NOVEL NEXT Chapter 57 - Midterm Maneuvers
The first light of dawn filtered through the suite's windows as Nick's team gathered around their common area table. They'd woken up an hour earlier than usual to debrief their plans for the week before their early morning session with Val. Coffee steamed from three mugs while Maggie's interfaces cast shifting patterns across their faces.
"Alright," Maggie said, pulling up her comprehensive analysis displays. "Time to formalize our strategy."
"This midterm session will decide if any of the Alpha teams drop down to Beta like Kai and his crew did. We need to come out on top, but we also need to watch for ways the Idiots and other Alpha teams might try to undermine us. At the same time, we need to remind them we're not to be messed with."
Nick sat listening to Maggie, though his mind drifted to the last couple of weeks. Their classes had been normal enough. A few students from the Alpha class who'd been friendly with Kai hadn't given him or his team any trouble before, but now they watched Nick in classes with obvious disdain. Still, no one specifically stood out as someone who would cause real trouble.
He snapped back to the conversation just in time to hear Maggie say, "I've hacked into their communication devices."
"Whoa Maggie, you can do that?" Nick asked, eyebrows rising.
"Yeah," Maggie replied without hesitation. "We'll monitor them so we know the moment they plan something. There's no perfect way to get rid of them now, but there are a few things we can do to force them to lose credibility and standing."
She glanced at Jordan, who gave her a solid, measured nod. "We're all ears."
Maggie's grin widened as she expanded one of her interfaces, projecting the Academy's official engagement guidelines in glowing text above the table.
"The Academy doesn't allow fights on or off campus without a properly sanctioned duel," she explained, her voice smooth with controlled excitement. "So we provoke them into challenging us formally. Once the duel is sanctioned... we crush them publicly."
Nick felt fierce satisfaction pulse through him at the thought of driving Kai into the ground in front of everyone.
"That's good," he said, a spark of anticipation lighting in his eyes. "How do we get them to take the bait?"
"This is actually the easiest part of the plan," Maggie said, pulling up different media feeds from their school's social media accounts. "Kai has a short fuse that's ridiculously easy to light. The other two don't, but they always get dragged into his drama because he can't control himself."
She showed them several anonymous forum posts scattered across different threads. "I've already started messing with his head through some strategic trolling."
With a press of her finger, dozens of posts popped up across the screen. Each came from a different anonymous user, and they were already trending in the "Popular Threads" section:
"Alpha class? More like Almost class. At least Beta students know when to back down."
"Kai must be busy polishing his hair instead of training. Wonder how many duels he'd actually win without his sidekicks?"
"Liana and Riley could probably outmaneuver Kai blindfolded. Too bad they waste their time covering for him instead."
"Imagine peaking in your first year and then becoming a school meme by midterms. I would just drop out."
Nick burst out laughing. "You didn't!" he gasped when his laughter finally died down.
Maggie's smile turned serene. "I couldn't let him get away with all the trash he was spewing yesterday."
Jordan let out a quiet chuckle. "Just make sure this doesn't trace back to you. If things escalate, the Academy might investigate."
Looking affronted, Maggie cleared the posts from the screen. "You know I always cover my tracks." She pulled up older posts about Kai and his team picking fights with other teams over rumors about foul play.
"Once these posts spread and Kai sees them, he'll have no choice but to start challenging Alpha students to prove the rumors wrong. And we know exactly who he's likely to challenge first."
Nick nodded. "That's solid, but we'll need backup plans. What if Riley and Liana talk him out of fighting us?"
"Don't worry about that. I've got another plan ready, but the simulations I've been running all morning show a 98 percent chance he'll take the bait," Maggie said, pulling up a couple models to show them what she'd been tracking.
Then, shifting gears, the smile vanished from her face as she began loading files of the missing special cases students onto one interface. On another screen, she displayed the faces and information of professors who had been actively working in and around the restricted Omega Archives. Selene's face and her information appeared on a third screen.
"I haven't had the chance to fully analyze all the data from Eli's system yet. But I should have the full picture by the end of the week. One thing I can confirm is that these professors are definitely connected to Callahan Industries, so we'll need to be careful. That's why I've asked Sophia to help with the data collection—she has faculty-wide access to everything," Maggie finished.
I didn't know you were helping Maggie with this?
[Host, this is part of my duty to keep you and your team safe.]
Well, thank you.
[Host is welcome.]
They spent the rest of the hour studying for their midterm later in the day before heading out to their training session with Val. As they were leaving their suite, Sophia's voice cut through Nick's thoughts.
[Host, surveillance activity detected. Epic grade surveillance device. Would you like me to scramble the data?]
No, it's fine. Let them monitor us. Instead, can you trace the surveillance system back to its owners?
[I can, though the device is routed through multiple channels. I will know the owners in twenty-four hours.]
Nick smiled grimly. Thanks, Sophia.
The Academy's examination halls buzzed with nervous energy as students filed in for their first written midterm: Dimensional Ethics and Veil Theory. Nick settled into his seat, the null ring on his finger providing comfort alongside Sophia's subtle presence in his mind.
