Chapter 3: Beast and Bitch
The Academy's dawn was a mechanical thing.
A harsh, blue-tinted light flooded the dormitory hall precisely at 0600, accompanied by a chime that felt like needles in Kaelin's skull. She'd barely slept, her mind replaying the crystal's pulse, Saba's whispers, and the suffocating weight of the lies she wore.
"All Cadets, rise and prepare!" a voice barked from wall-mounted speakers. "Assemble in the Central Courtyard in twenty minutes for your final preliminary trial. Field attire is provided."
At the foot of each bunk, a locker hissed open. Inside was a uniform: sturdy black pants, a form-fitting gray shirt with thin blue crystal-thread circuits running along the seams, and a pair of heavy, gripper-soled boots. It was lightweight but tough, clearly designed for mobility and light protection.
Kaelin changed quickly in the communal washroom, avoiding eye contact with the other girls. Their chatter was a mix of nervous excitement and bravado.
"My brother said the field trial is always beast-hunting. Basic Tier-1s, but still!"
"I heard they give you a training weapon.A real one!"
"My Affinity is Thermal-Spike.I'm going to fry me a Scuttler!"
Kaelin kept silent, splashing cold water on her face. Her reflection looked back at her paler than usual, shadows under her green eyes. Kaelin Vance, she told herself.
[SYSTEM INTERFACE: ACTIVE]
[STATUS: FATIGUE DETECTED. RECOMMEND NUTRITIONAL INTAKE.]
[NEW DIRECTIVE: FINAL PRELIMINARY TRIAL – IMMINENT.]
In the courtyard, the hopefuls from yesterday had transformed into three hundred anxious cadets in identical uniforms. They stood in ragged lines under the morning sun. Proctor Valerius's hologram was back, shimmering with enthusiasm.
"Cadets! Congratulations on passing the Aptitude Practical. Today, you face the reality of our world. Beyond the Wall, the land is wild, and it is populated by creatures born of unstable energy Beasts. They are a threat, but also a resource. Their cores are the raw crystals that power our civilization!"
He gestured grandly. Along the courtyard's edge, a series of racks slid up from the ground. On them were weapons but not the sleek rifles of the Enforcers. These were basic, functional tools: crystalline-tipped spears, short blades with dull beast-crystal edges, compact energy bows.
"Today, you will be transported to a contained, secured hunting ground within the Wall's perimeter. You will face Tier-1 Scuttlers. Your objective: harvest one raw crystal core. You may work in pairs or alone. Success means confirmation of your Cadetship and assignment to your permanent training cohort. Failure means… reconsideration of your place here."
A cold ripple went through the crowd. Reconsideration. A polite word for expulsion. Or worse.
"Pair up or select solo. Arm yourselves. Transports depart in five minutes."
Chaos erupted as cadets scrambled for weapons and partners. Kaelin stood frozen, her eyes scanning for Saba. She spotted him already at the weapon rack, picking up two short, heavy blades with dark crystal edges. He caught her eye and gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod toward the forest of scrambling bodies. Not now.
They couldn't pair up openly. It would draw too much attention. They were supposed to be orphans from the same place, not allies.
"You. Vance, right?"
A girl stepped in front of Kaelin. She was tall, with a sleek ponytail of honey-colored hair and sharp, assessing eyes. Her uniform looked like it had been tailored. "Lyra," she said, not offering a last name. "Affinity: Force-Wall. Tier 2." She said it like a challenge. "You're the Energy Manipulator. The 'marginally' one."
Kaelin said nothing, just met the girl's gaze.
"I need a partner who can do something offensive. My walls are pure defense," Lyra stated, her tone making it sound like an order, not a request. "You can apparently push energy. That'll do. Let's go."
It was the worst possible scenario. A partner who looked at her like a tool, and who would watch her closely. But refusing would also draw attention.
"Fine," Kaelin said, her voice flat.
They moved to the weapon rack. Lyra selected a slender, crystal-tipped rapier. Kaelin's hands hovered over the options. Her System flickered, analyzing.
