By seven thirty in the morning, Rain was already out of the dorm, practically walking with a skip in his step. The morning air carried a sharp, cool bite, cutting through the damp cotton of his shirt, but he barely noticed. His ribs still throbbed with a dull ache every time he took a deep breath but the sun was rising over the stone rooftops of the campus, and he had a white plastic pass burning a hole in his pocket.
He reached the administrative hall ten minutes before eight. The building was a massive, square block of gray stone with broad steps leading up to high glass doors. A small crowd of new students had already gathered outside, shivering in their light coats, holding folder packets and white temporary passes.
When the doors unlocked at eight sharp, Rain moved with the line, stepping inside the wide, carpeted lobby. He found a desk near the back where a woman in a high-collared gray jacket sat behind a glass partition. She pulled his file up on a flat desk terminal, scanning his paper grant receipt before sliding a digital course menu toward him across the counter.
"Select four core tracks for your first term," she said, her voice dry, rhythmic from repeating the same line all morning. "Two general studies, two specialized modules."
Rain tapped the screen with his index finger without taking a second to hesitate. He checked off monster anatomy and physical augmentation, then paused over the combat branch, selecting close-quarters weapons training and active combat drills.
The woman stopped typing. She looked up from her screen, her eyes dropping to the paper receipt sitting beside her elbow, then back up to Rain’s face. She squinted at the fading yellow bruise on his cheekbone.
"You have an F-rank baseline grant," she said, leaning slightly closer to the glass cutout. "Your disk is listed as a non-combat utility classification. Why are you putting yourself into active combat drills and weapons foundation?"
"I want to build a solid baseline," Rain said, keeping his voice light, a small smile tugging at his lips. "It makes the most sense for what I need."
"You realize these tracks are graded on physical output and live-sparring performance, right?" She tapped the desk with the tip of her stylus, frowning gently. "If you fail a specialized combat module, you don’t just retake the test. You lose academic standing. Losing standing means your grant duration gets extended, more terms sitting in these halls, more time paying down a balance that doesn’t move while you’re stuck here."
She was looking at him with genuine concern, her forehead lined with quiet worry.
"I know the math," Rain said, his blue eyes clear, fixed on her face. "I really do appreciate you telling me. But if I don’t take the combat classes, I won’t get any stronger anyway. I’d rather take the shot and fail than spend four years sitting in a lecture hall learning how to file paperwork."
She held his gaze for a long moment, let out a short sigh, and tapped the confirm button on her terminal.
"Your funeral, kid," she muttered, though her tone stayed mild.
A small metal slot at the side of her desk clicked. A black plastic student ID card slid out, printed with his name, photo, and a fresh registration barcode. Along with the card, she pushed a heavy paper envelope across the counter.
"Inside you’ll find your campus map, your class schedule, an academy shirt, and a one-time hundred-credit welcome stipend loaded directly onto your card account," she said. "Next window for special activity uniform sizing."
"Thank you," Rain said, picking up the envelope.
He stepped away from the counter, holding the black ID card in his hand. One hundred credits sat on his account balance. He had a class schedule. He was officially in the system, registered, and processed without a single fight, debt collector, or dorm alley beating.
A real, uncomplicated rush of excitement washed over him as he walked down the broad stone steps outside into the bright morning light. He pulled the thick paper map out of the envelope, unfolding it while he walked down the paved central path.
That was when he saw him.
About fifty yards ahead, near the edge of a wide stone fountain, a short, skinny kid with messy brown hair was walking slowly, his head down, clutching a black canvas binder against his stomach. Rain stopped dead on the walkway, staring.
It was the kid from two days ago. The one who had been pinned against the brick wall in the alley while three guys went through his pockets and dishes out a beating. Rain didn’t know his name, but he recognized the faded green jacket and the way he carried his shoulders, drawn in tight like he was trying to occupy as little space as possible.
The kid turned down a side path leading toward an older brick building behind the library.
