11 bites back a curse as she glares at the round red gem nestled in her hand. The smooth surface of the gem reflects her desperate expression back to her, taunting her with its silence.

“Is everything alright, Ms. Windborne?”

11 turns to look at the row of examiners sitting to the side of the hall. Two men and a woman, each with a quill and clipboard, watch her with bored expressions. They note down everything she is doing. Or in her case, not doing.

“Everything’s peachy,” 11 answers with a grimace. She returns to the straw dummy in front of her. “Let’s try this again.” She closes her eyes and slowly, methodically squeezes the cold red orb.

“Seemirus!” She shouts, tensing her entire body as she whips her hand in the dummy’s direction.

In a glorious show of light, the red orb blazes in 11’s hand like another sun, too brilliant to be looked at. A few yards in front of her, the dummy disintegrates in a booming explosion of dust and straw.

11 opens her eyes triumphantly.

Only to see that the dummy is still standing, and unharmed.

Analysis complete, Gier 11.

The substance in your hand is an unknown mineral compound not of this planet. It exists in an in-between state of solid and liquid, and possesses highly reactive qualities. However, at this stage, the catalyst to such reactions is unknown.

“Identishibera!”

In her mind, 11 pictures Earth’s magnetic waves flowing beneath her feet. She imagines tapping into them, pulling them from the planet's core straight through her body and into the red orb she’s holding.

She opens her eyes again.

Nothing happens.

“Illustera!”

The dummy doesn't even twitch.

11 pauses to catch her breath. She sneaks a peek at the examiners. One of them is yawning.

“Come on.” 11 stares imploringly at the magical McGuffin she’s been given to use to prove her attunement to the mythical arts. “Work, dammit. Work.”

The orb is the size and shape of an orange, and looks more like a paperweight one finds on the desk of some fortune-teller than a key to summoning the strange energy in this world.

11 shakes it like an eightball, but the orb gives no indication it hears her pleas.

What can it be that I'm missing?

11 fights down the urge to panic. She’s already gone through all the magical words she’s heard, yet none of them seemed to do anything. From the corner of her vision, she sees one of the male examiners stand.

“Oh-kay, I think we’ve seen enough,” the examiner says. “Thank you, Ms. Windborne. Please proceed to the waiting room to hear your results.”

“Wait, wait, I’m not done!” 11 waves her arm at the dummy in desperation, swinging the orb up and down. “Fire Blast! Flamethrower!”

“Ms. Windborne! Your time is up!”

“Ray of frost!" 11 swings the ball harder, like a pitcher ready to throw. "Beam of- uh- Hyper! Beam!”

The orb slips out of 11’s hand and hurtles straight into the wall behind the straw dummy, embedding into the stone with a crack.

A long moment of stunned silence follows as everyone stares at the orb, watching as it slowly peels away from the wall, and shatter to pieces against the ground.

Now all three examiners are standing.

“Guards!”

Yue’li is already in the waiting room when 11 is led in. The yaojin girl bounces from her chair but skids to a halt when she notices that 11 is not alone.

“What’s going on?” she asks, looking between 11 and the two armed men standing on both sides of her.

“She broke the Guild’s Crimson Ore,” one of the guards says. “We’re to make sure she doesn’t make a run for it until our Guild Master has decided what to do with her.”

11 hears a collective gasp come from everyone. There are three others in the waiting room, not including Yue'li and the guards, and all are staring at her with wide-eyed shock. 11 sits down on a nearby seat and hangs her head in shame, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Is that really true?" she hears Yue'li whisper next to her, but 11 doesn't feel capable of answering right then.

A moment later, the door opens and a short man hobbles in holding a clipboard.

“Bilae Austere, of Preulle?” he asks the room.

A young boy with sandy red hair raises his hand. “That’s me.”

The short man nods. “E - Rank. Congratulations.”

The boy pumps his fist in the air and cheers.

“Get your license at the commission booths,” the short man says, then turns and leaves.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” The boy laughs as he dances his way out of the room. “E - Rank, oh yea!”

