The drone arrived at exactly 6:00 AM on a Tuesday morning, hovering outside the fourth-floor window like a mechanical vulture.
Arjun was already awake—he'd given up on sleeping through the night about a week ago. Every time he closed his eyes, he heard whispers. Every time he looked at his right hand, he saw faint black veins pulsing beneath the skin.
"DELIVERY FOR ARJUN RATHORE, ANIKA RATHORE, AND RAJESH MALHOTRA," the drone announced in its flat mechanical voice. "MILITARY CORRESPONDENCE. SIGNATURES REQUIRED."
Arjun shot out of bed. *All three of them?*
He yanked open the window. The drone scanned his face with a red laser, beeped confirmation, and dispensed three cream-colored envelopes sealed with the Military crest.
Then it flew away.
Arjun stared at the envelopes.
One had his name. One had Anika's. One had Raj's.
"What the hell?" Anika appeared in the doorway, already dressed in cargo pants and a tank top despite the early hour. Her short hair stuck up in wild directions. "Did that thing just say my name?"
"Yeah." Arjun handed her the envelope with shaking hands. "And Raj's."
She tore hers open immediately. Arjun did the same.
Inside was an official letter on heavy paper:
---
**MILITARY REQUISITION NOTICE**
**To: Anika Rathore (Age 15) and Rajesh Malhotra (Age 16)**
Per the Aetherian Defense Act Section 7, Subsection 18 (Latent Awakening Protocol), all individuals showing **dormant Aether signatures** are hereby conscripted for mandatory evaluation and potential Core activation.
You have been assigned to:
**RESONANCE BASE 1**
**Reporting Date: March 15th, 1026 A.Q.**
**Duration: Evaluation period (2 weeks), followed by 24 months service if awakening is successful**
**Note:** This is not optional. Failure to report will result in arrest and crystal confiscation of family members.
**General Paul Snealleart, Commander of Base 1**
Arjun read it twice, his brain struggling to process.
"Dormant Aether signatures," Anika said slowly, still staring at her letter. "What the fuck does that mean?"
"It means..." Arjun's throat was dry. "It means they think you and Raj can awaken. That you have magic, but it just hasn't... activated yet."
"That's a thing?"
"Apparently."
They stood in silence for a moment.
"We need to tell Raj," Anika said finally.
They found Raj at the community kitchen at 7:30 AM, already elbow-deep in dough for what looked like approximately forty parathas.
"Stress baking," he explained without looking up. "Mrs. Patel's grandson is getting married next week and she asked if I could make—why are you both staring at me like someone died?"
"No one died," Arjun said quickly. "But, uh... sit down."
"I'm kneading—"
"Sit. Down."
Raj, looking genuinely worried now, wiped his hands on his apron and sat. Anika handed him the envelope.
He opened it.
Read it.
Went very, very pale.
"No," he said quietly.
"Raj—"
"No. This is a mistake. I'm Veilborn. I didn't awaken at the ceremony. I can't just... you can't just suddenly awaken at sixteen, that's not how it works—"
"Apparently it is how it works," Anika interrupted. "Says right there: 'Latent Awakening Protocol.' They've been scanning people for dormant signatures."
"But I don't *feel* magical." Raj looked down at his hands like they'd betrayed him. "I feel extremely regular. Average. Magicless."
"The letter says you have a dormant signature," Arjun said gently. "That means the potential is there. They just need to... activate it."
"How?"
"I don't know. But we're all going together." Arjun tried to smile. "The three of us. Just like you wanted."
Raj's eyes went very bright. "I wanted us to stay together because you got into the military and we'd visit on weekends and it would be hard but manageable. I did NOT want to be conscripted into a murder school for baby mages."
"It's not a murder school—"
"General Kapoor literally said some of us would die!"
"That was probably an exaggeration—"
"WAS IT THOUGH?"
Anika reached over and smacked Raj on the back of the head. Not hard—affectionately. "Stop spiraling. You're going. I'm going. Arjun's going. We do this together or not at all."
