CHAPTER 103: SPATIAL VEIL.

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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Orion’s eyes widened. He remembered, of course, he’d done exactly that, but what surprised him was that at that period he hadn’t sensed anyone in his vicinity, yet this sneak had been there to witness it.

Throughout the chase, it hadn’t occurred to him how truly overpowered this skill was; the boy could literally disappear if he wished, not a single trace.

If it weren’t for protocol and Margaret, he wouldn’t have even realised Thaddeus took part in the trial.

He immediately activated ETF to see what the hype was about.

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STATUS

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NAME: Thaddeus Chronos

AGE: 10

GENDER: Male

RACE: HUMAN

ATTRIBUTES:

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STRENGTH:70

AGILITY: 80

ENDURANCE: 50

VITALITY: 60

INTELLIGENCE:78

MANA: 87

CHARM: 90

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RANK: (Peak) ACOLYTE RANK

TALENT: HIGH

BLOODLINE: Spatial Veil

AFFINITY: Space

ABILITIES:

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Innate Skills:-

Innate Skill — Spatial concealment.

Thaddeus exists between the folds of recognized space — unseen, unheard, unread. His presence bleeds into dimensional quiet, rendering him absent even to mana-based perception. Yet beneath that silence lies precision; what he conceals, he controls.

Passives:

Dimensional Drift:

Naturally suppresses all spatial and mana signatures within a set radius. The effect adapts to his awareness — the calmer he is, the deeper the silence.Echo Null: Disrupts scanning abilities by scattering reflected data, creating a false image or blank space.Phase Silence: Even within movement, spatial ripples are absorbed into an anchored point, leaving no trace of displacement.

Actives:

Silent Interval: For a brief duration, Thaddeus can erase a section of himself from the current layer of reality — not teleporting, but suspending visibility, mana, and sound. To reappear, he selects a return node within range.Veil Weave: Can project his concealment onto another object or person, sharing his distortion temporarily at great mana cost.

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Trained skills:

*Kairos step (Mid proficiency)

Acts at the perfect moment, improving dodges and counterattacks.

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Acquired skills:-

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ETF dimmed. The information folded neatly in Orion’s mind. He analyzed quickly, weighing strength, talent, and potential threat. The result was simple—formidable and full of potential.

’Another one with an innate skill.’ Orion thought with a sigh.

Thaddeus didn’t speak; he watched the expression on Orion’s face contorting as though he’d seen something special.

Orion sighed quietly. "You’ll live." He said waving him off.

Thaddeus tilted his head slightly. "That’s generous."

"Yeah yeah, just go" Orion replied.

Thaddeus didn’t waste another second before rushing off, his presence vanishing from Orion’s radar again.

Margaret crossed her arms but stayed silent.

All of a sudden the field around them quivered faintly—a low pulse through the air. Orion raised his gaze.

The compression was starting.

He drew one of sigil stone and projected its record.

CURRENT RANKINGS

Orion —1056ptsErevan —907ptsSeris — 850 pts

Orion scanned the names. The numbers didn’t bother him, but the shift did. Seris had dropped to third; Erevan had moved upto second.

Orion grinned.

’Come on come on.’ He thought.

"Final hour," Margaret said quietly.

"Yes." Orion said snapping out of his thoughts.

He pocketed the stone and looked back toward her.

He walked past her without looking back. Margaret followed a few steps behind, glancing once at the direction Thaddeus had left before focusing forward again.

Orion kept moving. His attention was already elsewhere, eyes scanning the horizon as the compression continued. The next hour would decide everything.

The number of active signatures in Orion’s range were dropping sharply. Forest emptied faster than it should have. Branches and undergrowth that should have held campers and stragglers were bare. The quiet had a pattern: others had most likely heard that the first position was nearby, and they had moved toward it or away from it, depending on their plan. Word spread. That much was obvious.

Orion noted it without comment. If being first had a drawback, it was this: you became a magnet that either repelled or attracted. If he wanted points in a hurry, he could take them. He didn’t want to. He preferred to set conditions.

Margaret matched his pace. She kept close but not so close that she shadowed him. She kept talking less than earlier; her irritation had cooled and sharpened into focus. That was fine. Her mood still affected the field in small, unpredictable ways, but she’d learned not to let it spike so often. Orion kept that in his model.

They walked a long while. Scattered remnants of fights littered the ground: torn sleeves, a crushed hat, a sigil stone broken, half-buried. Each one was a data. He absorbed them and discarded the noise. The forest became sparser. The few people left had moved deliberately, avoiding open crossing where a top rank could spot them. That was likely why two of them did the opposite.

Orion sensed the duo before their sight could reach him. The pair stepped into a small clearing and stopped at the center, arms folded, feet planted. They were waiting. Not hiding. Not hunting. Waiting deliberately as if someone had told them the prize would walk through this point.

Orion’s attention tightened. He let Protocol sweep their small radius. The two were young — acolytes — but not weak. One was a boy, angular and lean; the other was a girl, posture rigid, chin lifted. Both moved with the carved arrogance of people who had been told they were important. Both had points, but not many. Enough to be dangerous to usual stragglers, not enough to scare a top rank. That fit a certain profile: sandwichers who took advantage of drawn-out fights.

They had heard the rumor. They had come early and made a bet on patience. Stars in the wrong hands could be trouble. He classified them in seconds: middling technique, good coordination with each other, tendency toward the obvious in tactics. He filed their weaknesses. He filed their likely responses. He increased the priority weight on the girl; her aura carried high confidence and a low tolerance for embarrassment.

Orion slowed. He wanted to see how they behaved once they knew he had arrived.