Chapter 306: Something They Haven’t Seen

Chapter 306: Something They Haven’t Seen

"The new skill," Jin told the medic. "He shook a little after the first cast."

She looked up from Glitch’s shoulder. "How long?"

"Less than a minute. I stopped there."

"Good." She ran the scanner along his forequarters again. "No injury. His readings have settled overnight, but repeat casts may bring it back. You’ll need to watch the recovery between them."

Jin nodded, relieved she had given him something to measure instead of a general instruction to be careful.

Before she left, he asked her to show him the shoulder reading again. He compared it with last night’s record and marked where the tremor had begun. Glitch watched this extra delay with growing suspicion, then nudged the empty breakfast bowl toward him.

He had booked the Longstable’s basement practice floor before breakfast. Once Glitch’s check was finished, they went down together.

The first exercise was embarrassingly simple: put Gravity Press inside a chalk circle without touching the smaller circle beside it.

Glitch knew how to cast. Keeping the field narrow took more concentration. On his second attempt, its edge caught his own front foot and made him stumble.

He stared at the floor.

"Yes," Jin said. "It works on you too."

He moved the next marker farther away and shortened the cast. Glitch’s third patch stayed within the chalk. Jin rewarded him, let him rest, then brought out the rolling drill sled.

They worked in short sets through the morning, walking between them. By the end, Glitch could place a brief pulse ahead of the sled and make its leading wheels dig into the grit. His placement worsened when he hurried, and the shoulder tremor began sooner if the preceding cast had been too broad.

Jin wrote both things down. Watching the crate bend last night had been exciting. Knowing when to stop was going to matter more.

Marris arrived late that morning with a practice attendant, whom she introduced before closing the floor to other bookings.

"You said private," she told Jin. "I need someone to reset the equipment."

"That’s fine."

Glitch had rested since his last set. Jin checked him once more, then demonstrated a pulse against the moving sled.

Its front wheels bit down, pitching the padded weight on top forward.

Marris stepped closer to the rail.

"Show me what happens if it’s braced."

The attendant locked the sled and widened its supports. This time it creaked but stayed upright.

For the third demonstration, Marris asked Jin to cast early. The attendant steered the sled around the settling dust without slowing.

"Fixed area," she said. "Visible if you’re watching for it. Strongest when their balance is already committed."

"Yes. Holding it costs too much. A pulse is much cheaper, but repeated casts still strain him."

"How many in a fight?"

"I can’t give you a reliable number yet. These are low-power tests with rest between them." Jin touched Glitch’s shoulder. "Under pressure, I’d rather save one for an opening than keep trying until something works."

Marris nodded. "And a flier?"

"Within about two meters of the ground, I’ve seen it work. I wouldn’t count on reaching higher."

"Good. Keep that distinction." She watched Glitch settle onto his belly. "Where did you learn to develop this?"

Jin had rehearsed an answer upstairs. Now it sounded far too elaborate.

"I’d rather keep the method private."

"All right," Marris said.

He blinked.

"I need its limits and an honest condition report," she continued. "If either changes, tell me. Your training method is your business."

"I will."

She looked toward the closed door. "Keep using private bookings. If it works against a low pass, I’d prefer the other coach to discover that during a bout."

Jin glanced at Glitch, who had apparently decided the meeting was over and was nudging the treat pouch.

For once, he agreed completely.

The opening revival playoff was the next morning: Bellmoor Academy, Arena 1, eleven o’clock.

Marris named Nessa, Corin, Dray, Bex, and Renn at the team meeting. Jin remained reserve.

He understood the selection. That did not stop the little drop in his stomach when she reached Renn’s name without saying his.

"Nessa’s runner is the better answer to their opener," Marris told him afterward. "You’ll have your notes ready, and you’ll stay available."

"Yes, Coach."

"And remember the format. A winner can continue after inspection, but withdrawal is final. Nobody goes away for treatment and comes back fresh later in the tie."

The reminder was for the whole table. Corin stopped turning his stylus between his fingers.

"We make those decisions after each bout," Marris said. "Winning once doesn’t oblige anyone to fight twice."

Jin looked down at Glitch’s profile. There was a new skill on it and no opportunity to show anyone tomorrow unless something went wrong.

He closed the panel before he could start inventing reasons Marris had chosen badly.

Renn caught him in the corridor.

"How annoyed?" the older student asked.

"Some."

"That’s allowed." Renn adjusted Sledge’s lead as the granite ape stopped to examine a cleaning trolley. "First time I traveled, I spent two ties on the bench working out how I’d have done everything better. Then I got picked and lost in four minutes."

Jin smiled despite himself. "Did that help?"

"Quite a lot. Sledge, leave it." Renn waited for the ape to move. "Watch tomorrow’s withdrawals. Sometimes the useful decision is admitting the next matchup belongs to somebody else."

Back in the common room, Nessa dropped into the chair beside Jin with her tablet.

"Bex thinks their second beast’s reach is the problem. Look at this."

They watched the same exchange three times. Jin pointed out the long recovery after the strike. Nessa rewound it and showed him the tamer moving to cover that pause.

He had missed the tamer entirely.

"Right," he admitted. "So forcing the strike isn’t enough."

"No," Nessa said. "Now watch where he stands when they’re near the edge."

Jin pulled his chair closer. By the time they finished, his disappointment had become a much smaller part of the afternoon.

He gave Glitch no more casting work that day. There would be time for another measured session after they knew what tomorrow cost the team. ℯℯ𝑙.

Flicker, meanwhile, considered rest an unreasonable suggestion.

Her marked perches were eleven meters apart now. She landed cleanly on six of eight flights, and corrected the other two before her feet touched the rail. Jin caught himself reaching out during the first wobble, then lowered his hand when she recovered on her own.

"That was good," he told her.

She stretched her wings and prepared to go again.

"After a break."

Glitch lay along the wall, watching. Flicker took her break on his foreleg, which pleased him enough that Jin could feel it.

He sat beside them while the evening light moved across the covered yard. Tomorrow, five people he had come to know would try to keep their academy in the competition. He would be behind the rail, watching for something useful and hoping he never needed to tell Marris that her reserve was ready.

Nessa had left a message on his tablet asking for the boundary clip.

Jin sent it, along with the timestamp they had found together.

Then he looked up as Flicker launched for the next perch.