Out of the many things Tatyana Nesterova took pride in, prudent management of her time would certainly not make the list.

  This was not the first time she had remained awake until the break of dawn, and thus, the frown on her otherwise elegant face was so frequently present as to form part of her standard image.

  However, someone who knew Tatyana beyond the standard would notice a few differences currently. The annoyance in her eyes was somewhat stronger, her lips forming a tight line.

  All due to a bother on the other side of the communication line.

  “Can’t there be a single time in which you sound happy from my calls?” The voice of a young man became tinged with a self-victimizing tone, and Tatyana’s frown deepened ever-so-slightly.

  “I always tell you to not call me during the morning. You just want to annoy me...”

  Holding back a more questionable choice of words, she distracted herself from her irritation by taking the first bite of a just-served small breakfast. The taste of ham dipped in a homemade sauce that would feel to most like their mouth had been stabbed, and then washed clean with concentrated alcohol. Yet to Tatyana, such numbing spiciness felt almost medicinal, instantly lightening her mood…

  “You speak as if I tried to hide that.”

  … only for it to be forced down once more.

  Wish a hammer would fall on his foot already.

  From time to time, Tatyana’s thoughts about her older brother became a tad more violent than what would be considered ideal.

  “Did you call just to mess around?” Despite her annoyance reaching somewhat dangerous levels, the girl managed to restrain herself. She preferred doing so than letting her brother’s provocation take over.

  “Isn’t that kind of a sibling’s right?” Alexander Nesterov sighed in disappointment, yet spoke once more. “I do have something important to talk about, though.”

  “Go on?” Finally able to enjoy her food again, Tatyana’s tone softened ever-so-slightly.

  “I know you haven’t registered at the facility yet.”

  With such unassuming words, Tatyana stopped eating once more. Leaving the diced ham on her plate once again, she frowned even more than with her previous annoyance.

  “I just haven’t gotten around to it.”

  “You’ve had a full month, taking me for a moron won’t make me one. To think you’ve waited until the very last week before operations resume…”

  I was hoping to have found a way to weasel out by now…

  Naturally, Tatyana did not feel like letting her brother of all people chew her out over procrastination. Really, would anyone?

  But as much as she resisted, the topic at hand was indeed important. Alexander definitely would not allow her to squirm away into a different issue.

  There was no other choice. Zero alternatives whatsoever.

  As such, after a few seconds of deliberation during which her brother continued to lecture, Tatyana did what anyone else would.

  She hung up.

  “… This makes me appreciate silence so much…” Smirking in relief, she spoke alone without regard to how it could look.

  But for all of Tatyana’s faults, she was not dull. It was well within her expectations to receive another call within the next ten seconds or so. And so, naturally, she had already prepared her greeting words.

  “Bro, I know what I have to do. So why don’t you stop annoying me and instead go bend—”

  “It’s me.”

  Useless preparation against the woman who was now on the line. A lady who Tatyana knew very well, and whose strict greeting shook her to the core. Now frozen in place, Tatyana felt her heart immediately speed up.

  Out of excitement?

  Not really. Unless the feeling of a pigeon being stared down by a falcon was called ‘excitement’.

  “Alyssa…”

  Tatyana’s husky voice had, perhaps amusingly, changed to an almost pleading tone regardless of her will. Like a small animal begging for mercy.

  Not that this affected her brother’s fiancée in the slightest. Without delay, a normal tone that was somehow more intense than a shout assaulted Tatyana’s ear.

  “Why not do something productive already? Digging your heels in like this is just bothersome to others. If you want to drop out for good, then just say so and stop wasting everyone’s time.”

  A cold, dry… yet decisive statement. Not a hint of excessive aggression was present, and Tatyana knew so more than anyone.

  Finding herself silent for more time than she would acknowledge, the girl became lost in her own thoughts. Despite not being pressed further by Alyssa, Tatyana’s expression became somber.

  “… I’m not dropping out at all. What’s with that crappy joke?” As if her utterly frightened self from just a minute ago never existed, Tatyana spat shamelessly.