Raj took a shaky breath. "Okay. Okay. Together." He looked at the letter again. "It says we report in three days."
"Yeah."
"Three days to prepare for magic boot camp."
"Yep."
"I'm going to stress-bake so much bread."
"We know."
They spent the next two days preparing.
The Military provided a list of required items:
- 3 sets of training clothes (they'd be issued uniforms, but needed basics)
- Toiletries (soap, toothbrush, etc.)
- One personal bag (maximum 15kg)
- Any medications or medical records
What the Military did *not* provide was money to buy these things.
"Okay," Anika said, spreading their combined savings on the kitchen table. "We have two hundred forty credits total. Arjun needs boots because his are held together with tape. Raj needs... pretty much everything because he's been living in the same three hoodies for two years. And I need—"
"Nothing," Raj interrupted. "I don't need anything. I'm fine."
"You're not fine. Your toothbrush is older than our friendship."
"It still works!"
"Raj, it's GREEN. Not mint green. MOLD green."
Arjun rubbed his temples. "Okay. New plan. We go to the Veilborn market, buy the absolute minimum, and save the rest for emergencies."
"Define 'emergencies,'" Anika said.
"I don't know. What if Base 1 has terrible food and we need to bribe someone for real meals?"
"That's not how the Military works—"
"You don't know that."
They went to the market.
---
The Veilborn market was a sprawling mess of stalls and shouting vendors selling everything from fake crystals to stolen Military gear. It smelled like fried food, unwashed bodies, and desperation.
Arjun had been coming here since he was eight. He knew which vendors were honest (three of them) and which would sell you garbage and disappear before you realized (everyone else).
They hit the clothing stalls first.
"Three sets of training clothes," Arjun told the vendor—an old woman named Mrs. Gupta who'd sold his mother vegetables back when his parents were alive. "Cheap but functional."
Mrs. Gupta squinted at them. "You three going to Base 1?"
"How did you—"
"Everyone knows, beta. The whole district's talking about it. The Rathore kids and the Malhotra boy, conscripted together." She pulled out three bundles of gray fabric. "These are secondhand, but clean. Fifty credits total."
"That's half our budget—"
"Forty-five, because I like you." Mrs. Gupta's expression softened. "Your mother was a good woman. She deserves better than her children going to war in rags."
Arjun's throat tightened. "Thank you."
They bought the clothes.
Next: toiletries. Soap, toothbrushes (Raj got a VERY pointed look from Anika), towels, basic first aid supplies. Another thirty credits.
Next: boots for Arjun. He tried on six pairs before finding some that fit and didn't immediately fall apart. Fifty credits.
Next: a duffel bag big enough for all of Raj's stress-baked goods. Twenty credits.
Total spent: 145 credits.
Remaining: 95 credits.
"Okay," Anika said as they headed home, arms full of bags. "We survived shopping. Now we just have to survive Military school."
"Easy," Raj said weakly.
"You're a terrible liar," Arjun said.
"I know."
The night before they left, the three of them sat on the roof of their apartment building, sharing a thermos of chai Raj had made and watching the barrier wards shimmer in the distance.
Neo-Mumbai glowed like a jewel on the horizon—glass towers, floating platforms, holographic advertisements. From here, it looked beautiful. From here, you couldn't see the Fracture Zones or the Crimson District slums or the reality of a world slowly dying.
"I'm scared," Raj said suddenly.
Anika glanced at him. "Yeah. Me too."
"Me three," Arjun admitted.
They sat in silence for a moment.
"What if I don't awaken?" Raj continued quietly. "What if they scan me and find out it was a mistake, and I'm just... regular Veilborn? What if I get sent back here and you two are at Base 1 without me?"
"Then we'll visit every weekend," Anika said firmly. "And when we graduate, we'll get you out of Crimson District anyway. You're not getting rid of us that easy."
