Chapter Fourteen: Farthest Distance

Annoyance seeped through the edges of Liam’s lips. He was visibly irritated that the first win of the Concur had gone to Chris’s clique. Beside him, Ivy anxiously tugged at the robe of Liam’s Chrono suit, nervously twisting her ponytail. “Oh my God, Liam, what are we going to do?” “SHIT,” Liam muttered softly under his breath, consciously averting Chris’s triumphant gaze. He swallowed his pride, trying to recalibrate. Wait, we may have lost the first points, but we still have the second moiety. If we take that—which we definitely will—then… His thoughts were sharply cut off by the ranging alcoves’ high-pitched beep, signaling the absolute completion of the first section. Liam slowly raised his head, running a hand through his hair to push it back out of sheer humiliation. When he finally looked back at Chris, his composed demeanor and trademark sardonic smile had forced their way back onto his face. “Okay, fine. Your enclave took the first point, but I wouldn't advise getting your hopes up,” Liam said. A disgusting simper wiped across his face, defacing his features with pure, arrogant malice. His smile grew even more unsettling as he continued, “You see, Chris…” Liam took two slow steps closer to Chris. “This is just the first moiety of the first segment.” His voice exuded an irritating blend of pride and disdain. Taking another step forward, he brought his face a mere three inches from Chris’s. “So, I would rather you not get delusional enough to believe you’re going to win.” Liam raised his right index finger, holding it directly at their mutual eye level, occupying the narrow distance between them. He slowly swung his finger from left to right. “Th… th… th,” Liam clicked his tongue nastily, a sneer creeping across his face. THOOM! A violent burst of compressed wind exploded from the apex of Chris’s fist. He launched a sudden, savage jab aimed directly at Liam’s jaw—but Liam dodged it. The evasion was impossibly sharp, effortless, and utterly composed. The iris of Liam’s eye swam lazily to the side, glaring down at Chris’s extended arm which had just sliced through the air past his face. “Hey, that was a nicely executed punch,” Liam remarked smoothly as his iris snapped back to its original position. He reached out with his right hand, gently shifting Chris’s arm away. Chris forcefully wrenched his arm out of Liam’s palm. “Hey, Chris, next time…” Liam’s eyes widened with dark intensity. “Don't raise your fist to someone who could kill you.” His voice darkened, carrying a sharp, grim edge of absolute severity. A light, choked cough escaped Chris’s throat. He quickly raised the back of his hand to shield his lips—a sudden reflex action in response to the terrifying, split-second flash of Liam’s aura that he had just felt pressing against him. “Kill? Don't make me laugh. Before you even try that—” Rhys began, but Chris cut him off, using his arm to signal Rhys to drop it. Rhys gritted his teeth in silent fury, but he complied, stepping back. Liam stepped confidently to the center of their designated section, letting out a brief, clear cough. “As of now, Chris’s enclave has obtained two points, which puts them in the lead,” Liam announced, a sneering smile seeping back across his lips. “They are currently ahead. So, without wasting any more time, we move straight to the next moiety: Fixed Speed, Farthest Distance. This part simply depends on the initial thrust you input into the arrow at the very beginning. Without further delay, both archers, activate your synaptic holographic interfaces and hit {NEXT}.” With a final sneer, Liam walked back to stand by Braylen and Ivy’s side. Inside their platforms, Cia and Freya did exactly as instructed. The moment they struck {NEXT}, the ranging alcoves brimmed back to life. A heavy electromagnetic whirring echoed beautifully through the chamber as the top and bottom layers spun rapidly, dovetailing perfectly onto the middle layer. The anthropomorphic grippers hoisted the platforms higher. Simultaneously, an endless sea of nanobots began to impeccably knit a brand-new design for the gallery. This new gallery featured a sharper, distinctly vibrant shade of grass, thoroughly woven by the microscopic machines. This time, the arena had no visible end, stretching out as a horizonless pathway as far as the eye could see. The left ranging alcove propelled slightly forward, indicating that it would be the one to commence this portion of the match. Liam flashed another smirk—an expression that had practically become his signature whenever he faced Chris’s enclave. “Now, we begin the second moiety of the first section of the Concur,” he declared. The fifth IPM display flashed to life, indicating the prompt: • {FIXED SPEED, FARTHEST DISTANCE} • {FIXED SPEED: 30,000 M/S} As the flagpole-like embrasure contracted and dilated to adjust to the appropriate dimensions, Freya steadied her compound bow. Her bowstring was fabricated entirely