NOVEL NEXT Chapter 54 - Subterfuge
Walking back to main campus, Nick's mind was spinning.
Sophia, let me get this straight—you've been able to project your voice outwardly all this time, but because I didn't turn on those controls within your system, you just never did it?
Nick didn't know how he knew, but he could sense that if Sophia had eyes to roll, they would have rolled hard.
[Host, I am not at fault that you have not yet explored what my system has available.]
You're not wrong...okay, where do I start?
[Host, I think it's better to focus on reaching Professor Kuro's labs first before exploring what other features my systems offer. Also, a reminder that your Tier 2 abilities are on cooldown for another 50 minutes.]
We should have probably let Marcus know that when he told us to go meet Professor Kuro...
[Yes, Host should have made Director Eidolon aware of his current inability to use his skills.]
He was about to ping Val and ask her to reschedule when he received an incoming text from her on his encrypted com device.
[Encrypted Text Received]
From: Val
To: Nick
Sophia let us know your skills are on a 1hr timer.
Go see Kuro at 11.
Perfect—I'll have time to grab something to eat from the cafeteria.
[Encrypted Text]
From: Nick
To: Val
Gracias! I'll grab breakfast before meeting with him.
[Encrypted Text Sent]
Cool, the new autonomous messaging between Sophia and Val is already showing its value. Thanks for letting them know, Sophia.
[Host, you're welcome. It is my responsibility to ensure you perform at your highest potential, especially during critical assessments.]
Walking through the heart of lower main campus, he marveled at its incredible beauty. The fresh air, rich with mana, seemed to energize the students as they enjoyed the mid-morning sunshine.
Entering the cafeteria, he scanned his palm, deducting points from his meal plan as he stepped into the buffet area. He was craving scrambled eggs, fresh toast with maple syrup, and a cold glass of milk. Moving through the line, he quickly grabbed his breakfast, found an empty table, and started eating.
For some reason, the food tasted richer and more flavorful than ever before.
Sophia, do you know why everything seems more intense than usual?
[Host experienced an evolution that affected not only your class but your physical attributes, including heightened sensory perception. Host should consider reviewing his status attributes.]
Mentally acknowledging Sophia's comment about his enhanced senses, Nick pulled up his interface to check his status screen.
🜂【ARCΛDIΛN SYSTΞM INTERFΛCE – CORE STATUS】🜂
Host Pattern Stabilized: Dual-Soul Fusion – 97.3% Synchronous
Designation: Nicholas Valiente // Arlize Dentragon
System Tier: ADEPT (TIER II)
Class Alignment: CODEX WARDEN (Tier II – Legacy Reconstruction)
Level: 10
Progression Rate: 14.5% toward Tier III
HP: 340/340 | MP: 680/830
Strength: 145 | Speed: 140 | Agility: 154 | Resistance: 169
Wisdom: 175 | Intelligence: 160 | Vitality: 146 | Fortitude: 134
Nick stared at his screen, absorbing the changes to his status. Both his HP and MP had jumped by 100 points as a result of his evolution.
What does that mean? Has to be good news, regardless.
Yesterday, when he'd tested his skills, he remembered Sophia mentioning increases to his Resistance and Fortitude, maybe some other stats too, but he hadn't known the exact numbers.
Sophia, can you break down what changed in my status?
[Host is correct. Your health and mana reserves have each increased by 100 points, enhancing your survivability and capacity to channel mana through your skills. Additionally, all your primary attributes gained a 5-point increase on top of the boosts to Resistance, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Fortitude received yesterday.]
That's encouraging. Measurable growth always feels good. But does this put me on par with Val or Marcus or any of the people at the compound? What about the professors here?
[While Host's stats aren't comparable to a Tier 3—whose base attributes all begin at 300—Host's mana and HP can rival weaker Tier 3s or those in early Tier 3.]
"So I could outlast a weaker Tier 3 in a mana duel?" Nick asked, processing Sophia's words. Images of a certain family bloomed in his mind.
[Most of the people Host is thinking of targeting appear to be on the higher end of Tier 3, based on analytics pulled from their displayed abilities. This data is also likely outdated, and these individuals may even be pushing into Tier 4.]
Nick sighed, his appetite vanishing. At least he'd finished all his French toast and most of his scrambled eggs. He drained his milk and checked his HUD: 10:40am. Twenty minutes to get to Professor Kuro's lab.
As he dropped off his dishes at the return counter, Arlize spoke up in his mind. Don't worry, you will get justice for your family. Be patient and grow strong. Strong enough that they won't be an issue, since strength seems to be the only thing they respect.
Nick nodded.
Yeah, I'll get stronger.
Professor Kuro's laboratory sprawled across three sublevels of Horizon Hall, its chambers packed with instruments that thrummed with dimensional energy. The professor himself, though elderly, moved with purpose around his lab, his enhanced cybernetic eye whirring as it tracked readings dancing across holographic displays.
He glanced at the door just as Nick raised his hand to knock, then smiled.
"Come in, come in! You must be Nick. I've noticed your face in my class over the past weeks, but we haven't had a proper introduction. I'm Lucien Kuro," he said, extending his hand.