"But what if I do awaken?" Raj's voice dropped to a whisper. "What if I get magic and I'm terrible at it? What if I hurt someone? What if I hurt you?"
Arjun reached over and gripped Raj's shoulder. "You won't."
"You don't know that."
"I know you. You're the kindest person I've ever met. Even if you awaken something dangerous, you'd never hurt anyone on purpose."
Raj's eyes were wet. "What if it's not on purpose?"
No one had an answer for that.
Anika pulled her knees to her chest. "I'm scared I'll awaken something weak. Like... I don't know, the ability to make flowers grow or some shit. And everyone will laugh at me."
"No one's going to laugh at you," Arjun said.
"You don't know that either."
"Okay, true. But if they do, I'll electrocute them."
That got a small smile.
"What about you?" Raj asked Arjun. "What are you scared of?"
Arjun looked at his right hand—the one that pulsed with black light when he wasn't paying attention. The one with veins spreading slowly up his wrist.
*I'm scared I'm already dying.*
*I'm scared the Void is going to consume me.*
*I'm scared I'll hurt you both and won't be able to stop it.*
"I'm scared of failing," he said instead. "Of letting you guys down."
"You won't," Anika said immediately.
"You don't know—"
"We know," she and Raj said in unison.
They finished the chai in comfortable silence, and at midnight, they went inside.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
The train ride to Base 1 was surreal.
Arjun, Anika, and Raj sat together in the back of the passenger car, surrounded by dozens of other recruits—some awakened, some dormant signatures like Raj and Anika.
Most of the awakened mages sat together in the front, chatting confidently about their affinities and levels. Most of the dormants clustered in the back, nervous and quiet.
"This is some bullshit segregation," Anika muttered, glaring at the awakened group. "We're all going to the same place."
"Let them have their moment," Arjun said. "They'll be just as terrified as us once training starts."
Raj was stress-eating a bag of samosas he'd made that morning. "Do you think the food at Base 1 is good?"
"Probably not."
"That's what I thought." He pulled out another samosa. "I made sixty of these. We're sharing them strategically to make friends."
"That's... actually smart," Anika admitted.
"I know. I'm a genius."
The train descended into the tunnel network, and twenty minutes later, they arrived.
---
**Resonance Base 1** was even more massive than Arjun remembered from his awakening ceremony.
The main gate was forty feet tall, flanked by guard towers with automated turrets. The walls were reinforced concrete topped with razor wire and shimmering barrier wards. Beyond the gate, the base sprawled across kilometers: training fields, dormitory towers, obstacle courses, and in the distance, the portals—green, orange, and one heavily guarded red—leading to Fracture Zones.
This wasn't a school. This was a fortress.
"Holy shit," Raj whispered.
"Language," Anika said automatically, but she looked just as stunned.
They filed off the train with two hundred other recruits and were immediately herded into lines by bored-looking Military personnel.
"AWAKENED MAGES TO THE LEFT!" a soldier shouted through a megaphone. "DORMANT SIGNATURES TO THE RIGHT! IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHICH YOU ARE, FIGURE IT OUT FAST!"
Arjun hesitated, then moved left.
Anika and Raj moved right.
They exchanged one last look before the crowds separated them.
"See you soon," Arjun mouthed.
Anika nodded. Raj looked like he might throw up.
Then they were gone, swallowed by the crowd.
The awakened mages were processed first.
Arjun stood in line for forty-five minutes, had his identification scanned, his Core measured (Bolt, Level 2—the scanner didn't detect the Void, thank God), and was handed a packet containing:
- Dormitory assignment (Tower C, Room 407)
- Meal vouchers (three per day)
- Training schedule (started tomorrow at 05:00)
- Rule book (thirty pages, single-spaced)
"Next!" the processing officer barked.
Arjun moved along.
---
**Tower C, Room 407** was a small box with four beds, four lockers, and one tiny window overlooking the training fields.
Three of the beds were already claimed.
Arjun took the remaining one—top bunk in the corner—and started unpacking.
