Chapter 46: Dies Irae, Dies Illa…

The quad’s chatter died, leaving only the rustle of leaves and the heavy pulse in Leon’s ears.

A silent laugh whispered on Leon’s lips as he saw Tiger’s predator grin. It was the same grin Leon remembered seeing before he collapsed in the arena months back.

Leon didn’t look away. He held the gaze for three heartbeats, long enough to send a warning message instead of a collapsing message.

With deliberate steps, he turned his back. It wasn’t a retreat. It was a choice.

“First things first,” his small lips stretched slightly wide as he walked away.

Even as he moved to a far distance from Tiger’s sight, Leon felt the stare burning into his spine like a brand.

Another set of whispers boomed at his left side as he passed two ladies.

This time, he had no time to tune in to whatever they wanted to say.

He moved the datapad upward and followed the glowing map, like following his dreams.

“90% peak velocity for 60 minutes? Huh!” his eyes smiled when he re-read the objective again.

At the pause where the blue light on the map paused, Leon saw himself far from the main academy buildings.

He whirled around and scanned the vast expanse of synthetic track, ringed by a high-polished metal fence.

Light erupted from it when the sun’s rays shone on it.

“It’s good no one is around.” He inhaled heavily, then walked toward the heavy gate he’d seen while whirling.

With a single push of his index finger, it swung open.

BOOM. CRUNCH!

A loud ramble echoed in the fence as the door automatically closed on its own the moment he stepped fully inside.

The air was fresh and still. Leaves jolted toward the field like rain as he tilted his gaze from one tree to another.

Though no one stood on the field, the distant crows were. Their cries echoed like war hymns until they burst upward in a sudden moment.

Leon walked until he stopped at the edge of the crimson track, where the green grass seemed to conflict with the 20% land left unshaped.

He pulled the datapad out of the pocket on his hoodie and re-read the objective and task all over again.

RE-CALIBRATION PROTOCOL: STORM, L.

Skill Grade: E.

Task 1/5: Cardiovascular Baseline.

Objective: Complete a 100-meter sprint at minimum 90% of calculated peak velocity.

Time Allotment: 60 minutes. Commencing 09:00.

“Ninety percent of my peak velocity?” his mouth became dry as he thought of what it could actually mean.

A sudden, bitter laugh escaped him and echoed in the quiet field.

“Whatever.”

Leon walked to a lone blue metallic bench sitting at a place for proctors to observe.

He shrugged off the heavy hoodie. The fabric, damp with a cold sweat he hadn’t noticed, caused his expression to change.

Slowly, he laid it on the bench he’d placed the datapad on.

A soft click sounded from the hoodie’s left side as it settled.

“Is something in it?” his face tensed as he pulled the hoodie back to his chest.

Leon’s fingers searched the thick material and frowned after he found nothing.

But when he tightened his grip on the left shoulder, something touched his bones at the center of his right palm.

On top of the shoulder, he found a small black zip. It was so small he would never have found it if asked to search for it.

Leon’s heart thudded with a strange curiosity as he pulled the zip.

Zrrrip.

Inside, nestled in black foam that seemed slightly tattered, was a pair of headphones. Not the standardized ones. These were Technics EAH-AZ100s.

“This?” his eyes widened while his fingers shook around it.

“I only see this on TV.” Joy pulled on his face as he caressed it with care.

“What the…?” a soft scream exited from him as he lifted them out.

“Was this placed in as a gist? Or a mistake?” He tilted his gaze sideways and scanned the empty field.

Hesitantly, the screen of the datapad flickered as he picked it up.

[Audio Device Paired.]

A notification came to life when his fingertip screeched across the wireless headphones.

“Were they connected before? Or just connected?” he squinted at both the datapad and the headphone in his right arm.

A chill that had nothing to do with the morning air traced down his spine like a hungry snake.

Leon slowly brought the headphones to his ears and put them on.

A deep, resonant silence filled the cups, then broke.

Music flowed in. Not the tinny pop or aggressive rock he sometimes heard leaking from other students’ devices.

This carried a haunting folk melody with it.

A woman’s voice singing of the sea. My Jolly Sailor Bold.

“This is Zoe’s doing. It had to be her.” He cursed as the variable item statement flashed in his mind.

Leon’s thumb stabbed at the touch control on the headphone’s side, skipping the track.

The music shifted and echoed in a darker tone. The gentle sea shanty vanished, replaced by the solemn, mournful strings of Mozart’s Requiem.

The Lacrimosa.

Leon skipped again when a grief sound danced in his ears.

This time, the song he paused his fingers on erupted into his skull—driving thunderous, a choir and orchestra painting the end of the world with terrifying grandeur.

A fierce smile touched Leon’s lips.

“This is what I’m looking for.” The smile dimmed slightly as he saw the time on the datapad: 08:59.

“I need to set this on repeat.”

The terrifying but beautiful chaos looped, building in his head. He stretched his arms forward, locked his fingers, and cracked his knuckles.

The sun’s rays felt like a spotlight on his skin, causing him to squint his eyes.

Leon walked to the starting line, where two arrows were visible on the ground.

His shadow stretched long on the ground as the choir in his ears swelled toward its climax.

Dies irae, dies illa…

Dust jolted up from the edge he stood on earlier. The music was a piston in Leon’s brain, driving his legs and syncing with the frantic hammer of his heart.

The world blurred, then became a silver streak, while the bench turned into a distant mark.

Leon slammed past an imagined finish line and skidded to a halt with a heaving chest.

He’d been so locked into the song’s rhythm, he lost all sense of time.

A frown shimmered on his face as he tapped the headphone, pausing the music.

He jogged back to the bench, his breath fogging in the cool air that made the leaves dance in front of him.

The datapad screen displayed his time for the first sprint as he tapped on it twice.

“Four minutes?!”

Panic tried to rise, but he crushed it with the music.

Leon scrolled through the list and stopped when the tip of his right arm’s index finger clicked on the darker one.

Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor, Sequence III: Rex Tremendae Majestatis.

The music placed him in a wave of awe and dread. He inhaled and exhaled with the rhythm it carried as if it were his second heartbeat.

The sprint cycle became a meditation of pain and sound as he set off running again.

After a couple of minutes, the mechanical torture of the headphones stole his mind.

It cleared all thoughts, including Tiger’s grin, the lizard-lady, and the before-and-after effect of the assessment orb blast.

On Leon’s seventh return, as sweat stung his eyes, he saw Vera standing beside the blue bench.

Her weird smile nearly made him stumble and fall, but he didn’t.

Her head tilted as she watched him, as if observing a peculiar insect.

How long had she been there? Thoughts reeled in his mind as he slowed to a walk, his breath sawing in his throat.

Leon didn’t stop. He walked past her to the bench. He gazed at the datapad to check his last time.

From the side he stood, he could smell her perfume—something sweet and cloying, like a rotting flower.

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