In a different realm, Yennifer sat in her command chair, watching Benny and Selene tear through one wave after another of creatures.
Every now and then, Headmaster Rivia would glance over at the monitor displaying their challenge, but due to the 1:6 time dilation, all he could make out was a blurry and fast-moving scene.
Unlike Yennifer, who was a digital entity, his eyes couldn’t make heads or tails of the footage that appeared to be sped up to times six-speed compared to the monitor displaying Cynrik, Brance, and Gabby’s fights.
Thus, he found himself paying more attention to the left monitor instead of the right.
Despite fighting tooth and nail against endless Demonoid creatures for over four and a half hours without rest, the two appeared as fresh as when the challenge began.
On the right armrest of her chair was a small display screen with a list of potential reward items, of which six had already been grayed out.
These six rewards were the ones the two students had already received after kills, 25, 50, and 75, and a small red circle was around the next two, which would be earned once both Selene and Benny earned their 100th kills.
Looking down at the armrest and back to the monitor, Yennifer nodded and tapped the red circles, turning them green. Half a second later, two small parcels appeared after they killed the appropriate corresponding Demonoid.
—
Watching the Vir’eth demon shatter into particles, Benny exhaled. It felt like an eternity since the challenge had started, but soon it would end.
Glancing around the room and seeing the nine crippled demons ranging in various shapes, colors, and sizes, Benny allowed himself to relax for a moment when his eyes spotted a shimmering package where his opponent had just died.
“Hey Selene, I got my 100th kill reward; how about you?” Benny hollered to his teammate without turning away from the golden hand-sized box on the ground.
“Me too. Are you sure it’s alright to take a break right now? I know there are under two and a half hours left, but we still need to earn another 50 kills to pass.” Selene replied as she bent over and scooped up her shining package.
“Despite our hard work, we haven’t seen our rewards yet. Now is as good a time as any; if we keep at it, there shouldn’t be any hiccups along the way.”
“So long as we stick to the current plan, everything will work itself out.” Kicking away a struggling Ollmarug demon, Benny calmly walked away a few meters to a pillar and sat down while leaning against it.
Once comfortable, he swiped his right hand in the air, retrieved the previous reward boxes, and lined them up on the ground in front of him.
Since all the previous rewards had fallen during bad times, Benny had tossed the boxes into his inventory without giving them a second thought.
But now that he had them all laid out on the ground, he examined them and noticed that there were different colors.
The reward boxes for 25 and 50 kills were shimmering in bronze light, the 75 kill box was in silver, and the 100 kill was in gold. Thinking back to the chests Cynrik had talked about when they were in the Egress, Benny nodded and figured it had to do with the rarity or value of the stored prizes.
After arranging them in order of rarity, Benny picked up one of the small boxes, unclasped the little buckle on the front, and half a second later, the top sprung open like a jack-in-the-box, shooting out a dazzling display of confetti-like particles.
Flinching slightly at the sudden explosion of color, Benny nearly dropped the box but quickly recovered when a system notification appeared in his line of sight.
|Congratulations, you have opened a Bronze Reward Box that was earned by killing 25 Virtual Creatures on the 22nd Floor.|
|You have received a Tier-0 Class Skill Book: Metalworking.|
With his right hand holding the box firmly, Benny reached in with his left hand and retrieved a small grey booklet with only twenty pages.
Benny broke into a big smile between the notification and the book title. Although it wouldn’t help him in the challenge, it was definitely something he needed in the long run.
After withdrawing the booklet, the bronze box shattered and vanished.
Fighting the urge to crack the book open and start reading immediately, Benny stored it in his inventory and picked up the second Bronze Box; just like before, the box spewed out confetti particles and triggered a notification.
|Congratulations, you have opened a Bronze Reward Box that was earned by killing 50 Virtual Creatures on the 22nd Floor.|
|You have received a Tier-0 Class Skill Book: Woodworking.|
Picking up the second grey booklet, Benny almost broke out into laughter. Obtaining not one but both of the two prerequisite skills for the Subclass Blacksmith was beyond his imagination.
The night before, when he had researched the requirements to unlock the Class, Benny had become disheartened because no matter where he looked on the Academy Website, the shops either had only one of the books or were sold out.
Stock aside, there was also the issue with the price. Both books had a starting price of over 200 Merit points. Because of this, Benny had been secretly worried about how he would break the news to the two stingy brothers.
There was no doubt in his mind that Cynrik and Brance would immediately pitch a fit if he suddenly requested 500 plus points to spend on two Tier-0 books, but now that he had gained both, he could breathe a little easier.