  A declaration which, oddly, Alyssa seemed to take in a slightly better mood.

  “Just like I thought. When do business hours over at that place end?”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’ll get it done now.”

  “Mm, that’s good.”

  Ironically, and despite knowing the annoying call was finally near its close, Tatyana did not even hang up.

  Leaving the small cellphone on the table without a care, Tatyana quickly finished what little was left of her breakfast before standing from the chair. Wanting to visit the washroom to get ready, she still stopped upon barely hearing more words from her brother’s fiancée, despite the distance.

  “Take care.”

  “…”

  Alyssa’s tone was unchanged from before, but perhaps due to their years of acquaintance, Tatyana received the intent in such unassuming words others would just consider common courtesy.

  Once more, Tatyana became aware of why she did not think of Alexander as her only sibling.

  “Whatever.”

  Intent shrouded in her aggressive tone, Tatyana left the knowing Alyssa with such seemingly uncaring words.

  … Okay, screw it. This is so annoying.

  Frustrated with her inability to perform a more delicate hairdo (low patience perhaps at fault for it), Tatyana instead gathered her brilliant brown hair into a casual ponytail that still left several loose fringes to frame her face.

  As always… no need to fix what’s not broken~

  Looking at herself in the mirror once more as she exited the room, Tatyana’s lips briefly shaped into a halfhearted, yet satisfied smile.

  … Or perhaps, it might have been more precise to call it a smirk.

  Content with her usual style, she promptly slung a small bag over her shoulder before walking out of the apartment, placing her cellphone inside it while at it.

  “I’m off, Klo.”

  Accurately expecting no reply, Tatyana left with such words for her still slumbering roommate.

  Hallway. Elevator. Outside. Routine made the girl go past all with barely any attention, only brought to her senses by the immediate breeze of almost painful chill.

  Hah… Coat, coat. Why did I forget…?

  Rubbing her arms for some warmth, Tatyana became painfully aware of how weak a mere jacket, t-shirt and jeans were against the advent of winter. At least her sheepskin boots were doing their job well.

  Pondering whether or not to go back up for a proper coat, she looked up at the apartment building she had become accustomed to over the last few months.

  More wide than tall, yet still with more than enough stories, it looked more like a small city’s top-rated hotel rather than an apartment complex.

  The medium-sized city of Seyfelt had no lack of pretentious-looking architecture, born from the frivolity of young engineers with too much time and money on their hands. And so, perhaps fittingly, it was a well-known fact that they were rarely inhabited to capacity.

  The building Tatyana looked upon was no exception, and while she did not spend any meaningful time idling around the complex, it was still somewhat impressive that she could count the amount of times she had happened upon any neighbors on just her hands.

  Several seconds of her distracted thoughts having passed, the chilling breeze had gone from shocking to just somewhat painful.

  For Tatyana, this was enough to discard the annoying option to go back into the building and through the elevator for her coat.

  And so, with a relaxed step, she left the building grounds still damp with morning drizzle, turned to hail, behind.

  It was… eight, right? Maybe eight thirty now?

  The girl thought to herself amidst the boredom of her walk, too lazy to pull up her phone if only to check the time.

  Her intended destination was not that far away, perhaps a fifteen-minute drive if accounting for average traffic. But for a seventeen-year-old with no car like Tatyana, this timespan did not apply.

  Perhaps from sheer pettiness, being self-conscious or any number of potential answers, she would not try an alternative like a bus or train ride. And so, nothing but a slow walk awaited Tatyana if she wanted to get around Seyfelt.

  Not that she minded too much, with the relaxed but constant physical activity pleasantly getting rid of her morning dullness, but a walk that could last up to an hour and a half or even two hours was certain to become boring at some point.

  Seyfelt, in the first place, was not a morning city. Vehicles and passersby alike, on top of indistinct, were far from numerous, making Tatyana all too aware of the time she had not cared to check before going out.