from the radiant effulgence of her aura, but the string she manufactured this time was fundamentally different from her last. It was vastly thicker, with three variant layers of aura swirling intensely at the edges, resembling glowing serpents brimming with volatile life. At the dead center of the bowstring, a circular vortex of energy rotated at high velocity. From what Cia could observe from her vantage point, this new bowstring configuration was far more powerful—and likely far more devastating—than the previous one. Freya shifted her stance toward the left axis of the ranging alcove. She planted her right foot forward, anchoring her left foot to the side, and tilted her hips deeply along the left axis. Lowering her bow, she aligned it to the exact nexus of her upper hip. She pushed her chest forward slightly, elevating the cylindrical pore of the compound bow upward to face the center of the flagpole embrasure. Freya’s renal projector snapped into its next phase: the top layer projected forward while the middle and bottom layers fused seamlessly. The top layer spun at a blistering velocity, highlighting the most mathematically optimal angle to launch the projectile. It spun so fast it resembled a vibrating, translucent lens. Freya chuckled darkly, pulling her bowstring back with every ounce of force she could muster. The string elongated from the nexus of her hip across the center axis of her back. Once again, her triangular prism arrow manifested, its fletching sporting a sharp, flagpole design. Cerulean electromagnetic strands snapped onto the arrow through the cylindrical pore. As Freya dragged the bowstring to its absolute limit, she finally hit her anchor point. She released the arrow. WHUUUM!! The arrow burst through the flagpole embrasure. As it zinged past the opening, the electromagnetic strands propelled it forward with even higher intensity. The burst of aura accompanying the release was absurd; the energy pressure was hyper-condensed, thick, and powerfully forced into the projectile to achieve such an explosive outburst. The arrow featured a unique circular pod at the front of its tip, from which three swirling streams of aura emanated, curving around the shaft like living, brilliant cerulean serpents. The swirling aura drove the projectile forward, its velocity hitting a staggering 30,000 m/s within the very first kilometer. Liam let out a sadistic chuckle, ensuring the sound carried over directly to Chris. Chris tore his gaze away from the monolith, glaring heavily at him, but Liam’s smirk only widened under the scrutiny. “You see, Chris, this moiety is nothing like the last,” Liam mocked, shifting his gaze from Chris to the monolith, then to the ranging alcoves, before locking back onto Chris’s eyes. “In the previous moiety, you needed momentum to push the arrow at astronomical speeds—which Cia excelled at, surprisingly. But you see, my friend…” The sarcasm dripping from Liam’s voice was utterly repulsive. His proud, disgusting simper returned in full force. “This section is different. When the system says fixed speed, what comes to your stupid mind is probably: 'No matter how I shoot it, the speed will always remain fixed.' If that is truly what you're thinking, then you are completely doomed.” Liam’s smile brimmed with unfettered, arrogant pride. Chris jolted slightly at Liam’s explanation. He immediately withdrew into his own mind, frantically trying to decipher what his rival meant. Shit, what the hell does he mean? Chris looked up at the monolith, then lowered his gaze back to the substratum. He placed his chin between his thumb and index finger, stroking it as he pieced the puzzle together. If the speed is fixed at thirty thousand meters per second, what's the catch? What does he mean by the speed not being fixed at the very beginning? “Shit,” the word escaped Chris’s lips in a quiet whisper. His eyes widened slightly as the terrifying realization began to click into sequence. Realization struck him sharply. Wait, if it were to start at thirty thousand meters per second, what exactly would be the deciding factor? Therefore, if it does not start at exactly thirty thousand meters per second, then it should mean… Chris desperately pieced his thoughts together, trying to decode exactly what Liam meant. Two kilometers. Three kilometers. Four kilometers. The IPM displayed that the maximum fixed speed had been successfully attained: {LEFT RANGING ALCOVE ARROW SPEED: 30,000 M/S} The black obsidian screen of the monolith disseminated a high-definition view of the arrow gracefully moving through the simulation. It propelled itself forward at an abnormal velocity. The swerving, living, serpent-like aura emanating from the cylindrical pore began to tighten, the width between the energy streams narrowing into a condensed column. Five kilometers. Six kilometers. Seven kilometers. The arrow forced itself through the gallery at a terrifying speed, yet the axis it blitzed through