[Pinnacle Academy, Stadium 1 - Arena A: Allen's Cafe]
[After the match between Rel Verse Valencia]
Jae Yoona and Alice occupied a corner booth at Allen's Cafe, The usual chatter filled the air, but the two girls were an island of focused intensity, their heads bent close together over a laptop.
"Got a minute?" Jae Yoona slid the screen across the table.
"What were those factors for key landmarks again? I'm blanking out."
Alice leaned closer, a lock of blonde hair falling across the page.
"Depends on the dungeon's elental properties, but generally, you're looking for fluctuation points where elents interact in unusual ways. Magical analysis is your best bet for spotting those."
A thoughtful crease appeared between Jae Yoona's brows.
She tapped the screen, then snapped her fingers.
"Right! Okay, that helps a ton. Making a note of that..."
Alice smiled, returning to her own studies.
An air of comfortable silence settled between them, punctuated by the soft tapping of Jae Yoona's keyboard.
Suddenly the cafe's TV flickered, interrupting their studies.
"...and the winner of the second semi-finals is Valencia Freya! Won by forfeit, can you believe it? That Archer's miracle run, stopped short by the Sword Saint herself!"
Jae Yoona's gaze drifted from her laptop to the screen. "Alice, look. It's him."
"...!"
A gasp escaped Alice.
She covered her mouth, her eyes fixated on the screen. "His body is beaten up... is he okay?"
"Hm..." Jae Yoona scrutinized the image of Rel, his slumped posture conveying a world of exhaustion.
"Valencia must have given him a rough ti."
A reflective note crept into Jae's voice. "Kinda wish I'd seen that match."
"Why's that?" Alice asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
Jae shrugged. "A break from studying, I guess."
Alice nodded in agreent.
Jae's gaze returned to Rel. His condition seed worse than what Valencia had inflicted on her in the quarterfinals.
She rembered the blinding flash, that strange 'form' Valencia had unleashed… A feeling of unease ran through her.
She couldn't imagine what Valencia must have done to Rel.
"ehh?...mhm?!...hmm...."
A puzzled murmur escaped Alice's lips, that Jae Yoona recognized imdiately.
It was the sound of Alice figuring out a particularly complex question, a rare occurrence.
"What's up?" Jae Yoona asked.
"This... this Mana Efficiency question," Alice muttered, pointing at the screen. "It's convoluted, and..."
She launched into a complex-sounding equation that made Jae Yoona's brain lt.
"ah..."You know what?" Jae Yoona cut in, massaging her head.
"This is giving a headache. There's only one person who can solve this ss. We're going to see Mr. Rank 1."
Alice puffed out her cheeks like an unhappy hamster, a faint blush creeping up her neck.
"I can figure this out!"
Jae Yoona raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you sound pretty keen on asking him a question earlier? Or was I imagining things?"
The flush deepened. Steam seed to practically whistle from Alice's ears.
"No!"
Ignoring the protest, Jae Yoona grabbed Alice's wrist, a mischievous look gave it all away.
"...!"
"Co on. No question gets answered if you don't ask for help."
haah...
Defeated, Alice sighed. "Fine... let's pack up first, at least."
Monts later, their study materials gathered, the girls hurried out of the cafe, heading straight for the dical bay.
***
{Rel's POV}
[Pinnacle Academy, Stadium 1 - Arena A: dical Bay]
Oh man... that's Jae Yoona and Alice.
Looking at Jae Yoona I could see the flashbacks of Valencia's sword arcing towards my chest, the bow that snapped in two like a twig...
Now the lingering guilt was eating away at my gut.
Jae Yoona probably wanted to string up by my ankles.
What do I even say?
...
...
...
[Rel's Imagination - Scenario 1]
"Look, I broke your bow, okay? I'll pay for it, I swear!"
Jae Yoona had that calm terrifying look in her eyes
"It's irreplaceable. How about you prepare every exam note for the rest of the year instead?"
NOOO!!!!
[Rel's Imagination - Scenario 2]
"Ms. Yoona, I know I ssed up! Let return you-"
Jae Yoona, a smile that chilled to the bone,
"I just fixed up that bow last week. Exam notes it is, then."
