Noah emerged from the bathroom, his mind still lingering on Nyx's excited greeting. The sight of Kelvin slouched against the wall, tablet in hand, brought him back to reality. The self-proclaimed technopath hadn't moved an inch, his face illuminated by the screen's blue glow.
"The girls?" Noah asked, though he could already guess the answer.
"Left for combat training," Kelvin replied without looking up. "Said something about practicing their synchronized attacks. But check this out." He turned the tablet, showing a preliminary scan of Cannadah's surface. "Those geometric patterns we saw in class? They're not natural formations."
'Of course they're not,' Noah thought. 'Nothing that perfect could be natural.'
"Think about it," Kelvin continued, his eyes lighting up with that familiar tech-enthusiast gleam. "A planet with pre-existing structures, completely untouched by Harbinger influence. Do you know what kind of tech we might find there? The expedition's bringing prototype scanning equipment, deep-core analysis tools, even some experimental void energy detectors."
He started counting off on his fingers. "We're talking about potential access to alien technology, unknown energy signatures, maybe even new power sources. For a technopath like me, it's..." He trailed off, searching for words.
"A gold mine?" Noah suggested.
"More like a tech paradise," Kelvin grinned. "I've already started designing some custom scanning algorithms. If I can get my hands on even a fraction of the data..."
Noah nodded along, but his thoughts were elsewhere. 'If Nyx needs beast cores every few days, and we're going to be on Cannadah for weeks...' The math wasn't adding up. He needed to find a solution before the expedition.
As they walked back toward the dorms, Kelvin continued outlining his plans. "The real challenge will be interfacing with any tech we find. I mean, we're talking about potentially non-human architecture here. The signal processing alone would be..."
He never finished the sentence. Three figures stepped out from behind a maintenance shed, their movements too coordinated to be casual.
Noah's natural survival instinct kicked in immediately, noting details: first-year students, concealed weapons poorly hidden under jackets, and expressions that screamed trouble.
'Amateur hour,' Noah thought, 'but dangerous amateurs.'
The tallest one, a lanky kid with a badly hidden dagger, spoke first. "You two need to come with us." His voice cracked slightly on the last word, betraying his age.
'First years playing tough,' Noah assessed. 'But those daggers aren't training weapons.'
He glanced at Kelvin, who had gone very still. Noah could void blink away in an instant, but that would leave his friend defenseless. The academy's loose stance on "student conflicts" meant help wasn't coming.
"Sure," Noah said calmly, raising his hands. "Lead the way."
They were marched behind the storage containers near the academy's western wall. The setting sun cast long shadows between the metal boxes, perfect for an ambush. Noah counted four more figures waiting in the shadows.
'Seven against two. Not great odds.'
But it was the eighth figure that drew his attention - Raven, leaning against a container with forced casualness. His recent defeat in martial arts class still showed in the slight bruising around his throat where Noah tapped him out in a choke hold.
'Should have known,' Noah thought. 'Wounded pride is always the most dangerous weapon.'
Raven pushed off from the container, a smirk playing across his face. "Noah," he said, as if they'd met by chance. "We need to have a chat about fair play."
"Seven guys with weapons against two unarmed students," Noah replied evenly. "Is that your definition of fair play?"
The smirk faltered slightly. "You cheated in our match. Nobody moves like that naturally. Nobody sees attacks before they happen."
'If you only knew,' Noah thought, his mind flickering to those mysterious white lines he'd seen during their fight. 'But I don't even understand it myself yet.'
The sun dipped lower, shadows lengthening across the makeshift arena. Noah could feel Kelvin tensing beside him, probably calculating the odds of escape before getting stabbed. Seven armed first-years plus Raven, all looking for payback.
This wasn't going to end well for someone.
"Um, Noah?" Kelvin whispered, eyeing the gathering of students who looked like they'd raided a discount villain costume shop. "Why are there 1A and 1C students cornering us? What did you do this time?"
Noah shrugged, the picture of innocence. "I may have forgotten to share my skincare routine."
"Your what—" Kelvin pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know what? Never mind. Knowing you as of late, you probably insulted someone's grandmother,"
Stepping forward, Noah addressed Raven directly. "Look, this is between us. Leave Kelvin out of it. You lost a spar - it happens. No need to make it your villain origin story."
Raven's face turned an interesting shade of red. "It is a big deal!" he snarled. "How dare a talentless 1B scum defeat me? I'm a second-generation talent! You're stuck in 1B while I'm in 1A. There's a difference!" He jabbed a finger at Noah's chest. "You cheated, and tomorrow you're going to confess it to everyone!"
'Second-generation talent and first-generation anger management issues,' Noah mused. He glanced at Kelvin, catching his friend's worried expression. A cheating accusation could mean serious trouble - possibly even expulsion from combat classes.
'Miss Harper would be so disappointed,' Noah thought, imagining his guardian's face. The school cleaner had worked too hard getting him into the academy for this.
"Or what?" Noah asked, keeping his voice level.
Raven stepped closer, until they were eye to eye. With deliberate slowness, he spat on Noah's boots.
'Really?' Noah thought. 'I just polished those. Miss Harper taught me how to make them shine and everything.'
"I'll beat the living breaks out of you right here," Raven growled.
Noah's smirk was automatic. "Funny way of showing it. You embarrassed yourself in front of everyone, and now you want revenge in a dark corner with your backup dancers? That's some premium coward material right there."
"Noah," Kelvin hissed, "what are you doing?"
'Making terrible life choices, probably,' Noah thought cheerfully.
Raven ran a hand through his hair, the gears in his head turning so slowly Noah could practically hear them creaking.
'There goes his last brain cell,' Noah thought.
"Sunset," Raven finally declared. "Old training ground. In front of everyone. A rematch." His lips curled into a sneer. "And this time, it won't be just a spar."
He shoved Noah, who barely moved, before storming off with his entourage of wannabe thugs.
Kelvin stared at his friend in disbelief. "What the hell has gotten into you lately?"
[...]
But Noah wasn't listening. His attention was fixed on the translucent blue screen floating before his eyes:
[New Quest Available: Pride Before the Fall]
[Objective: Defeat Raven in public combat]
[Reward: Void Loot Box]
[Bonus Objective: Win without revealing your special abilities]
[Time Limit: Until Sunset]
[Accept? Y/N]
'A void loot box?' Noah's smirk widened as excitement bubbled in his chest. 'I have absolutely no idea what that means, but it sounds way better than another boring Tuesday night. Another quest since the one about getting Nyx to...'
"Noah?" Kelvin waved a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Noah? Are you even listening? You've got that weird look again, "
"Sorry," Noah said, still grinning. "Just thinking about tonight's entertainment."
'And how many ways I can win without letting anyone know about the white lines I see, or the void system, or my baby dragon who's probably doing loop-de-loops in my domain right now because it sensed my excitement.'
Kelvin sighed deeply, the sigh of someone who had long since accepted their friend's questionable life choices. "You're going to give me gray hair before we even get to Cannadah, aren't you?"
'Oh, buddy,' Noah thought, mentally selecting 'Y' on the quest prompt, 'you have no idea.'