Location:Obsidian Academy
Date/Time:Mid-Late Sparkfall, 9939 AZI
Realm:Lower Realm
Forty-seven badges between the dormitory gate and the Refining classroom.
Jayde counted them the way she counted everything — automatically, without appearing to count, her brown eyes tracking the pale gold circles pinned to collars and stitched onto book bags and clipped to the hems of sleeves like tiny suns that didn't know they were burning. The Radiant Path badges. Small. Tasteful. Glowing faintly with Radiance essence — just enough warmth to feel intentional, not enough to seem aggressive. The kind of glow that said I belong somewhere without saying, and you don't.
