Published at 29th of November 2025 6:50 pm

Chapter ONE HUNDRED NINETY THREE: Flashes V

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

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This is Lexi, said Torsten Klein, the wanted poster behind him expanding to show the Meister. The video clip started to play, and the four volunteers saw a chain extend and bend in an S shape to slice two different incoming tennis balls in half. Wonderful student. Hes dedicated, takes instruction well, asks thoughtful questions after reviewing his footage

So much praise! You didnt have anything to say about Haoyu.

He probably didnt say anything about Haoyu because you talked about him for three minutes straight, Hale Zhang-Demir said to her husband. There was nothing left to cover.

Haoyus father laughed and waved Torsten on. Tell us about Lexi! Hows he doing now that he finally made it here?

Well from the looks of it. Aparna Sethi wore an interested expression on her face. I know Meisters have an advantage in combat, especially these young ones. I told my Ignacio hed be cheating with those knives of his. But thats impressive, andI think Ive seen that weapon before.

Then youre in rare company, said Torsten. Lexi is only the second known Meister with a Mind Writher. The first was an unregistered who died decades ago after causing some trouble with his. You might remember it from new weapon reports released back in the day?

Aparna nodded. Its harder to keep track now, with so many more exotic options being given to our Meisters. Back then, anything that didnt closely resemble human weaponry stood out more and caused a stir.

This one caused a stir among the faculty. Its got very obvious potential. He can cut a car in half with it and thread a needle, theoretically at the same time. And it gets hot, sometimes randomly. One of the tennis balls on the video was smoking. Fittingly for a whiplike weapon, its capable of supersonic speeds. Thats part of the trouble with it. For us and for Lexi. Its overly responsive to him, in a way. Even his idle thoughts, or his moods, seem to change its motion. When hes consciously controlling it, its actually much easier to fight him. Slower. More predictable.

As he switches from conscious control to a more spontaneous, reflexive state in the heat of a fightthings get more interesting.

The clip shifted to a new one, showing Lexi in a duel against Tuyet.

This is a fast enough reaction to deal with anyone in the current class, said Torsten, as he zoomed in to show the whip slicing a dart out of the air, its tip already coiling toward another one and just missing. If that first dart hadnt been a decoy, Lexi might not have lost this fight. However, he cant respond this quickly deliberately.

Poor Lexi, said Hale. Im sure that frustrates him to death. Hes not someone who enjoys being out of control.

Hell get there, Klein said confidently. Well get him there. For now, though, dont let him kill you with this thing, Aparna. It has two very different paces.

The Adjuster smiled. Controlled, she said. And <<mischievous>>.

Yes, Klein agreed. Now, moving on to Reinhard, we have a student who

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You chopped my girlfriend in half.

I am so sorry, Everly. I dont know whyI cant believe I

Its fine, said Haoyu, holding Everlys stiff form out toward Lexi as if to offer proof. Look. Fine. Youre fine, right, Everly?

Im not mad or anything, but Ive been better.

It had only been a few seconds, and the team was recovering from the attacks. Aldens shoes crunched on a shard of the lamp Big Snake had thrown that hadnt yet blown away. He was still holding his shield of woven webbing between Galecourse and the others.

We cant stay here.

His heart was pounding; an attack from Klein had a tendency to do that. Thinking about the fact that if this were real, Everly would be dead, so quickly from a simple accidentthat would get your adrenaline going, too.

And who knew how long they had before something else came their way?

Instructor Klein had left their team and pelted toward one of Heloisas teammates, a Vocal Brute who was running toward the middle of the gym. He seemed to be making a solo break for the finish lineunless he was just freaking out because Mrs. Zhang-Demir had barreled into his team and grabbed their captain.

Klein took the running Brute down in a similar fashion to Kon. Obviously it was leg-breaker day for him.

Is Kleins arm stiff? Its kind of hard to tell. At the rate hes moving, hell be back here in a minute to hit us all again.