Throughout the next hour, three more people enter the waiting room to hear their results. Each time the door opens and the short man comes through, 11 expects to hear her name being called. But each time, the short man reads a different name from his clipboard, tells them to get their license, and 11 is left waiting again. By the time she has finished counting all the cracks in the stone ceiling, no one but she and Yue'li and the guards remain.

11 sighs. She glances over at the yaojin girl, who has been silent all this time.

“I’m really sorry,” she says softly. “I just… couldn’t make the dumb orb work.”

“And so you broke it?” Yue’li’s voice is low and tight, but 11 can’t see the girl’s expression from beneath her hood.

“Well, not on purpose.” 11 tries to explain, finds that she can't, so closes her eyes and leans back in her chair. “First I get nowhere with that merchant, now I get nowhere with this.”

She had chosen to hunt down the merchant rather than prepare for this exam yesterday. Perhaps if that venture had proven to be fruitful, 11 may not feel so bad right now. But as it happened, the merchant had no idea where exactly he picked the computer chip up from, only that he found it, "Off to the side of the Bladed Road when I was coming down from the north."

“You should’ve listened to me and prepared a few spells.”

11 answers Yue’li with her eyes still closed. “Somehow I don’t think it was the spells that were the issue.”

“But you’re not a yaojin,” Yue’li presses on, seemingly not caring if the guards hear her. “You should at least have some connection to Nranhana’s power.”

“I don’t know Yue’li,” 11 says. “I truly don’t. I guess I’m not as smart as I thought I was. Big surprise there, I guess.”

They sit in silence for a long while after that, so long 11 starts to think Yue'li may have fallen asleep. But the yaojin girl speaks up again.

“I took this exam five times.”

11 looks over at her. Yue'li is sitting with her hands clasped in her lap. Her head is down, so her expression remains hidden.

“I passed all the physical and theoretical sections, but it was the attunement part that got me too.”

“But you passed in the end, right?” 11 asks. “All it took was practice?”

Yue’li lifts her head, showing 11 a sad, helpless smile. “After the fifth time that I failed to get that Crimson Ore to respond, one of the examiners finally took me to the side. She told me that yaojins couldn’t be attuned to Nranhana’s power. It’s like how elves are naturally attuned without needing any Ores, only yaojins are the opposite.”

11’s mind is spinning, trying to make sense of this new information, of what it means about Aralyn. “You didn’t know this before?”

Yue’li shakes her head lightly and laughs, though there is no humor in it. “I didn’t know what a yaojin even was until my seventh birthday.” She leans back so she's looking straight up at the ceiling.

“They ended up offering me a placement as a Grunt, since my physical scores were never low. I accepted it, more so Abetah wouldn't be suspicious, because I joined the Thieves Covenant that very same day.”

There are many questions 11 wants to ask then, but one demands an answer more than the rest. “How did you not know you couldn’t wield magic?”

Yue’li’s small shoulders rise and fall in a shrug. “How didn't you?"

11 almost smiles. "Good one. But I mean, you make it sound like you didn't know who you were for a long time."

"You mean what I am," Yue'li corrects her.

True, Yue'li never told 11 anything about why she and Abetah look so different even though they are supposed to be mother and daughter. And even after spending so much time with them, 11 is still as confused as she first was.

“Yue’li,” she says carefully, “what is a yaojin, exactly?”

Now it’s Yue’li’s turn to be confused. But then she shrugs and says, “Truthfully, I’m not sure myself. I mean, I only vaguely remember being taken out of the underground slums when I was very young, but whether I was born there or not, I do not know and don’t plan on finding out soon.”

The door opens once again. This time, a woman strides in. She’s wearing a dress studded with sapphires, which seem to shine like teardrops as she moves.

“Lady Thornrose,” the two guards say in salute.

“At ease.” The woman's black heels clack against the hard ground as she strides towards 11 and Yue’li. Her legs seem impossibly long, slicing out from the fabric of her dress like spears. She stops in front of 11.

