It was nearly midnight when Val left Fynn’s house for her own apartment. Val exhaled deeply, watching the droplets of her breath hanging in the air for a moment before the slight breeze dispersed the miniature cloud. Despite the lively atmosphere she had just left, it was completely dark and still outside. With a thought, Val adjusted her senses from the lights and Fynn’s boisterous laughter to better see and hear in the serene conditions of the quiet night. Looking up, she could see the moon peeking out from behind a neighboring mountain, resting on a blanket of stars.

The lack of light pollution made for pretty night skies, but it was intentional and heavily enforced by the Guardians, the Guild responsible for the city’s safety. Peakpoint was located partway up the mountainside in the East Henian mountain range, so any bright lights would be visible from miles away in the valley system below. While the city’s defenses were considerable, there was no sense in drawing more attention to themselves unnecessarily.

The aftermath of the Great Singularity Wars had left the world shattered, and while human physiology and society had adapted to use the now abundant nano in the environment, so had the rest of the flora and fauna. The fragmented remains of human civilization found their own technology turned against them. While the risk of outright extinction had passed now with the alliance with the Daemons and subsequent advent of the Users, it was better safe than sorry.

Users, huh? Can’t believe I might have a chance to become one of them soon, Val thought with a grin. Fynn’s family had taken the news just as she had expected: equal parts excitement, joy, and a significant last-minute overhaul of the dinner menu. A fervor had come over Drav, Fynn’s father, who had then promptly banned the family and Val from the kitchen.

His mother Jenma was the only User in the family and had given Val and Fynn an idea of what to expect from the final selection. Jenma and Fynn had eventually become deeply ensconced in discussions about how he could follow in her footsteps to join the Guardians, Fynn’s top Guild choice.

Val had spent most of the evening with Talira, Fynn’s younger sister. She was just starting her first rotation with the Technician Guild, so she eagerly “helped” Val go over her combat logs and adjust her recovery subroutines to be more energy efficient.

Talira had failed spectacularly, of course. A chuckle slipped past Val’s lips as she recalled the enthusiastic but inexperienced girl tweaking the subroutine parameters. Reminds me of myself a few years ago. Give her a year or two and I’m sure she’ll be coding circles around me.

After two hours, Drav had burst out from the kitchen victoriously, carrying a pot of hearty venison stew to the table. Behind him, an impressive three-tiered cake lay on the counter, freshly baked and decorated. Needless to say, dinner was a tasty affair. The nano-rich meat helped replenish Val’s nearly empty core, and the cake… A little bit of sweetness never hurt anyone, right? Val winced as she rubbed her stomach. It was hard to defend the third and fourth portions of cake with that logic, though.

Less than ten minutes later, Val slid through the door of her own apartment. She threw her jacket over the single chair in the kitchenette area and the rest of her clothes into the hamper in the small closet. She took a quick shower to rinse off the day’s exertions before collapsing onto the bed. The week-long User Selection process was taking its toll on her, and the spikes of adrenaline with today’s fight and announcement had finally worn off. A wave of tiredness crashed into her as she let herself slip into unconsciousness.

An internal alarm subroutine had woken her up just after sunrise. After a quick morning routine of a light breakfast and some stretching to warm up her muscles, Val felt completely refreshed. Even the residual soreness from her fights yesterday dissipated after she activated a low-intensity regeneration subroutine.

Val assumed that the final round of User Selection would start around 9 AM like the previous days, but she still arrived at the arena several hours early. Walking up to the entrance, she was surprised when the access light turned green and the doors slid open. She stepped through and saw several User candidates lounging about in the stands, while a few more were running through some exercises or light sparring matches in the central arena.

“All the finalists got added to the access list last night,” said a familiar voice from behind her. Val’s heart quickened as her fight-or-flight instincts flared up, her mind registering the threat even as she turned and dropped into a defensive stance. Standing behind her was a tall slender man, casually leaning against the wall as his sharp eyes roved over the finalists. He looked completely relaxed, but Val knew better than to underestimate the Scout Guildmaster.

Celedon’s rise to the top of the Scouts was legendary, even among Users. Like many top Users, his personal combat prowess was insanely high, letting him single-handedly take out packs of mid-tier beasts. But it was his knack for avoiding risky situations and nontraditional group tactics that were responsible for his nearly perfect mission success rate. The Scouts Guild was currently undergoing an era of revitalization under his leadership, leading more ambitious and even multi-Guild expeditions deep into the Henian wilderness.

Unfortunately for Val, her current fear response was triggered by something slightly more personal than just being in the presence of greatness. Every year, Celedon selected a few Scout trainees that he personally oversaw. Val and Fynn had the “great honor” of being his mentees during their Scout rotation last year. While she had to admit that Celedon’s training was effective, it was not good for her stress levels.

“Gaia damn it all, I swear that you enjoy sneaking up on me,” said Val angrily.

Celedon’s gaze flicked briefly to Val before returning to survey the arena. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied, although she swore there was a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. “Besides, if you were properly observing your surroundings, I wouldn’t be able to ‘sneak up on you’, as you so eloquently put it.”

