Alex watched from the palace window as the capital square below dissolved into chaos but it was the good kind of chaos. People were hugging strangers, crying, laughing, shouting questions at the guards who had been posted to distribute information. Children were already trying to mimic the basic stances they'd glimpsed on the screens, their parents watching with expressions that mixed hope and fear."It's really happening," Alena said beside him."It's really happening," Alex agreed."You know this means we're going to be very, very busy for the next few years.""I know.""And Mother's going to lecture you about sustainable resource allocation.""I know.""She's also going to hug you and pretend she's not crying."Alex turned to look at his sister. "Are you crying?"Alena's eyes were suspiciously bright. "No. There's just... dust. In the air.""Right." He smiled. "Dust."She punched his arm. "Shut up."But she was smiling too.The first training hall in the capital opened at dawn the

While Alex trained the people, Alena armed them.Her factories had been running around the clock since the announcement, churning out equipment designed specifically for the law level warriors.Low-level armor for 1st to 3rd Rank warriors is light, flexible, affordable. Mid-level gear for 4th to 6th Rank reinforced with spiritual energy channels, capable of withstanding monster claws. High-level equipment for 7th to 9th Rank custom pieces that could channel law energy, each one a work of art.The production floor was a symphony of noise and motion: the clang of hammers, the hiss of cooling metal, the hum of spiritual energy forges. Alena walked through it with a data slate in hand, her grey eyes cataloging everything."Quality is important," she said, stopping beside a rack of newly-forged breastplates. She ran her fingers over the surface, checking for imperfections. "If their weapons break, they die. And if they die, the program fails. I won't let that happen."Mia, her closest co

The throne room of the Aurelia Empire's royal palace was a place of calculated grandeur. Every surface gleamed polished marble floors that reflected the light of a hundred floating crystals, columns carved with the histories of a thousand battles, windows of stained glass that painted the air in shades of amber and gold. The Emperor sat on his throne, a tall man with silver-streaked hair and eyes the color of aged whiskey. In his hands, he held a report that had traveled across half the continent to reach him.The report was from Roshar. Six months of data, meticulously compiled, detailing the Storm-God Martial Art program's results. Three hundred thousand citizens registered. Twenty thousand 1st Rank warriors. A forty percent drop in crime rates in cities with training halls. Two thousand new military recruits, each one tested and proven in combat before they ever set foot in a barracks.The Emperor read the numbers three times. Then he set the report down on the arm of his throne a

The summit was held in neutral territory, as all truly important meetings were.The Human Council headquarters had a dozen conference rooms, each one designed for different kinds of diplomacy, grand halls for formal treaties, intimate salons for quiet negotiations, soundproofed chambers for conversations that could never be acknowledged in public. The room Elara Voss set aside for this gathering was somewhere in between: a round table of dark wood polished to a mirror shine, high-backed chairs upholstered in deep blue velvet, windows that looked out over the gardens where flowers from a hundred worlds bloomed in careful, deliberate arrangements. No aides. No recording devices. No one but the three men who, between them, represented the future of human civilization.The Roshar king arrived first. He sat at the table with his back to the window, the morning light haloing his grey hair, his expression calm and unreadable. He had dressed simply a dark tunic, the Roshar sunburst embroider

The royal decree came one month later, broadcast across every screen in the Roshar kingdom simultaneously.In the capital's central square, a massive holographic display shimmered into existence just as the morning sun crested the spires of the palace. The crowd that had gathered and a crowd always gathered now, ever since the first announcement six months ago fell silent as the image of their king resolved into clarity. He sat at his desk, the same desk he had used for the original announcement, his grey eyes looking directly into the camera with an intensity that made every viewer feel as if he were speaking to them alone."Citizens of Roshar," he began, his voice carrying across mountains and valleys, through city streets and country lanes, into every home and tavern and shop where a screen flickered. "Six months ago, we opened our training halls. We gave you the tools to become warriors. We asked you to trust us to believe that the strength we offered was real, and that the threa