Chapter 24 — Suppression Token (II)
Rei dropped on instinct—not because he trusted the voice, but because it came with motion.
Something whistled overhead and hit the dirt between Rei and the advancing line of Sable Knot.
A construct landed like a thrown slab.
It unfolded as it struck: a waist-high lattice of pale stone and dark binding bands, shaped into a braced half-wall with angled fins. Runes on its surface glowed faintly, then steadied.
The attackers checked their steps. The hooked pole tip struck the construct and skidded off with a harsh scrape.
Rei twisted in a crouch and saw the caster: a girl in an academy robe standing just inside the spectator side of the ward boundary, hands lit with a steady creation glow. Dark hair pulled back tight. Jaw clenched. She stared at the masked attackers with open disgust.
"This is a practical," she snapped. "This is not a mugging."
The net-thrower barked a laugh.
A large shape rolled near the ridge again—plated shoulders, predator certainty—then rose, shaking dust.
The beast burst over the low rise with its head low and its momentum brutal, plates layered like cooled slag. Pale brightness burned at the center of its eyes.
One of Sable Knot glanced at it and still tried to close on Rei.
Rei didn't let that happen.
He rebuilt corridor. He stole the line they wanted and made it his.
Lightning snapped into the net-thrower's shoulder. The man staggered, net sagging. The pole-man swung anyway, trying to keep pressure on Rei's casting arm.
Rei shifted, kept his feet under him, and used the construct's edge to deny the pole a clean arc.
The chalk-hand tried to draw again with his injured wrist, line wobbling, breath ragged. Jinx stayed close enough that the chalk never got comfortable.
The chain-hook came low again.
Vesper moved first, precise and mean with her timing. She cut the swing off at the source—jaw on link, pull sideways, rhythm ruined. The hook bit dirt instead of ankle.
The beast closed the distance with another ground-thud that vibrated up Rei's legs.
The attackers heard it. Their formation broke into survival.
Rei didn't chase the ones who wanted to run. He faced the thing that would crush him if he treated it like background.
A seam opened at the base of its neck when it turned—half a breath, a narrow gap between plates.
Rei took it.
Corridor. Aim. Lightning into the seam.
Crack and dull impact together. The beast shuddered and stumbled, plates flashing with heat. It swung its head anyway, ridge coming for Rei's shoulder.
Rei moved and his calf betrayed him. His foot skidded short.
The ridge grazed his shoulder and knocked him into dirt. Pain flared along collarbone. Dust filled his mouth.
Ember Circulation kept turning.
Vesper stepped into the line for one breath, forcing a head tilt. Jinx snapped at the hind leg and vanished out of reach, pulling weight backward for a fraction.
Rei used the fraction to stand.
He tightened control and went back to the seam.
Lightning into the same failure point, deeper.
The beast buckled. It tried to rise. Rei held his ground and drove another clean line into the gap.
The plates dulled. The legs gave out. The beast collapsed with a heavy thud that sent dust rolling.
Rei stayed upright for a full breath after it stopped moving.
The suppression token in his palm warmed and drew residue into its etched ring. The warmth peaked, then faded. The token cooled again, heavier in a different way.
Rei turned toward the gate with his shoulder screaming, his forearm burning, and his calf locked tight.
Ayano's construct held for one last breath, then crumbled in a controlled collapse, bands going slack as the binding released. Ayano backed away from the ward line, eyes locked on the proctor platforms, expression set like she expected consequences and planned to take them.
Rei filed her away.
He crossed the shimmer.
The proctor at the desk took one look at the torn robe edge, scorch marks on his sleeve, dust clinging to his liners, and the suppression token in his hand.
Becca saw him at the same moment.
Her hands left the rail. Her body leaned forward like she meant to cross the line by force, then she stopped herself with effort sharp enough to show in her face.
Rei stepped into the marked square and extended the token.
The proctor took it between two fingers, rotated it under the light, and watched the etched ring.
Her eyes lifted. "Incident logged."
Rei kept his voice level. "That was a practical?"
"It is now," she said.
Behind her, another staff member moved toward the inner door, fast and controlled, slate already in hand.
Becca's voice cut in, low and dangerous. "Who did that to him."
Rei didn't answer. He had a patch, a name thrown like a brand, and a runner's retreat.
The proctor set the token on her slate. "Return to Annex after you clean up. You will receive revised supervision instructions."
Rei's stomach tightened. Pressure shifted shape.
"Cleared for field work under Annex escort," the proctor added. "Until further notice."
That landed like a door opening and a chain being attached at the same time.
Rei nodded once. "Understood."
Becca leaned over the rail, eyes bright with fury and relief. "You're dusty," she said, as if that was the worst offense in the world. "You're bleeding?"
Rei glanced down. The shallow cut on his forearm had started to bead. His shoulder throbbed. His calf burned.
"I'll fix it," Rei said.
Becca's fingers curled around the rail hard enough to whiten. "After this, we're talking. Then I hunt Sable Knot."
Rei met her eyes. "After I report to Annex."
Becca breathed once, hard, then nodded with visible effort. "Fine. Annex first."
Her smile came back sharp, all teeth and heat, with nothing gentle in it.
"Then warpath."
Rei stepped back from the desk, token gone, status shifted, dust still on his sleeves.
The practical had turned into an ambush.
He had walked out anyway.
Becca waited at the rail like a promise, unicorn behind her like a bright problem the city would have to deal with next.
Rei turned toward the Annex corridor, foxes close, breath steady, and a new kind of pressure settling into place.