Published at 29th of November 2025 6:46 pm

Chapter ONE HUNDRED SIXTY SEVEN: Notion

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

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My Body Becomes My Assistant? Stuart asked. He was on the floor with his legs crossed, and though he had sat in polite silence while Alden finished the wordchain, hed watched the whole casting process intently.

I want to use it in gym and get the hang of it, but Ive been thinking I might mix up having it active with having it inactive so that Im getting better at moving in both ways. Trouble doesnt always happen in convenient six-hour windows. Do knights use a lot of wordchains?

Yes. Chaotic environments can reduce their efficacy, so depending on the situation a large number of casts might be necessary to gain the desired benefit. Its often worth it, but not always.

Peace of Mind worked well on Thegund.

Thats not the kind of chaotic environment I mean. And Thegund is populated by Artonans. That makes a difference.

The cottage had brightened with the arrival of morning, and the suitcase on the floor between them had revealed the full glory of its patch job. Most of the rips and gouges were small, since a certain ryeh-bt preferred to make sure the whole bag received her attentions rather than committing to the total destruction of any single part, and now they were all repaired with a silver fabric that looked like it had melted into place to fit the holes rather than being stitched.

Stuart had been planning to turn it all blue to match the suitcase, but Alden had stopped him.

His eyes fell on a silver bite mark while he reached for another piece of fruit from the bowl of welcome. He was pretty sure the one that tasted like a mild pear was going to be good while under the effects of the wordchain. There are so many things I dont know.

Do you want to know more about wordchains in chaos fields?

No. I still have a few questions about mind healing. I know I need to go soon, but

You dont have to go.

I probably shouldnt be late, especially since I dont know how many sessions I might need with the healer, and those could take me away from school, too. How many do you think it might be to make the Thegund nightmares go away?

Thats a question that would be better for the healer, but in my experience

******

******

Youre laaaate.

And hes not in his uniform.

I thought he was going to skip class.

He was just scared to face me in battle! Astrid announced to the other girls who were standing around in the corridor in front of the locker rooms. She sprang toward Alden and punched the air with a vicious expression that was undermined by her cotton candy pink lipstick and eyeshadow.

Actually that might not be makeup. That might be a new morph.

Im not late yet! Alden dodged around her. Easily thanks to the wordchain. His duffel bag full of gym supplies was over his shoulder, and his face felt chapped from his high speed flight here aboard the nonagon. It had been waiting for him at Mataderos helipad, and a message from Esh-erdi telling him to use it if he wanted had appeared as soon as Alden arrived in the cubes teleportation area.

I can dress in three minutes.

But you only have two minutes and fifteen seconds, Vandy told him.

He rushed through the group of girls so fast that he was already a couple of steps inside the locker room by the time he realized Astrids teeth had been pointy.

Nice teeth! he called as the door shut behind him.

All the better to beat you with!

There werent that many guys lingering inside, and they were all in their suits already.

No, I never met him, Finlay was saying to Kon. I did hear about him in intake a couple of times, right before I left. But that was all.

Alden! Was that Astrid you were yelling with? Kon asked. He was tousling his hair while he observed himself in one of the mirrors. Whats she done to her teeth?

The weird emphasis on some of the words made Alden suspect he was still having trouble with pronunciation.

Theyre sharp now, Alden answered.

Where have you been? Lexi was waiting for Haoyu to finish tying his shoes. He had Writher in his hand, and the end was twitching toward Ignacio. Alden was sure it was innocent enough, but it did make Lexi look like he was planning terrible things for the other Meister, who was staring at his knife collection while he put on his wrist cuffs.

Hello, Lexi, said Alden as he dove into a shower. I missed you, too. Your warm smile, your whip, your tone of suspicion.

You got your foot fixed? Haoyu called.

Alden stripped off his shirt. I got permission to take the boot off. And a lecture about my diet and my badness as a patient. And the healer sent the school a note saying I could come to class if the gym suit was set to punish me for running and jumping with that leg.

It had been about two hours since hed teleported from Rapport I to Matadero. He still wasnt quite over the shock of transitioning from an informative, calm, and very mature-feeling conversation with Stuart about his options for mind healing and how the appointments could be handled, to Porti-loth. The wizard had been waiting to catch Alden as soon he arrived and check that hed behaved himself while he was away.

Punish? asked Haoyu.

<<Youll have a movement restriction?>> Ignacio asked in Spanish.

