Chapter 116| Code Zero on the Floor

Chapter 116: Chapter 116| Code Zero on the Floor

She activated Heat Emission. At Maren’s projected position this time, not where she launched from.

Maren cut direction.

The burst caught her shoulder.

She came through it. Compromised. But barely through.

Reached Reid — Team B — at his position.

The exchange lasted four seconds. C-rank Overdrive against A-rank Absolute Zero. Reid’s frost line forcing Maren back degree by degree until she was fighting the neutral zone line instead of Reid’s boundary.

She pulled back.

Breathing harder than usual.

Zane clocked it.

’She’s fatiguing,’ he thought. ’Sustained Overdrive against A-rank output is draining her faster than training ground sessions.’

"Maren," he said.

"I’m fine," she said. The flat version. The one that meant she wasn’t.

"Pull back."

"I said I’m fine Zane."

She activated again.

Sera fired first this time.

The burst landed clean. Full disorientation window. Maren’s chain sequence broke mid-neutral-zone and her footing went. She caught herself before the boundary line. One knee down. Pushed back up immediately.

But she was done pushing forward.

She walked back limping to Team A’s zone.

Didn’t look at Zane.

He looked at the scoreboard.

Team A 1 — Team B 3.

Two minutes left.

’We’re losing,’ he thought. ’Badly.’

He looked at his hands.

’Alright,’ he thought.

PHASE THREE — 2:55

"Nyx," Zane said quietly.

She looked at him.

"Whatever comes back after I move, hold it."

"What are you going to do."

"Something inconsistent with my registration file," he said.

A beat.

"Alright," she said.

He activated both.

No throttle. No reserved ceiling.

Impact Breaker — B-rank 20%. Full output ceiling.

Overdrive — B-rank 10%. Full ceiling.

His hands went back.

The shockwave rolled across the floor in a wide arc —at Reid’s frost line from underneath. The composite surface vibrating at full B-rank frequency.

The frost cracked.

The entire advance fracturing simultaneously.

Reid looked at the floor.

Then at Zane.

He didn’t say anything.

Zane moved through the cracked frost zone. B-rank Overdrive carrying him across the neutral zone at a speed that made the gallery go quiet for half a second.

Reached Reid’s position.

Palm flat to the floor.

Impact Breaker — full output. Vertical resonance under Reid’s feet.

Reid’s footing broke.

"What.. again" he started. He was prepared this time but didn’t expect this much of an increase in speed.

One step sideways. Two. Three.

Past Team B’s boundary line.

"Team A scores." Reyes. "Score: Team A 2 — Team B 3."

The gallery reacted.

Ryan looked at Zane across the floor.

Three full seconds of silence.

"Calloway," he said."What actually are you..."

Before he completed his sentence.

"A Sigil," Zane replied.

Ryan raised his hand. He didn’t need to talk much.

Pressure Wave — concentrated beam. Full B-rank output. Directly at Zane.

Nyx stepped forward. Caught it. The heaviest input all session. Her position shifted back under the load.

"Zane," she said flatly. "Now."

Earlier in the phase she’d leaned toward him briefly for two seconds, quiet enough that only he caught it. If Ryan fires concentrated again I want to try something. Your so-called sigil output against my hold at the same contact point. Don’t redirect, just add force into what I’m already holding.

He’d nodded once.

He stepped up beside her now. Palm against the beam’s leading edge. Not redirecting, not absorbing. Just adding.

Impact Breaker — B-rank 20% full output — meeting Nyx’s Kinetic Force hold at the same point simultaneously. Two mechanisms amplifying each other at contact rather than working separately.

"Ready?" he said.

"Go," she said.

She turned her palms outward.

The combined output went back at Ryan at significantly more than it had arrived with.

"Move.." Sera said.

Ryan was already diving.

The redirected beam hit Team B’s zone floor with a resonant impact that sent composite dust across the back of their zone.

He stood up. Looked at where it had hit. Then at Zane and Nyx.

Filed it. Said nothing, his expression already did the talking regardless.

PHASE THREE — 1:12

Sera shifted focus.

Not at Maren anymore. Not at Zane.

At Dario Marsh — Team A — who had been working to reactivate Earth Manipulation since phase three started.

She shot one precise clean shot.

Dario’s palm contact broke again before it set.

Then Marco — Team B — pushed through the disruption window at Dario’s position. One exchange. Dario crossed Team A’s boundary line.

"Team B scores." Reyes. "Score: Team A 2 — Team B 4."

Timer: 58 seconds.

Zane looked at the scoreboard.

Two points down. Under a minute.

’Not enough time,’ he thought.

He activated both again. Full output. Moved toward Marco’s position. This time he could already feel his own fatigue meeting up with him.

Sera read it immediately.

She activated Heat Emission at his projected path this time. Not his current position.

He cut direction.

The burst caught him mid-cut. The disorientation window landing on B-rank Overdrive. Less than a second of disruption. He came through.

But Marco had already reset.

And Reid was advancing the frost line again from the left.

And Ryan had both hands up.

’Three A-ranks,’ Zane thought. ’And they’re not done.’ He could see they were not fatigued like his team, maybe because they were conserving energy.

Timer: 22 seconds.

He looked at Maren beside him. Fatigued. Still standing. Eyes on the floor calculating something.

At Nyx. Still reading incoming force vectors. Still steady.

At the scoreboard.

Team A 2 — Team B 4.

The timer hit zero.

Reyes raised her hand.

"Phase three complete. Drill complete. Team B wins — final score 4 to 2."

The floor broke into movement.

Zane stood at the boundary line.

Looked at his hands.

Full B-rank output. Both Sigils. Live drill floor. Both classes watching. And they still lost.

’Three A-ranks,’ he thought. ’That’s what the gap looks like.’

The system surfaced.

『 IMPACT BREAKER — Full B-rank output confirmed in live context 』

『 OVERDRIVE — B-rank 10% full ceiling confirmed in live context 』

『 System Note: The host performed above registration file level. Team B won because of rank differential not because the host underperformed. The system notes this distinction matters. 』

’Small comfort,’ he thought.

Maren appeared beside him. Still catching her breath slightly.

"Three A-ranks," she said.

"Yeah," he said.

She looked at the scoreboard.

"Next time," she said.

He looked at her.

"Next time," he agreed.

Nyx found him in the post drill crowd.

"Your activation style," she said. "Two separate contact points. Two different output architectures running simultaneously." A pause. "That’s not a standard registered Sigil."

"I’m too tired to get into this conversation right now," he said.

"Soon Calloway." Same two words. Same weight. "Not infinitely patient."

She walked away.

Vael looked across the floor from the front.

Her eyes found Zane.

Two seconds. The same look from the Sovereign classroom. Longer this time.

Then back to her tablet.

He looked at the floor.

Maren appeared.

Looking up at the gallery.

He followed her gaze.

Nil on her kitten crop top, dark shorts still leaning on the railing. When Maren looked up Nil mouthed something. Maren’s face went slightly pink.

"What did she say," Zane said.

"Nothing." Maren picked up her bag. Already walking.

He looked up at the gallery.

Nil caught his eyes. Pointed at him. Thumbs up.

He stared at it for two seconds.

The system surfaced.

『 System Note: Nil Valkyrie gave the host a thumbs up after watching full B-rank output. The system considers this favourable on multiple fronts. 』

’Multiple fronts,’ he thought.

He picked up his bag and followed Maren out.