Chapter 9: Core promotion!
"Yes, I’ve had a second awakening surge."
Her eyes moved across my face. After a moment, she nodded her head.
"That explains the channel damage." Her voice was quiet. "And the muscle density readings. They didn’t match the file."
"Right."
"Re-awakening." She picked up her water glass again and took a slow sip.
"What about that skill."
"It came with the awakening."
"What rank is it?"
I held her eyes.
"A-rank."
The glass paused at her lips.
"A-rank." She set it down without drinking. "An A-rank skill."
"Do you know what that means, Ash?"
I nodded, setting my own glass down on the white cloth. "Yeah. I know."
"Tell me." Hart leaned forward a fraction, her fingers laced together in front of her plate. "I want to hear you say it."
I took a moment before I answered, watching the candle flame between us bend toward her side of the table.
"An A-rank skill is the kind of thing a B-rank awakener prays for their entire lives. Those below B-Rank never have a chance to get them, no matter how hard they work. It’s only available to B-Rankers and above. Even then, there are only a handful of B-Rankers with A-Rank skills in their arsenal. A-Rank skills are usually reserved to A-Rankers and S-Rankers."
Hart’s expression didn’t change, but something behind her eyes flickered.
"Which means," I continued, "the awakening surge gave me the skill first and the body second. And the body’s still catching up."
"It’s worse than catching up. A core that ends up carrying an A-rank skill has to expand far enough to support it. That’s not D-rank work. That’s not even C-rank work. If you awakened an A-rank skill, Ash, your core is going to keep expanding past the rank you’re sitting at right now. It has no choice. The skill won’t let it stop."
"So."
"So once your core fully stabilizes," Hart said quietly, "you’ll be at least a B-ranker. Maybe higher. Your second surge wasn’t just good. It’s an event the academy will write papers about, if you ever let them publish your case file."
I picked up my drink and finished what was left.
"Don’t let them publish it," she added.
"I wasn’t planning to."
Hart’s gaze moved over me again, but it had changed now. This time her eyes moved across my shoulders, down my arms, across the line of my collarbone where it disappeared under the collar of my shirt.
"You’re coming to the infirmary tomorrow. Morning, before classes start."
"Am I." I smirked in the face of her command.
"You are. I need to scan your channels properly. The readings I took today were from a stretcher with a fight still cooling in your system. I want a baseline taken when you’re rested. I want to see your core for myself, Ash."
"You are quite the bossy healer. Usually, nurses are more reserved."
"Professional."
"Same thing, from where I’m sitting."
A faint flush climbed up the side of Hart’s neck.
The System chimed.
[CHOICE A: Go to the infirmary tomorrow. Make a bold move on her. Reward: Core promotion (D → C).]
[CHOICE B: Go to the infirmary tomorrow. Behave. Reward: Skill — {Improved Sight}.]
[CHOICE C: Skip the appointment. Reward: Mana core injury.]
I let the screen sit in my vision for two seconds.
A core promotion to C-rank would close half the gap to the body I was supposed to have when it came to second awakening phenomenons. Improved sight was useful, but it was the kind of skill I could pick up later from a hundred different paths. The injury reward in option C wasn’t a reward at all, it was a punishment for ignoring her.
The System was getting less subtle. Or maybe I was getting easier to read.
I dismissed the screen.
"I’ll be there," I said.
Hart watched me, head tilted slightly.
"You said that fast."
"I had options. None of them beat seeing you in the morning."
Hart’s flush deepened by a shade, but her professional face held, mostly.
"Don’t be late."
"I won’t be."
The waiter drifted past our table, read the empty plates, and asked if we wanted dessert. Hart looked at me.
"Two of whatever’s good," I told him.
He smiled, took the empty plates, and slipped away again.
Hart set her glass down and rested her chin on the back of her hand. Her eyes were warmer now than they had been when we walked in.
"You’re a problem, Ash Rowan."
"I’ve been told."
"By who."
"By a beautiful healer sitting before me."
That earned a soft laugh from Hart. She covered her mouth with her hand and looked away toward the window, and I sat back in my chair and watched her, taking my time about it.
The plaza outside was lit gold from the lanterns along the path. A couple walked past the window arm in arm. Hart followed them with her eyes for a moment, then looked back at me, and whatever she’d been about to say got swallowed when the dessert arrived.
Two small plates. Cake layered, dark chocolate and cream and a thin gold leaf across the top.
Hart picked up her spoon and began to eat.
The waiter returned with the bill on a small black tray.
I reached for it and flipped the leather cover open.
’Damn. This is expensive.’
The number at the bottom was worse than I’d budgeted for. The wine had pushed the total well past my emergency line. I’d have to dip into the second savings account the previous Ash kept hidden from his mother, which would still leave me close to broke for the rest of the month.
I closed the bill, pulled my phone out of my pocket, and unlocked the screen.
Before I could swipe it over the reader, Hart’s hand moved past mine.
BEEP.
The waiter’s tablet chimed. The transaction was confirmed on the small screen between us.
"Thank you, ma’am. Sir. We hope to see you both again very soon. Have a wonderful evening."
He took the tray and walked off.
I stared at Hart across the table.
"I said I was paying. Why did you do that?"
Hart picked up her glass, finished the last sip in it, and set it back down with a small, satisfied smile.
"You’re still a broke school boy, Ash. You have yet to earn real money." She slid her phone back into her bag. "Pay me back next time."
I sighed and shook my head.
"That’s not how this was supposed to go."
I stood up from my chair, watching her gather her coat from the seat beside her. She slipped one arm through the sleeve, then the other, and stood up.
[Reward delivered: E-Rank Storage Ring.]
