Chapter 82: The Records Were All True

Chapter 82: The Records Were All True

Jin woke before the alarm.

That felt unfair. He had gone to sleep specifically so he would not have to do that.

He had managed maybe four hours, and none of them had been good.

The worst of the soul fatigue had faded during the night, but it was still there. The splitting pain in his head had settled into constant pressure behind his eyes. His thoughts lagged half a second behind, and the light from his phone made him squint.

Even the bond felt sore, like a muscle pushed too far. Weeks of stored growth and combat instinct had passed through it all at once, leaving both ends tender.

Glitch was already awake among the flattened feed bags.

He looked subdued in a way Jin almost never saw. There was no swagger and no immediate demand for food. He was simply a small obsidian lizard who had become much stronger overnight and was visibly offended to discover that this had not made him feel better.

I am stronger now. Why do I feel worse?

"Yeah," Jin said. "That’s how it works. Nobody said strength was free."

He ran Appraisal.

[Combat Level: 3-Star]

[Physical Condition: Stable]

[Synchronization Recovery: In Progress]

[Strenuous Activity: Not Recommended]

Stable.

Real.

Still 3-Star in the morning, exactly as he had been at midnight.

Also wrecked, much like Jin.

Jin measured breakfast from the remaining feed. Around one week of the monthly allowance was left, and he intended to stretch it for that entire week.

Glitch stared at the portion.

Then he looked at Jin.

Then, very deliberately, he turned toward the sealed bags on the other side of the room.

"No. You ate two-thirds of the month last night. Now you’re rationed. Try suffering with dignity."

Glitch suffered with no dignity at all, but he ate what Jin gave him.

After that, Jin gathered everything Kade had requested.

Feeding records. Recovery plans. Injury and healing data from after the entrance examination. Appraisal readings taken during Glitch’s development and again immediately after the breakthrough.

He also included the exact amount of feed Glitch had consumed overnight.

Every record supported the explanation Jin intended to give.

None of them could reveal where the missing weeks of growth had actually come from.

That was the part a feeding chart could never cover. Glitch had not simply eaten well. His body had received development earned through four victories against a 4-Star boss, along with weeks of dying, learning, and returning in a world Meridian could not observe.

Jin did not need Kade to believe the breakthrough was normal.

That would be impossible.

He only needed the instructor to accept that abnormal development, backed by legitimate records and a healthy body, was not proof that Jin had done something wrong.

He clipped a lead onto Glitch. The lizard did not require one, but he tolerated it.

Then Jin left to face Kade Marrow.

Meridian was nearly deserted at that hour.

Maintenance workers crossed between buildings. A few students were already training on the combat fields beneath the artificial dawn.

Jin remembered that.

This was a school where the competition got up early.

Evaluation Hall Three was broad, clean, and clearly designed for beast testing. Kade Marrow was already there beside a beast-medical technician and a row of scanning equipment.

His eyes moved first to Jin’s hollow expression, then to Glitch’s lowered posture.

"What time did the breakthrough start?" Kade asked.

There was no accusation in his voice.

He was only gathering facts.

"Late. After registration, once I was in the dorm. Before midnight."

"Has he exercised since then? Used any active skill? Received any stimulant?"

"No exercise. No active skills. No stimulants. Only standard feed and water."

Corrosion Resistance had become part of Glitch’s body, but it was passive.

Acid Breath had not been used even once.

Kade motioned to the technician. "Scan him."

Glitch recognised the equipment.

It was the same type of offensive machine that had insulted him the previous afternoon.

He lacked the energy for a proper revolt, but when they reached the weighing platform, he stopped and planted all four feet.

The technician said nothing.

She placed one feed pellet in the middle of the platform.

Glitch stepped onto it.

He ate the pellet, then arranged himself with great dignity, making it perfectly clear that he had cooperated by choice and that the pellet was unrelated.

Jin kept his expression straight.

Kade nearly managed the same.

Pale light moved over Glitch, and the technician’s display began filling with results.

[Registered Species: Grey Rock Lizard]

[Registered Quality: Iron]

[Combat Rank: Rank 1 Novice]

[Combat Level: 3-Star]

[Recent Breakthrough: Confirmed]

[Physical Condition: Stable]

[Recovery Status: Incomplete]

[Foreign Stimulants: None Detected]

[Forced Advancement Damage: None Detected]

The standard medical scan confirmed his rank, species, stability, and the lack of artificial advancement.

It was not a complete skill-identification test.

Acid Breath remained hidden because Glitch had never used it. Corrosion Resistance caused no warning. The Engine did not physically exist anywhere inside him.

Jin let out a slow breath through his nose.

He had expected exactly this result.

That did not make it pleasant to watch Meridian’s equipment inspect Glitch.

Kade studied the display.

"He’s 3-Star. That part is settled."

Jin said nothing.

Kade turned away from the results.

"That was never the main issue. Yesterday afternoon, this hall confirmed an Iron-quality Grey Rock Lizard at 2-Star. A few weeks ago, your entrance record listed him at 1-Star. He has advanced twice within weeks, despite belonging to a species that develops slowly, and this is your first contract."

He held out one hand.

"Show me the records from the beginning."

Jin passed them over.

Kade read them the way Arthur read contracts.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Without missing anything.

The records covered Glitch’s first advancement after the entrance examination. They showed the injured leg and the recovery period that had controlled their training schedule afterward.

They also showed how Jin had used Data Appraisal to adjust food, rest, and activity.

The later readings recorded Glitch in strong physical condition before the newest breakthrough. Then came the sharp increase in nutrient absorption during it, followed by nearly two-thirds of a month’s feed vanishing overnight.

Kade tapped the consumption record.

"This supports genuine growth. A body does not consume this much nutrition to produce a false reading."

His finger shifted to the earlier data.

"But feed only supports a breakthrough. It cannot produce development that was never there. These records prove his body settled a large amount of growth. They do not explain where he earned it."

There it was.

The exact gap in Jin’s explanation.

And the person he least wanted examining it had found it immediately.

"He kept developing after the entrance exam," Jin said. "I used controlled training and recovery during the waiting period. Data Appraisal showed unusually strong absorption and steady improvement, so I knew his growth had continued."

"But you did not know he was close to advancing."

"No. Meridian’s feed is more consistent and higher quality than anything he had in the Outer Ring. I think it gave his body enough resources to settle development that was already there."

It was possible.

The readings supported it.

Whether Kade accepted it was another question.

Kade looked from Jin to Glitch.

"You understand how convenient that explanation sounds."

"Yes."

"And you understand how abnormal two breakthroughs in this amount of time are for his species."

"Yes." Jin kept his tone level. "That’s why I reported it instead of letting the assessment discover it."