The vision faded out, and Caeden found himself back in the main hall, practically confirming that what he had just witnessed was some kind of illusion. He looked to his sides at Erik and Lily, wanting to confirm that they had seen the same thing. They were both looking back at him.

"Did you see?"

"Yeah."

"Yup."

Caeden shook his head. "I had no idea. I mean, I knew that shrouds were powerful, but that level… They could shape entire islands."

"That's why shrouded own everything," Lily murmured. "They make almost everything too. Shrouded build cities, make food, create refined materials, they do everything. My family's entire business is based around adjusting the weather. When you can do that." She shook her head. "Who would act like they own the world? They basically do."

"You don't," Caeden muttered back.

Lily flinched. "I learned the hard way that just because you have a shroud doesn't mean you can have whatever you want."

Caeden nodded.

The Headmaster had vanished during his presentation, leaving the other faculty up on stage. One stepped up and began directing the students toward a line of desks set up along the wall, with workers ready to process them and send them on to their new living quarters. He explained that they would be assigned to one of the Council Seats. Then he rapidly left the stage, with the others following close behind.

Lily frowned. "That's different."

"I thought you said they were training grounds." Caeden stood up, and the three of them began making their way to a table.

"They are. Or they were." Lily looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"My father told me about here. I mean, he told my brother, and I listened in. But he said that the Seats were training grounds." Lily explained.

"So why would it be different?"

"I don't know. The school grounds are barred from anyone that's not a student or faculty, so it's not like they couldn't change it without anyone knowing, but why they would do it is anyone's guess. All I know is, when my father was here, they were training grounds."

"Who cares? I just hope we all get in the same one." Erik looked thoroughly bored with their current conversation.

"Yeah, that would be nice, but that seems unlikely. We don't even know what the criteria are." Caeden was very optimistic.

"Boo, don't be a downer." Erik smacked Caeden's shoulder. "If you don't know how they'll separate people, you don't know we won't end up together."

"I guess we'll just have to find out." Lily looked nervously at the desk. They had ended up in a line leading to one. The line itself was moving quickly, so the selection process couldn't be that complex. The lines were long, though, which meant they were still waiting for a while as they made their way to the front. During that wait, Caeden felt increasing tension over being separated from his friends.

He laughed a bit, thinking about how strange it was that he had become so attached to two virtual strangers. He had known Erik for all of three weeks and Lily less than a few hours. But, their group felt…comfortable. It honestly felt like the three of them had been friends for years.

"What are you laughing about? Did you come up with something funny without me?" Erik butted into Caeden's thought.

He shook his head. "I was just thinking about how weird it is that the three of us just fell in together, no questions asked."

Lily nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking about it too. I don't know what it is, but I enjoy your company. I think it would be disappointing if we ended up housed in different Seats."

Erik put on a somber expression, nodding along. "Yeah, who am I going to annoy to death if Cae isn't around?"

"You should be more grateful that I put up with your crap." Caeden wrapped Erik in a chokehold until he raised his hand in surrender.

"Jeez, I give, I give." He rubbed his throat. "No need to take it so seriously."

"Oh, don't worry, Erik." Lily patted his shoulder, smiling kindly, "We never take you seriously."

Caeden and Erik looked at each other in surprise. Then they cheered.

"Damn! Nice sass." Caeden offered up a high-five, which Lily accepted.

Erik put a hand on Lily's shoulder, mimicking her gesture. "That hurt, but I respect it." He said with mock-seriousness.

Their back-and-forth banter had successfully distracted them as the line moved, and they ended up in front of the desk without noticing.

"Name." The worker said boredom etched into their expression.

"Caeden."

They rifled through a stack of papers before pulling one out. "Oh." Sitting up straighter and reading carefully, the worker shot Caeden an appraising look. "Sharp, modifier aura category 5, invasion pressure 10, 5th tier control and Physical Enhancement, modifier infusion category 5, invasion pressure 100, 1st tier control, correct?"

"Yes."

They smiled, "Welcome to the Central Academy. You have been assigned to the Core Seat." Then they handed Caeden a metal square with smooth edges the size of his palm. It had his name and shroud information printed on it. "Please don't lose that. It's your student ID and will grant you access to your dorm. If you do lose it, you will incur a punishment."

With that warning, Caeden stepped out of the way and waited to the side for the other two.

"Name?"

"Erik!"

"Hmm," The Worker looked surprised again. "Stitch, modifier aura/infusion category 0, invasion pressure 50, 6th tier control?"

"Yup!"

"Core as well; here's your ID."

"Thanks!" Erik waltzed over to Caeden and got a fist bump. "See? Told you!"

