Alex stood there, scythe in his hands, staring at Veronica like she'd just grown a second head.
Veronica hadn't moved. Wasn't storming off. Wasn't making him pay for the throw. Just... standing there, watching him.
This is a trap, he thought. It has to be a trap.
"Aren't you supposed to be mad?" He said slowly, his eyes widening as he stared at her like she might suddenly explode.
"You finally did something that wasn't boring." A pause. "So no."
[Annoyance: 4% → 1% ↓]
Alex blinked. "So you're actually going to... teach me?"
"I said I'll watch." Her voice was flat. "That's not the same thing."
He looked at her.
[Curiosity: 63% → 64% ↑]
[Cognitive Engagement: 40% → 41% ↑]
She's going to watch me fail. That's not teaching, that's just... watching.
But the annoyance was gone. And she was still standing there.
He looked down at the scythe, and the four crystals still on the floor.
"Okay," he said. "Watch."
He let go. The scythe floated up, hovering at chest height, waiting.
He'd tried this before. Hundreds of times. Bonding was basic—any first-year could do it. They just... pushed their Resonance into the weapon and it clicked.
His never clicked.
He'd used plenty of Artifice over the years; assigned weapons, training gear, hand-me-downs. He could use them, swing them, survive with them, but bond with them? Make them his?
That never happened.
Alex stretched out his left hand—palm forward, Black Mark facing the weapon. The Mark glowed—faint at first, then brighter. The scythe responded, its blue light flickering along its shaft, waking up, accepting him—
Then it died.
The light cut out. The scythe dropped an inch before he caught it.
Silence.
Alex stared at the weapon. At his palm. At the weapon again.
He looked at Veronica.
[Amusement: 32% → 32% —]
[Boredom: 66% → 66% —]
[Curiosity: 64% → 64% —]
She was watching, expression unchanged. No mockery, no disappointment. Just... waiting.
Alex swallowed, and set the scythe back in the air.
"Again." He said.
He stretched out his palm, the Mark glowed, the scythe flickered. Died.
The scythe hung there, unimpressed. He dropped his hand, letting out a breath that was half frustration, half exhaustion.
"It never works." His voice was flat. Tired. "Doesn't matter what weapon. Doesn't matter how many times I try. It just... never works."
Silence.
Then Veronica spoke.
"That's because you're asking."
Alex blinked, then turned to look at her.
"Huh?"
She was still standing close, looking at him like he was a mildly interesting puzzle.
"You're treating it like it's above you." Her voice was flat. "It's not. It's just waiting for you to stop being pathetic."
[Curiosity: 64% → 65% ↑]
[Cognitive Engagement: 41% → 55% ↑]
Alex stared at her like he still didn't get it.
She sighed. Actually sighed. The first real sign of effort he'd ever seen from her.
[Amusement: 35% → 33% ↓]
[Cognitive Engagement: 55% → 60% ↑]
"Every Artifice is built to be wielded by a practitioner." She said it slowly, like she was explaining something to a child. "It's an Artifice. You're a practitioner. It's already yours."
She tilted her head. "Just take it."
Alex blinked.
Just take it.
He looked at the scythe hanging in the air in front of him, waiting. Then he reached out, Palm forward, his Black Mark glowing. But this time, he didn't push, didn't ask, didn't beg.
He just... took.
The blue light kept flickering for five seconds, each pulse brighter than the last. Then it held steady. He felt something warm and alive flow from his palm into the weapon. Light raced along the shaft and flooded the blade. The whole thing lit up, steady and bright—like a dormant machine finally activated. At the base, the dark orb glowed, burning soft and constant.
The scythe hummed, and a vibration traveled up his arm, then settled in his chest.
For the first time, it felt different.
Not like the pole axe his dad had helped him bond with years ago—that had always felt like borrowing someone else's thing. Functional, but never his.
This was his; the glow said so.
He turned to Veronica, grin breaking across his face.
"I did it! Did you see that? I actually—"
She was already back at the bench. Tablet in hand. Not looking.
Alex's grin faded.
"...You saw it, right?"
"Hm."
[Boredom: 66% → 60% ↓]
[Amusement: 33% → 40% ↑]
Alex kept staring at her.
Is she happy for me? No. That's not her. Maybe she's just amused by something on that tablet. Or maybe she's pretending to be amused to hide that she's actually—
He stopped himself. That way led to something he didn't have the courage to name.
The numbers told him what, not why. That was the problem.
He didn't know what to do with that, so he did the only thing he could right now.
He turned to the training dummy—the same one he'd been failing at for weeks—scythe in hand, newly his, and swung.
Not a full swing—just a test. The blade caught the light, cut through the air, and slammed into the target zone.
The display flickered: DAMAGE: 11/100
Alex stared at it.
Eleven. His best had been seven. Ever.
He turned to Veronica, face lit up again despite himself.
"It's actually way lighter than my pole axe."
She didn't look up from her tablet.
He stood there for a second. Grin fading just slightly. Then he walked toward her, and stopped a few feet from the bench.
She still didn't look up.
[Amusement: 40% → 40% —]
[Boredom: 60% → 60% —]
[Curiosity: 65% → 65% —]
[Cognitive Engagement: 60% → 60% —]
Nothing moved. Like he wasn't even there.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Thank you." He said, voice so quiet, she almost missed it. "For, uh... teaching. Even though you hate it."
It sounded awkward.
[Amusement: 40% → 46% ↑]
[Curiosity: 65% → 66% ↑]
She looked up now, her red eyes finding him.
"I don't hate it."
Alex blinked. "You don't?"
She tilted her head just slightly. "I hate that you need it explained."
Alex paused. Processed it for two seconds, then: "That's basically the same thing."
She tilted her head the other way, the corner of her mouth curving just slightly. "Is it?"
[Boredom: 60% → 58% —]
[Amusement: 46% → 51% ↑]
Alex stared at her.
"Did you just... smirk?" He squinted. "You just smirked. That was a smirk."
[Amusement: 51% → 53% ↑]
She didn't answer. Didn't deny it. Just sat there, red eyes holding his, while having the smallest curve at the corner of her mouth.
Alex's brain stopped working. He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
Nothing came out.
[Amusement: 53% → 55% ↑]
She went back to her tablet.
Alex stood there, scythe in one hand, watching numbers climb in directions he understood just well enough to be confused. His heart kept doing something complicated in his chest.
And he still had no idea why she smirked. Or what it might mean.
‡«»‡