“The next round is completely solo. I trust each one of you to pass it, it’s only a Grade 4 monster after all.” Areci speaks from her chair; we’re all seated around the table.
From this group, excluding Areci and me—who can deal with a Grade 4 monster with relative ease—Humyr, Shawu, and the twins are the ones most oriented toward offensive power and have high chances of defeating their own monster.
Brendu and Ogine are the ones with fewer offensive traits, although the princess is closer to the rest in terms of offense than Ogine. Both of their power levels have increased a step after the rewards from the last stage.
We spent time gathering information from our teammates and reviewing some battle replays. We even asked a guild specialized in information gathering whether any of the participants had obtained something remarkable.
Other participants managed to get very good rewards—good enough to make anyone drool—but apparently none were close to what we obtained. It’s difficult to know with complete precision because all the rewards appeared blurred on the screen; it’s a protection measure for each user.
Some information leaked due to the participants themselves or certain guilds that could more or less infer the function or purpose of the rewards based on data collected over decades.
I personally used my new camping tent several times during the event. It doesn’t matter if it looks blurry on screen—you can easily figure out what it does. Many similar cases to mine ended up being revealed the same way.
We reached a quick conclusion: the Denosis group was a special case, and that’s why the rewards were so generous. We deserved nothing less after fighting such a massive swarm for so long, and the leader was just as troublesome.
We continued talking for a few more minutes before dispersing around the house. It’s nighttime, and we all need to relax in our own ways for tomorrow.
“How do you feel after absorbing your reward?” Brendu asks me.
I’m lying on her lap while she scrolls through the news on her tablet. I open my eyes to look straight into her large gray ones.
“My body has already absorbed everything it had to offer. I can feel that my connection with the supreme affinities has grown closer.” Earlier today, around noon, I absorbed my reward after waking up with a mild headache from celebrating a bit too recklessly with Susan and Julio.
The effect was almost immediate. I quickly felt the amount of supreme mana inside my body increase, and it became slightly easier to manipulate. The effects grew more noticeable as the day went on. Now, eight hours later, my body has fully assimilated every part of the compressed sphere.
When I asked the officials about the effects while requesting a detailed description of the reward, I felt a little cheated.
Already having those three affinities inside my body slightly reduces the sphere’s potency. People without supreme affinities who consume this type of treasure will see better results. In the end, it was more or less what the official told me—I would feel a slight overall improvement, and my constructions using this type of mana would likely consume between 6 and 10% less mana.
It sounds like an insignificant number, but it’s not. Right now, they only consume about 20% compared to my gravity affinity.
“I’m glad. I was worried about an unexpected reaction. It would be a shame if you couldn’t use your full strength because your body was still assimilating the treasure.” She sighs, her bright smile leaning closer as she plants a kiss on my nose.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Thanks for worrying, but so far my body reacted well. I’ll tell you if anything happens. Even if I can’t use my full strength tomorrow, I should still be able to kill a Grade 4 monster without much effort and with my eyes closed.” I’m not trying to be arrogant—it’s simply the truth, and I’m completely confident in my words.
“You need to take first place. You can’t settle for less.” She sets the tablet aside and begins stroking my hair. My body relaxes deeply, and I’m close to falling completely asleep.
“Don’t fall asleep. Tell me about your other reward.” Her words force me to open my eyes again.
I feel my ears turn slightly red as I remember what happened when I went to claim it. Before leaving, one of the staff members ran up to me to ask if I had already claimed my other reward.
My face must have looked like a giant question mark. The worker reminded me that I had survived the designated time against a harpy-type monster in one of the second stage minigames.
For a moment, I had completely forgotten about the reward. I’d been so immersed in different matters that the minigame had slipped from my mind entirely. I felt embarrassed at the time, though I managed to hide it thanks to my mental skill keeping me composed.
Now, just thinking about that harpy makes me want to fight again, to be honest. It was incredibly exciting. The marquis confirmed it was at least a Grade 6 monster, ridiculously strong compared to others of the same grade. It’s still a mystery how they managed to get the harpy to send a clone of herself to this event.
My reward from that encounter was far better than expected. I assume the harpy herself was the reason. I received something simple: a skin-tight suit capable of turning invisible. I’m wearing it right now, but I can’t see it, and my brain completely ignores it.
It has several functions. The most important are: automatic mana-based self-repair and immense natural defense, since it’s made from the harpy’s own feathers. Its defense is so high that a normal Grade 4 monster would struggle to tear through it. It would take several solid hits to shred my new suit.
“It feels good. If you hadn’t reminded me, I would’ve completely forgotten to take it off.” They prohibited me from using it in the tournament because it would completely unbalance things.
Just being able to withstand a few Grade 4 or Sapphire-level blows is enough to disqualify it from this competition, not to mention its other fascinating features.
The one I most want to use in the future is the option to form a small hood capable of blurring or darkening my face. People would see it as unclear or shadowed. Ruby ranks have no chance of breaking through that enchantment—only the most talented might manage it.
The mana consumption is a bit high, but there are many situations where I’d like to move unnoticed or undercover.
“I could take it off for you…” Brendu replies with a teasing smile, her eyes scanning my body from head to toe.
“I like that proposal. I’m all yours.” I say it half-jokingly. I’m sure Brendu recognized the joke, but she didn’t care. She nearly pushes me off the couch the moment I finish speaking.
Before anything can happen, we’re interrupted. Someone is knocking on the door. I have no idea who it is; I’ve had my sensory ability deactivated since this morning. I don’t want to be nosy—I could know what everyone in the residence is doing, and I don’t want that.
I get up and head to the door while Brendu pouts. When I open it, I find the young lady with red eyes and sky-blue hair patiently waiting.
“What a surprise. What happened, Areci?” I ask.
She leans slightly to look at Brendu, then turns back to me. “Sorry… did I interrupt something?” she asks hesitantly.
“Nothing, you didn’t interrupt—” I begin, only to be cut off.
“Yes, you killed the mood. You interrupted my happiest moment of the day.” Brendu complains from behind me. Areci freezes for a second, her face slowly turning red.
“Don’t mind her. Come in and tell us what’s going on.” I invite her inside. She hesitates briefly before stepping in without further protest.
“Maki… can you take first place tomorrow? I know you already told me you’d take the tournament more seriously and give it your all, but I wanted to make sure.” The blush fades, replaced by the serious Areci.
“No problem, boss. I’ll annihilate that monster the moment it appears in front of me.” I had planned to let it last two or three seconds—I’ll need to adjust that plan.
“Thank you. I won’t hold back either. You or I must take the top two spots.” Areci thanks me. “That’s all. I’ll leave you two alone.” She stands and almost runs out of the room.
Brendu and I look at each other and burst into laughter at how quickly Areci fled the situation.