Putting away the second book, Benny quickly picked up the 75-kill Silver Reward Box, closed his eyes to make a wish, and held his breath before opening the clasp on the front of the box, triggering the notification and annoying confetti.
|Congratulations, you have opened a Silver Reward Box that was earned by killing 75 Virtual Creatures on the 22nd Floor.|
|You have received a 1 Carat Pristine Affinity Gem (Fire).|
When he opened his eyes and read the notification, Benny recoiled slightly.
“Eh? A fire gem…*sigh*I guess not every reward can be super helpful. At the very least, I can sell the gem for some money when we get out. It should bring in a couple of thousand Merit points.” Benny said to himself as he stored the Fire gem away and picked up the final box, the Gold Reward.
Silently sitting for a while and examining the intricate patterns on the box, Benny hesitated to open it. He had no idea if the rewards were predetermined or a random chance; the only thing on his mind was that he hoped it wasn’t another semi-useless item.
Working up his courage and dissipating his doubts, Benny flicked the clasp on the box and was showered in spectacular golden confetti when the lid popped open.
Narrowing his eyes and peeking into the box, he saw a golden booklet with light blue borders, and his eyes shot wide open an instant later as he read the title and looked at the notifications.
|Congratulations, you have opened a Gold Reward Box that was earned by killing 100 Virtual Creatures on the 22nd Floor.|
|You have received a Tier-3 Affinity Guidance Booklet.|
|Tier-3 Affinity Guidance Booklet: by touching this book and allowing your System to access its contents, you will gain the knowledge necessary to evolve one of your Affinities within seconds. Using this booklet will trigger a state of enlightenment, and knowledge passed down for thousands of years will enter your mind and soul.|
Benny stared incredulously at the box’s contents for several seconds until he noticed his right hand was shaking. If what the notification said was true, then this was his ticket to fast-tracking Evolving his Water Affinity into Ice, something that had become so difficult for him that Benny had contemplated giving up.
“Hey! Helllooo~ Benny Boy, what did you get from your prizes? Was it something cool? OI, are you listening to me?” After a minute, Selene walked over and began waving her hand in front of Benny’s face several times before snapping her fingers to get his attention.
It wasn’t until she lightly smacked his cheek a few times that Benny finally woke up from his stupor and robotically turned his head to meet Selene’s eyes.
“Sel…I got something super rare…this book….” Motioning with his head to the open box, Benny practically studdered his words, making Selene raise an eyebrow in confusion before her face turned into one of surprise.
“HOLY SHIT! THAT THING CAN HELP YOU UNLOCK YOUR ICE AFFINITY! BENNY, THAT’S FUCKING AWESOME, MAN!” Shouting in excitement, Selene animatedly waved her arms around and smacked Benny on the back in celebration.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and use it; you know damn well that if you wait, not only will Brancie kick your ass, but Cynrik will probably try stealing it. Especially since he is so close to Evolving his Fire Affinity.” Crossing her arms and smiling like a fool, Selene set about goading Benny into using his new book.
Even if Cynrik were her boyfriend, she wouldn’t let him swipe the book from the younger boy. Having fought alongside Benny for so many hours, he had earned it, which meant it was his and his alone. If anyone had anything to say about it, Selene would go to bat for Benny.
The thought of using it herself never even came to mind, as all she wanted was for the boy to enjoy his prizes without anyone nagging him to hand them over.
Nodding and accepting her advice, Benny carefully reached into the box, picked up the booklet, and gently placed it against his chest. This was the standard way of making a being’s System accept the knowledge stored within one-time use items.
Suddenly, Benny felt his body temperature plummet as he became nearly blinded by the rapid spam of notifications.
-An item with long-forgotten knowledge has been identified, and the Host has chosen to accept this information.-
After the first notification, Benny’s eyes rolled back into his head. From Selene’s point of view, the boy began muttering incoherent words so fast that she was amazed he hadn’t bitten off his tongue.
Meanwhile, the notifications from Benny’s System continued to trigger.
-Due to being in an enlightened state, your control over Water Mana has reached its maximum. By the guidance of beings who passed down this knowledge for thousands of years, you have forced the Water Mana particles under your control to warp and undergo a drastic evolution.-
-Your will has been felt by the particles, your call for empowerment has been heard by them, and you have initiated their evolution, utilizing long-forgotten methods.-
-Your Tier-2 BG Water Affinity has Evolved into Tier-3 AG Water.-
