Chapter 46: Routine

[Vaticinator utilizes Axiom to continuously observe the structural state of a target, including posture, weight distribution, muscular tension, Force flow, momentum, environmental position, and other measurable variables.]

[From the observed structure, Axiom calculates the target’s viable movements and their resulting possibilities, then constructs the highest-probability trajectory from the current state. The resulting prediction represents the target’s immediate future movement.]

Three days after the formation of Vaticinator, Marcellus stopped doubting the body of his. The improvement became obvious during the fourth morning of training.

Maeve stood near the center of the hall with her arms folded, watching the King circle him.

The shadow construct now wasn’t reduced to Marcellus’s height, it was in its original form. Towering him by three feet, and twice as broad as him.

Its horns curved backward from the bull-like head, and its eyes stayed fixed on Marcellus.

Marcellus stood barefoot on the reinforced floor. He had no stance or any deliberate preparation, his shoulders were lost, but his attention was actively being altered intent recognition, giving him the exact coordinates of the shadow construct.

The attack followed in a sudden movement.

Marcellus shifted before he could consciously even register the movement. His body turned just enough for the fist to pass across his chest; his left hand caught the King’s forearm while his right elbow drove toward the ribs.

The construct followed his movement, and twisted.

But Marcellus changed his attack pattern before the construct even decided to variate, as if knowing what its next moves are going to be.

Maeve’s eyes narrowed at the realization.

Marcellus stepped through the opening, rotated his shoulder, and struck the side of King’s neck sending the construct to kneel on the ground, facing raw defeat even without using any force.

"Weird," Marcellus whispered, loosening up.

"I am not sure I am doing anything consciously, but I still know that what I’m doing is completely by my will," he said.

"That is how...procedural movement works. The more you doubt your skills in combat, the more they’ll falter," Maeve replied sternly.

"So, is that an improvement?" he asked.

"Definitely, but...you cannot just hope to be a master in combat within a few days of training. That takes a routine which is meant to be followed daily, with discipline, and years of repetitive efforts." Maeve said.

*Snap*

With a snap of her fingers, her shadow construct stood upright instead of the defeated position it was in.

And the days passed, with Marcellus trying to build the same routine.

The academy did not know that Marcellus had discovered something fundamental about his combat. Classes continued, lectures were still held, but Marcellus now had leverage to not attend them.

But he still did. For him, every word spoken by a professor is a wisdom of their own experiences. It’s something he had learned over years of his past.

Even if Zavian was a neuroscientist who had achieved things that were just considered futuristic, fantasy, in this world. He still cared a lot about opinions of other people, and he still thrived to learn more about the force and core.

Cadets continued arguing over rankings, instructors continued assigning practical examinations and the lower halls remained crowded with people trying to prove themselves against opponents who had only just learned their names.

Marcellus adapted to the routine faster than Maeve expected. Morning training with Maeve, classes, meals, independent study and analysis on cores and the ability to accelerate cellular regeneration, combat assessments, occasional medical checks, more training.

He discovered library quite late. But he had made it his routine to visit there solely because he needed information and there were still subjects he had become interested in.

The academy had ceased being a temporary obstacle, it had become a place where there was always something he had not yet understood, or was left curious about.

Then, one morning, a notice appeared across every cadet’s device at the same time.

The academy crest of the lion was the first thing that they noticed in their notice.

Then the dates, and a single line beneath it.

{FIRST TERM CONCLUSION – ACADEMY RECESS}

The announcement was followed by the usual administrative information.

Cadets were required to return home for the duration of the recess. Residential facilities would remain available only to the authorized personnel and students with approved reasons to remain.

The academy would close, in a while.

But the reason why the cadets were more shocked wasn’t because of this notification but what followed.

{SECOND TERM – UNION GATE PROGRAM}

It appeared that the gate owned by Union will be used in the second term. But only the selected cadets will have access and the opportunity to visit and experience the civilization beyond the gate.

This was the sole reason Duels were being used as observatory unit to select cadets regardless of their specified ranks.

Maeve read it twice in the living room, confirmed the timestamps, and went to his door because mandatory meant mandatory. Even for a Pillar.

She was wearing her usual soft black slips that ended mid-thigh, thin straps, no formal layer over it yet. Her hair were loose of the morning bath, and bare feet.

She opened his door without knocking hard, Marcellus was on his back in the center of the bed. He was dead tired, laying with upper body bare, sheet catching till his low waist.

"Young Master." She called him out.

But there was no response.

She stepped closer with her phone in hand, and lowered her voice.

"Young Master."

Still nothing.

Maeve reached for his wrist with her two fingers to wake up him.

"Wake up you sleep demo-"

Before she could complete her sentence, his hand closed around hers.

The world tipped for her suddenly.

"Ha?" She hit the mattress with a controlled gasp as he pulled her in, one arm locking across her back, the other still holding her wrist between them.

"?" The first thing that she noticed was abnormally burning warmth of his body. She had noticed that his temperature always remained abnormally high, but the chest seemed like the CenterPoint of that heat.

Her black slip rode high against his bare side. He turned his face into the space at her shoulder, still in his sleep.

"Hm?" A sound left him, more an acknowledgement.

She could have clearly broken the hold, she was strong enough for that, and the fact sat in her mind with uncomfortable clarity. But... she didn’t.

"Notice..." She said in a quiet voice. "Recess, and return flights are already being arranged. We’ll be leaving in three days."

His thumb moved once against the inside of her wrist, absent mindedly, then he opened his eyes just slightly.

For a moment he only looked at her, as if sorting which world he was in.

"Read it," he said.

"What...I just read it!" She whispered, and repeated the same words. "Recess, and return flights are scheduled for us in three days."

"First term is coming to a conclusion. I don’t know how, there were no tests...which is odd. Second term is Union Gate Program, only for selected cadets, and the names will be informed to us during our recess," she said.

Marcellus listened without looking at the screen. He was looking at the plane white wall beyond her, as if dazed in sleep.

"You---!" She held his hand, and placed the phone in his hands. "Read it!"

Marcellus finally looked down. The academy’s notice was still open in her phone. But his attention drifted toward the notification that had appeared above it.

He stopped, and Maeve noticed.

His thumb touched the newer notification as the screen changed, a different interface appeared.

---

[Duel Registry — Open Challenge]

Challenger: Cadet Rank 39 — Kate Magnar, House Magnar.

Challenged: Maeve Eira — Severan Military Group, Operations Unit

Status: Pending Acceptance

Terms: Standard Academy Duelling Code

Venue: Central Combat Hall

Scheduled: Today, 5 hours from acceptance.

---

His eyes remained on the rank for a few seconds. It was higher than Maeve’s.

"What is it?" she asked.

Marcellus did not answer immediately, he read the request, and his thumb hovered over the bottom of the screen.

[Accept]

The thought that came to him was simple. Maeve had never once shown him everything. Not when she trained at least. He had seen enough to know that her rank was odd.

There was still something underneath it, something she deliberately kept contained.

Marcellus pressed the button.

[Challenge Accepted.]

"What are you reading?" She asked again.

"Your duel," Marcellus turned the phone toward her.

Her eyes moved across the screen and snapped wide open. She took the phone from his hand.

"You accepted this?"

"Yes, aren’t I helpful-"

"Ugh..." ’This Fu---!’

She tightened her fist till it turned pale, and looked at him. But he was already back asleep.