The morning bell rang through the colony calling for its citizens to wake up but Jose was already dressed and raring to go.

He was fitted into a breathable jacket that came down to his thighs, wearing a loose fitting black shirt underneath. His faded blue pants were of a similar breathing material to the jacket, his entire body jingling softly with the myriad of zippers hanging off of the jacket and pants. His Grimoire sat to the side of his hip in a customized leather holster, a length of silver chain making a cross shape to bind it all together.

His eyes were droopy but the back of his mind was wired, racing with the anxieties of a day that would make or break his adventuring dreams.

He even wondered for a moment what his mother would think of him.

“Good morning…” Emma leaned on Jose’s back, her warm body pressed up against his in a lazy embrace, “Did you not sleep well?”

“I slept fine,” Jose lied, “Just checked over my equipment and dressed up for the part.” He turned around to face her and gave her his own embrace. The two of them sat in that quiet darkness for a moment before she let go and got started with her morning.

Jose pulled out his journal and connected to the listings page for all volunteers. The same number of participants, 62 in all, were still registered vying for a chance on that boat.

A new tab was available. The tabs title read ‘Examination Breakdown’. He clicked on it immediately, skimming through the examination rules at a feverish pace.

“What are you looking at?” Emma spoke with her toothbrush still in her mouth, sudsy toothpaste dripping on the bundled shirt on her neck.

“The elders released the examination rules for today. It looks like there are 3 components to it and a bit of reasoning for their decision making process.”

The examination was split into an Aptitudes portion, a Talent portion, and a Trial portion.

The Aptitudes portion was meant to measure their strengths using the baseline provided by the Vanguard HQ. It was meant to test the applicants physical fitness and their Soul fitness, labelling how fit for duty an applicant might be in an expedition and what potential roles they may play when the crew size was whittled down to the 10 spots everyone was vying for.

The Talent portion, something pushed by Elder Tessa, was an examination that sought to showcase what unique skills an applicant might bring to the table. Something that would not be easily discovered in the first test.

The Trial portion was… intense to say the least. Using the information from the first portion of the examination, volunteers would be relegated to varying battlefields within the Vanguard base. Depending on the role decided by the first examination, volunteers were meant to compete in resolving a scenario using equipment someone with the role would have out in the field.

They were allowed to bring equipment that was tied to or aided in the talent showcased in the secondary examination but nothing further. The point of the scenario was to assess field responses to situations and how one would deal with a problem given limited resources and a time limit.

Honestly, the whole examination sounded quite a bit more intense than what Jose was expecting. The severity of the examination might tip volunteers into dropping out. The Elders have definitely tipped off that the contents held in the dilapidated fortress are important enough to require such extensive testing.

Emma rested her head on Jose’s shoulder and read through the contents, “So how does my man feel about all of this?”

Jose gave her a kiss on the cheek, “I’m nervously excited? These rules mean that I have to leave most of my personal equipment behind, but the fact that there are three tests instead of one means I won’t be so hampered by a pure physical and soul examination.”

His nerves were assuaged a bit with the reveal of the second and third phases, but all of his opponents benefitted from the same advantages he did.

“You’ve been training with Lysa and I for a week, love. Don’t be so hard on yourself if you fail. I’m just proud that you’re making the attempt.”

“I want to come into this believing that I can do it, Em.”

“Well I believe in you too.”

She leaned over him and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

Their moment was interrupted with a faint shake and beep from his journal. He opened it and saw his cabal network was becoming active.

“Today’s the big day! I’m looking forward to seeing the both of you get creamed, ha ha ha” Radolfo posted onto the board.

“Radolfo and I requested the day off today to watch the event in the celebratory hall. They’ve cordoned off sections of town to accommodate movement from the hall to the Vanguard facility for the third exam.” Laura added onto the board.

“Too early. Need food…” Lysa stated.

Jose grabbed a pen from within the journal and wrote down his own comment on the board, “This is surreal. I’ve only seen the colony act out like this when we anchor at Stardust beach or the mouth of the Green Plains.” A moment after his comment was sent, writing bubbles popped up above all of his other cabal members.

“Action packed fun. Ileah’s quaint and small.” Lysa was the first to respond.

