I Evolve 10,000 Times Faster

The courtyard felt different now.

Team Soup sat together at their usual table for the first time in days. The sun was warm overhead. Renna had a big plate of pastries in front of her. Emric had actually reopened his textbook and was reading it this time. Lyra sat close enough to Holden that their shoulders almost touched.

But Holden’s mind was somewhere else.

He leaned back in his chair and looked at his friends. Really looked at them. Renna was Rank 1, 7-Star. Emric was Rank 1, 6-Star. Lyra was Rank 1, 8-Star. Solid for freshmen. Impressive, even.

But not enough.

The enemies he was making weren’t freshmen anymore. He was making enemies out of royal families, secret criminal groups, and gangs for hire. The Iron Fangs might be scared of Asura, but Draven was still out there, still scheming, still connected to people with real power. House Thorne would want revenge for Oscar. And Vespera’s secret missions were only going to get harder.

If Team Soup was going to survive hanging around him, they needed to level up fast.

"Hey," he said, pulling out his academy watch. "I’m making a call."

He tapped the communication crystal and selected Maeve’s contact.

Bzzt.

Three seconds later, a voice came through the speaker.

"This better be important. I’m in the middle of cross-referencing meridian damage patterns."

"Hey, Maeve."

"Holden." Her tone shifted slightly. "How did the apology go?"

"Good. They’re back."

"Excellent. Now what do you need?"

Holden smiled. His sister always cut straight to the point.

"I need you to tell me exactly what’s wrong with my team’s fighting styles. Be specific."

He set the watch on the table so everyone could hear.

There was a pause on the other end. Then the sound of pages turning.

"Put Emric on. Actually, no, I can just speak directly." Maeve’s voice took on a lecturing tone that made Emric sit up straighter. "Emric, your shield angle is flawed. You hold it at approximately forty-two degrees when absorbing horizontal impacts. It should be thirty-five. You’re losing approximately eighteen percent of your kinetic absorption efficiency because of that seven-degree difference. Also, your footwork when retreating creates a predictable pattern. Any opponent with above-average observation skills will exploit it within thirty seconds."

Emric’s mouth fell open. "How did you..."

"I’ve watched your training footage. Twice. The data is clear." Pages turned again. "Renna."

Renna perked up. "Yes?"

"Your arrow release timing is excellent, but you overcommit on your third shot in rapid succession. You lean forward six inches too far, which exposes your center of balance. A faster opponent could close the distance before you recover. Also, you rely too heavily on standard broadheads. Against armored or thick-skinned targets, you need piercing ammunition."

"Oh my gods," Renna whispered. "She’s like a tiny professor."

"I am not tiny."

"You’re thirteen."

"Age is irrelevant to data accuracy."

Holden grinned. "Lyra."

"Already analyzed," Maeve said smoothly. "Lyra’s frost control has improved significantly since the core healing, but she undersells her range. She could maintain effective frost fields at fifteen meters if she trusted her output. Right now she’s capping herself at ten out of caution. Also, her spear thrusts are precise but lack follow-through. She pulls back half a second too early, which reduces penetration damage by roughly twenty-two percent."

Lyra blinked. "I... hadn’t realized I was doing that."

"Most people don’t self-analyze effectively. That’s why external observation is valuable."

Holden picked up the watch. "Thanks, Professor Maeve."

"Anytime. Also, buy Emric a better shield. His current one is rated for Rank 1 impacts. If he faces anything Rank 2, it will shatter on the first hit and he’ll die."

The call ended.

Renna stared at the watch. "Your sister is terrifying."

"She’s thirteen," Emric said, still processing the shield angle critique. "She calculated my exact efficiency loss based on training footage."

"She’s also right." Holden stood up from the table. "Come on. We’re going shopping."

The high-end academy armory was a three-story building near the instructor quarter. Most freshmen never set foot inside. The prices were brutal, and the inventory was reserved for students with serious funding or official sponsorship.

Holden walked in like he owned the place.

A clerk looked up from behind a polished counter. "Can I help you?"

"I need a Rank 2 kinetic-absorption shield. Heavy class. And a set of piercing storm-arrows. Full quiver."

The clerk’s eyebrows rose. "That’s a significant investment. Roughly eight thousand gold for both items."

Holden dropped a heavy leather bag on the counter. Gold coins spilled out in a big, shiny pile.

The clerk’s expression changed instantly. "Right away, sir."

Renna grabbed Holden’s arm. "Holden, this is way too much money! We can’t accept this!"

"Consider it an early birthday present."

"My birthday isn’t for four months!"

"Now let’s go hunt a giant monkey."

Fifteen minutes later, Emric was strapping on a massive black shield that hummed with faint blue energy. The kinetic-absorption runes glowed softly along its surface.

"The impact dispersion is remarkable. This could absorb a direct strike from a Rank 2 without transferring more than fifteen percent of the kinetic force to my arm."

Renna slung her new quiver over her shoulder. The storm-arrows inside had sleek, needle-like tips crackling with electrical energy. She pulled one out and held it up to the light.

"These are gorgeous. I mean, not that I care about aesthetics, but they’re also gorgeous."

Lyra smiled at Holden. "You’re spoiling them."

"I’m investing in them. There’s a difference."

The Academy Mission Board was a big wall in the main hall, covered with hundreds of floating requests sorted by difficulty ranking. Green tags for D-Rank. Yellow for C-Rank. Orange for B-Rank. Red for A-Rank and above.

Most freshmen crowded around the green section, arguing over herb collection and pest control jobs.

Holden walked straight past them to the orange section.

Emric adjusted his new shield nervously. "Holden, B-Rank missions are typically reserved for second and third-year students. The mortality rate for underqualified teams exceeds thirty percent."

"Then it’s good thing we’re not underqualified."

His finger tapped a posting near the top of the board.

BOUNTY: OBSIDIAN-BACK GORILLA

RANK: B

LOCATION: DEEP QUARRY

THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME

REWARD: 5,000 CREDITS + MONSTER CORE

NOTE: MUTATED SPECIMEN. APPROACH WITH CAUTION.

Renna leaned over his shoulder to read it. "A mutated gorilla with an obsidian back. That sounds horrible. Let’s do it."

"Really?" Emric asked.

"Obviously! When are we going to get another chance to take a B-Rank mission? Plus I have my new arrows and I really want to shoot something with them."

Lyra studied the posting with calm approval. "The Deep Quarry’s terrain will give me excellent frost coverage. The gorilla’s stone hide will be difficult to penetrate with normal weapons, but Renna’s storm-arrows should handle it."

Holden pulled the posting off the board and handed it to the desk instructor.

The instructor was a grizzled old man with a scar across his chin. He looked at the posting, then at the four freshmen standing in front of him.

"You kids know this is a B-Rank, right?"

"We know," Holden said.

"And you’re all freshmen."

"Obviously."

The instructor stared at him for a long moment. Then he shrugged, stamped the posting, and handed it back.

"Deep Quarry is thirty minutes north. Don’t die."

Renna pumped her fist in the air. "Team Soup, move out!"