Chapter 176: Chapter 176

Her brain scrambled to process what she'd just witnessed.

Noah Eclipse—her Noah—had just disappeared and reappeared across the room in the blink of an eye, holding a blade that looked like it was drinking in all the light in the room.

She huffed sharply, bent down, and grabbed the fallen water bottle. Without thinking, she tilted it back and chugged what was left.

It was warm now. Gross.

With a sigh, she placed her hands on her hips, looking at him. Really looking.

Abilities weren't new. Not to her. Not to anyone.

Most people had something, thanks to the Harbinger Seed embedded in their genetic code. She had an ability, too.

She tried to rationalize it.

Tried to make sense of it.

Because this was Noah Eclipse.

Her lowerclassman boyfriend.

The guy who was deemed to have—what? Perfect Echo?

A First-Generation Talent. Non-combative.

Months ago, Noah was just… a name.

Then, suddenly, he was everywhere.

The kid who survived a Category 3 Beast Attack, saving his expedition partner in the process.

The underdog who took down a 1A student, when he was just a 1B nobody.

And then, the Cannadah Trip.

The field expedition where most of the Top 25 third-years—her classmates—were slaughtered.

The Harbingers attacked. Planet Cannadah fell.

Noah walked out alive.

And now—today—he'd taken her on some bizarre, insane adventure, dragging her into a military morgue to do God knows what…

Only to stand in front of her one hour later…

Summoning a blade out of thin air.

Yes, that pretty much covered all she knew about him.

There were a million questions she wanted to ask.

How the hell did he just do that?

She sat down. Slowly.

Her body sank into the chair, but her mind was far from settled.

Her eyes—unmoving—stayed locked on Noah.

Summoned right in front of her face.

Her mouth felt dry, but she didn't speak.

A long, deep, drawn-out moment.

Noah finally broke the silence.

"I know this must have been a shock to you."

A sharp, dry huff of disbelief.

Then she actually laughed.

But the kind of low, knowing chuckle that made it very clear she wasn't as surprised as he thought.

"Not exactly," she said, tilting her head.

Noah frowned slightly. "What?"

She leaned forward, resting an elbow on her knee, fingers tapping against her chin.

"Noah, I knew you weren't… normal." She gestured vaguely at him. "Not conventionally, at least."

His brow furrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You're brilliant as hell. Your combat analysis is on another level. You can literally think yourself out of any situation—I've seen it firsthand."

"Remember when we sparred?"

"Yeah," she continued. "You were always one step ahead. You fought me like someone who knew exactly what I was about to do before I even did it. It pissed me off."

A small smirk tugged at Noah's lips, but she wasn't finished.

"That was never the problem," she said, shaking her head. "No, the problem is—" She inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly through her nose.

"The problem is that just a few days ago, I confessed to you."

Sophie's hands clenched.

"I told you my true ability—and we almost broke up because of it."

Her voice didn't rise.

But the weight behind it?

"And now, after all of that," she said, gesturing toward his hand, still faintly buzzing with void energy, "you drop this on me?"

Noah took a careful step forward.

"Sophie…" His voice was softer now. "I know this upsets you."

Her eyes flickered with something—anger? Frustration?

"That's why it took me so long to tell you," he admitted. "I should have told you sooner. I don't have an excuse. I really don't."

Not even a sarcastic one.

"It was your choice, Noah," she murmured. "Whether to tell me or not."

"But why now?" Her eyes locked onto his. "Why show me all this now?"

Noah's shoulders tensed.

And began to explain.

"Yeah, you need to explain that too,"

"I wasn't just sick. I was…" He hesitated. "Dying."

Noah continued, "It's called Void Entropy Syndrome. My body was breaking down. I felt like I was being burned alive by the sun. My veins turned black. My cells were aging at an accelerated rate."

Sophie's fingers twitched.

That explained why he'd been so cold earlier.

"That's why we went to the morgue," Noah admitted. "I had no choice. I had to absorb void energy from a fresh corpse just to stabilize myself."

Noah ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply.

"It started back in the cave. The Cat-3 Beast fight."

Sophie blinked. "You mean when you saved your expedition partner?"

"That day… I found a system."

Noah gave her a grim smile.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "A real system. Just like in the old war stories. It gave me quests. Missions. And every time I completed one…"

The Eclipse Blade flickered back into existence.

Sophie's nails dug into her palm.

"So you're telling me," she said slowly, "that you've had this system all this time? And you've been growing stronger in real life from it?"

Sophie's pulse pounded.

"And you're dying because of it?"

"It's… complicated." He flexed his fingers. "For all the power I gain, I use up my life force. If I don't maintain my void energy, I start deteriorating."

Her mouth opened—then closed.

Because what the hell was she even supposed to say to that?

Sophie leaned back, staring at the ceiling.

"Goddammit, Noah," she muttered.

Noah scratched the back of his head, giving a sheepish shrug. "Yeah. I know."

And very, very unimpressed.

"Do you have any idea," she said, voice dangerously even, "how much I want to punch you right now?"

Noah winced. "Yeah. That's… fair."

Walked right up to him.

And smacked him upside the head.

"I take back what I said about you being brilliant," she said with an upside down smile.

Noah rubbed his skull, muttering, "Not the first time I've heard that today."

She crossed her arms.

A small, reluctant smile.

"So," she said, tilting her head, "what now?"

Noah exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "From now on, I need to maintain a steady HP and Void Energy level. If either of them drops to critical levels…"

He trailed off, gaze dark.

Sophie arched an eyebrow. "What happens?"

Noah hesitated. Then:

"I can't self-regenerate again."

"And if that happens… I'll just eat myself out."

Then blew some air out of her mouth. "So, let me get this straight… You have a system. You have to manage your health and void energy like a damn video game. And, on top of that, you've got multiple abilities—" She gestured vaguely at him. "Not just one?"

Noah shrugged. "You saw me void-blink."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah. So then why have you been relying only on martial arts for the tournament qualification?"

"Why not just use your abilities like every other student?"

And immediately Sophie's glare deepened.

"Did you forget about General Albright?" he asked, tilting his head.

Sophie crossed her arms. "Oh, please. That's your own fault."

Noah's smirk faltered. "Excuse me?"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "If you'd just come clean and told everyone you Re-Awakened, you wouldn't be sitting here on Albright's watch list, possibly about to be charged with a war crime."

Sophie tapped her foot. "Albright has a hunch, but no real evidence."

"Which makes me wonder—how the hell did you get past his ability testing?"

"My system did most of the work. It cloaks my actual abilities. Even if I went by a tester right now, I'd still read as First Generation instead of…"

Sophie frowned. "Instead of…?"

Noah scratched his cheek.

Sophie's eyes narrowed.

"Noah," she said, voice dangerously even.

Sophie coughed violently.

Noah barely had time to step back before she jumped out of her chair.

"SSS? As in not S? Not SS? But frigging SSS?!"

"You're an Alpha-Class Awakened?"

Noah rubbed his neck. "Uh. Yeah."

Sophie sat back down.

"I swear to God, Noah," she muttered, "if you tell me one more insane thing—"

"I have two companions."

Sophie's fingers froze against her forehead.

Then slowly, she lifted her head.

"A Dragon and a Wyvern."

Walked into the kitchen.

Grabbed a bottle of something strong.

And drank straight from the bottle.