Graduation wasn't a ceremony.
At least not for Biji and OTG1234.
The School of Beliefs didn't know how to certify either of them. Biji still had no classification. Tiny had once declared his ability was "tactical chaos," and no one argued. There was no ribbon, no parchment. Just a quiet nod from Instructor Haldein as they left.
> "Try not to collapse a continent."
> "No promises," Tiny said, waving.
---
They set sail across the Water Seas, a vast stretch of shifting ocean filled with floating reefs and half-submerged temples.
Biji rarely spoke.
Tiny talked enough for both of them.
The boat was small. Wood creaked constantly. They fished. They fought off belief-warped sea beasts. Sometimes, they stared at the stars without saying a word. Biji still didn't know what her power was. But it kept working. Kept keeping her alive.
And then they found her.
Or rather, she found them.
---
It was just after dawn. Their boat drifted past a tiny mist-covered island. At first glance, it looked empty.
Then a rock sat up and yawned.
No, not a rock.
A girl.
She had leaves in her hair, sand on her face, and a huge grin.
> "Ahhh—finally! Visitors. Thought you'd never come."
"Who the hell—" Tiny started.
"Name's Yukie! I was napping."
> "Out here?" Biji asked.
"Yeah. I do that."
She hopped onto the boat like it was hers.
Wearing mismatched socks. Carrying nothing. Smelled like sunlight and salt.
---
She explained nothing. Not her background. Not her power.
Only this:
> "I've been sleeping most of my life. Night, day, afternoon, doesn't matter. I used to get scolded for it. Then one day… I woke up and everything in my village was ash."
Biji and Tiny exchanged glances.
> "Did you do it?"
"Maybe," Yukie shrugged. "I don't remember. I sleep through a lot."
---
They didn't trust her.
But when they were ambushed later that night by sky leeches — floating horrors born from broken beliefs — Yukie didn't even stand up.
She yawned, opened one eye, and whispered:
> "Let me nap."
And the leeches froze, turned to sand, and scattered with the wind.
She went back to sleep on deck, drooling a little.
---
Biji looked at her.
> "She's strong."
> "Yeah," Tiny said, eyes wide. "Scary strong."
> "Should we keep her?"
> "She already made a pillow out of our rations."
So they kept her.
---
Just like that, their quiet duo became a chaotic trio.
The girl with no known power.
The boy nicknamed like a meme.
And the nap queen who might have erased a village by accident.
The Veil above Arcane shimmered slightly.
Because something was building.
And these three?
They were walking right into it.
---