remained impeccably accurate. As Chris watched the monolith with burning intensity, the answer finally popped into his mind. Damn, it just clicked. The last moiety required you to add outstanding momentum to propel the arrow at a terrifying speed through a fixed distance… but this one is completely different. Chris’s thoughts aligned bit by bit, his eyes trailing toward the IPMs. Farthest distance and fixed speed. If the first was momentum to keep increasing the speed, then this should… Rhys and Elisa kept their faces strictly fixed on the monolith, watching every detail. Chris, however, stared blankly into space, his forehead resting between his index finger and thumb as he retreated deep into his own mind. Liam looked toward Chris for a mere split second before swerving his head back to the screen. He snapped his tongue across the upper lining of his mouth, letting out a slight, mocking sound. The noise barely caught Chris’s attention; he was still single-mindedly cracking the comment Liam had made earlier. Beside Liam, Braylen and Ivy simply stared ahead with intense concentration. BINGO! Chris exclaimed internally. If the first required momentum, the second simply requires thrust—in this case, an explosive initial push achieved by the application of massive force. With that, the arrow can be propelled to any velocity up to the fixed threshold, ideally hitting it exactly. Chris slightly tilted his head to the right, still processing. Elisa and Rhys stood small distances away from him—Rhys to his right and Elisa to his left. Both enclaves stood opposite one another across their respective ranging zones, surrounded by the massive monoliths and pulsing IPMs. Liam’s team occupied the left side, while Chris’s took the right. Between them, the apex range hummed with life. New galleries were being erected and old constructions dissolved at various points across the boundless arena. The immaculate beauty with which the nanobots maintained the range was nothing short of breathtaking. Chris’s eyes contracted, his features making it obvious he was deep in thought. Elisa’s gaze shifted away from the monolith, catching the considerable squint on his face. She instinctively stretched her hand out to nudge him—a protective reflex to check if he was all right—but as her palm drew closer, she hesitated. Folding her hand midair, she quickly dragged it back to her side. He looks like he is thinking of something important. Let me not interfere, Elisa thought to herself. She stole a brief, lingering glance at him, biting her lower right lip in quiet concern before turning her face back toward the screens. Rhys, on the other hand, was entirely focused on the monolith, watching the arrow swim seamlessly through the simulated airspace. Eight kilometers. Ten kilometers. Twelve kilometers. The pathway the arrow followed had completely smoothed out, and the projectile began clearing kilometers at an overwhelming rate. So that means… if the thrust applied at the very beginning does not jam the arrow up to its absolute maximum speed instantly, the sustainability of the projectile will be significantly damaged. And with its sustainability compromised, its ability to move through vast distances is completely ruined. Chris finally understood what the sneer on Liam’s face had implied. “Eureka,” Chris whispered, the word spoken so softly that no one else heard it. Wait… if it took me this long to figure it out, has Cia caught onto the principle of this moiety yet? Chris’s eyes instantly trailed over to Cia’s ranging alcove. Cia stood poised at the dead center of her platform, her eyes fixed completely on the gallery before her. She was carefully analyzing every little detail that differed from Freya’s previous archery style. Something is different about this moiety, Cia told herself intently, tracking the speeding arrow. Fourteen kilometers. Sixteen kilometers. Eighteen kilometers. Twenty kilometers. The arrow maneuvered through the gallery with flawless precision, swerving smoothly, beautifully, and sharply. Cia kept her focus locked on the environment, using the visual data to comprehend the structural differences between the two halves of the segment. First off, her bowstring is entirely different, and so is the fletching of her arrow. She didn’t employ the same stance or technique as she did before, Cia noted. Twenty-one kilometers. Twenty-four kilometers. Twenty-seven kilometers. The sheer finesse with which the arrow glazed through the gallery was exquisite—a true beauty to behold. “Okay, man, I really gotta admit,” Rhys said, his eyes glued to the display in front of him. “That arrow’s movement is beautiful as hell.” “You're right, Rhys. It really is beautiful,” Elisa agreed warmly. If the first principle was momentum, the second should be… Cia’s train of thought was abruptly interrupted by an electromagnetic vibration buzzing inside her acoustic transducers. Bzzz. Bzzz. Vummm. Cia hovered her hand over her haptic wristlet, prompting her holographic interface to manifest. The display showed an incoming transmission from Chris Moonstraught, which she immediately accepted. “Yo, Cia,” Chris said lightly, speaking directly into his nanoring. “Hey, Chris,” Cia replied, her tone as posh and reserved as ever. “You're probably wondering why I’m placing a transmission right now,” Chris said, his voice smooth. “I really don't mind. I actually like hearing from you,” Cia admitted, a small smile curving the right side of her lips. “So, you know how in the first half of the moiety, momentum was needed to sustain and amplify the speed of the arrow? This is different,” Chris spoke mellifluously. