{Daniela}
A resonance stone sat on Daniela's desk, glowing a faint blue.
She pressed two fingers to its surface and waited for the connection to stabilize. The crystal hummed, vibrated once, and then her mother's voice came through, sharp and clear, as if the woman were standing in the room.
"Report."
Daniela sat up straighter. She didn't need to. Her mother couldn't see her, but she did it anyway.
"The first field exercise concluded today. Headmaster Brannick took the inaugural class into the Greenveil for live combat against F-rank monsters. Goblins, primarily."
"And?"
"The students performed adequately. One boy from Ironhold, Vik Carroway, handled his target with no difficulty. He's trained. His family likely sent him for the same reasons mine did." Daniela paused, organizing her thoughts. "The rest are a mix. A competent archer, a beastkin rogue with some real-world experience, a swordswoman with genuine talent. A few mages. Nothing remarkable."
"Nothing remarkable," her mother repeated.
"If Lumendell intended to build soldiers out of these students, they'd have a decent contribution to field operations within a year. Maybe two. But nothing I would flag as a threat to Ironhold's interests."
Silence on the other end. Daniela waited.
"And the instructors?"
"Two confirmed B-rank. One A-rank. The rest are experienced but not noteworthy. The A-rank, Celeste Armitage, is the most capable. Hand-to-hand specialist."
"Noted." Her mother's voice was flat, clipped. Every word measured out like rations. "And? The city itself?"
"What about it?"
"Is it as disgraceful as they say?"
Daniela looked at her dormitory wall.
White stone, clean lines. Through her window, she could see the academy courtyard, the crystal spires of Lumendell beyond the walls. Students were milling around outside, laughing, talking. A pair of fae were chasing each other between the pillars.
"It's different."
"Different." Her mother said the word like it tasted rotten. "Lumendell has always been different. Different is their word for undisciplined. The races mingle and breed there like livestock in a shared pen, and they call it progress."
Daniela didn't respond.
"Well. Hopefully you won't need to endure it much longer. Complete your assessment, file your reports, and come home."
"I understand."
"Do you have questions?"
"No, Mother."
The resonance stone went dark.
Daniela sat at her desk for a moment, looking at it. Then she pulled her notebook from the drawer, opened it to a fresh page, and began writing her formal report.
She listed each student by name, rank estimate, and combat specialty. She noted team compositions, weaknesses, and potential.
She paused when she reached Ashara Valoryn's entry.
The dramari. No weapon, no formal training.
She wrote:
Valoryn, Ashara.
Dramari.
Hand-to-hand (unconventional).
Aura projection: exceptional.
Reinforcement: crude.
Combat experience: none prior to today.
Mana pool: significant.
Overall assessment: undetermined.
She looked at the word for a moment.
Then she closed the notebook and went to bed.
---
{Ashara}
The Adventurer's Guild was loud.
Ashara pushed through the front doors and the noise hit her like a wall. Adventurers packed the main hall, crowding the notice boards, arguing with clerks, and drinking at tables.
She spotted her team near the notice boards.
Mira and Jesse were standing three feet apart, and Mira's ears were pinned flat, and Jesse had his arms crossed, and they were both talking at the same time.
"I'm just saying, if we're doing a mission, we should pick something with good pay—"
"And I'm saying pay doesn't matter if we pick something stupid and die—"
"We're not going to die, Jesse, it's F-rank—"
"You don't know that! F-rank just means the monster we find is expected to be F-rank, the mission could still be—"
Daniela was standing at the notice board, ignoring both of them. Her back was straight, her hands were behind her, and she was reading each posted contract one by one. Top to bottom, left to right.
[Alright.]
Ashara walked over to Daniela. Mira and Jesse kept arguing behind her.
"Hey."
Daniela glanced at her. A brief, measured look.
"Valoryn."
"Ashara's fine." She stopped next to her, close enough to read the board but not so close she was in her space. "We haven't gotten a chance to talk. I figured, since we're teammates for this, we should probably fix that."
"... I suppose. But, there's not much to fix. We have a mission to select and complete."
"Sure, but I don't even know what weapon you use."
Daniela looked at her for a beat.
"I prefer the spear."
"Nice. I punch things."
"I'm aware." Daniela's eyes flicked to Ashara's hands, still bruised and scabbed from yesterday. "I heard about your field exercise."
[Oh god.]
"Yeah, that wasn't my best moment."
"..."
[Okay. So she's not big on chatting. That's fine. I can work with that.]
Ashara studied her profile while Daniela read.
Sharp jaw, high cheekbones, dark hair pulled back tight. She was taller than Ashara by a few inches and carried herself like she'd been measured for a portrait her whole life. Her academy uniform fit her like it had been tailored, which, knowing Ironhold money, it probably had been.
[She's so pretty it's kind of annoying.]
Daniela tapped one of the contracts on the board.
"This one seems suitable."
Ashara leaned in.
The contract read:
GOBLIN NEST — GREENVEIL (EAST SECTOR).
Confirm and clear reported goblin nest.
Estimated 8-12 hostiles.
F-Rank.
Reward: 3 silver per party member.
"Goblins again?" Ashara said.
"You have recent experience with them."
"Yeah, that's one way to put it."
"It's a standard nest clearance. The four of us should be more than sufficient if we coordinate." Daniela pulled the contract off the board. "Unless you have objections."
Ashara looked at the contract, then back at Daniela. Three silver wasn't bad for a first mission. And, yeah, she did have experience with goblins now. Experience in the loosest, ugliest sense of the word.
"Works for me."
"Good." Daniela turned. "Whitepaw. Ashford."
Mira and Jesse stopped mid-argument. Mira's mouth was still open.
"We're taking a goblin nest contract," Daniela said.
Jesse closed his mouth. Mira closed hers.
"Works for me," Jesse said.
Mira narrowed her eyes at Daniela and shrugged.
Daniela walked to the reception counter. Ashara followed with the other two. The clerk, a tall elf woman with short blonde hair (the same one who'd processed Ashara's enrollment, actually), took the contract from Daniela and scanned it.
She paused.
"You're aware another party accepted this contract three days ago?"
Daniela's expression didn't change.
"And?"
"They haven't returned."
"..."
The guild hall noise kept going around them, people laughing, arguing, clinking glasses. The clerk looked at the four of them, one by one, her face professional and blank.
"The contract remains active," she said. "You're free to accept it. You can head out whenever you're ready."
Daniela took the stamped contract back.
"We'll take it."
The clerk filed the paperwork without another word.
[Another party went in and didn't come back.]
She looked at the contract in Daniela's hand. F-Rank. Goblin nest. Estimated 8-12 hostiles.
[Whatever. This will probably be fun, at the very least.]