"Hey."
He turned.
One of his new roommates stood there—a tall, broad-shouldered guy with dark skin and a shaved head. He wore expensive-looking clothes and had the confident posture of someone who'd never worried about money.
"You're Bolt, right?" the guy said. "I saw your processing form. Level 2?"
"Yeah."
"Cool. I'm **Karan Mehta**. Terra and Aqua, both Level 4." He said it casually, like dual affinities were no big deal. "That's **Dev**—" he pointed at a skinny kid with glasses reading on the bottom bunk, "—he's Flame, Level 3. And that's **Aarav**—" he pointed at a guy doing push-ups in the corner, "—Gale, Level 5."
Aarav didn't stop doing push-ups. "Forty-seven... forty-eight... hey... forty-nine..."
"He's intense," Karan said. "You'll get used to it."
Dev looked up from his book. "Are you the guy who broke the Echo Stone?"
Arjun's stomach sank. "Uh. Yeah."
"That's so cool," Dev said enthusiastically. "Everyone's talking about it. How'd you do it?"
"I... don't know. It just happened."
"Weird." Dev went back to his book.
Karan flopped onto his bed. "So, Crimson District, right? I heard that's pretty rough."
"It's fine," Arjun said carefully.
"No offense, but it doesn't look fine. Your boots are held together with duct tape."
Arjun looked down at his boots. Karan wasn't wrong.
"Anyway," Karan continued, "we're roommates now, so we might as well get along. House rules: no stealing, no fighting, and if you snore, I'm smothering you with a pillow."
"I don't snore."
"Good. Because I wasn't joking."
Aarav finished his set. "One hundred. New record."
"No one cares, Aarav," Karan said.
"You will when I'm Archon-tier and you're still struggling with basic spells."
"I have dual affinities. I'm already better than you."
"Dual affinities don't matter if you're lazy."
"I'm not lazy, I'm efficient."
Dev sighed. "They do this every day. You'll get used to it."
Arjun unpacked in silence and tried not to think about Anika and Raj, somewhere else in this massive base, probably just as overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Base 1...
Anika and Raj were processed into the **Dormant Wing**—a separate section of barracks reserved for recruits who hadn't awakened yet.
The processing officer was a middle-aged woman with a perpetual scowl.
"Name," she barked.
"Anika Rathore."
The officer scanned her ID. "Age fifteen. No awakening on record. Dormant signature detected: moderate strength. You'll undergo Core Activation in two days. Next."
"Rajesh Malhotra."
Scan. "Age sixteen. No awakening. Dormant signature detected: high strength." The officer paused, looking at Raj with interest. "Interesting. You should've awakened naturally at sixteen. Either you're a late bloomer or your Core is suppressed. We'll find out soon enough. Next."
They were handed packets identical to Arjun's, except their training schedules were different:
- **Days 1-2:** Physical conditioning and meditation
- **Day 3:** Core Activation Ceremony
- **Days 4-14:** Affinity training (if activation successful)
"Core Activation Ceremony?" Raj whispered as they left the processing area. "That sounds ominous."
"Everything here sounds ominous," Anika muttered.
They found their dormitories.
Anika was assigned to **Tower F, Room 203** (all-female wing). Raj was assigned to **Tower F, Room 304** (all-male wing, same building).
"At least we're in the same tower," Raj said hopefully.
"Yeah. Small mercies."
**Tower F, Room 203** housed four girls, all dormant signatures.
When Anika walked in, three of them were already there, unpacking and chatting nervously.
"Oh! Hi!" one of them said brightly. She was short—maybe five-foot-two—with long black hair in a braid and an infectious smile. "I'm **Priya**! Priya Sharma. Are you our fourth roommate?"
"Uh, yeah. Anika Rathore."
"Great! This is **Leela**—" she pointed at a tall girl with short hair and multiple ear piercings, "—and **Kavya**." The third girl, dark-skinned with sharp features, gave a small wave.
