Chapter 26: You’re Betting on Seraphine. I’m Leveling Veyra Again
Veyra looked at Eira. Eira struck one fist lightly against her breastplate. Veyra didn’t praise her.
She only gave a small nod. Then her attention returned to Cassian.
"So you didn’t rush back here to report their victory."
"No."
"Maelin fought."
"Seraphine’s War Seer?"
"Yes."
"Rare Hero. Three seconds."
That finally caught Veyra’s interest.
"And?"
"And five hundred thousand Aether ended up on Seraphine."
"What about you?"
"Ten thousand."
Veyra was silent for two seconds.
"On whom?"
Cassian was already opening her growth panel.
"Me."
A quiet laugh escaped her.
"So now you’re finally nervous?"
Cassian didn’t deny it as quickly as he usually would.
[Veyra]
[Current Manifestation Level: 3]
[Raise to Level 4: Battle Essence ×12,000]
[Seal Status: Eclipse Chains ×7]
There was no new combat-rating number. Only the upgrade option. Cassian looked at it.
"A little."
That answer made Veyra go still. Coming from Cassian, those two words pleased her more than some empty claim that he couldn’t lose.
"Worried I won’t take first?"
"I’m not worried about you."
Cassian kept his eyes on the panel.
"I just don’t like leaving something uncertain when I can settle it before the last second."
"So?"
"One more level."
Veyra raised an eyebrow.
"The seven chains?"
"I’m not touching them."
"Only the manifestation level."
"Good."
She answered immediately. No false indifference. Cassian confirmed the option.
[Spend 12,000 Battle Essence to raise Veyra’s manifestation from Level 3 to Level 4?]
[Confirm]
BOOM!
The Domain Core flared. Dark-gold light shot upward from the ruined shrine, then fell over the Oath Hall.
CLANG—!
All seven Eclipse Chains rang at once. Not one broke. But stronger power flowed through the Temporary Covenant and into the body Veyra was currently able to manifest.
Her hair lifted in the pressure. A thin ring of cracks spread across the stone beneath her feet. The ten Stormlance Valkyries sorting their equipment all looked up at once.
Crimson Oath trembled where it leaned against the pillar. The system messages appeared.
[Battle Essence -12,000]
[Veyra Manifestation Level: 3 → 4]
[Eclipse Chains ×7]
[Seal Status Unchanged]
Still no combat-rating number. Cassian didn’t invent one for himself. Veyra closed her eyes for several seconds.
When she opened them again, she only flexed her fingers. The air around her seemed to sink under invisible pressure.
"How does it feel?" Cassian asked.
"Much easier to channel power than at Level 3."
"More specific?"
Veyra lifted Crimson Oath slightly.
"After the ranking."
"You can see for yourself."
Cassian nodded.
"Fine."
Veyra wasn’t finished.
"Cassian."
"Mm?"
"That thing you just said."
"One more level."
"It sounds better than ’for the chest.’"
Cassian glanced at the countdown. Four minutes until noon.
"It wasn’t only for the chest."
"The wager too?"
"And first place."
This time Veyra laughed openly.
"That sounds better."
A private message appeared before the moment could stretch any longer. Not Elara. Rowan.
[Rowan Ashford: You added ten thousand to your own name right before lock?]
Cassian glanced at it.
[Cassian: You were paying attention.]
[Rowan: Your total went from 100 to 10,100 before the wager locked.]
Cassian paused.
[Cassian: That first 100 was yours?]
Several seconds passed before Rowan answered.
[Rowan: Yes.]
[Cassian: Why?]
[Rowan: What you’ve done with an F-grade Domain has gone past what "luck" can explain.]
[Rowan: One hundred Aether to buy the possibility that everyone has mispriced you again.]
The corner of Cassian’s mouth lifted. That sounded familiar.
[Cassian: You didn’t put everything on me.]
[Rowan: Of course not.]
[Rowan: I put twenty thousand on Seraphine.]
[Rowan: At this point, I’m almost certain Maelin is Epic.]
[Rowan: But I’m starting to think that 100 on you might have been too small.]
Cassian sent one final reply.
[Cassian: Too late.]
Rowan:
[...]
Cassian closed the channel. Two minutes remained until noon. The Regional Channel had turned completely into a countdown around the locked wager.
Everyone who had been at the mine kept adding details about Maelin pinning down the Rare Hero. Everyone who hadn’t been there was either jealous or pretending not to care. Lucan was the loudest of all.