Alden was surprised he was jumping into the conversation.

<<I was going to duel against you differently, but if you cant run>>

Alden actually wasnt sure what Porti-loth had meant. Hed just griped a lot about the fact that Alden was unable to follow the very simple instructions hed been given to eat foods native to Earth.

But I ate an Earth-based lunch the day I left, had not been a good enough excuse. Nor had, I honestly forgot. So much has been going on.

Yeah, he said, reaching for his gym suit. A movement restriction is probably the penalty he had in mind.

By the time he exited the stall, the room was empty. He hurried out and ended up entering the gym a step behind Tuyet, who was looking tired.

If we duel each other, do you have another bandage for me? Alden asked. He didnt know her well enough to think of a joke about anything else.

Alden, she said. Did you know him, too?

That seemed like a random question. Had he missed something?

Know who?

She frowned. The SAL member who Orpheus Velra sold the Submerger to. The person Maricel left class on Friday to warn SkySea Guard about.

Aldens thoughts had to run a whole marathon before those two sentences made sense. By the time they got to the finish line, the [FLOOR ON] warning was flashing on his interface, and he and Tuyet were headed for their classmates and instructors.

It was only Klein, Marion, and Wu today.

No, he managed to say in the final second before class officially began. I didnt know the guy.

All right! Instructor Klein said. I hope you all did your homework.

Alden looked around at all the faces. Everyone had managed to make it to class except for Maricel.

Soshes the student whos taking time off. And the guy she asked me to talk to when we were standing outside the mall, the runaway who took a boat that night, crashed the Sinker Sender into Matadero.

He wondered how he ought to feel about that.

Really sorry for Maricel. Nothing personal beyond that, I suppose?

Having a few less degrees of separation from a guilty party than he would have expected was unsettling, but he was already roommates with Lutewing van Nutmeg.

There just arent that many human Avowed. Most of us are probably only a friend of a friend away from any insane thing that happens with another one of us.

Hed watch the news later, figure out what hed missed, and stop by to ceck on Maricel.

Class first.

One-on-ones were conceptually simple. Everyone was supposed to stand in their assigned dueling block and complete an objective before the timer ran out. The objectives this time would be the two most basic. Both duelists would be told to fight head to head until one was incapacitated, or theyd be assigned to play a simple territory claiming game.

Opponents would be randomized at first, and then the instructors would be adjusting the pairings to make sure that nobody was fighting the exact same class or rank every time.

Mehdi raised his hand. Are we going to have a duels scoreboard like the other classes? One point per win?

Yes! said Heloisa.

No, Klein said. Not in this course.

But

Realism is set to movement restriction only for today and Friday, Klein went on.

There was a buzz of excitement at that. If nothing hurt at all, then getting thrown across the gym by someone else could be fun. It depended on who the someone else was and how scared you were of their particular method of doing harm.

Usually we dont do pain-free duels until the last class of term, as a reward, but this has been a rough week. Dont use it as an excuse to play around. Instead of pain, you get research. On Monday, you have to turn in a write-up about all of your injuries. Instructions for that are in your inboxes.

Kon and Soren, you two wont be dueling this week. Youve both discovered new features of your powers that you need to figure out in a safe environment. He paused. Normally, I would congratulate you on your progress, but in your cases

Well, were low on faculty, so youre working on your own today. Soren, youll be shaping until you can repeat your accident and understand what caused it. Setting yourself on fire isnt something that should happen in the future. Kon, weve modified some of the tonne weights for you. Youll be moving them. Without hitting yourself in the face. Youre lucky you didnt break your own neck on Friday.

Soren reddened. Kon beamed like hed been complimented instead of criticized.

Lexi shook his head.

Alden was privately mourning the loss of two opponents he was interested in having matches against.

Well be running five to ten dueling blocks all the time. When youre not in one, you can all use the practice area over there to figure out what went wrong, what went right, and what you might want to try in your next fight.Instructor Klein gestured to the far end of the gym, where the floor had already been marked off with lines.

If you exhaust your body or your main talents during duels, youll be out. You can choose to observe from the bleachers or, if youve got something thats still worthy of testing on the floor, you can do that in the practice area. If your temper gets the best of you and you continue attacking another student after the time call, you get to run laps around the track all by yourself until I have time to come and talk to you. Which should be around nine oclock tonight, after Ive had my supper.

