Chapter 34 | Don’t Die , Come Back Home Safely

Chapter 34: Chapter 34 | Don’t Die , Come Back Home Safely

Thursday.

Kai was up at four-thirty.

He had been up at four-thirty every morning since Monday. The extra hour before the household woke up was training time ,the hallway, the living room, whatever space he could use without waking anyone. Nerve Sense drills first. Then the Gale Strike rotation Shira had given him at her doorway.

He had practiced the rotation every morning for three days.

It was not good yet.

But it was better than it had been.

He made tea at five-fifteen and sat on the couch with his notebook and went through what he knew about preliminary hero evaluations. Han Dori’s profile had listed his assessment methodology as performance-based ,not theory, not paperwork, actual demonstrated output.

Which meant Han Dori was going to ask him to do something.

Kai wrote in the notebook: Nerve Sense — range 80 meters passive. Active focus: full body scan at 15 meters. Gift channel detection through surfaces. Sound frequency perception (Resonance Echo Level 1). Gale Strike Echo Level 2 — range 6 meters, rotation improving, precision moderate.

He looked at the list.

It was not impressive on paper.

He closed the notebook.

==============

Breakfast at seven.

Shira came out first. She positioned herself at the table and looked at her bowl. She looked at Kai.

She looked at him the way she had been looking at him since Monday — with the new expression, the direct one, but with something added to it this week. Something assessing. Like she was running calculations she hadn’t shared yet.

She ate without speaking until halfway through the bowl.

Then she said: "The preliminary evaluation. What format."

"I don’t know," Kai said. "His message said he evaluates the applicant before agreeing to assess the dungeon runs. I assume he’ll ask me to demonstrate something."

Shira looked at her bowl.

"When assessors evaluate unclassified applicants," she said, "they typically use three criteria. Threat perception. Response speed. Output consistency. Gift users fail on output consistency almost never — their abilities are fixed. Unclassified applicants fail there most often because their abilities are self-generated and degrade under pressure."

Kai looked at her.

"You know the assessment criteria," he said.

"I was going to sit on the licensing board," Shira said. "After graduation. Before."

She said the word the same way Mira used it. Flat. Already processed.

"The output consistency test," Kai said. "What does it look like."

"Repeated identical outputs under increasing physical stress," Shira said. "Same ability, same result, three times minimum. They increase your heart rate between attempts — running, resistance, whatever is available. They want to see if your output degrades when your body is working hard."

Kai nodded.

He thought about the Gale Strike Echo. The rotation from the forearm. He had been practicing it calm, standing still in the hallway at four-thirty in the morning.

He had not practiced it while his heart rate was elevated.

’That’s a problem,’ he thought.

"I should have asked earlier," Kai said.

"Yes," Shira said simply.

Mira came to the table. She found her bowl. She picked up her spoon.

Then she wrote something and held the board up.

What time is the evaluation.

"Ten," Kai said. "Eastgate district. About forty minutes from here."

Mira wrote: You should leave by nine.

"I know," Kai said.

She wrote: It is currently seven-fourteen.

"I know," Kai said.

She wrote: You have one hour and forty-six minutes.

"I know," Kai said.

Mira put the board down and ate.

Shira put her spoon down.

"Stand up," Shira said.

Kai looked at her.

"Stand up and show me the rotation," Shira said.

Kai stood up.

He made a fist. He initiated from the forearm the way she had described the rotation building before the release point, the fist just the exit.

He released it toward the empty end of the table.

The air displaced visibly this time , a small compressed column, tighter than anything he’d managed before, that hit the far wall with a sound like a slap.

Shira looked at it.

"Better than Monday," she said.

"Monday was nothing," Kai said.

"Yes," she said. "This is slightly above nothing." She looked at her braced arm. "The rotation needs to complete before release. You’re releasing at seventy percent of the rotation cycle. Wait for the full rotation. The force difference is not linear , it’s exponential. Full rotation is not twice the output of seventy percent rotation. It’s closer to five times."

Kai absorbed this.

He tried again.

The rotation built , he held it longer this time, feeling for the completion point the way you feel for the top of a breath before releasing it.

He released.

The displaced air hit the wall harder. The cup on the counter slid an inch.

Shira looked at the cup.

"Better," she said. "Again."

He did it four more times.

By the fourth attempt the output was consistent — same sound, same displacement, same cup movement.

Mira had her head turned toward the wall where the impacts were landing. Reading the sound. She wrote something and held it up without looking at either of them.

The fourth one sounded the same as the third.

"Yes," Shira said.

That means it’s consistent.

"Starting to be," Shira said.

Kai looked between them.

Mira lowered her board and went back to eating.

Shira picked up her spoon.

"Eat," she said. "You need fuel before a physical evaluation."

Kai sat down and ate.

—---------

He left at eight fifty-five.

At the door he put on his jacket.

From the living room Shira said without looking up: "The output consistency test. Don’t rush the rotation under pressure. Your instinct when your heart rate is high will be to release early. Resist it."

"I will," Kai said.

From Mira’s room , she had gone back after breakfast , two knocks through the door.

His knock returned.

He went to her door.

She opened it. Held up the board.

Come back.

Two words.

Not good luck. Don’t die. Just come back.

Kai looked at the board.

"I will," he said.

Mira lowered the board and closed the door.