[Lucan Deyne: Five hundred thousand on Seraphine and the final net return is still 28%. If you didn’t take that, I can only assume you hate Aether.]
[Tobias Reed: I was there. Maelin wasn’t even serious.]
[Anonymous Lord: Great time to tell us now. The wager is already locked!]
[Rowan Ashford: It’s locked. Stop yelling. Two minutes until the result.]
[Lucan Deyne: Don’t tell me you actually think Cassian can take first?]
Rowan didn’t answer. Neither did Cassian. 11:59:50.
Someone started counting down.
[10]
[9]
[8]
More people joined in.
[7]
[6]
[5]
Cassian looked up. Golden light had begun gathering above the war fog.
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
CLANG—!
A deep bell rang across the entire region. Every channel went silent automatically. The system covered everyone’s vision.
[Hero Power Ranking Settlement Complete]
[Rankings will now be announced.]
CLANG—!
The second bell rang. Golden text began unfolding across the war fog. It wasn’t limited to the sky above Forgotten Shrine.
Every Lord in the region could see the same ranking, whether they were standing inside their Domain, at the mine, in the wilderness, or somewhere on the gray ridge. And no matter which way they faced, the ranking appeared directly in front of them.
[Hero Power Ranking]
[Settlement Complete]
The first line did not show first place. Instead—
[Rank #100]
The Regional Channel erupted immediately.
[Anonymous Lord: It starts at one hundred?!]
[Lucan Deyne: Is the system insane?]
[Anonymous Lord: Would it kill them to show first place immediately?]
A moment later, the first actual ranking appeared.
[Hero Power Ranking #100]
[Lord: Tobias Reed]
[Reward: Refined Chest ×1]
At Forgotten Shrine, Cassian stood outside the Oath Hall and watched without moving. Tobias’s name had barely settled into the sky when the channel exploded again.
[Tobias Reed: ???]
[Tobias Reed: I made the top hundred?]
[Anonymous Lord: This morning you thought the Stormlance were a wild lightning warband.]
[Tobias Reed: Shut up.]
The golden text quickly faded.
#99.
#98.
#97.
The rankings rolled forward one after another. The system kept the display consistent: rank, Lord, reward. No Hero stats.
No quality. No combat-rating numbers. Less than two minutes later, the list reached the top ten.
The golden light grew noticeably brighter.
[Hero Power Ranking #10]
[Lord: Gareth Wynn]
[Reward: Rare Chest ×1]
The Regional Channel quieted for a moment. Top ten. Now it mattered.
Ninth. Eighth. Each name remained in the sky a little longer than the one before it.
Then Cassian saw Elara at seventh.
[Hero Power Ranking #7]
[Lord: Elara Vayne]
[Reward: Rare Chest ×1]
A private message appeared almost at the same time.
[Elara: Not bad.]
Cassian sent two words back.
[Cassian: Congratulations.]
Her reply came immediately.
[Elara: Don’t start.]
[Elara: I’d rather know where you are right now.]
Cassian didn’t answer the second message. The ranking continued. Sixth.
Fifth. Fourth. Familiar and unfamiliar names alternated across the sky.
The Regional Channel, so noisy at the beginning, grew quieter with every reveal. There were fewer unrevealed names left. Seraphine still hadn’t appeared.
Rowan still hadn’t appeared. Neither had Cassian. Lucan had already posted the same thing three times.
[Guaranteed.]
Before third place, the system paused for a full ten seconds. Golden light gathered again.
[Hero Power Ranking #3]
[Lord: Rowan Ashford]
[Reward: Rare Chest ×1]
The region froze for a heartbeat. Rowan. Third.
Third was hardly a bad result. For a newcomer region, third in Hero Power was already exceptional. But Rowan had been one of the most consistent A-grade Lords since the beginning.
If even he was only third... Who were second and first? The Regional Channel refreshed rapidly.
[Anonymous Lord: Rowan is third?]
[Anonymous Lord: Then Seraphine has to be first.]
[Lucan Deyne: Obviously.]
[Tobias Reed: I just watched Maelin fight. If she isn’t first, I genuinely don’t know who is.]
[Anonymous Lord: Then who’s second? Elara was only seventh.]
[Anonymous Lord: Don’t tell me someone else has been hiding an Epic Hero this whole time.]
Rowan himself posted only one message.
