The morning began with a hum.
Not the mechanical kind — though plenty of that filled the air — but something subtler. It was the hum of anticipation, rippling through the campus like a live current.
Students swarmed through the upper levels, their newly assigned division tags glowing faintly on their wrists. Across every corridor, holographic banners unfolded, displaying the insignias of Grimstone's Five Divisions.
COMBAT MECHANICS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
STRATEGIC ENGINEERING
FIELD OPERATIONS
APEX DEVELOPMENT LABS
Kai watched them shift and shimmer overhead, each one pulsing with different colors — red for Combat, blue for Energy, silver for Strategy, gold for Field Ops, and a deep obsidian hue for Apex.
Selena adjusted her wristband, its blue light matching her eyes. "Well, guess I'm glowing now."
Oliver grinned, flexing his arm. His tag burned red. "Looks like I'm the muscle."
Valerie twirled her stylus between her fingers. "Silver. Strategic Engineering. I always liked the sound of command."
Kai's own tag pulsed black, quiet and steady. He studied it for a long moment, then smiled faintly. "And me… the Apex Lab."
Selena tilted her head. "That sounds ominous."
"Or awesome," Oliver countered. "Depends on who's running it."
Valerie's brow furrowed. "You sure you'll be fine there alone?"
"I'll manage," Kai said. "You'll all come back after class anyway."
Selena grinned. "You're not getting rid of us that easily."
They exchanged quick fist bumps — a wordless promise.
Then, one by one, they split off toward their respective halls.
The Forge of Combat Mechanics
The Combat Mechanics wing was a cathedral of sound.
Massive gears turned along the walls, every rotation echoing like thunder. The floor shook as trial machines stomped across reinforced platforms — humanoid frames in varying stages of completion. Some were little more than skeletal scaffolds; others gleamed with freshly installed armor.
Oliver walked among them, wide-eyed.
Everywhere he looked, there were tools, sparks, motion. Students clambered over chassis like ants on a giant, welding plates, testing servos, arguing about torque and joint ratios.
An instructor's voice boomed over the noise.
"Welcome to Combat Mechanics!"
"If you're looking for quiet study, turn around now. This division is for those who build what bleeds!"
The voice belonged to Instructor Magnus Varr, a towering man with arms like steel beams and a grin that could split stone. His left hand was entirely mechanical — polished, powerful, capable of crushing or crafting with equal ease.
He clapped his hands once, sending a shockwave through the air.
"You're not engineers. You're smiths of war. Your task is simple: craft machines that can survive you."
The class erupted in half-nervous laughter.
Oliver found himself grinning despite the intimidation. Magnus was terrifying — but also magnetic.
Beside him, a girl from another coalition — the Crimson Vector — leaned over and muttered, "You think he sleeps?"
Oliver whispered back, "Not since the reactor fire of 2083, probably."
Magnus turned suddenly. "Did someone mention 2083?"
Both froze.
Magnus' grin widened. "Ah. History enthusiasts. I like that."
Oliver exhaled as Magnus strode off, laughing. The atmosphere was loud, chaotic, yet strangely invigorating — every spark, every clang felt like a heartbeat.
And for Oliver, who'd spent most of his life perfecting materials in silence, the noise was… freeing.
The Cradle of Energy Systems
Selena's classroom, by contrast, felt like stepping into another world.
The Energy Systems division glowed with a cool, crystalline light. Transparent conduits ran along the ceiling, carrying streams of luminous biocurrent. At the center of the chamber stood a massive focusing crystal — a spire of translucent blue humming with restrained power.
Selena stood still for a moment, breath catching.
It was beautiful.
Around her, students adjusted energy regulators, monitored flow rates, and tested control gauntlets that channeled microbursts of living energy.
"Careful," a senior warned. "If you oversaturate the conduit, the whole line flashes white."
"And then what?"
"Then you're blind for an hour."
Selena chuckled under her breath. "Noted."
Their instructor — Professor Anaya Patel, whom Kai had mentioned admiringly — entered with a calm, graceful presence. Her eyes sparkled behind her lenses, and the faint biolight of her own cultivation pulsed at her fingertips.