“Which one of you is Elevena Windborne of Overlake?”

11 stands from her seat. “That’d be me.”

Sorry Aralyn. Looks like I'm borrowing more than your last name.

Lady Thornrose nods curtly, the silver droplets in her earlobes dancing with the movement. Her gaze snaps to Yue’li. “Then who are you? I ordered all the test takers to be dealt with.”

“M-my name is Yue’ling Basilona, my lady,” Yue’li says, shooting up from her chair. “I am Elevena’s… friend.”

Lady Thornrose’s eyes narrow into blades. “Yue’ling, you say. I believe I’ve heard that name before.” She seems to think for a second. “You’re Abetah’s little yaojin, aren’t you?”

"You know Abetah?" Yue’li asks, then swallows her question. “I mean y-yes I am, my lady.”

“As you please then,” Lady Thornrose says. “Far be it for me to deny a citizen’s freedom.” She turns to 11. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Censa Thornrose of Evenfall. My Lord Husband is Ned Thornrose, founder of the Heroes’ League, and Right Hand of the King.”

At that last bit, 11 feels the air in the room become charged, as if everyone has started to hold their breaths. She levels her gaze at the woman, determined not to feel the pressure. “It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady.”

Lady Thornrose smiles a cold shadow of a smile. “Likewise, though I’m afraid our meeting here stems not from a pleasant reason.” Her dark eyes trace down 11’s body and back up again. “It is my understanding that you’ve broken something very important to my Guild.”

“I am aware of the magnitude of my mistake,” 11 answers evenly. “And I promise to pay back what I owe.”

If Lady Thornrose is surprised at how easily 11 acknowledges the situation, she does not show it. Her face is a beautiful mask of controlled emotion.

“Very well,” she says, folding her arms across her chest. Long pale fingers, their nails painted blue, curl around her slender biceps. “I believe the price for that masterclass quality Crimson Ore you broke, taking into consideration the current shortage of raw Ores caused by the war, comes to… a total of nine-thousand gold bits.”

Yue’li makes a sound like she’s being choked. “Nine thousand gold, my lady?”

11 has no idea how much that is, but by how Yue’li is shaking beneath her cloak, she can only guess that the worst has happened.

“My lady,” Yue’li says, getting to her knees. “Please, there must be some other way to make up for the cost.”

Lady Thornrose’s delicate brows turn downward into a frown. “Stop that, child. I am not my Lord Husband. You need not plead like this.”

Yue’li gets up like she’s told, but color does not yet return to her face. “My lady,” she says, but Lady Thornrose holds up a hand, stopping her. 11 counts three rings on three separate fingers, two of which are silver, and the third one gold.

“If Elevena wishes to bargain with me, that is her right. I will not have anyone do it for her.”

Yue’li looks over at 11, her eyes beseeching.

“Lady Thornrose,” 11 says, summoning as much charm as she can find from within herself. “I don’t have that kind of money you’re asking for. Maybe I can do some sort of errand for you instead? A quest maybe? Is there a dragon or some monster I can kill for you?”

Lady Thornrose stares at 11, then barks out a chuckle. “Aren’t you an interesting child,” she says, smiling wider but not warmer. “A dragon, you say. My, I cannot tell if you are being witty or are simply stupid.” She signals with a hand at one of the guards. “Take this girl to the commission booths. See to it that she receives an A-rank Grunt badge.”

Yue’li gives a little gasp. “My lady, an A-rank? That’s too dangerous for-”

Lady Thornrose turns on Yue’li with so much force 11 almost expects to see the woman snarling. “Are you questioning me, child?”

“Oh n-n-no.” Yue’li steps back, knocking into her chair. "Not at all." The poor girl seems to shrink in on herself, but just as 11 is about to stand up and defend Yue’li, Lady Thornrose is speaking to her.

