"We should probably clean up," Rhian said, rolling his neck with a quiet exhale. "Ash and Aras are probably out there talking shit already."
Nia stood, grabbed her water bottle, and held out her hand to him. "Let me guess, Ash talks, Aras stares?"
Rhian took her hand and stood up with a low grunt. "Exactly. It's like watching a one-man comedy show with a statue for an audience."
Nia smirked. "Sounds about right."
Rhian brushed off his pants and glanced at her. "You're starting to like them."
She raised an eyebrow. "I tolerate them."
"That's basically love coming from you."
She gave a short laugh through her nose. "Shut up."
Rhian stretched his arms, his body already feeling the familiar ache of sparring with her. "Same time tomorrow?"
"Yep," Nia answered simply.
Then, as she picked up her towel and turned slightly toward the door, she paused for just a second.
Then she walked away.
Rhian didn't move.
He stood there longer than he should have, his eyes following her as she walked off.
It was unhealthy how long he stood there, just staring at her back.
When the door finally shut behind her, Rhian snapped out of it slowly, exhaling to himself, almost annoyed at how long he'd just been standing there like an idiot.
He shook his head, muttering quietly under his breath as he grabbed his things.
"Get a grip, idiot."
After finishing up, Rhian made his way to the shop area outside the training zones. It didn't take long to find them.
Ash and Aras.
Same spot, same table, like they'd been there forever.
Ash was leaned back in his chair, feet up on another, casually tossing a snack into his mouth.
Aras sat across from him, calm, barely reacting, sipping on something like he was immune to Ash's noise.
Ash's voice carried just enough to catch passing ears, but never loud enough to sound like bragging.
"I'm just saying," Ash spoke, tossing another bite into his mouth, "there's a certain… rhythm to watching those two spar."
Aras glanced at him with that blank stare he always had.
Ash continued anyway, lazily spinning the straw in his drink. "Hits thrown, blocks raised, Rhian's over there looking like he's fighting for his life… but keeps coming back for more. Admirable. Or tragic. Hard to tell."
Aras didn't even blink. "You talk too much."
Ash grinned like that was a compliment. "Someone has to, or this whole place would fall asleep."
Rhian stepped up to the table, hands in his pockets, catching the tail end of whatever nonsense Ash was spinning.
Ash didn't even flinch.
He just turned his head slightly, eyes narrowing in mock surprise.
"Speak of obsession, and obsession appears."
Rhian pulled out a chair, giving him a tired look. "You done?"
Ash leaned forward, resting his elbow on the table, chin on his hand, grinning wide, all teeth, all trouble.
"Rhian, my dear, with you and Nia? Done isn't even close to started."
Aras, without looking up, muttered, "Ignore him."
Rhian sat down anyway.
He didn't care much for whatever Ash was going on about. He sat down at the table, cutting straight to what was actually on his mind.
"I heard we're gonna be allowed into the portals soon."
Aras barely reacted. He just gave a small nod, seems he already knew.
Ash's grin grew immediately, the energy in him shifting fast, sitting up a little straighter. "Where'd you hear that?"
"Nia," Rhian answered without thinking much of it.
Ash's eyes rolled hearing the answer but soon lit up, leaning forward like a kid hearing about a festival. "No shit? That's what I'm talking about."
He looked between Rhian and Aras, already hyped up like they were leaving right now.
"Finally," Ash said, tapping his drink on the table. "I was getting sick of punching classmates and empty dummies. Real monsters, real cores... finally something worth the bruises."
Aras took a slow sip from his cup.
Ash was already rubbing his hands together like ideas were pouring in. "We better start getting ready. I've heard that first runs are always chaos..."
With Ash finally calming down, or as calm as Ash could get, Rhian leaned back in his chair, letting the conversation settle for a second.
He took the moment to ask something that had been on his mind.
"What core rank are you guys sitting at now?" Rhian asked, glancing between them.
He wasn't shy about asking. It was normal here. Cores were everything in this world. Strength, growth, future, all tied to that small line on your profile.
Rhian was still stuck at F-rank.
No shame in it. Everyone started there. But with the portal runs coming soon, he couldn't help but wonder where his friends stood.
He already knew about Nia. She told him straight, she was E-rank now. Said she was close to breaking into D-rank when she got into the academy. Hearing that back then just made Rhian train harder to match her combat prowess at least.
Aras came from money and influence. His family name alone probably opened doors before he could even walk through them. Rhian wouldn't be surprised if Aras was already close to D or even higher.
Then there was Ash.
Rhian paused as that thought sat with him longer than expected.
He realized... he didn't know a damn thing about Ash's background.
He didn't know where he was from, or what his family did.
Nothing.
'Does he even have family?'
Ash had never mentioned it, and somehow, nobody really asked. He fit in so easily, acted like he belonged everywhere, and never really gave anyone a reason to question it.
But thinking about it now… it was weird.
For a guy that loud, Ash was pretty good at revealing absolutely nothing about himself.
Rhian looked at him, waiting for their answers.
Aras finished the last of his drink, setting the cup down with his usual calm. "D-rank," he said, simple and direct. "That's about as high as any first-year gets when entering... unless you're some special case. But yeah."
Rhian nodded slowly, letting that sit for a moment. D-rank was solid. Powerful even. Especially for a first-year. But hearing it from Aras didn't surprise him. He probably started absorbing cores the moment he was born.
What had his attention now… was Ash.
Even Aras, quiet as he was, glanced at him. It was something easy to overlook. Ash talked so much, joked so often, and acted so damn casual that most forgot to even wonder.
But Aras knew better.
Looks lied.
Especially in this world.
Rhian narrowed his eyes at Ash, who was now staring off into nowhere like he didn't hear a thing. Suspicious.
Without missing a beat, Rhian reached over and smacked the back of his head.
Paaah!
Ash flinched like a kid caught stealing.
"Ahhh, what was that for!?" he whined, rubbing the back of his head.
Rhian stared at him flatly. "Your divine core rank. What is it?"
Ash paused.
Then smiled.
A little too easily.
"Oh, that," he dragged the words out. "I'm rank—"
"FIRE!!!"
"FIRE!!"
Before he could finish, shouting exploded through the area. Students scrambled, voices shouting louder by the second. Movement shifted everywhere around them, people running from one of the nearby buildings.
Rhian immediately stood up, frowning.
Ash just sat there for a second before reacting.
Aras was already watching the direction the crowd moved, eyes sharper now.