Chapter 293: All the Hunters Are Here (2)
’In the end, I only managed to hunt down 10 Lesser Voidspawns today.’
He had already hunted 5 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon, and 2 in the evening.
He could hunt more, but decided not to.
It wasn’t because he was getting tired. Rather, after finding out that several squads had been watching him all day, Ruvian deliberately slowed down.
There was no reason to reveal everything he was capable of this early. It was far better to let them underestimate him and catch them off guard later.
Residing inside Morvayne’s [Dark Barrier], Ruvian quietly went over his [Runeheart] once again, thinking about which one he should upgrade next.
Right now, every one of his stats had already reached C Rank except for Mental Strength. Yet no matter how much he thought about it, he wasn’t convinced that alone would be enough to deal with so many scholars at once.
’So... if I raise all of them to C+, it will cost me 33,750 Plot Points. I can pay that much. The question is... is it the right choice?’
He weighed the decision over and over before finally reaching an answer.
’Forget it. I’ll just do it.’
He could always earn the Plot Points back before tonight was over.
Ruvian activated: [Powerscaling]
Then, without another moment of hesitation, Ruvian instructed the Editorial System to upgrade all his stats from C Rank to C+ Rank.
[Total Cost: 33,750 PP]
[PP available: 63,750 PP]
[Remaining PP after upgrade: 30,000 PP]
[Proceed with the upgrade?]
[Confirm / Cancel]
’Yea, proceed.’
==========
{}---『RUNEHEART』---{}
◇ Name: Ruvian Castelor
◇ Age: 17
◇ Spellcore: Tier 3
◇ Rank: Second-Class Magus
◇ Magic Affinity: None
◇ Relevance Tier: Stage IV – Pivotal Canon
◇ Plot Points: 30,000 (PPs)
◇ Current Arc: Arc 3 – The Vazrun Island
[Mana Resonance: (10/1,000)]
==[General Attributes]==
Strength: C → C+
Agility: C → C+
Endurance: C → C+
Vitality: C → C+
Perception: C → C+
==[Mage Attributes]==
Mana Control: C → C+
Casting Speed: C → C+
Magic Power: C → C+
Mental Strength: S
Mana Sensitivity: C → C+
Mana Essence: [13,250/13,250]
==========
The change happened almost instantly.
He could feel a strength swept through every part of his body, spreading from his chest to the very tips of his fingers.
Ruvian slowly clenched his fist before opening it again.
[What an unusual ability you possess, child.]
His smile froze for a split second.
"What do you mean?"
[You cannot fool me this time. I have already seen through it.]
Ruvian rubbed the back of his neck.
’...So I really got caught.’
He had expected this might happen sooner or later. Morvayne was residing within his soul, so every time his body suddenly became stronger, there was no way someone like her would fail to notice.
[Every few moments, your body changes without any spell, artifact, or natural breakthrough. Then, your soul around you also shifts. It is difficult not to notice.]
Ruvian let out a resigned sigh.
"So... what do you think it is?"
[That uncanny ability of yours, I believe it is connected to that fateless power surrounding your soul.]
Her voice carried a hint of curiosity.
[It is fascinating. If you do not wish to tell me, then I shall simply figure it out myself.]
Ruvian blinked.
"No."
Morvayne paused.
[...No?]
"I mean, I’ll tell you."
Silence filled the barrier. After a few moments, Morvayne finally spoke again. [You... are truly going to tell me?]
Ruvian nodded.
"I was," the corner of his lips slowly curled upward. "But since you already said you’ll figure it out yourself, I’ll respect your choice."
[...]
The entire barrier fell silent again.
Then, Morvayne cleared her throat.
[Ahem. Upon giving it... further thought, child, perhaps I reached that conclusion a little too quickly.]
Ruvian simply smiled.
[It would be... unwise of me to make assumptions without proper knowledge. So... if you still intend to explain it, I suppose I could spare some time to listen.]
Ruvian stared ahead in silence before his shoulder shook.
"Pftt..."
A quiet chuckle escaped his lips before it quickly grew into genuine laughter.
Hearing him laugh, Morvayne immediately became flustered.
[W... Why are you laughing?]
"I’m sorry. It’s just... I didn’t expect the Great Spirit, Morvayne to take back her own words."