[Rowan Ashford: Third.]
Then nothing else. Cassian glanced at it without replying. He could imagine Rowan’s expression.
Probably not upset. Just more interested in the two names still above him. The golden text for third place slowly faded.
Second place began to form. This time, almost no one posted in the Regional Channel. Everyone waited.
At the mine, Seraphine was looking up as well. She hadn’t returned to her Domain. The Nightstripe battlefield still hadn’t been fully cleared, and Elara was reorganizing the perimeter around the mine.
Some of the other Lords had already begun leaving. The ones who had bet serious amounts of Aether hadn’t gone far. Maelin stood beside Seraphine, as calm as ever.
"Who do you think is second?" Seraphine asked.
Maelin watched the sky.
"If the system only measures a Hero’s current direct combat capability..."
"I should be first."
Seraphine turned slightly.
"Should?"
Maelin was silent for a moment.
"There is one person in this region I still can’t read."
Seraphine didn’t ask who. They both knew. Forgotten Shrine.
Veyra. Ever since Fate Sight had failed to see through her the first time, that blank space had remained in every calculation Maelin made around Cassian. And even now, Seraphine had never actually seen Veyra fight at full strength.
All she knew was that every time Cassian produced another result that should have been impossible for an F-grade Domain... That blank space was still there. The sky brightened.
Second place appeared.
[Hero Power Ranking #2]
[Lord: Seraphine Valcrest]
[Reward: Rare Chest ×1]
The entire mine went silent. So did the Regional Channel. One second.
Two. Three. No messages.
Lucan, who had spent the last few minutes calling Seraphine a guaranteed win, said nothing. Tobias, who had claimed he couldn’t imagine Maelin losing first place, said nothing either. Five hundred thousand Aether.
A full five hundred thousand had been placed under Seraphine’s name. At lock, the projected net return had still been twenty-eight percent. Now she was second.
Not first. The first message came from a Lord who hadn’t even gone to the mine.
[Anonymous Lord: ...?]
Then another.
[Anonymous Lord: Seraphine is SECOND??]
The third message detonated the channel.
[Anonymous Lord: THEN WHO’S FIRST?!]
Everything came at once.
[Lucan Deyne: Impossible.]
[Lucan Deyne: Maelin suppressed a Rare Hero in three seconds!]
[Tobias Reed: I watched it myself.]
[Anonymous Lord: And now you’re watching her take second.]
[Tobias Reed: ...]
[Anonymous Lord: Wait. What happens to the wager?]
[Anonymous Lord: All five hundred thousand is gone?]
[Anonymous Lord: I put eight thousand on her! That was all the Aether I had on hand!]
[Anonymous Lord: I put twelve thousand!]
[Anonymous Lord: Who called this a guaranteed 28% return this morning? Come out here!]
Lucan stopped talking. At the mine, the dark-red-cloaked Lord who had asked Maelin to test herself against his Rare Hero slowly raised a hand and covered his face. He had bet twenty thousand.
He had seen Maelin’s performance more clearly than almost anyone. Which was exactly why he had bet harder than most. Someone beside him sounded even worse.
"I put in the Aether I was saving for a defense-tower upgrade..."
"You think you’re the only one?"
"I really thought it was free money."
A few minutes earlier, these people had still been annoyed about missing the Nightstripe Huntlord. Now no one cared about the Boss. Elara stood near the mine entrance and watched their faces.
For once, she was very glad she hadn’t placed a bet. Then she thought of Cassian. Of his answer earlier.
[Too late.]
Elara stared at her private-message window for two seconds. She opened it. Then sent nothing.
She had a feeling Cassian hadn’t been regretting that she missed the wager. He had probably been regretting that she failed to put more money into the pool. Nearby, Seraphine wasn’t looking at the wager at all.
She watched her own second-place result for several seconds. Then smiled.
"Maelin."
"Yes?"
"You said there was still one person you couldn’t read."
Maelin looked up.
"There is."
Seraphine watched the golden words for second place.
"I’m starting to hope it’s him."
"Why?"
"Because if first place belongs to someone completely unknown..."
Seraphine’s smile faded slightly.
"That would be the more troublesome answer."
Maelin didn’t disagree.
At Forgotten Shrine, Cassian still hadn’t moved. Veyra stood beside him with Crimson Oath in one hand. All seven Eclipse Chains still hung behind her.
