Chapter 8

  Damian lifted his staff and tapped it lightly against the ground. A thin lattice of pale blue light unfolded from the crystal set near its tip, expanding outward before snapping inward toward his face.

  The light condensed, reshaping itself into a translucent visor that slid neatly over his eyes. Arcane glyphs flickered across its surface, scrolling too quickly for anyone else to read.

  Celeste whistled. "Oh, that thing. Haven't seen you use that since the dune mission."

  "It drains focus," Damian said. His voice had gone distant, analytical. "But this situation warrants it."

  Kelix stiffened as Damian's gaze locked onto him. It felt different from being stared at. He could almost feel the spell brushing against his skin, probing, measuring. Finn noticed it too. His ears tilted back just a fraction.

  Damian's eyes widened. "…That's not right."

  "What isn't?" Halvern asked.

  Damian did not answer immediately. His eyes darted rapidly as the visor recalibrated, glyphs flashing red, then yellow, then stabilizing into a steady stream of data. "I'm getting a reading. Low rank. Extremely low, actually."

  Kelix relaxed. Was Damian scanning him? If so, that was pretty awesome that he had something similar to a PBZ scouter. Did that mean Damian was into anime as well? "See? Nothing impressive, or I'm missing something?" he asked.

  Damian swallowed. "Rank: F."

  "Then why are you staring at him like that?" Halvern glared.

  "Because," continued Damian, "the rank doesn't match the stats."

  He raised his staff slightly, and the visor projected a holographic readout into the air between them.

  Name: Kaiden Kelix

  Rank: F

  STR: 25 — END: 25 —

  AUR: 55 — RES: 12 —

  SPD: 55 — TEQ: 60 —

  [Passive] LMT: 25 · INS: 45 · CTRL: 20 ???

  Celeste's grin faded. "Woah. That's… not a typo, right?"

  Damian shook his head slowly. "The system capped the initial scan because it assumed an error. I forced a manual recalculation."

  Finn made a low, approving sound.

  Halvern took an involuntary step forward. "That's impossible. Even enhanced operatives barely clear forty."

  Kelix frowned. The visuals were a surreal indicator to him. It was like peeking into that crocoraptor's dark blue core, but now it was whatever lay within himself. "You're exaggerating."

  "I am not," Damian said.

  Halvern turned sharply toward Damian. "Run mine. Now."

  The boy hesitated, then nodded. The visor flickered as it shifted targets. "Hal Halvern," Damian recited. "Rank: E." The data was displayed from the visor for all to see.

  Name: Hal B. Halvern

  [Soulbounded]

  Discipline: {Aegis}

  Sub-Discipline I: {Null}

  Rank: E

  STR: 15 — END: 50 —

  AUR: 36 — RES: 38 —

  SPD: 15 — TEQ: 20 —

  [Passive] LMT: 30 · INS: 15 · CTRL: 55 ???

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Halvern straightened, clearly reassured. "There. That's normal."

  Damian glanced between the two readouts, then lowered his staff slightly. "Yes. You're built like a scutum shield. He's built like a projectile."

  Kelix became curious about the norms of the phenomenon displayed before him. Was the group playing a trick on him? Or was this one of Damian's magic tricks, like pulling a rabbit from a hat, but more technical? The attributes resembled something from an MMORPG he had played.

  "Hey, Halvern." Kelix addressed the man without glancing at him.

  "Mr. Halvern," Halvern corrected, crossing his arms. "What?"

  "Is your defense considered… high?"

  Damian answered before Halvern could. "Very. Most people sit around five. Ten if they're trained. Twenty-five means he's built to take punishment."

  Kelix let out a quiet hum. "Huh."

  Halvern bristled. "That supposed to mean something?"

  Celeste let out a low whistle. "So… you're telling me the quiet guy from school is faster than most monsters?"

  Kelix rubbed the back of his neck. Was that supposed to be a compliment? He mused. He'd accept it. "I jog. A lot. Not always voluntary." He shot Finn a glare, and the beast responded with a grin.

  "You intercepted a rocket-assisted strike," Halvern said. "At that speed, you didn't redirect it. You arrived before it did."

  Damian lowered his visor and glanced between Kelix and Finn. "Aura above fifty with no bond amplification is also… not normal. And not by a small margin."

  Halvern stared at Kelix, his expression no longer hostile, but wary in a different way. Calculating. "An F-rank with that speed," he said. "Without formal development. No visible enhancements. No registered augmentation." His eyes narrowed. What exactly are you?"

