Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 2047: Liam’s Intrusion

Ning noticed the door before he reached it.

It stood slightly ajar, open by no more than the width of a finger, which would have been easy enough to overlook if Ning had not been the one who had closed it firmly that morning before leaving for class.

He did not need to extend his senses to know that someone was inside, though he did so anyway out of habit, and the familiar presence waiting beyond the door made the corner of his mouth lift slightly.

Ning pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside.

The room looked exactly as he had left it, with nothing moved from the desks or storage cabinets, except that the bed on the other side of the room, the one that had remained untouched since his arrival, was no longer empty.

Liam lay stretched across it with his hands folded behind his head and his boots resting on the clean bedding, as comfortable as if the room had been assigned to him from the beginning.

He turned his head lazily toward the doorway as Ning entered.

"You should really lock your door," Liam said. "Anyone could walk in otherwise."

Ning looked at him for a moment, then reached behind himself and closed the door with a quiet click.

"Thank you for the advice," he said, in a tone that made it very clear he was not grateful in the slightest. "I’ll be sure to keep it in mind so that nobodies like you don’t wander in while I’m away."

Liam scoffed and swung his legs off the bed, sitting up on its edge with his elbows resting on his knees, though he made no move to stand or leave.

Ning walked over to his own bed and sat down across from him, leaving the narrow shared space of the room between them.

"So," he said, "what are you doing here?"

"Showing you what I’m capable of."

Ning raised an eyebrow. "You mean showing me that you’re sneaky? You picked a lock, or bypassed whatever passes for security on a dormitory door, and then lay down on a bed. I’m not sure what I’m meant to take away from that, Liam, since I already knew you could do it."

Liam’s expression shifted slightly, though he tried to keep the confident smile in place.

"You knew?"

"I know about your Calling," Ning said simply. "Spycraft, isn’t it?"

Liam let out a low grunt, and for the first time since Ning had walked in, the easy arrogance on his face gave way to something more guarded and considerably less pleased.

"Who told you that?"

Ning said nothing and simply looked at him with the same faint smile he had worn since entering the room.

Liam’s eyes narrowed. "Was it Naysha? You’ve been getting awfully close with that bitch lately, eating together and walking around together like you’ve known each other for years. She’d love nothing more than to spread things about me."

When Ning still said nothing, Liam clicked his tongue and looked away.

"No, it was Jason, wasn’t it? It had to be. That little rat sits at the same table as you every day, and he’s been around long enough to hear things he shouldn’t. He must have told you the first chance he got."

"Does it matter who told me?" Ning asked. "You didn’t come here to find out who’s been talking about you, so let’s not pretend that’s the reason. Why are you here? Is there anything more to this than you trying to threaten me in my own room?"

Liam looked back at him and laughed, though there was very little humor in it.

"Oh, you’ll know when I’m threatening you," he said. "Trust me on that. This isn’t it."

"Then what is it?"

Liam was quiet for longer than Ning had expected. His gaze drifted toward the floor between them, and his jaw tightened in a way that suggested whatever he was about to say had cost him a good deal of pride to bring all the way here.

"I want you to teach me," he said at last.

Ning tilted his head slightly but did not interrupt.

"The simulation," Liam continued, and now that he had started, the words seemed to come more easily, even if they came with obvious reluctance.

"I’ve been training for it since I was a kid. My father bought me time in private simulators before I was old enough to apply to this academy, and I’ve had tutors, instructors, retired pilots, anyone he could pay to sit beside me and tell me what I was doing wrong. I’ve been through more practice runs than anyone in our batch, probably more than anyone in this academy."

He looked up at Ning, and there was genuine frustration in his eyes now.

"And I’ve still never crossed three hundred. Two eighty-eight is the best I’ve ever managed, and that was two days ago, the same day you walked in off a shuttle and scored four sixty-nine like it was nothing. Then today, Flores jumps thirty points out of nowhere after spending a couple of evenings with you. So whatever you’re telling her, I want to hear it too."

Ning leaned back against the wall behind his bed and considered him for a moment.

It was, he had to admit, more honest than he had expected Liam to be, and there was something almost interesting about how badly the young man wanted the one thing his family’s money had apparently failed to buy him.

"And what do I get in return?" Ning asked.

Liam had clearly prepared for that question, because he answered without hesitation.

"I’ll stop causing trouble. For you, I mean. No more people showing up at your table, no more problems in training, nothing happening to your equipment. You’d have a quiet time here."

Ning laughed slightly upon listening to the man. "I don’t care about trouble. If anything, it’s been the most entertaining part of this academy so far."