“I came here originally to see if the Battlefront may be graced with another brave soul today.” The woman’s voice is once again a frozen lake as she regards 11 with even colder eyes. “But seeing how you bare no ill will towards the Guild, it is only fair for me to offer you a chance to repay your debts.”

11 does not like the sound of repaying her debts by being something called a 'Grunt', but when she glances at Yue’li, the yaojin girl is petrified in fear and offers no clues into what she should do.

But I suppose it can’t be much different than washing dishes at a restaurant when you don’t have enough money to pay for the meal.

“I accept,” 11 says. “But you have to promise me that once I make up all that I owe, I am allowed to go in peace.”

Lady Thornrose gives 11 a smile that can only be described as chilling. “I promise.” She reaches out a slender hand and cups 11’s cheek. “And in return, I believe it only proper for you to promise me not to run before that.”

Staring into the woman’s dark eyes, 11 replies, “You have my word.”

Once outside again, 11 lets out the breath she’s been holding. The air smells especially fresh, and the summer sun is even brighter than usual. She turns to Yue’li.

“Well, that was… something.”

When Yue'li turns to look at her, 11 realizes with a start that the girl has been crying. Her eyes are bloodshot, and streaks of dried tears run down her rosy cheeks.

“Do you know what you’ve done?” The yaojin girl asks quietly. “You’ve just agreed to repay a debt of nine-thousand gold bits to one of the most powerful people in Kesrock. All of Gandolia, actually.”

11 tries not to let Yue’li’s dread affect her own feelings. “It can’t be that bad,” she says, leading Yue'li down the sandy path from the Heroes’ League back into the city. “She let me have a Grunt license. That means I’m going to get work, right? I can just pay off the debt that way.”

She takes out her newly inked license as she speaks. It is a rectangular slab of wood no bigger than a credit card, with the name ‘Elevena Windborne’ itched into one side, and on the other side is her birthplace and rank.

Well, Aralyn's birthplace.

“By being a Grunt?” Yue’li scoffs. “By the time you’ve earned enough bits from carrying bags and picking up monster parts, you’ll be old enough to retire!” She stops in the middle of the path so 11 has no choice but to stop as well. “And that piece of wood you have there?” She points to the license in 11’s hand. “It won’t allow you into any archives, even if you are an A-rank Grunt. So unless you find a way to use magic, you can kiss your research goodbye.”

11 feels herself getting angry as Yue’li keeps going.

“Lady Thornrose only made you an A-rank so you’ll be requested more. You’d be the first girl-grunt who has an A-rank, so adventurers will be lining up to see the novelty. And once they see how strong and pretty you are, you’ll never have a day’s rest while you’re here!”

“Enough, Yue’li!” 11’s shout makes Yue’li jump. “I fucked up, alright? I should've been more careful with that stupid orb. I should’ve listened to you and prepared. Then, I'll probably realize earlier that I couldn't use magic like I initially thought.” 11 waves the license in the air. “But right now, this is the only way I can make up for that mistake, so even if it is difficult or humiliating, I must do it.”

Having recovered from the shock of 11's outburst, Yue’li readies to stand her ground. “We can go back and renegotiate," she says, "see if Lady Thornrose will let you take the exam again. Maybe if you can get an adventurer’s license, you can take on commissions instead.”

11 shakes her head. “No, Yue’li. I was given an order from a human being. I cannot go back on it.”

Yue’li stares at 11 for a moment, before throwing her hands up. “Fine,” she sighs angrily and continues down the path, not looking back to see if 11 will follow. "It's your life. Throw it away. See if I care."

They continue into the city in silence, and it isn’t until they’re back the cobblestone roads of the western section of Kesrock that Yue’li speaks again.

“I’ve made up my mind,” she says without looking at 11 who is walking beside her. “Let’s do it.”

“Do what?” 11 asks.

Yue’li’s lips press together tightly like she’s gathering courage, or preparing for something unpleasant. She takes a deep breath, her shoulders rising and falling. Then at last she looks up at 11.

“Let’s become coffee sellers.”