Chapter 381: It’s you…

Chapter 381: It’s you...

Congratulations, you have won the 4th event - Arena!

Do you want to accept your reward or would you like to forgo receipt to improve your final rewards?

Your reward for winning the 4th event is:Geett the latest novels at novelhall.com

Passive skill combination token (low epic)

“I would like to use it to improve my final rewards.”

The window disappears and I look at the palm of my hand, clenching it into a fist and then opening it.

What a cowardly little bitch.

Sure, he was about to lose. He gave his all, and I overwhelmed him. But still! What the hell. Fight me, show some pride, and don’t just look at me like that! Goddamned Patience, is it his subclass, is that why?

Savant my ass.

I don’t remember the last time I felt so frustrated. He’s more talented than me, he has some amazing skills, he was mentored by a Champion, and declared a Champion candidate. Yet he thinks so logically. It's as if he’s weighing everything, without taking any joy in the fighting.

And now he’s hiding. I went looking for him. I’ve scanned the entire area of the tournament, but I couldn’t find him. So I can’t even try to punch him to vent.

As has become my custom whenever I’m annoyed, I pull Biscuit closer to my chest.

We are alone in the living room in the huge armchair I’ve reserved. Biscuit is quiet, and I have a suspicion he is sleeping off a large quantity of meat he found somewhere.

His small body is soft and warm, and I can sense his heart beating calmly and hear his breathing. The fur on top of his head is pleasantly soft as I pet him.

I wonder if I should start referring to him as an ESC, emotional support corgi, or ESFA, emotional support future absolute, or ESAO, emotional support animal overlord? It could be something to think about in the future.

I pull up my status and check the skills that leveled up after I left the Arena.

[Resonance - lvl 45 > Resonance - lvl 46]

[Mana Domain - lvl 38 > Mana Domain - lvl 39]

[Mana Domain - lvl 39 > Mana Domain - lvl 40]

[Mana Crown - lvl 22 > Mana Crown - lvl 23]

[Mana Crown - lvl 23 > Mana Crown - lvl 24]

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 45 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 46]

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 46 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 47]

At least the rewards are nice, damn it.

Once this tournament is over I need a break. Somewhere with fewer people. Maybe once we get the twins out of that Black Tower I can disappear for a bit and do some hunting on my own. Staying with them all the time could also slow their growth and mine as well if the danger isn’t high enough. It sounds like a good plan, I would think.

But for now, I have a few hours before the last event, so I may as well visit Miwa and check out her arm.

Before that, I can put the items I made into the store.

I open the interface, and as I do, I put in twenty mana stones. Each of them qualifies as a rare quality item, and they shouldn’t sell for too high a price. But I’ve inscribed each one personally, making the same sort of exercises for mana manipulation that I gave Vega and Channeler.

I’ve already tested them to my satisfaction. Vega and Channeler have certainly made some decent progress. So I set a starting price of 300 shards and time of auction until the end of the tournament.

There is no hesitation at all. She only tells me she already read and memorized it all dozens of times over.

In her group, there is no one she can talk with about crafting properly, so she is happy.

So I tell her about Nevan and his alloys and the things he showed me. I show her the arcane alloy he made, which I keep on me at all times. I even let her see Flamebearer.

Miwa seems like she’s going to pass out from excitement at any moment, as she jumps from item to item, peppering me with questions.

In the end, I show and tell more than I had planned. But she reminds me of Cael, the craftsman from the 4th floor, a bit too much honestly. There is not a single sign of greed in her actions, and I just can’t see her selling the items I leave her with for simple profit. All I see in her is a pure love for the act of creation, nothing else.

She also shows me the arm, and I examine it and the way it's connected to her body. I examine the material and inscriptions. I even copy most of them into one of the many mana stones I keep on me.

I make Miwa move the hand, send mana through it, and activate the various inscriptions. We even activate some she didn’t know about, like one particularly efficient example that serves to make her arm even stronger, and a few more she will have to examine on her own. The arm seems to have been shielded from examination by anyone other than its owner, so it's difficult to parse even as she allows me all the time I need.

Still, I learn a lot and I believe that knowledge will stay with me, add to what I currently have, and allow me to create better things in the future.

Unfortunately, she still rejects my offer to buy her arm. She doesn't care about the possibility of receiving a new arm, courtesy of Lily.

I could offer to rent her Biscuit for a few hours, but something tells me she wouldn't accept, and I have nothing more valuable than that so I give up.

Lastly, I inscribe a mana stone for her. Miwa has a skill that allows her to manipulate flames, but the inscriptions I created should allow her to practice and improve that skill. Maybe even evolve it.

She is probably happiest about that part.

When I finally leave, she thanks me repeatedly and bows profusely, her behavior having done a complete one-eighty over the course of my visit.

I wonder if she saw something in me when I was crafting, just like I saw in her when she spoke about her love for the art of creation.

I spend some time with Min-Jae and examining his eye. It works very well, and I don’t find any problems.

When Vega was still here, I also checked her eye. I might have gotten a bit paranoid after reading the contents of the mana stone that cowardly asshole Savant gave to Lily. Thankfully, it seems like everyone did a good job, and Vega's weakened Mana Wavelength Iris fits her well.

I wonder if I might be able to sell my eyes sometime in the future, perhaps I could even give a few away, weakened versions of course. Just pull it out, have Lily or another healer weaken it with my help, and then fit it to another person, and sell it.

Logically, it shouldn’t affect the trait itself, at least I don’t think it should. I’ll definitely need to learn more before going through with it.

Min-Jae is still acting embarrassed, and it's fun to see. Just that short spar won’t change much, but he is a smart boy, so he should be fine. He will probably get his ass kicked a few times before that, but that's to be expected.

To be honest, if I see him doing it again, I might beat him up. I dealt with a lot of bullying growing up, people called me the brother of a murderer or poked fun at my mother.

Of course, I’m a hypocrite too and I bully others as well. Bendover is an example, or to a smaller extent, others. But at least I’m an asshole who has enough power to be an asshole without getting killed by some vengeful chump. Meanwhile, Min-Jae is weaker, and it could cost him his life later. He can mimic me once he gets stronger.

With little more than an hour until the last day of the tournament, we get a new notification.

The 5th event - Chronicle of the Past will start in 1 hour!

Everyone will have the opportunity to engage in a 1v1 combat challenge with one being from the database of the Earth’s tutorial. Beings such as natives from the already completed floors.

Every participant will be given 1 challenge, so choose wisely!

Challenged beings will be of the same quality as an Avatar, possessing no memories other than those required for combat. They do not possess emotions or the ability to talk and have no motivations other than defeating the challenger.

Note: There will be no rewards for the 5th event. Your performance will be included in the calculation of your final rewards instead.