Chapter 143 Upper hand

Words : 1213 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Noah and Kelvin trudged into their shared dorm room, exhaustion weighing on their steps. The moment the door shut behind them, they both collapsed onto their beds without a second thought. Kelvin groaned, rolling onto his side. "You sure you don't need to get those bruises checked by the healers?" Noah waved a dismissive hand in the air. "I'll do it first thing in the morning." Kelvin snorted. "Yeah, sure. You don't plan to take a long bath tonight? That's been your ritual for over a month now." Noah hesitated before replying, "Not tonight. Too tired." It wasn't a lie. He was exhausted, but the real reason he wasn't heading for his usual soak was because of what was happening inside his void domain. Somewhere within that pocket of space, Storm—his wyvern—was undergoing his evolution, his body breaking and remaking itself into something more powerful. And Nyx, his dragon, was acting like a doting mother, circling Storm protectively despite being, well... a he. Noah exhaled through his nose. He knew Storm was safe. And so was Nyx. They were in his domain—the one place Albright couldn't reach. Wait. The one place Albright couldn't reach. He stared at the ceiling, his mind suddenly running a hundred miles per hour. The tablet had been saved. But at what cost? They'd gone through all that trouble to protect the evidence—only to make themselves even bigger targets in the process. Vee's story had been convincing, sure. But trust? Trust wasn't something Noah gave freely. Not when it came to a girl Kelvin was clearly getting infatuated with. And now, thanks to this entire mess, they weren't just holding onto some random tech. They had leverage. Raven—the tablet's original owner—had given it to Noah so he could pass it off to Kelvin, hoping the tech genius could fix its supposed "malfunction." That, of course, had been before they realized what was actually on it. Raven was going to expect a fix soon. Well... that didn't look promising. Noah sat up, glancing toward Kelvin's desk. He took a deep breath, crossed the room, and placed his palm over the tablet. "Void storage." Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire A pulse of purplish energy flared from his hand, swallowing the device in an instant. It vanished into the void—gone. Just like that.@@@@ Kelvin was going to wake up and look for it. So was Raven. Noah exhaled, already thinking of excuses. For Raven? Easy. He could spin a tale, maybe even use his injuries as proof that things got complicated. Hopefully, his wounds wouldn't heal too quickly before morning. He needed them to sell the story. Kelvin, though? That was trickier. He needed a cover story... something convincing. 'Maybe I'll say we got robbed overnight,' His eyes flickered toward the corners of the room. 'Kelvin wouldn't have installed cameras in here, right?' ...Right? Noah frowned. On a second thought, Kelvin was paranoid enough to try it. But would he actually mess with their shared space like that? 'Nah... He wouldn't,' Noah resolved to trust that kelvin wouldn't go that extreme despite recent events proving otherwise. Pushing the thought aside, he climbed back into bed, staring at the ceiling once more. For the first time in hours, he felt a small sense of relief. If Commander Albright did come for him, then at least now? Now, he had something to fight back with. __ Noah woke up feeling... oddly refreshed. Too refreshed. "I checked everywhere, Noah!" Kelvin cut him off, running his hands through his already messy hair. His usual composed expression had completely shattered. "It's gone. Someone took it." Noah exhaled, shaking his head like he was just as lost as Kelvin—when in reality, the damn thing was safe inside his void storage. But he couldn't exactly tell Kelvin that, could he? Not when the guy had never even suspected Noah had powers beyond Perfect Echo, which he didn't even have anymore thanks to the new system. Kelvin, however, was spiraling fast. "It had to be Vee," he muttered, hands on his hips, pacing like a caged animal. "She had the means, the motive. Hell, she probably sent someone in while we were sleeping!" Noah nodded slowly, pushing him along. "Yeah... yeah, I mean, she is a technopath. Maybe she hacked the door's lock or—" Kelvin suddenly froze, his face shifting from panic to suspicion. "Wait. That person would need some kind of teleportation ability." Noah stiffened. Kelvin turned toward him. "Because I rigged the door with motion sensors last night. If anyone had gotten too close to it or acted suspiciously, my AI would've notified me." Noah's pulse jumped. AI? In this room? He forced himself to stay calm, giving Kelvin a slow nod. "Right... so, no alarms went off?" "Nope." Kelvin exhaled, his shoulders slumping. "Which means I really should've put up cameras. What good is having surveillance all around campus if my home base is the weakest front?" Noah nodded. Then, as casually as possible, he said, "Yeah... but maybe don't put cameras here." Kelvin narrowed his eyes before a sly smirk crept onto his face. "Oh, I get it," he teased. "You don't want me catching you and Sophie, huh?" Noah barked out a laugh. "Please, this is a shared space. I'd rather not have surveillance invading both our lives." Kelvin chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, alright. No cameras." Noah thanked his stars internally. 'Dodged that bullet,' With the crisis seemingly diffused, he grabbed his bag and started heading out for class. But as he walked, he could feel Kelvin's eyes still on him. Then— "Noah." Noah stopped. He turned back, half-expecting Kelvin to say something like : " I rigged the tablet with a tracker, and it's coming off of you," Was Void Storage even trackable? But instead, Kelvin walked up to him with a rare look of sincerity. "I get it," he said quietly. "That tablet was important to you. And now we have no leverage over Albright." Noah kept his expression neutral, even as his stomach twisted. Kelvin sighed. "I can tell you're just playing it cool. But don't worry—I'll get the video copy from Vee. For insurance." Noah smirked. "Good luck with that." Kelvin chuckled. "I'll let my charm do its work on our beloved upperclassman." Noah turned away with a grin. But after a few steps, his smile faded. He hated lying to Kelvin. At first, it was just because he didn't understand the system. He hadn't known what it meant, what it wanted, or what it would turn him into. But now? Now he didn't even know why he was lying anymore. He'd dug himself too deep. Too deep to claw his way out and suddenly show people—people he mildly tolerated, much less the ones he cared about—the truth. Too sad. Too bad. He shook off the thought. The campus was buzzing today. And for good reason. Like Kelvin had said before their tablet madness and hacker hunt— Today was the start of the tournament's main selection process.

Chapter 143 Upper hand

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