◈ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ◈

Combat Experience Registered

Duration: 23 minutes

Exchanges: 14

Hits Landed: 1

New Data Logged: Sword Combat (Beginner)

Body Conditioning Progress: +3%

◈ ◈ ◈

Beginner, Orion repeated internally. Thanks for the reminder.

"So," Astra said, walking toward the edge of the ground where a small water canteen sat on a stone ledge. She tossed it to him without being asked. "What’s your plan."

He caught it. Drank. "What kind of plan."

"The kind where you went from the family’s walking embarrassment to suddenly having an Elite ranked summon and training on your own in the span of what, two days?" She crossed her arms, leaning against the pillar again. Back to her default pose. "That’s not random. You have something in mind."

"Maybe I just had a personality shift."

"People don’t just have personality shifts."

"I hit my head."

"Orion."

He lowered the canteen. Looked at her properly. She was watching him with that same recalibrating expression, trying to map out the version of him that existed now versus the version she’d built up in her head over years of distant observation.

"I want to be strong," he said simply. "Is that not enough."

"For most people yes." She paused. "For the Orion I grew up hearing about no. That Orion wanted his father’s approval more than he wanted strength. Those are different things."

She wasn’t wrong. That was the uncomfortable part.

"People change," Orion said.

"Or," Astra replied, studying him, "they get replaced."

The word hung in the air a second too long.

Orion kept his expression neutral. Easy. Relaxed. "Getting philosophical on me."

"Just observant." She pushed off the pillar. "I’m not going to dig into it. Your business is your business. But if you’re going to actually take your standing in this family seriously..." she stopped a few feet from him and looked him dead in the eyes.

She had the same blue eyes he did. Same shade, even. He hadn’t noticed that until now.

"You need to be ready for what comes with it," she finished.

"The selection trial," Orion said.

Astra went still for exactly one second.

"You know about it."

"I know enough."

"And the fact that there are people in this family who would rather see you fall on your face during it than succeed." She said it bluntly. No softening. He appreciated that. "Do you know about that too."

"Had a feeling." He handed the canteen back. "Thanks for confirming."

She took it, watching him. "You’re not worried."

"Worried is a waste of time."

"That’s either confidence or stupidity."

"Can be both," he said, and the corner of his mouth lifted. "I’m an Ashbourne."

That actually surprised a laugh out of her. A real one. Short, a bit undignified, gone almost immediately but it was there.

Luna, from the sidelines, made a noise that was distinctly less charitable about the situation.

"Hehe... master is funny," she said, and somehow the words sounded both fond and faintly threatening, which was impressive considering it was a five word sentence.

Astra glanced at her. Then back at Orion. "Your summon is terrifying by the way."

"I know."

"Like genuinely, structurally terrifying. She dropped a Bronze ranked beast with one punch yesterday. That shouldn’t be possible."

"Apparently possible though."

"Apparently," Astra agreed, and she was back to studying Luna again with this particular expression, the face of someone running the numbers and not liking what they were adding up to.

"She’s Elite ranked," Orion offered.

"Elite ranked beasts don’t usually present with that kind of raw physical output. They’re more about the anomalous abilities. The unpredictable stuff." Astra’s eyes narrowed. "Unless her anomaly is the physical output."

Orion didn’t answer that. Mostly because he didn’t want to give her more to think about.

Luna smiled at Astra from across the training ground. It was a perfectly pleasant smile. The kind of smile that very specifically did not reach her eyes.

Astra looked away first.

Smart, Orion thought.

"One more thing," Astra said, turning back to him. The almost-casual tone was back but there was something underneath it now. Something more direct.

"I’m going to be one of the candidates for the selection trial."

"Expected," Orion said.

"You should be too."

"Also expected."

"What’s not expected," she continued, "is that I’m going to actively work against anyone who tries to sabotage you during it."

He went quiet at that. Actually quiet, not the performed kind.

Astra held his look steadily. No smile now. Just direct.

"Why," he said.

"Because I want to see how far you actually go." She paused. "And because you landed a hit on me in a six round spar with zero formal training and I find that irritating in the most interesting way possible."

"So I’m a curiosity."

"You’re a variable," she corrected. "I prefer variables to predictable outcomes."

Orion considered that for a moment. Considered her. Considered the way she stood and the way she talked and the very deliberate absence of warmth that somehow wasn’t actually cold. She reminded him a bit of himself, weirdly. The current version, anyway.

"Alright," he said.

"That’s it? Just alright?"

"What do you want me to say."

"A thank you would be customary." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Thanks," he said flatly.

She stared at him. "You’re impossible."

"Consistently."

This time she didn’t laugh but she came close. He could see it in the line of her mouth. The controlled twitch.

She turned and started walking back toward the main estate, sword in hand, posture easy and unhurried.

"Selection trial is in three weeks," she called back without looking. "Use the time. You’re behind."

"I’ll catch up."

"I know." A pause in her stride. Not a stop, just a fraction of a second longer. "That’s what makes it interesting."

And then she was gone.

Orion stared at the space she’d left for a moment, processing.

Then Luna appeared at his side, sliding her arm through his with a familiarity that he had somehow already gotten used to which was concerning.

"I don’t like her," Luna said.

"She helped us."

"I don’t like her," Luna repeated, with exactly the same tone and energy, like he hadn’t said anything at all.

Orion sighed. "She’s my sister."

"Hehe... and?"

There was no good answer to that so he didn’t try.

Instead he pulled up the system screen properly, the full display, and looked at the current numbers.

◈ MYTHIC SUMMONING SYSTEM ◈

Host: Orion Ashbourne

Age: 15

Rank: Elite

Mythic Energy: 131 / 100

Contracts: 1 [Luna :: Elite]

Active Copied Skill: Shadow Step

Compatibility: 70%

Duration Remaining: 0:00

Skills: Beast Storage / Contract Mastery

Sub-Skill: Copy [Cooldown: 21h 14m]

◈ Active Mission ◈

[Survive the Academy Selection Trial]

Reward: [LOCKED PENDING START]

◈ ◈ ◈

He stared at that last entry for a long moment.

Survive.

Not win. Not dominate. Survive.

That old bastard really had a sense of humor.

"Three weeks," Orion muttered, closing the screen.

Luna looked up at him. "What are we doing, master?"

He rolled his shoulder, the bruised wrist protesting slightly. Tilted his head back and looked at the late afternoon sky. Two suns on the way down, both fat and orange, painting the clouds in colors that didn’t exist back on Earth.

He thought about the elders watching from windows. The way the first one’s expression had gone calculating when he mentioned the selection trial. The second one’s thin little smile. A single accident is all it will take.

He thought about Astra walking away with her sword and her controlled almost-laughs and her very specific decision to plant herself in his corner for reasons that were equal parts pragmatic and personal.

He thought about three weeks.

Three weeks to go from beginner to something that couldn’t be easily broken.

"Training," he said finally.

Luna’s tail curled upward. "How long?"

"Until it hurts." He glanced at her sideways. "Then a bit more."

"Hehe..." Her smile went sharp and pleased and more than a little feral. "Yes master."

Orion walked back to the center of the training ground.

Picked up his wooden sword.

And got to work.