  Kelix met his gaze evenly. "Human."

  "…Can I try that?" he asked, nodding toward where Damian's visor had been. The question earned him several looks at once.

  Halvern's response was sharp and immediate. "Absolutely not!"

  "Oh, come on. Let him. It's cool," Celeste said.

  "You want to use it," Damian asked.

  Kelix shrugged. "Seems fair. You've all been staring at my numbers like they owe you money."

  "That's one way to put it." Sheryl chuckled.

  Damian studied Kelix for a moment, curiosity winning out over caution. "It should respond to anyone with sufficient aura control," he said. "In theory."

  He lifted his staff again, tracing a tighter, more refined sigil than before. Light folded in on itself, compact and precise, before forming a fresh visor in his hands. He offered it to Kelix carefully. "Don't break it."

  Kelix took it. "I'm not rough."

  Damian coughed, as if the statement wasn't a jest. "That's what Celeste said."

  "Hey," Celeste protested. "It was already fragile."

  "You headbutted a lamia while wearing it," Damian replied.

  "It startled me."

  Kelix slipped the visor over his eyes before the argument could escalate. The world shifted instantly. Layers of information bloomed into view, translucent and neatly organized. Lines traced movement, aura signatures pulsed faintly, and numbers hovered beside each person like quiet confessions.

  His gaze drifted first to Sheryl.

  Sheryl noticed immediately and waved awkwardly. "Please don't judge me."

  "I'm not," Kelix said. "Just looking."

  From the data shifting too fast to make out within the visor screen, Sheryl's readout appeared softer somehow, the aura signature steady and warm.

  Name: Sheryl

  [Soulbounded]

  Discipline: {Support}

  Sub-Discipline I: {Apothecary}

  Rank: E

  STR: 11 — END: 18 —

  AUR: 43 — RES: 83 —

  SPD: 11 — TEQ: 15 —

  [Passive] LMT: 15 · INS: 10 · CTRL: 40 ???

  [Passive II] REG: 40 · WIS: 25 · CONS: 50 ???

  "Your resistance is high," Kelix said. He scrutinized the second line in the [Passive] section, peering curiously at [Passive II]. Why did she have a second line of attributes?

  Sheryl gushed at the appraisal. "Apothecary perks, I guess. Toxins, disease, stress responses. Comes with the coursework."

  Pollen peeked out of the purse again, petal swaying as the visor briefly tagged it with a faint green glow before dismissing it as auxiliary.

  Kelix turned next to Celeste.

  She grinned wide. "Oh, this should be good." The visor took a fraction longer to resolve her data, numbers snapping into place with more force than the others.

  Name: Celeste Lumiaura

  [Soulbounded]

  Discipline: {Combat}

  Sub-Discipline I: {Null}

  Rank: E

  STR: 81 — END: 22 —

  AUR: 50 — RES: 22 —

  SPD: 32 — TEQ: 41 —

  [Passive] LMT: 35 · INS: 50 · CTRL: 35 ???

  Kelix's brows lifted despite himself.

  Celeste pumped a fist. "Yes."

  Damian groaned. "She reminds me every time."

  "That's because it's impressive," Celeste shot back. "You saw that strength number, right?!"

  "I did," Kelix said honestly. "That explains a lot." He turned toward Aria. The visor just dismissed the girl like she wasn't there. Not even a spark of information to say "undetectable."

  "It's not going to work," Damian said.

  Kelix resigned and finally removed the visor, handing it back with care. "No kidding."

  Damian accepted it, clearly pleased. "So?"

  Kelix looked at the group again, this time without numbers floating over their heads. He saw what the visor had quantified, but now he understood the weight behind it. The balance. The gaps. The strengths that didn't show on the surface.

  "…This thing's dangerous," he said.

  Damian smiled thinly, raising the visor to his eyes. "Only if you know what you're looking at." When Damian deactivated the visor, the device's light dissolved into motes that vanished into the air. It startled Kelix when Damian staggered backward, drawing everyone's attention.

  Damian was trembling. He struggled to get his words out as he pointed forward, toward nowhere in particular. "Whatever the Association sent us here to deal with," he said in a hushed, panicked tone, "we are no longer the most dangerous thing in this park."

  Kelix exhaled slowly, following Damian's gaze. Somewhere deeper in the amusement park, metal groaned, and the wind chimed like laughter, followed by a sound reminiscent of stone grinding against bone.

  Finn's ears snapped forward, chin pointed upward as he sniffed.

  "Well," the Fenrir said, "looks like your turn to ask questions just ended."