Miss Brooks studied Noah in the hallway, her glasses catching the morning light. The corridor was empty except for them, their footsteps having faded into silence.
"Eclipse," she said, her voice softer than in class but no less intense. "I've reviewed the previous competition records extensively." A pause, heavy with aning. "Do you know how many 1b students have ever made it to the representative team?"
Noah shook his head, trying to keep his expression neutral.
"Three." Her red lips curved into a slight smile. "In the academy's entire history. Three exceptional students who showed... particular talents." The way she emphasized those last words made Noah's chest tighten. "I expect to see your na during selections, Eclipse. Don't disappoint ."
Before Noah could respond, she turned and walked away, her heels clicking against the floor in a rhythm that sounded almost like a countdown. 'She knows sothing,' he thought, watching her disappear around the corner. 'But how much?'
"Dude!" Kelvin burst out of the classroom, nearly colliding with him. "What was that about? You look like you've seen a harbinger."
Before Noah could answer, movent down the hall caught his attention. Cora and Lila were walking past, their red skirts swishing in unison despite their contrasting styles – Cora with her usual tomboy swagger, hands in her blazer pockets, while Lila maintained her perfect posture. Cora gave them a casual nod as they passed, but Lila's eyes remained firmly forward, as if the wall ahead contained the secrets of beast core manipulation.
Once they were out of earshot, Kelvin grabbed Noah's arm. "Okay, what in the seven hells happened with you and Lila? Last I heard – which, by the way, was when I was still wallowing in my own drama – she asked you to the gala. Now she's acting like you're invisible, and you're climbing out of Sophia Reign's quantum bathtub?"
Noah leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling tired despite the morning's earlier euphoria. "It's complicated."
"Complicated?" Kelvin's voice cracked. "We face harbingers and extract cores from deadly beasts. That's complicated. This is just you being..." He waved his hands frantically, searching for words.
"I turned her down," Noah said quietly.
Kelvin froze mid-gesture. "You what?"
"For the gala. I said no."
"You..." Kelvin looked like he might faint. "You turned down Lila? Busty blonde bomb, Lila? The girl who can throw training dummies across the field with her mind? The sa Lila who half the first-year boys would fight a rogue beast to date?"
"Yes, that Lila."
"And then," Kelvin continued, his voice rising with each word, "not even twenty-four hours later, you hook up with Sophia Reign? Have you seen the school forums? Your face is everywhere! There's a picture of you getting out of her Clexus that's already got three thousand likes!"
Noah winced. He hadn't thought about how it would look. In his defense, he'd been rather distracted by... well, everything about Sophia.
"Look," Kelvin lowered his voice, glancing around the now-empty hallway, "I get it. Sophia Reign is... she's basically academy royalty. But Lila's our teammate. We go on expeditions together. We face life-and-death situations together. And now..."
"I wasn't exactly in the best headspace when all this started," Noah interrupted. "You rember how I was last week."
"Yeah, about that," Kelvin frowned. "You never did explain what was going on. One day you're normal, the next you're walking around like you've got the weight of all four Earth quadrants on your shoulders. Then suddenly you're back to normal and sleeping with third-years."
Noah ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. How could he explain what he barely understood himself? The system, the hidden ability, Commander Albright's suspicions, and now Miss Brooks dropping hints about the competition...
'And Lila,' he thought, rembering the hurt that had flashed across her face when he'd said no. He hadn't ant to cause pain, but between his own secrets and the sudden intensity of his connection with Sophia, everything had beco impossibly tangled.
"It's..." he started.
"Complicated?" Kelvin finished, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, you ntioned that. But you know what's going to be even more complicated? Our next expedition. Just picture it: you, , Cora, and the girl whose heart you apparently crushed, all trapped together in beast territory. Fun tis ahead!"
As if to emphasize his point, a distant bell rang, signaling their next class – Advanced Beast Biology. They'd be working with their expedition teams today.
"Perfect timing," Noah muttered, pushing off from the wall. 'At least in beast territory, the worst that can happen is death,' he thought grimly. 'Much simpler than academy politics.'
Kelvin fell into step beside him, shaking his head. "You're either the bravest or the craziest person I know, Noah Eclipse. I just haven't decided which yet."
