Chapter 2063: Anti-Gravity Games

The chamber did not remove gravity at all. Instead, the panels along every surface generated an intricate web of finely tuned electromagnetic fields that filled the entire space, and those fields interacted with special materials woven into whatever the people inside were wearing.

By pushing against those materials from every direction at once, with exactly the right strength at exactly the right points, the chamber could counteract the pull of Jalun’s gravity so precisely that anyone inside would feel as though they were floating in open space.

It was clever and extraordinarily precise, but it was still electromagnetism doing the work rather than anything more exotic.

The instructors directed the cadets to a changing area at the side of the hangar, where racks of special training suits were waiting. They were close-fitting, slightly heavier than they looked, with a faint metallic sheen running along their seams where the responsive material had been woven into the fabric.

Once everyone had changed and returned to the edge of the chamber, the guide activated the fields.

The effect was immediate. The cadets standing nearest the chamber’s floor began to rise gently into the air, some of them laughing in surprise and others flailing their arms as they lost their footing entirely.

Ning pushed off from the floor and floated upward with the rest of them.

For a while, the instructors simply let them move around and get used to the feeling. Some of the cadets took to it quickly, pushing off the padded walls and drifting across the chamber with growing confidence, while others spent several minutes tumbling slowly end over end before working out how to stop themselves.

Jason was one of the latter, and Ning watched him rotate through two full turns before finally catching hold of a wall panel and clinging to it with an expression of profound relief.

Naysha, on the other hand, moved as though she had done this many times before, kicking off from one wall and gliding across the chamber in a straight, controlled line before catching herself neatly on the opposite side.

Once everyone had grown reasonably comfortable, Lorna’s voice carried across the chamber.

"Now that you’ve all had time to adjust, we’re going to make this more interesting," she said. "We’re going to play a game of dodgeball."

A murmur of interest spread through the floating cadets.

"Each of you will be given an item to use during the game, chosen by lucky draw," Lorna continued. "What you get is what you’ll have to work with, so make the best of it."

A small container was brought to the edge of the chamber, and the cadets drifted over one by one to draw a token from inside. Each token corresponded to an item stored along the chamber’s wall, and as the draws continued, the strangeness of the selection became clear.

Jason drew first among Ning’s group and received an air cannon, a compact launcher that fired concentrated bursts of air capable of pushing a ball, or a person, across the chamber. He held it with a look of cautious interest, turning it over in his hands as though already curious about how it worked.

Naysha drew a hollow metal staff, light enough to swing easily in zero gravity but long enough to strike a ball from a considerable distance.

Liam, floating at the other end of the group with a few of his friends, drew a pair of padded boxing gloves. He pulled them on with a small smirk, as though he considered them the best item in the entire container.

Then it was Ning’s turn.

He reached into the container, drew a token, and turned toward the wall to collect his item. It turned out to be a coil of thick rope, nearly ten meters long, slick and smooth, but entirely unremarkable.

Ning looked at it for a moment, then at the coil in his hands, and smiled faintly.

The rest of the cadets drew a strange assortment of their own. One received a small shield, another a pair of weighted magnetic boots, someone else a handful of smaller soft balls, and one unfortunate cadet received what appeared to be nothing more than a large flat paddle.

When the last draw was finished, Lorna and the other instructors floated out into the center of the chamber together.

They carried nothing at all.

"The game is teachers against students," Lorna announced. "We have no items, and we won’t be drawing any."

Several of the cadets exchanged surprised looks.

"The rules are simple. If you are hit by a ball, you are out, and you leave the chamber. These balls carry a special chip that will recognize when you’ve been hit. The gravity around you will vanish as soon as you are hit, so there is no point in trying to lie about it. You are also not allowed to grab it. Only dodge. Once the ball hits the walls, you may use it yourself. The game ends when one side has no one left."

"We are going to fight teachers?"

"You’re used to fighting in zero gravity, Teacher."

"Are you all complaining?" Lorna asked. "I haven’t even announced the best part of the whole thing."

The group quieted down and appeared curious. Lorna looked all around before speaking.

"You will earn a point for each student who has failed, including you. If 20 students are out before you, that’s 21 points for you. If by then there are teachers who have lost as well, you will get 5 points for each teacher that’s gone. So, at the very best, you have an opportunity to earn up to 80 points in total," Lorna said. "And the best part, the points count toward your trip exams."

The instructors spread out across the center of the chamber, drifting into positions with an ease that made it obvious they had played this game many times before, and a handful of soft balls were released into the air between the two sides, floating lazily in the fields.

Lorna looked across at the students and smiled.

"Begin."