“There’s a lot to be buzzed about. Feels like we’re living in a proper kingdom with gladiators vying for our attention. There’s even an under the table patronage ring going around placing bets on who’s going to have an in on the expedition. In unrelated news, you two better get a spot on that boat.” Radolfo’s comment came after.

Huh. Jose never considered the black market implications of the situation until now. It makes sense in hindsight; backing a volunteer and having that volunteer succeed meant having first dibs on whatever resources were found in the Telm-Pao by that volunteer.

“There’s some people that I didn’t expect to be here. Another archivist is participating from another cabal. I don’t know their name though. The apprentice to Elder Tessa, Irizarry, is participating so we might see some of her alchemy skills in action. There’s a farm hand on the list and from what I could dig, the man is massive.” Laura spouted off about a number of contenders. She hadn’t confronted him about his origins at work or in private since the incident and he appreciated her more for it.

“Don’t care. Jose and I are a shoe in. Fuck everyone else.” Lysa commented. Hopefully that confident belligerence would rub off on him for this competition. He had the internal drive and the thought of failing put him in a very sour mood so he kept those thoughts beyond reach.

He disengaged from the conversation and put his journal away, the booklet vibrating with intermittent notifications of cabal chatter. He looked up and saw that Emma was dressed in her Vanguard regalia; slick armor that gleaned the crimson colors of the vanguard with rustic brown inlays, the Ileah cog wheel emblazoned on the chestplate.

He was going to make a comment asking what the occasion was for the regalia but stopped himself.

“Well, I guess it’s time we head out,” Emma extended her arm in a hook and Jose locked arms with her, “Lead the way, love.”

The two walked out of their small home. The quiet that was appreciated by the edge of the colony was disturbed by the riotous noise in the center of town. From their sloped perspective, they could see numerous individuals walking out of their homes and towards the celebratory hall, the locus of all that racket.

The two waited at the crossroads of the path for Lysa to emerge with wife and child in tow.

Jose counted his blessings for the small mercy of plentiful wind and tolerable heat from the rising sun.

“Come on! They’re waiting for us to be ready!” Lysa’s shouting could be heard from within their home, followed by giggling and indiscernible pushback from Nora. Moments later, the Doncirello family was barrelling out of the door, Ollie half fitted in his day clothes with Nora uncharacteristically flustered with dressing the fussy child. Lysa was jubilant, wearing a redesign of her Archivist’s robes to allow for more freedom of movement, taking small bits of Vanguardian armor and slapping it onto her attire.

“Jose!” Lysa shouted. Emma unlatched from him and he was tackled into a hug by Lysa, his body lifted slightly by the embrace.

“We’re gonna be late…” Jose gasped out. It was hard to be taken seriously when up in the air like a newborn.

“Lysa, come on. We’ve got tasks to handle.” Nora patted Lysa on her back and Jose was placed down the moment after. Nora was also dressed in her Vanguardian regalia, the uniform fitted differently for the role she played in her unit. The chestplate was thicker, the armor all around thicker with exposed corners for flexibility fitted with a black mesh.

If he recalled correctly, Nora was supposed to be a Bulwark, but wasn’t certain if he remembered the classification correctly.

“Wow!” Ollie yelled out as his head emerged from the shirt hole. He fussed out of Nora’s arms and ran towards Jose.

Lysa gently grabbed the boy by his head, “Ollie, do you remember your manners?” Ollie registered the question and nodded. She let go and instead of sprinting, Ollie carefully walked towards Jose and asked, “Mr. Jose, may I give you and Mrs. Emma a hug? And can I also touch your magic book?” The last part of his question was tacked on in the rushed way that children talked before they thought.

“Sure thing, kid. Hug her first while I unclasp the book. You can only hold onto it for a moment, though, because we have to go, okay?” Jose didn’t want kids, but there was a love that blossomed in his heart every time Ollie’s eyes lit up with excitement as far as the book was concerned. He wondered if he was the same way when he was first learning the trade…

Emma nudged him with her elbow and Jose gave Ollie a hug before letting him hold onto the book.

“Ollie, you can hold onto the book until we get to the celebratory hall, okay?” Before Nora or Lysa could protest, Ollie was already nodding vigorously, going through the pages as he walked on the path ahead of the rest of them. Nora gave Jose a narrow side glance, but he didn’t mind it this time around.

