Chapter 230 230: Back to eight

Words : 1588 Updated : Sep 25th, 2025

As the swirling purple energy of Noah's domain faded, the familiar setting of the training area reappeared around them. The polished stone floor was cool beneath their feet, and the dim lanterns hanging overhead cast a soft glow over the space. Fully clothed again, Noah stretched his shoulders, rolling the tension out of them while stealing a glance at Lila. She stood a few feet away, arms crossed, her usual confidence replaced by something more reserved. Shy, even. A complete turnaround to the girl who had just ridden him into oblivion inside his domain. She shifted on her feet. "I should go." Noah nodded. "Sure." Neither of them said more than that. There was an unspoken tension between them now, something undefined. What had started as chi training had spiraled into something far more intimate, and now that they were back in the real world, the weight of it hung between them. There was also the fact that he had a girlfriend—Sophie. None of this could reach her ears, not yet. He didn't intend to string her along or lie, he jus wanted to understand things. He couldn't call him and Lila a mistake. If anything, it was bound to happen, whether he admitted that to himself or not. Now how that happened, he had no idea. Because this was someone he ran from a month ago. The sheer absurdity of it had him spinning. Was it because of Lila's unabashed support for him? The way she threw herself at him and jumped in harms way? Or something else? He couldn't quite tell. However, calling all that just happened a mistake would be cruel of him and cruel to Lila and he knew better than that. And yet, post-nut clarity was hitting him like a brick wall. That wasn't to say he didn't feel something for Lila. He did. He just couldn't put a name to it yet. Noah slung his bag over his shoulder and left the dojo, his thoughts a tangled mess as he made his way back to the dorms. Lila was one thing. Sophie was another. And somewhere in between, there was the tournament, the Purge, and whatever the hell was happening behind the scenes. By the time he reached his room, he was half-expecting to just crash for a bit. Instead, he found Kelvin sitting on his bed, deep in thought, his fingers tapping against his knee in that rhythmic way he did when something was on his mind. Kelvin barely looked up. "Took your time." Noah dropped his bag onto his desk. "What's up?" Kelvin finally glanced at him. "Figured something out. A Purge member was captured months ago. EDF's been holding him at one of their base prisons." He let that sink in before adding, "Academy 8's base." Noah exhaled sharply. "Jayden Smoak's place." Kelvin nodded. Lucas would never go for this. His rivalry with Jayden was infamous, and dragging him into this wouldn't be worth the headache. But still... "If we could understand how they caught this guy," Kelvin continued, "we might be able to figure out how the Purge operates. Maybe even what their next moves are." It was a big 'if.' But Noah knew they had to try something. "Alright," Noah said. "Even if we want to check this guy out, how do we get in? The whole damn arena is locked down. No one's leaving without clearance." Kelvin smirked. "That's the fun part. Every academy's empty right now—everyone's here at the Nexus Arena. Academy 8's base is practically abandoned, except for the EDF personnel. If we figure out how to sneak in, we won't have to deal with Jayden or his guys directly." Noah ran a hand through his hair. "So we just need to figure out how to leave without anyone noticing... and break into an EDF prison." Kelvin grinned. "Exactly." Noah leaned against the desk, arms crossed, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Well, Sophie and I did break into a morgue a few weeks back. This is just an upgrade in my books." Kelvin immediately sat up straighter, eyes narrowing. "Hold up. You and Sophie broke into a morgue? And I wasn't invited?" Noah shrugged. "Didn't exactly have a group sign-up sheet, man." Kelvin scoffed, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. I've been here, ride or die, and you go on covert corpse raids without me? Where's the loyalty?" Noah chuckled. "Tell you what, next time we need to do something creepy and illegal, you'll be first on my list." "Damn right," Kelvin muttered. Then, getting back on track, he pulled up a small holographic interface from his wristband, flicking through a few encrypted files. "Anyway, back to the plan." Noah watched as a projection of schematics, code strings, and security layouts floated between them. He didn't bother trying to make sense of half of it. Kelvin pointed at the EDF prison's firewall structure. "I only got a sniff of the data on this guy. There's a tight lock on his records—whatever he was doing before they caught him, it was big. Problem is, I can't access anything remotely without triggering security redundancies. They've got a layered protocol with an active anomaly detection subroutine." Noah blinked. "Yeah, sure. That made total sense." Kelvin sighed. "Basically, I need to be close enough to the base to hack into their internal network. Otherwise, I'm just sending up flares for the EDF to track us." Noah nodded. "So we don't just need to sneak in—we need to stick around long enough for you to do your thing." Kelvin grinned. "Exactly." Noah exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "Alright, what do you need?" Kelvin leaned back, tapping at his wristband. "First? A transport system. But I can handle that myself." Noah raised an eyebrow. "You're sure?" Kelvin smirked. "Trust me, I've got options." "Alright," Noah said, crossing his arms. "What else?" "That depends on when we're leaving." Kelvin's expression turned serious. "We've only got tonight and tomorrow. After that, the tournament schedule locks us in, and we won't get another break for a while." Noah nodded slowly, letting the details settle in his mind. Kelvin was the tech guy, no doubt about that. But when it came to battle strategy—tactical execution—Noah was the one who had to make sure none of this turned into a complete mess. He frowned, rubbing his chin. "Alright, let's break this down. You need to be inside the Eight's base to hack their system, which means we have to sneak in. But before that, we have to sneak out of the arena." Kelvin chuckled. "Yeah, and security here is tighter than a butthole." Noah shot him a look. "Thanks for the visual." "Anytime." Noah ignored that and continued. "So how the hell do we leave the arena without clearance, get all the way to the Eight, and avoid getting caught?" Kelvin leaned forward, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "You know, if only someone was dating the Minister of Defense's daughter... we could get any clearance we wanted." He winked at Noah. Noah's expression flattened. Kelvin burst out laughing. "Oh, come on, man. Too easy." 'Yeah, real funny,' Noah thought, but the joke landed harder than he expected. Because technically? Kelvin wasn't wrong. If Sophie asked her father for access, they could probably walk right into Academy 8's base with no issues. The problem was... Sophie. His last interaction with her hadn't exactly been smooth. Sophie wasn't just invested in the Purge situation—she was deep in it, emotionally. Her reaction to learning them wasn't just about duty; it was personal. That made her unpredictable. Unstable, even. And the last thing he needed was someone acting on emotions when they had to move carefully. 'And how the hell do I even bring this up?' The thought of going to her after everything was a headache in itself. "She's not an option," Noah finally muttered. Kelvin scoffed. "So, she is an option. You just don't wanna use it." Noah shot him a look. "You wanna go ask her, be my guest." Kelvin held up his hands in surrender. "Nah, I wouldn't," Noah exhaled sharply, still thinking. Sophie was the easiest way in. That much was clear. But was she the best way? If she lost control, if she let her personal feelings override strategy, they'd be screwed. He needed another angle. A cleaner way in. Noah exhaled, shaking his head. "I'll try another way first. If I don't come back with results, we'll do it your way." Kelvin crossed his arms. "Yeah? And what's this other way?" Noah didn't answer. Instead, he slung his bag over his shoulder and turned on his heel, heading toward the admin sector. The halls were quieter here, away from the chaos of the tournament. Staff quarters were off-limits to students, but Noah moved with the kind of confidence that made people ignore rules. He passed a few patrolling enforcers, nodding as if he belonged. Finally, he stopped in front of a door. Seraphina Brooks. The name was printed neatly on the plaque. Noah stared at it for a moment. 'This is a bad idea.' But he still raised his fist and knocked.

Chapter 230 230: Back to eight

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