I poured another cup of coffee and considered the benefits of poisoning myself with caffeine before the most important test of my life. The clock on the microwave read 7:45, which ant we had roughly three hours until check-in at Halloran.
Three hours until the exam.
Two hours until the System’s countdown hit zero.
"You’re going to vibrate right out of your skin if you drink more coffee," Sloane said, leaning against the kitchen counter with her own mug. She wore a fitted navy tracksuit that hugged her curves in ways that made focusing on breakfast difficult.
"Bold assumption that I have skin and not just a vessel of pure anxiety wrapped in a hoodie." I stirred my oatal, watching steam curl from the bowl.
I’d opted for plain steel-cut oats with a touch of honey. Nothing heavy. Nothing that would sit in my stomach and make sluggish during whatever hellscape awaited us at Halloran. Sloane had the sa idea—her bowl contained oatal loaded with blueberries and a scoop of protein powder.
"You look ready," she said, eyes lingering on my outfit.
I’d gone with black hakama pants and a white compression shirt. The compression shirt hugged my torso tightly, showing off the results of our training. Two months of getting my ass kicked by Sloane combined with nightly cardio with Diane had changed my body considerably.
"Stop showing off for all those hero girls," Sloane muttered, taking an aggressive bite of oatal.
I laughed. "What hero girls? I haven’t even passed the exam yet."
"Please. You think I don’t know what you’re doing?" She gestured at my shirt with her spoon. "That thing is practically painted on."
"It’s breathable," I said. "And stretchy. My Aspect involves a lot of arm movent."
"Uh-huh."
"Not all of us can just point at sothing and make it explode."
"True. So of us have to look cute while we wave our arms around."
I flipped her off and took another spoonful of oatal.
We fell into comfortable silence, the kind that cos from spending too much ti in each other’s space. The house felt empty without Diane. She wasn’t due back from Chicago until tomorrow, which ant we had the place to ourselves tonight.
If we passed the exam.
If we got in.
If whatever the System was planning didn’t ruin everything.
"You can do this," Sloane said suddenly, her voice softer than usual.
I looked up from my bowl. Her blue eyes locked onto mine with that intensity she got when she believed sothing down to her bones.
"Of course I can." I smirked.
Sloane’s hand balled into a fist, and for a second I thought she was going to punch across the kitchen for the arrogance.
"I had the best teacher," I said before she could swing. "How could I not be ready?"
Her cheeks flushed pink. She looked away, suddenly very interested in her oatal.
"Shut up."
"What? It’s true."
"No one likes a kissass, Belmont."
She couldn’t hide the small smile playing at the corner of her mouth, though.
In truth? I was nervous as hell.
The countdown tir sat in the corner of my vision, ticking away with chanical indifference. Two hours and fourteen minutes remained. The System had been silent for two weeks, and that silence was about to end at the exact mont I needed zero distractions.
Beyond that, I had no real gauge of how strong I actually was. Sloane kicked my ass every single day. She was my only asuring stick, and she happened to be a goddamn prodigy with a Legendary-tier Aspect who’d been training since she was six.
For all I knew, I was still trash compared to actual Hero candidates. The idea of failing with a literal cheat code feeding abilities made my stomach turn. How embarrassing would that be? To have a gacha system and still not make the cut?
But I couldn’t say any of that out loud.
"We should head out soon," I said instead. "Traffic’s gonna be a nightmare with everyone trying to watch the examinees arrive."
Sloane nodded. "You’re right. Let grab my bag."
She disappeared upstairs, leaving alone with my thoughts. I pulled up my status screen one last ti.
[ Status ]
Na: Lukas Belmont
(DP) 0
(SP) 30
[ Attributes ]
STR: 50 | AGI: 50 | DEX: 63
INT: 63 | END: 51
ACTIVE SKILLS (2/2):
Spectral Reach (Rare)
Blitz (Rare)
PASSIVE TRAITS (3/3):
Boundless Stamina (Epic)
False Data (Uncommon)
Sexercise (Common)
INVENTORY (2/10):
Faceless Veil (Rare)
Usurper (Legendary)
Not bad for two months of work. Stats a genuine Hero would be proud of. Two solid active abilities. Three passives ranging from useful to broken. And two items I hadn’t even touched yet.
It would have to be enough.
Sloane ca back downstairs wearing a backpack slung over one shoulder. She’d pulled her pink hair into a high ponytail that bounced with each step.
"Ready?" she asked.
No. Not even close.
"Yeah. Let’s do this."
The drive to Halloran took almost an hour, most of it spent in stop-and-go traffic as we approached campus. Sloane’s black coupe crawled along with hundreds of other vehicles, all trying to get close enough for a glimpse of this year’s candidates.
"This is ridiculous," Sloane muttered, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. "We’re not celebrities. We haven’t even taken the exam yet."
"Hero culture," I said with a shrug. "Everyone wants to say they saw the next Radiant before they were famous."
"We’d get there faster if we just walked from here."
"And give up your air conditioning? You’d lt."
Sloane snorted. "Better than sitting in traffic for another hour."
The car’s infotainnt screen displayed a morning talk show covering the Halloran entrance exam. Two hosts in expensive suits sat at a glossy table, photos of Hero candidates floating between them as they discussed this year’s prospects.
"—already has a stacked deck," the male host was saying. "Four recomndation spots already filled with so serious heavy hitters. Celeste Armstrong, daughter of Prominence himself, has accepted one of those spots."
"That’s right, Mark," his female co-host added. "The other spots went to Emma Baxter, heir to the Baxter fortune and possessor of the Absolute Zero Aspect; Katsuki Tanaka, grandson of Steel Shell; and Maya Chen, whose Aspect Duplication has already drawn comparisons to Double Down, currently ranked number seven in California."
"Nepotism at its finest," Sloane muttered.
"Speaking of famous bloodlines," Mark continued, "rumors suggest Vanguard and Reina Belmont’s son might be applying this year, despite being registered as Unmarked until recently."
My heart stopped.
"Wait—what?"
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