Chapter 1: 1.01 – Unlocking

Natalie would never admit it, but she was so nervous she might be sick.

Unlocking ceremonies were a big deal. Not only did they mark a person’s coming of adulthood, occurring on the midnight after their eighteenth birthday, but they were the day a person decided their class … the path they would walk for the rest of their life.

So, there was plenty for Natalie to be nervous about.

Then again, not really. Everyone knew what class Natalie would be getting, even Natalie herself. Or, roughly what. The gods only provided three options to deliberate over, but a person’s offered classes were shaped by the life they had led up to their unlocking. And Natalie? Natalie’s life didn’t leave much to interpretation.

Some unlocking ceremonies had an air of excitement about them—an air of mystery. Natalie’s, on the other hand, was still cheerful, upbeat, in the vein of most big events, but there was no latent intrigue hanging in the air, around the mingling party-goers. There was nothing to wonder over, little to be excited for besides the fact it was Natalie’s big day. Because Natalie would be receiving a brawler-type adventuring class, and that was as given as the sky being blue.

Sure, they didn’t know the specifics, but then, they never would. The specifics to a person’s class were private, shared with family and friends. Rarely, with a person’s adventuring party. So there was nothing for the party-goers to discover, today.

Yet even with nothing to be worried over, Natalie was nervous.

She didn’t have a habit of being nervous, and she triply didn’t have a habit for seeming nervous. Which was why she was pissed off, too. Why the hell was she being such a baby?

“Worried what you’ll get?”

Natalie jumped. She’d been stewing, alone, off to the side of the festivities, finally having extricated herself from the crowd, and so she hadn’t seen or heard Jordan arrive. That’d probably been intentional. Natalie’s best friend had always had a penchant for sneakiness. Her unlocking ceremony had been as decided as Natalie’s: she’d gotten a rogue-type class, and in a few weeks, would be shipping off to Tenet Delving Academy. The same fate that awaited Natalie.

Or, that was the plan. It depended on whether she got an adventuring class. If Natalie got a worker-type or crafter class, or anything else, then her promising future went up in smoke.

“Worried?” Natalie scoffed. “About what?”

Jordan gave Natalie an amused look, one that said she saw through her. “Doesn’t have to be rational. I was worried, too. It’s a big deal.”

“I guess.” A short pause as Natalie looked around at all of the people that had showed up. All unlocking ceremonies saw good turnout, regardless of popularity. It was tradition, and in a town as small as Tinford, tradition held weight. “I just want it to be here, already,” she added.

“Twenty minutes. They’ll be shuffling you off to the church in no time.” Another amused look. “You know, if you weren’t brooding in the corner, it wouldn’t feel like the clock’s ticking so slow.”

“Brooding?” Natalie eyed her. “I’m not brooding.”

“Stoically awaiting your fate,” Jordan corrected with a roll of her eyes. “The Architect forbid, someone ever think you on edge.”

Natalie sniffed.

“Anyway,” Jordan said. “I can’t believe Sofia showed up.”

Natalie’s nose wrinkled. Even hearing Sofia’s name put Natalie in a bad mood, and no, it wasn’t because she was the only person for two towns over that could match Natalie in the sparring ring. It was … how smug about it she was.

Sure, she never taunted Natalie outright, but Natalie could read the expression on her face, every time she scraped out her victory. Natalie didn’t understand how consistently the white-haired girl could beat her, and by such thin margins. Natalie was always a hair breadth away from winning, but it always ended the same. A loss, and Sofia’s smug self-satisfaction.

Ugh.

“If you’re trying to cheer me up, you’re doing a poor job.”

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Why did Sofia show up? The reason was obvious—the aforementioned tradition, and Tinford’s tiny size—but Natalie couldn’t help but take it as a slight. She knew that was irrational, but she couldn’t help herself. Something about Sofia infuriated her. It was those … those … those stupid cheekbones.

Cheekbones?

“Cheer you up?” Jordan asked. “I thought you didn’t need cheering up.”

Natalie seized the distraction. Clearly, she was even more out of it than she’d thought, if she was thinking about how Sofia had gorgeous cheekbones. Seriously, where had the thought even come from?

The only thing Natalie wanted to do to Sofia’s face was punch it, not … anything else. Which, with how often they sparred together, was something she got to do with fair frequency. And yes, every time she landed a clean left hook square on Miss Stuck-Up’s nose was as amazing as the first.

“I don’t,” Natalie huffed. “And I can’t believe we’re stuck with her for another four years. I swear, she’s following us just to be annoying.”

“Tenet’s the only delving academy this side of the Jagged,” Jordan said amusedly. “And if we qualified, of course she did.”

Natalie made a noise of irritation. “Do you ever get tired of being reasonable? Just let me be annoyed. How aren’t you?”

“I mean, Sofia’s not that bad.”

Natalie gave her an incredulous look.

“She’s a little uppity,” Jordan amended. “But there’s worse a person can be.”

“Sofia is the devil,” Natalie said firmly, “and today is my unlocking day, so you have to agree with me.”

“Fine. Sofia is the devil.”

Natalie narrowed her eyes. There was a lack of honesty in Jordan’s amused tone … but it would do.

For a few moments, they stood next to each other, not-so-subtly watching Sofia. Natalie was surprised she didn’t feel their eyes crawling on her back.

“A devil with a great ass,” Jordan said. “Architect. How’s she get it all in there? Pulleys?”

“Jordan!”

“Oh, don’t sound scandalized. You were staring too. Look at it.”

Natalie opened and closed her mouth at her best friend, who, for the fortieth time in the past two minutes, rolled her eyes, as if Natalie were being ridiculous.

Then a second later, she glanced over Natalie’s shoulder, and the amusement faded.

“Ah,” Jordan said. “Here he comes. Looks like it’s time.”

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