Not one had disappeared. But after reaching manifestation Level 4, even the way she stood felt different from that morning. Cassian glanced at her.
Veyra was watching the sky as well.
"Second place is out," she said.
"I saw."
She lifted her chin slightly.
"Seraphine’s War Seer."
"Second."
"You look pleased."
"Not bad."
Veyra turned her head.
"Only not bad?"
Cassian looked back at the sky.
"They haven’t announced first yet."
Veyra followed his gaze.
"Weren’t you very confident a few minutes ago?"
"I am confident."
Cassian’s voice stayed even.
"Until the system announces it, nothing’s settled."
Veyra studied him for a moment. Then the corner of her mouth rose.
"At least that hasn’t changed."
Above them, Seraphine’s name finally began to fade. This time, the system waited even longer than it had before second place. No one dared flood the Regional Channel anymore.
The mine was silent. Forgotten Shrine was silent. Groups traveling through the wilderness stopped and looked up.
After watching five hundred thousand Aether land on the wrong name, everyone had suddenly discovered patience. Golden light gathered again. Brighter than at any point before.
The first line appeared slowly.
[Hero Power Ranking #1]
[Lord: Cassian Vale]
[Reward: Epic Chest ×1]
The golden words locked into place across the entire region. This time, the system did not leave the answer for another refresh. First place.
Cassian Vale. And the Hero who put him there—Veyra.
The golden words still hung over the entire region, but Forgotten Shrine itself was unusually quiet. Cassian watched them for two seconds, then turned his head. Veyra stood beside him with Crimson Oath angled loosely in one hand. All seven Eclipse Chains still hung behind her. Not one was gone. She was looking at the same line.
"Now they’ve finished announcing it."
"Yes."
"’Not bad’?"
The corner of Cassian’s mouth finally lifted.
"First."
"Definitely not bad."
Veyra gave a quiet laugh and, for once, didn’t keep pushing him. The Regional Channel was already doing that for her.
[Tobias Reed: ...Cassian?]
[Anonymous Lord: It really is him??]
[Anonymous Lord: An F-grade Forgotten Shrine took first in Hero Power?]
[Lucan Deyne: Impossible.]
[Anonymous Lord: His name is literally hanging over your head. How much more possible do you want it to be?]
[Anonymous Lord: So that last ten thousand really was Cassian betting on himself?]
[Anonymous Lord: What quality is his Hero?]
Messages piled over one another. Until yesterday, people could still explain away Cassian’s Rank I lead, his Raid result, and the Dark Monster Tide as luck, one-time rewards, or some strange F-grade mechanic. That excuse didn’t work anymore. The Hero Power Ranking wasn’t a claim Cassian had posted in chat. The system itself had put his name at the top of the region. And second place belonged to Seraphine.
Dame Maelin, the War Seer who had suppressed a Rare Hero in under three seconds, was only second. Cassian didn’t need to explain what that meant. But the mood in the channel changed almost immediately.
[Anonymous Lord: Wait. What happens to the five hundred thousand?]
[Anonymous Lord: I put eight thousand on Seraphine!]
[Anonymous Lord: I used the Aether I was saving to upgrade my defense tower!]
[Anonymous Lord: If Cassian knew he could take first, why didn’t he say something earlier?]
That message actually found support.
[Anonymous Lord: Exactly! He even put another ten thousand on himself at the end. He obviously knew!]
[Anonymous Lord: At least return our principal!]
[Anonymous Lord: Why should he get all the money just because we made the wrong call?]
Cassian read the messages without getting angry. Mostly, he was impressed. He hadn’t realized losing a wager apparently gave people the right to demand refunds from the winner. Beside him, Sigrid frowned.
"They’re asking you for money?"
"Apparently."
"Why?"
Cassian thought about it.
"Maybe they think I won too early."
Sigrid went silent. She clearly had no idea what that was supposed to mean either. At the mine, Elara was the first person to lose patience.
[Elara Vayne: Did Cassian press the wager button for you?]
The channel paused.
[Elara Vayne: If not, then take the loss.]
Another message followed immediately.
[Seraphine Valcrest: You bet on my name.]
[Seraphine Valcrest: I never told any of you to place that wager.]
The silence lasted longer this time. The Lords who had been demanding their principal back stopped talking. Seraphine herself had just taken second place and hadn’t blamed anyone. Continuing to complain would only make them look worse. The channel quieted. That didn’t mean everyone had accepted the result.