Chapter 66| Proximity Quest II

Chapter 66: Chapter 66| Proximity Quest II

’Good.’ Zane thought.

"So.... About the hero names," Zane said.

She glanced at him.

"Still not telling you," Maren replied.

"I know," Zane said. "I’m not asking. I’m asking if you’ve finalised it."

She was quiet for a moment.

"Almost," she said.

"Same," Zane said.

She looked at him sideways. The calculating stillness doing its thing.

"I know you have four words," she said. "From your notebook."

"You read my notebook?." Zane asked.

"Ryan read your notebook," she said. "Word travels."

He looked at the path ahead.

’Of course it does,’ he thought.

"Four words," she said again. "Are all four making it into the final name."

"There are rough sketches,still working on it," Zane replied.

She almost smiled at that.

They reached the academic block entrance. Maren pushed through first. Zane followed.

The corridor inside was picking up. Students moving toward classrooms, the building’s morning rhythm accelerating.

"We have theory class," Maren said at the junction. She checked her communicator. "We have just five minutes to get there." She looked at him. "We need to increase our pace."

"And by the way you’re being unusually present today," she said.

’Unusually present,’ Zane thought. ’That’s one way to put it.’

"Just good morning energy," he replied.

She looked at him for one more second.

"Second floor," she said. "Let’s move."

They took the stairwell together at a faster pace than the walk from the training grounds had been.Maren setting the speed, Zane matching it, the five minute window doing what five minute windows always did which was make everything feel slightly more urgent than it needed to be.

The theory session ran from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM.

1-A and 1-B in separate classrooms. Maren in 1-A, Zane in 1-A. Same room. Different rows.

The system ticked.

『 Proximity accumulation: 23 minutes 』

Zane sat in his usual seat. Maren two rows behind him. The same arrangement as always. Except today he was aware of the distance between them in a way that had a number attached to it and a timer running behind it.

’Natural and unforced,’ he thought.

’She’s two rows back,’ he thought. ’That’s not proximity.’

He shifted his focus to the session front.

Instructor Vael was running something about Sigil classification assessment preparation. Relevant given the NSA assessment incoming for Zane specifically. He filed that under important and let it run in the background.

At the break between sessions Maren appeared beside his desk.

"Notes from last Thursday," she said. Held out a page. "You missed the last ten minutes when Reed pulled you for the shoulder check after the drill."

He looked at the page.

Then at her.

’She kept notes for me,’ he thought. ’Without being asked.’

"Thanks," he said.

She nodded once. Went back to her row.

The system surfaced.

『 Proximity accumulation: 31 minutes 』

『 System Note: She kept notes for you without being asked. That is the kind of thing the system considers meaningful data. Just noting. 』

’I noticed,’ Zane thought.

『 Good. 』

The session continued.

Zane sat in his seat and looked at the notes she’d kept. Her handwriting was exactly what he would have predicted. Clean, structured, nothing wasted. The last ten minutes of Thursday’s session summarised in eight lines that covered everything Vael had said without a single unnecessary word.

He filed the notes in his notebook.

Then looked at the proximity timer.

31 minutes. Out of three hours. In a session where she was two rows back and the system required within two meters.

’Not enough,’ he thought. ’The seating geometry is wrong.’

The system surfaced immediately.

『 Observation: moving one row back places you within confirmed proximity range. Students change seats regularly. It is unremarkable. Just noting. 』

’Natural and unforced,’ Zane thought.

『 Moving one row is completely natural. 』

’You’re really pushing this,’ Zane thought.

『 The timer has 47 hours and 29 minutes remaining. The system is simply presenting options. 』

He looked at the empty seat one row back directly beside Maren’s position.

Then looked at Instructor Vael at the front of the room.

’One row,’ he thought.

He picked up his bag and moved.

Maren looked up when he settled into the seat beside her.

He looked forward.

She said nothing.

The session continued.

The system ticked.

『 Proximity accumulation: active — 2 meters confirmed 』

The second session ended at 11:45 AM.

Students filing out. The corridor picking up with pre-lunch energy. Zane packed his notebook. Maren was already moving toward the door. Bag over shoulder, efficient, next obligation already mapped.

He fell into step beside her in the corridor.

She glanced at him.

Said nothing.

They walked toward the stairwell together. Not discussing it. Not announcing it. Just the same direction at the same pace.

"Assessment prep this morning," Zane said. "You think it’s specifically for the NSA classification review or general first year readiness."

Maren looked at him sideways.

"Both," she said. "The NSA classification process runs alongside the academy’s internal assessments. Vael would prep the class for both simultaneously." A pause. "Why. Are you worried about yours."

"Nothing exactly but I’m working on it," Zane replied.

She looked at him.

"You say that about everything," she said.

"It covers a lot of situations," Zane said.

She almost smiled.

They took the stairwell down together. Ground floor corridor running its lunch hour energy.

At the junction Maren stopped.

"It’s actually time for lunch," she said. Not an invitation. Just the statement of where she was going.

"Yeah," Zane said.

She looked at him briefly.

"Okay I think I’ll be off now, remember the same time tomorrow," she said.

"6:20 AM,yeah sure" Zane said.

"Why don’t we have..". Zane stopped mid sentence.’ Let me not push it, she can dine with whomever she wants to’.

She waved once and turned toward her lunch arrangement direction.

Zane watched her go.

The system ticked.

『 Proximity accumulation: 54 minutes 』

’54 minutes,’ Zane thought. ’Out of three hours.’

’Natural and unforced is harder than it sounds,’ Zane thought.

『 That is why the reward is significant. 』

’I don’t think you know what significant means system’. Zane said mentally.

『 A reward that aids you quest is something I might classify as significant. 』

’Fair.. Just fair.. system’. Zane thought.