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Chapter 145: The Offer Was a Threat
The match suspension lasted twenty-three minutes.That was long enough for the arena to empty of spectators, fill with security personnel, and become the center of every conversation at Bayfront Academy. Northport administrators sealed the western side of the field behind a privacy barrier. Blue Banner investigators photographed the damaged wardglass and collected the lattice fragment Nora had contained.The fragment was no longer active.It was still unmistakably deliberate.Nora stood near the western banner post, reading the scan results with a deep crease between her brows. "The pattern was installed from below the arena. It bypassed the normal inspection layers. Someone had access to the foundation wards.""Northport staff?" Ben asked."Maybe. Or someone with a key they should not have."Rowan remained with his team near the opposite gate. Jace had recovered enough to stand on his own, though he kept one hand pressed against the side of his neck where the command residue had burn
Chapter 144: Northport's Golden Boy
Jace Kellan hit the center line like a lightning strike.His storm berserker aura flared around him in electric blue arcs. The white arena floor blackened under his boots as he charged straight at Wayline's central banner. He did not test the field or wait for his team to establish cover. He trusted the impact of his own power to force the first mistake."He is coming fast," Ben said through the team channel."I see him," Adrian answered.Nora placed two ward stakes into the floor beside the banner. Mara swept frost across the center lane. Dorian disappeared toward the eastern side channel, where Tidemark's archer was already lining up shots from a raised platform. Adrian drew Nullstring and waited.Jace saw the ice. He did not slow down.His axe hit the frozen ground with a burst of stormlight. The ice shattered. A cone of blue force ripped toward Nora's ward stakes.Adrian fired.The arrow struck the storm cone at its narrowest point. Reaper's Mark did not extinguish the lightning,
Chapter 143: No More Missing Seats
Harborlight Academy Four was a harder match than Breakwater Nine.They fought with discipline rather than flash. Their earth shaper turned the Arena Two floor into ridges and trenches. Their ranged caster used those ridges for cover. Their support specialist never stopped moving, keeping the two frontline fighters in the fight longer than any of them had a right to last.Wayline won three rounds to one.Nora controlled the terrain in the opening match, matching ward geometry against the earth shaper until the arena became a puzzle neither team could solve quickly. Dorian took the second round by a margin so narrow that the marshal needed the replay crystal to confirm the final scoring strike. Mara lost the third when Harborlight's caster anticipated her ice pattern and broke the field with a concentrated heat lance.Then Adrian entered the fourth round.He did not summon an army. He did not need to.Against a two-handed fighter built around overwhelming momentum, he used Ashfang to di
Chapter 142: Rules for Everyone Else
Wayline had barely reached the competitor lounge when the message arrived.Nora's tablet chimed with a bright official tone. She opened it while Ben lowered himself carefully onto a padded bench, trying to hide the wince that followed. Mara handed him a recovery gel pack without comment. Dorian took position near the glass wall, watching the hallway reflection instead of the people moving through it.Nora read the screen once.Then she read it again."They filed a conduct report," she said.Ben looked up. "Against who?""Us. Allegation: hostile disruption of the competitor lane and intimidation of a seeded team member."For a moment, nobody spoke.Mara's expression became dangerously calm. "Jace approached us. He insulted Ivy. His director told us to leave.""I know," Nora said. "The report says we followed him, raised our voices, and threatened the safety of a minor observer."Ivy was sitting near the Blue Banner officers with a paper cup between her hands. At the word minor, she loo
Chapter 141: A Team Stands Together
Ben answered before anyone else could."Me."Nora looked at the brace on his arm. "Your ribs are still healing.""My ribs are participating in a regional event. They should be proud.""That is not medical reasoning.""It is very strong emotional reasoning."Across the ring, Breakwater Nine's twin-blade fighter bounced lightly on the balls of her feet. Her rank nineteen display glowed above the gate. She had watched Nora win without throwing a punch, and she was not making Parker's mistake. Her eyes never left Wayline's side of the field."I can take her," Ben said, quieter now.Adrian studied him for a moment. Ben was hurt. He also knew his own limits better than most people gave him credit for. He had spent the last several weeks learning when to be a wall and when to step aside."You get one condition," Adrian said. "If your brace starts flashing red, you yield. No arguments."Ben considered objecting. Then he nodded. "Deal."He entered the ring with shield in hand and his damaged a
Chapter 140: Loud Enough to Hear
Bracket B's second arena was already full when Wayline arrived.Tiered seats rose around a circular field of white stone and blue wardglass. Above the ring, a scoreboard listed the format in clean academy lettering: five individual rounds, first team to three wins. Each contestant had sixty seconds between rounds for medical inspection and limited recovery. Summons were permitted. Lethal force was not.The last rule had been printed in larger letters than the others."That is encouraging," Ben said. "It suggests somebody needed the reminder."Their first opponent, Breakwater Nine, stood across the field in matching gray-blue jackets. They were local academy students, younger-looking than the Northport First Seed and far less polished. Their captain, a broad-shouldered shield user named Parker Shaw, gave Wayline a cautious nod instead of a hostile stare."We are not here for a fight outside the ring," Parker said as the teams waited at the gate. "Good luck."Adrian nodded back. "You to
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