For about the next twelve weeks, a cat and mouse game was played. Lana placed the devices and did as Logan asked while Logan recorded everything around her to ensure she was protected and collected evidence in case something did go wrong. He was not able to determine who was running the show but he could provide evidence against the small fries without even showing that it was him.
The training sessions with Raten started including predicting what the opponent could be planning to do based on shoulder and foot movement. Raten, not being a teacher, had not thought about watching that with her in their sessions until she told him about the assessment with Leo. He had been watching her footwork and shoulders, not whether she was watching him. He wished he had been there to witness it firsthand but decided to ask Quinn about it as well and find any common errors on her part that way.
The second portal outing was announced at a special assembly gathering with the first- and second-year students. They were called on a Sunday for this meeting. This time it was going to be to an orange-portal planet. After the announcement, the special guest was announced. Jack Truedream. Lana wanted to scream. She had no idea what he looked like until now, but she was frozen to her spot. They were standing in the room as no chairs were provided. Dobin and her friends saw her condition and surrounded her to support her. Logan noticed as well as he was close by. Logan wasn't the emotional type and just observed as a result. They were arranged by class, and their class was near the back door while Vorden's class was near the front. At the end of the event, they announced eight students needed to stay behind and read off those names. She barely heard them and it took her brother to convince her she was safe. Her name wasn't called.
Once the room was empty enough to move freely, they quickly escorted her to her tree and encouraged her to breathe. She sat on the ground with her back against the trunk of her tree and breathed deeply for about 20 minutes before she regained her wits.
"The secret is kept. So far, anyway," so quietly they could barely hear her.
Katie smiled softly, "see how awesome you are?"
Lana chuckled softly, "thank you guys. Truly." She suddenly sat up straight. "I've been so busy with other things I totally forgot! Let's go to the library." Her mood suddenly brightened.
"Come on guys!"
Stunned, they decided to follow her. On the market computer, she did some searching. She found a level 6 metal book as well as one for water. She also found used level 8 earth book. Her team then watched her hit the purchase button and receive a code. Their jaws dropped.
"Um, Lana, care to explain?"
She grinned, "remember that commercial I did for the kitchen? Logan said I was supposed to get paid for my efforts. He called me in to set up the payment process. He gave me a large payment but there were things going on and I got sidetracked. Let's go get your books!"
The way ability books worked was they unlocked the specific MC that would be needed at that level as well as some of the skills. There were additional skill books that could be purchased as well. However, the skill books did no good unless the person had already learned from the ability book of that level. It was also possible for a person to not be able to reach all the way to level 8. This was dependent on the person. It was not uncommon for rich families to buy a high level ability and their child not be able to learn it because their bodies could not handle that level of MC.
Given Dobin was her twin, she was sure he could handle level 8 based on her own power level. She wasn't sure about the others but decided to give it a try. It was the only way to find out. With an orange portal outing in three weeks, she had hopes they could level up in that time. She was shocked to find the level 8 earth book but snatched it as soon as she saw it.
Able to breathe a little better and having turned the books over to their new owners, she suggested they return to the tree and start getting ready for the day's work at the stall. It was only 10 am but the stall opened in two hours. Their party funds were doing very well and she wanted to keep it that way. New gear was expensive but if they could find some really nice beast crystals on this next outing, they may be able to get another upgrade.
Lana then started to kick herself. They had not even used their current gear and she was thinking of upgrades?
Standing in her stall, she started putting out things for sale and setting up the kitchen. She stood up after hitting the button and noticed Peter run past with a girl over his shoulder. She noticed a few of the others running as well and shook her head. Guess they had a plan. I just hope it succeeds. She then resumed setting her stall up while stating over and over in her mind I didn't see anything in case she was questioned.
The rest of her crew finished bringing out the stuff and the selling soon began. Noone questioned her about anything and she was glad. Soldiers soon filled the area again as they looked for someone but refused to explain.
The next evening, when she took Logan his sandwich, she noticed Peter was standing near the wall in Logan's room. Logan was focused on something so she dropped off the sandwich as usual. She nodded at Peter and walked toward the door, not wanting to be rude.
"Oh, Lana! I was hoping you'd stop by and not just for the sandwich. Thank you by the way but I was wondering if you could test another model of the kitchen and do a commercial on it if you like it?"
"Of course!"
He handed her a bag a little bigger than the other. "I call this the super model. I'm working on a deluxe model now."
Lana smiled, "deluxe and super? Sounds fun!"
She took the bag offered and headed out. "I'll let you know if changes need to be made before a commercial is created." And off she went.
Two weeks later, Pio Blank returned from Caladi. He was the only one that survived the dalki attack from his group but he was changed by the event. He lost his boastfulness and quite frankly, seemed the opposite of who he used to be. Lana wondered if such an event could have such a drastic impact on a person. The next time she delivered a sandwich, Peter was no longer at his post.
She had reviewed the kitchen, changes were made and the commercial was cut. This kitchen was U-shaped and had all the kitchen gadgets a person could need to make what their hearts desired. It still had the limitation of no organic material. This bag had the spice pocket on the bottom with a grid to store the individual jars which prevented them from clanking together. The top part was similar to her other bag. It was still insulated so cold or hot items could be stored in there for a few days. Once again, she was allowed to keep the prototype.
That Saturday another assembly was called and Lana was in a panic. She was afraid Truedream had returned. A group known as Pure had taken away two of his prey and she thought he was back to get more. Lana knew one of those people was Peter but she was not brought in on anything related to it. The less she knew, the better.
It turned out the event was to ensure everyone was in a group. Some students had died throughout the year and the teams needed to return to at least 5 people. Everyone was asked to group up. Pio and Fex joined Quinn's group even though they were both in her class. Pio joining his was most odd to her. How did they know each other? All the groups had 5 but there were three students remaining. A sergeant then started placing the remaining ones. A sketchy-looking girl was told to join Quinn's group. Lana instantly hated her.
Lana was so busy glaring at this girl she didn't notice when Duff walked up. "Hi, it looks like I'm in your group now."
His watch still said level 1.