Extra's Path To Main Character-Chapter 40 - 39 - What A-Rank Opens [2]

"Volg," she said, in the direct tone that meant she’d come looking for him specifically. "I heard you’re reviewing frontier postings. Are you taking the northern deployment?"

"Considering it," Amaron said. "You?"

"Already committed. Three-month rotation starting next week." She said this with the calm certainty of someone who had made the decision and was simply executing it. "It’s good work. Difficult, but good. The northern frontier is where you go if you want to get significantly better at handling chaos."

"You’ve done it before," Amaron said. Not a question.

"Last year. Six-month deployment. It’s part of why I’m as capable as I am now." She looked at him with the assessing quality she got when she was evaluating something important. "You should do it. You’re A-rank now, but you’re early A-rank. The frontier will push you past that faster than anything else available. And we’d be working the same rotation, which means built-in backup you can trust."

It was a compelling argument. Livia didn’t give professional recommendations lightly. If she thought the frontier deployment was the right move, it probably was.

But three months. Away from Valdenmere. Away from the house with the dark green door.

"I’ll think about it," Amaron said.

"Don’t think too long. They’re filling positions fast." She nodded and walked off, heading toward the equipment office with her characteristic efficiency.

Amaron stood in the Guild hall holding documentation for three opportunities that would all move him forward but in completely different directions, and tried to determine which version of forward he actually wanted.

— ◆ —

He found Elian at the Solhart residence that evening and laid out the situation with the precise detail he gave to anything that required input.

"Three opportunities," Elian said when Amaron finished. "All good. All different. And you’re trying to figure out which one to take."

"Yes," Amaron said.

"What’s your instinct?"

"The Kell training program. Eight weeks intensive with someone who’s been S-rank. It’s exactly what I said I needed."

"But?"

"But it requires sponsorship, has limited enrollment, and I’m competing against people who’ve been A-rank for years. The frontier deployment is guaranteed if I commit, gives me three months of high-level field work, and Livia’s already signed on so I’d have backup I trust."

"And the advisory position?"

"Interesting but not what I need right now. I need development, not visibility."

Elian nodded. "Then it’s between the frontier and the Kell program. And the Kell program requires sponsorship you don’t have yet."

"Do you know anyone who could sponsor me?" Amaron asked directly.

"Yes," Elian said immediately. "My mother."

Amaron stared at him. "Vela."

"Former B-rank Hunter, retired in good standing, maintained her Guild credentials, has the authority to sponsor A-rank candidates for specialized programs." Elian said this as if it was obvious. "She doesn’t do it often because most people don’t ask. But she’d do it for you."

— ◆ —

Vela was in the kitchen when Elian brought Amaron down to ask. She listened to the explanation — the Kell training program, the sponsorship requirement, the fact that he was trying to decide between that and the frontier deployment — with the focused attention that meant she was processing more than just the surface request.

"Mordain Kell," she said when Amaron finished. "I know him. Trained under him briefly before my injury. He’s brutal. Effective. And he doesn’t accept students who aren’t serious about reaching S-rank."

"I’m serious," Amaron said.

"I know you are." She looked at him directly. "But you should understand what you’re committing to. The Kell program isn’t just intensive training. It’s designed to break you past your current limitations by pushing you past what’s safe. You will get injured. You will reach your absolute limit multiple times per week. You will question whether it’s worth it. And if you’re not completely committed to reaching S-rank, you’ll quit before the eight weeks are done."

"And if I am completely committed?" Amaron asked.

"Then you’ll come out of it significantly stronger, significantly more capable, and with a very clear understanding of what the gap between A-rank and S-rank actually involves." She paused. "I’ll sponsor you. But you need to decide if that’s actually what you want, or if the frontier deployment is a better match for where you are right now."

"What would you recommend?" Amaron asked.

"Depends on what you’re optimizing for," Vela said. "The frontier gives you breadth — exposure to many different situations, operational experience, the kind of well-rounded development that makes you reliable in the field. The Kell program gives you depth — focused technique development, pushing your absolute capacity, the kind of specialized training that makes you exceptional in specific domains. Both are good. But they’re different paths."

Amaron processed this. "If you were me, which would you choose?"

"I’m not you," Vela said. "But I’ll tell you this: you’ve spent four months being strategic and careful and measured. You just decided three days ago to stop being careful and start being strong. The Kell program is what that decision looks like in practice. The frontier deployment is important work, but it’s still fundamentally careful. Strategic. The kind of path someone takes when they want to be very good at what they do without taking unnecessary risks."

She refilled her tea. "You told me you were done being careful. If you meant that, the answer is obvious."

— ◆ —

Amaron sat at the kitchen table and thought about three months in the northern frontier versus eight weeks of training designed to break him past his limitations.

He thought about the decision he’d made three days ago. The commitment to stop being strategic if being strategic meant being less than he could be.

He thought about Vela saying ’you’re capable of more’ and Elian saying ’start training like you’re trying to become the strongest person in Ardenmoor.’

The frontier was safer. More measured. The kind of path that would make him better without requiring him to risk breaking himself in the process.

The Kell program was exactly the opposite.

"I want the Kell program," Amaron said. "If you’re willing to sponsor me, I’ll apply."

Vela nodded. "I’ll write the sponsorship letter tomorrow. You’ll need to complete the technical evaluation and submit your performance record by the application deadline. The competition will be significant. But I think you have a real chance."

"Thank you," Amaron said.

"You’re welcome. Now eat something. If you’re training with Mordain, you’ll need to start building up your endurance now. Eight weeks of that program is going to be the hardest thing you’ve done in either life."

She said this with the calm certainty of someone who knew exactly what she was talking about.

Amaron accepted the assessment and the food she put in front of him, and tried not to think too hard about the fact that he’d just committed to eight weeks of training specifically designed to break him.

He’d wanted to stop being careful. He was about to find out what that actually meant.