  The lack of otherwise interesting elements forcing her to look for narrower details, she managed to glance at a few police posters depicting the usual masked thug, an occasional breakfast truck, as well as children arriving to school through a bus or their parents’ vehicles.

  All in all, nothing that could stop Tatyana from sighing quite a few times in her boredom.

  But ultimately, a walk with a clear destination in mind was still but a temporary affair. Its end, much to the brunette’s delight, made itself clearly present through the enormous structure coming into her sight.

  That is, some could call it a ‘structure’ in singular; but much like in the case of several universities, the facility in view consisted of a series of various buildings which, if not for their defining architecture, seamlessly blended in with the rest of the city as one walked.

  Tall. Wide. Layered. The establishment’s buildings were distinct among themselves, but retained some sense of identity through their exteriors of bluish, glass-like material, complemented with ‘skeletons’ of more seemingly durable build standardized in clear, almost glisteningly gray colors.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  To an onlooker who was not familiar with them, however, the most striking trait of these buildings would go unnoticed. And that was the almost excessive number of runes placed on and around them, controlling systems that ranged from simple communications, down to specialized defense and even evacuation teleporters. Tatyana could not identify the purpose of each rune, and she doubted anyone but the engineers or handlers could, but their number and presence were apparent-enough.

  Compared to that, the floating letters of light spelling each building’s name, as well as the emblem of three spears crossed in front of a moon, were hardly worth any attention. No less pretentious at that, though.

  Just as tacky as in the non-Seyfelt facilities.

  Tatyana let out a breath of annoyance that instantly became visible from the cold, then braved the first building’s door as it shifted away from its material form.

  Yeah… I should have probably checked beforehand which one I’m supposed to go in…

  Third building… and success. With a face looking slightly more annoyed than before, Tatyana entered one of the larger buildings, this one six stories tall.

  It was nice of them to point me in the right direction just now, but is it truly fine to leave that first place unmanned? I know the period has technically not started, but still…

  Only barely hiding a yawn behind her raised hand, the girl scanned her surroundings with attention that was only slightly above what she appeared to give. Nonetheless, that was enough to find the counter she was supposed to find within the lobby.

  That, and some fellow ‘aspirants’. A line per se was not present, but it was more than likely these were people waiting for similar reasons as hers.

  “…”

  Tatyana walked across the lobby not too quickly, taking in what she saw with interest that could finally be called proper before sitting, or perhaps slumping, down on one of the available couches.

  She ignored the half-minded gaze of the young woman fiddling with a purely holographic screen. Walked past the bronze-skinned male teenager tinkering with a smoothly mobile prosthetic arm. Briefly glared at the boy who couldn’t be older than fifteen currently occupying the attention of the clerks, going through the proper procedure to withdraw a contraption adorned with conspicuously fluorescent linings. Even the petite girl with irises going beyond maroon and into the truly red failed to trigger any notable reaction from Tatyana.

  The presence of abnormal eye or hair colors was of course rare, but it was known as a consequence of exposure to certain phenomena. And when it came to the other sights, motives could in fact be even more commonplace.

  And thus, the uneventful wait of Tatyana Nesterova resumed as she rubbed her own arms and struggled to keep her eyes open.

  With this cold, I could just go back to sleep… what’s the point of doing this in the morning!?

  The girl’s tendency to rush responsibility when it caught up to her was certainly not one of her appeal points. But this went beyond that.

  Tatyana was not particularly patient, but even she was genuine in noticing as her wait quickly became minutes, and then hours. The wait was only briefly broken from time to time as people waiting alongside her stood up to take care of their own business, replacing the person who came before. Broken by people who arrived and got almost instant attention, apparently due to booking their time in advance.

  Tatyana had to restrain herself from unleashing the cry of a true beast any time one of these arrived.

  But much like with her earlier walk, even if time seems to pass so slowly as to be unchanging, it is soon proven to never truly be so.

  “Do you need assistance?”

  The clerk’s question snapped Tatyana out of her dangerously sleep-prone status, and she proceeded to the desk after standing up from the couch with a slight wobble.

  “Yeah. I’m confirming my registration.”

