The fluorescent hum of the Iron Sing academy was the only sound until Kaelen stepped in. To the average inhabitant of Etrea, he looked like any other wanderer—worn leather coat, a blade at his hip, and the distant stare of someone who had seen the Layer 2 depths.

Kaelen didn't even blink. As the dialogue prompt appeared in his mind's eye, a faint, rhythmic pulsing began in his peripheral vision.

But Kaelen had a secret stitched into the fabric of his reality.

He approached the instructor, a man whose respect was harder to earn than a legendary weapon. Usually, this was the part where travelers stumbled over their words, trying to project a confidence they didn't possess to build their .