X01: MY PERFECTLY ABNORMAL LIFE

BUZZ

X01: My Perfectly Abnormal Life.

The dog couldn't stay nameless.

By morning, it had chewed Xyan's spare sock, drunk water from his toothbrush cup, and tried to bark at the 6 AM dorm alarm. Xyan had to shove a meat bun — stolen from Onix's stash at breakfast — into its mouth to shut it up.

Theo sat up in the top bunk, bleary. "Bro. Why does our room smell like wet... dog?"

Xyan was sitting on his bunk with the huge scruffy dog hidden under his blanket, one hand clamped around its snout.

"It's... my feet," Xyan said quickly, pushing his glasses up.

Theo stared. "Your feet buzzed?"

The flies. The dog's ears were buzzing again.

Xyan needed a cover. A real one. If the supervisor found an unregistered forest animal, he'd get demerits. If a drone scanned it and then scanned him...

He leaned down and whispered to the dog, "Okay, you need a name. Something boring. Something that sounds like you belong in a dorm."

The dog tilted its head, big nostrils flaring.

Xyan thought of the night before — the huge nostril over him, the licking, the way he'd mumbled "Mom" half-asleep.

"...Ash?" he whispered, then shook his head. "No. Too weird."

The dog barked — muffled by his hand.

"Shh! Okay... Stop it... Because of the flies?"

The dog's tail thumped against the bedframe. Thump. Thump.

" You're always buzzing". He looked at the dog nonchalantly.

"That's it, Buzz!!," Xyan decided. "You're Buzz."

As soon as he said it, the black cord necklace under his shirt went warm. The little Grade One summon smoke inside it curled, as if acknowledging the name.

Buzz licked his chin.

Later at breakfast, Onix slammed her tray down next to him. She had already asked more than half of the Echelons, all to get that one reply that almost made her lose her mind . "Have you seen my emergency holo tablet and food kit ? Someone stole from my stash!"

Xyan, with Buzz's stolen bun crumbs still on his shirt, adjusted his glasses. His blue eyes locked hers. "Nope. Must've been... Gaiz or someone else. He's the Stoic Assassin now. He needs lots of protein."

Onix narrowed her eyes, then got distracted by two Elixir girls waving at her from across the hall — her new fans.

Sen walked past with a stack of letters. "These are for Gemini. They gave them to me by mistake. Again."

Kitarah didn't look at any of them. She was staring at the black card the nameless third-year had given her.

And Xyan slipped a piece of pizza into his pocket for Buzz.

The rest of the day passed on quickly and peacefully. Xyan rested for an hour, freshened up and went to the HX Arcade located ten blocks away from their building.

12:00PM.

It happened during afternoon cleaning duty.

Xyan was stuck mopping the old storage hall alone — perfect punishment for a 2% loser. Buzz was hidden in a supply closet, door cracked for air.

Xyan checked the hall: empty. No drones — this wing was too old for good coverage.

He pulled his katana from the mop bucket where he'd hidden it and checked the marker on the gem. It was chipping again.

He breathed, let just a whisper out to re-test his control — the gem glowed faint blue for half a second.

The closet door creaked open.

Buzz stared. His huge nostrils flared. His tail stopped wagging. He didn't bark. He just stared at the glow, head tilted, flies silent around his ears.

For a second, the black necklace warmed, and Xyan swore Buzz could see the little Grade One summon smoke curling inside it too.

Xyan panicked and smothered the gem with his palm. "No! Bad! You didn't see that!"

Buzz whined and nudged his hand with that big nose, then licked the gem through his fingers. Although Buzz was a forest dog, he always kept itself neat. It's very light brown fur and it's doll black eyes that glowed. Always moving from one place to another.

No one noticed. The hall stayed empty. The old camera in the corner was dead.

Xyan exhaled hard, glasses fogging. Too close.

That night, he made a decision. He couldn't keep Buzz in the dorm. One bark during inspection and he was done. One drone scan and they'd ask why a forest dog was bonded to a 2%.

After lights-out, he waited for Theo's snoring, then led Buzz out the window again.

They walked past the far room, past the depot, all the way to the edge of the wild forest belt — to an abandoned ranger hut he'd found while running from the razor-boar. Roof half-caved, but dry. No sensors.

He pushed the door open. Dust. Old blankets.

"Okay. This is yours for now," Xyan whispered, laying his spare uniform jacket as a bed. "Not the school. You stay here. I'll take care of you, Alright?."

Buzz circled, sniffed, then flopped down with a huff, tail thumping.

Xyan left two food kits (sorry, Onix) and a bowl of water from his canteen. "Stay chill, okay? Like me."

Buzz licked his burned shoulder gently, then settled.

Xyan slipped back into the night, necklace cold against his chest.

---

Meanwhile — High Above the College

In a circular chamber with no windows, eight chairs floated in a ring.

The Eight Eyes.

They were the overall most powerful of the college — not teachers, not headmasters. Guardians. They only appeared when external affairs threatened to bring damage to the college. At dire moments.

Even the Elixirs and Amirahs adored them. To final-year, third-year and second year- students, they were like gods.

Tonight, a silent meeting.

No one spoke aloud. Eight streams of light played the past events of the competition in the center of the ring — holograms only they could see.

Kitarah cutting through the tornado. The nameless third-year giving her the black card. They lingered on that woman's pressure signature.

Onix tanking hits at 86% while eating. Sera, Rank 3, claiming her. Theo Ren blushing.

Sen ending his match in 12 seconds with ice. Izikia, the Royal Prince, choosing him as attendant.

Gaiz spiking to 74%. The golden bow forming. The Sky-Eye Arrow with the bird's eyesight and red-hot head. First enhancement.

They accessed, analyzed, filed.

They didn't even speak about Xyan.

On the playback, he was just the boy being hit for damage points. 5% health. Disgrace. A footnote to Gaiz's awakening.

One of the Eight waved a hand, and Xyan's image dissolved from the circle.

Not worth their eyes.