He’d known Emberlyn for longer than he could remember. They’d grown up as playmates, and they’d attended many of the same schools, despite how often his parents had moved around.
And yes . . . they’d even discussed a marriage to unite their clans. When Kalden was twelve, he’d told Emberlyn that he loved her. A part of him had believed those words as well as any twelve-year-old could. Another part of him had simply been desperate to have his first kiss.
Now, Emberlyn held him to those words as if they were a lifelong promise.
She wore white leather armor today, and every piece fit together like a puzzle, from her boots to her gloves. Her blond hair hung beside her face in a long braid, and she’d tucked her white helmet beneath her arm.
Three young men stepped up beside her, but Kalden couldn’t make out their faces beneath their visors. Instead, he relaxed his eyes until he saw the glow of mana in their chests. One was undoubtedly Gold, and the other two looked like Silvers.
How should he handle this? Lie low and let Maelyn do the talking? Blood still covered his visor, so they wouldn’t recognize his face. But he’d scanned their souls; why wouldn’t they do the same for his? And what if Emberlyn had already known about this hunting trip? In that case, lying low would just make him look more suspicious.
Plan B, then.
Kalden yanked off his helmet and gave her a wide grin. “Well, if I’d known the other hunters were this lovely, I’d have come down to these tunnels years ago.”
Her violet eyes widened for a split second. Either she hadn’t known it was him, or she was an excellent actress. Regardless, he wasn’t out of trouble yet.
“Kalden Trengsen.” Her hips swayed as she stepped closer, matching his smile. “The rugged look suits you well.”
“I didn’t expect to find you here.” He waved toward the dead matriarch. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I train down here every Akarday,” she replied. “I normally take the main route, but we heard screaming this way.”
Every Akarday, huh? Kalden shot a look at his informants, who’d begun harvesting cores. Either Emberlyn was lying right now, or this was a major oversight on their part.
“First time for me,” Kalden said. “I heard this was a good starting area”—he gave her armor a meaningful look—“but maybe I was misinformed?” Best to keep the conversation focused on her as much as possible.
“No, you’re right. These gentlemen and I go hunting deeper in, toward the edge of the Hollows.” She stepped over and rested a white boot on the matriarch’s head. “But you? Fighting? Whatever would your mother say?”
Kalden raised his G12 Missile rod and let it rest on his shoulder. “She’d probably say this belongs in a display case.”
Her smile softened, and he caught a hint of nostalgia in her eyes. “Her little boy practicing mana arts . . .”
Kalden shrugged and let the rod fall to his side. “I’m just a tourist. Maelyn’s the only real artist here.”
Emberlyn’s lips made a thin line as she eyed his companions. Damnit. He’d just put them in the spotlight.
“A Bronze?” Emberlyn blurted out. “Since when do they let those down here?” Once again, she seemed genuinely surprised to see Akari here. Another point against his stalker theory.
To Akari’s credit, she didn’t look up from her core harvesting, or give any indication that she’d heard.
“Well,” Emberlyn said, “unless you brought a ten-year-old boy along, I’d say that’s Akari Zeller behind that helmet.” She met Kalden’s eye again and raised two thin eyebrows.
Kalden forced himself to keep a blank face. First she’d gotten Akari banned from the computer lab, and now this? Emberlyn wasn’t normally so cruel with her comments, and she was probably baiting them for a reaction.
He followed her gaze as if seeing Akari for the first time. “You expect me to carry all these cores myself?”
“Still seems a bit undignified.” Emberlyn ran an idle finger down her braid. “If you can’t afford a Silver packman, some might whisper that you’ve fallen under hard times.”
He gave her his best self-important smile. “I’m Kalden Trengsen. I’ll decide what’s undignified and what’s not. Besides, what’s that quote your father’s so fond of? ‘What’s the point of being Gold if we play by other people’s rules?’”
She didn’t have an answer for that, but her gaze darted between Kalden and Akari. She suspected something, but she couldn’t call him out on it directly. Above all, Emberlyn wanted things to work out between them. That wouldn’t happen, of course. He’d told her as much, but she wouldn’t accept it.
Kalden saw her next moves in his mind’s eye, as clear as pieces on a crowns board. If he made her feel irrelevant, she would react with hostility. She would either tell his mother what she saw, or she would blackmail him.
On the other hand, if he gave her what she wanted . . .
“Tell you what,” Kalden said, “I’m a bit tired right now, but what if we get drinks this week?”
Her eyes brightened at that. And while her smile still held some stiffness, she forced it away with practiced ease. “That’s right. You’re finally sixteen, aren’t you?”
As if the legal drinking age had ever applied to Golds. Kalden grinned and raised his chin. “Name the time and place, and I’ll see you there.”