Alden looked around, trying to guess if anyone might end up in that unenviable position.

His eyes skimmed past Winston, who was wearing a red sweatband on his head that said, Need a heeling?

What does that mean? Is it his latest hero motto? Or is it smack talk just for today?

Marshas hand lifted.

When Klein nodded at her, she asked, Why cant we do S versus S? And A versus A?

Haoyu, standing just in front of Alden, turned around and rolled his eyes so dramatically that even Tuyet smiled.

Because theres value in learning from all of your classmates, said Klein. Well mix things up in future sessions. Now, lets get started.

Their first assignments popped up, and the whole class burst into chatter.

VANDY! shouted Haoyu, waving at her excitedly.

Ive got Max, said Lexi.

Its me and Olive. Tuyet was swiping at her interface. Thats good. Shes nice.

Olive looked less than thrilled.

Alden hadnt been assigned an opponent yet, so he jogged toward the practice area.

WALK, ALDEN!

He halted and then waved at Klein in acknowledgment. Marsha passed by him, irritation apparent in her every stride. Her polearm, in glaive mode, was propped on one shoulder, looking as deadly as usual. And Jupiter was trotting beside her, carrying a single, fist-sized cactus in a pot.

Is she going to fight with that? Alden wondered. It was a cactus, but it was so petite compared to her usual choices. Maybe it wouldnt be bad to fight her since she didnt bring a whole hedge or a tree with her.

These were almost free because the store flooded, Jupiter said to Marsha. I brought forty of them.

Never mind. Shes planning to be a cactus pitching machine. But thats still not as bad as some of her other options. If she only sent a few at a time

Marsha turned around to glare back at the pairs who were starting their duels. Its not fair. Maybe theres value in fighting some of the As. But for most of them? For this kind of dueling? I might as well chop wood.

Max and I are so invisible to her shes not even mentioning our rank.

Alden wanted to do a Haoyu-style eye roll at her, but he held back the impulse. He needed to focus on what hed be doing today.

When he reached the practice area, he claimed a spot for himself where he didnt think hed be in anyone elses way, dropped his duffel bag on the floor, and bent to search through it. He was way less prepared than usual. His internal clock was confused, he smelled like one of the soaps hed bathed with at the cottage, and his combat plans were currently all the same ideas hed had before the obstacle course last week.

On top of that, he had no idea who hed be up against.

Im allowed to have string or rope, something to weight the ends, the elemental bags if I want them, and my temper spheres.

Too bad he was fighting Avowed instead of Jatontan pests.

With a restriction on running, and if its just me versus one of themwhat do I want to practice?

Today, the dueling blocks were going to be empty rooms of varying sizes. No obstacles of any kind for him to work with or hide behind.

Alden started examining the other people in the class one by one. I cant plan something that would be good versus everyone. Maybe I should just guess and plan with one of them in mind? Hope whatever I come up with transfers to the others?

Heloisa.

Jupiter.

Reinhard.

Reinhard?

Okay. Him.

I owe him back for combat assessment anyway. Lets figure out a way to beat Reinhard. Ill boldly feed him to victory, instead of going for a tie.

Nothing in Aldens bag of supplies was really screaming victory, though.

Not dying did seem doable. Partly because of Reinhards personality. He probably wouldnt fire his strongest shot at Alden. Power built up in his bow every time he hit his target and then he sacrificed that magic all in one go for a big one.

But he would be conservative with the big ones because he wanted to shoot the strongest members of the class with them. Not the Rabbit. If he killed Alden that way and then got assigned to duel one of the Ss immediately afterward, he wouldnt be happy.

He would absolutely take a draw against me and use me to build up steam so that he could try to beat someone he respected more.

Snatching an arrow out of the air with his skill then firing it back at Reinhard would be the coolest option.

Were not there yet even with the wordchain. Save that for last ditch efforts.

Ten minutes later, when his turn came, Alden had made a plan.

Can I call it that? Its not really good enough to be a plan. Its a theory about how I could attack Reinhard if I had nothing but lots of string for a weapon. No, not even a theory. Its a notion were going to try.

Andoh boy, look who Im fighting withmy notion.

[Dueling Block 3]

[Opponent: Jeffy, Aquatic Brute - S]

[Incapacitate your opponent.]

[Kills: Allowed]

He only had one minute to get into position, so he thanked Jupiter for being his entruster, picked up his notion, and speed walked toward the block with it.