The group walked down the path, watching the boy sprint downhill until snapping back to the group when the crowds in town became too dense to navigate while also flipping through book pages.

Jose’s chest tightened the closer they got to the arena, his skin feeling clammy and the otherwise refreshing breeze passing through the colony replaced with the hot humid breathing of the Ileahian crowd.

He held onto Emma a bit tighter.

“Raaaaaaaaaa…” The low thrum of a crowd in the distance, the celebratory hall rife with citizens looking to participate in the occasion. Makeshift vendors sold refreshments and memorabilia on the edges where the shade would shield them from the worst of the sunlight, hawking wares at any gullible patron for exorbitant prices.

“Well if it isn’t the man and woman of the hour!” Radolfo cried out as he bursted through the crowd with Laura in tow. He wore a tight fitting salmon colored dress shirt with ruffles on the arms and v-line, curly faint chest hairs exposed and vying for attention.

Laura was wearing a sundress and wide brim hat, large spectacles on a small face and a book held to the side that made her look more like a fledgling witch than the reserved archivist they all knew.

“Radolfo managed to get us seats near the front so we plan to cheer you on…” Laura’s voice trailed off as she saw Ollie playing around with the Grimoire. She turned to look at Jose for approval and he nodded with reluctance. He felt it was right for her to at least look at the thing and ask questions if she’d been a great enough friend not to pry on the family issue. “What’s the title of the Grimoire?” She asked as she placed her hands on the runic letters of the hardcover tome.

“Misgivings of the Depths, volume one. I don’t know how many more volumes there are and I never got the chance to ask.” Jose replied. The titles of Grimoires were tricky in that they revealed so much about the spells that might be found therein and the fledgling mages' predilections and skill set. From the stories he’d listened to as a child, having the titles of your opponents Grimoire gave you the edge in finding and utilizing counter spells for future confrontations.

He was also told in no uncertain terms that he was meant to keep the title a secret, but he wasn’t expecting any other mages to come out of the woodwork and challenge him to spell duels.

She mulled over the title. If she had any inclinations on what kind of spells were held within, she made no mention of them.

Radolfo swung his arm around Jose, “Hey, buddy, pal of mine, leader of our great cabal.” Jose lifted the arm on his shoulders but Radolfo persisted with his closeness, “I know that Lysa can handle herself in all of this. She’s a big girl with big muscles. I’m sure the judges will be able to justify her inclusion over the oldies looking for glory and the inexperienced youth. But what do you plan to do?” He said this in a playful manner, or at least a playful manner to him, the snide comments rubbing at Jose the wrong way.

Before he could make an incendiary response, Emma stepped in, “Hey Radolfo! Nice to see you again.”

Radolfo frowned for a moment and then plastered his smile again, “Good morning Emma. It is always a pleasure to see you in uniform, but I was in the middle of conversing with your husband and it's rather-”

Emma interjected “Oh I’m sure that Jose is quite busy settling his nerves for the upcoming competition. It would do him some good to settle his thoughts alone, won’t it, love?”

“Wait but I wasn't finished with-”

Jose spoke over Radolfo, “You’re right mi amor, I’ve been feeling anxious and I just have to sit with my own thoughts for a bit. I’m sure you can understand, right Radolfo?” Everyone in their group waited for his response. The man was a provocateur and an insensitive prick but he was a slave to his perceived standings.

Radolfo relented, begrudgingly saying, “I understand. Good luck Jose. Lysa. We’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines.” Radolfo walked towards the direction of the celebratory hall. Laura lingered for a bit longer, clearly crossed with having to leave over her fascination with the grimoire but left in a hurry for her plus one soon after.

“Thank you.” Jose whispered to Emma before giving her a long and passionate kiss, holding her tightly and then releasing her in a half spin. She narrowed her eyes with a mischievous smirk on her face but made no additional comment, gesturing at Nora instead to bid her goodbyes to Lysa and head off to the Vanguardian headquarters.

Lysa and Jose stood amidst the crowd, their friends and loved ones attending to the roles they needed to play while the two of them made the attempt to do something different, something dangerous, something so foolhardy it would only be on brand for upcoming adventurers to do.

Jose fidgeted nervously as he walked towards the volunteer line of the celebratory hall, sizing up his opponents and unconsciously measuring his worth to the titans in the line.