We take Everly back to the start and see if her suit goes back to normal, Alden said. The wind stopped. Galecourse repositioning. He glanced over the top of the shield at her. Kon needs to be healed, too, if possible. Its really early in the class for him to be working with one leg, especially if this is the pace were going to be dealing with.

I dont know how it happened, Lexi was saying. Instructor Klein was just so hard to attack, and he was right here in the middle of us all, and

Kon, Haoyu, and Alden exchanged looks. In Haoyus arms, Everlys face was pointed straight up, the neck of her suit not allowing enough freedom of movement for her to do much else. And Lexi was too busy staring at her to notice them. His expression was devastated, and the murder weapon hung short and limp from his right hand.

I could take her back by myself while the rest of you press forward, said Kon.

All together, Alden said. What if someone attacks you? And dont you have to hop on one leg?

I hop like an S-rank. And Im not the most useless S-rank despite what certain stories on the internet

What are my parents doing to people?

At Haoyus question, Alden looked around again. In the past few seconds, Heloisa had somehow ended up back at the starting line. Her remaining teammates were scattered like chickens. One of them seemed to be trying to join up with Mehdis team.

And Mrs. Zhang-Demir, whod been grabbing Heloisa the last time Alden had checked, now had Astrid tucked under her arm like a stuffed animal with a surprised look stitched on its face. She was running toward the starting line with her Astrid doll while Max was dragged along behind them, clinging to Astrids ankle like he hoped that might make Haoyus mother let go.

Meanwhile, Jeffy was rolling across the floor from some attack Alden hadnt seen, and Finlay was grabbing the heavy lifematter bag Jeffy must have dropped when he fell, snatching it up and glaring toward Winston Heelfeather, who was out on the floor now, still without a team.

What the?

Before Alden could get the words out, his eyes skimmed past Winston and over to Reinhards group at the corner opposite from them, still very close to the start. He saw the archer raising his bow in defense as Haoyus dad ran toward him.

Mr. Zhang-Demir was currently in between their two teams.

Possible arrow from four oclock.

Haoyu shifted Everly to one arm and lifted a fist.

Lexi turned to see the potential threat, but what he was going to do about it with his whip in embarrassed-mode was anyones guess.

Reinhard released his arrow. Haoyus father dodged as easily as Alden had expected.

Alden tensed, but although it had looked like the arrow might fly right at their team given the direction of the shot, a timely gust from Galecourse worked in their favor this time. It slowed and turned the projectile.

Good call, said Haoyu. We need to watch the ranged people, too. And when Marsha finally gets out here and starts swinging

Enough chatting. Aldens right. Time to run. All together. Kon bonked his brothers shoulder with his forehead. Stop being dumb. Get your whip out. Lets go.

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Excuse me, everyone. Eveyone! I need some weights for my team! Some of you took more than your share. SorenSoren if youre not going to join us, then you know you should give Olive that sandbag

What do you mean, Febri? Youd rather have the glow boy? Im an S. An all S team would be a guaranteed win, and this is important. I already checked the volunteer list for the prize, and there are nine different people I want to train myself against. Id like to win today and Friday. I know you

Heloisa, Febris team is full, so Ill be joining yours. Ill replace your most cowardly member. That one thats dead out past the midline.

Sorry. Im going to beat Mehdi with an all A team, Jupiter. Hey, Haoyu! Your mom is amazing! I want to be her.

If youre beating me with all As, Im beating you with all As!

<<Febri, we need to go. Tuyet and Vandy are ready. Leave Soren alone, Winston.>>

I dont need defending

Aldens team had just arrived back at the starting line, and the situation here was so darn noisy. He tuned them all out and focused on his own teammates. Fortunately, Everly and Kon had been restored to full mobility, so that meant a trip back to the start was the reset theyd all been hoping it would be.

If my parents are grabbing people and hauling them back here, do we need to rethink tying ourselves to each other? Haoyu was asking.