"Marcus briefed me on your situation," Kuro continued, his accent carrying traces of European birth. "Your development shows characteristics I haven't encountered in my forty-plus years at this Academy." His voice carried an excited edge.
Sweat began beading across Nick's neck and palms. Professor Kuro held the same manic gleam that had flickered in Maggie's eyes earlier. He might have just left the kettle only to jump into the fire.
"We need to proceed very carefully with our assessment. As I understand, you're still recovering your mana—is that correct?"
"Yes sir," Nick answered. For once that day, he felt grateful he was still recovering.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
[Host, you should fully recover your mana in the next 10 minutes. Should I alert Professor Kuro to this?]
No, absolutely not! Nick thought frantically.
The testing chamber thrummed with monitoring equipment that made Nick's newly upgraded senses tingle. Dimensional resonance detectors, mana flow analyzers, consciousness stability monitors—an arsenal of tools designed to peer into the fundamental nature of magical ability.
Professor Kuro ushered Nick inside and gestured for him to stand in the center of the chamber. He closed the door behind them, then moved to an adjacent observation room connected to the testing space.
"Let's start with basic demonstrations," Kuro instructed through the intercom.
Nick began with simple Mana Sculpt exercises, conjuring basic spheres and flat shields before creating a cube made of solid mana. Professor Kuro's instruments measured the mana output and stability of each creation, but when Nick formed the cube, the readings skyrocketed.
"Impossible," Kuro murmured, studying displays that showed power outputs far beyond standard Shaper: Codex Warden attributes. "Your mana manipulation shows the attention to detail I'd expect from an advanced Codex Warden, not someone who received his class a week ago." His voice carried bewilderment as it crackled through the mic connecting the observation room to the chamber.
For the Shield of Seven Forms, Nick produced just two shields, but the demonstration once again triggered dramatic readings that pushed the monitoring devices to their limits. Several machines began flashing warning signs and red lights, signaling they'd reached the capacity of what they could measure.
"Your defensive technique operates on principles that violate standard magical theory," Kuro said, his voice rising with awe and fascination. "I can't properly analyze you here. I'll need to get you to one of my proper labs off campus. But we might have to wait a while before we can do that. Maybe in a month or two, yes?" He opened the chamber door and ushered Nick out.
"I've seen enough and won't be able to properly measure the rest of your abilities unless I want to break my current machines," he said with a chuckle. "But I have enough to share with Marcus, which should satisfy him for now." Then, grasping Nick's chin, Professor Kuro peered into his eyes. Nick had the distinct sense the professor was trying to pry into his brain.
"Yes, yes I see it. Can I have a vial of your blood?" Professor Kuro suddenly asked, releasing Nick's face.
Still reeling from the mad professor's invasion of his personal space, Nick missed the question entirely. The shock of being grabbed so suddenly had left him ready to pull away when the Professor finally let him go.
"Why did you just—"
"A vial of blood—would you be willing to give me a vial of your blood?" Professor Kuro asked again, staring intently into his eyes.
[Host, that would not be a wise decision.]
Sophia, can you access his network to find out what he'd use it for?
[I would need some time, and perhaps some help from Maggie, but hacking Professor Kuro's data wouldn't be impossible—just time consuming.]
Speaking up in his mind, Arlize cautioned, I wouldn't if I were you. He may appear harmless, but I knew an elder Magi like him—completely obsessed with his research. Once he finishes analyzing your blood, what happens to it then? You don't want your blood in the wrong hands.
Why? Nick asked. When Arlize gave no response, he directed his question to Sophia.
[Host, Director Eidolon requested you keep your evolution and details related to it quiet. Your blood carries evidence of this evolution.]
Well, that sealed the deal.
"No, I'd rather not," Nick answered, meeting Professor Kuro's beady stare.
Just like that, a switch flipped. Professor Kuro's beady eyes brightened, and his voice took on a jovial tone.
"That is the correct answer, my boy! We're trying to keep your evolution under wraps. Even when someone like myself—an esteemed professor at this great, if somewhat misguided, institution—asks for something as personal as a vial of your blood, you should say no. That is your right."
What the hell? Was that a test?
Nick was more confused than ever as he followed the Professor, who waved him toward the back wall of the lab where a chair sat surrounded by diagnostic equipment.
"Have a seat." Nick sat.
Kuro began connecting Nick to the diagnostic equipment near the chair.
"Because of the current—how should I put it—political environment here on campus, you need to mask your mana signature. That's the most obvious part of your evolution that others can easily detect."
Stepping away, he pulled up a couple of display screens and began typing rapidly for a minute. Once finished, he looked at Nick. "I want you to create a simple shape like you did earlier—maybe a basic mana sphere."
Nick shrugged and called on his mana to create a perfect sphere.
As he did so, Kuro's hands danced across an invisible keyboard.
Sophia, can you see what he's doing?
[No. Since your previous ask, I've been working to trace into his systems, but something keeps stonewalling me.]
After a couple more minutes, Kuro smiled and dropped his hands from the invisible keyboard. "Excellent. I have it." Walking through the lab, he approached a machine Nick had noticed earlier but ignored. Grabbing something from the machine's output chamber, he walked back over to Nick and held out his hand.