"Nice to meet you," Anika said, dropping her bag on the remaining bed.
"So," Priya said, bouncing slightly, "what do you think your affinity will be? I'm hoping for Flame or Lumina. Something flashy. Leela wants Terra because she likes the idea of punching things with rock fists. Kavya's betting on Aqua because she's always been good at swimming—"
"I don't think that's how it works," Kavya interrupted dryly.
"You don't *know* that."
"Pretty sure I do."
Anika almost smiled. "I don't know what I'll get. Honestly, I just don't want to embarrass myself."
"Same," Leela said. "I'm mostly worried I'll awaken something useless and get sent back home."
"They wouldn't do that," Priya said quickly. "The letter said we'd get full training regardless of affinity."
"The letter also said some of us would die, so forgive me for not trusting it completely."
That killed the conversation.
They unpacked in silence for a while.
Then Priya said, "Hey, Anika? Your last name is Rathore. Are you related to the guy who broke the Echo Stone? Arjun Rathore?"
Anika tensed. "He's my brother."
All three girls stared at her.
"Your brother is the Echo Stone guy?" Leela said. "The one everyone's talking about?"
"Yeah."
"Is he really as strong as people say?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Anika's jaw tightened. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Sorry," Priya said quickly. "I didn't mean to pry."
"It's fine."
It wasn't fine, but Anika didn't have the energy to explain.
She finished unpacking, climbed into her bunk (bottom, thank God), and stared at the ceiling.
Somewhere in this base, Arjun was probably doing the same thing.
She hoped he was okay.
**Tower F, Room 304** was chaos.
Raj walked in to find his three roommates in the middle of what appeared to be a heated argument about the correct way to fold socks.
"—military corners, you fold them INSIDE each other—"
"That's inefficient! You should roll them!"
"Rolling creates creases!"
"WHO CARES ABOUT CREASES—"
They all stopped when they noticed Raj standing in the doorway.
"Oh. Hey." One of them—a lanky guy with wild curly hair—waved. "You're our fourth?"
"Uh, yeah. Rajesh Malhotra. Call me Raj."
"Cool. I'm **Nikhil**." He pointed at the others. "That's **Sameer**—the one who's wrong about socks—and **Aditya**, who doesn't have an opinion because he's boring."
"I'm not boring," Aditya protested. "I'm practical."
"Same thing."
Raj dropped his bag on the unclaimed bed and immediately noticed something.
The room smelled like food.
"Are you guys... cooking?" he asked.
"Technically no," Nikhil said. "But Sameer smuggled in a hot plate and we've been making instant noodles."
"That's against the rules," Aditya said.
"Aditya's a narc," Sameer said cheerfully. "Ignore him."
Raj's eyes lit up. "You have a hot plate? Can I use it ?
"Sure, but we only have instant noodles—"
Raj pulled a container from his bag. "I have samosas."
Dead silence.
"Did you say samosas?" Nikhil whispered.
"Sixty of them. Homemade."
"Marry me," Sameer said immediately.
"I don't even know you."
"Irrelevant. Anyone who stress-bakes sixty samosas is my soulmate."
"I'm not stress-baking, I'm strategically preparing for social bonding—"
"SAME THING."
They devoured twenty samosas in ten minutes.
"Okay," Nikhil said through a mouthful of potato filling, "you're officially my favorite roommate."
"We just met."
"And yet." Nikhil grinned. "So what do you think you'll awaken? I'm betting on Terra for myself. Sameer thinks he'll get Flame. Aditya refuses to speculate because he's—"
"—practical," Aditya finished. "I'll take whatever I get and train accordingly."
"Boring," Nikhil and Sameer said in unison.
Raj settled onto his bed, stomach full of samosas and surrounded by idiots, and thought:
Maybe this won't be so bad.
The next morning, at 05:00 sharp, every recruit—awakened and dormant alike—was summoned to Assembly Hall Sigma.
Arjun found Anika and Raj in the crowd and nearly tackled them both.
