The day started with Cass leaping out of bed and changing into clothing that could get dirty without upsetting anyone. The kind of shorts and shoes that had long outgrown their value and were now simply placeholders of times when he wasn’t quite as old as he was now.

  According to his schedule, he needed to be at the Yard in ten minutes, followed by breakfast and his first class, System Mechanics with Archivist Marell. Starting at a light jog, a decision he immediately regretted as his stomach jostled with each heavy step, Cass made it with a few minutes to spare.

  The Yard was a long, orderly field with two sets of low metal barriers on either side. In the distance, near the brown Guildhall wall, were several concentric circles marked with dots at their centers. He knew from his sister’s complaints that those were targets, meaning the other set of barriers was likely where people stood to fire whatever ranged weapons they were practicing.

  Three others had arrived, each standing apart with the stiff awkwardness of people new to a place and not knowing anybody. In the distance, more people trickled in, red faces accompanying the few who were embarrassed about their tardiness.

  Of course, Kara Tullis was already there, arms crossed, coppery stare seeming to inspect the late arrivals just as sharply as the punctual. A moment passed before another woman stepped forward, clapping her hands once to get everyone’s attention.

  “Good morning, and welcome to the first class for Training Group Liora Guildhall Seven-One.” She nodded at Kara, then his overlay pinged softly with a bell sound.

  [SYSTEM NOTICE – PERSONAL QUEST ADDED]

  Group: LIA-G-0701

  Objective: Complete Guild Foundational Training

  Duration: 24 Days

  Requirements: ? Attend all listed modules

  ? Actively participate in scheduled exercises and discussions

  ? Pass mid-cycle evaluation (Mentor: Kara Tullis)

  System Tracking Enabled Assessment will be conducted via System metrics and instructor reports.

  Reward: ? XP (Performance-Scaled)

  ? Reputation Review (Eligible)

  ? Title Unlock Eligibility

  Note: Quest cannot be declined. Failure results in progression lock and retraining protocol.

  “My first quest…” Cass said, looking at the text as if it were a savior dragging him out of a fire. The others around him murmured similar things, some in awe, others in confusion, but a second clap from the Instructor forced him to close the screen.

  “Yes, yes, that’s your first quest. I understand it can be quite the enlightening experience, especially for those of you with system-leaned Callings. But we’re not here for that right now, you’ll learn more about it in your class following breakfast.”

  She gave a broad grin that felt just a little bloodthirsty, “What we’re going to do right now is a physical test to see what level you all are at.” She gestured at Cass’s Guild Trainer, “This is Kara Tullis for those of you who haven’t heard of her. She’s a Tier 2 Guild Trainer, and one of the finest administrators the guild has.” Touching her chest, the woman continued, “My name is Dev Rinn, but you can call me Dev. I’m a Scout for the Council of Liora, with a personal contract assigned directly to Guildmaster Hollis himself.”

  Pausing, she walked up and down the line of now-nervous people, “Every morning, except on Sundays, we’re going to meet in a different location and work on what you know, and most definitely, what you don’t know about your bodies. We’re going to push you to heights you didn’t know you could achieve, because that’s our job.”

  Kara opened her folder, then pointed at one woman and two men, “You three have combat Callings, stand aside so we can test you last.”

  The three nodded and stepped aside as a name was called out.

  “Pellin Cray, Calling: System Engineer. Step forward.” A young man with long, tangled hair jittered forward as he muttered under his breath. Kara told him to stand in front of her, then called out another name.

  “Thava Jorn, Calling: Identifier.”

  One by one, they continued down the list, lining up in front of the two women who stood straight and tall as the roll call continued.

  “Orla Marrowind, Calling: Merchant.” A young girl, probably no older than sixteen, sauntered up to the line and stood at precise attention, hands clasped neatly behind her back. There was only one name left.

  “Cassio Vale, Calling: QuestWright.”

  Cass took a few steps forward and stood beside the rest, settling quietly at the end.

  Dev walked up and down the line twice, looking everyone over with a hawk-like gaze. She even paused once to poke Pellin’s stomach, making a tsking sound at what she found. Finally, she pointed at the targets in the distance. “Run there and back. The two slowest among you will have an extra tutoring session tonight.”

