Chapter 48 Scouted

Mina’s first false training hall contained nine sponsor cameras pretending to be ventilation screws before Damien drew Verdict.

Lucas’s scouts occupied a glass office above the floor, hidden behind academy privacy wards that fooled nobody carrying her receiver.

’They switched from stealing one lens to renting the entire ceiling, damn, rich paranoia scales quickly.’

Damien opened with three repeated angles, each copied from yesterday’s clean wins and slowed enough for analysts to tag.

Flicker landed near the same left boundary after every exchange while his training construct punished the predictable destination.

"Your timing looks convincingly terrible," Mina said through his collar, adjusting telemetry beside the observation wall, "repeat the shoulder mistake."

"Your personal encouragement continues improving considerably under professional academy espionage," Damien replied, letting one blunt spear strike Iron Veil late.

The hidden scouts marked his delayed barrier, then added another note beneath the apparent two-hundred Debt cap.

’Three fake habits now, left Flicker, low Silverlight, delayed Veil, which should make tomorrow’s plant wonderfully confident.’

He released exactly one hundred ninety-nine recorded Debt through a deliberately wide Reckoning that missed the construct’s core.

The impact tore a convincing trench along the hall’s right wall while leaving its target untouched behind falling dust.

One scout replayed Damien’s wrist angle three times, then purchased Mina’s forged channel reading through an anonymous sponsor account.

’He paid extra for the mistake we manufactured, Espionage becomes adorable when the customer insists on being robbed.’

Mana instability followed through Mina’s staged feed, dropping his visible pulse until the scouts leaned closer behind their glass.

"Cut the session and pretend the release damaged your channel," she said, shutting down two floor wards around him.

"I finally receive official permission to perform even less competently," Damien replied, lowering Verdict while one knee touched stone.

The observation office emptied within thirty seconds as analysts carried their purchased conclusion toward Lucas’s camp.

Mina entered after them and replayed every tagged weakness across a portable screen beneath one satisfied grin.

"They believed all three patterns and paid extra for your false mana collapse," she said, transferring the receipt into Bram’s rumor account.

"Yeah, credit the actual engineer publicly when this expensive trap pays off," Damien replied, taking the screen instead of presenting the idea as his own.

Her amber eyes paused on him before she hid pleasure beneath another calibration complaint.

"Obviously, rich boy, your entire contribution involved getting hit rather convincingly," Mina answered, resetting the construct for their second session.

’She likes hearing the credit plainly, good, remember that instead of assuming she already knows.’

The second hall used public student cameras rather than sponsor equipment, giving Bram control over which clips spread first.

He wore an oversized media vest around his narrow shoulders, with seven channel badges arranged beneath sandy hair.

"I prepared separate leaks suggesting injury, arrogance or secret confidence," he said, holding three upload windows between nervous fingers.

"Release arrogance first since nobody at Halcrest questions that version," Damien replied, stepping into another false left Flicker.

"The injury clip should follow after six minutes," Bram said, scheduling each post, "then confidence arrives from an account hostile to Sterling."

Mina made Damien repeat the same three angles until even he became irritated by their obvious rhythm.

That frustration sold the final clip when his wide Reckoning struck a wall instead of the training construct.

[Staged telemetry complete]

[SP cost: 1,680]

[Current SP: 23,400]

’Paying system points to look worse hurts my soul, ugh, tactical humiliation should receive a discount.’

The shop opened beside the expense panel and revealed one new utility option beneath tournament access.

[Echo Step]

[Create one false Flicker destination]

[Cost: 7,500 SP]

Damien wanted it immediately, which felt like enough reason to close the panel before touching purchase.

"You rejected a movement decoy that perfectly fits tomorrow’s unknown opponent," Bram said, reading the dismissed shop line through inventory access.

"The bracket carries a confirmed Death Flag somewhere beyond that fight," Damien replied, fastening Verdict after Mina completed its temperature scan.

"Spending reserve before seeing the trap would make us deserve whatever expensive disaster follows," Mina added, locking his purchase permissions.

’She locked the shop after agreeing with me, trust apparently includes preventing late-night dopamine purchases.’

They watched the rumor network spread three incompatible versions of Damien’s limits through campus channels.

Lucas’s scouts purchased all of them, then shared one compiled pattern with a sponsor shell registered yesterday morning.

The shell forwarded its package toward Soren Null’s temporary student credential without opening any academy record.

Mina cloned its delivery receipt before the route erased itself, preserving a timestamp tied to one tournament administration key.

The same key had opened Corven’s private seed table yesterday, though its current user carried no visible office name.

’Another dirty fingerprint without a hand attached, fine, collect enough prints and somebody eventually runs out of gloves.’

"Your quarterfinal replacement received our bait twelve seconds after Lucas’s office," Mina said, tracing the route through four mirrored accounts.

"The plant watches his camp or owns part of its network," Damien replied, saving each shell identifier beside Benefactor evidence.

"Could Lucas be feeding our false telemetry to that transfer deliberately?" Bram asked, enlarging the shared sponsor key between both recipients.

"Maybe, though Cassius carries the mark while still losing control of its corrections," Damien said, closing the route before black residue noticed tracking.

’Benefactor uses willing people without explaining the full plan, Lucas could be another door, victim or golden idiot standing near one.’

The next morning placed Soren inside the quarterfinal tunnel wearing plain gray combat clothes without academy stitching.

He had white hair cut close around a long face, colorless eyes and a compact build shaped through military drills.

His fitted jacket carried fresh seams at both shoulders, while no cuff displayed family rank or Board placement.

A segmented staff rested across his back, each joint designed to close Flicker exits around three repeated angles.

The weapon carried fresh heat near every hinge, proving somebody had forged its counters after their second staged session ended.

Mina sent the temperature record into three hidden archives while Bram photographed each segment from the public rail.

’They forged this weapon from blueprint into his hands overnight, good, rushed arrogance usually leaves screws loose.’

’Weapon punishes every fake destination we sold, perfect, the bait reached him and he built his entire confidence around swallowing it.’

Soren looked toward Verdict before meeting Damien’s eyes without any crowd-facing expression.

"Your first movement goes left after pressure reaches the forward shoulder," he said, extending the staff into three locking sections.

"Professional scouts usually pretend their stolen homework came from observation," Damien replied, checking the nearest camera.

"Careful observation and informed purchase ultimately produce an identical victory," Soren answered, rotating the lower segment toward Damien’s familiar landing point.

Mina’s receiver clicked once, confirming every staff angle matched their staged telemetry model.

"He rebuilt the weapon overnight around our false pattern," she said, excitement outrunning concern beneath her voice, "this idiot bought all of it."

"Insulting an eager customer before final delivery harms future sales," Damien murmured, drawing Verdict inside the starting square.

The commentary desk introduced Soren as a late transfer prodigy despite possessing no footage to support the claim.

Lucas watched from his protected balcony while three analysts opened Damien’s fake rhythm beside the live arena feed.

[Quarterfinal]

[Damien Sterling, Board 37]

[Soren Null, unranked]

[Level: Unavailable]

’Board rose four places from controlled wins, good, now make this plant expose every purchased counter on camera.’

Soren lowered the segmented staff and aimed its closing joints toward Damien’s left-side Flicker route.

The bell rang while Damien stepped right for the first time across every tournament recording.