"Yeah, yeah. It's not over yet." Caeden gestured to Lily.

"Kill the negative vibes, man. You're going to jinx it!"

"You refuse to believe in curses, but I have negative vibes?" Caeden muttered, more focused on Lily.

"Name?"

"Liliana Meteoris." She looked toward the two of them nervously.

"Ah, a Meteoris. Big proponents of Council member Sun. I believe your brother is also with us this cycle. Must be excited to follow the family legacy, eh?" The worker suddenly became chatty the second Lily's name came up.

"I-I want to live up to the greatest expectations." Lily gave a pained smile. She obviously wasn't comfortable with the question.

"Right, of course! Now just to confirm, Fog, object aura category 3, invasion pressure…12?" Lily winced as the worker paused. "And 5th tier control."

"Yes, that's me."

"Well I suppose you'll be going to the Sun Seat now that the dorms have been moved…" He read down the page as all three of them deflated. It looked like they wouldn't be together after all.

"Hmm. There must be some mistake. It says Core Seat here, but that can't be right. Give me a moment, and I'll get this straightened out." The worker smiled at Lily, who looked shocked.

"No, that's alright!" She said hurriedly before the worker could get up. "Core is fine."

"Are you sure? Core and Sun-"

"Perfectly fine! I'd like my ID, please." Lily cut him off.

"O-ok then." They quickly handed over the ID, and Lily snatched it up, marching off toward the boys.

"Want to tell us what the heck that was all about?" Caeden murmured. "That sounded like political shenanigans."

Lily nodded rapidly. "Yes, exactly that. Of the four Councilors, Sun is the most in line with the families. Core leans into the military, and they don't get along. At all. This also explains what's going on with the dorms. At least a bit."

"What?"

"The Councilors are getting more involved with the school. If that guy thought I would be sent to the Sun Seat because I'm a Meteoris, then that means…" Lily looked Caeden in the eye, waiting for him to catch on.

"...Then that means the dorms are meant to split the students according to which Councilor is interested in them." He concluded. "But why would you be sent to Core?"

Lily gave a half-hearted smile. "I'm sure my father pulled some strings. He's probably hoping everyone in Core will hate me before the year is out."

Caeden grimaced. If the Councilors were trying to create internal factions among the students. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Then why are me and Cae in Core?" Erik asked. Caeden looked at Lily.

"Are you kidding? The both of you are unicorns!" Lily exclaimed. They looked at her uncomprehendingly.

"Ugh," She groaned. "Guys, the both of you are stupid rare. Continentals unaffiliated with a family and massive amounts of potential? The military loves that! They'll try and turn you guys into career military men, probably high-level officers."

Caeden shrugged, and Erik snorted. "All I want is to be a doctor."

"I'm just an ethersmith."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You two idiots realize that you could do those things as a part of the military, right?"

They looked at each other. "Ooooh."

"I hadn't thought about that."

"That's not a bad idea!"

Lily face-palmed. "I don't know what I expected."

The boys chuckled. "But seriously," Caeden said, losing the humor. "I agree with you. The students being divided among the Seats is going to cause some tension, maybe even infighting. In fact…"

A thought jumped to the forefront of Caeden's mind, and he immediately began looking around the hall, finally spotting what he had hoped to find. While the other two watched, he darted over to one of the faculty who was standing off to the side, watching the entire room.

"Excuse me, sir," Caeden asked respectfully. The last thing he wanted was to antagonize a teacher. Other students, whatever. The teachers were the ones he wanted on his side.

"Yes, student?" The man was tall and slim, with a dark skin tone just in line with Caeden's. He had long, immaculate hair and piercing, pale red eyes. His posture was formal, but relaxed.

"I was hoping to ask a question if it wasn't too much of an inconvenience?" Caeden elaborated, seeing no hostility.

The man smiled, revealing blindingly white, perfect teeth. "As a teacher, it is my duty to answer. I am happy to find a student so eager to begin learning."

Caeden smiled back. "I was wondering if there was some kind of school rulebook. And, if so, where I could get one?"

The man's smile somehow got even wider. "What an excellent question, student…"

"Caeden, sir."

"Student Caeden. There is indeed a rule book. Normally they would be presented to you in your General Education class tomorrow morning, but I just so happen to have a few." He reached into his robe, pulling out a book while also revealing the handles to what Caeden guessed to be several daggers. "Would you like one?"

"Could I have three, actually? For me and my friends?"

"Absolutely." He pulled out two more. "Here you are, student Caeden."

"Thank you, sir." Caeden took the books gratefully. They weren't all that big, more like a pocketbook, and not that thick either. "Might I know your name, sir?"