"You're alive," he said, gripping Raj's shoulders.
"Barely," Raj said. "My roommates are insane. One of them tried to do two hundred push-ups before breakfast and passed out."
"Mine argued about socks for an hour," Raj said.
"Mine are actually pretty cool," Anika admitted. "One of them asked if I was related to you."
"What'd you say?"
"That you're my idiot brother and I'm stuck with you."
"Heartwarming."
They found seats together near the middle of the hall—far enough back to not be conspicuous, close enough to see the stage.
General Kapoor strode out at exactly 05:15.
The hall fell silent.
"Good morning," she said, her voice carrying effortlessly. "Welcome to Base 1. Some of you awakened two weeks ago. Some of you are here hoping to awaken. All of you are here because you have potential. My job is to turn that potential into something useful."
She began pacing the stage.
"Let me be very clear about what you're signing up for. The next two years will be the hardest of your life. You will be pushed beyond your limits. You will fail. You will bleed. Some of you will break bones. Some of you will suffer Aether Burns. And yes—" she paused for effect, "—some of you will die."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"Fracture Zones are not safe," Kapoor continued. "Echo Beasts do not care that you're sixteen. They do not care that you're new. They will kill you if given the chance. Your training here is designed to prevent that. Pay attention. Work hard. Don't be stupid."
She stopped center stage.
"For those of you who haven't awakened yet: in two days, you'll undergo Core Activation. This is a forced awakening using concentrated Aether infusion. It's painful. It's dangerous. Ten percent of you will fail to awaken. Of those who do awaken, ninety percent will get standard affinities. The remaining ten percent will get rare or dangerous affinities."
Raj grabbed Arjun's hand under the seats. Arjun squeezed back.
"If you awaken," Kapoor said, "you stay for two years of training. If you don't, you're sent home with a compensation payment and our thanks for trying. Either way, you're all here for the next forty-eight hours."
She clasped her hands behind her back.
"Questions?"
A hand shot up near the front. Arjun recognized the perfectly styled hair.
Vikram Sehgal.
"Yes, Cadet Sehgal," Kapoor said, clearly already familiar with him.
"Ma'am, what's the success rate for dual affinity awakenings during forced activation?"
"Less than one percent."
"And triple affinities?"
"There are currently seven known triple-affinity users worldwide. None of them awakened through forced activation. Don't get your hopes up."
Vikram sat down, looking smug anyway.
Another hand. A girl Arjun didn't recognize.
"Ma'am, what happens if we awaken something dangerous? Like Void or Psyche?"
"Void users are monitored closely but allowed to train. Psyche users are immediately transferred to specialized suppression facilities." Kapoor's expression hardened. "We don't train mind-readers here."
The girl who'd asked looked relieved.
"Any other questions?"
No hands.
"Good. Dismissed. Awakened recruits, report to Training Field Alpha. Dormants, report to Meditation Hall Beta. Move."
Two thousand teenagers stood and shuffled toward their respective destinations.
Arjun hugged Anika and Raj one more time.
"See you in two days," he said.
"Don't die before then," Anika replied.
"You too."
They separated.
And for the first time in their lives, the trio was truly apart.
DAY 1 – MEDITATION HELL (Anika and Raj's Perspective)
Meditation Hall Beta was a massive room with polished stone floors, no furniture, and way too much incense.
Two hundred dormant recruits sat cross-legged in rows, looking confused and uncomfortable.
At the front of the hall stood their instructor: Master Yuki Tanaka, a tiny Japanese woman who looked about seventy years old and radiated the energy of someone who could kill you with a chopstick.
"Meditation," she said in a soft, lilting voice, "is the foundation of Core Activation. Your Aether Core exists in your soul, not your body. To awaken it, you must first find it."
She began walking between the rows.
"Close your eyes. Breathe. Look inward."
Two hundred recruits closed their eyes.
Anika tried to focus. She really did.
But all she could think about was:
What if I don't awaken?
