Akari lay in Kalden’s bed, wearing nothing but her glasses. Endorphins ran through her brain like mana, and she couldn’t stop smiling.

Needless to say, their date night had been a success, and the qualifying rounds were just the thing to help them relax. Not the game itself, but the aftermath. She’d been too tired for any proper training. That left watching movies, and . . . other things.

Kalden lay behind her, running a finger from her hip to her knee. Akari seized his hand by the wrist and moved it to a less ticklish spot.

“Pass me the water,” she said.

Kalden propped himself on his elbow and turned toward his nightstand. “We drank it all.”

“The wine?” she asked hopefully.

“That too.” He slipped away, exposing her bare back to the cool winter air. “I’ll get you a refill.”

“Wait.” She cycled spacetime mana and extended a hand. “Let me.” The pool house was basically a studio apartment, and she had a clear view of the kitchen from the bed. Akari fired a Missile at the sink, forming a ten-inch wide portal in front of the faucet.

Kalden passed her the empty glass a second later. Akari stuck it through the portal, filled it with cold water, and took a long drink.

“That’s useful,” Kalden said when he passed her the glass.

She grinned. “That’s nothing. You should see me use the bathroom sometime.”

“From your bed?” His voice sounded incredulous behind her. “You’re joking.”

She shrugged. “World’s second-oldest use for portals.”

“What’s the oldest?” he asked.

“You don’t wanna know.”

They lay there for a long while with no sense of time. She just enjoyed Kalden’s company, and the feeling of their limbs intertwined in the sheets. They’d survived their first semester of school, and they’d passed the qualifying rounds. Not just that, but they’d gained two impressive teammates along the way.

They still had their final exams on the horizon, but those were nothing compared to their trials over the past few days. Besides, Elend had gotten them excused from Raizen’s class in favor of “personal projects.” Whatever that meant.

In Akari’s case, she hoped to invent some proper techniques with that free time. She might be a Spacetime Artist now, but she’d only scratched the surface of her potential. She also had another round of admissions exams to prepare for. Not to mention another semester of classes, and the battlegrounds themselves.

Student life could be hectic, but she never complained. Whenever things got hard, she remembered her life as a Bronze on Arkala. Back then, she’d risked everything just for a chance to learn Mana Arts. Now, she trained with the best in the world. She had friends, teachers, and teammates. What would her past self have done for this?

She knew the answer to that question, and it wasn’t pretty. But fate had given her a second chance. A chance to make up for her mistakes.

Of course, this life brought complications, too. The Sons of Talek would still be after her, and who knew what sort of attention she and Kalden had drawn from the qualifying rounds? Elend didn’t think their enemy would recognize them, but they could never be sure.

Akari rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. “Chocolate sounds good right now.”

“Really?” Kalden said. “The one thing you’re allergic to?”

“I’m an Apprentice now. Maybe that fixed it.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Allergies are an autoimmune response. Sometimes, those get even stronger as you advance.”

“Sometimes,” she agreed. “Depends on the symptoms.” Akari sat up, grabbed the sheets, and held them to her chest. Heroines in movies did this, and she’d always wanted to try it herself. “You have any in your kitchen?”

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He shook his head. “Why would I keep something my girlfriend’s allergic to?”

That was actually kind of sweet. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the type of sweetness she could eat. “Relia has those Jumpstart cookies in the pantry. Chocolate mint . . .”

“I wouldn’t touch those,” Kalden said. “Few things make her angry. Stealing her cookies might be one of them.”

“Worth the risk,” Akari said as she climbed out of bed.

They spent a few minutes cleaning up and getting dressed, then they crossed the backyard into the main estate. It was well past midnight now, but they found Relia sitting in the breakfast nook with a box of her aforementioned cookies.

“Hey.” Akari tried to act nonchalant as she slid onto the leather-padded barstool beside her friend.

Relia stuck another cookie in her mouth, pausing mid-crunch. She spun her barstool to face Akari and raised her eyebrows. “How was it?” she whispered.

“Seriously?” Akari glared at her. “What gave it away?”

Relia pointed a finger at her face. “You’re trying way too hard not to smile.”

