Cassian and Kalso hit it off fast, chatting through the night watch, now swapping stories about where they came from. "I'm from a territory near the Magic Empire," Kalso said. "My family were hunters—nobody in our line was big on magic, so my parents moved here to get me better training in what we're good at." He grinned, proud. "And that's how I ended up the first circle warrior in our family."
"Your parents gotta be stoked about that," Cassian said, smiling.
Kalso nodded. "Yeah, they're thrilled. Hard not to be when I bought them a house inside the city walls. They spent their whole lives in small villages, whether back in the Empire or after moving here. What about you? Where you from?"
"Me?" Cassian said, a bit nostalgic. It felt like ages since he was scraping by in Veldora's slums, getting his system, serving Lady Katherine, then bolting to Magisteria City. So much had gone down, and it wasn't even a year yet, though it'd be close in a few months.
