Jax received Yeda's potential notice while replacing the gym's shattered western barricade beside the court. The public comparison placed an unsponsored girl above every student backed by a sponsor. His own name remained beneath hers where sixty exhausted survivors could read it.
Nobody laughed while he stood beside the screen beneath his dimmed contribution rank. The gym had watched his golden transformation fail against Nox, watched the sponsor mark him defaulted, and learned that admiration carried less protection than a working wall.
Diana held the damaged barricade in place with telekinesis while two fighters tightened its wire. Her attention moved from the floating desk legs to the comparison notice without letting either structure fall.
"She earned it inside the library with no patron advance, borrowed rank, or debt supporting the result," she said, reading the contribution details.
"I can read the screen," Jax replied, driving another screw into the wood.