“I’ll let you know.” She ran a hand over his shoulder as she strode into the darkness. “Just don’t die before then, okay?”
~~~
The sun was a welcome sight when they finally emerged from the tunnels. Akari hadn’t brought her watch along, but it looked like early afternoon. Seriously? They’d only been down there for a couple of hours? It felt like it should be nighttime by now.
Once they reached the top of the staircase, they set out for the processing shop across the parking lot. Each of them carried a full bag of cores which they’d harvested during Kalden’s talk with the ice princess.
The tension faded as they put more space between themselves and the exit. Slowly, the others began laughing and joking again as if they hadn’t just come within an inch of death.
Or maybe it was because they’d almost died.
Akari had felt invincible until that moment when the arkion tackled her. With her arms and legs pinned against the stone floor, she’d been helpless against that creature’s assault. The scenario kept flashing in her mind’s eye like a looping video, and she wondered how she could have handled it differently. Her current skill level didn’t give her many options. However, it was technically possible to shoot Missiles from the center of your chest. Might be worth looking into someday . . .
Constructs were another possibility, but that seemed beyond her at this point. Even if she found the Grandmaster’s next video.
Once their group was out of earshot from the guards, Kalden removed his helmet and gave Darren and Maelyn a serious look. “I thought you researched who trained in these tunnels.”
“We did,” Maelyn said. “Emberlyn doesn’t train here every week. She was lying through her teeth about that.”
“Right,” Darren said. “She wasn’t even in town last weekend. Or the weekend before that.”
“Just checking.” Kalden’s voice shook as the last words left his mouth. Clearly, he’d fallen for the girl’s surprised puppy act, and he’d assumed he had the upper hand until now.
Funny. Hadn’t he once lectured her on Gold politics?
“Then why bother lying at all?” Kalden asked. “Her story sounds too easy to disprove.”
“Hey now,” Darren said. “I’d hardly call it easy. You just have two excellent informants.”
“Very true,” Maelyn said. “He has better taste in retainers than he does in women.”
Kalden groaned. “I’ve tried turning her down. She doesn’t listen.”
Maelyn gave him a look. “What do you expect when you keep leading her on? You two literally have a date planned for next week.”
“I’m not proud of it,” Kalden said. “But it seemed like the most viable tactic.”
“Are we gonna have this same talk on your wedding day?” Darren asked.
“I’m not proud of this marriage,” Maelyn said in a comically deep voice. “But it seemed like the most viable tactic!”
Akari burst out laughing at that. Silvers never picked on Golds this way at school. Not once. Even her own jabs were more like an act of war than friendly banter.
They all spun around to face her.
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Akari snapped her mouth shut and glared back at them. “What?”
“Nothing,” Kalden said with a grin. “I’ve just never heard you laugh before.”
“Sure you have.” Akari tried to cross her arms but found her hands full of plastic bags. “I laugh all the time.”
“You snicker and cackle,” Darren said. “That’s not the same thing.”
“Don’t listen to him.” Maelyn rolled her eyes. “I think you have a cute laugh! You should do it more often.”
Talek. She was never laughing around them again.
They continued walking across the parking lot, and Kalden slowed down until he and Akari were side by side. Darren and Maelyn sped up as if to get out of earshot.
Kalden remained silent for several more steps, then drew in a deep breath. “Hey, I’m sorry about what I said before. To Emberlyn, I mean.”
“Why?” Akari didn’t meet his eyes. “Seemed like the best way to get rid of her.”
“Maybe. But I wouldn’t have stood for it if she’d insulted Maelyn or Darren like that.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not one of your minions. Or retainers—whatever you call them. I don’t want to be one, either.”
“No,” he agreed. “But I do consider you a friend.”
“Oh.” Heat rose to her cheeks, and she still couldn’t meet his eyes. That last word shouldn’t have flustered her so much, but it did. Maybe it was because she hadn’t had a real friend in years. Silvers and Golds had obviously been out of the question, and she couldn’t stand the way her fellow Bronze just quietly accepted their fate. That left her with literally zero options.
Say something, she told herself, before he takes it back.
“Thanks. Um—you too.”
The talk with Emberlyn still rubbed Akari like a stone in her shoe—mostly because it brought their differences back into the light. It also proved how good of a liar Kalden was. He’d ignored his conscience and told Emberlyn exactly what she wanted to hear. What if he was doing the same thing with her, right now?
He saved your life today, she reminded herself. Actions speak louder than words.
“You think she’ll tell anyone?” Akari asked to fill the sudden silence.
“I think I bought us some time,” Kalden replied.
“But Emberlyn wasn’t the only one there.”
He let out a breath and shook his head. “It’s only a matter of time until my mother finds out about this. We’ve always known that would happen.”
