Chapter 49: Letting Off Steam

Unable to gather any more information from Kazen, I rose to leave, but a question suddenly came to mind.

“So, who won the sash competition? Have they tallied up the eggs and the credits each team earned?”

“They just asked us to take a picture of our sashes, along with our team name and count, and send it to Ms Reina once we were back in the dorms. They were really pushing us to clear out of the forest. As for the egg… I doubt it’ll count now.”

He walked over to his mini-fridge—the standard one every student had—and pulled out a flawless, uncracked egg. “We just kept this in Raven’s Void the whole time,” he shrugged.

I’d suspected as much, but that was one convenient Ability. Having someone like her on my team would’ve been incredibly useful—though honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t trade any of my current teammates for anyone else in this school.

“How were Daxston and Spencer?” I asked.

“Why don’t you just ask your friends? I’m sure they’d be happy to tell you.”

That statement confused me. Had something happened between our groups during the duel when I’d been teleported away? I vaguely recalled seeing Daxston launch a heated blast at Scarlette just as I returned to the battle. I’d have to check in with my friends about it.

“Right then, I guess I’ll be taking my leave. Sending your brother my best wishes for a quick recovery.”

As I turned to the door, a bolt of plasma struck my shoulder, sending a surge through my body. I’d anticipated the move, though, and absorbed the energy, channelling it into a quick wave of heat that rippled across the room.

Raven recoiled from the effects, but Kazen didn’t flinch one bit. It seemed that he had expected me to repel his attack.

“Stay dangerous,” he mocked, shutting the door behind me.

----------------------------------------

I spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around my room. We were all still feeling the effects of the camp, and it was a welcome respite to just relax in the privacy of our own rooms. With the lockdown in place, meals were specially catered and delivered to our rooms.

As I was munching on my dinner, I received a text from someone I hadn’t interacted with in a while: Colleen, the girl who had sat next to me on the bus on our first day of school. She was in the Research Division with a 2-Star Ability that let her barely alter the malleability of materials. We hadn’t talked since before camp, which, oddly enough, was only a few days ago—though the camp made it feel like much longer.

I opened our chat.

“Yo, Cadel! You’re back from the camp right? I heard some major stuff went down, which is why we’re all on lockdown now! The school said that there was a criminal on the run, is that true? Did you see anything?”

That was the official story the school provided to explain the sudden end of camp.

I considered telling her the truth. Being in Research, she might be able to help me uncover details I’d missed. Still, I wasn’t sure if I could fully trust her yet. Besides, if I did decide to involve her, this kind of conversation should happen in person. Sensitive information like this shouldn’t be shared over text. Ideally, I’d want to see her reaction face-to-face.

“It was pretty intense, yeah. I’ll let you know more when we can meet in person once the lockdown is over.”

This would buy me time to plan. Hopefully, Ms Reina would shed more light on the incident by then, allowing me to adjust my approach if needed. Worst case, I could just cook up some story.

“Aww, why not now, over text?”

“Apparently, messages aren’t secure right now. Plus, it’s been a while since we caught up. There’s a lot to talk about.” It wasn’t the strongest excuse, but hopefully, she’d get that I didn’t want to discuss it now.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Oh. Well alright then, I guess I’ll see you when the lockdown is over! Anyway, I have to go, got a game starting.”

With that, she went offline. What was that last part? I assumed she was texting me while waiting for a multiplayer game to begin.

Putting down my phone, I picked up my physics textbook. With everything that had happened, I hadn’t had a chance to study, though I doubted many of us would be studying right now. Furthermore, my friends and I had planned on eating together tomorrow, so I couldn’t afford to get careless with my revision.

----------------------------------------

As we were engaging in our usual banter over lunch in my room the next day, Scarlette received a text from Ms Reina.

“Are you and your team free to meet? I’d like to share some of the things we uncovered in the past day or so.”

We agreed immediately, and she arrived at my door just minutes later.

“Welcome,” I said, gesturing to my study chair as the rest of us settled around her.

“Thanks. So, how are you all holding up?” she asked, crossing one leg over the other.

“Better! And yourself?” Scarlette offered.

“It’s been hectic,” Ms. Reina admitted. “Let’s start from the top. We’ve discovered that Soren is linked to an organisation called Umbra.”

