Chapter 299: A Place at the Table

Chapter 299: A Place at the Table

Renn’s opponent brought a cinder hound called Ember onto the floor. It circled Sledge at a quick trot, feinted inward, and darted at the granite ape’s forearm as soon as he reached to catch it.

Jin leaned forward.

Sledge’s first counter missed. The second forced Ember wider, but the hound escaped before he could close a hand around it. Its tamer kept it moving, testing the ape from different angles.

"Don’t reach," Jin muttered.

Beside him, Corin rubbed both palms on his knees. "He knows."

Renn did know. After the next exchange he brought Sledge’s guard closer and moved him away from the open center. The ape turned with short steps, protecting his flanks and making Ember approach across his front.

The hound still found openings. One bite scored Sledge’s wrist before he knocked it aside. Another dart brought a brief flare of heat close enough that he had to step out of it.

But he stopped chasing each retreat. Ember had to circle, reset, and come in again while Sledge recovered behind his guard.

Jin gradually loosened his grip on the rail. Renn wasn’t waiting for the hound to become tired enough to fall over. He was making its attacks narrower, meeting them with less movement each time.

Late in the bout, Sledge shifted one forearm outward and left a gap by his ribs.

Ember took it.

The ape stepped across instead of reaching after the hound. His other arm caught it behind the forelegs, turning its forward drive down into the earth. Before Ember could scramble free, Sledge secured its shoulders and pressed it onto its side.

Its tamer called surrender. Renn released the hold at once.

[Meridian 3 — Ashfell 1]

[Meridian Academy advances]

Jin was on his feet before he finished reading.

Corin caught him around the shoulders and nearly knocked him into his chair.

"We’re through!"

"I can see!" Jin laughed, trying to free the arm trapped between them.

Nessa had both hands over her mouth. Dray stood beside Argent’s temporary care space, smiling despite the dressings along his flank. When Renn came through the gate, she lifted a hand and he slapped it as he passed.

Marris allowed the celebration to spill across the team area until a medic had to ask twice for a clear path.

"All right," the coach called. "Make room. Congratulations can happen while you’re walking."

Across the complex, Cassel had beaten Verdance. The final table appeared while staff gathered Meridian’s equipment.

[Group C — Final Standings]

[Cassel Ridge — 3 wins, 0 losses — Advances]

[Meridian Academy — 2 wins, 1 loss — Advances]

[Ashfell Institute — 1 win, 2 losses]

[Verdance Hall — 0 wins, 3 losses]

Jin sent Elsa a photograph of the result. He started typing an explanation, deleted it, and wrote, We made it. Renn won the last one.

Her reply arrived before he reached the care wing.

I KNOW. MUM WAS SHOUTING.

He put the phone away with a grin he couldn’t quite suppress.

Glitch’s thigh cuts were shallow. The medic cleaned them, checked the seams for trapped grit, and watched him walk before examining the foreleg he had strained against Verdance.

"The shoulder’s holding up," she said. "Some soreness through his back and hindquarters after the stop. We’ll check that again tomorrow."

"And the old bruising?"

"Fading. Still tender when pressed. Today hasn’t made it worse." She closed the scanner. "Easy walking, food, and rest. His regeneration should help the small cuts, but keep them clean."

Glitch leaned toward the feed pouch on Jin’s belt.

"After she’s finished," Jin told him.

The medic stepped aside. Glitch immediately pushed his nose under Jin’s hand.

Argent needed longer. Jin stayed near Dray while the last quills were removed, holding a clean dressing when one of the staff asked for it.

"I thought you had her near the boundary," he said quietly.

"So did I." Dray watched the medic work. "Danner kept enough space for the turn. Next time I’d cut across sooner."

Jin nodded. He nearly said she’d done everything she could, then stopped. She was discussing what she might change, and he didn’t need to argue her out of it.

When Argent settled, Dray scratched behind his ear and finally sat back.

"Glad I don’t have to watch a fifth bout," she said.

"Corin looked glad too."

"He’ll claim he was ready."

"He was. He just didn’t want to need it."

Dray smiled. "That’s usually how it feels."

Dinner at the Longstable was better than usual. Someone had arranged extra dishes, and the staff brought out enough bread that Bex stopped complaining about the portions and began complaining about the crust instead.

Jin ended up between Nessa and Corin in the middle of the table. He had intended to eat quickly and check Glitch, but the handler had already sent word that both beasts were settled.

For once, his tablet stayed in his pocket.

Nessa described her runner stealing a paper bag from a Tallwalk vendor. She insisted the bag had smelled of feed. Corin wanted to know whether that justified eating the paper too.

"It didn’t eat all of it," she said.

"That’s much better," Bex replied. "Very restrained."

Renn, halfway through his second plate, mentioned that a beast at his family’s farm had once swallowed a glove. That led to three competing stories and an argument over which animals could be trusted near laundry.

"What about yours?" Nessa asked Jin. "Does Glitch steal things?"

"Mostly food. Flicker’s worse with clothes." He showed her the pulled thread on his cuff. "She did that while I was wearing it."

"You let her?"

"I was distracted."

Corin reached for the bread. "That’s what all the victims say."

Jin laughed with the others. Later, when someone asked about Shelter Seven, he found himself describing the hydroponics levels where his mother worked: the damp stairwell, the smell that clung to her uniform, the way Elsa complained about it until their mother threatened to stop bringing home spare greens.

"Did she?" Nessa asked.

"No. Elsa complained while eating them."

Bex began defending the vegetables grown in his own shelter, and Jin joined the argument despite having no idea what most of them tasted like. Nobody asked about appraisal or the badger for several minutes. He didn’t realize how much he’d needed that until he was reaching for another piece of bread instead of looking for a reason to leave.

Marris called for their attention once the plates had been cleared.

"Yun, the shorter routes paid off. Astor, you corrected the mistake instead of trying to win back the lost exchange immediately. Renn, good control at the finish." She turned toward Dray. "And you stopped before that matchup cost Argent more than it needed to. We’ll review the approaches tomorrow."

Dray nodded. Renn leaned back, listening with the rest of them now.

"We’ve earned another contest," Marris continued. "Here’s who it’s against."

[Novice Division — Knockout Round]

[Meridian Academy — Group C, Second]

[Opponent: Sablecourt Academy — Group A, First]

[Sablecourt group record: 3 wins, 0 losses]

Corin’s chair stopped creaking.

Marris opened Sablecourt’s three submitted lineups. Different names occupied the same positions across them, with far more changes than Ashfell had made. Jin recognized a burrower from the competition previews. Below it were profiles for a flier, heavy grapplers, and fast flankers.

"Some of these students haven’t fought," Marris said. "Their earlier ties ended before the fifth bout. Don’t mistake a submitted name for footage we’ve actually seen."

Jin leaned closer to read the list.

"We won’t have an obvious third-slot matchup this time," she continued. "Our ordered five must go in before theirs is revealed. I’ll need a lineup that can handle several possibilities, so everyone prepares."

"When?" Nessa asked.

"Day after tomorrow. We have tomorrow for recovery checks and preparation. Tonight, get some sleep."

Jin visited the stall before going upstairs. Glitch rose for a short walk, moving a little stiffly, and Flicker followed them from rail to rail around the covered yard.

Back inside, he checked Glitch’s water and sat beside him long enough for the beast to settle against his leg.

He opened the knockout notice again. Sablecourt’s list filled the screen, and he caught himself reaching for the first recording.

Tomorrow.

He saved it instead, sent his family the opponent’s name, and put the phone away. Flicker landed on his knee. For a few minutes he stayed where he was, listening to Glitch breathe.