[WEAPONS ANALYSIS:]
- CRYSTAL-TIPPED SPEAR: LONG REACH. GOOD FOR KEEPING DISTANCE. REQUIRES TECHNIQUE.
- ENERGY BOW: PROJECTILE. LOW POWER OUTPUT. RELIES ON USER'S ENERGY TO CHARGE.
- SHORT BLADES: CLOSE QUARTERS. SUPPLEMENTAL TO ABILITY USE.
She chose the blades. They felt familiar in her hands not like Saba's hammer, but the weight was solid, the crystal edges humming with a faint, latent power.
A shrill whistle blew. They were herded onto large, open-air hover-transports. The vehicles lifted with a low hum, gliding over the Academy walls and into a sector of the city Kaelin had never seen: a vast, walled preserve of artificial wilderness. The "secured" hunting ground.
They landed on the edge of a dense, synthetic forest. The air smelled of damp earth and ozone. A series of glowing force-field pylons marked a large circular boundary.
"The trial zone!" an instructor shouted from the transport. "Scuttlers are concentrated in the central thicket. You have two hours. Harvest a core and return to the extraction point. Begin!"
The cadets surged forward. Lyra moved with purpose, heading off the main path. "This way. The packs will follow the noise. We find a lone one."
Kaelin followed, her senses on high alert, her System scanning the environment.
[ENVIRONMENT: SIMULATED FOREST BIOME.]
[FLORA: GENETICALLY ENGINEERED. 89% NON-NATIVE.]
[FAUNA SIGNATURES DETECTED: MULTIPLE LOW-ENERGY LIFE-FORMS. ONE PREDATORY PATTERN – APPROXIMATING 'SCUTTLER'.]
[DIRECTION: 30 DEGREES NORTH-NORTHEAST. MOVING.]
"There," Kaelin said softly, pointing toward a dense patch of large, fern-like leaves that were shivering.
Lyra glanced at her, surprised, then nodded. They crept forward.
The Scuttler emerged from the ferns, and Kaelin's breath caught.
It was the size of a large dog, but built low to the ground like a badger, armored in overlapping plates of chitinous, rock-like material. Six multi-jointed legs ended in sharp, digging claws. Its head was a nightmare of tusks and a single, central eye that glowed with a malevolent yellow light. In the center of its chest, visible through a gap in the armor, pulsed a small, raw, muddy-yellow crystal its core.
[TARGET IDENTIFIED: TIER-1 EARTH-SCUTTLER.]
[DEFENSE: HIGH (CHITIN ARMOR).]
[ATTACK PATTERN: BURROW/AMBUSH. PRIMARY WEAPON: TUSKS AND CLAWS.]
[WEAKNESS: UNDERSIDE. JOINT BETWEEN HEAD AND THORAX. CORE IS EXPOSED BUT PROTECTED BY A BONE RING.]
"Plan," Lyra whispered, raising her rapier. "I wall it. You go in and strike the core. Don't miss."
Before Kaelin could respond, the Scuttler's eye fixed on them. It let out a chittering hiss and charged, moving with shocking speed for its bulk.
Lyra thrust her hands forward. "Barrier!"
A shimmering, semi-transparent plane of distorted air snapped into existence between them and the beast. The Scuttler slammed into it headfirst. The wall held, but Lyra grunted, her feet sliding back in the dirt. "Now!"
Kaelin darted around the edge of the force-wall. The Scuttler was dazed, shaking its head. She raised a blade, aiming for the glowing core.
But the beast recovered fast. It twisted, its front claw lashing out in a blur. Kaelin barely managed to bring her blade up to block. The impact was jarring, sending a shock up her arm. She stumbled back.
"It's too fast!" she yelled.
"Then hit it harder!" Lyra snapped, her voice strained. The force-wall was flickering.
Kaelin's mind raced. Brute force wouldn't work. She needed to use her Ability, but subtly. She couldn't repeat the light show from the Affinity test.
As the Scuttler turned to charge her again, she focused. Not on a wave. On a pinpoint. She imagined a needle of force.
She dropped one blade, held out her free hand, and pushed but with a tight, controlled focus, directing all the energy into a single, invisible point on the joint between the beast's head and body, the weakness her System had highlighted.
