Chapter 69| My Hero Name

Chapter 69: Chapter 69| My Hero Name

"It’s a preliminary construction," she said. "Based on combat style analysis from the trial footage and the individual consultation." She set the tablet down. "Close range output focus. Contact point reinforcement at both palms and forearms. Projection capability built into the shoulder line for directional output." She tilted her head. "What do you think."

Zane looked at the suit.

"It’s good," he replied.

"It’s accurate," Mori said. "Which matters more than good in this context." She picked up her measuring tape. "Stand here."

He stood where she indicated.

She moved around him with the efficient precision of twenty years. Took measure of his shoulders, arms, reach span, height. The specific measurements that turned a design into a wearable thing.

"So what’s your Hero name," she said while she worked. "You saw the mail submission today if finalised."

He held out the notebook.

She took it without stopping the measurement pass. Read the page.

Three seconds of silence.

Then she looked up at him.

"How long have you had this," she said.

"About some days," Zane said.

She looked at the page one more time.

"Some days," she repeated. Not judging it. Just noting the gap between having it and submitting it.

Then handed the notebook back.

Nodded once.

"It fits the suit," she said. "And the suit fits it." She made a final note on her tablet. "Submission accepted. Fabrication begins tomorrow. First full fitting in ten days."

She went back to her desk.

"That’s all Calloway," she said. "Close the door on your way out."

He moved toward the door.

"Calloway," she said.

He stopped.

"The name earns what it says," she said quietly. Without looking up. "Make sure you do too."

He stood in the doorway for a moment.

Then walked out.

Got it. Here’s the updated section:

He stood in the doorway for a moment.

Then walked out.

The notebook was in his hand. The name on the page inside. He turned toward the corridor and walked directly into Instructor Vael.

The collision was clean and mutual. Neither of them saw it coming. The files she was carrying scattered across the corridor floor in a wide radius. Papers. Documents. What looked like the full first year assessment portfolio spread across the composite flooring.

"Sorry," Zane said immediately. "My bad... I wasn’t looking where I was going."

Vael looked at the floor. Then up at him.

"Oh," she said. "It’s you Calloway." A pause. Not annoyed. Just recalibrating. "It’s okay. Help me pick these up and escort me back to my office."

"Yes ma," Zane said.

He crouched and started collecting the scattered files, gathering them in order, straightening the edges with the specific careful handling of documents that belonged to someone else. Vael worked the other side of the corridor doing the same.

Two minutes. Everything collected.

Zane stacked his portion and stood. Vael stacked hers. They walked together toward her office at the end of the corridor.

Side by side. The specific comfortable pace of two people who had somewhere to be and weren’t rushing to get there.

"So," Vael said. "How are you enjoying your stay here in Aldren Academy?"

Zane looked at the corridor ahead.

"It’s alright," he said. "A bit of everything. Getting used to it."

Vael nodded once. The kind of nod that meant she’d heard the answer and was filing it alongside everything else she’d been filing since week one.

"That’s good," she said. "I know your quality of life has improved since your Sigil manifested." She glanced at him sideways. "I’m happy for you. You’re my student, watching you find your footing has been one of the better parts of this intake year."

She reached over briefly and rubbed his hair once. The specific affectionate gesture of someone who had been doing this long enough to have earned the right to it without asking.

Zane looked at the files in his hands.

"Hope you’re aiming for the best," she said. "Like your father did."

Zane looked forward.

"For sure," he said.

They reached her office. She took the files from him at the door.

"Thank you Calloway," she said. "Get some rest."

She went inside.

He stood in the corridor alone for a moment.

’Like your father,’ he thought.

Garrett Calloway. S-rank. Sovereign. Placed second in his first year trials. The name that opened rooms before anyone walked into them.

’For sure,’ Zane thought again.

He turned and headed toward the dormitory building.

The notebook still wandering in his hand.

_ _

Room 714 at 7:00 PM.

Dex was in his chair. Laptop open. Torre on the bed eating something with no confirmed origin. Gerald wheezed.

Zane came through the door and dropped his bag.

"Heard you all got Mori’s appointment today," Dex said without looking up. "How was it."

"Good," Zane said.

"Suit design."

"Yeah."

"Hero name submitted."

Zane looked at him.

"Yeah," Zane said.

Dex looked up from his laptop for the first time.

Held his gaze for exactly two seconds.

Then nodded once.

Went back to his laptop.

"I know if I asked right now you won’t tell do I might just wait", Dex said as he continued what he did on his laptop.

Torre said nothing. Just kept eating. His earphones blasting his eardrums with loud music.

Gerald wheezed.

Zane sat on his bed and looked at the ceiling.

The hero name was submitted. The suit was in fabrication. Ten days to the first full fitting.

Seven days on the bond quest.

’One thing at a time,’ he thought.

The timer ticked.

『 BOUND TARGET QUEST — Time Remaining: 7 days 21 hours 14 minutes 』

’Seven days,’ he thought.

Then something else surfaced in his head.

The girl from the dormitory gate. Small boobs. With a significantly large ass. The specific build that had announced itself without trying.

He could already envision what he’ll do to her at any given opportunity. But something else clocked his mind.

Maren’s face going fully red before she could answer the boyfriend question.

He stared at the ceiling.

’Meaningful data,’ he thought.

『 The system agrees. 』

Gerald wheezed.