Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner - Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Face mask Chapter 89: Face mask Noah leaned against the wall outside the dormitory, watching the repair crew at work.

Their abilities made quick progress €“ one guy literally rewinding damaged sections back to their original state, while another seemed to reshape concrete like clay.

The evening’s chaos felt distant now, almost surreal.

“Your cuts are gone,” Kelvin observed lazily, not looking up from his tablet.

“Quick trip to the med bay and back while I was gone?” Noah touched his face reflexively.

The scratches from his window exit had indeed healed, along with most of his other injuries.

His ribs still ached, but even that was fading faster than it should.

“Yeah,” he lied, trying to sound casual.

“Easy fix for them,” He couldn’t exactly explain his B-ranked self-regeneration ability €“ that would lead to questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

“How bad was the damage, anyway?” Kelvin finally looked up, an oddly disappointed expression crossing his face.

“Building’s still standing, unfortunately.

I expected better, honestly.

Was hoping for total structural failure.” “What?” Noah turned to stare at his roommate.

“Why would you want-” “Think about it,” Kelvin cut him off, setting his tablet down.

“What happens when a dorm becomes uninhabitable?

Where do those students go?” “They’d have to…” Noah’s eyes widened as understanding hit.

“The upper-class dorms.

The ones with actual amenities.” “Exactly.” Kelvin’s smile was unnervingly proud.

“After what happened in Cannadah few weeks ago, there are seventeen empty spots in the top twenty five housing block.

Prime real estate, just sitting there empty.” Noah felt his stomach drop.

“Kelvin…

what did you do?” “Started a little rumor here, dropped a few hints there,” Kelvin shrugged, as if discussing the weather rather than admitted to orchestrating mass chaos.

“Been laying the groundwork for about a week.

Just needed the right spark to set it off, and this morning, someone finally took the bait.” Noah stared at his roommate, trying to process what he was hearing.

The casual way Kelvin described manipulating people into violence was somehow more disturbing than the fighting itself.

“All this…

just for a chance at better housing?” “A glimpse of how the other half lives,” Kelvin corrected.

“Even temporarily.

You understand, right?

Sometimes you need to create a little chaos to taste the good life.” “Yeah,” Noah said weakly, though what he really understood was that he needed to be much more careful around his roommate.

“I get it.” He’d thought he was learning to read people better, but clearly he’d missed something major with Kelvin.

The guy who automated his entire life to avoid effort had orchestrated a small war just to maybe get a better room.

And he’d done it with the same casual interest he showed in optimizing his study schedule.

‘What else am I missing?’ Noah wondered, watching students mill around the damaged building.

His regeneration was quietly fixing his remaining injuries, but a new kind of discomfort was settling in.

‘First Sophie and Lila’s weird standoff, now this.

How many other seemingly normal people around here are just…

not?’ He thought about his own secrets €“ the system, his abilities, the whole Void Oracle class that nobody else seemed to have.

But those were different, weren’t they?

He wasn’t using them to manipulate people or start fights.

Usually, he was trying to avoid killing anyone with them.

“By the way,” Kelvin added, picking his tablet back up, “I should probably collect my cameras before the repair crew gets to them.

Want to come along?

Some of the footage is pretty entertaining.” “I’ll pass,” Noah said quickly.

He needed time to think, to process everything he’d learned about his roommate.

And maybe to reevaluate every interaction they’d had up until now.

“Suit yourself.” Kelvin pushed off from the wall.

“Oh, and Noah?

Thanks for providing such great content for the betting pools.

Really helped the odds.” Noah watched him walk away, wondering if he’d ever really known his roommate at all.

The casual calculation behind Kelvin’s friendly demeanor was something he hadn’t seen coming, and it made him question what else he might be missing.

‘Maybe that’s why the system gave me these abilities,’ he thought, absently noting that his ribs had finally finished healing.

‘Not just for combat, but for surviving whatever games everyone else is playing.’ One thing was certain €“ he needed to start paying a lot more attention to the people around him.

Because clearly, in this school, the most dangerous abilities weren’t always the obvious ones.

Noah walked through the academy grounds, his mind still processing Kelvin’s casual admission.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made €“ the academy’s tolerance for violence wasn’t oversight, it was strategy.

‘Build the killer instinct early,’ he thought grimly.

‘Get us used to fighting each other so we’re ready to fight them.’ The Harbingers.

Even the thought of their alien oppressors made him restlessly.

“Noah!” He turned to see Raven jogging up to him, looking apologetic before he even reached him.

Noah already knew what this was about.

“Sorry man,” Raven said, falling into step beside him.

“I came up short again with the cores.

Mr.

Vain’s been watching us like a hawk lately €“ no field expeditions at all.” He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

“But I’ve made some contacts in the city, hunters who can get us what we need.

It’ll take time, but they’re reliable.” Noah nodded, keeping his expression neutral.

His dragon and wyvern could wait a little longer in their dimensional space, but not indefinitely.

Not that Raven knew anything about that €“ as far as his ally was concerned, Noah just had an odd interest in beast cores.

“Did you hear about the dorm fight?” Raven continued.

“Lucky I was at Master Anng’s for evening practice.

Would’ve hated to get caught up in that mess.” Noah felt a twinge of irritation.

‘Was I the only one who didn’t have somewhere better to be?’ “Yeah, lucky,” he said aloud.

“Listen, I need to go see someone.

We’ll catch up later, yeah?” Noah said.

Raven’s expression turned serious.

“Any leaps with finding your core, mine is stressing me the hell out!” “Still practicing.

Nothing substantial yet.

I’ll let you in on any breakthrough.” “Right.” Raven seemed to sense Noah’s mood.

“I’ll let you know when I have those cores.” Noah watched him go, adding another mental note to his growing list of revelations.

Everyone was playing their own game, running their own schemes.

Kelvin with his manipulation, Sophie and Lila with whatever they were planning, and here he was, trying to keep interdimensional beasts fed while investigating frame jobs.

‘And they all make it look so normal,’ he thought, heading toward where he might find Lucas.

‘Just another day at the academy.’ The irony wasn’t lost on him €“ he was doing the exact same thing, after all.

Playing it cool while hiding abilities that would raise far too many questions if anyone knew about them.

Maybe that’s what the academy was really teaching them: not just how to fight, but how to wear masks so convincing that even their friends couldn’t see behind them.

He just hoped he was getting as good at it as everyone else seemed to be.

‘Let’s go see if Lucas has anything on Micah’s case,’ he thought taking the turn to the top 25 building