trip tomorrow and will be away for at least a week."

“What?” Talia said, frowning and looking at Nami, who just shrugged in return.

“I’ve not heard of this,” the older sister of the Moana Family replied.

All the students who had passed the first test in Professor Iakopo’s class were still whispering among each other when Elder Kahua added something else with a smile on his face.

“And given Professor Iakopo’s infamy, I will relent and consider those who pass his field trip’s evaluation as having completed one of the three required missions. In fact, I will consider it the second-highest difficulty mission that one can undertake as a Novice.”

Many students perked up, already smiling and rubbing their hands together, thinking this was some sort of a white-glove service the Elder had reserved for them.

But what Elder Kahua said after this immediately clarified his previous statement.

“Two years ago, during his last field trip, only five students out of a cohort of one hundred and fifty were not expelled from his class.”

A ghastly silence befell the arena.

“I hope you have fun,” Elder Kahua said with a slimy smile. “I’ll make sure to notify Professor Iakopo not to go easy on any of you.”

Talia saw the Elder look in her direction again — this time, brazenly.