[Host, preliminary scans show testing area is secure and Academy's testing protocols are active. This should prevent any tampering with the midterm exams themselves. I have already alerted Maggie and Jordan through their system interfaces.] Sophia reported quietly. [I wish Host great success on this exam.]
Thanks Sophia.
Headmaster Kestrel's voice echoed through the hall as he explained the test. "You have three hours to complete this exam. Begin when ready."
Nick opened his exam packet and immediately felt his enhanced brain functionality kick in. The questions covered materials they'd discussed in their first couple weeks of class: the conceptual foundations of dimensional veil theory. The exam comprised case study and scenario analysis, mana pattern problem-solving exercises, and a couple of short essay questions.
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Remembering everything he'd studied, Nick tackled the short essay questions first, clearing those out of the way before moving to the pattern problem-solving exercises, then finally the case study analysis.
Two hours and twenty minutes into the exam, Nick set his stylus down and submitted his exam on his tablet, finishing with forty minutes to spare. Looking up from his seat, he noticed that both Maggie and Jordan had finished their midterm as well, along with other students including Zora.
They hadn't chatted with her much since arriving at the Academy. Whenever any of them had tried to reach out, Zora had brushed them off. Kindly, but firmly.
I wonder if she has orders to stay away from us...we could use her help figuring out what the faculty and Professor Veillian are up to.
Sophia, can you ping Maggie once the midterm's over that we should look into whether Zora and her team at APEX would be interested in cooperating with us?
[Will do.]
Thank you! Now what should I do with the next 35 minutes?
Nick closed his eyes. Four counts in. Hold for seven, out for eight. He wanted to see if he could sense his soul. As he sank deeper into meditation, his mind releasing the outside world, he delved deep into himself. When he opened his eyes, he stood at the edge of a vast, moonlit sea. Above, a sky of stars twinkled, distant constellations pulsing softly.
At the center of the sea sat a small island, jagged in parts, sandy in others. Faint blue-silver energy ran through the entire landmass. On the island, his core floated—a large gaseous ball of ultramarine threaded through with silver glyphs that shifted shapes.
Nick simply took it all in. A light breeze swept over the water, sending ripples across the surface. A figure walked up beside him.
This is your first time in your soul since the evolution. How does it look? Arlize asked, his voice carrying across the sea to Nick's core. Nick looked at his other self, taking in details he'd missed before. Arlize stood a couple inches taller than him, his long white hair braided and flowing down his back. He wore a purple robe similar to those Nick had seen in the later memory shard—less flamboyant than those, but still expertly crafted. His dark skin showed no signs of age.
Looking back at his core, Nick shrugged. Surprising. It's large.
Yes, and it'll keep growing too... Arlize stopped mid-sentence and tilted his head.
But that's for later. It looks like you need to go back now.
In that moment, Nick felt a yanking motion, and suddenly he found himself outside his soul space. A hand on his shoulder shook him lightly, but Nick had to keep his eyes closed for a second as vertigo washed over him.
He touched the hand gently, and the shaking stopped. When the dizziness finally faded, Nick opened his eyes to find his friends staring at him with matching grins.
"You fell asleep during the midterm. Did you even finish it?" Maggie quipped.
Nick took a moment to look around. The entire lecture hall had emptied—even the Headmaster was gone.
"No..."
"Yeah, I don't believe that. Let's go. I'm starving." Maggie called, already walking off with Jordan right behind her.
Huh, I was only gone for a moment.
Setting that aside to think about later, Nick quickly grabbed his backpack and tablet and jogged to catch up to his friends.
Tuesday's midterm with Professor Kuro had been easy. They'd been given three hours to debug a complex system error from a partial code fragment using their system interfaces—something Sophia did regularly. Nick finished the midterm in 10 minutes, but to avoid drawing more attention to himself, he waited until thirty minutes before the exam ended to submit.
Instead of diving into his soul space as he'd done the day before, he decided to keep studying for his hardest midterm of the week: Arcadian History and Mythos. Rumors from upperclassmen claimed it was the most brutal midterm exam—no one had ever scored higher than 60%. So, promising himself he'd return to his soul space that weekend, Nick pulled out his Arcadian History and Mythos textbook and began reviewing.
By Tuesday afternoon, the effects of Maggie's campaign were becoming obvious. Kai's team clustered around their usual table in the cafeteria after their SICS midterm, their body language screaming frustration and confusion.
"These systems are driving me insane," Riley muttered, glaring at her interface as it failed to load her study notes for the third time. "Everything's running like it's powered by a dying hamster."
Kai seemed most affected, his competitive nature turning the technical difficulties into personal attacks. "We're supposed to be Alpha class students. We shouldn't be dealing with amateur-hour equipment failures."
Liana watched helplessly as her own tablet refused to load her notes, textbook, or anything else for that matter.
From their position across the cafeteria, Maggie watched their growing distress with satisfaction. Her abilities allowed her to monitor their conversations while eating and simultaneously preparing for Professor Bojes' midterm.
