The moment her fingertip brushed the holographic button, the world dissolved.
There was no falling, no spinning—just the sudden absence of everything.
Silence.
Then, softly, a voice echoed in her ears—calm, genderless, yet resonant like ancient stone.
["Welcome, Candidate. I am Lucian, your Simulation Guide."]
Emily blinked.
She stood in an endless, floating realm of shifting white marble and starlit sky. There was no sun, but everything was lit in a cool, gentle glow. Fragments of architecture—pillars, arches, and bridges—floated weightlessly around her, slowly rotating as though held by unseen hands.
She was barefoot. The marble beneath her feet felt warm, almost alive, and pulsed faintly with light. There was no wind, yet her hair moved, stirred by unseen energy. She took a slow breath and tasted something electric in the air.
Am I dreaming? she thought. Her body felt... light. Intact. But there was a strange hum in her chest, as though her very blood had been rewritten. She flexed her fingers. They sparked faintly.
Lucian, or what she assumed was Lucian, materialized ahead. A humanoid figure of light and flowing robes, with no face but eyes like twin stars.
"You have been detected with active mana pathways," the voice said. "You are eligible for class integration. Proceeding with orientation."
A new screen floated in front of her:
[SELECT YOUR CLASS
-Warrior – Frontline Combatant. Melee-focused. Heavy armor.
-Engineer – Builder & Tech Specialist. Constructs defenses, drones, traps.
-Ranger – Stealth and Precision. Ranged combat. Animal affinity.
-Mage – Arcane Manipulator. High-damage spells. Elemental control.]
Emily stared at the options. She could see herself in any of them—but something about the last one called to her.
Mage.
It pulsed faintly, as if reacting to her presence.
Warrior was safe. Solid. Engineer was practical. Ranger seemed precise, almost surgical.
But Mage felt... right.
With a breath, she whispered, "Mage."
The world pulsed.
Lucian's form brightened, and his voice deepened. "Class confirmed: Mage. Initializing arcane attunement."
A searing wave of warmth surged through her chest. She gasped and fell to her knees as golden symbols erupted around her, spiraling upward like a cage of light. They rotated, overlapped, etched into the space around her.
"Mana circuits aligning..."
Pain lanced through her skull—not unbearable, but invasive. Like someone was pressing foreign knowledge into her head, bypassing memory and language.
Runes.
Names of lost elements.
Words that shaped the universe.
Fire. Ice. Lightning. Gravity.
So much power...
She looked at her hand, and without thinking, raised it. Her fingers twitched in a pattern she didn't fully understand. In the air, a glowing spiral appeared.
It was a rune. A fire rune.
"Wait—"
It ignited.
A fireball erupted from her palm and screamed across the sky, smashing into one of the floating pillars. It exploded in a storm of sparks and debris.
The backlash knocked her flat on her back.
"What the hell!" she gasped, smoke curling from her fingertips.
Lucian drifted over. "Your core is responsive. High potential detected. Latent affinity for elemental control confirmed."
Emily sat up, dazed. Her hands shook. "I didn't mean to do that."
"Your instincts aligned with the spell matrix. Control will come with practice."
She stood slowly, looking around at the shattered marble floating through the sky like ash. She had done that.
She had power.
"Where am I? What is this place really?"
Lucian turned. Behind him, the empty sky rippled, revealing an enormous astral gate—a circular construct with flowing energy pouring through it.
"This is the Simulation Realm. Here, time flows differently. One hour here equals one minute in the physical world."
Emily blinked. "So... I can train here for days? Weeks?"
"Precisely. It is how we prepare potential Candidates to survive First Contact."
A second interface materialized.
[Training Mode Activated
Fire Magic Basics
Arcane Shielding
Mana Management
Spellcasting Stability]
She stared at it, overwhelmed. "I don't know how to fight. I've never... done anything like this."
"And yet you chose Mage," Lucian said calmly.
She frowned. "Why did I?"
"Perhaps instinct. Perhaps destiny."
The first training module blinked: Fire Magic Basics.
Lucian gestured to a new platform that formed out of floating tiles. Target dummies—stone humanoid forms—stood in a semicircle. Runic diagrams hovered over them.
"Begin by tracing the Rune of Embers. Focus on ignition. Not intensity."
Emily approached. Her heart thundered. Her pulse felt synced to the magical hum in the air.
She raised her hand. The pattern came instinctively now: a spiral, then a jagged line, then a flick of the fingers.
A fire rune appeared. This time, she held it.
She could feel the fire bubbling beneath her skin, waiting to be released.
She breathed deeply and pushed her palm forward.
The fireball launched—not wild this time, but controlled. It slammed into the dummy, engulfing it in flames.
"Excellent," Lucian said. "Now again."
And again. And again.
Hours passed. Dozens of spells. Sweat clung to her skin. Her mana burned low. She learned how to push harder, how to rest, how to balance.
Later, she learned Arcane Shielding. A pale blue barrier shimmered to life around her as projectiles launched from crystal turrets Lucian summoned. She ducked, rolled, reinforced the shield when it cracked.
She failed. She bled.
But she got better.
She could feel it. The fear didn't vanish—but it no longer ruled her.
After what felt like an entire day, Lucian finally spoke: "You've made remarkable progress. Your neural imprint is stable. The Simulation can now be paused and resumed."
Emily panted, kneeling, her arms trembling. But in her eyes burned something new.
Not fear.
Focus.
"Lucian," she said, looking up at the faceless guide, "I need to be ready. Not just for me—for everyone."
"You will be. But the others may not be as fortunate."
Emily's gaze hardened. "Then I'll carry the fire for them."
And above her, unseen by her eyes, the astral gate pulsed.
Watching.
Waiting.
Something had noticed her.