Chapter 223: 224 | Valuable or Vanished
The tension between us didn’t dissolve. Too much history for that. Too many accumulated grievances and unspoken resentments. But it shifted into something more manageable. Two competitors who could acknowledge each other’s existence without immediately reaching for weapons.
Progress.
"The exhibition match." Nolan’s voice returned to business mode. "We need to actually coordinate if we’re going to impress the Vanguard scouts."
"Agreed."
"That means training together. Actually working on combination attacks instead of trying to one-up each other every session."
"Also agreed."
He studied me for another long moment. Then extended his hand.
I looked at it. Golden light playing across his palm. The physical manifestation of everything that made him special.
My drain stirred. Hungry. Interested. Wanting to reach out and taste what he was offering.
I told it to shut up.
Took his hand.
His grip was firm. Mine was firmer. Neither of us let go first.
"This doesn’t make us friends."
"Wouldn’t dream of it."
"But we can be allies. For the match."
"For the match." I released his hand. Stepped back. "Now. You want to actually train, or are we going to keep having feelings in the middle of an arena?"
The ghost of a smile crossed his face. Gone before it could fully form.
"Training. Definitely training."
We spent the next two hours learning how not to kill each other.
It was harder than it sounded. Nolan’s light manipulation worked on offense and defense simultaneously. He could blind, burn, create solid constructs, and bend visibility around himself to become functionally invisible. The only limitation was concentration. Split his focus and the constructs weakened. Overwhelm his processing capacity and the whole system collapsed.
My copied abilities made me unpredictable. Liminal Step for mobility. Gravity Jail for control. Fire Fist for close-range damage. The system interface let me read his ability architecture in real time. See where the energy flowed and where it pooled.
Together, we were a nightmare for any opponent who expected traditional combat patterns.
Separately, we kept getting in each other’s way.
"Stop teleporting into my light field." Nolan wiped sweat from his forehead. His uniform was singed in three places from near-misses with my fire. "Every time you open a portal inside the construct, it destabilizes the whole thing."
"Then stop building constructs where I’m trying to portal." I rolled my shoulder. Something had gotten tweaked during our last exchange. "Your range is ridiculous. Leave some space for the rest of us."
"My range is the point. I control the battlefield by controlling the light."
"And I control movement by controlling space. We need to figure out zones."
We argued about zones for fifteen minutes. Then argued about timing for another ten. Then argued about who would take point against different types of opponents until Professor Reeves appeared at the edge of the arena and told us to shut up or she’d give us something real to argue about.
We shut up.
"Better." She walked toward us with that predatory grace that made her look like she was always about to strike something. Today’s outfit was a white blouse and black pencil skirt that technically met dress code requirements while violating every principle the dress code was trying to enforce. "You’ve stopped trying to murder each other. Progress."
"We’re coordinating." Nolan’s voice was carefully neutral. "Slowly."
"I noticed." Her eyes moved to me. Red and knowing. "You look tired, Rome. Rough night?"
"Just busy."
"Hmm." She circled us both. Assessing. "The Vanguard scouts arrive in three weeks. They’ll be evaluating individual performance and team coordination. Right now, your individual performances are strong enough to attract interest. Your team coordination is going to get you both killed."
"We’re working on it."
"Work faster." She stopped in front of me. Close enough that I could smell her perfume. "I’ve seen the recordings from Building F. The security footage that somehow didn’t make it into the official report."
My stomach dropped.
"The footage shows a student with three concentric circles in his eyes standing in front of an entity that should have killed everyone in the building." Her voice stayed conversational. Light. Like we were discussing the weather. "That student appears to do something impossible. And then the entity stabilizes. And then the student collapses. And then a portal opens and everyone disappears."
Nolan was looking at me now. Confusion in his expression. He hadn’t seen that footage.
"I wonder what that student was doing." Reeves tilted her head. "I wonder how a registered Passive Null could display an active ocular manifestation. I wonder how many people have started asking those same questions."
"How many?"
"So far? Just me. And whoever planted the surveillance camera that recorded it." Her smile was sharp enough to cut. "But the NEA will request that footage eventually. And when they do, they’ll see exactly what I saw. Which means you have approximately three weeks to become too valuable to disappear."
"The match."
"The match." She nodded. "Win convincingly. Impress the scouts. Get a Vanguard contract before the bureaucracy catches up to whatever you actually are." Her eyes flicked to Nolan. "You’ll help."
"I will?"
"You will. Because Rome’s success is your success. The scouts want to see heroes who can work together under pressure. If he fails, you look like you can’t coordinate with difficult partners. If he succeeds, you look like you can turn a liability into an asset."
Nolan processed that. I watched him work through the implications. The protagonist was smart enough to see what Reeves was offering. A way to frame my success as his own accomplishment.
"Fine." He didn’t sound happy about it. "I’ll help."
"Excellent." Reeves turned back to me. "My office. Six o’clock. We need to discuss your blood work. And other things."
She walked away before I could respond.
Nolan watched her go. Then turned to me with an expression that mixed confusion with growing suspicion.
"What the hell was that about?"
"Long story."
"I’ve got time."
"You really don’t." I grabbed my bag. Started walking toward the arena exit. "We’ll train again tomorrow. Same time. Try not to blind me with your light field and I’ll try not to portal through your constructs."
"Rome."
Comments