Chapter 5 The Combat Unit
Chapter 5: The Combat Unit
The first combat unit's practice hall occupied the entire fifth floor of the academy's eastern spire.
Li Yue stepped inside and immediately understood why Shen Mei held authority here.
The space was enormous. Reinforced walls etched with dampening runes. Holographic training dummies cycling through attack patterns. Six students mid-sparring, movements sharp and coordinated. Not children playing at combat. Actual fighters.
They stopped when she entered.
Six pairs of eyes measured her.
Shen Mei stood at the center of the room, arms folded.
"You came."
"You asked." Li Yue glanced around. "Nice hall."
"It's the best in the academy." No arrogance in her voice. Just fact. "Sit. Watch first."
Li Yue sat on a bench near the wall. Luna stayed hidden beneath her collar, a warm weight against her collarbone.
She watched.
The students resumed sparring.
She identified them quickly.
A broad-shouldered boy with earth-colored mana — B-rank Earth Warrior. Slow but immovable. A girl with twin blades who moved like water — B-rank Assassin, probably. A boy with glasses who never moved from the corner but whose fingers traced calculations in the air — a Tactical Mage, rare even at B-rank.
Strong. All of them stronger than the average student.
None of them felt dangerous to her.
That fact settled in her chest like a quiet truth.
After twenty minutes, Shen Mei walked over.
"Impressions?"
"Your Earth Warrior drops his left shoulder before planting," Li Yue said. "Your assassin favors her right blade on the first strike. Always. Your tactician is brilliant but he blinks when he's uncertain — if someone pressures him fast enough, he'll hesitate."
Silence.
Shen Mei stared at her.
"You identified all of that in twenty minutes."
"Seventeen years of watching people." Li Yue paused. "Long story."
Shen Mei studied her for a long moment. Then something in her expression shifted — not warmth exactly, but recognition. The look one capable person gives another.
"The academy tournament begins in six weeks," she said. "First through third years compete in mixed teams of four. The winning team receives direct nomination to the Nova City Junior Sentinel Program." She paused. "That's a fast track to the national awakener registry. Resources. Connections. A stipend."
Li Yue understood immediately.
For an orphan with no backing, that path was everything.
"You want me on your team."
"I want to see you fight first." Shen Mei stepped back and gestured to the center of the hall. "Show me your summon. Not the display from yesterday. A real demonstration."
The other students gathered.
Li Yue stood.
She walked to the center of the hall, rolled her shoulder once, and called Luna.
The fox materialized in a cascade of silver light.
But this time Li Yue didn't step back.
She stepped forward — and fought alongside her.
Luna darted left.
Li Yue moved right.
The training dummy's strike hit nothing.
Luna's tail swept in a crescent arc — moonlight blade — and Li Yue followed immediately with a burst of mana-enhanced speed, hitting the dummy's core with an open palm strike that cracked the reinforced casing clean through.
The dummy powered down.
Total elapsed time: four seconds.
Nobody spoke.
The Earth Warrior's mouth was open.
The tactician had stopped calculating.
Shen Mei's expression remained controlled, but her eyes were sharp and very, very focused.
"You fight in tandem," she said quietly. "Not summoner and beast. Partners."
"Is there another way?"
Shen Mei looked at her for a long moment.
Then she smiled. The first real smile Li Yue had seen from her.
"Welcome to the first combat unit."