Nick automatically extended his palm to receive what Kuro dropped into it.
It was a black ring—no identification markers, no designs, nothing. He sent his mana into it instinctively to examine it.
[Host, you have just bonded to a null ring. It allows you to nullify your mana signature or change it to present as a different mana signature.]
Surprised, Nick looked up at Professor Kubo, who had already returned to typing on his interface.
"It's a null ring," Nick said.
"Yes, it is. I've connected your evolved mana signature to it so it'll mask that. Now that it's connected to you and by extension your system—thanks for doing that without me asking, by the way. Always love smart students—your system can output your previous mana signature. The null ring will last about two months, which should give the political situation within these walls enough time to cool down." Kuro responded with a smile.
"Okay, I have another appointment. I trust I'll see you Monday."
"Thank you, Professor..."
The rest of Nick's words died as Professor Kuro walked away, a full headset of mana suddenly covering his entire head.
What a strange guy.
Still don't trust him, Arlize said from the recesses of Nick's mind.
Nick shrugged. Not like he had much choice at this point.
At least he gave us this ring. Nick stood up and carefully unhooked the diagnostic equipment clipped to various parts of his body, then picked his way through the lab to the door. Walking out, he slipped the ring onto his middle finger and pinged Sophia.
Sophia, do you need anything from me to begin emitting my previous mana signature?
[No, host has already done what was needed by connecting the ring to your mana. Previous mana signature has been uploaded. For Host's knowledge, ring is fire proof, shatter proof, and water proof, and tracks biometric and mana readings as well.]
Guess Professor Kuro wants to keep tabs on me too.
In the Technomancy lab, Maggie hunched over her advanced interfaces, her workstation bathed in shifting patterns of green and golden light. She cross-referenced Professor Vellian's activities while carefully masking her research by routing it through AIA's broader systems.
In the background, she ran continuous queries on anything related to Callahan Industries—anything related to her brother. While they hadn't explicitly told Marcus they'd be doing this, Nick had asked her to track Callahan's every move since they'd left Westlake.
Her brother's presence at their Zurich facility remained high on her list, a constant source of tension gnawing at her thoughts.
She'd spoken to her parents the night before—they'd made zero progress with their contacts in finding information about Elias. Deep down, she knew if they wanted her brother home, it would be up to her, Nick, and Jordan. So without telling anyone, she'd been putting together just such a plan, which explained her current time spent in the Technomancy labs.
The labs usually sat empty on weekends, so the sound of approaching footsteps immediately put her senses on high alert.
"Didn't expect to find anyone here," a voice called out. Looking back, she recognized him from her Alpha class.
Eli Carter approached, storm-blue eyes bright with curiosity as they swept over her workstation. He was a member of the Storm Weavers team, specializing in lightning-based Technomancy—and notably, their team remained neutral in the growing tensions between Nick's team and the more antagonistic Alpha factions.
"Interesting setup you have here," Eli continued, his tone a careful blend of curiosity and appraisal. "Mind if I ask what you're working on?"
Maggie's eyes narrowed as she watched Eli step closer. She quickly blanked her visible screens and brought up her threat assessment modules.
"Yes, I do mind. It's a private project," she said, her voice carrying clear dismissal. "If you're here to work on your own project, find somewhere else to do it."
Eli's expression shifted to something that looked like amusement mixed with challenge. "Those were some sophisticated security protocols I saw just now. Which means you're working with protected data. If it's illegal, I can help. Let me take a closer look."
His lightning mana flared to life without warning, sending probing algorithms toward her system defenses.
Fucking rude motherfucker. Eat shit.
Maggie's enhanced processing had anticipated this exact intrusion attempt many times before. By the time Eli's probes touched her outermost firewall, her countermeasures were already deployed.
Her retaliation came savage and brutal. She twisted his lightning threads back on themselves, folding them into a recursive loop that redirected his own mana into a labyrinth of false data trails. At the same time, she generated a mirrored code strand—a technomagic knife—that lanced straight into his personal interface.
She was milliseconds from unleashing a cascading virus designed to brick his entire system when she hesitated.
A single thread of data had identified source code pointing at a database, one labeled with Callahan Industries markers.
Her cognitive processor swept through accessible data in an instant, spiking her threat assessment calculations with fresh variables. They had known their team was under watch—they just hadn't known by whom or why. Eli's files revealed they weren't the only ones under surveillance, and his team didn't seem to like it either.
The Storm Weavers had their own dossier about the suspicious activities going on around campus and had linked most of these incidents directly to Callahan Industries.
"Interesting reading material you have here," Maggie said aloud. "You shouldn't have tried to attack me, but I'll let it slide this one time. Pull that shit again and I'll fry the ever living fuck out of your system, you get me?" Her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper, carrying an edge Eli had never heard before.
He nodded quickly, and Maggie released the streams of lightning she'd trapped in the labyrinth, letting them flow back to him.
"Now, why don't you start by telling me what the fuck you thought you were doing? And while you're at it, explain why the hell you're keeping a database that tracks professors and their illicit activities?"