Choices Served Hot

Heavenreach Square was a sea of motion — woven stalls, lanterns bobbing from æsther threads, and voices bubbling like a pot just about to boil over.

But above all else, there were eyes.

Dozens of them. Hundreds, maybe. Watching. Waiting.

Parents. Mentors. Siblings. Some crying. Some pretended not to. Some whispered prayers to gods they hadn't believed in until this morning.

And then, the first of the Vein Trial survivors crested the stairs.

Silence hit like a spell.

Kaiden blinked against the sudden openness. The sky overhead felt too bright after the trench. The cobblestones too smooth. The sound of life...

Too alive.

Then someone shouted.

[ Woman's Voice ]

"That's my baby!"

"He made it!"

"He made it!"

"Gods bless his bones..."

"Rellos!"

"Over here!"

A wave of startled glances shifted as a plump woman in a rose-stitched shawl bulldozed her way forward, nearly tackling a dazed, trembling young man, Rell.

[ Rell ]

"Hey, Mom..."

[ Rell's Mother ]

"You look haunted."

"That means you passed!"

Kaiden flinched softly.

[ Kaiden, aside to Avelyn ]

"...haunted is the measure now?"

[ Avelyn ]

"Seems accurate."

The next few minutes were chaos disguised as reunion.

Hugs. Cries. Handshakes. One boy was lifted clean off the ground by a pair of twin brothers who spun him in a circle while screaming something in a dialect no one understood.

But around the twelve — those who endured — an odd shape began to form.

A vacuum. Like a circle of frost around a fire, too cold to step through.

No one dared approach them casually. Not even parents.

Even the more socially clueless mentors hung back as if some unspeakable gravity still clung to the group like dust from the Vein.

Then came the Guilds.

And they did not hesitate.

A flash of silver embroidery cut through the crowd as a representative of the Skyward Arcanum approached first, cloak swept behind like a war banner. He stopped in front of Avelyn.

[ Skyward Rep Tyrel ]

"Excuse me..."

"Avelyn Windgrove."

"Preliminary ranking flagged you for resonance precision."

"We'd like to discuss the Arcana Track induction with you, if you don't mind."

[ Avelyn ]

"...already?"

[ Skyward Rep Tyrel ]

"You're already late."

He handed her a slip etched in spinning æsther script and walked away before she could reply.

Then came Ironroot, leather-bound and smelling of deepwood resin. Their rep didn't say a word — just handed Kaiden a rough piece of bark with a rune carved into it.

Kaiden turned it over.

It pulsed once. Just once — like the Vein's heartbeat trapped in wood.

[ Kaiden ]

"...was that...?"

[ Avelyn ]

"An invite..."

"Or a threat."

More guilds followed. Dawnseeker, in their gleaming gold-thread vests.

The lesser guilds also didn't want to miss their chance.

Seraphin Blades, who practically tossed their cards like knives. Even someone from Misthelm, which everyone thought had been disbanded after the Vine Incident last year.

The original fifty applicants — those who didn't make it through the full Trial — were still being approached. But it was different. More formal. Measured. Some were asked to "reapply next cycle." Others were gently pointed toward support programs.

But around the twelve?

It was like watching crows descend on a battlefield.

[ Claire ]

"Why do I feel like prey right now?"

[ Rio ]

"Because we are."

"Congratulations — you're rare meat now."

"Hahaha..."

[ Dessie ]

"Ooh..."

"I hope I'm spicy enough."

Kaiden caught movement near the edge of the square.

And there — there he was.

Niklaus.

Hands behind his back, brow furrowed, his stance far too relaxed to be anything but deliberate.

Their eyes met.

Nik gave a faint nod.

No words.

Kaiden felt his throat tighten — a knot of relief he'd never say out loud.

Just a bit.

Kaiden stepped toward the edge of the square.

Niklaus didn't move.

He just watched, a faint breeze tugging at his long coat. The same old one, darker than standard fabric, the kind that caught light but never reflected it. His hat was off today. A sign of respect? Or maybe he'd lost it again at the card tables.

Kaiden stopped a few paces away, uncertain.

Nik raised an eyebrow, barely.

[ Niklaus ]

"You walk like someone who's seen something that shouldn't be seen."

"Good."

"Means you're starting to see."

Kaiden exhaled, a tiny half-laugh escaping.

[ Kaiden ]

"Heh..."

"I thought you were gonna ask if I survived."

[ Niklaus ]

"Don't insult me, boy..."

He stepped forward, laid a hand briefly on Kaiden's shoulder, then pulled it back like the contact had been too much effort — or too much emotion.

