They arrived to Aradon just past noon. The three of them collected their belongings a off for Te.

  Walking through the busy streets of Aradon ectacle. She had never seen anything like the tall, vibrant architecture that packed Valhaur’s capital city. What surprised her most was the sheer density of everything. The buildings weren’t the only thing cram-packed; the people, too, swarmed the streets, milling about their daily lives.

  Natalie felt out of pce. Even Illesa had seemed like a big city pared to Tinford, but here was a real city. More people streamed through this oreet than all of Tinford might hold. It was chaotic. As expected of the most populous city in the try. It was, after all, a civilization built atop a dungeorance … one of only thirteen in the world. Of course half the world—or what felt like it—had settled down here.

  Fortunately, the throng cleared out as they approached Te’s gated entrahe three of them provided their names, and the guards checked a list thehem through. It wasn’t a high-security set up, just enough to keep Aradon’s general popuce out. The Delving Academy was located deep iy, not more than a ten minute walk from the dungeorance.

  The guards provided dires, though they were redundant sidering the signage everywhere. Today was intake day, and Natalie, Sofia, and Jordan weren’t the only ones lugging around backpacks and suitcases, seeking out their varyiinations. The non-newbies were obvious, pared to the regurs, the delvers who’d pleted one or more semesters already. Natalie noted a mixture of expressioheir way: amusement, annoyance, sometimes disdain. Natalie gave dirty loht back to those who provided the st. She’d never been a person to ighat sort of thing.

  Which might cause problems for her, making the wrong enemies. While she, Sofia, and Jordan were nobodies, that wasn’t usually the case for a pce like Tehe Delving Academy was as old as the dirt it was built atop. It’d existed for thousands of years … because there’d always beeo train delvers. The dungeon had provided for the citizens of Valhaur—the world—since forever. Its student body, therefore, was simirly prestigious.

  And sure, the Academy might not always have beeall, gleaming stonebrick buildings, with well-maintained greenery and elegant magitech mps scattering the pathways across the campus, but it’d existed in lesser forms. Like Aradon itself, it’d grown and grown, until it was one of the premier fixtures on the ti.

  It was intimidating. Natalie still couldn’t fully believe she’d qualified … that all three of them had. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Natalie had grown up hearing about how talented she was, but still. Te was for … prodigies might be to of a word. But only the best. That all three of them—from the middle of nowhere—had been accepted really was an unusual thing.

  The signs, and the guards’ dires, led them to an in-processing building. There, Natalie was separated from Jordan and Sofia as the three of them went about their administrative duties. Eventually, Natalie, having properly registered with Te and doted her arrival—and received an I.D. that verified she ermitted on campus—set off to the dormitories.

  Dormitories was the wrong word. First-semester students started out in barracks—unal living areas that housed twenty to forty Teudents each. That was obviously a lot of bodies to pato a spao matter how big … and the barracks weren’t big. Students’ introdus to Te were iionally unfortable. All the more to ence them to escape, using the token system. Iives. Te was all about iives, urging aspirational delvers to work harder, out-pace their peers … earn more, pete.

  A whetstone, Jordan had called the school.

  unal living, though. A few days ago—before her unlog—Natalie hadn’t been stressed by the idea at all. She wouldn’t call herself shy, or uneasy around rge groups of people. She’d figured it would be annoying, definitely, but not ay-indug—not something she was worried about. A temporary problem. She’d be able to move out soon enough, and really, what would she care if other people saw her half-dressed or naked as she went about her m routine?

  Obviously, a new problem had preseself, there. The ges to her biology that had e with her css. With that development taken into at, the idea of living with dozens of irls in a cramped, unal space was far more daunting. Because even if she was careful to not reveal her secret, she might be found out, anyway.

  By act. Say, in the m. Wheched a tent, pletely unwillingly … whiatalie had discovered she did, without fail. The new equipmeween her legs wasn’t siderate in the slightest.

  With a b c her, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but if she threw the covers off at night? Natalie might give herself away. Which wouldn’t be the end of the world, but would introdue questions—from a variety of sources—that Natalie would simply rather not ahe odd, lewd details to her css, she’d prefer if nobody discovered besides Jordan.

  Not to mention the embarrassment. Getting caught with m wood would have plenty of that, just by its own.

  Maybe it was happening each m because she wasn’t taking care of it. For the past several days leading up to ship-off day, she’d beeending it did. Jordan, too, hadn’t brought it up much … though they’d been kissing once a day, harvesting energy. That was its own mess. Natalie didn’t let her thoughts linger on how much she liked those kisses.

  What a situation to be in, right? Natalie hadn’t e to terms with it. In the frenzy of the past two days, preparing to ship off for Te, and in the wake of her ued, intimate iions with Jordan, Natalie had pushed the rather important thiween her legs to the back of her mind.

  She’d have to e to terms with it, eventually. Both mentally, and practically speaking. Just, she wasn’t sure where to begin … and pretending nothing had happened was so much easier.

  Its introdu, too, had made her eyes start snagging to the curves of women with even more frequency than they had before—and Natalie had never been the most reserved girl in the first pce. Though, it wasn’t something impossible to put out of mind. She could ighe inappropriate thoughts. And thankfully, it wasn’t so big it couldn’t be physically hiddeher. Loose pants had done wonders for her. Thankfully, a rexed style had already beeandard when it came to fashion.

  Taking a deep breath, ready to meet her twenty-to-forty temporary roommates, Natalie walked into the squat, regur building that served as the first-year’s barracks.