NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17: Rewards
Elvara watched the entire match from the stands, her heart a frantic drum against her ribs. She was shocked.
Every assumption she had held about Azrael Ashveil had been shattered into a million pieces.
She had expected a quick, humiliating defeat. Instead, she had watched a display of pure, unyielding will.
He fell, then got up. He was beaten, bruised, and broken, but he kept getting up. She knew it wasn't the first time.
This time, it had gone to an extreme she couldn't comprehend. He had fought the number one student and had managed to turn an execution into a battle.
She now had so many questions. What was he trying to achieve? Or had he truly, fundamentally changed?
As soon as the crowd began to disperse, she rushed from the stands, making her way to the academy's infirmary.
She was stopped at the door by a stern-faced healer. "Only staff are permitted inside for now, miss."
So she waited. She stood in the cold, sterile hallway, her mind a whirlwind of confusion.
A soft, melodic voice spoke from beside her, making her jump. "You must be worried about him."
Elvara turned to see a girl of breathtaking beauty. She had hair the color of spun platinum, and eyes as cold and sharp as chips of ice.
She wore a pristine academy uniform, adorned with a crest that marked her as royalty.
"Hello," the girl said, a delicate, disarming smile on her lips. "I am Princess Isolde Valerius. I'm a first-year, like you. I hope we can be friends."
Azrael's eyes snapped open. The first thing that greeted him was not the white ceiling, but the familiar, crystalline blue of the system interface.
A notification was waiting for him, glowing with a golden light of success.
[!! QUEST COMPLETE !!]
[Objective: Survive for thirty (30) minutes in the duel.]
[Path Chosen: Path of Survival]
[Status: SUCCESS]
[Reward: 10,000 P.]
A surge of pure, unadulterated joy shot through him. He did it. He had actually done it.
"Yes!" he hissed, a triumphant grin spreading across his face.
He tried to sit up, but the moment he moved, his body screamed in protest. A white-hot agony flared in his side.
Crack. He heard and felt the grating of his broken ribs. The joy was instantly extinguished by a wave of nauseating pain.
He collapsed back onto the pillows, gasping. After several long minutes, the pain subsided to a dull roar.
'System Storefront.'
The interface appeared. His balance, once a pathetic 10 P, now read a glorious [10,010 P]. He finally had a chance.
He spent the next half an hour meticulously scrolling through the shop. He had one goal: to acquire an affinity.
He went straight to the [AFFINITIES] tab.
[Tier 1] Water Affinity - 10,000 P
[Tier 1] Fire Affinity - 10,000 P
[Tier 2] Lightning Affinity - 20,000 P
He came to a conclusion. For all his effort, he could only afford the two cheapest, most basic affinities.
'Fire or Water,' he thought. 'Getting one now would give me an immediate power boost, but it would lock me into a lower-tier path for the rest of my life.'
He decided to be smarter. 'I wait. I save my points. Maybe another quest will come along. If I can complete it, I might have enough for a Tier 2 affinity.'
It was the optimal approach. A long-term investment in his own future.
Just as he finalized his decision, the door to his infirmary room creaked open.
Elvara was the first to enter, her green eyes wide with worry. But it was the person who followed her in that made his blood run cold.
Princess Isolde Valerius.
She was even more striking in person than in the illustrations he had drawn.
Her platinum hair seemed to absorb the light, and her ice-blue eyes held a chilling intelligence.
She wasn't a minor antagonist like him. She was a major villain, the second greatest threat in the entire novel.
In the novel, she had repeatedly pushed her own brother into life-threatening situations, all to test him into a tool she could use.
Then, at the climax of the story's sixth act, came the war for the throne.
Isolde, in control of the kingdom's army, had launched an attack to eliminate Kaelen.
The upcoming war, the fall of a kingdom, the deaths of thousands… it was all inevitable. He looked at the beautiful, smiling princess and saw her eventual, tragic downfall.
Isolde's delicate smile widened. "Hello, senior," she said, her voice like the chiming of tiny bells. "I saw your match against my brother. It was very impressive."
He stared into her cold, calculating eyes, and a single thought echoed in his mind.
'I have a very bad feeling about this.'