“What are you supposed to wear to a magical monster dungeon?” The wide-eyed teen currently wore a Magical Girl Erudita cosplay, clutching a cheap Power Wand between her pink-gloved hands as she stared up at Riana. “I don't have any armor."

"Well, what class do you want?"

"Mage, of course, but..."

"No buts. I'll see to it you get your chance. If you have any questions after the program, just come find me and I promise I'll answer any questions you have."

"What kind of questions should I be asking?"

"Oh, there's no particular type." Riana smiled reassuringly. "The presentation will cover most of it."

"And this is real? Really for real?"

"Yup! One hundred percent bona-fide magic." Riana's smile faltered a moment. "Real danger too, though, don't get too caught up in things. I almost lost a leg the first time."

The girl's eyes went even wider. "What? You? Really?"

"Yeah, I just... stood there, staring, and wouldn't have been able to do a thing to save myself. It wasn't even a scary monster, just a guard gremlin, stabbed me right here." She put a hand on her leg. "Sliced right through the bone. If it weren't for Irene, I'd have needed major surgery and spent months or years in rehab. But instead all it took was a few minutes of magic and drinking a weird drink."

"A magic potion?"

"Yeah. It's really strange the first few times, but you get used to it. It's a little like drinking carbonated cat hair? Fuzzy and sparkly at the same time, and a little off."

"I want to try it! Do I have to wait?" Her eyes flicked to Riana's belt. "You have some, don't you?"

Riana's hand went to the pouch protectively. "No, it does bad things to an unAwakened body. You have to be at least level 1 before you can drink it safely."

The girl sighed. "Do we really have to bring levels into magic? Can't it just be magic? It kind of kills the fun when it's 'level one, level three'. Turns it into a basic boring game instead of something mythical."

"You can turn the notifications off. You don't have to use your ability points or stat points if you don't want to. But I highly recommend you don't abstain for too long. It is important that you be ready."

"Ready? For what?"

Riana wasn’t sure how much she should share, especially with someone so new, so smiled and shrugged. "Just ready. The world is turning magical, you don't want to be left behind, do you?"

The girl shook her head vehemently.

“Then don’t worry too much about the levels taking the fun out of it. There’s still plenty to learn without level restrictions getting in the way. We’re putting together a spellbook accompaniment to the basic guidebook. So far we’ve found dozens of spells.”

“Dozens?” She sounded disappointed.

“We’ve only been at this a few weeks, you know. You’re getting in early. And if you want, you can help me research.”

“Really?” Then her face fell. “But I really should be looking for a college, not…” she rolled her eyes and made air quotes, “not ‘wasting time’ with fan stuff.”

“Just wait until the presentation. After that… you might feel differently. Now let's find you some gear.”

Riana never got tired of watching the look of wonder on people's faces when it finally got through to them that this wasn't just a really in-depth show or immersive RP, but real true magic.

It was different for everyone. Some accepted within minutes, others only after they'd been coaxed into their first level and started seeing alien hovering text windows in their minds. Some not even then.

Some shrieked or jumped around, some ran away, some passed out. Those were... less fun to see, but the expression on the faces of those who embraced and celebrated it more than made up for the rest. And since they were recruiting at places highly selected for the types already inclined toward magic anyway, the positive reactions far outweighed the negative ones.

Riana wasn't a part of the presenting panel, only an intern (well, technically she'd given herself the title,) but that just meant she had nothing to distract her from the reactions of the crowd.

And it was a crowd. Word was getting out. Cassandra had gotten the gang in as panelists in three different events - sure, mainly only local ones, but still. A few hundred people was a few hundred people.

So when the side door opened and people started slipping in a little late, Riana was the one who watched to see what they would think.

She thought they were wearing matching cosplay for a minute, smiling at their dedication, but as they kept coming the reality of it filtered through her mind and she covered her mouth with a gasp.

Military, or police. There were too many, moving too efficiently, spreading out through the back of the room, slipping into the front halls to surround the stage and block the exits. And they were all above level 20.

Riana didn't know how that was possible. Even running dungeons every day, none of their group had even reached 15 yet. Irene was the closest, but her progress had stalled after hitting 14.

Peter had his dinosaur with him at the table, and the shadow cat was lurking about somewhere, but all the other minions had been left behind, waiting at the dungeon for the demonstration after the panel. They wouldn't be able to fight their way out, not against a dozen or more level 20s.

She looked around for any chance of escape, but all the exits were well and truly blocked. She'd have to lay low, blend in with the crowd of attendees and wait until they finished, and... stage a rescue?

Riana tried to catch Irene's eye, but she and Cassandra were entirely absorbed in bantering. Their chemistry was undeniably amusing, the fact that it was a family group made it all the more entertaining, but right now their dedication to the presentation was going to cost them.

What could she do? If only the rift cat could carry people with her, then they could escape, but she always traveled alone.

But that did give her an idea. If she could tell the cat to run for reinforcements--

Someone tapped her shoulder, and Riana jumped almost out of her skin. She spun, to find one of the black-armored men had somehow sneaked up on her despite her watchfulness.

"I'm going to need you to come with me." His voice was low, not disruptive to the presentation or those around, but Riana's heart was pounding like it was frantically trying to dig an escape tunnel out of her chest.

She swallowed, mouth dry, and took another glance around the room. There were only a handful of other Awakened in the audience, but each one of them was being escorted now by one or two of the soldiers.

Riana's hopes plummeted. Of course as Awakened they'd focus in on anyone with a level tag.

She didn't put up a fight, but glanced back at the cloth-covered table. And the faint tip of a black tail flicking out from it. She stared, willing the cat to notice her focus, to somehow transmit her hopes.

But, of course, that wasn't how magic worked.

"Forget it," Riana muttered aloud. "BECCA! GO FOR HELP!"

The room fell suddenly silent as everyone turned to look at the crazy girl, Irene cutting off mid-sentence. She stood slowly, eyes taking in their position, and then she slumped in recognition of their plight.

Henry the dilo hissed and hid behind Peter, who grabbed a chair and positioned himself between Irene and the slowly advancing soldiers.

They rounded up the other Awakened, dispersing the ordinary people with the usual excuses, waiting until the room was almost clear before advancing on the panelists.

But as the tail vanished from beneath the table Riana laughed and relaxed.

"What's wrong with you," grumbled her escort.

"Nothing, just a crazy day, hehe, right?" She had to trust the minions. Because without them... whatever was going on was going to keep going on. She put on a smile and followed where she was led.

She'd done what she could. It was up to the minions now.