"I am Major Aiden Bludrichte, the small blades instructor." He flicked his hand, a dagger appearing from within his sleeve.

"Oh!" Caeden nodded. "Then I look forward to working with you."

"Really? You have a proficiency with bladed weapons?" The Major tilted his head.

"I don't know about proficiency," Caeden pulled Forged Infinity from the sash of his robe, "But I do have this." He pressed one of the buttons, causing the clip to retract into the base and a straight dagger to pop out the top, accompanied by a mechanical clicking. The dial rolled over to 003.

"Oh?" Major Aiden looked at the weapon for several long moments, peering at it from different angles. "Fascinating. Tell me, where did you come across this device?"

"That's a really interesting story, actually, and I would love to tell you, but I think my friends are waiting for me." Caeden smiled awkwardly, gesturing toward Erik and Lily, who were watching while trying not to be too obvious about it.

"Of course, you have some acclimating to do. Don't let me hold you up. I'll see you in a few weeks when weapon classes begin." He nodded decisively, gesturing for Caeden to head back toward the others.

"I'm looking forward to it." Caeden smiled before ducking his head respectfully and hurrying off, reattaching Forged Infinity as he went. He immediately handed over his extra copies of the rulebook once he rejoined his friends. "I figured we should know the rules if things are going to go the way we're thinking."

"Smart." Lily nodded. Erik just groaned. Caeden had already opened the book and was skimming through it as they walked. Knowledge was power, and knowing the rules they were beholden to ahead of his peers was a solid advantage.

"Which building is the Core Seat, anyway?" Erik asked as they left the Mess.

"The one made out of ether crystals." Lily pointed. "We're going to go get settled in, right?"

"I don't know what else we would do. They didn't give us any instructions. If they wanted us to do something else, I figure they would tell us." Caeden pointed out.

They both nodded

{}

Major Aiden Bludrichte suppressed a smile. It had been several cycles since he had encountered a student he took an immediate interest in like Caeden. He actually wanted to go look into his student profile and find out what shroud he had, but unfortunately, he was duty-bound to remain at his post. Watching the students as they made their way to be assigned a dorm was boring and tedious more often than not, but vital.

Over half the student body came from a family of some kind, and old rivalries were alive and well in these children. A few inevitably needed to be forced to understand such petty squabbles had no place in this house of learning. They were here to be educated, not further a political agenda. He could see a few right now that were eyeing each other. Whether or not they would escalate to the point where he needed to intervene was a separate matter, but he would watch them all the same.

Besides, observing almost 2,500 people at once was a good exercise of his aura, even if these children's ability to subvert his senses was nonexistent.

"Having fun?" A voice came from directly beside him. Aiden suppressed his surprise. Speaking of subverting aura senses…

"Hello, Swordmaster. What a lovely orientation day, wouldn't you agree? I noticed you decided not to attend the Headmaster's speech once more."

"Hmph." His new companion snorted. "The old man is getting stale. He's given basically the same speech for the last hundred cycles. Back in the hay day, he would really let 'em have it. Scared the shit out of me when I attended." He sighed. "Those were the days."

"You're becoming quite old yourself, Blaine." Aiden couldn't help but comment. "Talking about 'the good old days' like some grandpa."

"Hey, I am a grandpa!" Blaine defended himself. "Plus, you don't have any room to talk. You were right there with me. The only reason you aren't acting all crotchety is you could never nail down a partner long enough to have a proper family."

"That's right, I had forgotten." Aiden completely ignored the jab. "You have one in this cycle, don't you?"

"Yes. He's a studious little fart. Not much talent for the blade, though." Blaine frowned. "But you didn't answer me. Anything fun happening?"

Aiden debated telling his old friend and comrade about his newest find. Ultimately, he figured an outside perspective might be prudent. Blaine was a Swordmaster, after all, despite his unrefined attitude. "There is one. Caeden. He had an interesting weapon and professed a desire to learn small blades.

"Caeden?"

"Indeed."

Blaine chuckled. Then he began to laugh. "Oh boy. I can't believe I caught you out for once."

"What could you possibly be referring to?" Aiden frowned.

"Caeden is the name of one of the two dual-shrouded this cycle. All the weapons instructors are looking at him. The fact that he caught your eye even though you obviously haven't read the prospective student memo is interesting, though." Blaine grinned, a glimmer in his eye.

"Dual-shrouded?"

"Yup?"

"And they are?"

"Oh, nothing much," Blaine said with fake disinterest. "Just Physical Enhancement," His smile turned predatory. "And Sharp."