『Calm before the Storm』
Early Morning
Jasper shot up, gasping for air as he woke in a cold sweat. He couldn't recall what night terror he had, but the fear of it was permanently engraved on his body and soul.
He had a look of confusion, scrambling to remember what left him so terrified. He was so caught up in confusion that he didn't realize how much mana he had acquired in himself during his dream. Nor that his summon had changed, evolved from the mana earned by proving himself through the trials. His Symbiosis had immensely increased his physical abilities, pushing him to the strength and stamina of normal seasoned adult MMA fighters, a veteran military soldier, or a newly knighted warrior.[1]
『Legendary Spare Key-E+』
⬇️
『Corroded Key-D+』
Jasper finally caught his breath, throwing himself out of bed. He started the morning ritual of his day. Shower first.
He turned the water on, waiting for it to heat. When he stepped under the spray, something felt... off. Not wrong. Just different. The water pressure hit his shoulders and he actually felt it. Not in the vague background way he usually did, half-asleep and going through motions. He felt each individual stream, the temperature gradient between scalding and merely hot, the way his muscles responded to the heat.
He pressed his palm against the tile wall to steady himself. The tile cracked. Not shattered. Not exploded into dramatic shards. Just cracked. A small spiderweb fracture spreading from where his hand rested.
Jasper pulled back immediately, staring at his hand like it had betrayed him. "What the hell?" He flexed his fingers. They felt normal. Looked normal. But when he made a fist, he could feel something coiled beneath the skin. Potential. Strength that hadn't been there yesterday.
He finished showering carefully, hyper-aware of every movement. Turning the faucet off felt like defusing a bomb. He dried himself with a towel that suddenly seemed far too thin, far too fragile.
Clothes next. He pulled on jeans and immediately felt the difference. The denim that usually hung loose now felt snug around his thighs. Not uncomfortable. Just... present. Like his legs had decided to fill space they'd previously ignored. His shirt went on easier, but when he stretched, he heard stitching protest faintly at the shoulders.
Jasper stood in front of his mirror. He looked the same. Skinny. Unremarkable. The kind of build that made people assume he'd never thrown a punch in his life. But when he shifted his weight, he could feel the difference in his balance. His center of gravity had changed. His body knew things it hadn't known yesterday.
He touched the key under his shirt. Still warm. Still there. "You did this," he muttered. The key offered no response.
Breakfast was stranger still. He poured cereal—carefully—and sat at the small kitchen table. His mom had already left for her early shift, and his father was nowhere to be seen. The apartment was quiet except for the hum of the refrigerator and distant traffic.
He ate. And kept eating. Three bowls instead of his usual one. He wasn't consciously hungry. His body just kept demanding more. Fuel for something it was building, repairing, evolving.
By the time he finished, he felt... good. Not full. Good. Like his body had finally received a message it had been waiting years to hear.
The walk to school became a run without him deciding to make it one. He just started moving and his legs said yes, finally, this. His backpack bounced against his spine. His sneakers hit pavement in a rhythm that felt natural for the first time in his life. He wasn't gasping after half a block. Wasn't slowing down after the first hill.
He ran the entire route. Past the convenience store where he usually stopped to catch his breath. Past the intersection where the crossing guard gave him a surprised look. Past the park where early morning joggers were doing their own routes, and for once Jasper wasn't the slowest person moving.
He felt wind on his face and it felt like freedom. His lungs pulled in air and actually used it efficiently instead of panicking. His heart beat steady and strong instead of rabbiting in his chest.
When Lamar High came into view, Jasper slowed to a walk, breathing only slightly harder than normal. He looked down at his hands again. Still his hands. But not. Something had changed in the night. Something fundamental.
The key pulsed once against his chest, warm and satisfied. Jasper touched it through his shirt and whispered, "What the hell did you do to me?" The key, as always, kept its secrets.
—————
Scheduled Broadcasting
The announcement system crackled once. Twice. Then a calm official voice filled the halls.
"Attention all students. This is a scheduled broadcast. Please remain in your classrooms or designated assembly areas until the message concludes."
A wave of groans moved through the building like wind through dry leaves. Jasper, already slumped at his desk with one elbow on the surface, raised his head slowly. His body still hummed with the strange energy from his run. He felt like he could sprint another five miles without breaking a sweat.