  The ominous sound of that was powerful enough that Cass took off like a bullet. A slow bullet, but still as fast as he could move. All around him, people exploded into motion, quickly leaving him and the long-haired guy behind. By the time they both touched the targets, half of the group were already standing back in front of the instructors.

  Cass’s breathing felt like a bellow from Martin’s Metalworks that had a kink in it. Dev gave him a smile as he and Pellin arrived last, winded and awkwardly spaced at opposite ends of the formation.

  “And we have our two most in need of tutoring. Congratulations!”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Kara made a note, then pointed at the three standing nearby, “You’re up. Adya Korring, Calling: Scout. Arturo Dent, Calling: Bowman. John Fillory, Calling: Blademaster. Stand in a line.”

  As soon as they were set, Dev shouted, “Go!” with great enthusiasm. The three took off in distinctly different ways. Adya stepped first. Low to the ground and light on her feet, her strides looked efficient and economical, as if every foot placement had to be perfect.

  “Scouts have such a wonderful pacing, don’t they?” Dev said loudly to Kara. The Guild Trainer just smiled.

  Arturo and John had decidedly different styles. The Bowman had a lot of fluidity, his long legs stretching easily as he ate up the ground, while the Blademaster was all power, his arms slicing through the air as his steps devoured the distance with each strike.

  When they returned, Adya being far faster than the other two, Kara nodded and jotted something in her folder, “No extra sessions necessary.”

  Dev paced the line again, the grin on her face turning sharp, “And that’s the first test. Well done, everyone. Next up, pushups.”

  And so it went. Push-ups came first in a 'don’t stop till you drop' format, followed by sit-ups, pull-ups, and, of all things, jumping jacks.

  Though he hadn’t done them since middle school, and Cass was pretty sure his legs were going to try to run away from his body in protest, the jumping jacks were the easiest. It wasn’t until they finished the fourth set that they were told to stop, as their instructor singled out one person.

  “Breathe, Cray!” Dev yelled in the poor man’s face as he gasped from the ground. “If we ever have a local incursion, you’ll be the first to go! Staying in physical shape isn’t an option, it’s a necessity!”

  It could be worse; at least I’m not last. Cass thought. The look on the poor man’s face reminded him so much of a fish puckering that he couldn’t stop the slight giggle building up in the back of his throat. That turned out to be a mistake.

  “Vale!” Dev barked, “If you have time to laugh at your fellow trainees, then you have time to push the ground! Give me ten.”

  Cass hit the dirt without a word. He knew better than to grumble. But that wasn’t good enough as Dev dropped beneath him, so every time he went down, her face was in his grimacing way. “Spread your arms more…more! Good, that’s one. No, never mind, that wasn’t good enough, that’s one. No! One!” It took five tries before it was good enough for her, then nine more sweaty moments, and he was done.

  Rather than collapse on his trainer, he rolled aside, resisting the urge to fall on her face.

  “At least you’re smart enough to do that.” She said, standing up. “We have your basic profile now, you’ll get your review from the system at the end of the day. Go hit the shower and eat breakfast, Archivist Marell is much softer than I am.”

  Without looking at them, she jogged away in the same style of running that he’d seen from Adya earlier, only with far greater speed and grace. She was gone before he caught his breath as a bell sound struck his mind.

  [Metric Update - Physical Baseline Logged]

  The screen faded after he acknowledged it, then he let out a long breath as the rest of his body trembled. Not as bad as I’d thought, but still something I could do without.

  Orla, the merchant girl, walked over and examined him.

  “Are you going to survive?”

  “I’m going to try,” Cass said, giving her a weak thumbs up. “Name’s Cass.”

  “Orla, don’t call me or, it gets confusing.” She gave him a weird look, “I heard her name your Calling. What the heck is a QuestWright?”

  “A designer of quests,” Pellin said from the ground with his eyes still closed, “They’re in charge of the Quest Registry.”

  “In charge?” Cass said as Orla replied, “A quest designer? Like, for experience?”

