Chapter 103 Invite to the ark?

Words : 1235 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

In no time they'd arrive at the east wing, prepared to answer Jayden's call out. However, the east wing stretched before them, eerily silent. The usual buzz of commerce, the haggling of traders, the excited chatter of students browsing tech gear—all replaced by a hollow emptiness that made their footsteps echo against concrete. Amanda's heels clicked behind Lucas as they rounded the corner to the main square. Then they saw it. Painted on the central wall, spanning nearly twenty feet across, was a massive bullseye. At its center, in stark black paint that still looked wet: "ZONE 12." "Bastard," someone in the crowd muttered. Lucas stood perfectly still, his shoulders rigid under his formal wear. The silence stretched, heavy with anticipation. Then, slowly, he raised his right hand. Blue sparks began to dance between his fingers. Not the gentle kind that lit up training exercises, but the dangerous sort that made the air taste like metal. The kind that reminded everyone why he was ranked number one. The electricity grew, crawling up his arm, casting shadows across his face. His expression remained unnaturally calm, but his eyes—his eyes burned with something that made the watching students take several steps back. "Lucas," Amanda said softly. Not a warning, not quite. More like a question. The lightning exploded from his hand with a crack that echoed through the empty square. It struck the center of the bullseye, blasting through concrete and steel, leaving a smoking hole where Zone 12 had been painted. Students scrambled backward, murmuring among themselves. "Holy shit—" "Did you see that—" "This is going to be insane—" Their voices faded as they retreated, leaving only Lucas and Amanda in the destroyed square. Dust settled around them, the smell of ozone heavy in the air. Amanda stepped forward, her red gala dress a splash of color in the grey destruction. "Lucas?" she asked again. He turned to her, and the smile that spread across his face wasn't the polite one he wore at formal functions. This was something else. Something that spoke of lightning and thunder and the calm before a storm. "What do you plan to do?" she asked, though her slight smile suggested she already knew the answer. Lucas looked back at the smoking hole, at the destroyed bullseye, at the challenge Jayden had left carved into their territory. His voice, when it came, carried the promise of war. "What else?" The smile grew wider, more dangerous. "A siege." The word hung in the air like a prophecy, like a promise, like the first drop of rain before a deluge. Kelvin's laugh was sharp and short. "Lucas? The guy who responded to psychological warfare with property damage?" He shook his head, falling back into step beside Noah. "No, for now, we watch. We wait. And most importantly," he added, his grin taking on an edge that reminded Noah why he sometimes forgot Kelvin was "just" a tech specialist, "we prepare. Because if School 8 thinks they're the only ones who can play the long game, they're about to learn otherwise." They merged back into the stream of students, but Noah couldn't shake the feeling that the morning's revelations were just the beginning. The selection process loomed ahead, and with it, the promise of something bigger than school rivalry—something that would test more than just their power rankings. As if reading his thoughts, Kelvin bumped his shoulder. "Hey, at least you can't say first year is boring, right?" Noah couldn't help but laugh, even as his mind raced with possibilities. "Yeah," he agreed, "boring is definitely not the word I'd use." Above them, the autumn sun continued to rise over School 12's grounds, casting long shadows across the repaired wall—shadows that seemed to whisper of challenges yet to come, of battles that would be fought with more than just lightning and thunder. The war might have been just beginning, but the real question was: who was actually winning the first round? Noah continued to nod absently at Kelvin's analysis, making the appropriate listening sounds while his mind worked on his own calculations. The coin from the Ark given to him yesterday came spinning in his mind—not a gift, just another reminder of the game he needed to play. 'Interesting how they think sending trinkets from space counts as parenting,' he thought, his mental tone more analytical than bitter. 'But then again, the Ark doesn't waste resources on ordinary soldiers' families. Sending a delegate from up there isn't something they'd do ordinarily. Meaning that mom and dad have gotten even more influencial than I remembered to be able to pull something like that. Still, I guess their power's not enough to come down for Christmas,' He turned away from Kelvin's path, heading toward the martial arts dojo. The sounds of excited chatter about Lucas and Jayden's impending clash faded behind him. 'School politics,' he mused, mapping out his own trajectory. 'Useful for those who need the spotlight. Even more useful for those who don't.' Last night's breakthrough in the void domain he'd retreated to just to clear his head had opened up new possibilities. His core energy responded differently there—more efficiently, more predictably. The kind of progress that would show up in combat metrics without raising too many red flags. 'Commander Albright's watching for anomalies, not steady improvement,' he calculated, keeping his pace casual as he passed a group of faculty members. 'The system helps, but this core training —that's the perfect cover.' Eight of their top twenty-five left. The numbers registered in his mind like data points, pieces on a board he wasn't ready to play on yet. 'Let them focus on the immediate crisis,' he thought, turning down the corridor leading to the dojo. 'Better to be the dark horse than the obvious threat.' The morning sun cast practical shadows—good for training visibility, he noted automatically. His hand flexed, testing the new awareness of his core energy. Master Anng would notice, but then, that was the point. 'Showing progress in traditional training builds the right kind of record,' he reasoned. 'The kind that gets attention from the right people. The kind that eventually gets you an Ark invitation.' The old wooden doors of the dojo appeared ahead, and Noah felt his energy shift in response—a reaction he'd need to learn to control better. 'The system's useful, but it's just one tool,' he reminded himself, reaching for the door. 'And tools can fail. But reputation? Records? Those follow you up even to space.' He pulled the door open, already mapping out how much progress would be safe to demonstrate. Just enough to maintain his trajectory without triggering any alerts. 'Let Lucas and Jayden play their power games,' he thought, stepping into the familiar space. 'I've got a longer game to win.' The door closed behind him, and somewhere in his pocket, the Ark coin pressed against his leg—less a weight and more a measuring stick for how far he still had to climb. 'First step: show Master Anng exactly the right amount of improvement.' His lips curved in a slight smile. 'After all, the best way to get to space is to make them think it's their idea to invite you.'

Chapter 103 Invite to the ark?

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