Right. Kalden could call them friends for now, but he would cast her aside when the time came. This would all be a game to him in the end. A time of defiance, and some cool stories to tell his kids someday.
They reached The Aftermath a few minutes later. A black sign hung in the window which read ‘WE BUY CORES’ in big bold letters. The inside felt like a strange mix between a butcher and a combat goods store. Solid concrete covered the floor and fluorescent lights flickered in the wooden rafters above.
Maelyn led the way toward the left side of the store, which seemed to handle core processing. The man behind the counter was a Silver Espirian in his mid-twenties. He wore a white apron over his brown T-shirt, and curls of brown hair stuck out the sides of his hat.
“Been here before?” he asked as she approached.
“Yep.” Maelyn poured out the contents of her backpack on a wide, steel table and began unpacking the crystal cores. Akari and the others followed her lead until they’d amassed a large pile.
After that, the worker pushed the cores down a steel ramp toward what looked like a scale. The total appeared on the register’s screen a minute later: 1g, 4s, 95c.
One and a half goldnotes. Three times what she’d lost in Tidegate. Still, she understood why these tunnels weren’t more popular. It took months to earn this much at a minimum-wage job, but restaurant customers didn’t threaten to kill you. Well, they might threaten to, but they probably wouldn’t follow through on it.
Below that was another number which read: 1g, 3s, 46c.
“Top number is store credit,” the man said. “Bottom number’s a payout.”
So, if you spent the money in the store, you got ten percent more? She might as well buy her mana potions here then, assuming they hadn’t jacked up the prices to ridiculous levels.
“We’ll keep it on a tab for now.” Maelyn unzipped her leather vest and dropped it on a table. “We’ll also take four showers, and cleanings for stuff.”
“You got it.” The man pressed some buttons on the register. And just like that, they were down eighty coppernotes.
~~~
To her surprise, the showers were nicer—and more private—than the locker rooms in Elegan High. Akari spent a good fifteen minutes standing under the scalding water, scrubbing the dried blood from her skin.
After that, she continued piling on soap, scrubbing away the scent of Maelyn’s mana. Restoration mana didn’t smell bad exactly. Some people even liked the faint whiff of wood and herbs. But scents carried memories—memories she’d rather forget.
Healing techniques also left no scars behind. Some would have called this a perk, but not her. Real warriors had scars. Without scars, you could say that you’d been wounded in battle, but no one would ever believe you. They could call you crazy, and you couldn’t prove them wrong.
Once she’d dried off, Akari changed back into her school skirt, leggings, and tank top. Her hoodie and jeans were beyond fixing, and she had to throw both items in the locker room’s trash can. At least Maelyn had talked her out of wearing her school uniform today. She only had two of those, and losing one might lead to an awkward talk with her foster parents.
A burst of cool air hit her face as she stepped back onto the sales floor. After a quick lap around the store, she found Maelyn on the mana potion aisle.
“Hey.” The other girl waved as she approached. “The guys are already in the car.”
“Oh. Really?”
She nodded. “Kalden was worried someone would recognize him.”
Well, that was understandable after that surprise run-in with his stalker ex-girlfriend. Or whatever Emberlyn was.
“We still have three and a half silvernotes for you in store credit,” Maelyn said. “And we’ve got some time to look around if you want.”
Akari grabbed a half gallon of liquid mana for starters. She wouldn’t be able to store this bottle in her bedroom, but she already had a backup plan for that.
The used clothing caught her eye next. There wasn’t much on the racks, but she did find a black hoodie in her size.
“Ninety-nine coppernotes?” she blurted out when she read the price tag. “I thought this was used?”
“Well, yeah,” Maelyn said. “Sigils don’t lose their value unless they break. That would be like three or four silvernotes new, so it’s really not a bad deal.”
Sigils? Akari frowned down at the hoodie. Now that Maelyn mentioned it, the fabric did have a slight stiffness to it.
“Try it on if you like it,” Maelyn said.
Akari complied as they both stepped over to the mirror. The fit was actually decent. If anything, it fit her better than her old hoodie. The fabric had some stretchiness, and it clung to her figure much better.
“Is it worth it?” Akari asked the other girl. “You said only rich people buy this stuff.”
Maelyn shrugged. “I guess it depends. A good vest and helmet can protect all your vitals. But I’m not a career hunter. Four years of university, then I’ll be working in a nice safe hospital.”
Plus, Maelyn only thought of combat as something that happened in designated areas where you had enough warning to wear armor. She’d never been attacked in the school bathroom, or in the middle of a crowded train platform.
Akari continued to run her fingers over the black material. It still seemed crazy when she could buy three or four normal tops for the same price. Then again, this could help keep her alive. If her life were a game, this was like an increase in hitpoints. And honestly, who could say no to more hitpoints in a world with no save points or respawning?