  “Name?”

  “Tatyana Nesterova.”

  Before even hearing the girl’s reply, the clerk had begun moving his fingers in a quick gesture. In response, several screens of light much like that handled by the woman from earlier manifested quickly.

  Several taps, a few swipes. It had only been ten seconds perhaps, but Tatyana once more felt annoyed idleness creeping up inside her.

  “Mm, alright. You may come in for the final tests.”

  On the clerk’s words, another shifting door, made of what appeared to be more translucent glass, disappeared into apparent particles of light.

  “Alright…”

  At this point, Tatyana felt like she could fall asleep even while still standing, so she decided to hurry along as if dealing with an actual time bomb.

  Walking through the door which quickly recovered its solid shape afterward, she made her way down a moderately long corridor without a single window. Only solid, metallic walls surrounded Tatyana now, visibility maintained by the luminous lining running down walls, ceiling and floor.

  The reasons for such a structure were obvious, so her pace did not slow down at all. She walked more, went down an elevator that silently descended without the need for any other machinery, and ultimately reached another shifting door.

  The testing room, illuminated by the same linings as the corridor, spread as a rough ‘cube’, perhaps twenty-five or so meters both in depth and height. The measurement devices, naturally, were well hidden to prevent possible inaccuracies or exploits.

  [Tatyana Nesterova, do you hear us well?]

  “Sure, sure. So, what am I to do here?” Replying to the voice echoing from the hidden speakers without much concern, Tatyana clearly wanted to end things as soon as possible.

  [While you are registering at this facility only today, you are already an established knight cadet. So, if you please, a manifestation and extension of your Area of Influence to confirm your ability matches the file would be enough.]

  Hearing the standards, Tatyana let out a sigh of relief. This day had been the epitome of a torturous drag, so a simple request to conclude this annoyance she had put off for so long was something she could appreciate.

  “Alright. Just give me a second, then.”

  With such words, the girl briefly closed her eyes.

  Per a ‘motion’ practiced countless times, the thousands of invisible ‘vents’ spread among her cells were opened much like one’s windpipe when breathing. Taking in the substance present in the air itself, the feeling of innumerable, ghostly needles piercing her skin made Tatyana aware of the process’ success.

  The body became a filter, as the substance filling the ‘vents’ to capacity smoothly circulated through each of them, and back outside. The alert-like discomfort of a mere person daring to change the world itself continued to pulsate, and when the substance finally exited, an ache to match its entrance appeared. Yet, if the intake was the sharpness of many needles’ stabs, then the exit was the scorch of dense magma seeping out.

  Changed throughout its journey, however, the substance became something new. Invisible when resting in the air… brilliant flames of a silver color manifested and grew around Tatyana, hurting neither a hair on her head nor the clothes on her body.

  To take in the prana in one’s surroundings, break it down and recompose it within the body through proper technique and willpower, before expelling it in a new state. The phenomenon called sorcery as the process, a spell as the product.

  One of the essential marks of a knight was thus demonstrated by the cadet, Tatyana Nesterova.

  [Excellent. Consider your reputation as conveyed by your file to be proven, Cadet Nesterova.]

  “Mm, thank you, I guess?”

  Stopping the growth of the silver flames, which now reached as far as ten meters beyond her, Tatyana replied nonchalantly.

  Despite the complexity of the process required for her use of sorcery, no more than three seconds had passed since her initial intake of the prana in the air.

  In less than a second, the flames had become utterly still. And not even in two more, they had subsided without a trace, not a single burn on any spot of the room.

  “You just mentioned to do this so… can I go now?”

  [You may go in peace, Cadet. While the higher ups will be looking forward to your performance, today is still a day off of the proper period. The doors are all open for you.]

  “…”

  Turning around, Tatyana saw the shifting door disintegrate as if to match the man on the speaker. As dry as that.

  “… Okay.”

  In a display perhaps too impolite for some, Tatyana shoved her still somewhat cold hands back into her jacket’s pockets as she walked back out without any more words.