"Of course you did."

"You didn't go to find your limits."

"You went to decide if you had any."

Kaiden looked down.

That part... wasn't entirely wrong.

Nik tapped his cane — when had he picked up a cane? — twice against the cobblestones.

"You look different."

"Like someone carved you out of something heavier."

[ Kaiden ]

"I was... strained."

[ Niklaus ]

"Then it worked."

For a brief moment, the noise of the square faded. Just the two of them. Grandfather and grandson.

No lesson, no test.

Just a moment.

Then...

[ ??? ]

"Master Sta— I mean, Mr. Stagin."

"It's been a while."

A figure had approached without sound. He wore a dark plum cloak with a muted crest embroidered at the shoulder — something institutional, but faded with time. His boots were spotless. His voice was measured.

Niklaus turned only slightly, not surprised.

[ Niklaus ]

"If it's been a while, that means you were either banished, bored, or forgiven."

"Which is it, Deshan?"

The man — Deshan — chuckled, but there was a stiffness to it. Polite. Defensive.

[ Deshan ]

"Time makes many things complicated."

He looked Kaiden over, eyes narrowing with the kind of professional curiosity that always felt like calculation.

[ Deshan ]

"This your grandson?"

Nik paused for a while.

[ Niklaus ]

"No, this is my hat collection..."

"Hahaha..."

"Of course he is."

Deshan inclined his head toward Kaiden.

[ Deshan ]

"Deshan Mirthal."

"Registry Oversight, Tier Two."

"You showed up in more than one guild report, you know."

"Unusual resonance activity."

"Nonstandard response time."

"Echo-loop classification."

"Interesting."

Kaiden blinked.

[ Kaiden ]

"...Echo-loop?"

Nik made a low, annoyed noise and stepped between them slightly.

[ Niklaus ]

"And here I thought you'd retired from oversight work."

[ Deshan ]

"I did..."

"But some names catch old eyes."

He nodded again, this time more respectfully.

[ Deshan ]

"Congratulations, Kaiden."

"I don't imagine the Vein made it easy."

[ Kaiden ]

"It didn't."

Deshan looked like he might say more, but something restrained him. He offered a thin smile instead.

[ Deshan ]

"You'll have options."

"Be mindful of the ones that offer too much too quickly."

Kaiden tucked that warning away — the kind that tasted true, even if it stung.

He turned to Nik one last time.

[ Deshan ]

"Always a pleasure, Maste — Mr. Stagin."

And with that, he disappeared back into the crowd, cloak vanishing like ink in water.

Kaiden stared after him.

[ Kaiden ]

"Master Stagin?"

Nik waved it off with a flick of his fingers.

[ Niklaus ]

"Old name."

"Older job..."

"Dead and buried, like it should be."

[ Kaiden ]

"...You sure?"

[ Niklaus ]

"Dead things don't talk, Kaiden."

"And if they do — run."

"As fast as you can."

He smiled then. Just a little. Just enough.

"But not today..."

"Today, you stand tall."

"Today, you earned something they can't measure on paper."

Kaiden looked around. The guild offers. The wary glances. The ones who hadn't made it.

[ Kaiden ]

"...Like what?"

Nik's voice dropped low, just for him.

[ Niklaus ]

"The weight of your name."

◈◈◈

The city's pulse hadn't slowed, but Kaiden had.

They took the long way through Heavenreach's upper lanes — narrower, older, paved in slate instead of stone. Lanterns hung lower here, their æstherlight softer, tinted gold.

No more banners. No shouting. Just footsteps, the occasional clink of glass from windows above, and the lingering taste of composure in Kaiden's chest.

Nik guided them without comment to a small place tucked beneath a crooked archway: "The Emberrest Inn."

The sign creaked. The door stuck a little.

But the inside? Warm.

The opposite of the Vein's hush — life packed into beams and spice.

Not just temperature. It was the kind of warmth that lived in low ceilings, rich wood, and the scent of spice that clung to every rafter.

Only four tables. One cook. No servers. You ordered straight from the counter, where an old woman with flame-orange eyes gave Nik a nod without a word and gestured them to the corner booth.

[ Niklaus ]

"You'll like this place."

"No menus."

"Just three options."

"Eat. Eat well. Or eat very well."

Kaiden blinked.

[ Kaiden ]

"...Are those coded?"

[ Niklaus ]

"Only for the indecisive."

A few minutes later, their table was filled.

