Chapter 6 |Odds and Ends

Chapter 6: Chapter 6 |Odds and Ends

Zane made his way to the training grounds at six forty in the morning.

Most first years weren’t up yet. A few second and third years moved through their routines on the far side of the arenas but nobody paid attention to anyone else this early. It was that specific morning energy where people were present without really being there yet.

He’d been running Impact Breaker activation drills on the reinforced wall since six twenty. Palm contact. Pressure. Intent. The shockwave output was still shallow at 40% but the activation time was dropping. On the first day it had taken him three full seconds to fire. This morning he was down to one and a half.

Progress.

Then the system notification appeared.

『 NEW QUEST 』

『 Objective: Initiate a genuine conversation with the female you acquired Overdrive from 』

『 Reward: Familiarity +10% / Aura Range +0.1 meters 』

『 Penalty: Overdrive degradation timer reduced to 3 days 』

『 Time Limit: 30:00 』

Zane stared at it.

’Fuck No,’ he thought.

『 The timer is running. 』

’I heard you. My answer is still no.’ He turned back to the wall and pressed his palm against it. ’She’s at best okay. You already know my type.’

『 Your type is not relevant to system objectives. 』

’My type is always relevant,’ he thought. ’This is a personal boundary.’

『 Overdrive degradation timer: currently 6 days. Penalty would reduce it to 3. 』

Zane looked at his right hand.

Then at the timer in the corner of his vision.

28:14.

’Fine,’ he thought. ’But I’m doing this for the Overdrive ceiling. Nothing else. If her output cap goes up mine goes up. Purely strategic.Might even learn some few tricks from her which would be useful.’

『 Noted. The clock is running. She arrived four minutes ago. At theFar sparring pad. Same corner as yesterday. 』

’You were already watching her,’ Zane thought.

『 I watch anyone beneficial to the system’s objectives. 』

He pushed off the wall and walked across the grounds.

She was exactly where the system said she’d be. Small-framed, training alone, moving with the same deliberate precision as yesterday. Every strike had purpose, every step was measured. Up close, she had sharp features, a modest, compact chest, and the kind of focused expression that made it clear she wasn’t here to make friends before seven in the morning.Not as bad as I thought, Zane admitted, filing the observation away as quickly as it came.

Zane stopped a reasonable distance away and activated Overdrive at minimum output.

The familiar warmth spread through his limbs. Slightly sharper. Slightly faster. He ran through three movement drills back to back at low intensity and kept his eyes forward.

Thirty seconds passed.

Then she glanced at him.

He didn’t react.

Another thirty seconds.

"You were here yesterday," she said. Not accusatory. Just a statement of fact delivered to the space in front of her while she kept drilling.

"Yeah," Zane replied.

"You’re the presumed Sigilless one."

"That’s me, it seems I’m quite popular ."

She paused her drill for the first time. Turned and looked at him properly. "What are you training if you don’t have a Sigil."

"Fundamentals," Zane said. "Footwork. Reaction time. The stuff that matters when everything else fails."

’He moves like someone on a boost,’ she thought, eyes tracking his stance briefly. ’But he’s Sigilless. Doesn’t add up.’

"Hm," she said, and went back to her drill.

『 Familiarity +4% 』

『 Quest progress: 40% 』

’Fourty percent progress give me a break,’ Zane thought.

『 Genuine exchanges accumulate faster than forced ones. Keep going. 』

He kept training beside her in silence for another ten minutes. No forced conversation. No awkward questions. Just two people doing solo work in the same corner of the training grounds before the rest of the school woke up.

『 QUEST COMPLETE 』

『 Familiarity +10% 』

『 Aura Range +0.1 meters — New Range: 3.4 meters 』

『 Overdrive output ceiling update pending further familiarity. 』

’Still 40%?’ Zane thought.

『 10% familiarity is a start. Not a finish. 』

He glanced sideways at her once. She was running the same drill again from the top, reset and precise, completely unbothered by his presence now like he’d always been in that corner.

’What’s your name,’ he almost asked but withheld at the last moment.

He didn’t let’s not push our luck shall we, let’s not disturb her training.

Next time.

He left and was cutting across the east courtyard toward the academic block when he saw her.

Nyx Hale.

Coming from the direction of the girls dorm, a bag slung over one shoulder, her dark hair loose today instead of tied back. She walked with the effortless confidence of someone who expected the world to move around her, not the other way around. Pale blue eyes swept ahead without lingering on anyone, while her curvy figure—anchored by an undeniably ample bust drew more than a few distracted glances as she passed. She never acknowledged them. Zane did. Yeah... that’s exactly my type, he thought.

Zane’s mind went back to registration without him deciding to.

She was the girl from the line. Arms crossed. That expression not hostile, not warm, just calculating. The way she’d looked at him like an unsorted variable. The half second of eye contact before she’d looked away first.

And the uniform.

He wasn’t going to pretend he hadn’t noticed. Dark hair against pale skin, the white blouse fitted in a way that was technically regulation and practically unfair, the skirt stopping just above the knee on legs that had no business looking that good on someone whose primary personality trait appeared to be controlled irritation.

The kind of girl who looked like trouble before she opened her mouth.

She hadn’t opened her mouth to him yet.

He had a feeling when she did it was going to be a problem.

She passed twenty meters to his left without looking in his direction once.

Zane kept walking.

He was almost at the academic block entrance when a shoulder caught him from the right.

Hard. Deliberate. The kind of contact that had nothing to do with accidental.

He stumbled two steps before catching his footing and turned around.

Three guys. First years by the look of them, academy uniforms still crisp, the particular energy of people who’d decided their social ranking needed establishing before the first week was out. The one in the middle was the broadest good looking in the way that came with money, the kind of face that had never heard the word no from anyone who mattered to him.

He was already smiling.

"My bad," he said, in a tone that meant the opposite.

Zane looked at him.

"Calloway, right?" the guy said. "Sovereign’s kid." He let that sit for a second. "Didn’t know they were letting charity cases into Aldren these days. Sigilless too." He shook his head slowly. "Guess the apple really does fall far from the tree. Your dad was number three in the country and you can’t even manifest a basic C-rank." He tilted his head. "Loser runs in the family I guess."

His two friends behind him said nothing. They didn’t need to.

Zane looked at him for a long moment.

’Rich kid,’ he thought. ’New money by the watch. Overconfident which means his Sigil is strong enough that he’s never had to develop anything else. Establishing dominance on day two which means he’s threatened by something he hasn’t admitted to himself yet.’

The system pinged quietly.

『 SIGIL ACTIVITY DETECTED 』

『 Bearer: UNKNOWN 』

『 Sigil: PRESSURE WAVE — B-RANK 』

『 Acquisition window: OPEN 』

『 Awaiting host approval. 』

B-rank. Higher than anything he was currently holding.

’Decline,’ Zane thought. ’Both slots are full; Wouldn’t want replacing his sigils with an unknown one that might turn out less useful.’

He looked back at the guy.

"Ryan, was it?" Zane said quietly.

The guy blinked. "How do you.."

"Lucky guess." Zane picked up his bag from where it had slid off his shoulder. "See you around."

’Not entirely a guess,’ he thought, walking through the entrance. ’The name was already there — buried in the original Zane’s memories like everything else. Ryan Castellan. His parents were decorated B-rank heroes, well known enough that their son’s name stuck in people’s heads before he’d done anything worth remembering himself. The kind of family that bought their legacy instead of earning it.’

’Figures.’

Behind him he heard Ryan say something to his friends. He didn’t catch the words. He didn’t need to.