Chapter 444:Affection.

Chapter 444: 444:Affection.

By the beginning of the fourth week, Silver had stopped waking up wondering where he was. The Academy had become familiar surprisingly quickly.

He knew the sound of the first morning announcement before it came through the dormitory speakers, knew exactly how long it took to walk from Male Dormitory to Academic Building C if he wasn’t using Short-Step, knew which cafeteria entrance became congested after morning conditioning, and knew that if Antony said he was going to wake up early and train with them, there was roughly a fifty-percent chance he actually meant it.

This morning belonged to the other fifty percent.

Silver finished tying his training shoes and looked across Room 314. Dillian was already dressed and Jude sat on the edge of his bed tightening the straps on his academy boots.

Antony remained beneath his blanket. Silver stared at the suspiciously motionless lump.

"Antony."

Nothing came through. He picked up his water bottle and threw a small eraser towards the lumb, it bounced off without doing much damagr.

"We’re leaving," he said.

A muffled voice emerged.

"I’ll train later."

Jude stood and glanced towards the bed.

"You said that yesterday."

"I did train later."

"You walked to the cafeteria."

"Cardiovascular activity is still training," the sleepy voice said.

Dillian opened the doorand walked ou.

Silver shook his head.

"Peter would love you."

"Peter doesn’t teach Class Two, and I intend to preserve that blessing."

He laughed as he followed Dillian and Jude into the corridor.

The door closed behind them.

Three seconds later it opened again and Antony emerged wearing one shoe.

"Wait."

Silver smiled and turned to him.

"I thought you were training later."

"I reconsidered my future."

"You heard Rebecca’s name yesterday, didn’t you?"

Antony stared at him before rolling his eyes.

"Completely unrelated."

Jude continued walking.

"Rebecca told him she’d ask whether he completed the morning circuit."

Antony looked offended.

"You weren’t supposed to tell him that, you’ll destroy my hard-earned reputation."

Silver laughed all the way downstairs.

---

Ravenna was already running by the time Silver reached the track.

He noticed her immediately, since she looked as beautiful as always on the tracks. Right now, she was moving much faster than she had three weeks ago.

The integration had changed her physically without changing what made her fighting style recognizable. Her stride was longer and more powerful, her acceleration sharper, and the initial awkwardness caused by the sudden increase in strength had almost completely disappeared.

Silver joined the track.

Ravenna noticed him on the next lap but didn’t slow down. They smiled at each other as they continued running with Silver keepin pace with her.

For almost two kilometers they ran without speaking.

Ravenna gradually increased the pace but Silver noticed and also increased his.

She looked sideways, her eyebrow raised. He innocently smiled. She accelerated again but Silver followed immediately after, catching up to her.

The casual morning run turned into a competition without either of them acknowledging it.

By the time they finished, Ravenna reached the end marker less than a second ahead and slowed to a walk.

Silver bent slightly and rested his hands against his hips.

"You cheated."

Ravenna was breathing heavily too.

"How?"

"Your legs are stronger now."

"Those are my legs."

"System-sponsored legs by the way."

Ravenna laughed.

"You bought the core for me."

"Exactly. I funded my own defeat," he responded.

"That sounds like your problem not mine."

He straightened and opened his water bottle but she took it before he could drink.

He stared in dismay.

She drank while maintaining his gaze.

"That’s mine."

"We’re dating."

"I don’t remember agreeing to shared ownership of water."

Ravenna handed it back half finished.

"You’ve kissed me, I don’t think there is much we can complain about."

Silver paused then chuckled to himself.

"That’s an extremely strong argument, maybes we should test it again."

"Just drink your water."

She smiled but it was more of a straight line than a smile.

After he finished drinking, they walked toward the conditioning area together, shoulders occasionally brushing without either reaching for the other’s hand.

That had become normal too; sometimes they held hands, sometimes they didn’t, sometimes Ravenna disappeared for several hours into sword or ability training while Silver went to the shooting range and sometimes Silver ate with his roommates while Ravenna studied with Helena.

They no longer spent every free minute trying to find one another. It hadn’t made them less affectionate, if anything, Silver thought it had made the relationship feel more real.

They had their own lives and goals but they still kept finding their way back to each other.

Ravenna looked toward him.

"You’ve been staring."

Silver didn’t break her gaze and answer immediately.

"I was thinking."

"About me?"

"Unfortunately."

She elbowed him.

He smiled as he skipped a step away almost instinctively.

Then something appeared before him.

[Affection Detection Activated.]

[Ravenna Arkland]

[Current Affection: 70]

Silver slowed as he reread it, a smile slowly taking over his lips.

Ravenna immediately noticed his expression.

"What?"

He looked toward her the smile still on.

She narrowed her eyes.

"Is it the system?"

He nodded.

"What did it say?"

Silver smiled.

"Seventy."

Ravenna’s expression changed.

"Seventy what?"

"You know exactly what."

Her cheeks colored slightly.

Silver enjoyed that considerably more than he should have.

"You gained two."

Ravenna looked forward.

"Stop checking it."

"It activated automatically."

"Tell it to stop."

"The system isn’t particularly conversational."

She continued walking faster this time.

Silver leaned closer as he maintained her pace.

"Seventy."

She shoved his face away.

"Go train."

Silver laughed out loud.

---

Peter Kanister was already standing at the front of Room 4A when Class Four arrived for their first lesson.

That alone wasn’t unusual but the screen behind him was. It didn’t have the usual lesson title or what they were going to tackle for the day; instead it only had the academy insignia.

Silver sat beside Ravenna. Helena took her usual place nearby. Shirley sat farther across the room.

Mina whispered something to Caleb. Elias had already opened his tablet, apparently expecting notes.

Peter waited until the room gradually quieted before he touched the control.

The academy insignia disappeared and large letters replaced it.

[FIRST-YEAR GRADED FIELD ASSESSMENT]