[Psychological stress indicators within optimal range] her systems reported. [Team cohesion declining. Individual performance metrics showing 15-20% reduction in efficiency.]
Nick and Jordan, having just grabbed their lunches, sat down next to her. Jordan caught the subtle satisfaction in her expression and looked around the cafeteria until he spotted Kai and his team. "Everything's going well, then?"
"Like clockwork," she replied quietly. "And I've set some rumors to go out tomorrow. By Thursday, Kai will be challenging anyone who even looks at him the wrong way."
"Remind me never to get on your bad side," Nick said with genuine admiration.
"Too late for that advice," Jordan said, before taking a bite of his turkey sandwich. "She already knows all our weaknesses."
Maggie shot him a mock glare. "Don't make me start sharing your weakness, Mr. Warframe."
"Now Maggie, don't go disrespecting Warframe," Jordan said in mock offense. "I'll have you know Warframe is genius, and it's not a weakness."
Suddenly Maggie got a Cheshire cat grin on her face. "So if I told Nick..." She didn't get very far before Jordan shot around the table and clamped his hand over her mouth.
Nick glanced up just in time to see Jordan turn bright red while Maggie laughed and tried to wriggle free from his grip.
Rolling his eyes at their antics, he went back to his textbook, grinning at their foolishness. As if he didn't already know Jordan slept with a Sunny Pobber Floof plush. Nothing shameful about that.
Maggie's laughter drew a few glances from nearby students, including a particularly venomous look from Liana's table. But Kai's team was too busy wrestling with their technical difficulties to mount any real response.
That afternoon found Maggie leaning back in her chair, fingers steepled as a constellation of holographic windows shimmered around her. One window replayed a grainy thread from a student forum — an "anonymous tip" suggesting Kai had bribed his way to higher resonance evaluations. Another displayed a doctored internal memo hinting at secret negotiations with APEX, all just ambiguous enough to avoid immediate dismissal but damning enough to plant doubt.
She tapped through each screen methodically, fine-tuning syntax and phrasing until they read like real whispers passed in hallways or half-heard conversations between stressed aides. No single rumor was large enough to challenge directly, but together they formed a suffocating net.
With a final keystroke, she released another cascade of rumors into the Academy's social network.
Finally the day of the Arcadian History and Mythos midterm arrived, and Nick was exhausted. The exam proved as brutal as promised, and he was grateful he'd spent every spare moment cramming, especially since neither Sophia nor Arlize was allowed to help.
He used the entire three hours, working through multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. He finished with just five minutes to spare.
Looking up, he realized he was among the first to finish. Maggie and Zora had unsurprisingly finished before him, but Jordan finished a couple minutes after, along with most of the students in their class. An unfortunate few failed to submit before the three-hour deadline.
Now only the individual and team combat midterms remained. He'd prepare for those, but at least for part of tonight, he could let his brain relax a little.
That night, Nick's team gathered to celebrate finishing the first half of their midterms. Instead of grabbing dinner at the undergraduate cafeteria, they ordered pizza from the Grounded Phoenix. A lively debate quickly erupted over whether pineapple belonged on pizza. Maggie and Nick won by virtue of being the majority—but since they weren't completely heartless, they made sure to leave a third of the pizza pineapple-free.
"Written portion's essentially finished," Jordan said, pushing back from the table with satisfaction. "Tomorrow and Friday will be fun."
"It'll be something, that's for sure," Maggie replied with a grin, pulling up her interface and checking a few things on her screens.
"Eli's team is down to meet Saturday afternoon," Maggie continued, scrolling through her communication logs. "I think we should do it away from campus. Maybe find a quiet spot in the city to chat?"
"Yeah," Nick said, nodding. "That's a good idea. Especially since Sophia still hasn't figured out who's been surveilling us." He tipped his head toward the door and the surveillance device outside. "Which means they might be more powerful than we can handle on our own right now. She's sent the device information to Val and Marcus to see if they can track it."
Maggie nodded. "I'll look into it too."
They spent another hour reviewing tactical scenarios and contingency plans for both Thursday and Friday's competitions before heading to their respective rooms to sleep.
Early Thursday morning, in another bedroom in Grayspire, Zora Hayes received the message.
Her secure communication device blazed to life with highest-priority encryption—the kind reserved for direct orders from APEX's General Commander. The message was brief but crystal clear:
[PRIORITY DIRECTIVE: Initiate immediate contact with Valiente team. Intelligence sharing authorization granted. Formal alliance approved. Situation assessment indicates accelerated timeline necessary.]
[ADDENDUM: Multiple hostile factions now in active positioning phase. Window for safe approach closing rapidly. Move to Phase Two immediately upon completion of combat assessments.]
Zora stared at the message for a long moment, her mind racing. Command had initially ordered her team to maintain observation distance until Nick's team demonstrated clear combat readiness. But apparently something had shifted their strategy. The hidden war for control of the Academy's most valuable students was about to become far less hidden.