"Good morning, my radiant minds," she said warmly. "Today, we begin with the first rule of Energy Systems."
She raised a hand, and the entire crystal spire dimmed in response.
"Rule One: Energy is will. Will is direction."
"Your task as engineers of life is not to create power — it is to shape it."
She gestured toward the crystal. "Now, who among you believes they can make it sing?"
Selena's fingers twitched with excitement.
The girl next to her — a pale, soft-spoken student with silver braids — leaned in. "You're going to try, aren't you?"
Selena grinned. "Of course."
"You're insane."
"That's what makes it fun."
The Hall of Strategic Engineering
Valerie's new classroom looked nothing like a lab — more like a war council chamber crossed with a design studio.
Dozens of floating holo-panels surrounded the students, displaying intricate armor schematics, real-time simulations, and projections of field environments. The air smelled faintly of ozone and ink.
At the center stood Instructor Elara Voss, a woman in sleek attire, every line of her coat sharp as a ruler's edge.
"Strategic Engineering," she began, "is not about tools. It's about thought."
She snapped her fingers, and every holo-panel reconfigured into a different battlefield layout.
"You will learn how to integrate design with circumstance. A perfect weapon means nothing if used poorly. A crude one, used cleverly, can reshape a war."
Her eyes swept across the students. "Every choice you make here — every line you draw — will decide the fate of what you build. Do not draw lightly."
Valerie's heart raced. This — this was her arena.
Art, design, and consequence all woven together.
She took her stylus, began sketching, and found herself beside another student — a sharp-eyed boy sketching asymmetrical wing arrays.
"You prefer imbalance?" she asked curiously.
He smirked. "Balance is predictable."
"Predictability saves lives."
"Unpredictability wins wars."
Valerie laughed. "You might be trouble."
"You might be right."
The Apex Development Labs
Kai arrived last — stepping into a space unlike anything else in the academy.
The Apex Lab wasn't a hall or a workshop. It was a void of shifting platforms and floating apparatuses, suspended in an endless holographic field. Every wall was a projection — every surface, reconfigurable.
"Welcome, innovators."
The voice came from all directions. Then, from the air itself, the instructor appeared — a holographic avatar of Dr. Zhao, complete with his trademark scowl and steaming mug.
Kai blinked. "Wait. You're here too?"
Zhao's projection adjusted his glasses. "I teach all divisions, technically. But this one is… special."
"Apex Development," Zhao said, pacing slowly through the air, "is where ideas die. And if they survive, they become gods."
Kai tilted his head. "That's… comforting."
"It's meant to be," Zhao replied dryly.
As the students laughed, the platforms shifted beneath them, rearranging into collaborative pods. Tools, data screens, and miniature holo-mechs flickered to life.
"Your task," Zhao said, "is simple. Build something that shouldn't exist."
Kai grinned. "Finally."
Hours passed. Lessons began in earnest. Equations mixed with laughter, failure with insight.
The divisions felt alive — each humming with its own rhythm, its own purpose.
And though Kai missed the constant chatter of his teammates, he knew — as did they — that every path they took now would feed into something greater.
Something Forgeborn.
As the day ended, the sky outside turned crimson and gold. Students poured from their classes, exhausted but smiling, some still arguing over theories or designs.
Selena spotted Kai first, waving him down. "How'd the mad lab go?"
Kai grinned. "Zhao told us to build a paradox."
Oliver laughed. "That tracks."
Valerie adjusted her bag. "We should compare notes later. Our instructors are setting us up for integration."
"Integration?" Selena asked.
"Joint projects," Valerie said. "Cross-division prototypes."
Kai's eyes lit up. "Then Forgeborn's real work begins."
They walked together through the campus — four paths, one direction — their voices fading into the glow of the setting sun.
Tomorrow, the academy would push harder.
Tomorrow, the divisions would test them deeper.
But for tonight, their laughter filled the air — light, human, hopeful.
And for Grimstone, that sound was more powerful than any engine.