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was analyzing just now,” Cia replied, her voice sounding a bit rushed. “Well, let me save you the stress by telling you that this moiety operates on a completely different principle. The first required momentum for speed amplification; this one requires maximum initial thrust,” Chris explained sharply. “Thrust, you say?” Cia asked, her voice carrying a hint of confusion. “You know how momentum builds over time? Thrust is simply applying massive force right at the start to—” Chris began, but Cia cut in, completing his sentence. “To the arrow. If the correct, overwhelming amount of thrust is applied instantly, the arrow’s maximum speed can be sustained, allowing it to cover much larger distances,” Cia said, her tone growing exhilarated as the underlying puzzle finally snapped into place. Chris chuckled. “Wow, you got it. As clever as expected.” “No, I didn't. It’s all thanks to you, Chris. Seriously, thank you,” Cia said, the gratitude in her voice deeply visible. “Hey, no problem, Cia. You're my friend, and I’d do anything for my friends.” Chris’s words sent a wave of genuine warmth through her heart. “Thanks so much, Chris. I will win this,” Cia stated, her voice resounding with newfound confidence. “I trust you, Cia. And in the rare scenario where you don't—though I know you will—just know you are always welcome with us,” Chris spoke smoothly, his silver tongue expertly striking every emotional chord in Cia’s heart. “Thanks, Chris,” Cia said softly before they both cut the transmission. “So, you spoke to Cia, I presume?” Rhys asked, finally shifting his focus away from the monolith as Chris lowered his hand. “She needed assistance cracking the principle guiding this moiety,” Chris replied. “Well, that would certainly make things easier for her,” Elisa said, her soft voice as beautiful as ever. “Yeah, I certainly hope it does,” Chris replied, his tone laced with concern. His eyes traversed back to Cia’s platform before his focus eventually fell back on the monolith. Thirty kilometers. Thirty-five kilometers. Forty kilometers. Forty-five kilometers. The speed of the arrow never wavered. Instead, the projectile propelled itself forward at maximum velocity, the cleared distance increasing exponentially with every passing second. “Well, look at that. Freya has already surpassed the previously set distance for the first moiety,” Liam said, turning his head toward Braylen before letting his eyes fall coldly back on Chris. “You know... the previously set distance which deeply troubled a particular someone.” Liam’s voice sounded as repulsive as usual to Chris’s ears. “Yeah—the previously set distance you could not beat,” Elisa shot back seamlessly. She folded her arms across her chest, swinging her head slightly to the side. The pure, biting sarcasm in her tone was hilarious. “Pfft,” a sharp, involuntary laugh sprouted out of Rhys's mouth. Fifty kilometers. Sixty kilometers. Seventy kilometers. “No bloody way,” Rhys exclaimed under his breath, his eyes widening. “How the hell is that arrow still moving like that?” His irritation was entirely tangible in his voice. Inside the simulation screen, the serpent-like auras tightly coiled around the edges of the arrow began to constrict even further, narrowing the projectile's profile. “No way,” Elisa muttered, her voice dropping to a low, room-level whisper. “Um, Chris… look at this.” She nudged Chris slightly. Chris turned to face Elisa, following her gaze as she pointed her index finger directly toward the lower parameters of the Integrated Panel Monoliths. “No flipping way,” Chris breathed, staring at the IPM data in absolute shock. His eyes suddenly snapped over to Liam. Liam’s gaze was already locked directly onto him, his triumphant simper sharper and more malicious than ever before. “Hey, Chris. We're completely done playing games now,” Liam said. His tone grew even coarser, his sneer turning thoroughly repulsive. “We… are… going… to… take… you… down.” Liam drawled, deliberately articulating each individual word slowly, sharply, and with absolute finality. As the threat left his lips, it was accompanied by a shallow, suffocatingly heavy pressure of aura radiating outward around his body. His smirk remained as venomous as it had ever been.