Oh well, no sense in denying it now. “Nine out of ten,” Akari said. “Won’t be able to walk for two days.”

“I can hear you,” Kalden said as he followed her into the kitchen. “And that’s not even true.”

Akari grinned and eyed the cookies. Her smile faded when she realized Relia had eaten a full third of the package. “You okay?”

Relia hesitated, glancing back and forth between them. “A little overwhelmed. But yeah. I’m good. Better than before.”

The three of them made small talk over the next few minutes. Akari eventually asked to try a cookie, and they rehashed the whole conversation about Apprentices and allergies. Relia was reluctant at first, but Akari insisted that her symptoms had never been that bad. Just mild itching and hives.

Irina joined them a few minutes later, still dressed for work in a black skirt and suit jacket. “Good,” she said as she surveyed the room, “you’re all here.”

As if midnight desserts were an everyday occurrence.

Irina pulled a stack of papers from her bag and slid them across the counter toward Kalden. “I have an alchemy project for you.”

Kalden glanced down and examined the papers. His eyes widened as he read. “This is a recipe for soulshine.” His eyes shifted toward Relia, and Akari followed his gaze.

“Long story,” the other girl said. “I’ll tell you tomorrow, okay?”

Akari felt a warmth spread through her chest. Relia didn’t look happy, but that made sense. She’d always been reluctant to use soulshine, and this couldn’t have been an easy choice. Still, she was taking it. That was the important thing. Her friend would survive, and they could keep climbing the ranks together. What’s more, they’d have an Artisan on their team for the interschool battlegrounds.

Artisans had always been allowed in the games, assuming they were younger than twenty-two. Most teams only had one at the most, but one Artisan was enough to turn the tide of most battles.

Irina cleared her throat. “The soulshine isn’t just for Relia. Elend wants all three of you to advance by the end of the school year.”

~~~

Kysho Sanati raced through the halls of the mountain fortress. His route took him past dozens of stone pillars, wider around than his waist, and taller than his old apartment building. Glass windows filled the spaces between, revealing the white mountains beyond.

The fortress itself sat deep in the wilderness of North Shoken. The nearest town was a hundred miles away, and the only road sat buried beneath three feet of snow. Things were quiet here, but Kysho didn’t mind. The modern world offered nothing but distractions. This job offered freedom. When he wasn’t serving the Mystic, Kysho devoted every waking hour to his training.

Someday, that training would pay off, and he’d be a Mystic himself.

Kysho skidded to a halt when he reached the end of the stone corridor. There, he pushed open a heavy wooden door and passed into the heart of the mountain.

His fellow disciples had advised against this. “The Mystic doesn’t like interruptions,” they’d told him. “Especially while he’s meditating.”

Cowards, the lot of them.

The Mystic was a stern man, but he wasn’t cruel. Most importantly, he never got angry with his disciples for following orders.

A massive cavern opened before Kysho, as wide as a manaball field, and half again as tall. A storm of blades swirled around the chamber, almost too fast for his Artisan eyes to perceive. Some of the blades were as small as pins, while others others were larger than semi trucks. They all flowed through the cave in an intricate pattern. It always reminded Kysho of leaves in the wind, or snowflakes in a blizzard.

A silver structure floated in the center of that metal storm—a smaller fortress within the larger one.

Kysho approached the stone precipice and waited. He never feared for his life, despite the storm of deadly blades. The Mystic had perfect awareness of his surroundings.

Sure enough, it only took him a few seconds to notice Kysho standing there. The silver structure opened like a budding flower, revealing a glimpse of the robed figure within. In the same moment, several blades broke off from the storm, forming a staircase between the structure and the stone ledge.

Finally, the Mystic stepped down to meet him. He was Shokenese, like Kysho. His black hair was pulled back in a knot, and a short beard framed his angled face. He even wore a traditional Blade Master’s robe.

When he spoke, his voice had an Espirian accent. “What is it, Kysho?”

“Honored Mystic.” Kysho bowed at the waist. “You ordered us to inform you if anyone escaped the Archipelago. We saw two during Koreldon University’s qualifying rounds.”

He nodded once. “Who were they?”

Kysho swallowed. “One was a girl named Akari Zeller. The other was your son, Kalden Trengsen.”