There was no visible light. Just a sharp crack.
The Scuttler screeched, its charge faltering as its head jerked sideways at a wrong angle. It was stunned.
Lyra didn't hesitate. Her force-wall vanished, and she lunged with her rapier, the crystal tip aimed true. It struck the bone ring around the core, skidded, and with a crunch, slipped past it, piercing the glowing yellow crystal.
The light in the beast's eye died instantly. It collapsed into a heap of armored limbs.
Lyra yanked her blade free, holding up the small, cracked, dirty-yellow crystal core. A triumphant, arrogant smile spread across her face. "See? Efficiency."
Kaelin stood panting, her hand throbbing from the controlled energy release. Her System registered the result.
[TARGET NEUTRALIZED. CORE HARVESTED.]
[ENERGY EXPENDITURE: MODERATE. EFFICIENCY: 58%.]
[OBSERVATION: PARTNER (LYRA) COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS – HIGH. TRUST LEVEL – LOW.]
"Let's go," Lyra said, pocketing the core. "We're done here."
The extraction point was chaos. Some cadets returned triumphant, holding up cores. Others were empty-handed, faces etched with shame or fear. A few were injured, being tended to by med-bots.
Saba was already there, leaning casually against a tree, a small blue core tossing in his hand. He saw Kaelin and Lyra, his eyes lingering on Kaelin for a fraction of a second a silent question. She gave a tiny nod. I'm okay.
Their cores were scanned by an instructor. "Vance and… Lyra. Earth-Scuttler core. Confirmed. Proceed to transport."
Back at the Academy, they were assembled once more in the courtyard. Proctor Valerius beamed.
"Outstanding! Today, you have taken your first step as true defenders. Those who have succeeded, welcome to your new home. You will now be assigned to your permanent dormitory suites and your training cohorts."
A new list was projected. Kaelin found her name.
VANCE, KAELIN – COHORT: OMEGA. DORM SUITE: 7 – BED 2.
SUITEMATE: LYRA.
Her heart sank. Of course.
The massive dormitory hall was left behind. They were led to a newer wing of the Academy a corridor of individual doors. Suite 7 was a small, rectangular room with two narrow beds, two footlockers, two desks, and a single, narrow window looking out onto a training field. It was sparse, but it was private.
Lyra strode in first, dropping her pack on the bed by the window the better bed. "I'll take this side," she announced, as if it weren't obvious. She looked at Kaelin, her earlier utilitarian neutrality now edged with a cool disdain. "You held your own today. Barely. Don't expect me to carry you in training. This is a partnership of convenience. Nothing more."
Kaelin placed her blades on her own, inferior bed. She met Lyra's gaze, letting none of her exhaustion or anxiety show. "I don't expect anything from you," she said, her voice quiet but clear.
Lyra studied her for a long moment, then smirked. "Good. Then we understand each other."
She turned her back and began unpacking her few, perfectly folded belongings.
Kaelin sat on her own bed, the silence in the room thick and hostile. She looked out the small window. In the distance, she could see the outer Wall, a line of impossible height against the sky.
She was in. She had passed. She had a roof, a bed, and a path to grow stronger.
And she was locked in a tiny room with a girl who saw her as a useful insect, in the heart of the empire that wanted her dead.
Her System flickered a final, quiet update as dusk settled over the Academy.
[TRIAL COMPLETE. CADET STATUS CONFIRMED.]
[NEW ENVIRONMENT: PERMANENT DORMITORY. SUITEMATE IDENTIFIED – POTENTIAL ANTAGONIST.]
[WARNING: INCREASED VIGILANCE REQUIRED. GROWTH PARAMETERS MAY NOW BE INITIATED.]
Growth. That was the point. To grow strong enough in this gilded cage to one day break its bars.
Outside, a shadow passed by the window a figure crossing the training field, looking up. Saba. He didn't stop, didn't wave. But he'd seen her. He knew where she was.
She wasn't entirely alone.
Kaelin lay back on the stiff mattress, listening to Lyra's precise movements, and began to plan for tomorrow.