***
The beast biology lab was unlike any traditional science facility. Located in the academy's reinforced basent level, its walls were lined with core-resistant alloys, glowing with faint blue containnt runes. The room was arranged in a circular pattern, with twelve specialized dissection stations forming a ring around the central demonstration area.
Professor Heimdall, a tall man with burn scars running up his left arm stood in the center. Behind him, two massive stasis containers humd quietly, their contents hidden behind frosted glass.
"Teams at your designated stations," he commanded, his voice gruff but clear. "Full protective gear before we begin. I don't want any accidents today."
Noah approached Station Seven with leaden feet, aware of Lila's stiff posture as she walked beside him. Across the room, Kelvin and Cora were already suiting up at Station Three, Kelvin making so joke that had Cora rolling her eyes good-naturedly.
The protective gear was extensive: core-resistant gloves that reached their elbows, reinforced aprons, and face shields designed to protect against core radiation. The equipnt laid out on their station's black surface was equally specialized – crystalline scalpels, core-detection probes, and extraction chambers of various sizes.
"Today's exercise," Professor Heimdall began, moving to the first stasis container, "involves one of our more... interesting specins." He pressed his palm to the container's surface, and the frost cleared to reveal sothing that made several students step back.
The creature inside defied natural logic. It had three trunk-like limbs arranged in a triangular pattern, each ending in what looked like a collection of tentacles. Its body was roughly cylindrical but covered in overlapping plates that seed to shift colors even in death. Where a head should have been, there was only a circular opening ringed with small, hook-like protrusions.
"The Triaxial Stalker," Heimdall continued, "A cat-3 beast that erged in the western Quadrant last month. Pay attention to its unusual anatomy – nothing you learned about Earth's pre-war creatures will help you here."
He tapped the container's display, bringing up holographic diagrams. "But what makes this specin truly fascinating is its core type. These beasts possess what we call an S-core – Suicide core." His scarred hand unconsciously rubbed his burned arm. "Even in death, these cores maintain defensive chanisms. The beast would rather destroy its own power source than let it be harvested."
The professor's eyes swept the room. "You'll be working in pairs today. One to conduct the primary extraction, one to monitor core stability. The slightest mistake..." He left the sentence hanging aningfully.
Laboratory assistants moved to each station, depositing sealed containers. Noah's stomach tightened as their specin was revealed – smaller than the demonstration model but no less alien.
"Rember your protocols," Heimdall called out. "Core-detection first. Map the energy pathways. Do not – I repeat, do not – make any incisions until you've fully understood the core's position and defense chanisms."
Noah reached for the detection probe, but Lila had already grabbed it. Her movents were sharp, angry.
"I'll map," she said curtly. "You monitor the readings."
'This is going to be a long class,' Noah thought, moving to the monitoring station. He could hear Kelvin and Cora across the room, already falling into their usual comfortable rhythm.
"Beginning scan," Lila announced professionally, though she wouldn't et his eyes. The probe humd to life in her hands, casting a pale green light over their specin's iridescent plates.
The first few minutes passed in tense silence, broken only by necessary communication.
"Energy spike at junction three," Noah reported.
"Noted." Lila's response was clipped.
They continued like this, the air between them growing heavier with each exchange. When Noah handed her a crystalline scalpel, their fingers brushed accidentally. Lila yanked her hand back so violently that the scalpel clattered to the floor.
The sound echoed through the lab. Several heads turned their way.
"Is there a problem at Station Seven?" Professor Heimdall called out.
Lila was already pulling off her gloves. "I need air," she announced, her voice tight. Before anyone could respond, she was striding toward the door.
"Professor," Noah called out, already removing his own protective gear, "permission to..."
Heimdall waved him off with a knowing look. "Make it quick, Eclipse. That core won't wait forever."
Noah hurried after Lila, catching the heavy lab door just before it closed. Behind him, he could hear Heimdall resuming his lecture about core defense chanisms, but right now, there was a different kind of explosion he needed to prevent.
The corridor outside was dimly lit, designed to be soothing to recently extracted cores. Lila had stopped a few ters ahead, her back to him, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
"Lila," he started, but what could he possibly say to make this right?
User Comments
0 comments from readers