Chapter 140| Contest Rules

Chapter 140: Chapter 140| Contest Rules

Arena Two at 11:30 AM was louder than it had any right to be.

Vael had split the floor in half with a chalk line. First years on the left, a second-year block on the right. Nobody had said why, but the reason wasn’t hard to guess, she wanted the second years to show the first years the ropes.

Zane stood at the edge of the line with his bag at his feet and his hands loose.

He’d walked here from Mori’s theory block without hearing a single thing around him. The Glasswall coordinates were still sitting in his notebook, four digits with a box drawn around them.

’Not now,’ he thought. ’Let’s focus on the practical.’

『 System Note: The host has found a way to compartmentalise. The system finds this healthy. 』

’Don’t make it weird,’ he said mentally.

Vael clapped once, and the noise in Arena Two dropped.

"Today’s a precision drill," she said. "Six moving targets on the rails, forty seconds a run. Use whatever Sigil and output you want. The highest hit count goes on the practical sheet." She looked down the line, first years first, then the second years across the chalk. "Don’t waste my time."

Zane watched her from the end of the line. So this was what she’d been busy with. It explained why Mori had taken her theory block.

The first years shuffled into order.

Across the chalk line, someone was already laughing too loudly.

Nil.

She stood at the head of the second-year line with her arms crossed. Gym top, shorts, hair tied up. She looked like she’d come for a stroll and decided to stay.

Zane glanced across the chalk and his eyes stayed there longer than they should have. The second years really did carry a lot but his main focus was on Nil. Her shorts hugged her fat butt like they’d been fitted to it, her waist cut in slick and narrow above it, and her face was just as good as the rest. He couldn’t stop staring.

『 System Note: You have a lot of fantasies going on in that small brain of yours. 』

’Sheesh,’ he thought. ’Let a man have his moment.’

Maren was three spots ahead of Zane. She hadn’t looked back once.

"Calloway."

He looked left.

Sera drifted over from 1-B’s side of the line without anyone stopping her. Her gear was the fitted kind, hair pulled back, and it didn’t try very hard to contain her large breasts.

Zane tried keeping his eyes on her face. Mostly.

"You look like you’re somewhere else," she said.

"Mori’s lecture." It came out before he could think about it.

"Ah." She studied him a second longer. "You sure you’re okay?"

"Yeah, I’m fine." He kept his eyes locked on hers. It took some effort.

She didn’t push. She just reached into the side pocket of his bag, found a protein bar, and took it.

"Hey." Zane said.

"You weren’t eating it."

"It was in my bag."

"Same thing."

He let it go.

_ _

Maren went first.

Overdrive, full chain. The rail fired. Six targets swung across the floor in staggered arcs and she hit them like she’d memorised the pattern in advance. Burst, cut, burst.

Five hits. A near-miss on the last.

"Five," Vael called. "Next."

Maren stepped off the floor, her face flat and her breathing even, like five hits was exactly what she’d expected.

Across the chalk line Nil was grinning.

"Five," Nil said. Loud enough to carry. "Cute."

"Your turn," Maren said.

Nil stepped onto the floor.

She didn’t activate anything visible. Just lifted one hand and made a small pulling gesture, like she was straightening a picture on a wall.

The rail jerked.

Every target slowed, bent, drifted toward her in a lazy curve. She tapped each one with a finger. Six pings.

"Six," Vael said. No inflection.

Nil turned to the first-year line with her whole face lit up.

"I win."

Maren said nothing. She just threw a smug look back.

Zane did the math. Nil’s Sigil didn’t need to move her body. Maren’s did. Same drill, different physics.

"That’s cheating," Maren said finally.

"It’s literally my Sigil," Nil said sweetly. "Loser buys dinner. We agreed."

"We agreed on the drill."

"And I did the drill."

Maren’s cheek puffed. The tiny, involuntary version.

Zane looked at the ceiling.

’Don’t get involved,’ he thought.

『 System Note: The host will be involved. The system has already calculated it. 』

_ _

Zane’s own run came after Sera’s.

Sera lifted a hand, no sound, no wind-up. Heat Emission hit the first target dead centre. Then the second. She cleared all six and stepped off like someone leaving a lift.

"Six," Vael said. "Dunne."

Zane stepped up.

He activated Overdrive at B-rank 10%. The window opened and the floor sharpened around him.

The first target swung.

Impact Breaker wasn’t built for range. He knew that. But 4.7 meters was 4.7 meters. He palmed the floor, sent the shockwave low, and the first target rang.

Second. Third.

He stopped counting. Just moved.

Four. Five.

The sixth swung wide. He cut left, planted a foot, and slammed the ground.

Six.

"Six," Vael said. She wrote something down. Looked at him half a second longer than the sheet needed. "Calloway."

Nobody said anything for a moment. Then the smug looks started coming from every direction, Ryan’s the loudest of the lot.

"Luck," he muttered, just loud enough to carry.

Then Nil, from across the line: "Interesting."

"Stop saying that," Maren said without turning.

Zane stepped off the floor. His hands were warm. The third slot sat quiet in his chest where the system had put it.

’Kinetic Force. Zero percent,’ he thought.

He tried pulling on it anyway. Nothing answered. It felt less like an empty slot and more like a door he couldn’t find the handle for.

『 System Note: Output at 0% does not mean the Sigil is inert. Kinetic Force can still function at this level. The host simply has not learned how to trigger it yet. The system suggests Saturday may help. 』

’Right,’ he thought. ’Saturday.’

_ _

Vael called time at 12:15.

The line broke up. Students drifted toward the exit in clumps.

Nil intercepted Maren at the door. Zane heard it from ten feet.

"Dinner. Tonight. Your treat. I’m thinking the place by the west gate."

"We don’t have money for the place by the west gate."

"Then you’ll have to be creative."

"I’m not paying."

"You said loser buys."

"I said no such thing."

"Maren."

Maren looked at the ceiling, then at Zane.

He raised both hands. "I wasn’t in this."

"You’re coming," Nil said.

"What?"

"Dinner. Three people. It’s more fun." She smiled. Full warmth, no apology. "Also you owe me for the thumbs up."

"I don’t owe you for a thumbs up."

"You do. It was a very good thumbs up."

Maren pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Fine," she said. "Seven. West gate. Zane’s paying."

"Wait.."

"You wanted in," Maren said, and walked out.

Nil winked at him over her shoulder.

Zane stood alone at the edge of the chalk line.

Up on the observation rail, a figure stood very still, arms resting on the metal.

Nyx.

She wasn’t looking at Maren or at Nil. She was looking at him.

When their eyes met she didn’t look away. She just tilted her head a fraction, like she was checking something against a list, then turned and left.

『 System Note: Someone was watching the host’s output closely. The system recommends bringing a better excuse for Saturday. 』

’I have a spar,’ he thought. ’That’s the excuse.’

『 The system does not think that is the excuse she is looking for. 』

He picked up his bag and followed the crowd out.