NOOO!!!!
[Rel's Imagination - Scenario 3]
"I'm truly sorry. I get it, I'll face the consequences-"
Jae Yoona, cutting off with terrifying efficiency,
"Excellent! Then those exam notes won't be a problem, will they?"
NOOO!!!!
...
...
...
"Hey? Is everything okay? You seem out of it."
Jae Yoona's voice cut through my daydreaming.
I whipped around, hastily bowing.
Khum!
"Ah, sorry, yes! Just…" I trailed off, a nervous cough escaping my lips.
"So... What brings you two here?"
Jae Yoona's tone held a trace of accusation and a lot of curiosity.
"You need to keep your end of the deal, right?"
A shiver ran down my spine, thinking this was it.
"Right... I should..."
But I'm not sure I'm ready for this.
Jae Yoona continued, staring at with a puzzled expression.
"Look, we heard about your match... and... hey?... are you feeling okay?"
She tilted her head, her concern felt genuine.
"Maybe it wasn't a good ti to ask you this question…"
Wait... what? I blinked. "Question?"
"Yes… A question," she confird.
Relief washed over .
Had I been panicking for nothing?
Maybe they didn't see the match after all.
But there's still the bow business to deal with.
I'd need to find soone to recreate it, and make an exact replica of her bow...
"..."
clap!
I clapped my hands together.
"Okay...so, what's this question I can help you with?"
Jae Yoona grinned, stepping aside. "Not , her."
She gestured towards Alice, who stood frozen, her laptop covering her face like a flimsy shield.
"...?"
I waited patiently, a faint sense of amusent colouring my confusion.
Jae Yoona, feeling impatient, gave a playful nudge.
"H-haah!"
A muffle escaped Alice.
Slowly, ever so slowly, she peeked around the laptop and shuffled towards .
"Um… this question here…" She pushed a piece of crumpled paper at .
What the f**k?
I could feel my eyes widening by the second.
My brain exploded at the sight of the complex jumble of equations and numbers.
I managed to speak turning towards her, "I'm supposed to…answer this?"
"Y-you don't have to…if you can't,"
Alice mumbled, looking like she might disappear into thin air.
There was an unspoken edge to her words, a whiff of scepticism that pricked at .
I blinked. "Right," I said, suppressing a frown.
"Of course. It's just… I can't answer this without a pen."
The laptop vanished from Alice's face, she handed the pen.
Her eyes flared with a look of surprise and relief.
I adjusted my glasses, trying to maintain a neutral expression.
"System," I muttered under my breath, "little help with this, please?"
FWANG!
The familiar interface materialized before my eyes, analyzing the paper.
[Undergoing calculation… please wait.]
While waiting, I adopted what I hoped was an intelligent pose: chin nestled thoughtfully on the pen, eyes scanning the equations as if I was trying to solve it.
[Calculations complete!]
[Would you like the answer or the detailed step-by-step solution?]
I turned to Alice, a slight tremor in my voice.
"Do you need just the answer or the complete working out?"
Her face lit up with a surprised smile. "Working out, please..."
haah...
In my mind, I breathed a sigh of relief. "System, the full solution, if you would."
[Sure Mr Axel! :D]
...
...
...
Five agonizing minutes later, I passed Alice the neatly written sheet.
"Here, this should clarify everything."
Alice scanned the page, her brow furrowing in concentration.
Then, a slow nod confird it all.
"This… this makes sense. It's correct!"
Jae Yoona grinned, a flicker of reluctant respect in her eyes.
"Well, it looks like you're not all talk. You passed the test, I guess."
She gestured to Alice. "Let's go."
As the two were on their way to leave, Alice turned and gave a quick, respectful bow.
I waved, an odd mix of relief and embarrassnt washing over .
"Haah… For once, things actually worked out."
_______________
Authors Notes:
- Jae Yoona tends to protect Alice from most boys/n. If she thinks a certain male is dangerous she'd try to stop them from speaking to Alice. This explains Alice's lack of interactions with males as she doesn't quite understand how they function.
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