"Wonderful," he muttered.
Arti, two seats over, looked equally unamused. But Jasper noticed the way his fingers drummed once against his desk—a tell he'd learned meant he was actually paying attention despite the bored expression. Sieg sat upright immediately, because Sieg apparently believed even broadcasts might be worth taking seriously. His notebook was already open, pen poised like he might need to take notes on a school announcement.
Students around them muttered, shifted, complained. Someone in the back shouted, "It better not be another history recap!" A few laughs followed.
Marcus—three rows up, broad-shouldered and confident in the way people got when their summons were actually impressive—leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. His expression was already smug, like he knew whatever was coming would benefit him. Elliot sat beside Marcus, smaller but no less focused. His fingers tapped rapidly against his thigh—nervous energy or excitement, hard to tell. Daichi, near the window, had stopped doodling in his notebook entirely. That alone was notable. Daichi never stopped doodling.
Then the voice returned. "By order of the local Summoner Authority and the Houston Gate Safety Division, all feeder schools will receive an updated priority briefing on regional academy placement, dungeon access, and recent gate anomaly precautions."
The room's energy shifted instantly. Jasper felt it like a physical thing—the way attention sharpened, the way breathing patterns changed, the way even the students who pretended not to care suddenly cared very much. Marcus's smug expression intensified. He exchanged a look with Elliot that said finally. Daichi set his pen down completely. Arti's drumming fingers stopped, eyes narrowing fractionally. Sieg's pen moved to paper. He was actually taking notes.
Jasper frowned slightly, his hand drifting unconsciously to the key beneath his shirt.
The voice continued. "As many of you are aware, academy intake assessments begin next week. Students seeking recommendation to Chiron Academy and associated institutions will be tested in both Summon output and tactical compatibility."
Someone near the front whispered, "Holy shit, it's real." Another voice: "My brother said Chiron's acceptance rate is like three percent."
Marcus turned slightly, scanning the room with the expression of someone mentally cataloging competition. His eyes passed over Jasper without stopping—dismissal so casual it almost didn't register as an insult. Almost. Jasper noticed.
The voice went on. "Due to recent fluctuations in minor gate stability throughout the Houston sector, all participating schools will be required to conduct an additional supervised field exercise before official assessments."
The room erupted before the sentence even finished.
"What? Another exercise?"
"Dude, that's actually huge."
"Wait, does this mean a live dungeon?" "No way, they would never let us do something that dangerous."
Marcus leaned forward, suddenly very interested. Elliot was already pulling out his phone, probably texting someone. Daichi's expression had gone from curious to calculating. Arti remained perfectly still. Too still. Jasper had learned that Arti's stillness was more dangerous than most people's action. When he went quiet like this, it meant he was running scenarios, weighing options, deciding how to position himself. Sieg wrote faster, his handwriting cramped and precise. Jasper caught a glimpse of the page: bullet points, questions, a small diagram that might have been a tactical formation.
The voice rose slightly over the growing chatter. "Failure to attend will result in disqualification from regional ranking consideration."
Silence dropped like a guillotine. Marcus's smile widened. This was his element. Competition. Stakes. A chance to prove what everyone already assumed about him. Elliot looked nervous now, the confidence draining slightly. He was strong, but not Marcus-strong. This kind of mandatory participation meant he couldn't hide in the middle anymore. Daichi's jaw relaxed. His summon was precise, specialized. Field exercises favored aggressive, flashy abilities.
Arti's mask didn't crack, but Jasper saw his eyes flick toward the window, then back to the speaker, then briefly—so briefly he almost missed it—toward him. Checking. Assessing. Wondering, maybe, if Jasper was going to be okay.
Jasper leaned back in his chair, trying to look unbothered. His heart was racing for reasons that had nothing to do with the run this morning. The key pulsed warm against his chest.
Sieg glanced at him, then at Arti, then back to his notes. Whatever calculation he was running, it included both of them.
The broadcast shifted tones slightly. "This is also a reminder that all summoned entities must be properly registered before participating in any field event. Unauthorized manifestations will result in immediate administrative sanction."
A pause. Then the voice became colder. "Additionally, students are advised not to challenge higher-tier peers without instructor supervision. Injury rates continue to rise among those attempting to force advancement through reckless confrontation."
