Chapter 65|The Proximity Quest

Chapter 65: Chapter 65|The Proximity Quest

"It was textbook play," Maren said. "During an high ground situation against someone with field experience like Dex. Anyone who understood terrain would run the same read."

"Most people don’t understand terrain that fast," Zane said.

She looked at him.

The calculating stillness doing its thing. Processing the conversation and finding something in it she hadn’t expected. Not the words specifically but the fact that he was saying them. That he’d woken up early and come to the training grounds and sat down slightly closer than usual and was now telling her plainly that she was good at something she’d been working at quietly for longer than he’d been watching.

’Why are you saying this,’ she said in a profound expression.

He held her gaze.

"You’re good at this," he said. "Not just how you use your Sigil. The reading. The strategy. The way you approach problems before they finish being problems." He paused. "All of it. Six weeks of watching it and I’ve never just said it plainly."

Maren looked at him for a long moment.

The stillness running whatever it ran.

Then she looked away at the training grounds.

"Don’t go soft on me Calloway," she said.

"I’m serious," Zane said.

"I know you are," she said. Still looking at the grounds. The corner of her mouth doing the thing again, smaller this time, more contained. "That’s what makes it weird."

He almost smiled.

’She called it weird,’ he thought. ’Which means it landed somewhere real or I’m just being cringe.’

The system surfaced.

『 Maren — Familiarity +2% 』

『 Current: 60% — Acquaintance tier 』

『 System Note: 10% from Genuinely Close threshold. You are making progress. The system is pleased. 』

’The system is pleased,’ Zane thought.

『 Genuinely, seems your cringe talks are working. 』

’You need a headbutt for that statement assuming I could materialize you’. Zane said, talking mentally to the system.

『 Too bad you can’t, haha. 』

’Is this your form of laughter, ugly motherfucker’. Zane said.

The system didn’t respond for a few minutes and Zane counted it as his win. Then.

『 The system have no physical form so your statement is deemed invalid. 』

’Figure much’. Zane replied mentally.

Maren stood up and went back to her drill.

Now on to the burst sequence. She activated overdrive at minimum output. Cut before the fatigue window. Re-engage. The rhythm that had been running in this corner every morning since before he arrived and would keep running long after whatever happened next.

Zane watched her for a moment.

Then stood up and went back to the wall.

Thirty reps left.

He pressed his palm flat.

’One thing at a time,’ he thought.

The timer ticked.

『 BOUND TARGET QUEST — Time Remaining: 8 days 21 hours 58 minutes 』

’One thing at a time,’ he thought again.

He started his reps.

The daily quest was completed at 7:10 AM.

『 Daily Training Quest — Complete 』

『 Impact Breaker activation speed: 0.79 seconds — plateau maintained 』

Zane stood at the wall and looked at his palm.

’Plateaued,’ he thought. Then checked the number again.

0.79 seconds.

’Wait,’ he thought. ’That’s new.’

『 Plateau indicates ceiling approach for current familiarity level. Dex familiarity at 38% — acquaintance tier output ceiling reached. Further activation speed improvement requires familiarity increase or additional quest completion. 』

’So I need to get closer to Dex to improve the Sigil I stole from him,’ Zane thought.

『 Correct. 』

’The irony of that,’ Zane thought.

『 The system finds it efficient rather than ironic. 』

He picked up his bag. Turned around.

Maren was finishing her last sequence. Cut the activation at nine seconds exactly. Straightened up. Reached for her water bottle.

Looked at him briefly.

The weird thing was still sitting in her expression. Not uncomfortable, just present. The specific look of someone who had received something unexpected and was still deciding where to file it.

He almost said something.

Then his communicator buzzed.

He checked it.

Not a message. A system notification. But not the usual format. Longer. More specific. The kind that meant something new had been issued.

He read it.

『 PROXIMITY QUEST ISSUED 』

『 Objective: Maintain physical proximity within 2 meters of Maren for a cumulative total of 3 hours across any combination of contexts 』

『 Reward: Familiarity +5% bonus on next genuine exchange 』

『 Time Limit: 48 hours 』

『 Note: Proximity must be natural and unforced. Manufactured proximity does not accumulate. 』

Zane stared at the notification.

’Natural and unforced,’ he thought. ’The system issued a proximity quest and then immediately told me it won’t count if I force it.’

『 Correct. Genuine proximity accumulates differently from manufactured proximity. The system measures intent as well as distance. 』

’How does it measure intent,’ Zane thought.

『 That information is not available for disclosure. 』

’Of course it isn’t,’ Zane thought.

He looked up from his communicator.

Maren was putting her water bottle away. About to leave. The standard 6:20 AM ending. Bag pickup, brief wave, separate directions.

’Three hours cumulative,’ Zane thought. ’Natural and unforced for 48 hours.’

He picked up his bag.

Then stopped.

’Hey system,’ he thought. ’Since when do you send notifications through my communicator.’

『 Recent upgrade. Wanted to surprise you with something new. 』

Zane stared at his communicator.

’Don’t tell me you have control over my physical items,’ he thought.

『 The system operates through the host’s biological interface. Extending that interface to connected devices was a natural progression. Nothing to be concerned about. 』

’That’s exactly what something concerning would say,’ Zane thought.

『 Would you prefer the quest notifications go back to the standard vision overlay. 』

’No,’ Zane thought. ’The communicator is less suspicious in public.’

『 The system thought you would say that. 』

’Stop reading me,’ Zane thought.

『 That is literally the system’s function. 』

He pocketed his communicator and looked up.

Maren was watching him stare at his phone with the expression of someone who had clocked something and was deciding whether to ask.

"You good?" Maren asked.

"Fine," Zane replied. "Which way are you heading,"

She looked at him.

"Academic block obviously," she said.

"Same," Zane said. Realizing his unnecessary question.

She looked at him for exactly one second.

Then... "Okay."

They walked out of the training grounds together.

The route from the training grounds to the academic block took approximately eight minutes at normal pace.

Eight minutes of walking beside someone who had been in the same corner every morning for six weeks and was now for the first time in a different context. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Not training. Not the pad. Not the reinforced wall.

Just walking.

Maren walked with the same controlled deliberate energy she brought to everything. Bag over one shoulder. Eyes forward. The morning campus running around them. A few early risers, groundskeeping staff, the building coming on slowly.

Zane walked beside her.

The system ticked quietly in the corner of his vision.

『 Proximity accumulation: active 』