Chapter 128 — The Thrill of Rewards
1
Leaving the noisy platform behind, Manus moved to a quieter location.
As he did, a shadow silently approached, taking form. Without turning around, Manus spoke.
“How’s Nia doing?”
“Nothing serious yet. But… sometimes, her presence seems to fade.”
“Keep monitoring her.”
“Understood. Was your task resolved well?”
The shadow—Aden—inquired. Manus nodded casually in response.
Well, with the rewards he received, it was time to check them out. Understanding Manus wanted to be left alone, Aden bowed slightly and quickly disappeared.
Once she was gone, Manus summoned the reward messages.
Just thinking about it caused a series of translucent messages to appear in front of him—a surreal experience. Every time he saw these semi-transparent notifications, it reminded him that this world didn’t feel entirely real.
‘This dissonance… it’s unsettling.’
Pressing his temple to ease his headache, Manus turned his attention to the rewards.
The Skill Slot Enhancement Ticket, along with one choice each for a Dark Magic Skill and a Holy Magic Skill.
He also obtained a considerable amount of magic stones, which would help increase his mana reserves.
Currently, his active skills included [Whispers of the Spirit], [Cloud of Oblivion], and one other skill.
Looking at the small selection of skills, he realized something: maximizing quests or interference was clearly the best way to drastically reduce skill acquisition times.
‘I’ll use the Enhancement Ticket on Slot 1.’
[Using the Skill Slot Enhancement Ticket.]
[The effects of the Skill Slot Enhancement Ticket will be applied.]
[Skills in this slot will now have their effects increased by 30%.]
[Skill acquisition times in this slot are reduced by 20%.]
“Not bad…”
This meant he had to be even more strategic with his choices.
Once a skill was acquired, he wouldn’t be able to re-acquire it, so careful selection was crucial.
Just like with Whispers of the Spirit.
That skill alone increased elemental magic damage by 50%, and with the enhancement’s compounding effects, it would now boost his overall damage by 95%. In other words, nearly doubling the power of his attacks.
Manus chuckled internally.
This wasn’t just a decent reward—it was an incredible one.
‘I should focus Slot 1 on mindset-related skills.’
Soon, his mana reserves would skyrocket.
From the will to survive to the desire to become stronger, Manus could feel his goals subtly shifting.
The power he once sought just to survive now became something more. The sight of Tyrannis unleashing inhuman-level magic was still fresh in his mind.
The human heart was indeed fickle, always craving more and more power.
And like any other human, Manus couldn’t escape this.
He wanted more strength.
‘Search: Holy Magic.’
[Search Results: 288]
[Narrow down the search results.]
There were 288 Holy Magic spells available in the game.
Manus began filtering further.
His goal was to learn a Holy Magic spell that had been used by one of the named NPCs within the last 50 years.
He had one experiment in mind: could he learn magic that surpassed his current abilities via the system?
Manus, after all, had no traditional level system like others.
How would this world—and the system—evaluate him?
‘Holy Magic, 6th Class, within the last 50 years.’
[Search Results: 1]
[6th Class: Deceptato]
‘Learn the skill.’
[6th Class: Deceptato comes with penalties due to your current limitations.]
[-30% power reduction, +20% mana consumption.]
[Do you still wish to learn the skill?]
“-Learn it.”
He said aloud.
In that instant, a flood of knowledge entered his mind—6th Class-level magic was being engraved into his brain.
It felt like tiny needles were piercing his neurons, embedding complex information deep into his consciousness.
Manus closed his eyes, enduring the pain as he processed the knowledge.
The experience was both excruciating and euphoric.
Reaching a new level of understanding was like a drug, an addictive high.
It made sense why certain mages in the game had become obsessed with research and learning.
The rush of uncovering new knowledge… it was intoxicating.
He had to bite down hard to stop a moan from slipping through his lips.
“Whooo—”
6th Class magic.
He had grasped the fringes of it.
2
After the event, Anais was enjoying a light celebration.
Eyes full of admiration, envy, jealousy, and respect followed her wherever she went.
She walked confidently, taking it all in stride.
At the end of her gaze stood a familiar figure—a man with red hair, wearing a gentle smile.
As their eyes met, his crow’s feet deepened into a warm, affectionate gaze.
A man with a robust build.
Her father and the head of the Flois Family.
“Dad! Thanks for coming all this way!”
“Now, now, here you should call me Lord.”
“Oh, come on! They say it’s bad luck to start doing something new all of a sudden!”
“-Who says that?”
His deep voice carried a weight of mana within it, a sign of his mastery over magic.
As the head of the Flois Family, Aventato looked around, searching for someone.
Wherever his daughter was, there was always a boy following closely behind.
Sure enough, not too far away, a boy with sandy-brown hair was hurrying over.
Anais’ inseparable partner and troublemaker—Pearson.
“Good day, Sir! Pearson Peterson at your service! It’s been a while! How have you been?”
“Still as polite as ever, I see. Haha! So, was it you?”
“—Huh?”
Pearson felt an ominous threat hang over him as he took a step back.
Anais delivered a swift smack to her father’s arm.
She had often wondered who Pearson had learned this teasing habit from—clearly, it was her father.
“Dad, quit joking around.”
“Alright, alright. But…”
Aventato’s gaze sharpened for a moment.
He had to stay focused on the important matters.
He had questions that needed answers, so he asked his daughter.
His voice, softened for her ears only, twisted the air so that no one else could hear.
“So, daughter, how did you grow so quickly? This progress of yours—it doesn’t make sense.”
“I just studied really hard and practiced a lot. I used magic every chance I got.”
“Hmmm…”
That wasn’t the answer he wanted.