I want a minute for making another ice weapon. If I had hit Klein with something that was more like a morning star, maybe.

Im surprised it was so easy to get back here. Alden turned to look out over the gym floor while the others regrouped. He still had his shield preserved. The fifty-kilo sandbag was attached to the front, and his zip bag full of dirt with a couple of temper spheres added in for good measure was stuck to the back so that he could reach it if he wanted it. He had loops of spare paracord around his waist like a belt. That was enough prep for another attempt, and he expected there would be a lot of attempts now that theyd seen what it was like out there.

Hed actually thought it would be a fight just to return to start, but other than him shielding the team from Galecourse while they ran, they hadnt had to deal with anything.

Why didnt they hit us again on the way back?

Instructor Klein and the Zhang-Demirs were still attacking. Alden saw Haoyus parents going after members of Heloisas group and Reinhards. And Klein was greeting Mehdis teamwhich had just entered the floor a short distance to the right of where Alden now stoodwith an aerial approach only slightly different from the one hed used on them a minute ago.

A few voices quieted as the owners realized something interesting was going on beside them. Alden watched as Klein swung off an invisible block positioned about twenty feet in the airone-handedthen hit the starting line barrier right over their heads. Mimicking Mr. Zhang-Demirs earlier move, he launched himself powerfully toward Mehdis fleeing team.

Mehdi made the bold decision to tackle one of his own teammates out of the way roughly. The instructor let him dodge several strikes himself before taking him down with a brutal kick to the knee.

He hates legs today, Kon muttered. Whats he got against our legs? Cant he break arms to start with like a friendly teacher?

Mehdi with a broken leg still moved noticeably better than most people as he tried to get a hit of his own in before Klein sprang away from him.

And hes doing one-handed handsprings to spite us, Astrid grumbled. His time will come

Everly hit him in the butt! Kon announced.

Astrid whirled. What? Someone landed a hit?

It was just an ice ball, Everly said, layering ice on another small weight to make a new weapon. I should have given it spikes.

Astrid, were about to go! We need to get back to the others, Max protested as his Morph Brute bounded into the middle of Aldens team to give Everly a celebratory hug.

While Astrid shook Everly back and forth enthusiastically, Alden kept trying to get a visual handle on what was going on.

Mehdi was ordering his team to move forward. The huge sandbag on his back and his own high agility were helping him deal with the wind, but Alden thought it was a strange choice for him not to just launch himself back over the starting line to fix the broken leg. Big Snake was lifting something that looked like a boulder made of dried paint out of his eclectic ammo collection. Mrs. Zhang-Demir was going for one of the scattered members of Heloisas team who was belly crawling toward the finish.

Ahead of the belly crawler, there was another wispy flare of the strange light that had to be caused by Ignacios grandmother, since she didnt seem to be doing anything else from her perch against the barrier at the midline.

This is a lot to process.

Students on the floor out there, people who hadnt even made a first attempt yet raising their voices at each other back here. Galecourse lowering her hands and taking a lap for another reposition, Klein taking out a runners legand Haoyus parents were both running this way now, each of them with a superpowered teenager in their arms, their victims struggles being ignored as easily as a sleepy toddlers would have been.

I dont think I can follow it all. He took a step that put him as close to the starting line as possible without passing through the barrier. If theyre moving this fast and there are this many of them and I dont even know what those light wisps do or how many she cast while we were under attack by Klein

It felt like there was more action happening on the floor in ten seconds than he could unravel in a minute, and it would only get worse once the others got out there, got their bearings, and started getting serious.

What do we do to cross? Assign one member of the team to monitor every adult?

But the whole team had to respond when under attack if they wanted to have any chance of repelling the trouble without injury.

Hed thought maybe the volunteers and the instructors would deliver punishing injuries that would slow progress without halting it. But broken legs and stolen teammates was a little more potent than a slowing.

Every attack could result in a situation where you needed a teammate to return here to have their suit undamaged. With those attacks coming so quickly

No wonder it might take two days of class for someone to reach the end.