Alden, Instructor Marion said, looking up to take in his weapon of choice as he passed. The Engaging with the Unexpected Teacher had his brown hair pulled back in its usual low ponytail.

It didnt take long to make, said Alden, worried he was about to be told that his creation was too much of a creation. I could manage it innot an emergency maybe. But in an urgency, it would be doable.

I was just going to tell you to be mindful of your injuries, Marion said. He was still staring at the archer-defeating basket Alden had made, though.

The quick birdnest shield methodjust take all the ribbon, paracord, fishing line, and other lightweight string youd brought and then scramble it into a pile of the desired size and shape before preserving. No tying, minimal fiddling around. If you had a little extra time, you could make sure there were no large gaps, and if you had a convenient largish object handylike the mounds of elemental bags in the practice areayou could drape your scramble over it and make an easy basket shape.

Then you could give it a long handle and preserve the whole situation.

The basket was around the size of a pair of small sofas stacked on top of each other. The handle was nylon webbing about six yards long that Alden was currently holding much closer to the basket part than the tip, because it was too unwieldy.

Ideally, he would have run at Reinhard with it and dropped it onto his head. The crazy mess of a net would stop a couple of quickly fired arrows while he closed distance, and then, assuming that Alden lost preservation when he trapped his foe, all of the crap would still get tangled up with archers bow and arrows. For at least a moment.

Reinhard would be very pissed. Hed throw it all off. And then Alden would try the final part of the plan. Reinhard would naturally end up stepping on top of the remains of the basket when he freed himself. Most of those strands would still be connected to the handle.

And then I re-preserve, lift, and hurl him as hard as I can. Hell smash into one of the barriers. Definitely, hell be injured. And if hes not completely unconscious Istab him with one of his own arrows or something.

He didnt know how good his chances of making it work were, but it would have been a really fun way of winning.

Maybe it will work on Jeffy, too?

Alden! Alden, guess what?!

His mowhawked opponent was waving both arms when Alden stepped into the block.

Hey, Jeffy. What?

The System says Im two levels stronger overall now! Jeffy started to walk toward him.

Everyone, remember to start on your own side of the dueling block, Marion called.

Jeffy sprang backward. I also got a lamp!

Alden knew all of that already, but he was glad the guy was excited. He stared at Jeffy through a narrow gap in his basket, then he turned his new tool sideways, so that the basket was to his left and the handle extended out to his right. The block theyd been assigned was ten by twenty-five meters. If Alden stood with his back to the barrier in the start position, he couldnt hold the basket directly in front of him. The handle was way too much unless he extended it out toward Jeffy.

He didnt think there was actually an established dueling rule for holding your six-yard-long, human hurling device, but he was sure someone would say something to him about it if he was bold enough to start with his weapon already a quarter of the way toward his opponents end of the block.

I heard you were working really hard during the disaster, he said to Jeffy. Thats awesome, man. You should be proud.

[Duel Timer: 2 minutes]

[Start in 5s]

Alden took a deep breath and let it out.

Nerves.

Just a little.

One-on-one duels at Celena North. Lets see what this is like.

******

******

[Fractured ribs.]

Well, fuck.

[Fractured ribs.]

Jeffy! Alden said. Let me

Hes a tricky Rabbit. Gotta hold him real tight for sixty more seconds, Jeffy said in Aldens ear.

Put me down! Alden pried at the arms wrapped around his chest.

Get the job done. Aqua Brutes have the strength and wisdom of the ocean.

I think I would feel better right now if I were in physical pain.

Jeffy had started his attack by bellowing LAND MOVES! and baseball sliding across the floor at high speed. Alden had been proud of himself for about a second. Despite the unexpected method of attack Jeffy had chosen, Alden had gotten his basket in between the two of them to intercept before the Brute reached himonly for Jeffy to shout, SKY MOVES! mid-slide and somehow lever his stupidly strong ass up and over the basket. Hed hit the floor at what had looked like a spine-breaking angle, but apparently it wasnt, because he sprang right back up and bounded forward to grab Alden.

A wordchain that helped you move better wouldnt save you if you couldnt predict Jeffys randomness fast enough.

And now this.

Instead of killing Alden, Jeffy was bear-hugging him from behind. The Brute had bent himself backwards so that Aldens feet wouldnt touch the ground. He had failed to trap Aldens arms, so Alden could freely wave all four of his limbs helplessly in the air while an unmovable Jeffy slowly caved his ribs in and said everything in his head out loud.