At the mention of Umbra, I sat up a bit straighter. Scarlette and Kaede exchanged glances with me—they, too, knew of the organisation and its dark history of unethical experiments on children like me. Mira and Jonah were still in the dark; I hadn’t yet found the right time to tell them. So, it seemed Umbra was indeed active, just as I’d suspected.

“But apparently, Soren’s acting as a rogue agent. While we don’t know much about Umbra’s current activities, we suspect he’s not their only 6-Star contact.”

“Wait, you’re saying there are other 6-Stars?” Scarlette interrupted.

“Presumably. The stuff they’re doing is top-secret, and no one really knows what they’re up to. There’s also someone called the Basilisk, who’s appears to be an extremely dangerous girl.” I remembered the Basilisk. I had no idea who they were either, but I knew people who threatened to sabotage or leak the project back then were subjected to her. Come to think of it, I hadn’t even known their gender until now.

Ms Reina continued, turning to Scarlette. “For the record, it seems Soren acted alone when he attacked you. It seems he crossed the sea’s surface to reach the island.”

I guess that was possible. Nebula Island wasn’t too far away from the mainland, and someone of Soren’s calibre could easily bridge the distance with ice.

“Has Soren been found yet?” Kaede probed.

“That’s the interesting part. You won’t believe this, but Soren requested to enrol into our school.”

My friends gasped in surprise. I was barely able to conceal my own shock as well.

“Who does he think he is?!” Scarlette fumed.

“There’s no way we’re accepting him, right?” Jonah pressed.

“Of course not. We couldn’t believe it either and rejected him outright. The audacity—to apply here after injuring one of our students. We’re pretty sure he’s just messing with us, or as you kids might say, ‘trolling.’ That said, we’re still in contact with him. He wants to fight you, Cadel.”

This time, I wasn’t surprised. “Alright, when’s it happening?” I asked. My friends stared at me incredulously.

“It’s not that simple,” Ms Reina snapped. “I know you like a challenge, but understand that this is a very serious matter. For now, we’re just keeping tabs on him, and he hasn’t disclosed his location. He’s technically under the protection of Umbra, so recklessly going after him would cause a huge mess with the higher-ups.” Of course, I knew all too well how corrupt certain parts of the Administration were.

She sighed, steering the conversation in a new direction. “Anyway, you guys know Zara, right?”

“Yeah, what about her?” Scarlette asked.

“She actually encountered Soren, right after your fight. She was hiding underwater and missed the announcement. Her teammate Claris, who has a telepathic Ability, filled her in. When Zara resurfaced, she saw Soren ice-bridging past her, with blood trickling down his neck. He noticed her, but didn’t engage. She then returned to camp as quickly as she could.”

Ah, so that was why Claris didn’t engage us directly during the fight. As I’d guessed, her Ability was supportive.

Ms Reina handed Scarlette a slip of paper with a number scrawled on it. “Zara asked that you get in touch.”

Scarlette took the paper apprehensively. “Oh, um, alright, thanks.”

“Lastly, on a lighter note, congratulations on winning the sash competition! Your group has finished first with a total of 57 sashes. For reference, second place from 1-B has 23 sashes. Unfortunately, the egg competition has been annulled, so no one will be getting credits for that.”

Excitement rippled through my group as we took in the news.

“You will be receiving your credits in the next few days. If that’s all, I’ll be taking my leave now. Stay safe.”

And just like that, Ms Reina was gone. Her brevity was something I appreciated.

“Well done y’all! I can’t believe we got first place!” Scarlette was practically shaking with excitement. “And I don’t wanna hear anything about Cadel carrying us, okay? We all played a part, and you all should be proud of yourselves.”

Spoken like a true leader.

As the group broke into celebratory chatter, I found myself glancing at the slip of paper in Scarlette’s hand. Surely it had to be what I was thinking.

“Well, I guess I’ll ask Zara what’s up?” Scarlette said, catching my gaze as she mumbled, her fingers quickly typing on her phone. “Okay, now to wait for a reply.”

It came quickly. And it was exactly what I had expected.

Scarlette sighed, wincing a little. “She’s asking for a duel.”