This situation actually looked impossible to defeat right now, at least with a whole team. Maybe three or four people could get taken down like sacrificial lambs along the way, while the remainder of their group ran for victory. But if it was a team challenge was that even valid?

Heloisas faithless teammates were basically demolished, so running and crawling ahead without her hadnt gotten them anywhere.

We really are lucky they didnt just kill us all on our way back, or our whole team would be lying on the floor in a pile of petrified bodies.

Lucille and Finlay were looking insanely lucky, too, just crouching out there together with heavy weights keeping their feet on the ground. Jeffy, trying to get back to join them, had just become a target for Klein.

Jeffy! bellowed Max from where he stood on Aldens right. Jeffy, youREAD YOUR TEXT MESSAGES!

Alden could practically hear the unspoken you dumbass! in Maxs voice. When he glanced over, he saw his fellow B-rank was doing more or less the same thing as him. Standing at the starting line, staring really hard at the massacre taking place on the floor.

It made Alden feel a little competitive.

I can notice stuff, too.

He resolved himself to being over-challenged by information quantity and just getting on with it. After all, hed already volunteered to be the member of their team who focused on the games rules.

Jeffy was now down to one leg. Mehdis team was in the process o being wrecked like Heloisas.

Lucille and Finlaywere still standing there.

That seems unfair. Maxs teammates had been out there longer than anyone else. Why are two Ss going un-attacked?

Oh.

He texted his team.

[Alden: I think Big Snake, Klein, and Haoyus parents only attack people who are moving toward the finish line. We can head back to start or stand still out there, and those three should leave us alone.]

Just the realization that moving forward was a prerequisite for being attacked made the battle out there significantly less complicated. The Instructors and volunteers werent randomly picking victims. There must be a rotation of some kind they were each adhering to, and the thing making it look completely random right now was the fact that every time it was Lucille and Finlays turn they were being skipped over, meaning there were more attackers focused on fewer moving targets.

[Alden: So we never want to be the only team moving forward. And we should wait for some of these others to get their shit together and get out there. Well use a run-stop-run strategy to avoid some attacks.]

One rule at a time. Figure out what kind of chaos youre facing, Alden.

Thats how you survive.

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It was so embarrassing to lie on the floor with a pair of huge sausage-shaped sandbags beside you, just waiting for your four S-rank teammates to fight their way back to you. Figuring out that people were safer if they didnt move forward or try to attack someone had taken Sorens team about fifteen minutes. Vandy, Tuyet, Febri, and Ignacio were all so good at attacking and so dedicated to moving toward the finish that they hadnt noticed the pattern happening until theyd gotten wiped out a few times.

Ever since, when it was time to go back to the starting line to collect lost teammates, Sorens only job was to lie where theyd left him, between the bags so that he was protected from wind and largely protected from the shrapnel that was becoming more of a problem. He couldnt even practice glowing anymore, since technically that was the beginning of an attack for him. A way to generate light in pitch dark so that he could still shape. It might make him a valid target.

Im the class joke. My most valuable ability is holding onto bags and not getting blow away.

I dont want to cause problems for the team, but this is torture.

At least not going back to the start anymore meant he didnt have to hear Winston making comments about how someone being babysat by a bunch of Ss didnt need two sandbags. He wanted heavy bags for a couple of his own teammates, and he was just trying to guilt Soren into giving them to him.

Last time Soren had argued with him, Winston had made things especially weird by trying a new tactic and insisting that Olive was a girl. Like Soren was incapable of noticing her very nice girlish qualities on his own. And like it meant something that obligated them all to something archaic.

If Olive wanted to ask for a bag, she could ask for a bag. And Soren would tell her no because sharing resources with competitors was not a normal part of this class. The elemental weights had been limited in number for a reason. Getting off the floor when the wind hit and getting to them first had been part of the game, and if Soren was going to give them back, hed give them back to Tuyet and Ignacio whod gotten them for their team in the first place.