[Child...]
Her voice grew noticeably quieter.
[There is no need to emphasize that.]
"But you literally just said you’d figure it out yourself."
[I merely... reconsidered it. There is no shame in that.]
"Hahaha... alright, alright."
He waved a hand, finally calming himself.
"I’ll stop teasing you. Don’t be mad."
Morvayne remained silent for a moment. Then she let out a soft, defeated sigh.
[You are a troublesome contractee.]
Then, a chime came from his bracelet.
"Wait, I’ll tell you later."
=========
[Top 10 Current Squad Rankings — Day 6]
{1} Squad 5 (Silvena D’Elvoire) - 8910 Pts
{2} Squad 69 (Yerin Solder) - 8700 Pts
{3} Squad 71 (Natalia Crystavos) - 7960 Pts
{4} Squad 6 (Irene) - 6940 Pts
{5} Squad 2 (Calyra Arcanis) - 6740 Pts
{6} Squad 4 (Rosalin Varion) - 6740 Pts
{7} Squad 1 (Julian Rozenberg) - 6,710 Pts
{8} Squad 3 (Loden Armand) - 6320 Pts
{9} Squad 34 (Ardyn Renhart) - 5360 Pts
{10} Squad 80 (Hector Bedira) - 4960 Pts
===============
[Your squad is still doing just fine. They are still in second place.] Morvayne said as she looked at the ranking displayed on his bracelet.
"Yeah."
Ruvian replied as he rose to his feet and stretched his arms above his head. His eyes stayed on the glowing screen for another moment before a faint smile appeared.
"But second place is not enough."
[Hm?]
Morvayne tilted her head. She watched as Ruvian tapped across his bracelet’s screen, entering several keywords one after another.
[Child, what are you doing?]
Ruvian’s smile slowly grew wider. His fingers came to a stop as the last word appeared on the screen.
"Just repaying someone’s kindness for putting all this attention on my head."
*****
[Julian’s POV]
A campfire quietly burned beneath a rocky cliff as Julian’s squad gathered around it. The flames reflected across their faces while the ranking remained projected above one of their bracelets.
The cold night stayed silent until one of the boys finally spoke.
"Julian, what if someone else gets to Ruvian first tomorrow? Won’t that make all of this bounty a waste?"
Another teammate nodded.
"There are already so many squads chasing him, someone might really eliminate him before we even arrive."
Julian remained seated without the slightest change in expression.
"It doesn’t matter."
The group immediately turned toward him. Not a single person interrupted.
"Whether I hunt him or someone else does, the result is the same, as long as Ruvian Castelor is eliminated," Julian said calmly. "If another squad claims the bounty first, then we simply take the points from the squad that eliminated him."
Several expressions immediately grew grim as Julian slowly raised his eyes. A cold smile appeared on his face.
"This bounty was never only meant to gather one small prey. It is also to gather every squad into the same spot."
The corners of his lips curved a little higher.
"Then, once they have all gathered together, we will hunt all of them."
One of the boys swallowed before letting out a dry laugh.
"As expected of you, Julian. So you already planned everything from the very beginning."
Julian’s smile had yet to fade. Then, without any warning, his bracelet suddenly let out a sharp chime.
Ding!
A glowing notification slowly unfolded before his eyes.
[Scholar ’Ruvian Castelor’ has activated a {Card Exchange} on you.]
[Your Nature Card has been exchanged.]
[Your Nature Card has changed from {Executioner} to {Flag Bearer}.]
"..."
Reading the notification, a vein slowly appeared on the back of the hand holding his bracelet.
His teammates froze as they, too, felt the disturbance of mana around him. No one dared to breathe too loudly when they realized it was coming from Julian.
The reason Julian grew agitated and furious was not because he saw Ruvian’s name.
It was because he no longer possessed the {Executioner} Nature Card.
With it gone, his entire plan for the seventh day — to hunt down as many scholars as possible and amass an overwhelming number of points — had instantly become impossible.
"That damn COMMONER!!!!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the campfire before him suddenly flared, surging several feet into the air.
"I SWEAR I’ll KILL HIM!!!"
──────── ✦ ────────
[Chapter 293: All the Hunters Are Here (2)]
Plot Points= 30,000 PP