Divine Milking System-Chapter 106 | First Blood, First Defiance

I limped back to the staging area. Every step sent fresh pain through my shoulder where the alpha’s teeth had torn into me. The concrete felt too solid after fighting on dirt and moss. Harsh fluorescent lights replaced green canopy shade.

Naomi caught up last. She stopped a few feet away from me instead of closer. Her face gave nothing away.

"Are you hurt?"

"Shoulder’s torn up. Back’s bruised. Otherwise fine."

She gave one small nod. Didn’t come any nearer. "Good."

Then she turned and made her way toward the gate exit that shimmered thirty meters off. A portal swirled there, ready to dump us back on campus.

The assessment was over.

We’d cleared.

I yanked my spear free from the alpha’s corpse and wiped the blade clean on its fur. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

The adrenaline crash was coming hard.

Misato dismissed her remaining clone with a flick of her wrist. "Move out. Debrief happens at the staging area."

We filed toward the portal in a ragged line. Jordan went first, Belle second, Naomi third.

I took rear guard. Mostly because my legs refused to move any faster than this shuffling pace.

Misato fell into step beside me.

"That was reckless."

"Yeah."

"Also effective."

"Thanks."

"Don’t do it again."

"Can’t promise that."

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. "You’re not what I expected, Monroe."

"Yeah. I get that a lot."

We stepped through the portal together. Reality twisted for half a second, then spat us out on the other side.

The concrete staging area felt almost offensive after the forest. Everything too bright and mundane and safe. Safety equipment hung on the walls. The technician with his clipboard looked bored out of his skull.

"Midnight Foxes, Squad Eight," he droned without looking up. "Clear time: thirty-seven minutes, eighteen seconds. Casualties: zero. Core count?"

"Twenty-one," Misato said. "Plus one alpha."

His head snapped up. "Alpha? E-rank gate spawned an alpha?"

"Apparently."

"Huh." He made a note on his tablet, frowning. "That’s irregular. I’ll flag it for the assessment board." He checked his screen again. "Preliminary rating: A-rank performance. Pending review."

"Pending what?" Belle asked.

"Video analysis. Make sure you actually earned it." He waved us off without ceremony. "Go shower. Results post at 1300."

We trudged toward the locker rooms. Nobody spoke much. The fight had taken more out of everyone than they’d admit.

Jordan collapsed on a bench the moment we got there. "I’m never training again."

"You say that every day," Belle pointed out, pulling her tactical suit off with careful movements.

"This time I mean it."

"You said that yesterday too."

"Shut up."

Misato sat down and yanked her phone out. Started typing with the fury of someone sending a long report.

Probably telling Blair we cleared with A-rank. That the bet was still live. That I hadn’t fucked it up for us.

I headed into the men’s locker room. Peeled my tactical suit off one inch at a time. The shoulder wound looked worse in the mirror than it felt now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Teeth marks formed a perfect semicircle in my flesh. Dark bruising spread around the punctures.

The shower water ran red at first. I watched it swirl down the drain.

I stood under the hot spray and let it work into my muscles. Steam filled the space. For a minute I just existed without thinking.

My system interface updated with a quiet chime.

◆ STATUS UPDATE ◆

Level: 3 → 4

Strength: [E] ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ (10/10) → [D] ▰▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱ (1/10)

Endurance: [D] ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱ (8/10)

Agility: [E] ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱ (7/10)

Technique: [B] ▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱▱ (6/10)

Strength had finally broken through to D-rank.

Combat experience counted as training. Killing monsters advanced stats just like the manual labor and gym work did.

The Limit Breaker was working exactly as advertised. No caps. Just progress.

I closed the interface and finished washing the blood off. Changed back into my uniform even though it felt wrong now. Too clean. Too normal after what we’d just survived.

My phone buzzed with seventeen new messages.

Most came from the squad group chat. Jordan complaining about muscle soreness. Belle analyzing our tactical mistakes. Misato posting dry observations about formation errors.

One message stood out from the rest. Aurora.

Heard you cleared with A-rank. Not bad for a lottery kid.

I smiled despite the bone-deep exhaustion settling into me.

Thanks. Almost died. Still counts.

Almost is the operative word. Saturday still on?

Yeah. Where are we going?

Somewhere nice. Off campus. Wear something that isn’t your uniform.

I pocketed my phone and walked back out to find my squad waiting in the hallway.

Belle leaned against the wall staring at her phone. Naomi stood apart from everyone with her arms crossed tight. Jordan sat on the floor with his head tilted back and eyes closed like he’d fall asleep right there.

Misato approached me with her phone still in hand. "Blair wants to talk."

"Of course she does."

"Tonight. Her place. 1900."

"Pass."

"She’s not asking, Monroe."

"Then she can come find me herself." I started walking toward the exit. "I’m done playing power games today. I just got mauled by a D-rank alpha and I’m going to bed."

"Monroe."

I stopped and turned around.

Misato’s expression had shifted into something between respect and warning.

"Blair doesn’t handle rejection well. You know that."

"I do."

"And you’re still refusing her summons."

"Correct."

"She’ll escalate."

"Let her." I met Misato’s green eyes straight on. "I’m not scared of Blair Davenport. I’m not scared of her money or her father or her threats." I adjusted my bag on my injured shoulder just to prove I could. Pain shot through the muscle. I ignored it completely.

"Tell her I’ll see her at the results posting. If she wants to talk, she can do it in public where there are witnesses."

Misato stared at me for a long moment. Then she smiled. Small but genuine.

"You’re either the bravest person I’ve met or the dumbest."

"Can’t it be both?"

She laughed. Actual laughter that sounded almost shocked. "Get out of here before I change my mind about you."

I left before she could say anything else.

Walked across campus alone while other students moved in groups around me. Nobody paid attention to the exhausted lottery kid limping past.

The California afternoon sun hit different after spending time in a gate. Everything felt too bright and too clean and too safe. The grass was too green. The sky too blue. Reality felt fake compared to the forest where things wanted to eat me.

My body wanted to collapse right there on the quad. My mind wanted to process what had just happened in that gate.

I’d killed real monsters. Not simulation dummies. Not training bots.

Real creatures that bled and died and tried their best to rip my throat out.

Stood my ground against something twice my size that had murder in its eyes.

Felt its teeth sink into my shoulder. Tasted its blood on my lips when I spat.

And I’d won.

The high from that victory lasted until I reached Building C. Then exhaustion crashed down on me like a collapsing building.

I took the elevator because stairs were absolutely not happening right now.

My room looked exactly the same as when I’d left it this morning. Same cheap furniture. Same unmade bed. Same smell of instant ramen and desperation.

I collapsed on my bed without bothering to change. Just lay there fully clothed staring up at the water-stained ceiling tiles.

Five days, eight hours on the timer.

A-rank clear in my first real gate assessment.

Strength at D-rank finally.

Wave Motion working exactly as promised when I needed it most.

Belle reconsidering her anger toward me. Maybe.

Naomi still hurt but at least acknowledging I’d survived.

Aurora waiting somewhere with plans for tomorrow.

Blair probably plotting seventeen different ways to make my life hell for refusing her summons.

And my body felt like it had been hit by a truck driven by Misato while Jordan recorded it for posterity and Belle provided sarcastic live commentary.

My phone buzzed against my leg.

I pulled it out. Naomi’s name lit up the screen.

Are you okay?

Three words. Simple and direct.

I typed back with fingers that felt too heavy.

Sore. Alive. Shoulder hurts but I’ll survive.

Three dots appeared at the bottom of the screen. Disappeared. Appeared again.

Good. I’m glad.

Then nothing else came through.