Two clay bowls steamed with rootfire stew — a deep amber broth thick with sweet-tender dew carrots, wild onion petals, and soft slices of fresh beef. Beside each bowl came a wedge of ashbark bread, black-crusted but soft inside, with a smear of honey-thyme butter that melted before it touched the plate.

And lastly, a shared stone dish of sizzlecorn fritters, still crackling, dusted with ember salt.

[ Kaiden ]

"...Okay."

"I'd endure the Vein again for this."

Nik didn't speak right away. He just dipped bread into his stew, took a bite, and sighed like a man who'd just remembered something he didn't know he missed.

Only then—

[ Niklaus ]

"So."

"You've been offered a seat at the main guilds' tables."

"Skyward Arcanum."

"Ironroot."

"Dawnseeker."

He ticked each off with a flick of his fingers.

"And four minor ones, whose names I doubt you remember."

[ Kaiden ]

"...Misthelm. Seraphin Blades."

"Someone from the Tallow Circle?"

"...And Oathbound."

Nik made a surprised grunt.

[ Niklaus ]

"Memory's intact."

"Good."

"That makes this easier."

Kaiden chewed quietly. The stew really was incredible.

[ Kaiden ]

"What would you pick?"

[ Niklaus ]

"I'd pick silence and vanish."

Kaiden raised an eyebrow.

"But you're not me."

"You're still honest."

"Still...unburned."

He sipped from the tin cup of darkflower tea, steeped exactly a hundred heartbeats beside him, and leaned forward slightly.

"Skyward Arcanum..."

"Skyward gives you spellcraft, prestige, and eyes in every tower."

"They'll polish you until you gleam."

"But they'll own the shine."

"And they'll watch every flicker you make with æsther like it's a bargaining chip."

Kaiden nodded slowly.

[ Kaiden ]

"...They seemed efficient."

[ Niklaus ]

"They're a ledger with robes."

[ Kaiden ]

"You don't like them very much, do you?"

[ Niklaus ]

"Heh..."

"Don't like seems more like an understatement."

Nik pointed a chunk of bread at Kaiden like a lesson marker.

"Ironroot, though?"

"They'll take you to the earth."

"Teach you the old truths."

"Build your strength, brick by brick."

"But you'll be crawling through roots for years before you're trusted with a branch."

"They don't care if you're clever."

"Just if you last."

"Strong seed grows into strong tree."

Kaiden stirred his stew slowly, thinking.

[ Kaiden ]

"...And what about Dawnseeker?"

Nik smiled — the first time tonight.

[ Niklaus ]

"Now there's the spark."

"Wanderers and dreamers."

"They see the world not as it is, but as it might be."

"They'll give you a sword, a map, and say, 'Go fix what broke.'"

"But they break easy, Kaiden."

"No foundations. No walls."

"They chase their righteous ideals until their boots fall apart."

"The faith is there..."

"The work is also there."

"But the thing is, the end doesn't justify the means."

A silence settled between spoonfuls.

Crackling fritters. The hum of æstherlight from the counter.

Then Kaiden asked it:

[ Kaiden ]

"Which one would let me grow the fastest?"

Nik wiped his mouth on the cloth, folded it neatly.

[ Niklaus ]

"If that is your goal..."

"None of them."

"...And all of them."

Kaiden frowned. Thinking of what could and could not.

[ Niklaus ]

"Growth isn't about where you stand."

"It's what you endure while standing."

"You want speed?"

"You'll be used."

"You want power?"

"You'll be shaped."

"But if you want to become — truly become — you have to choose not just the guild…"

He tapped Kaiden's chest.

"But the kind of person you'll be inside it."

Kaiden looked at the steaming food, the empty plate of fritters, and the flickering light around them.

He thought about the Vein. The Trial. The echo that lingered.

He didn't speak right away.

Then:

[ Kaiden ]

"Ironroot."

Nik paused.

[ Niklaus ]

"Hmm."

"...That so?"

[ Kaiden ]

"Pops."

"I know I won't be getting any handouts from the system..."

"That I have to earn every point that I get."

"That is why..."

Kaiden stood, with fire burning in his eyes.

"I want to build something real."

"I want to be someone special."

"Even if it takes longer."

Nik's smile didn't change — but his eyes did.

[ Niklaus ]

"Then let's build slow..."

"Ironroot it is."

Kaiden closed his eyes, just for a heartbeat.

The Vein's whisper lingered. The name he'd carve would be his own.

After finishing their meal, Nik turned towards the cook, gradually.

"Hilda..."

"We'll be staying for the night."

[ Hilda ]

"Your room is still the same as you left it, Nikky dear."

[ Kaiden (chuckle) ]

"Nikky?"