“Oh yeah,” Maelyn said. “Once you get better at cycling, you can recharge sigil clothing just by wearing it. Might even help you increase your total mana count in the long run.”
Well, that settled it then. Akari had been hoping for a way to increase her mana during normal activities like walking to school or sitting in class. This sounded perfect for that.
They did one more quick lap around the store as she considered how to spend the rest of her earnings. They passed shoes and boots that let the wearer run faster or jump higher. They passed bikes and skateboards that drew on the rider’s mana for a boost of extra speed, and jewelry with built-in healing Constructs.
Akari had known about these things, but she’d always imagined buying them in some vague, far-off future. Today, they were actually within her price range.
However, this stuff was all situational. It might be useful in her next fight, but Angels only knew when that would be. She needed something that would benefit her on a daily basis—something that would help her long-term growth.
“What did Kalden get?” she asked Maelyn as they walked.
“He spent his full share on liquid mana.”
Not a bad way to go. But Kalden probably had a safe place to keep it all. Akari wasn’t about to invest more money into something that might get stolen. What’s more, Kalden could buy all his clothes at a different store.
They circled back to the jewelry section, and she eyed the mana watches beneath the glass counter. She could practice far more efficiently if she translated her mana growth into actual numbers.
Akari headed that way, but Maelyn held out a hand. “Fair warning—they probably won’t let you try stuff on.”
She frowned. “Because I’m a Bronze?”
The other girl gave an apologetic shrug.
Right. What use would she have for a mana watch? Kalden’s friends had been surprisingly accepting of this whole thing, but the rest of the world wouldn’t be like them.
“If you want something,” Maelyn said, “I could grab it for you.”
“Might as well.” She’d already made up her mind, and Maelyn probably knew more about the best brands and models. It wasn’t like Akari could do much research without a computer.
Five minutes later, she left the store wearing her new hoodie, with her watch and mana potion in a brown paper bag. After all that, she still had twenty-seven coppernotes to spare.
Darren started driving as soon as they were in the car, and Akari opened her new mana watch just as quickly. It was solid black with a fake leather band. The directions said you could wear it on your wrist to get a number while cycling, or you could place it over your chest for a more accurate reading.
Akari unzipped the front of her hoodie and pressed the cold metal to her skin. After holding it there for several seconds, she glanced back at the LCD screen.
“Twenty-nine,” she read aloud. That didn’t seem too bad considering she’d just started training a few weeks ago.
She turned to Maelyn, who sat across from her in the backseat. “What about you?”
“Let’s see.” Maelyn reached out a hand and accepted the watch. “It’s been a while since I’ve used one of these . . .” She pressed the metal part to her wrist and waited. “Ninety-eight.”
No surprise there. Maelyn had been training for years.
The stoplight turned red up ahead, and the car came to a sudden halt.
“Alright, Your Goldship”—Maelyn passed the watch up to the passenger seat—“let’s hear it.”
Kalden fidgeted with it for several seconds. Akari guessed his number would be somewhere between hers and Maelyn’s. He obviously had more mana than her, but—
“Two hundred and ten,” Kalden said.
What the hell?
That was eight times more mana than Akari had. Stranger still, that was twice as much as Maelyn. He must have done it wrong. But when she glanced around the car, no one else seemed surprised.
“Fifty-six,” Darren said as he passed the watch back to Akari.
“What?” Akari spun to face Maelyn. “How? Darren doesn’t even train! And how does Kalden have more than you?”
Maelyn bit her lip.
“What?” Akari demanded. “Another state secret that you can’t share?”
“It’s not a secret,” she said. “Kind of the opposite. I mean—they teach this in school. Golds are born with the most mana. Silvers have the second most, and Bronze have the least.”
Akari slumped her shoulders and sank back in her seat. She’d heard that in school, but she’d always assumed it was propaganda. Silvers and Golds always claimed they had higher mana, but she’d assumed she would prove them wrong.
She flipped the directions over to reveal a diagram of different mana ranges:
Bronze: 0–49
Silver: 50–199
Gold: 200–799
She couldn’t deny it any longer. The four of them really were different, and the ranks had been real all along. That was how Magnus had known she was a Bronze that night in the dojo, and that was how Emberlyn had spotted her today.
They’d seen the mana inside her soul.
Akari clutched the watch in her right hand, feeling a fresh wave of resolve surge through her. So what if the ranks on this island actually meant something? She might have been born with less mana, but that wouldn’t stop her. If anything, this was good news. She knew how to increase her mana, and she had a way to measure her progress.
Best of all, she had a way to prove her power that no one else could refute, and she was already halfway to Silver.