Max says not to overthink, Jeffy chanted. Instead, overdo.

I should yield.

You look stuck there, Alden! Instructor Marion shouted. Perhaps youd like to concede?

No! Im still thinking! He kicked his feet. He waved his arms.

Hed still had a grip on his basket handle when hed first been picked up, but whacking Jeffy in the head with the end of it did absolutely nothing.

Sixty seconds later, Jeffy set him down. Alden was breathing hard. He reminded himself that Jeffy wasnt a deliberate jerk and him going on about the strength and wisdom of the ocean while Alden flailed wasnt some kind of insult.

Good fight! Jeffy held his hand up for a high five. Wow, your face got red!

You Alden took a deep breath, let it out, then slapped his hand. Yeah. Good fight. The overdoing is working for you.

******

[Dueling Block 6]

[Opponent: Njeri, Shaper of Water - A]

[Claim your opponents territory by tagging all of the marked locations on their half of the block.]

[Kills: Disallowed]

Umthis doesnt seem fair if youre not allowed to run today, said Njeri, staring at the red squares on Aldens half of the block. The jumbo water jugs shed overturned were spilling their contents onto the floor.

Ill just do my best.

She lifted her hands, and the water began to form a blob in front of her. But your shield is a net.

That is unfortunate versus a Water Shaper. Maybe Ill get Reinhard next time.

******

[Dueling Block 3]

[Opponent: Marsha, Meister of the Mutable Haft - S]

[Incapacitate your opponent.]

[Kills: Allowed]

Just hold out for ten seconds, thought Alden. Hed ditched the handle, and he was holding the big birds nest shield directly in front of him with both hands. It covered his whole body and then some. Versus several members of the class, with his back to the barrier, this would be enough to ensure a draw. Versus Marsha ten seconds would be a triumph.

[Start in 5s]

How to make it last that long against her?

Ill throw myself toward her as soon as we start. Using the good foot, so nobody can complain.She wont be expecting that from me. As soon as I land, Ill jump to the left as hard as I can.

Ill zigzag around like crazy. At least ten seconds, then Ill find out what it feels like to take one of her hits with my skill.

He wanted to know that, and this was his first opportunity.

The polearm was still in glaive shape. She would probably just run straight at him as soon as they started and swing it.

[1s]

[START]

Alden bent his knees to throw himself toward her.

A sense of threat to the space he occupied. A flash of light.

No. His fingers tightened on the shield.

For the briefest instant, there was a detectable battlethe authority of his skill to bear and preserve, resisting the attack of someone whose power was bound for the creation of an offensive strike. Then Alden was standing there, holding two fistfuls of severed cord and string.

His skill was toast. An injury list that could have been abbreviated as very dead appeared.

He looked across the dueling block at Marsha. She hadnt come toward him after all. Shed just swung her weapon from over there, trusting that the magical follow-up slash would finish him.

Like chopping wood, she muttered, stalking off.

So, thought Alden, as he watched her go. This is what duels are going to be like.

******

******

He was the second person to head to the bleachers. Olive was there, sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees and a jacket draped over her like a tent.

The posture and the puffiness around her eyes made Alden think the illusionist wasnt in the mood for company. He went past her and found a seat high enough to provide a good view of all the blocks.

Should have expected this.

When having one big skill was your style, and that skill was tired, you didnt have anything to fall back on.

I guess I could have told Klein that I wanted to keep going until Id run out of temper sphere uses. The look on his face might have been worth it.

He stared down at the current batch of duelists. Max and Astrid were just standing in their block, watching each other with tight postures. Alden assumed the problem was that Astrid knew Max had put down a trap, and she was trying to guess where it was.

The skill that went with Maxs zone spells was one that let him adjust the effects the zones had on him. It was reduction only at this point, but that meant he could walk around in the middle of one of the traps and fool people into thinking it was normal floor.

In the neighboring block, Reinhard versus Haoyu wasnt going well for Reinhard. He ran faster than Haoyu, but not when he was shooting at the same time. Haoyu had him in a chokehold already and would be winning any second.

There was still over an hour left of class.

I have thirteen more classes until the end of term. Maximum. Well probably be dueling in a lot of them.

How should I handle it?

Writher plunged into the back of the Brute whod just grabbed Lexi.

