Korrin studied himself in the mirror, taking in his new clothes. After weeks of basic training, Korrin was finally about to begin working at Luminous Ledger & Logistics. Its Aetherian ties made the suit unlike anything he normally wore.

  The suit was tailored with disciplined precision: pale cloud-silk under a fitted stormweave coat whose sharp lines trimmed his shoulders and waist. Thin seams of silver thread and a small crystal clasp at the collar marked his affiliation; the Aetherium thread lent the modest merchant attire an air of authority.

  His silverbloom necklace caught the morning light, the delicate flower tucked beneath his lapel. Vials of ink and writing implements hung from his belt. A dull, starry sword—bandaged at the hilt—rested at his hip. His parents had insisted an honorable citizen should always carry a weapon—ready to fight for the Dominion at a moment’s notice—even if Korrin never fully understood why.

  Korrin rubbed his weary eyes and fixed his messy hair. After the previous night’s incident, he’d kept vigil, expecting Brakkir to return. Fortunately, Brakkir had other matters to settle and hadn’t come back to quarrel with Valtix over the lost shipment.

  After straightening his clothes, he walked out of his room and made his way to Valtix’s office. Hallways were scattered with broken furniture and ceramics from the assault, but Valtix’s cleaners were already clearing the debris.

  Besides the cleaners that roamed the halls, Korrin also saw many other unfamiliar faces rushing down corridors and transferring piles of paper between rooms. His class schedule had never let him see the company in full swing; now he understood the scale of Valtix’s operation.

  Scribes, accountants, and visiting merchants hustled through the building, talking deals from southern towns to trade routes toward the capital. The staff was mostly air-kin, though the occasional iron-kin threaded through the crowd.

  Reaching Valtix’s office, Korrin took a deep breath before opening the door, revealing Valtix, Kelix, and one unfamiliar face.

  “Ah, Korrin! How good to see you. We first met on that cliff years ago—look how far we’ve come!”

  Korrin approached Valtix’s desk and bowed, prompting Valtix to stand from his chair and walk to Korrin’s side. As Korrin straightened, Valtix snapped his fingers and a scroll-shaped pin—its center bulb glowing blue—materialized.

  “At last, you are an official employee of this company.”

  Valtix fastened the pin to Korrin’s lapel with delicate, deliberate hands. Korrin might have been moved if not for the merchant’s permanent, slightly sinister grin.

  “There. How does it look? I think it looks wonderful!”

  “Yes, sir. It looks great,” replied Korrin as he forced out a chuckle.

  “Wonderful, wonderful. Well, let me introduce you to your mentors! They will be teaching you accounting and business skills, along with improving your etiquette and grammar.”

  With a wave of his hands, he gestured to two figures sitting on a damaged couch.

  “Of course, you know Kelix—no introductions needed. He’s told me how well you work together, so I’ve assigned him to your team. It warms me to see young talent collaborating!”

  Kelix forced an awkward grin and met Korrin’s eyes with a thin, watchful stare.

  “In addition to Kelix, I’ve also assigned to you my accounting department’s top manager, Tarelyn!”

  Tarelyn gave a quick, friendly wave. A young Stratuskin, she had cloud-gray skin with a faint lavender undertone and fine silver-blond hair that framed attentive, storm-blue eyes. Despite her delicate build and the orderly merchant attire, she carried herself with an open, approachable smile that contrasted with Valtix’s.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have much work to do.”

  Valtix dismissed the three before strolling back to his seat. Kelix and Tarelyn stood up and were about to leave, but Korrin remained in his spot. Hesitantly, Korrin spoke.

  “Sir—if you don’t mind me asking—I’m grateful for the opportunity, but I’m not sure accounting will make me… stronger.”

  Valtix stared at Korrin cluelessly for a second before realization came to him. He let out a small laugh.

  “Ah—yes, of course! You asked for resources to grow stronger. But without mana, there’s only so much anyone can do, Korrin.”

  This was it. It was his chance to step into the proper realm of strength. Korrin didn’t want to reveal the true nature of his power, but he was done being looked down upon.

  “I can use mana now. I awakened it a few days ago.”

  Valtix paused. Those calculating eyes of his began to shift as he considered Korrin’s sudden declaration.

  “Very well. Better late than never. Late bloomers are often talented! So they say…”

  Valtix chuckled and pointed to the two sky kin behind Korrin.

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  “Luckily, two Resonants are assigned to you—two of my most capable employees! They can assist with training in your off-hours.”

  Korrin saw Kelix scoff as Tarelyn continued to look at him with her warm smile.

  “Thank you, sir. That will be all.”

  With those words, Korrin turned around and followed the other two out of the office door.

  Valtix sat alone in his office; the chandelier cast fractured light across the ruined room. He twirled a pen and watched the door as if waiting for something.

  “Well, what do you think of Korrin?”

  A shadow slid across the doorway, and a hooded figure in a black robe stepped in. Blood-red glyphs marked the fabric; a shattered-sun symbol glimmered across the back, even in the absence of light. A raspy voice flowed out of the hood as golden pupils flashed within its shadow.

  “I’ve confirmed it. He’s a natural Pureborn.”

  “I had a feeling he was special since our meeting on the cliff, but a Pureborn? That’s beyond my expectations.”

  “Should we recruit him? The Severance of Heaven is almost upon us.”

  Valtix stopped the pen that was twirling around his fingers and began to tap it on his desk, his eyes shifting with each beat.