What if I get sent home?
What if Arjun and Raj stay here and I'm alone in Crimson District?
"Stop thinking," Master Tanaka said, suddenly directly behind her.
Anika jumped.
"Your mind is loud," Tanaka continued. "Louder than a thunderstorm. Quiet it."
"How?"
"Practice."
Helpful.
Across the room, Raj was having a similar crisis.
He sat cross-legged, eyes closed, trying desperately to "look inward," whatever that meant.
But all he felt was... himself. His body. His weight pressing into the floor. The ache in his knees from sitting wrong.
This is pointless, he thought. I don't have magic. I'm just fat and useless and—
"STOP."
Master Tanaka was in front of him now.
"You," she said, poking him in the chest, "are lying to yourself."
"I'm not—"
"You are. I can feel your Core from here. It's strong. Dormant, yes, but strong. The only thing holding you back is you."
Raj stared at her. "I... I don't understand."
"You will. Keep breathing. Look deeper."
She moved on.
Raj closed his eyes again.
And this time, just for a second, he felt something.
A warmth in his chest. Faint. Distant.
But there.
They meditated for six hours.
Six. Hours.
By the end, Anika's legs were numb, Raj had fallen asleep twice (and been smacked awake by Master Tanaka's stick both times), and half the recruits were crying from frustration.
"Tomorrow," Tanaka said as they filed out, "we do this again. And the day after, you awaken. Prepare yourselves."
"I hate her," Anika muttered.
"She hit me with a stick," Raj agreed.
"Twice."
"TWICE."
They stumbled to the cafeteria, found a table, and collapsed.
Priya and Leela joined them moments later, looking equally destroyed.
"That," Priya said, "was the worst thing I've ever experienced."
"And we have to do it again tomorrow," Leela groaned.
Nikhil and Sameer appeared, trays loaded with food.
"Yo, Raj!" Nikhil said, sitting down. "Survived day one?"
"Barely."
"Same. My instructor made us hold a plank position for twenty minutes. I thought my arms were going to fall off."
"At least you got to move," Sameer said. "We had to sit perfectly still and 'contemplate the nature of Aether.' I contemplated punching the instructor instead."
They ate in companionable misery.
And across the cafeteria, Arjun sat with his roommates, eating the same terrible Military food, and wondered if his sister and best friend were okay.
He hoped so.
Because in two days, everything would change again.
DAY 2 – PHYSICAL CONDITIONING (Arjun's Perspective)
While the dormants meditated, the awakened recruits were put through hell.
"PHYSICAL FITNESS IS THE FOUNDATION OF MAGIC!" their drill instructor—a terrifying woman named Sergeant Roshni Singh—screamed as they ran laps around the training field. "IF YOUR BODY IS WEAK, YOUR CORE IS WEAK! MOVE FASTER!"
Arjun was on his fifteenth lap and seriously considering just dying instead.
Beside him, Karan was barely sweating. "This is easy," he said cheerfully.
"I hate you," Arjun gasped.
"That's fair."
Behind them, Dev was wheezing. "How... many... laps?"
"Twenty!"
"I'm going to die."
"LESS TALKING , MORE RUNNING!" Sergeant Singh bellowed.
They ran.
After laps came push-ups (one hundred), sit-ups (one hundred), pull-ups (as many as you could manage before your arms gave out), and an obstacle course that involved climbing walls, crawling through mud, and dodging automated turrets that shot rubber bullets.
"THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BUILD CHARACTER!" Singh yelled as a turret nailed Dev in the ass.
"OW! WHAT CHARACTER?!"
"PAIN CHARACTER!"
By lunch, everyone was covered in mud, bruises, and regret.
They dragged themselves to the cafeteria.
The food was exactly as bad as Arjun had feared: gray protein paste, limp vegetables, and bread that could double as a weapon.
"This is tragic," Karan said, poking his paste with a spork.
"I miss real food," Dev moaned.
"I miss my mom," Aarav added.