Should I try to figure out how to beat each classmate?

Lucille had the Object Shaper pinned to the floor. She looked apologetic about it.

No. Lets stick with the plan. Im here to learn, practice, and grow the skill. So if I leave a fight having done that, its a personal win. And if I dont get anything out of it, its a loss.

He looked down at Marsha.

No taking her hits like that again this term.

He understood what it was like now. There was nothing else to be gained from a repeat.

I also cant outrun her without a ground element surface. So shes absolutely no good for practicing defense against in a battle like the one we just had. Next time, Ill try out something offensive.

Okay, so if shes going to stand in place and chop wood like that whenever we fight, I might as well use her to practice hitting hard and fast from range. Getting my aim down might take a while, but how fast can I make something on the end of a string fly if I havelets say a minute to prep it in the practice area in advance.

He considered it for a couple of minutes, then put the problem aside and studied the fights going on in front of him. The outcomes were usually predictable. He wasnt surprised by where the gaps between his classmates were, but witnessing the width of those gaps in this kind of scenario was brutal.

Everyone had been freed of the need to think about delicate rescue operations, team strategy, and complicated rules.

The S-ranks looked like monsters. And the S-rank Meisters looked like the monsters that ate the other monsters for breakfast.

Tuyet, Marsha, and Ignacio didnt lose except to each other.

Alden didnt see Finlay fight Ignacio, but Tuyet got the speedster by throwing all of her darts at once. And Marsha just barely beat him in a difficult-to-follow close combat situation. Alden was going to have to watch that one in slow motion. He thought Finlays mistake might have been positioning himself between her and the place where the polearm had fallen on the floor.

S-rank Weapon Meisters were generally the killingest of killing machines. Most of them lacked the flexibility and creative options that Shapers and Adjusters had. They werent given as many foundation points as Brutes. What they had were magic weapons and the talents they needed to make those weapons extremely dangerous. So their dominance today was to be expected.

It was to be expectedbut a lot of people, including the members of the class who had seemed most eager for duels, were acting like they hadnt expected it.

The obstacle course didnt make it as stark as this, Alden thought as he watched a boy stalk away from his duel with Ignacio. He turned back to say something that made Klein bark a warning.

The tempers were getting hot in the A-on-A fights as well.

Njeri was out running on the track. Her competitive streak had gotten the better of her during a fight with Heloisa, and shed launched a jet of water at her roommate after time was called. It hadnt seemed like she was really angry, just too into the battle and unwilling to stop mid-attack.

Shed looked mortified to be sent off to do laps.

As time passed, spell impressions wore out. Skills wore out. A few of the Brutes got tired and clumsy, and Klein ordered them off the floor. A couple of people went to use the bathroom and never came back. The smarter ones just had private breakdowns in their seats.

People in this program get very upset about losing, Alden said when Lexi, wearing a towel around his neck and moving like he was exhausted, finally joined him on the bleachers.

Hed done well, and he looked satisfied. Thats probably the equivalent of an average person wearing a giant grin.

Lexi drained a water bottle in a few gulps. How did you do? he asked. Hows Haoyu? I havent been able to pay attention to anything but my own fights since I started.

Marsha butchered my magic and my body, said Alden. Haoyu hasnt been winning as much as you. Some people have started running from him to force draws. But hes going to be the last A-rank standing.

Lexi looked down at the floor, then sat up straighter at the sight of Haoyus current opponent. Everlys still in it?

Not really. Shes been on a losing streak for a while, and she cant run at all anymore. She just wobbles around the block until she gets killed or manages a spell cast. But when Marion tried to tell her she could quit, she shouted that she had been careful and saved her impressions and this was her gym time.

The instructor had seemed a little concerned, but hed let her go on with it.

After a minute, Lexi said, The bridge really bothered her. It should bother us all of course, but shes got Kon asking me for running tips. Like Im some expert on training just because I exercise in the mornings.

Why didnt she just ask you herself?

Lex frowned. I dont know. Its not like Im that hard to talk to.

Alden clamped his mouth shut and focused on Jupiter. She and Vandy had agreed to have a Shaping-only duel. They were each sitting on the floor while a ball of smashed cacti and a current of air clashed in the middle of their block.

She blinded three people.

What?

Jupiter. With her cactus bomb. Alden watched the green ball creep a little closer to Vandy. She aims for the face.

******

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