- Oliver -
"But—" Isabela began a question but didn't finish. The girl raised her arm, looking at her gauntlet. "It's my turn."
Before Oliver could react, she got up from the table with surprising speed. He tried to call her but didn't have ti; Isabela was already running toward the stairs, her footsteps echoing through the base's corridors.
Back at the chair, Katherine gave a slight smile and shrugged. "We'll have to find out which arena she's in." She raised the coffee cup to her lips for the first ti since they had arrived at the cafeteria.
As soon as she tasted the first sip, Katherine frowned in disapproval and rested the cup on the table. "Ugh. Too sweet. Want to try?" She extended the cup toward Oliver.
Moved by curiosity, he accepted. The aroma was inviting, an intriguing mixture of coffee and sothing fruity. Upon touching his tongue, he felt subtle notes of raspberry and coffee, but the dominant flavor was excessive sugar.
"Raspberry?" Oliver comnted, leaving the cup aside.
Katherine laughed at his reaction. "It was Isabela's idea," she explained, turning her eyes to the holographic interface on her gauntlet.
Still with his palate saturated by the sweetness, Oliver got up quickly to fetch so water. Upon returning, he found Katherine absorbed, watching one of the arenas projected in the hologram. "Did you find which one is hers?" he asked, sitting beside her.
"Not yet. But there are so interesting arenas. In most of them, the main strategy is to hinder opponents in the other zones," she comnted with a tone of curiosity. "I don't understand why they didn't do that in mine."
"Are you serious?" Oliver asked, surprised by her observation.
Katherine looked at him without understanding. "What do you an?"
"Do you think soone would try to sabotage a princess?" Oliver explained, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh! True." She smiled, realizing the logic. "I wasn't listening to the broadcast, but the others must have heard that there was a prince and princess in the match."
Determined to find Isabela's arena, Oliver switched between the holographic channels. While browsing through the first arenas, a scene caught his attention.
In one of the combat zones, a tall boy with a shaved head and wielding a war hamr was facing the robots with impressive ferocity. 'Kyle,' Oliver recognized imdiately.
Kyle was still in the second round, but his confrontation against the training robots was an absolute massacre. With each powerful swing of his hamr, two robots exploded in a shower of sparks and debris.
Oliver felt a chill. Kyle's speed and strength were uncommon. Oliver had grown a lot and was much more powerful than when they had their battle, yet he wondered if he could win.
He zood in on Kyle's face, and again, his irises were red.
Katherine observed Oliver's tense expression. "Isn't that Kyle?"
"Yes, from House Castor," he replied without taking his eyes off the screen.
"The one who caused trouble with you... after my incident?" Katherine asked, embarrassed to recall the problems she had caused.
"That sa one," Oliver replied, still focused.
"Wait," Katherine said upon seeing the zood-in screen. "Are his irises red?"
"Yes, I'd seen him like that before," Oliver explained. "It's so kind of drug to make him stronger and faster."
"Aetherion," said Katherine, frowning. "It was an old drug but caused so many problems. I think it was discontinued during the Third Wave." She looked at Oliver with renewed concern. "Have they found a safe way to use it?"
"I don't know if it's safe, but at least he didn't die the last ti he faced ," Oliver comnted.
"That could change the course of the war," murmured Katherine. "I need to inform John if he doesn't already know."
She turned her attention to her gauntlet, typing a ssage frantically, while Oliver remained focused on Kyle's battle. Suddenly, a notification appeared in the corner of his vision:
| Left Eye of Learning
| New Earth Army Style [Learning …]
| [10.51%]
‘Can I learn by watching him?’ Oliver questioned himself. ‘Wait, he's using the New Earth Army style. Maybe our levels are close, and I can learn from that?’
He waited a while for a response from Athena, but there was no information.
‘I know about your system, not your skills; I can't help you with that,’ Oliver heard Athena's soft voice in his mind.
‘Alright,’ thought Oliver, resigned.
"She's in Arena Five." Katherine's announcent snapped the boy back.
Oliver was torn between continuing to watch and wanting to support his friend, who was in another arena. In the end, he changed the channel to watch Isabela's battle.
‘I need to learn more styles to farm skills by watching other people,’ Oliver noted before switching channels.
Tuning into the new arena, he got a panoramic view of the combat zones. They were finishing the first round, and Oliver had no doubt that Isabela would advance to the next stages.
‘Her biggest challenge will be to avoid being hindered by other recruits,’ Oliver thought.
He was right; when they reached the second round, a strange student began to alter the climate inside the arena, transforming it into a greenhouse, increasing the temperature, and adding a heavy fog.