Val’s eyes narrowed even further. The infuriating bastard! With a deep inhale, Val struggled to rein in her frustration. On the surface, she hated how nonchalantly he flaunted the gap in their abilities, but deep down, Val was just angry that Celedon was right. Val didn’t have Fynn’s combat strength. If she wanted to stand on her own as a User, she’d have to be smarter and faster than everyone else. And despite his mocking tone, she knew Celedon was trying to help her in his own – incredibly annoying – way.

Letting out her breath with a heavy exhale, Val straightened up and dropped her fists. It’s not worth getting worked up over this. Time to just leave the situation. Shooting Celedon one more glare, Val turned to continue down the stairs towards the arena.

And immediately tripped as something caught her foot from behind, throwing her down several steps before she rolled up to her feet. She came up ready to fight back, but the steps above her were devoid of the mischievous Guildmaster. Instead, she had turned around just in time to see Fynn stroll through the entrance, looking at her with a confused expression on his face.

“Celedon,” Val spat out vehemently.

Fynn’s expression quickly became serious and he dropped into a ready stance, eyes glancing around wildly as he tried to identify any possible threats from their mentor. Val swore that she could hear light chuckling reach her from somewhere in the arena. Bastard.

“Welcome, finalists!”

Val and Fynn had gathered with the rest of the finalists in the first few rows of the stadium seating. Yesterday, there had been hundreds of trainees in the arena, but Val was surprised to see less than forty candidates remaining. On average, it seemed that each guild was only looking to take four or five new Users. Val licked her lips nervously. She hadn’t realized just how selective the procedure had been.

She found her attention locked on the collection of seven individuals standing in the center of the arena. A shiver ran through Val as she gazed at Peakpoint’s Guildmasters. Before her were the top Users in the city, maybe even the entire continent of Henia.

The monster of a man in the center who was speaking was Hav, the Mercenary Guildmaster. As usual, he was decked head-to-toe in an impressive suit of nano armor. The armor probably weighed several hundred pounds but Hav moved with a deceptive ease. Some combination of body and armament enhancement subroutines, I bet.

Val continued her scan down the line of Guildmasters. Her jaw clenched as she scanned over Celedon, who chose that moment to glance in her direction and give her a wink when he saw her looking. She also saw Mae of the Technician Guild, hopefully her future boss. She caught Fynn looking at the Guardian Guildmaster, Mylar; apparently, Jenma had been regaling Fynn with stories about him last night after Val had left. Her attention was pulled back to Hav as he continued his speech.

“You all know I hate public speaking so I’ll keep this short,” Hav continued. A smattering of laughter swept through the finalists, but Val wasn’t sure he intended it to be a joke. Hav’s face may as well have been made of rock, his expression remained stoic and serious.

“You’ve all done well throughout the last week of User Selection, and you have proven yourselves to be the most capable trainees of this cohort. However, there is one final criterion that you must each satisfy before officially becoming a User.” Hav paused briefly, and Val found herself on the edge of her seat awaiting his next words.

“Of course, I’m talking about your ability to interface with a Daemon. So far, you have each been controlling your nano with a basic set of programs provided during your Guild rotations. But Users will partner with one of the advanced AIs we know as Daemons to unlock the full potential of the nano in your bodies.” Hav formed a giant hammer out of nano in his gauntleted hand, slamming it into the ground for emphasis. Val had to admit it was corny but effective.

“This is not an ability you have been able to test up to this point. Your minds and nanosystems are only just now mature enough to create a possible mental link with our advanced AI compatriots. We’ve designed our training protocols to maximize the chance of proper integration, but there is always a chance for the unexpected. I’ll be frank with you. There are some of you here today that will simply fail to sustain a link due to unforeseen circumstances. Know that there is no shame in such a fate. You did nothing wrong and should still take pride in your performance this week.”

Hav scanned over them slowly as Val took in the gravity of his statements. Her heartbeat started increasing again and Val immediately started a breathing pattern designed to calm herself down. She could feel the anxiety bubbling up in Fynn beside her, and the entire group of finalists shifted uneasily.

“With that said, let’s begin. Please follow one of the attendants behind you to one of the private rooms where the examination will occur.”

Val slowly stood up on her feet. This was it. Years of training and hard work, years of pain and struggle, all culminating in this critical moment. One single test. And there was nothing she could do to influence the outcome. Well, if there’s nothing I can do, no sense worrying about it. Val steeled herself, letting the stress drain from her body. If there was anything she was confident about, it was her mental capabilities. She would take that confidence and face this challenge with the same resolve that had got her through Celedon’s brutal training and to these finals.

Looking to her side, she saw the same conviction in Fynn’s eyes. He nodded to her and reached out with a closed fist. She mirrored his movements, giving him a fist bump and returning the nod. Together, they turned and entered the aisle, slowly moving up towards the waiting crowd of attendants at the top of the stairs.

Time to go find out if I have what it takes to become a User.