  For such an excruciatingly long wait, and her brother’s non-stop nagging about it, her registration in the Seyfelt station of the Alpheratz Knight Corps went by pretty anti-climactically.

  The world commonly known as Tellus was no stranger to conflict.

  Despite being increasingly dismissed under the justification of mythological embellishment, the eternally popular War of the Seven Gods story was a great example of how deeply ingrained the concept of battle was within most cultures on the planet, even to modern day. Yet beyond it, hardly anyone would call something with the echoing impact of the First Calamity out for any significant falsehood.

  The perpetual clash of the Dragon Lords leading landmass the size of a large country to still be completely ignored, criminal syndicates such as the Moons’ Cartel thriving due to military strength on par with entire state unions… and of course, the Second Calamity; which had occurred a mere four years ago and left many still fresh marks.

  Yet for such a scarred planet, the phenomenon the Alpheratz Knight Corps responded to as a priority was still quite special. Not lacking in damage done, nor minor in effect scope, what made it significant was its very nature.

  From roughly two centuries ago to the present day, with no sign of slowing down and much less stopping; sporadic contact between Tellus and a whole other world, termed Nox, had been an important reality to every Tellus native. Contact which, perhaps inevitably, resulted in battle lasting just as long.

  The ‘demons’ of Nox were incapable of surviving in Tellus’ atmosphere and viceversa unless in the nearby presence of a contact rift, but their destructive potential was enough to make these brief bursts of activity so dangerous as to burn away any possible relief carried by that fact.

  Strength was needed. Powerful Tellus natives, trained to combat the otherworldly threat to their absolute limit.

  Funded by numerous territories, yet answering to the authority of none, the military force known as the Alpheratz Knight Corps was born soon after the first instances of contact.

  But of course, such a dramatic tale would speak more deeply to some than to others.

  So when it came to fourth year cadet Tatyana Nesterova, she was quite often preoccupied by things other than the noble mission she had signed up for. Such as the fact that when she exited the training facility’s grounds, dusk had long begun to settle.

  An involuntary swear escaped her lips from the surprise. She knew several hours had passed during her wait, but this was so ridiculous she visibly frowned.

  That means I've gone almost the whole day without…

  Her own stomach promptly answered that question without any mercy. Beyond rumbling, a roar like a furious lion’s was heard even by some others on the sidewalk, causing Tatyana’s best poker face to heat up against her strongest wishes.

  Still, her embarrassment quickly subsided as soon as she remembered the length of the walk from her residence to the facility… and the inevitable parallel in her return trip.

  Before being able to eat something, would she have to walk over an hour again?!

  “Aaa…” Tatyana audibly groaned, not minding the people around her this time.

  Not all hope was lost, however. There were a couple of alternative solutions to her nourishment trouble.

  Hand in bag, passcode entered, and speed dial to the most frequent contact… only to be left hanging after a while.

  Is she really going to do this to me now!?

  With a gaze intense enough to freeze a bird mid-flight from sheer terror, Tatyana called again, and again…

  Finally, on the fourth attempt…

  “(You miss me so much? Four calls when I’m at work!)” The jovial, perhaps sarcastic voice of Kloel Nacht, with a confident tone all kinds of people could find charming, replied nonchalantly.

  This was not amusing in the slightest to Tatyana, who tightened her grip on the phone enough that the plastic casing was audibly shifted.

  “I know you’re on break right now! Why’d you take so long!?”

  “(You really remember my shift to the letter? I feel so special~.)”

  To hear her deflecting the actual topic of concern so shamelessly, Tatyana was on the verge of breaking the poor device by now.

  However, before a venom-filled response could be let out, the unconcerned girl spoke up again.

  “(How’d the test go?)”

  “… Done in less than a minute. They just wanted to confirm the info in my file was the real deal, so all I had to do was a normal demonstration.”

  Tatyana was not quite surprised by her sudden concern, but hearing it come out so genuinely did cause her mood to soften slightly.

  Not that it would remain such for long, though.

  “(… P-Pffft! And you woke up so early for that!?)”