And they wouldnt give them to Olive either because they could use them themselves in various ways. Ignacio was already talking about knifing one open before class ended in about half an hour and throwing the sand in Kleins eyes for a surprise.

At least Olive has illusions she can actually work with. Shes even got them looking all right in the wind, and she surprised Omega Scorpii Demir with one. These bags are the only thing keeping me from being even more helpless.

Soren had put a lot of his points into Strength, so he could carry them. He could block Instructor Wakers throws with them if Febri ever failed to yank him out of the way in time. If he got separated from the team when they needed to move forward, he could get back to them with the bags help.

The thing I cant do is shape.

He tried for the billionth time to wrap his head around his element. The gym was full of light from the transparent ceiling high overhead. Light was everywhere. But he was supposed to be able to shape it like it wasnt radiationlike it was this solid thing like water or ground, and that was

He did have the ability. He had caught himself on fire with it. Twice actually. Both times hed been desperate and angry. Hed managed to hide it the first time. The second

Are you all right, Soren?

Febris voice. A thump as a foot landed on the bag to Sorens left. They were back.

He sat up and looked at his teammate. Febris short black hair was all blowing toward him in the heavy wind. He had one hand wrapped around the bag handle, and the other was giving Tuyet a point of solidity to cling to.

Im fine. Im just the class joke.

What?

Soren didnt get a chance to brush it off. Before he could, there was a series of unfamiliar, sharp cracking sounds from ahead of them and off to the left. The same direction the wind was currently blowing from. The direction the two lead teams were in. Lucilles team. Kon and Haoyus.

A second later, Ignacio shouted a warning. Vandy lifted her hands. And then they were all in the middle of a hailstorm.

What?! Febri asked again, this time looking around to see the team that was the source of the flying ice. Soren tried to move into a squat just so hed be ready for whatever fresh disaster this was after a class full of that kind of thing, but when he tried to push off the floor with a hand, his palm landed on a small ice chip that burned with cold. And the hand shot out from under him like hed set it in a puddle of oil.

Ignacio had taken a step at the wrong moment, too. He fell into Vandy before righting himself.

Its not normal ice! Tuyet said. This is Everlys patch sp<<Hey!>>

She and Febri both ducked as a piece the size of a cafeteria tray flipped through the air toward them.

What are they doing? Vandy asked.

I just want to know why theyre always in front of us no matter how fast we move! Are Haoyus parents going easy on him or something? Febri said.

I dont think so since theyve taken him back to the start more than any other member of that team, Vandy said seriously.

I know that, Vandy, I just dont understand why theyre always out in front with Lucilles team.

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I dont know what kind of falling-out youre having with your weapon, but it had better do some more of that super fast whipping around that killed me earlier. Right now! Everly said, standing barefoot in the center of the big ice patch theyd just managed to make together by keeping her spell impression powder protected from the wind with Aldens shield.

Im doing my best! Lexi said. He was sitting on the ice between Everlys ankles and the shield, along with Kon and Alden. Writher was slapping the ice, carving out chunks and shards and sending them flying.

Haoyu wasnt with them. He was trying to make a solo return trip after his father, laughing, had hauled him back to the starting line for the eleventh time since class had started.

Faster! yelled Everly.

Yeah, faster! shouted Kon. What is this weak whippery?!

I know you two are trying to fix him, but youre just going to give him anxiety, Alden thought.

Writher was moving better than it had been. For most of the class, Lexi had had such a tight rein on it whenever it was long that it had been acting more like a lance or a sword than a whip. At least he was letting it be flexible again.

p>All of this was part of a desperate plan to hit Instructor Klein with some ice. Or just make him slip on some ice. The Agility monster was currently downwind near the starting line, going after Winstons team. It would be their teams turn next, according to the rotation that Alden had figured out for Klein, and the only way to prevent a leg-breaking was to hit the instructor with something he would consider a successful attack.