Several heads turned. Not toward Marcus. Toward the empty desk near the back where a student named Trevor used to sit before he'd challenged someone two ranks above him and ended up in the hospital for a week.
Marcus didn't look bothered by the implicit warning. If anything, he looked pleased. The system was acknowledging that people like him were dangerous. That was basically a compliment.
Jasper adjusted the key under his shirt without thinking. The metal was warm. Not hot. Just warm. Like it had heard the broadcast and found it mildly amusing.
The announcement ended with a final formal note. "Final schedule details will be distributed during afternoon homeroom. Thank you for your attention."
The speakers clicked off. For exactly three seconds, silence held. Then chaos. Questions. Complaints. Excitement. Fear.
Marcus stood immediately, already talking to Elliot about strategy. Daichi closed his notebook and stared at nothing, clearly running mental simulations. Arti turned toward Jasper, expression carefully neutral.
"You hear that?"
Jasper shrugged, trying to match his energy. "Which part?"
"Field exercise."
Jasper made a face. "Could've been a meteor strike and I'd still be annoyed at being woken up by a speaker."
Sieg looked between them, his analytical gaze sharp. "Chiron relevance is significant."
Arti nodded once. "Very."
Jasper exhaled. "Yeah."
"Apparently my life was not stressful enough."
But even as he said it, his hand pressed against the key. And the key pressed back. Warm. Ready. Waiting.
For worthiness to be proven.
—————
HALLWAY ENCOUNTER
The bell rang and students poured into the hallway like water from a broken dam.
Jasper moved with the crowd, his new physical awareness making him hyper-conscious of bodies pressing close, the rhythm of footsteps, the way people naturally created space around certain students and crowded others.
He was halfway to his locker when he felt it. Attention. Focused. Deliberate.
He turned. Marcus stood ten feet away, Elliot slightly behind him, both watching Jasper with expressions that hadn't been there yesterday. Not hostile. Curious.
Marcus moved first, closing the distance with the easy confidence of someone who'd never been told no in his life. "Jasper, right?"
Jasper blinked. Marcus knew his name. That was new. "Yeah?"
Marcus smiled. It didn't reach his eyes. "You're registered for the field exercise?" It wasn't really a question.
"Didn't know I had a choice," Jasper said carefully.
Elliot shifted his weight, glancing between them like he was watching a chess match.
Marcus's smile widened fractionally. "Smart. Some people are already trying to find excuses. Medical exemptions. Family emergencies." He said it like it was the most pathetic thing he'd ever heard. "But you're not that type."
Jasper had no idea what type Marcus thought he was, but he was pretty sure it wasn't accurate. "Just trying to graduate," Jasper said.
"Sure." Marcus's eyes flicked down, just for a second, to where the key rested beneath Jasper's shirt. "What's your summon, really? I haven't seen you actually manifest, well anything besides that key. Plus there was that weird shit you did inside the test gate. You summoned a portal, I barely saw it."
There it was. The real question.
Jasper felt the key pulse once, warm and almost playful. "It's... complicated," Jasper said.
Marcus's expression shifted. Not quite a frown. More like recalculation. "Complicated how?"
"Complicated like I'm still figuring it out."
Elliot spoke for the first time, his voice quieter than Marcus's but no less sharp. "You're E-rank, right? That's what the registry says."
Jasper shrugged. "Last I checked."
Marcus studied him for another long moment, then nodded once. "Alright. Well. Don't die during the exercise. Would be a waste."
He turned and walked away, Elliot following.
Jasper stood very still, trying to process what had just happened. That wasn't a threat. That was... assessment. Marcus had looked at him and seen something worth measuring.
Arti appeared at his elbow so suddenly Jasper actually flinched. "Smooth," he said dryly.
"I have no idea what just happened."
"Marcus is building a team," Arti said. "Or at least figuring out who's going to be competition. You're on his radar now."
"Why?"
Arti gave him a look that suggested the answer should be obvious. "Because something about you changed. And people like Marcus notice changes."
Jasper touched the key through his shirt. "Great."
"Could be worse," Arti said. "He could have decided you were a threat instead of a curiosity."
"What's the difference?"
"Threats get eliminated before they become problems. Curiosities get watched."
He walked away before Jasper could respond, leaving him standing in the hallway with the distinct feeling that his life had just become significantly more complicated.
