Chapter 3 - Trevor Picked the Wrong Morning
At 10:12, two hundred students were crossing the quad.
At 10:13, Trevor Cross stepped in front of Eli.
Perfect timing.
“Apology,” Trevor said.
Eli’s phone vibrated.
[PUBLIC PRESSURE DETECTED.]
[DEFIANCE OPPORTUNITY: HIGH.]
Trevor shoved him.
Yesterday, Eli would have stumbled.
Today, his feet adjusted before he consciously moved.
He stayed upright.
Trevor frowned.
“Cute.”
He swung.
Eli saw everything.
The shoulder rotation.
The shift of weight.
The opening beside Trevor’s ribs.
He ducked.
Trevor’s fist hit empty air.
The crowd made that delicious “oooh” sound people made when someone rich started losing.
Eli’s phone buzzed again.
[OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE: MAKE HIM REGRET BEING BORN RICH.]
“Do I get bonus points for emotional damage?” Eli whispered.
[YES.]
Trevor rushed him.
Eli stepped aside.
Trevor tripped over a decorative planter and landed chest-first in a bed of wet tulips.
Silence.
Then laughter exploded across the quad.
Trevor stood, covered in black soil.
“You—”
Campus security arrived before he finished.
Eli raised both hands.
“I didn’t touch him.”
Thirty phones had recorded the whole thing.
For once, evidence liked him.
His system chimed.
[QUEST COMPLETE.]
[DEFIANCE +10]
[HUMILIATION REVERSAL BONUS +15]
[REWARD UNLOCKED: BODY TEMPERING II]
Then another line appeared.
[WARNING: A CULTIVATOR HAS NOTICED YOU.]
Eli’s smile vanished.
Across the quad, a girl in a red hoodie was staring directly at him.
May you like
Her eyes were glowing faintly gold.