  “Yes to both.” He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn’t let him. Cass hadn’t noticed, but they were the only three still remaining in the Yard. Moving to both sides of his figure, they worked together to lift him up.

  “Thanks,” He said with a blank expression as sweat dribbled into his eyes. “I’m Pellin, Pell’s fine. System Engineer.”

  “Yeah, we heard,” Orla said, looking across at Cass. “What does a System Engineer do?”

  “We, or rather I,” Pellin said, pausing to wipe sweat from his brow, “don’t really do anything exciting yet.” He fidgeted with a loose thread on his sleeve. “System Engineers don’t get a lot of access at the start, just a small peek under the hood.”

  “And here I thought my Calling was exciting,” Orla said sarcastically, then finally noticed everyone else was gone. “Shoot, we don’t have a lot of time. Hey, I’m going to shower real quick. You guys want to meet up for breakfast?”

  “Yeah,” Cass said, enjoying the idea of not eating alone for every meal.

  Pellin sighed, “Sure.”

  “Great, see you both there!” Then she ran, far faster than either of them could. Cass looked at Pellin, who looked back at him. Both sighed, then started to jog in two different directions.

  Cass blitzed through his shower fast enough that he was sure there were nooks and crannies left unscrubbed, then threw on his Guild robe and got to the cafeteria. Surprisingly, he was the last to arrive.

  Orla immediately zeroed in on his clothes without saying anything. It was his meal that became the target, “Porridge, what the hell, Cass? Do you hate yourself?”

  “It’s not as good as my dad’s, but I still love it.” He took a big spoonful, swallowing it down with a gritty smile. Orla shuddered. “I don’t think you have enough meat there.” He said, pointing at a plate full of sausage, bacon, and anything else that was carved from an animal.

  She shrugged, “Muscle needs fuel.”

  “So do brains,” Pellin said lightly, head down as he quietly arranged his utensils, moving his cup several times until he found a resting place he was comfortable with.

  Orla raised an eyebrow, “You saying I’m dumb?”

  “No,” Pellin said, then looked up with a slip of a smile, “Just calorically underprepared.”

  That pulled a laugh from both, and they dug into their food quickly as time wound down. Before they knew it, a new alert struck all their screens simultaneously.

  [SYSTEM NOTICE – CLASS ALERT]

  Course: System Mechanics

  Instructor: Archivist Marell

  Location: Classroom A

  Start Time: 08:00 – Arrival Required in 5 minutes

  Pellin almost leaped out of his seat, tray clattering as he nearly knocked over his cup. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.”

  Orla and Cass joined him calmly as the merchant asked, “What’s got you so riled up?”

  “It’s System Mechanics,” Pellin said, already halfway to the tray return. “Everything starts from there.”

  Cass didn’t know enough to agree or disagree, but Orla snorted loudly. “Nerd,” then fell into place beside Cass as they both speed-walked to keep up with him.

  The walk to Classroom A was short, causing Cass and his thighs to thank the gods. When they got inside, the Instructor was already standing at the front, and a few new people they hadn’t seen before were arranged around the room.

  They paused at the entrance as Cass said, “Seems like our group just got bigger.”

  “Mmm,” Orla said, not looking impressed, “They’re affiliated. Probably paid to be here for just this one class.”

  The classroom was designed like a mini-auditorium, with high ceilings and reflective windows, filigree cut into every frame. Every desk was different than what he’d experienced growing up. Each held an embedded interface glowing faintly blue, a stylus resting in a recessed groove beside it. Finding three open seats near the front, they sat down, just as the Instructor cleared her throat.

  “Welcome to System Mechanics. For the next four weeks, we’ll meet at this time to discuss material such as overlay modification, system structuring, standard Calling knowledge, quests, permissions, and, near the end, upgrades. You’re all expected to take notes, and I’m going to teach you how to do that now.”

  She tapped twice near the edge of her desk, then a pulse of light rippled out, filling the area in front of her with a screen.

  Pellin looked across at Cass, a big-eyed expression on his face, “Isn’t this exciting?”

  Orla snorted, “Nerd.”