Impulse took over before Rain could think it through. He shoved his map back into his pocket and started walking faster, cutting across the grass to keep the green jacket in his line of sight. He didn’t have a plan, and he didn’t even know what he was going to say, but seeing the kid walking around safe made something lift in his chest.
’Hey, wait up,’ Rain thought, quickening his pace to a light jog.
He rounded the corner of the brick building, then pulled back, stopping behind a stone pillar.
The kid in the green jacket was standing near an iron side door. Three taller guys in dark guild jackets were standing right in front of him, blocking his path. One of them had his hand rested flat against the brick wall above the short kid’s head, leaning down to talk into his face.
Rain couldn’t hear the words from thirty feet away, but the body language was obvious. The kid in the green jacket had his back pressed hard against the door, his eyes fixed on the pavement, his fingers digging so deep into his canvas binder that the plastic was bending. He nodded twice, fast and jerky, pulling a small silver card out of his front pocket and handing it over.
The taller guy took the card, tapped it against his own sleeve, and laughed, patting the short kid twice on the cheek before turning around. The three of them walked off toward the main courtyard, talking casually without looking back once.
Rain waited until the three guild jackets disappeared around the corner before stepping out from behind the pillar.
The short kid was still standing by the iron door, his forehead resting against the metal frame, breathing hard.
"Hey," Rain said, keeping his voice gentle as he walked up the gravel path.
The kid flinched, his whole body jumping as he spun around, pressing his back into the door again. His knuckles went white around his binder, his eyes wide, terrified.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice trembling. "What do you want?"
"Easy," Rain said, holding his hands up at chest height, palms open. "I’m not trying to jump you. Do you remember me? From two days ago? In the alley behind the dorm?"
He stared at Rain, his mouth open slightly. He looked at Rain’s blue eyes, then down at the yellowing bruise on his jawline.
"The... the alley?" he stammered, his brows pulling together. "I... I don’t know. I was getting hit. I heard someone else screaming down the lane, but I didn’t see your face. They knocked me out before I could even see you,"
"Yeah," Rain said, letting his hands drop. "I feel you. One hell of a day, huh?" He checked himself, shifting his weight. "Are you alright? Those guys who just walked off, were they the same ones? I’m Rain, by the way."
He hesitated, still wary, but something in the plain, unhurried way Rain said it seemed to ease him half a step. "Peter," he muttered, not quite meeting Rain’s eyes. "And I don’t know what you want me to say. Yeah. Same ones."
His face went guarded again almost as soon as the name was out.
"Look, man, I don’t know you," Peter said, taking a step sideways away from the iron door. "You shouldn’t be following people around. If those guys see you talking to me, or if you get tangled up in whatever they’re pulling, they’ll just wreck you again. Stay out of it. Just walk away."
"They just took something from you right now," Rain said, stepping closer. "You don’t have to just let them—"
"I said stay out of it!" Peter snapped, his voice cracking. He wiped his nose with his sleeve, glaring at Rain with watery, furious eyes. He noticed some of the stuff Rain carried on him. "You don’t know anything about how this place works. Go away!"
He turned and walked away fast, almost breaking into a run as he headed down the brick alleyway toward the main street.
Rain stood alone on the gravel path, watching the green jacket vanish around the bend.
A hard, cold knot tightened deep in his stomach. It wasn’t anger at Peter. It was a sharp, burning fury at the whole setup. Guys with money, guys with guild backing and fancy jackets could just walk up to a kid on a Tuesday morning, take whatever they wanted out of his pockets, and walk away laughing while the kid apologized for standing in their way.
His jaw set tight, his back teeth grinding together until his head throbbed.
A sudden blue light flickered in front of his face, cutting through his sight.
[Daily Quest Available]
[Quest: Body Before Power]
[Objective: Complete 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and a 5km run within 24 hours.]
[Reward: +1 Strength, +1 Endurance]
[Failure Penalty: None. Quest resets in 24 hours.]
[Accept? Y/N]
Rain stared at the floating blue window. His chest rose and fell in fast, deep breaths. The anger in his gut didn’t fade, but it settled, turning into something heavy, hard, and useful.
’Yes,’ Rain thought.