Should he use a spell to detect lies?
No, no matter how strange things seemed, using magic on his daughter felt wrong.
Aventato’s thoughts grew more and more tangled.
Anais discreetly swallowed, trying to calm her nerves.
Her own thoughts were a mess.
Should she tell him about the academy, the Erosion Zones, and the Rift?
‘No, not yet.’
Secrets needed to remain hidden if they were to retain their value.
She didn’t want to burden her father with unnecessary worries.
Besides, her growth did seem unnatural, even to her.
But she knew how to ease his doubts for now.
“Hmm, we’ll talk about this in more detail during the break. You can tell me everything then.”
“Look, here they come. The ones who made us stronger.”
“Hm?”
Aventato followed his daughter’s gesture and turned to look.
And what he saw made him pause in pure admiration.
A group of young boys and girls were walking toward them.
In their eyes, Aventato saw the future of magic.
A future bright and terrifying.
If these talents ever went astray, they could cause enormous chaos.
The group moved confidently, drawing the attention of everyone around them.
Leading the group were the 2nd-year and 3rd-year Student Council members.
“Wow…”
“See? I’m really not that special.”
Anais tried to downplay herself, though there was a hint of pride in her tone.
Aventato unconsciously nodded.
There was truth to her words. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.
In this group, Anais did seem rather ordinary by comparison.
The group gracefully approached and greeted them with impeccable manners.
Of course, today’s main focus was the Flois Family, so it was only right for them to make this visit first.
No one dared to interrupt or stop them. If anything, others watched with pleasant smiles.
“Greetings, Lord Flois. I am Alano of the Harrison Family.”
“I am Nia of the Abrel Family. It is an honor to meet you.”
“I-I’m Melanie, of the Harry Family—”
Each introduced themselves with their unique flair, to which Aventato responded with a kind smile.
The Flois Family was known for being down-to-earth and approachable.
Though he had many questions swirling in his mind, Aventato set them aside for now.
This was a moment for celebration, not interrogation.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m glad to see such promising young mages from renowned families. Let’s keep things informal, shall we?”
“Of course.”
Alano curtsied gracefully, holding the hem of her uniform.
Watching her, Aventato couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
For someone so young, she possessed an extraordinary presence.
The Harrison Family, often referred to as the Pureblood House, was surely on the path to producing a dragon of its own.
“You all have accomplished much. I used to think my daughter was the strongest, but clearly, I was wrong. Hahaha, perhaps the world is improving after all.”
“You’re too kind.”
“By the way, where’s that other one? Kael, was it?”
The most promising talent from today’s event, Kael, was noticeably absent.
Where could she be?
Aventato’s curiosity was soon answered.
“Oh, she went to pick someone up. She insisted on going herself.”
“She’ll be here soon, then.”
“That’s right. I assume you’ve taken quite an interest in her as well, Lord Flois?”
Aventato stroked his beard thoughtfully and nodded.
“It’s hard not to. That girl is a prodigy—a wanderer, if you will. Given her closeness to my daughter, perhaps it’s time we start thinking of them as sisters—”
“…Huh? Dad, what are you—”
Aventato’s words trailed off.
His gaze shifted to the entrance of the hall.
And it wasn’t just him.
Everyone—mages, warriors, and guardians from the various noble houses—all turned to look at the entrance.
It was mana.
Those who could sense the depths of mana were now focused, without exception, on someone walking through that doorway.
It was the unmistakable aura of a great family and the arrival of a true genius.
He was young.
Youth, for a mage, was often considered a curse.
Why?
Because they hadn’t yet ripened, unable to harness their full potential.
Like fruit that needed time to mature, young talent was nothing more than a nutritious morsel for the future.
And yet, this boy seemed to laugh in the face of that curse, already bearing fully ripened fruit.
“Isn’t he only sixteen?”
“The true dragon was over there.”
“Haha… Another great family rises.”
After a moment of silence, whispers of awe spread through the crowd.
Black hair.
Blue eyes.
From head to toe, he carried himself like a noble.
Still riding the high of his recent breakthrough, Manus exuded an aura of unrefined but overwhelming mana.
And walking beside him, almost jogging to keep up, was a blue-haired girl—Kael.
Despite being so close to this fearsome mana, she didn’t seem the least bit bothered.
Which, in and of itself, said a lot about her talents.
For a moment, Aventato Flois thought he was witnessing the arrival of a new archmage.
Bathed in sunlight, Manus’ regal presence made it abundantly clear why he was part of the Caesar Family.
Manus and Lord Flois locked eyes.
“Greetings, Lord Flois.”
“The honor is mine, young lord of Caesar.”
‘Honor? More like pressure.’
Manus internally sighed.
The weight of so many gazes.
Barely any time to reflect on Kael’s magic before being pulled into this situation.
Layer upon layer of misunderstandings.
“Please, enjoy your time with the Lady. My congratulations, Lord Flois.”
“Haha… Thank you.”
Seeing how different he was from the rumors, Aventato let out an empty chuckle.
Why did it feel so disappointing to watch him leave?
It felt as though he was letting a crucial opportunity slip away.
He was certain that if he spoke with Manus more, he would learn something valuable.
But, the crowd around them prevented him from doing so.
“I’ll see you at the clubroom, Anais.”
“Yes, I’ll be there soon.”
And just like that, Manus vanished, like a mirage.
The grand hall was left buzzing with his lingering presence.
‘Considerate, too. They called him a troublemaker, but… Whoever started those rumors, I ought to clear their head with a good fire spell.’
A thought that crossed the minds of many in the hall.
Though none of them realized that the supposed troublemaker had only left to escape the overwhelming pressure of being the center of attention.
–TL Notes–
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