Chapter 290: One Star from Tomorrow
Jin woke before five and spent ten minutes trying to convince himself that checking the Engine would help him sleep.
It wouldn’t. He got up anyway.
Downstairs, the Longstable’s covered yard was still wet from the wash cycle. A handler carrying a torch raised a hand as Jin passed. Glitch lay with his chin against the stall gate, watching the corridor that led to the feed station.
"You’re early," Jin whispered.
Glitch glanced at the empty trough.
"So am I. Neither of us is getting fed yet."
He checked the lizard’s foreleg, then went upstairs for Flicker and his jacket. By the time he returned, Glitch had moved closer to the gate. Jin sat beside him rather than argue with an animal who knew perfectly well where breakfast came from.
Yesterday’s defeat still bothered him. He kept remembering Renn’s beast catching its balance beyond the boundary, and how quickly the cheering had stopped. Today they had practice at eleven. Verdance Hall was tomorrow.
There was time to do something useful before either.
[Accumulated development: banked]
[Star advancement: unavailable — insufficient]
The short session after the debrief had moved him closer. He’d stopped when he began making mistakes, gone to bed, and apparently spent the night hoping the remaining requirement would take care of itself.
Worth checking. Didn’t work, but worth checking.
Flicker tucked herself against his jacket while he opened the quarry route.
Flicker’s avatar entered the southeast passage ahead of the patrol. She skimmed above the lead worker, struck a trailing one, and escaped through the side opening before the guard could trap her against the ceiling.
The workers turned after her. Their guard moved to cover them.
Jin sent Glitch’s avatar up the ramp.
Faultline Rush struck the first guard before the second could come alongside. Harden took the answering blow, and Acid Breath cleared enough workers for Glitch to keep the fight in the narrow passage.
The queen’s pulse came early on the next run. Jin pulled Flicker’s avatar away and abandoned the approach before the patrols could converge.
That still irritated him. He knew the route now; he wanted knowing it to mean it behaved.
Glitch nudged his elbow in the real stall.
"I know. Breakfast."
Jin checked the time and waved to the handler passing with the first feed cart. While Glitch ate, he made sure Flicker had her own portion, stretched his legs, and returned to the game.
The later runs went better. On one, Flicker lost her avatar after cutting a ledge too closely. Jin withdrew Glitch instead of trying to recover the lost timing. The next attempt was clean, and this time the panel changed when he opened it.
[Session complete.]
[Accumulated development: sufficient for Star advancement]
[Projected result: Rank 1 Novice, 8-Star → 9-Star]
Jin straightened so suddenly that Flicker fluttered onto the crate beside him.
"Sorry," he said, already looking again.
The line stayed there.
Glitch lifted his head from the trough. Jin reached across and rubbed the warm plating between his horns, smiling before he’d quite decided he was allowed to.
He booked a private care bay for the first available hour.
Before using it, he took Glitch around the yard. The foreleg bruise had settled, there was no tenderness under the shoulder, and the lizard turned comfortably in both directions. Jin checked the underside of his jaw, too, earning an impatient puff through the nostrils.
"All right. Finished."
Glitch immediately leaned toward the feed corridor.
"Finished checking you."
The care attendant showed Jin the monitoring pad and left him with the bay booked for a conditioning assessment. He secured the door, placed Flicker on the carrier perch, and checked the transfer one more time.
[Sync — Glitch]
[Transferring: accumulated development]
[Confirm?]
His thumb hovered over the prompt. After watching other delegates all morning two days ago, he’d wanted this so badly that he’d had to stop refreshing their profiles.
Now he wanted it done carefully.
He confirmed.
Warmth spread beneath Glitch’s plating. The lizard lowered himself onto the pad and breathed deeply while Jin watched the readings rise. He kept his hand against the shoulder, feeling the gradual change through the bond.
For several minutes, neither of them moved.
Then the curve on the monitor began settling, and Glitch opened his eyes.
[Sync complete.]
[Rank 1 Novice, 8-Star → 9-Star]
[Quality: Silver (Peak) — unchanged]
Jin let out the breath he’d been holding and laughed quietly.
"Nine."
Glitch pushed against his palm. Jin had to brace his arm to keep it in place.
"Yeah. I noticed."
He was still the same horned, heavy lizard, with the same small mark behind his foreleg. The scale registered no meaningful change. When he stood, though, the movement was stronger than the one Jin had watched in the yard.
Glitch took three steps and stopped too close to the wall.
Jin put a hand against his chest before he could turn sharply.
"Slowly. We have time."
Nine-Star meant he could start preparing for Rank 2.
The thought stayed with him while he cleaned the bay. He tried putting it aside and found himself looking at Glitch again instead.
Lucian had crossed that gap. Jin still remembered the pressure coming from him and his Thunder Falcon, and the awkward apology when Lucian realized he wasn’t containing it properly. It was hard to connect that feeling with the boy who had admitted being frightened of making a mistake during his breakthrough.
Jin would be frightened too. He could already tell.
But he could prepare for it now. There was a Bond Core to form, a full awakening to complete, and eventually an active place for Flicker in that foundation. She was already his partner; he wanted her to receive the benefits that remained locked away.
Flicker flew from the carrier to his wrist while he gathered the care sheet. She landed neatly, then pecked at the fastening on his sleeve.
"That’s attached to me."
She tried again.
He let her investigate while he saved the monitoring record. For a moment he considered opening the breakthrough notes he’d collected after talking to Lucian.
After the contest. Finish one thing.
He closed the screen and carried her into the yard beside Glitch.
They began with walking, then wide turns.
Glitch wanted to move faster almost immediately. Jin understood the feeling, which made him less sympathetic when the lizard overshot the first chalked stopping box and pretended he’d meant to.
"You missed it."
Glitch looked back at the box.
"Yes. That one."
On the next attempt, he stopped with only his front claws beyond the line. Jin rewarded him with a scratch, reset the markers farther apart, and kept the approaches slow.
Flicker watched from the rail. During a break, she flew down to inspect the chalk, leaving two small footprints through one corner. Glitch lowered his head to examine them, and she hopped onto the ridge behind his elbow.
Jin took a picture before either moved.
He nearly sent it home with the advancement announcement. Then he hesitated. Elsa would want to call, and his mother might be at work, and he wanted to tell them properly rather than between checks.
He saved it for later.
By half past nine, Glitch could make the ordinary turns without overshooting. Braking from a faster approach still produced a skid. Jin recorded that, ended the session, and took him to the delegation medic.
She compared her scanner with the profile on her tablet.
"Your registration says eight-Star."
"He advanced this morning."
The medic looked up. "This morning?"
Jin nodded. "I’ve kept him to light adjustment work."
She checked him again and asked about his recent routine. Jin described the calculated feed and conditioning schedule he could discuss, then showed her the movement notes.
"Keep the afternoon controlled," she said. "I’ll update Marris."
The coach found him outside the practice hall just before eleven.
"Dray’s report gave me reasons to consider you," Marris said. "It didn’t settle whether you were ready to fight here."
"I know." Jin stopped himself from adding anything else.
"Nine-Star helps. I still need to see how you’re moving with it." She glanced toward Glitch. "Observe the harder work this morning. Practice floor at four for your assessment."
Jin nodded too quickly and felt foolish about it.
Marris noticed, but only said, "Feed him, rest him, and bring your notes on Verdance. We’ll see what you can do."
Jin watched her enter the hall, then checked the time even though he knew exactly how long he had.
Glitch was watching him.
"Four o’clock," Jin told him. "You heard her."
The lizard settled across his feet. Jin let him stay there until the team began filing in.