Arjun pulled out one of Raj's samosas—slightly squished but still edible—and bit into it.
The taste of home nearly made him cry.
"Where'd you get that?" Karan asked, eyes wide.
"My friend made it."
"Your friend is a god."
"I know."
"Can I have one?"
"No."
"Please?"
Arjun sighed and handed over a samosa.
Karan bit into it and actually moaned. "Oh my God. This is the best thing I've ever tasted."
"It's just a samosa."
"It's hope in food form."
Dev and Aarav stared.
Arjun sighed again. "Fine. You can each have one."
He distributed samosas.
His roommates devoured them like starving animals.
"Your friend needs to teach me how to cook," Karan said seriously.
"He'd probably love that," Arjun admitted.
"Is he here? At Base 1?"
"Yeah. He's a dormant. Activates in two days."
"Bring him to our room after. We'll pay him in—I don't know, what do cooks want?"
"Ingredients?"
"We'll steal ingredients."
"That's illegal."
"We'll steal them *respectfully.*"
Arjun laughed despite himself.
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
---
## PART XII: DAY 3 – CORE ACTIVATION CEREMONY
The day of Core Activation arrived.
Two hundred dormant recruits stood in the massive **Activation Chamber**—a circular room with a domed ceiling covered in glowing Aether runes.
At the center of the room sat a device that looked like a nightmare: a metal chair surrounded by crystal pylons that hummed with energy.
Master Tanaka stood beside it.
"This," she said, "is the **Resonance Amplifier**. It will force your dormant Core to activate by flooding your body with concentrated Aether. The process takes approximately thirty seconds. It will hurt. Do not scream. Do not move. If you move, the calibration fails and you could die."
Several recruits went pale.
"We will go alphabetically by last name. When called, sit in the chair, place your hands on the armrests, and endure."
She pulled out a tablet.
"First up: **Gupta, Rahul**."
A nervous boy stumbled forward, sat in the chair, and gripped the armrests.
The crystals flared.
Rahul screamed.
His body arched, veins glowing with blue-white light—
—and then it was over.
He slumped forward, gasping.
"Affinity: Gale, Level 2," Tanaka announced. "Successful activation. Next."
Rahul stumbled away, looking shell-shocked.
The process continued.
Some awakenings were smooth. Others were violent. One girl passed out mid-activation and had to be carried out by medics.
Thirty minutes in, they reached the Ms.
"**Malhotra, Rajesh**."
Raj's legs felt like jelly as he walked to the chair.
Arjun was somewhere in the observation gallery above, watching. Anika was still waiting her turn.
He sat down.
The armrests were cold.
"Ready?" Tanaka asked.
"No."
"Good. Begin."
The crystals flared.
Pain exploded through Raj's body—not sharp, but deep, like his bones were vibrating at the wrong frequency. He felt something in his chest *crack open*, a door he didn't know existed—
—and Aether flooded in.
It was overwhelming. Too much. Too bright.
His vision went white.
And then—
Brown-green light erupted from his body.
"Terra," Tanaka said. "Level 3. Strong awakening."
The light faded.
Raj slumped in the chair, breathing hard.
He'd done it.
He was a mage.
---
Forty-five minutes later:
"**Rathore, Anika**."
Anika walked to the chair with her jaw set and her fists clenched.
She sat.
"Ready?"
"Just do it."
The crystals flared.
Pain—
—but Anika had been in pain before. Broken bones. Street fights. Grief.
This was nothing.
She gritted her teeth and held on.
Her Core cracked open—
—and TWO lights erupted.
Brown-green (Terra).
Silver-white (Gale).
The room went silent.
"Dual affinity," Tanaka said, genuinely surprised. "Terra Level 2, Gale Level 1. Extremely rare for forced activation."
Anika stood on shaking legs, staring at her hands.
She was a mage.
A dual-affinity mage.
She looked up at the observation gallery and found Arjun.
He was grinning like an idiot.
She grinned back.