The day after the Arena match, Grimstone Academy felt different.
Not louder — just charged.
Every corridor hummed with energy. The vast training decks were alive with the buzz of recalibrating servos, laughter echoing from the walkways, students gathered in tight clusters over holo-screens replaying the battle again and again.
Kai could hear his name float through the halls more times than he was comfortable with.
"—that's the Divergent Flow guy, right?"
"—did you see the neural sync readouts?"
"—no way they'll let him pull that again."
He gave up trying to ignore it somewhere between breakfast and the third student who almost tripped over themselves asking for an autograph. Selena thought it was hilarious.
"Enjoy it while it lasts," she teased, sipping from a steaming mug of synth-coffee. "By next week they'll have moved on to gossip about who hacked the food printer."
Kai grinned. "What, you didn't? That curry tasted way too good to be legal."
Oliver joined in with a groan. "If I hear one more rumor about us being 'prototype heroes,' I'm soldering my comm offline."
Valerie was flipping through the day's schedule projected in midair. "You'll want to keep that comm on, Vance. Look — today's the first Division Selection Summit. If we miss this, we might end up in janitorial engineering."
That sobered him. "Right. No thanks."
The Great Hall — Division Summit
The Great Hall of Grimstone had been transformed overnight. Instead of the usual open expanse, massive banners now hung from the upper balconies — each emblazoned with a sigil representing one of the Five Major Divisions.
COMBAT MECHANICS – a crimson emblem of a reinforced gauntlet striking sparks.
ENERGY SYSTEMS – radiant blue with flowing circuit-like veins.
STRATEGIC ENGINEERING – silver and gold, geometric precision woven like a maze.
FIELD OPERATIONS – a deep green sigil of an eye, half-shield, half-compass.
APEX DEVELOPMENT LABS – a black and violet crest shaped like a fractal core, constantly rotating.
Students crowded the hall in small clusters, whispering, comparing test results and speculation. Holographic panels projected orientation details above the stage.
Dr. Zhao stood at the center podium, clearing his throat once, twice — and the room fell silent.
"Grimstone Academy," he began, his voice gravelly but strong, "is not a place where you learn what to think. It's where you learn how to build what no one thought possible."
A wave of murmurs swept through the students.
Zhao adjusted his glasses, letting the light glint across the lenses. "Each Division represents a path toward mastery. But the Academy has decided to allow… flexibility this year. You may align with one Division and still collaborate across others — through what we call Coalition Synergy Clusters."
That caused a ripple of reaction — surprise, relief, curiosity.
Kai shot Selena a glance. "So they approved it?"
She smiled slightly. "Guess all those debates worked."
Zhao continued. "However, Coalitions will still need a primary anchor Division. Choose wisely. From this point forward, your Division defines not only your specialization but your identity within the academy."
The banners flared brighter. Students began forming lines before holographic terminals labeled by Division.
Choosing Paths
Forgeborn gathered near the Apex Labs terminal, though their discussion was anything but straightforward.
Valerie twirled a stylus between her fingers. "Apex Labs makes sense for us. It covers advanced mechatronics and hybrid research."
Selena frowned. "Except we'd lose direct access to core energy grid experiments if we anchor there."
Oliver folded his arms. "Combat Mechanics keeps us grounded. We actually build the hardware."
Kai nodded slowly. "We're trying to push integration. Apex gives us range. But Combat gives us raw testing space."
Mira leaned against a support beam, her tone light but firm. "Then what about splitting? Apex anchor, but shared labs with Combat and Energy? That's what the Synergy system's for, right?"
Selena smiled approvingly. "That's actually… smart."
"Thank you," Mira said, mock bowing.
Eliar, their tactician, added, "Strategic Engineering will want input, too. They're obsessed with coordination algorithms."
Kai rubbed his chin. "So… Apex core, but open channels with Combat, Energy, and Strategic. A four-node collaboration."
Valerie grinned. "Basically, a group that makes chaos look efficient."
"Exactly."