  “I’ll actually beat your ass!”

  … After such a yell, no passersby remained within six meters of Tatyana.

  But as if such a choleric reaction were the only possible result, right into the obvious, the girl on the other side of the line did not change her tone in the slightest. Neither threatened, nor worried.

  “(Come on. If you’re so annoyed by it, how about you do something to take your mind off the whole thing?)”

  “Like what…?”

  With Klo so flippant about Tatyana’s current frustration, the annoyed girl could not imagine anything but self-serving drivel coming out as a suggestion.

  “(Hmm, you could go get me some Concert’s, for example~.)”

  And of course, she could not be any more correct. So right as to feel a cartoonish level of irritation.

  “… You want me to get you dinner?” To some, the awkwardly calm tone Tatyana took now could seem even more intimidating.

  “(I know you have ears.)”

  Klo was not one of those people. But this time, Tatyana did not give her a treat to another outburst.

  Reacting in the proper way to each of these baffling responses would likely take way too long. Especially since thinking about it more clearly, this was an oddly well-timed request.

  Tatyana had, after all, called Klo as a way to get an easier meal in the face of her stomach’s now beast-like roars. Getting herself a meal while buying Klo’s as well was quite efficient.

  This was not how Tatyana’s idea of an efficient plan would go about, however.

  “Why didn’t you just make yourself something at home and take it with you?” A reply so abnormally held back that Tatyana almost felt pain, though it was still the best way to find any value in the conversation.

  I thought I could have that in return for a random favor!

  Her inner voice was not as restrained. Not that Klo would know or care.

  “(You know cooking is more your thing than mine, and there wasn’t anything I really craved for in the fridge.)”

  “Good grief… Wait, so you also went on without lunch?”

  The smirk of trouble-deflection at the other end of the line was almost painfully obvious, even in the lack of any identifying sound.

  So she’s in the same boat as me…

  Half-disappointed her original plan was doomed from the start, yet also half-reluctant to neglect her friend in distress, Tatyana reconsidered her possible options.

  Despite what some might say of the Nesterova lass, she was not the kind to ignore a need in others that she was also troubled by.

  Especially if the more significant portion of leverage happened to find itself on her side of the court…

  “… So long as you pay me back today or tomorrow, just tell me what you want from Concert’s. You’ll also be paying for my meal.” Tatyana uttered casually as she resumed her walk with a more proper pace.

  “(You’re going to tax me for this?! Tanya, please…)”

  “Do you want dinner from Concert or not?”

  Playing mercilessly onto that leverage, a somewhat brutal smirk made its appearance on Tatyana’s charming, yet fierce visage.

  “(… I guess I did get my paycheck last week… will you get my favorite?)”

  “Sure, sure. I’ll even carry it all carefully and such, no sweat.”

  As if the relentless teasing and passionate aggression from each respective side had been a complete illusion, the conversation of two teenage girls had evolved into the most casual of friendly banter.

  “(I don’t know if to say this, since I’m treating both of us now, but—)”

  “Just thank me normally! I’m going out of my way to get you takeout!”

  Under a shell that could sometimes be sharp, occasionally poisonous, the honesty of two could be found.

  “(Fine… Thanks, Tanya. I’m playing it cool but I’m almost at the point of sneaking away a snack from a patron’s order. If you hadn’t called, I was thinking on which of the girls to trick into doing it for me.)”

  “You’re horrible… not that I blame you. I’ll be there in like an hour? Hour and a half? I’ll give you a call when I’m there.”

  “(Wait, did you also—)”

  The click of a finished call was the last thing Tatyana heard. Per her own action, of course.

  Phone silenced, locked, and off.

  To think she found out at the end… but what I don’t hear won’t embarrass me! Haha!

  And so, with an utterly masterful display of self-manipulation, peace with no strings attached reigned.

  While such relief found its place within her body, a sigh quite visible from the cold escaped Tatyana’s lips.

  Looking up into the distance of a Seyfelt that steadily became more active, she continued to make her way downtown.