Don't Look at Me, I'm Forging - Misconceptions of Merit"If you read four hundred pages of

Commonwealth military ordinance specs every night because you can’t sleep, you’re going to ace the theoretical portion,” Kae said, poking at a cold tuber skin on her plate with her fork tip. “It’s just rote memory. Anyone can memorize thermal dissipation curves.”Soraya set her fruit juice down, watching Kae over the top of her glass with an expression that bordered on pitying amusement. “Cerys, the theoretical portion was written by senior ballistic engineers from the High Command. The average score across the entireRim cohort was sixty-two.””Because they didn’t read the footnotes,” Kae insisted stubbornly. She shoved her oversized black glasses higher up her nose, her bangs falling over her eyes like a protective shutter. “All the trick questions were in the 6128 revision footnotes. I didn’t do anything smart. I just didn’t skip the small print.”Nico blew a loud, wet raspberry through her lips, resting her heavy chin in her palm while her elbow nearly crushed a metal condiment shaker. “Oh, right. Completely brainless. And what about the practical test? Did you find the answers to cold-refining obsidian slate in a footnote too?””That wasn’t even real metallurgy!” Kae’s voice squeaked slightly as she sat up straight, defensive anger flushing her pale cheeks. “Real metallurgy takes a triple-boosted furnace and proper slag flux! I literally just vibrated the quartz out of some cheap ballast stone because I didn’t want to burn my fingers on the core housing! It’s what you do when you don’t have fifty credits for a proper heat sleeve!”Nico burst out laughing again, slapping her thigh so hard the vinyl booth seat groaned under her weight. “I love her, Soraya. Can we keep her forever? She’s sitting here telling us she accidentally scored in the top ninety-nine percentile because she was too lazy to wear safety gloves.””I wasn’t lazy,” Kae grumbled, looking down at her scuffed boots. “Safety gloves limit thumb dexterity. You can’t feel the micro-fissures in the alloy if you’re wearing three millimeters of synthetic leather.”Soraya shook her head, a soft, rare laugh escaping her throat as she flicked her holoslate clean. The golden blue rankings vanished from the air above their table, replaced by a harsh, red-coded map of Aegis-IV’s southern hemisphere.”Enjoy your imposter syndrome while you can, little owl,” Soraya said, her tone shifting seamlessly from casual banter to the sharp, quiet cadence of an active-duty strategist. “Because tomorrow at zero-six-thirty, nobody in the field is going to care how you got your ninety-five points. They’re just going to expect you to keep them alive.”Kae’s fork stopped mid-air. “Tomorrow?””The Wilderness Crucible,” Soraya said, tapping a jagged green sector on the map labeled SECTOR 7 – PRIMORDIAL GARRISON ZONE. “Every incoming freshman takes it on Day 15. It’s mandatory, it’s unscripted, and it counts for forty percent of your first-term practical grade.”Kae felt her stomach do a slow, heavy drop, the seared iron-boar steak suddenly sitting like a lead weight behind her ribs. “Unscripted? Like… outside the campus wall?””Way outside,” Nico chimed in, leaning forward and resting her thick forearms on the wood. “Sector 7 is eighty square kilometers of untamed jungle, mud, and ancient basalt ravines. High Command keeps it stocked with wild A-rank and S-rank Vexid beasts—mostly Ironhorns and skitterer packs that filter in through the northern breach fence. They clear out the SSS-class abominations before the test, but everything else stays.” “They dump six hundred eighteen-year-olds into a jungle full of monsters?” Kae asked, her voice dropping an octave.”Ten-person randomized squads,” Soraya corrected. “You’ll get your assignment at muster tomorrow morning. One Vanguard, two Tacticians, an apothecary if you’re lucky, and a support engineer. You get a standard survival pack, a locator beacon, and an emergency tracking wristband that triggers a kinetic stasis shield if your vitals drop into the red.””If the shield triggers, you’re out,” Nico added, winking. “And your squad loses thirty percent of its cumulative point pool. So try not to let anything chew on your legs.” Kae swallowed hard. The monsters were bad enough, but her brain instantly seized on the far more terrifying detail.”Randomized?” she repeated, her fingers tightening around her napkin. “Ten people? People I don’t know?””That’s the point,” Soraya said smoothly. “In the Rim garrisons, you don’t get to choose your squad mates. You get dropped into a trench with whoever survived the shuttle ride. Some of them will be arrogant prep-school Vanguards from the Inner Rim who think they’re invincible. Some will be apothecary support kids who faint at the smell of beast blood.” Soraya leaned over the table, her dark eyes locking onto Kae’s behind her thick lenses.”Listen to me, Cerys. As a Class 1 engineer, you’re going to be the most valuable target in your squad. Every team wants a high-tier engineer because supply crates dropped in Sector 7 only contain raw ore and unrefined scrap. If your squad wants weapons better than a wooden club, you have to forge them in the dirt.””Forging… in the dirt?” Kae blinked. “Without a workshop power grid?””Without anything except whatever raw minerals you can dig out of the ravines,” Soraya said. “Which means every arrogant Vanguard in your team is going to be breathing down your neck, demanding custom blades, heavy armor, and kinetic repairs the second you hit the mud.”Nico reached out, giving Kae’s shoulder a reassuring, heavy pat that almost knocked her specs off again. “Don’t let ’em bully you, little owl. If some noble kid with a fancy haircut tries to tell you how to run your furnace, you hit ’em over the knee with your spanner.Or write down his name and I’ll break his nose in the sparring ring on Monday.” Kae stared at the red map floating over the table.Sector 7. Eighty square kilometers of wild, untamed forest, high-density ore deposits buried under red mud… and nine complete strangers she was going to be forced to talk to for three straight days.Ten strangers, she thought, her pulse thumping wildly in her throat. On a team. In the woods.Suddenly, the Vexid monsters didn’t sound so bad after all.