  “No. Our disruption of the Aether has already alerted those blasphemous creatures in the sky. The Empyreans have begun to move as well.”

  “Very well.”

  Suddenly, a knock echoed from the door as an accountant called from the other side.

  “Valtix, sir. I have the report.”

  “Come in!”

  The door opened, and a Luminarite with papers in his arms came walking through. Light had returned to the office once again, Valtix smiling at its center. The man in the hood had disappeared.

  Before long, Korrin was led down unfamiliar corridors into a part of the building he’d never seen. Employees stepped aside as Kelix led them on, the trio passing without delay. Korrin was under the impression that Tarelyn was of a higher rank than Kelix, but it seemed he had underestimated Kelix.

  The office ran like clockwork, the employees orderly and strict. They never wasted any time lingering in the halls or indulging in breaks. Anyone who did—mostly iron kin—would receive a harsh scolding from Kelix. As they moved through the accounting department, Kelix proudly introduced any room and office that they passed by.

  Korrin struggled to keep up with Kelix’s vocabulary, but Tarelyn patiently filled in the gaps, her warm smile steady.

  “Do not fall behind, Korrin. The Accounting Division maintains the integrity of this company. A single misrecorded shipment can collapse an entire route,” Kelix scoffed as he opened a pair of double doors.

  Beyond the doors stretched the core accounting hall, where rows of scribes bent over towering ledgers while couriers hurried between desks carrying sealed documents and stamped manifests. Crystal accounting terminals and rune-calculators glimmered across the room, their faint lights flickering as clerks etched figures and symbols with relentless precision.

  The trio quickly walked through the rows of desks and stacks of ledgers, multiple employees promptly saluting as they walked by. At one point, a young scribe stopped Kelix nervously, extending his pen to Kelix with open palms.

  “P-please, sir! W-would you bless me with the Machine God’s grace?”

  Contrary to what Korrin assumed, Kelix did not arrogantly dismiss the man, but instead raised his hand to meet the pen resting in the employee’s palm.

  “By the Machine God’s will: order preserves profit, and accuracy preserves order. May you be blessed enterally with the order of servitude.”

  With a flash of white flame igniting within Kelix’s eyes, mana traveled from his hand to the pen, encasing it in an ivory glow. The young scribe quickly bowed his head and hurried off into the maze of ledgers, Kelix staring at the employee with a smug expression.

  “Observe, Korrin: a proper employee—disciplined, efficient, and aligned with the order that sustains this company.” He adjusted his cuffs with mechanical precision. “If every worker matched this, Master Valtix’s systems would run flawlessly instead of being clogged by… unnecessary filth.”

  With the last comment, Kelix made a sharp glance at Korrin, before turning with a sigh. Anger flared within Korrin, but he kept his composure. With thinly-veiled annoyance, Korrin responded, “I’ll do my best, sir…”

  The trio soon entered the core office, a compact room with three desks arranged neatly at its center, their surfaces stacked with ledgers, sealed reports, and carefully aligned writing instruments. Shelves lined the surrounding walls from floor to ceiling, packed with account books and labeled document boxes, while a small crystal terminal hummed faintly on the corner of one desk. Reaching the center desk, Tarelyn glanced at Korrin and spoke.

  “I’ll take it from here, thank you, Kelix. Take these, dear.”

  Rustling through a sealed drawer, Tarelyn eventually found a brown ledger and gently handed it to Korrin.

  “These are trade records we acquired fairly recently. Unfortunately, they are encoded in trading glyphs foreign to this company. Although Valtix has told me this isn’t an issue for you.”

  Korrin took the ledger carefully and began to study it. His blood immediately froze cold the moment he saw the ledger’s title. It was documents from Brakkir’s gang.

  “I’ll be sitting at my desk if you need anything, dear. Don’t be afraid to talk to me!”

  Walking to her desk, Tarelyn immediately resumed her work, busily ordering documents and filing ledgers. Korrin decided to get to work and sat down at the left desk, grabbing an empty ledger and beginning to transcribe its contents. Yet in the corner of his vision, a figure loomed over him, distracting him from his work. Turning his head, he gave an irritated glare at Kelix, who stood straight and pompous.

  “What are you glaring at, mutt? Master ordered me to watch you. I can’t believe he gave such an important task to an uneducated fool!”

  The insults had worn thin. For the past week, Korrin had forced himself to endure Kelix’s arrogance in silence, but he could hardly contain his anger. At that moment, the urge to drive his fist straight into Kelix’s irritatingly adorable face was becoming harder to suppress. Korrin stood up with a start, his frame towering over Kelix’s.

  Although Korrin was nowhere near his kin in terms of strength, after years of training and labor, his muscles and body were still developed enough to overshadow Kelix’s petite, scholarly physique. Kelix stared up at Korrin’s face with a smirk, white flames erupting in his eyes. Both of them were about to fight until a shout echoed through the room. It was Tarelyn. Except this time, her usually warm smile was replaced with one of agitation.

  “Kelix! Korrin!” Her voice cut sharply through the room, firm enough to halt both men before the tension could snap. “This is an accounting office, not a brawling yard. Sit down, both of you. Don’t make me report this to Valtix.”

  Kelix was the first to settle his fist, the flame fading from his eyes. With an annoyed grunt, he walked to the desk opposite Korrin and plopped down onto a chair, fiercely staring at Korrin as he did.

  Korrin signed and continued to work through the ledger. Something told him this was going to be a long week.