Chapter 294: We’ll Find Out Soon Enough
[You have received +1,200 Plot Points!]
After inspecting his freshly acquired Nature Card, a restrained chuckle escaped Ruvian’s lips as he absentmindedly shook his head.
Keeping watch from within his soul, Morvayne narrowed her eyes. The quiet satisfaction on his face only fueled her puzzlement.
[Child... why are you laughing? What have you done?]
Despite everything Ruvian had told her, he had only revealed enough to keep her informed about the island test. The truth was, there were still far too many things he hadn’t told her yet.
Ruvian let out a soft smile before raising his bracelet toward her. A picture of his Nature Card appeared on the screen, glowing faintly in the darkness.
He casually pointed at it while keeping the same calm smile.
"To put it simply, I just ruined someone’s plan for tomorrow. This card gives extra points for eliminating scholars, and it used to belong to one of my enemies."
"I exchanged it with my own {Flag Bearer} card. Because of that, his biggest advantage is gone. If he still wants to climb the rankings tomorrow, things won’t be nearly as easy as he planned."
"For him, there are only two choices now. He can find a way to get his {Executioner} Nature Card back, or he can keep hunting scholars without it and accept the lower rewards."
Morvayne quietly listened without interrupting him. After a brief silence, she asked another question.
[Oh, I understand now... then, what do you think he will do?]
Ruvian opened his [Bookmarks] and looked at the glowing marker that represented Julian. His eyes stopped on the H4 region before drifting toward his own position in F4.
Only two regions separated them now.
"Knowing Julian, he won’t waste time chasing people first. The first thing he’ll do tomorrow morning is search for a Dungeon Prototype. He still needs his {Executioner} Nature Card. Without it, overtaking Silvena before the examination ends will become much harder for him."
’Honestly, I can already tell that he must be furious right now,’
Ruvian thought as Julian’s marker remained in his sight.
The image of Julian realizing what had happened brought another faint curve to his lips.
After closing [Bookmarks], Ruvian reached into his dimensional storage.
A strange metal device appeared in his hand, followed by several empty potion vials and a sealed glass jar.
Inside the jar were sprigs of silver-green leaves known as Lirenthia Leaves. He placed everything neatly on the ground before him.
Morvayne stared at the odd artifact to the empty vials, then toward the sealed jar. Her brows slowly drew together as Ruvian began arranging them without saying a word.
The sight only made her concern grow.
[Child, what are all of those things, and what exactly are you planning to do now?]
Ruvian pointed at the strange metal device.
"This? Well, this artifact is called the [Fortune Distiller]. It lets me brew potions almost instantly and the only cost is a few Voidshards every time I use it."
He picked up one of the empty vials and held it beside the artifact before putting it in. Then, he filled the vial with water using his [Evervow Waterskin].
"I’ve already registered a real potion inside it before coming to this island — with the help of my friend — so the artifact already knows what it’s supposed to make. Hence, all I need now are empty vials, some water, the correct ingredients, and enough Voidshards to power it."
Morvayne nodded slowly as she listened.
"The process is very simple, because after I activate it, the artifact does the brewing by itself, and produces the exact same potion that was recorded inside it. It saves a lot of time, and energy especially when I need several bottles."
Hearing that, Morvayne’s eyes gradually widened. Her attention completely fixed on the small artifact resting in Ruvian’s palm.
Before she realized it, the concern from earlier had already disappeared from her mind.
[An artifact that can recreate recorded potions... how fascinating. What kind of potion are you planning to brew?]
Ruvian smiled to himself.
He gently placed a few sprigs of Lirenthia Leaves into the artifact before reaching for a single Voidshard beside him.
"Just a mild poison."
Then, he closed the [Fortune Distiller] before activating the artifact with a devilish grin.
"Oh, and one more thing... since you asked, we won’t be resting tonight. You still remember where they are, and you’re still able to sense their whereabouts, right?"
[...Yes.]
"Good. We’ll catch most of them unprepared tonight."
*****
[Edvoss’s POV]
Inside the control room aboard the massive vessel, dozens of large monitors covered the walls. Every screen displayed a different part of the island, allowing the instructors to watch the scholars from every angle.
The room remained calm despite the many updates appearing one after another.
Instructor Edvoss stood with his arms folded as his eyes rested on one particular screen. A single red dot blinked across the map, marking the location of Scholar Ruvian Castelor.
The bounty icon beside his name shone brightly, making him impossible to ignore.
A quiet chuckle came from behind him.
"That scholar from your class certainly has a talent for making enemies with Class A, don’t you think?"
Edvoss turned his head just enough to glance at the speaker. Instructor Veliana slowly spun around in her chair before stopping to face him.
Her long blonde ponytail swayed behind her while her crimson eyes carried the same sharp look as always.
"What do you mean?" Edvoss asked with a shrug. "There are plenty of scholars picking fights during the examination. I don’t see why this one deserves special attention."
Veliana raised an eyebrow at his answer. She rested one elbow on the armrest before lightly crossing one leg over the other.
"If you truly don’t know, then someone has done an impressive job keeping you uninformed. Though, if you’re simply pretending not to care, I already saw it through."
She held his gaze for another moment before continuing.
"Both Ruvian Castelor and Julian Rozenberg were brought before the Scholar Council after getting into a fight inside the cafeteria, a few weeks ago. Considering the Scholar Council was involved, I find it hard to believe you never heard about it."
Edvoss simply shrugged before looking back at the monitor. To him, it was nothing more than another scholar making his own choices.
"Well, if he enjoys picking fights with people stronger than himself, then he should also be ready to face the consequences," Edvoss said calmly. "No one forced him to challenge Julian. If things go badly for him tomorrow, that’s simply the price of his own decisions."
Veliana did not answer right away.
Her crimson eyes returned to the giant monitor.
She let out a knowing smile as the red dot representing Ruvian suddenly began moving across the map.
Then, calmly, she said:
"Hmm, I guess...
──────── ✦ ────────
[Chapter 294: We’ll Find Out Soon Enough]
Plot Points= 31,200 PP