The key pulsed again. Warm. Amused. Utterly unhelpful.
Jasper closed his locker and headed to his next class, hyper-aware that more eyes were on him now than had been there this morning. The broadcast had changed things. But apparently, so had he.
—————
LUNCH PERIOD
PROCESSING AND COMPLICATIONS
Lunch period found Jasper sitting at their usual table in the corner of the cafeteria, picking at food he wasn't particularly hungry for despite having eaten three bowls of cereal that morning.
Sieg arrived first, setting his tray down with mathematical precision. "We should discuss tactical approach," Sieg said without preamble.
Jasper looked up. "To lunch?"
"To the field exercise."
"We don't even know what it is yet."
"Irrelevant. Preparation frameworks remain consistent regardless of specific parameters."
Arti dropped into the seat across from them, his own lunch consisting of an apple and what looked like spite. "He's not wrong," he said. "Field exercises follow patterns. Probably a low-tier dungeon clear or a simulated gate scenario. They'll want to see how we handle pressure without actually getting us killed."
"Probably," Sieg agreed. "Though gate anomaly mention suggests environmental hazards may be emphasized."
Jasper set down his fork. "You two have done this before?"
"Simulations," Arti said. "The Pendragon family has its people runs drills. Sieg probably has a spreadsheet."
"Seven spreadsheets," Sieg corrected. "Cross-referenced with historical academy assessment data from the last seven years."
Of course he did.
Jasper leaned back in his chair, feeling the key shift slightly against his chest. "So what's the play?"
Arti bit into his apple, chewing thoughtfully before answering. "Don't die. Don't embarrass yourself. Don't reveal more than you have to." He paused. "In that order."
"Survival is primary objective," Sieg agreed. "Performance metrics are secondary to maintaining viability for actual academy assessment."
"So basically, don't be a hero."
"Correct."
Jasper glanced around the cafeteria. Marcus sat three tables over, surrounded by his usual crowd. Elliot was there, along with Daichi and several other students whose summons Jasper had seen in practice sessions. Strong summons. Reliable ones. The kind that got you into Chiron Academy. Not keys that used to be jokes and had recently evolved into slightly-less-embarrassing mysteries.
"What about you two?" Jasper asked. "What's your plan?"
Arti's expression went carefully neutral. "Survive. Perform adequately. Don't attract unnecessary attention."
Sieg nodded. "Optimal strategy involves middle-tier performance. High enough to qualify, low enough to avoid becoming priority target for stronger students."
Jasper frowned. "You're both stronger than you're letting on, aren't you?"
Arti smiled, but it was the kind of smile that answered nothing. "Everyone's stronger than they let on, Jasper. That's how you survive high school."
Before Jasper could respond, his phone buzzed. Unknown number.
He opened the message.
[SUMMONER AUTHORITY - AUTOMATED REGISTRATION REMINDER]
Student: Jasper Zanabēlu
Current Registration: Legendary Spare Key - Rank E+
Status: OUTDATED
Action Required: Re-register summon entity before field exercise participation. Failure to update registration may result in disqualification.
Report to Student Services before end of day.
Jasper stared at the message. The key pulsed.
"Problem?" Arti asked.
"I need to re-register my summon."
Sieg's eyes sharpened. "Evolution?"
Jasper hesitated, then nodded. "Last night. I think."
Arti leaned forward slightly, her mask of disinterest cracking just enough to show genuine curiosity. "What rank?"
"D+."
Silence.
Sieg processed this information with visible calculation. "Significant jump. E+ to D+ represents substantial power increase. Approximately forty percent enhancement in base parameters."
"Forty percent of almost nothing is still almost nothing," Jasper muttered.
"Not necessarily," Arti said quietly. "D-rank is where things start getting real. That's where summons stop being party tricks and start being weapons."
Jasper touched the key through his shirt. It felt heavier than it had this morning. Or maybe he was just more aware of it.
"I should probably go deal with this," he said, standing.
"Want company?" Arti asked.
Jasper shook his head. "Probably better if I do this alone."
Sieg nodded once, understanding. "Registration is individual process. Witnesses complicate documentation."
Arti watched Jasper for a moment longer, then shrugged. "Don't let them bully you into a demonstration. They'll try. Say your summon is unstable or some shit."
