Chapter 85: Confrontation

Mark’s gaze held Cassandra’s for a long moment before she finally looked away, a faint, embarrassed huff escaping her. She stayed quiet a beat longer before turning her attention back to Mark, who wore a satisfied, thoroughly pleased smile, the kind that made her genuinely want to knock some sense into him.

"This is only the beginning for us, and don’t try telling me you don’t appreciate a little help sharpening your form," Mark said, straightening up.

Before the moment could stretch any further, she was pulled abruptly back into his soul space, Mark suddenly realizing just how low his mana reserves had dropped after keeping both summons active outside for so long.

Still, he’d been steadily learning and refining how he managed his own mana consumption and circulation through consistent meditation practice, and the discipline had genuinely started paying off.

The proof showed clearly enough in how long he’d managed to hold out through match after match during the competition without running dry, and in how far he’d made it through his earlier dungeon raids without faltering either.

Still, things grew considerably tighter and harder now that two genuinely powerful summons were pulling from the exact same shared reserve.

That kind of strain could easily become more burden than benefit for anyone who couldn’t properly handle the pressure that came with a soul space limited in raw mana capacity.

Still, none of that gave him an excuse to slow down. If anything, he intended to keep pushing past his own limits, determined to grow stronger, sharper, genuinely different from where he’d started, if he truly meant to survive in a world where most people around him had already mastered their own control over mana.

Just then, a brief knock sounded against the door before it swung open and someone stepped inside. Mark raised an eyebrow at the sight of Hermione, concern written plainly across her face as her eyes met his.

"I caught the look on your face earlier, a little too late to say anything, so I figured I’d come check on you myself. Took a while, but I finally tracked you down here, in the hospital of all places," she said, a mix of genuine care and mild surprise coloring her tone.

"Nah, I’m totally fine," Mark said with an easy shrug.

It struck him then just how consistently she seemed to find him, almost as though she always knew exactly where he’d end up. Still, for the moment, he felt genuinely relieved she hadn’t shown up any earlier, before he’d finished putting his chances with Cassandra.

Hermione’s expression shifted sharply. She scowled, closing the distance between them in a few quick steps. Reaching out, she grabbed Mark’s right cheek firmly, giving it a sharp, irritated tug.

That earned a sharp yelp from him as she kept tugging, cheeks puffed with obvious frustration, which only made her look even more worked up.

Somehow, though, Mark still found that annoyed expression of hers thoroughly endearing.

"You’re happy about this now, huh? That I actually threw the student council’s invitation by the king straight into the trash, all because of that jerk Kai? And you can’t even manage a simple congratulations, instead you just walk off like some kind of coward!" she snapped, finally releasing his cheek, leaving it visibly flushed red in her wake.

She let out a long, resigned sigh, disappointment plain in her voice, though something in her expression still read as quietly satisfied underneath it. "You know you’re a total doofus, right?"

Mark rubbed at his aching cheek, a faint but genuine smile settling over his face. "Yeah, honestly, I’ll give you that one, I was in the wrong there. Doesn’t let you off the hook for being a dweeb, though."

Hermione pouted, driving a firm punch straight into Mark’s left shoulder, which pulled a light chuckle out of him despite the dull ache spreading through the muscle.

"I know I took it too far walking off like that. I just needed a little space after everything from this morning. Couldn’t quite let go of those jerks that easily," he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

Hermione shook her head slightly. "Wait, I thought I’d already fixed that whole mess for you, when I handed over my dungeon core. Was I wrong about that?"

Mark stayed quiet for a moment at that before finally responding. "Well, we could still follow through on that gym promise, like you mentioned."

"That should work out by tomorrow, over the weekend," Hermione confirmed. Mark swallowed hard, nodding in agreement, before Hermione landed one more playful strike against his chest and turned to head out of the hospital room.

Mark’s hands stayed busy for a while afterward, one pressed against his still stinging cheek, the other resting over his chest, where he could feel his own heartbeat racing noticeably faster than it should have.

***

Later, once the school day wrapped up, students poured out eagerly into their limitless free time, leaving the hallways quiet and empty behind them. Olivia walked ahead with three people trailing behind her like a line of chastened puppies.

Two of them, Jack and Victor, wore matching expressions of dread mixed with resigned boredom, while Mark followed several paces further back, expression carefully neutral as he took in the unfamiliar corridors they moved through.

Not a single word passed between any of them along the way until they finally reached a particular classroom block, where a handful of other teachers were arriving with their own reluctant charges in tow, while others exited empty handed.

Mark raised an eyebrow, Jack blinked in visible disbelief, and Victor’s expression settled into a faint frown at Olivia’s back. Several of the other teachers offered friendly waves and nods as she passed, which she returned in kind.

"Well, hello there. Looks like you actually brought in a few today. Nice improvement," one male teacher remarked with a grin, prompting a faint frown from Olivia in return.

"Don’t go judging how I run my own class, Jones. Worry about your freshmen, not mine."

Jack and Victor exchanged a quick glance before stifling a nervous laugh at the sharp comeback. By the time Olivia glanced back toward them, both had already composed themselves completely.

The moment they stepped inside, Mark hesitated at the threshold, prompting Olivia to fix him with a firm, expectant look. Mark let out a heavy sigh.

"So you’re really doing this to me? The guy actually standing against this school’s ongoing social injustice and systemic vices?"

A brief silence settled between them, their gazes locking with steady, matched intensity, almost as though they stood on equal footing, before Olivia finally spoke.

"Honestly, I’m genuinely surprised it’s you standing here. I would’ve expected either Jack or Victor to be the one pushing back like this, not you." She shook her head slightly.

"Still, none of you are facing this alone. There will be others joining too. This is simply about maintaining fairness, equality, and consistent justice within the school’s policies."