Hitting him up close was nearly impossible with Writher being less writhy than usual. Maybe, distracted with another team, a single ice chip would find its way beneath the son of an eels feet. And hed slip a millimeter and decide to count it.

Rewarding attacks he considered successful enough was Kleins only weakness as an opponent.

He and Instructor Waker were still teaching the same lessons they had on the first week of class. Klein wanted to see good offense. Big Snake wanted to see defense. Show youd learned the lesson by hitting Klein with something, or protect yourself or a teammate from one of Big Snakes pitches, and youd be skipped for a rotation even if you were moving forward.

Big Snake was easy. Klein was a menace.

A flicker of light between them and their enemy made Alden pull up the aerial shot of the gym floor hed borrowed from drone footage. With a thought, he added another X to it in approximately the spot where hed seen the flicker. This was his homemade map of electrocution traps. Those things would kill you. Xs got added whenever he saw a flicker and subtracted whenever he saw someone die in a trap. His little map here wasnt perfect, but it was preventing a lot of accidents for their team.

They were approaching the three-quarter mark. It was the most forward progress theyd made since class started, and they really wanted to be off Kleins hit list for just one round so that they could make a break for the finish when Haoyu reached them.

By now, every team had realized that standing in place was a trick to avoid attacks, but their team and Maxs seemed to be the only ones actively aware of and trying to manipulate the situation with Klein and Big Snake. Marsha regularly got Klein to leave her team alone, but that was because Marsha attacked every single time she thought she had the slightest chance. Judging by a comment shed made the last time theyd ended up back at the starting line with her, she was upset that she wasnt getting as many turns to face Klein head-on as everyone else seemed to be, instead of proud that she was being acknowledged as a good threat.

Max had had to clap a had over Jeffys mouth before the Aqua Brute could tell her how it worked.

[Alden: I finally figured out the Zhang-Demir tactics. When they start to approach us, whoever makes a move to attack or get in between them and a teammate first is the one who gets stolen and taken back to the start. Thats why its always Haoyu for our team. Hes the one who watches them the most, so he sees them coming and responds first.]

The team had gotten used to him texting in the heat of whatever was going on. There was just no point in waiting. Everyone could read when they got a chance and stopped being ice machines.

<<HIT IT HARD!>> Kon bellowed in Russian.

Suddenly the ice was making a sizzling noise as Lexi whipped it.

Kon brightened. <<More! The battle against the ice and cold is in our blood.>>

[Alden: I think the Mr. and Mrs. Zhang-Demir approach is about improving our teamwork. Teams ought to be putting people who can run back from the start on their own in front of the danger anyway. Its like theyre giving us a way to pick who gets separated from the rest.]

Youve got this, Lexi! he encouraged as soon as he finished typing. He didnt want his analysis to put a damper on whatever ice-fighting Russian imagery seemed to be working for the brothers. That was also why he wasnt mentioning the fact that Writher throwing platter-sized chunks of magical ice at all the teams behind them wasnt going to be a popular thing.

Marsha was scything unsuspecting classmates like wheat anytime her follow-up stroke missed one of the adults, so they were hardly as bad as that.

Alden heard the pop of Writher suddenly moving more like Writher, followed by a series of incredibly fast cracks from the ice, and he watched as the glowing golden chain went nuts for a second. The light from it burned itself into his eyes, and then, just as quickly as it had started, it was back to looking all stiff, like an overlong rapier.

But the blizzard of unnaturally slippery ice chips theyd hoped for was sliding, skittering, and soaring across the gym. A few pieces were thrown by Writher itself; others were driven by the wind.

Yes! shouted Everly, throwing a fist into the air as some of the smaller chips sprinkled down over their ultimate targetand literally everyone currently in between them and Klein.

Including Haoyus mother and father, who both turned away from the teams theyd been heading toward with wolfish grins.

Shit, said Alden.

[Alden: By the way, I think Haoyus parents might also take long distance attacks against them as an invitation.]

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