"Is it?"
"Probably," Arti said. "Most evolved summons are unstable for a few days. Your body and the entity need time to synchronize."
That explained the cracked tile. The tight clothes. The endless energy. Synchronization.
Jasper left the cafeteria, navigating hallways that felt different now. More charged. Like the building itself knew something had shifted.
Student Services was located in the administrative wing, a deliberately intimidating section of the school where the walls were cleaner and the air smelled like paperwork and consequences.
The receptionist—a tired-looking woman in her forties—barely glanced up when Jasper entered. "Name and purpose."
"Jasper Zanabēlu. Summon re-registration."
She typed something, frowned at her screen, then looked at him properly for the first time. "You're the key kid." Not a question. Not the first time he's heard, probably not even the last.
"Yeah."
"Says here your last registration was... E+. Legendary Spare Key." She said it like she was reading a punchline. "What changed?"
"It evolved."
Her eyebrows rose. "Evolved. Since the test gate? In one night?"
"Apparently."
She studied him for a long moment, then sighed and pulled out a form. "Fill this out. Manifestation test is mandatory for rank changes. You'll need to demonstrate basic control and output measurement."
Jasper took the form. "When?"
"Now, if you can. We've got a backlog because of the field exercise announcement. Everyone's suddenly very concerned about their registrations being up to date."
She led him to a small testing room in the back—white walls, reinforced floor, measurement equipment that looked expensive and vaguely threatening. "Manifest your summon," she said, tablet in hand. "Hold it for thirty seconds. Try not to break anything."
Jasper reached for the key. It came easily, materializing in his hand with a weight that felt right. The Corroded Key. Still rust-covered. Still ancient-looking. But the gold beneath the corrosion gleamed brighter now. And when Jasper held it, he felt something he hadn't felt before. Potential. Not power, exactly. But the promise of it.
The receptionist's tablet beeped. "Huh," she said.
"What?"
"Your output reading is... inconsistent. It's fluctuating between D and D+. Sometimes spiking higher."
"Is that bad?"
"It's unusual. Most summons stabilize at a fixed rank." She made a note. "But given recent gate anomalies, unusual is becoming the new normal."
She took a few more measurements, asked him to channel mana through the key (which produced a faint golden glow that made her tablet beep frantically), then finally nodded. "Alright. You're registered as Corroded Key, Rank D+. Notation for instability and potential fluctuation. Don't do anything stupid during the field exercise."
"Wasn't planning on it."
"They never are," she muttered, already ushering him out.
Jasper walked back through the administrative wing, the key now safely tucked beneath his shirt again. D-rank. Real weapons, Arti had said.
He thought about the cracked tile. The easy run. The way Marcus had looked at him like he was worth measuring.
His phone buzzed again. This time it was a group message.
[LAMAR HIGH - FIELD EXERCISE DETAILS]
Date: Friday (3 days)
Location: Clearwater Gate - Sector 7
Objective: Dungeon Clear (Rank E-D threat level)
Teams: Assigned Thursday
Mandatory attendance. No exceptions.
Three days.
Jasper stopped walking, standing in the middle of the hallway as students flowed around him. Three days until he had to prove that his joke summon had become something real. Three days until Marcus and everyone else saw what the Corroded Key could actually do. Three days until he found out if evolution meant survival or just a more interesting way to fail.
The key pulsed against his chest. Warm. Ready. Utterly confident in a way Jasper absolutely did not feel.
He took a breath, then another, then started walking again.
Somewhere far away, Adam and Sun Wukong were still fighting an emperor's jade legion. Somewhere closer, the gates were destabilizing and the world was changing. And somewhere in between, Jasper Zanabēlu was trying very hard not to think about the fact that his life had just become exponentially more complicated.
The key hummed softly. Almost like it was laughing.
Jasper touched it through his shirt and whispered, "If you get me killed, I'm haunting you."
The key's warmth intensified. It might have been agreement. It might have been amusement. With the key, it was impossible to tell.
Jasper made it back to his locker, grabbed his books for afternoon classes, and tried to pretend that everything was normal. It wasn't. But pretending was a survival skill too. And right now, survival was looking increasingly complicated.
[1] (Theres a vast difference in amount of time for training between a knight recruit and a newly knighted knight.)