Chapter 153| Super Dex II

Chapter 153: Chapter 153| Super Dex II

5:52 AM.

Zane was awake before the first alarm.

He lay in the dark listening to the room. Gerald wheezed in the vent. Dex breathed in long, committed pulls, one arm hanging off the mattress. On the desk, Dex’s communicator lit up with the first of his three alarms and played something upbeat.

Dex didn’t move.

’So he really did set the alarms’. Zane thought.

The second alarm went off four minutes later. A different song, louder.

Dex rolled over and pulled the pillow across his head.

The third was a recording of Dex’s own voice, which Zane hadn’t known existed. "Wake up, Super Dex. Destiny is calling," it said, with absolute conviction.

Dex stayed down.

Zane got out of bed, crossed the room, and pulled the pillow away.

"Five minutes," Dex mumbled.

"You said early."

"I said properly early." Dex probed.

"This is properly early." Zane said staring at his uneased face.

"Gerald," Dex said into the mattress, "tell him."

The vent rattled once, a long dry wheeze, and Dex went quiet.

"Even Gerald’s against you," Zane said.

Dex opened one eye.

"Fine," he said. "I’m up. I’m a legend. Give me coffee."

"There’s no coffee."

"Then give me hope."

_ _

Zane somehow got Dex ready, and the two of them arrived at the training grounds together. The place was empty and blue with early light.

The grass was wet. Their breath showed in front of them. Dex had put on his training suit and then, for some reason, a headband, and he stood in the middle of the field with his arms folded like a man about to announce a tournament.

Zane glanced around the grounds. No Maren. Either they were too early, or she’d decided not to come to training today.

"Rules," Dex said. "No ranks above C. No finishing moves. First to land three clean hits wins, and the loser buys breakfast."

’Hmm,’ Zane thought. ’Who sets a rule about ranks? It’s almost like he knows I can dial down my Sigils.’ He shook his head. ’Not like I was going to go full throttle anyway. That wouldn’t be training anymore.’

"You made some funny rules," Zane said.

"They’re standard," Dex said.

"They’re not standard."

"They’re standard for Super Dex," Dex said.

Zane rolled his shoulders. He kept his face neutral, but he was grinning inside. ’That’s the first time he’s looked this awake since I met him,’ he thought.

『 System Note: The host is enjoying himself. 』

’A little.’

"Ready?" Dex asked.

"Go."

Dex moved first.

He pressed a palm against the ground and the earth jumped. A low shockwave rolled across the grass, flattening the blades in a clean line toward Zane’s feet. Impact Breaker, controlled, aimed low.

Zane stepped sideways and let it pass.

He knew this Sigil. He’d used it since day one. And he’d watched it before, back in the drills, but never from the front, not like this.

’He doesn’t fight it,’ Zane thought. ’He rides it.’

Dex fired a second wave into the ground behind his heels and let it launch him forward, staying just ahead of the shock. He crossed the gap in two strides reaching Zane, one hand low.

Zane dropped his weight and turned the strike aside with his forearm. The impact rattled through his bones anyway.

"You’re thinking too much!" Dex called, already pivoting.

"You’re talking too much." Zane replied.

"I’m narrating."

The next exchange was fast. Dex’s palms, Zane’s counters, a scatter of small shockwaves popping against the grass. Zane had Overdrive running at C-rank 60%, enough to keep up without breaking Dex’s rule. Dex landed the first clean hit on Zane’s shoulder. Zane landed the second on Dex’s ribs. Neither of them stopped smiling.

By the fourth exchange Zane started noticing things.

Dex timed his waves off his own breathing. A half-beat inhale, then the push. He kept his weight low and his hands wide and let the output do the work instead of forcing it, exactly the way Zane had been taught by watching him.

’He taught me this without teaching me,’ Zane thought. ’I just didn’t know it was a lesson.’

『 System Note: The host is learning from the original user of the Sigil. 』

’I know.’

"Stop gawking and hit me!" Dex shouted.

Zane did something else.

He activated Overdrive at B-rank 10%.The window opened, the grass sharpened, and he pushed the burst into a full forward step.

A thin shimmer slid off his shoulder as he moved, a faint copy of him hanging in the air a few inches behind. It lasted less than a blink.

Dex’s palm swung at the afterimage.

It passed straight through.

Zane was already past him, one hand on Dex’s back. A light touch. A clean hit.

"Hit!" Zane said.

Dex stumbled a step and caught himself. He turned around very slowly.

"What was that?"

"A hit."

"No, the thing." Dex narrowed his eyes. "You had a second you."

"Did I?"

"You did. I saw it."

"Lucky guess," Zane said.

"Zane."

"It’s a new trick. I’m testing it."

Dex studied him for three full seconds, and the easy energy in his face shifted. Not suspicion. Not exactly. Something more careful.

"Okay," Dex said at last. "Do it again."

Zane did.

This time Dex didn’t chase the echo at all. He stood still, staring at Zane with a keen, steady look, and charged Impact Breaker at full output into his palm. The air around his hand pressed inward like a held breath.

Zane started the burst.

He never finished it. Dex closed the gap before the window opened and tapped two fingers lightly against his chest.

"Hit," Dex said, with enormous satisfaction.

Zane looked down at the hand on his chest, then up at Dex.

"You didn’t even let me move," Zane said.

"That’s the point." Dex pulled his hand back and let the charge fade. "The shiny copy is neat, but it only works if you get to move first. I just didn’t give you the chance."

Zane exhaled and dropped onto the grass, staring at the sky.

’He’s smarter than he looks,’ Zane thought. ’There was never a rule that says you have to wait for your opponent to move first. Dex just acted first and caught me before I could start.’

’It’s not like I’m taking this seriously. I’m just trying out stuff,’ Zane thought.

『 The host likes excuses. 』

’Let sleeping dogs lie,’ he replied.

"You’re thinking again," Dex said.

"I’m recovering."

"You’re plotting."

"That too," Zane said.

Dex rose and offered a hand. Zane took it, and Dex hauled him upright with surprising strength.