The engine of my superbike roared to life, a deep, resonant hum of runes and mana that cut through the early morning mist. Cool wind brushed against my face as the towering, gothic spires of the Academy loomed ahead, their highest points catching the first, faint light of dawn.
And for once—I was smiling.
I hadn't had a start to a day like this in… well, ever. Not in this life, and certainly not in the last. There were no impending sword fights, no clandestine war councils, no shadow-spawn calamities clawing their way through the tattered edges of my sanity.
Just me, a magnificent machine of pride and engineering, and a rare, profound sense of clarity.
I was going to make money.
Lots of it.