No wonder, during the second round, most of the recruits were eliminated.
However, that was not the case for Isabela, who once again managed to eliminate her opponents. With her Boon allowing her to increase her speed in any direction, she could fly between opponents, quickly eliminating them without risking being too far from her Pillar.
Her third round was more straightforward; even against three mini-chas, her ability to fly made it very easy to circle and deactivate them one by one.
However, things got tricky when only four people remained in the final round.
Oliver banged on the table as the gate opened, presenting the cha. "Damn. What bad luck."
"Why?" Katherine asked; she could see it was a cha specialized in stealth but didn't understand why that could be a problem for Isabela.
"It's a Ghostfang," Oliver began to explain.
Since he started studying more about chas, especially with his new skills, he understood their characteristics just by glancing at them.
"It's one of the few chas that combines stealth so well with brute power," Oliver comnted.
Designed for infiltration missions and precise attacks, the SH-09 Ghostfang combined advanced camouflage technology with powerful armant, including its imposing cannons hidden beneath its cloak.
The Ghostfang had a sleek and aerodynamic silhouette, covered by a reinforced polyr cloak that not only helps to conceal it in urban and natural environnts but also disperses thermal energy, making it almost undetectable by infrared sensors. Its muted tones of green and orange allow it to blend into environnts but also impose a threatening presence when revealed.
"Okay, but she can be faster than it," Katherine comnted.
Seeing the images, it seed to be the sa impression Isabela had. Using her Boon as soon as the match started, she tried to fly over and get behind the cha.
"However, it has anti-cha and anti-aircraft weaponry," Oliver said at the exact mont the cha pulled out an anti-aircraft cannon from under its polyr cloak and fired directly at Isabela.
The girl, who was accelerating toward the cha, didn't have ti to change her trajectory. Isabela was hit directly and pushed against the concrete wall of her zone.
As the explosion subsided and allowed them to see the girl under the debris, it was visible that her armor was in tatters. Soldiers quickly entered her zone to provide first aid, but Oliver could see her walking out of the arena.
Katherine had both hands over her mouth, still shocked by the scene.
"It's better if we go to the dormitory," Oliver suggested, and Katherine nodded.
--
Oliver and Katherine were already in the room when Isabela was finally released from the infirmary. Although her armor had absorbed most of the impact and the cha's weapon had its power reduced for training, it was enough for her to lose.
Isabela entered slowly, with her head down and tears in her eyes. Without saying a word, she sat on the edge of her bed and cried softly. Oliver and Katherine approached, sitting on either side of her, offering silent comfort. The presence of friends was a balm in the cold and impersonal environnt of the base.
For the three, the day had co to an end. They remained silent, each imrsed in their own thoughts until fatigue led them to prepare for sleep.
Isabela was the first to fall asleep, still under the effect of the dications she had taken in the infirmary. Oliver and Katherine followed shortly after, their minds heavy with the day's emotions.
The dormitory was much emptier than the night before. Many recruits had already left, especially those eliminated in the first round in their arenas, who didn't even wait for the official results.
In the deep silence of the night, Oliver was awakened by a sudden noise. His eyes opened instantly, his heart beating rapidly, adrenaline coursing through his veins. To his surprise, he found himself with his hand stretched toward the ceiling, wielding his Energy Pistol.
Shit. Again,’ he thought, getting up slowly from the bed.
Sweat dripped down Oliver’s forehead. Since leaving the prison, he had difficulty dealing with sudden noises and controlling his armor. Several tis, he had woken up with it activated and weapon in hand, a habit that hadn't caused problems until then, but he feared that one day, he might hurt soone.
He promptly deactivated the armant and armor. Looking around the semi-lit room, he identified the source of the noise. Katherine was tossing and turning restlessly on the bed in front of him.
Each of them carried their own demons.
Oliver approached and sat beside her. Katherine was sweating and crying while sleeping, emitting small moans of anguish. Unfortunately, he couldn't wake her; he knew that interrupting a night terror could make it worse.
He gently passed his hand over her forehead, wiping away the sweat. In a low and calm voice, he whispered, "You're safe; it's okay. No one will hurt you."
It took a few minutes for Katherine to calm down. During all that ti, Oliver remained by her side, a silent presence against the nightmares that tornted her.
When she finally settled, he got up and returned to his bed. His gaze t Isabela's, who seed to have just woken up, watching him through the dim light. She gave a slight smile and nodded.
Oliver returned the gesture before lying down again. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind.
‘Tomorrow begins the second phase,’ he thought, reinforcing his determination before falling asleep.
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