Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

Chapter 829: Debts

A/N; Read author’s note.

*

Rynne did not move after the formations began lighting up.

Students were gathering. Instructors were issuing instructions. Energy pathways hummed as teleportation arrays stabilized across the staging grounds.

But she remained where she stood.

Michael noticed it almost instantly.

At first, he thought she was simply tired.

But then he saw her shoulders shift faintly.

A subtle movement.

Small enough that no one else noticed except him.

He was close enough to see her profile clearly. And that was when he saw it.

Moisture gathering at the edge of her eyes.

Not falling yet, but there.

Barely restrained.

Michael blinked in surprise.

Rynne did not look like someone who cried.

She had always maintained composure.

Yet now...

Tears nearly formed in her eyes.

Only someone standing this close could have seen it.

It took Michael aback.

He stepped half a pace closer, lowering his voice.

"What’s wrong?"

Rynne reacted almost immediately.

She turned her face slightly away from him.

"Nothing," she said.

Her voice was steady.

Michael frowned faintly.

He did not push immediately, but he did not look away either.

Rynne kept her gaze forward, watching the teleportation arrays shift to their active form.

But inside her mind, pain surged.

Regret.

Only now, after the projection had dispersed, after her teacher’s words had fully settled, did the weight of what she had done truly sink in.

A projection of that level was not a simple defensive artifact.

It was equivalent to carrying an invisible Rank Four guardian.

A fragment of her teacher’s will and power that could intervene in life threatening situations.

A last resort protection.

And she had used it.

Here.

Over this.

Her chest tightened faintly.

At the time, she had not hesitated.

She would not have changed her decision even now.

But realization did not lessen the cost.

She had burned a priceless safeguard.

Her fingers curled slightly at her sides.

The pain of that understanding cut deeper than her teacher’s reprimand.

Michael watched her quietly.

He did not know the full mechanics behind projections of that level.

But he was not ignorant either.

He could piece it together.

The fact that she looked like this after the projection disappeared told him enough.

"You used something important," he said softly.

Rynne did not answer.

But her silence confirmed it.

Michael exhaled lightly.

For a moment, he simply stood beside her.

Then he spoke again, voice low.

"You didn’t waste it."

Rynne’s eyes flickered faintly at that.

But she still did not look at him.

Inside, she wanted to refute him immediately.

Because she knew better.

That projection could have intervened in a Rank Five battlefield.

Could have bought her time against entities far beyond Rank Four.

Yet she had spent it on him.

On a detainment dispute.

On something that, from a purely utilitarian perspective...

Did not justify the cost.

Rynne’s fingers curled slightly.

Michael, completely unaware of the spreadsheet of regret currently open in Rynne’s head, shifted awkwardly beside her.

He cleared his throat lightly.

The next moment, Rynne moved.

Michael was not even able to react.

One second she was staring forward.

The next...

Her hand had grabbed the back of his neck.

Firmly.

Michael stiffened instantly.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

He turned his head sideways.

And what he saw nearly made him swallow his tongue.

Rynne’s eyes were red.

The calm academy genius he knew had vanished.

"You," she said quietly.

Michael nodded immediately.

"Yes."

Her grip tightened slightly.

"You owe me."

Michael nodded again.

Faster this time.

"Yes."

"A lot."

More nodding.

"Yes."

"The kind of debt that lasts a lifetime."

Michael’s nodding reached peak speed.

"Yes."

She narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Say it."

Michael swallowed.

"I... owe you a lot."

Rynne held his neck a second longer, making sure the message had been carved directly into his nervous system.

Only then did she release him.

Michael stepped back half a pace, rubbing the back of his neck instinctively.

Out of guilt, he spoke again.

"If it makes you feel better," he said cautiously, "you don’t have to pay me back what you owed me before."

Rynne paused.

Her expression froze mid intimidation.

She turned slowly toward him.

"...What?"

Michael raised both hands slightly in surrender.

"I mean, since you used something so important, we can just cancel your debt to me."

Rynne stared at him.

What she owed Michael was indeed valuable.

But compared to what she had just spent...

There was no comparison.

It was like trading a mountain for a pebble.

For a brief moment, she actually considered it.

Then she shook her head slowly.

"No."

Michael blinked.

"No?"

"No," she repeated.

Her gaze sharpened slightly as her composure fully returned.

"What I owed you is separate."

Michael opened his mouth.

Closed it.

Opened it again.

"...Separate?"

Rynne nodded calmly.

"But what you owe me now is far greater."

Michael felt his survival instincts rise again.

She folded her arms lightly.

"Much greater."

He swallowed.

"I see."

Rynne studied him quietly for a moment.

Truthfully, she knew the current Michael did not compare to the projection she had used.

Not even close.

But...

She had seen the reaction of Rank Four superpowers.

The interest.

The tension.

The unwillingness to let him go easily.

People at that level did not move without reason.

Which meant one thing.

Knowing the Federation’s ways, Michael was not simple in any way.

Who knew, in the future, this favor might exceed what she had spent today.

So instead of regret...

She would treat it as an investment.

Of course, she did not say any of that aloud.

Instead, she stepped slightly closer again.

Michael froze instinctively.

She raised a finger and pointed at his chest.

"Remember this."

He nodded instantly.

"You owe me."

More nodding.

"Yes."

"A favor."

"Yes."

"Whenever and whatever I ask."

Michael hesitated half a second.

Her eyes narrowed slightly again.

He resumed nodding.

"Yes."

Satisfied, Rynne withdrew her hand.

"Good."

She turned toward the teleportation array as if nothing had happened.

Composed once more.

Academy genius mode restored.

Michael stood there for a moment.

Processing.

Then he rubbed the back of his neck again.

Internally, one thought echoed loudly.

That projection must have been terrifyingly expensive.

He glanced sideways at her.

Then nodded to himself as he suddenly remembered the debt he currently owed.

Yeah.

I’m in debt for life.