Chapter 37: System Review
The heavy, medicinal stench of crushed moon-lily leaves and pungent mana-purifying smell was the first thing to pierce Atlas’s returning senses.
He opened his eyes slowly, wincing as the harsh light from the glowing stabilization runes embedded in the arched white ceiling burned into his pupils.
Every joint in his frame felt as if it had been cast in lead, his muscles stiff and burning with deep physical fatigue.
Yet, beneath the hollow ache of his body, his spiritual core vibrated with a dense, rhythmic power — a refined essence pool far more potent than anything he had possessed before stepping into the arena.
Atlas pushed himself up into a sitting position, his teeth gritted as a dull, lingering throb resonated near his lower spine.
He reached behind his back, feeling through the thin fabric of his hospital tunic.
The flesh where Gregory’s dark blade had bit into him was completely smooth — sealed, scarless, and devoid of heat.
"You’re finally back with us," a low, gravelly huff echoed from the darkened corner of the room.
Atlas turned his head toward the sound.
Sitting on the cold stone floor beside the iron bedframe was Skull.
The shadow wolf looked fundamentally different.
The pale, chalky bone plating along his shoulders had hardened into a dense, obsidian-like sheen that seemed to absorb the ambient light of the room.
The wisps of shadow wreathed around his heavy paws were no longer chaotic; they ebbed and flowed with a tight, spatial friction, distorting the air around his claws like heat waves rising off summer asphalt.
Feeling the deep, possessive warmth of their soul bond pulsing in his chest, Atlas raised a shaking hand, summoning his System interface to review the mountain of suppressed notifications that had backed up during his unconscious state.
A cascading river of translucent golden text flooded his vision, illuminating the dim medical bay:
[DUEL CONCLUDED: EMERGENCY SYSTEM OVERRIDE TERMINATED]
[PROCESSING DEFERRED ACQUISITIONS...]
[SYSTEM REWARD:]
1. Duel Victory Bonus: High-Grade Shadow Essence (+1,500 S.E.)
2. Lethal Hazard Neutralization: Extreme Toxin Exposure (+800 S.E.)
3. Current S.E. Balance: 3,450 / 5,000 S.E]
Atlas leaned back against the headboard, letting out a slow, shuddering breath as he tapped his index finger against the air, expanding Skull’s detailed entity overview.
[BEAST ENTITY OVERVIEW: SKULL]
[Species: Void-Shadow Wolf (Evolved State - Phase I)]
[Elemental Affinity: Shadow / Space / Abyssal Gluttony]
[NEWLY UNLOCKED/UPGRADED TRAITS:]
[1. Gluttony Engine (Grade-S Passive): The entity’s digestive matrix functions as an isolated abyssal sub-space. Material, spellcraft, or dark curses consumed by the entity are broken down into raw Shadow Essence. Grants total immunity to digested toxin lines (Current Immunities Active: Lower-Abyss Void Toxin).
2. Shadow Warp & Spatial Assimilation (Active): Through devouring the mutated beast ’Black’, Skull has permanently integrated dark spatial manipulation. Allows the entity to instantly warp through shadows within a 30-meter radius and manifest spatial tendrils capable of dragging targets directly into the Shadow Realm.
3. Force Evolution Aftermath: Due to the forced emergency evolution, Skull’s base physical stats have permanently increased by 25%. Core requires a 24-hour stabilization period before entering another full-scale combat transformation]
Atlas stared at the floating glyphs in absolute silence, his mind racing to process the sheer volume of information.
"You didn’t just kill that thing..." Atlas whispered, his eyes dropping to the shadow wolf, who tilted his heavy head and let out a quiet, throat-rumbling growl of validation.
"You swallowed its entire spatial structure. You stripped its affinity and built it straight into your own system."
The implications were staggering. Not only had Skull saved his life by using his stomach as an abyssal filter to purge a Grade-S curse, but devouring Gregory’s contract beast had catapulted Skull out of the standard class rankings entirely.
The combination of short-range spatial blinks, shadow trapping, and a stomach that acted as a biological engine meant Skull was no longer just a scout-type beast.
He was a walking singularity.
Before Atlas could dive deeper into his stat allocation interface, the heavy brass handle of Ward 4 clicked, and the wooden door swung open.
Rex strode into the room first, his towering frame nearly clipping the top of the doorframe. The moment his broad eyes locked onto Atlas sitting upright on the bed, a massive, booming grin split across his weathered face.
"Look at this! The ghost is sitting up!" Rex barked, his loud voice bouncing off the sterile walls as he marched over to the bedside, bringing a heavy, broad hand down in a firm — yet carefully controlled — slap against Atlas’s shoulder.
"I told Cassandra you were too stubborn to kick the bucket over a little needle poke!"
Cassandra walked in silently right behind him, her usual composed, fluid posture intact, though her face was notably drained of color.
Deep, dark shadows bruised the skin beneath her emerald eyes, and her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, holding her cloak close.
"You’re coherent," Cassandra noted softly, stopping at the foot of the bed.
While her voice carried an undeniable wave of relief, her tone was cold, guarded, and laced with a sharp, heavy tension that Atlas picked up on immediately.
"How long was I out?" Atlas asked, swinging his bare legs over the edge of the mattress and planting his feet onto the cold stone floor.
He looked back and forth between the two of them, his brow furrowing. "What happened after the arena went dark? Did Class 5E get the point? Where is Gregory?"
Rex’s boisterous smile faltered slightly. He exchanged a quick, heavy glance with Cassandra before folding his thick arms over his chest.
"Class 5E won by default," Rex explained, his jaw setting tight as his eyes flashed with lingering anger.
"The second that bastard pulled a concealed steel on you, he committed a tier-one assault outside duel regulations. The match was terminated instantly, and the referee handed us the victory point."
"Where is he now?" Atlas pressed, his dark eyes narrowing as the temperature in the room seemed to drop. "Is he still in the arena building?"
Cassandra stepped forward, reaching beneath the folds of her heavy traveling cloak. She pulled out a narrow, velvet-lined package, stepping up to the side table and laying it down with a quiet, ominous thud.
"The tactical guards dragged him off to the deep holding cells in Sector 4," Cassandra whispered, her eyes staring down at the cloth bundle with an intense, unyielding hatred.
"He’s locked in tier-three mana suppression cuffs right now... but Gregory wasn’t acting on a personal grudge, Atlas."
Atlas stared at the wrapped object resting inches from his arm, his spiritual perception picking up a faint, oily residue of black energy still clinging to the fabric.
"What is that?" Atlas asked quietly.
"That is the weapon he drove into your back," Cassandra said, her voice dropping into a grave, chilling register. "And the crest forged into the hilt belongs to people who shouldn’t exist inside this academy."