They tapped their names in sequence, the terminal glowing as it confirmed their Coalition's new identity:
FORGEBORN COALITION – APEX CORE SYNERGY.
Nearby, Crimson Vector and Iron Pulse had already chosen their own anchors — Combat Mechanics and Energy Systems respectively — and were now bickering good-naturedly about access rights.
Drake Sol from Iron Pulse waved over. "Apex Core, huh? Figures. Always shooting for the top."
Kai called back, "Better than getting grounded in the wiring!"
Drake laughed. "Touché, Divergent!"
Nova Quinn from Crimson Vector tossed her hair. "Let's just see if that 'Apex Core' can keep up in the field trials."
Kai winked. "I'll save you a front-row seat."
After the Selection
Once the final confirmations were locked in, Dr. Zhao dismissed the hall. "You've chosen your paths. Now, begin making something worthy of them."
Students poured out into the sunlight, chatter filling the air like static. The campus felt alive — banners fluttering, airships drifting above the training towers, drones carrying crates of materials to the workshops.
The Forgeborn team gathered near the main courtyard fountain, the water reflecting shimmering blues across their armor plates.
"So," Valerie said, leaning back on the fountain edge, "we're officially Apex Core now. Sounds fancy."
Selena checked her datapad. "It also means we'll be directly under Dr. Zhao's jurisdiction. Congratulations, you're his new favorite headache."
Oliver sighed dramatically. "I miss the days when we were nobodies."
Kai smiled faintly, glancing toward the towering glass labs of Apex Division in the distance. "You really want to go back?"
Oliver hesitated, then chuckled. "Nah. Just wanted to sound poetic."
They laughed, the sound bright and genuine against the background hum of machinery and wind turbines. For a moment, it felt like everything — the exhaustion, the rivalry, the expectations — was worth it.
Then a notification pinged on their comms simultaneously.
[System Message: Coalition Orientation Week Begins – Combat Simulation Track Access Opens Tomorrow 0700 Hours.]
Valerie groaned. "Can't we get one day off?"
Selena arched an eyebrow. "Would you really take one?"
Valerie grinned. "No, but I like pretending I would."
Kai glanced at the sky, sunlight glinting off the academy's steel spires. "Tomorrow, then," he said softly. "Time to see what we're really made of."
Elsewhere — The Observation Deck
Principal Halvex and Dr. Zhao stood overlooking the courtyard from the upper observation platform.
"Look at them," Halvex said quietly. "A few months ago, they were scattered recruits. Now they're reshaping how the academy itself organizes its students."
Zhao adjusted his lenses. "They're still reckless."
"That's the point," Halvex replied. "Grimstone was built by reckless people. It just forgot that for a while."
Zhao gave a faint smile. "You sound like you're enjoying this."
Halvex turned away, his coat rippling slightly in the wind. "Enjoyment isn't the word. Anticipation, perhaps. Every generation either repeats the past or rewrites it. Let's see which one they choose."
Nightfall — Forgeborn Commons
Later that evening, the twelve members of Forgeborn gathered again in their shared workspace. The room was scattered with blueprints, projection nodes, and snack wrappers. The whiteboard read, in bold handwriting:
PROJECT: APEX SUIT – GENESIS PROTOCOL.
Selena was already deep in calculations. "We'll need new resonance channels if we're scaling past twelve pilot syncs."
Valerie yawned. "And I'll need caffeine if I'm designing neural bridges again."
Oliver looked over Kai's shoulder. "You're sketching the core module already?"
Kai's eyes glimmered. "Can't help it. We're not just building a suit anymore. We're building a statement."
Rynn smirked. "Then let's make it loud."
As the night wore on, laughter, sparks, and ideas filled the room. Outside, the academy's spires glowed against the twin moons of Aurexis. Within those walls, the future was quietly, chaotically being written.
And if anyone had looked closely enough, they might have seen the faint shimmer of energy — that same Divergent pulse — flickering along the edge of Kai's wrist gauntlet, syncing perfectly with the rhythm of his heartbeat.
The dawn of a new phase had begun.