“That can’t be true!”
Until now I was complaining we were advancing way too slow. But this? The fastest participant to reach one hundred points?
Reward: ten tokens.
I blink. One would think that for breaking such a record one would receive a more…hefty reward.
“Ten tokens? That’s amazing!” Moe exclaims. “We’ll get you some new clothes. These are already too torn. Next time you fight you’re going to end up in your bare bottom and I’m not witnessing that, Nyk!”
I laugh nervously. “Come on, it’s not that bad.”
“It’s very bad,” she replies. “That poor shirt of yours is better suited as a cleaning rag.”
“Moe!” I feign offense.
The lines have already disappeared as we move away from the obelisk, joking around on how to use our grand reward.
“If I get a new set of clothes, you get one too! And shoes.”
“Deal,” she agrees enthusiastically.
We head toward the market, the mood much improved.
And I still cannot believe it—I broke a record.
Me. Talentless me.
43
Eight points. That’s my current value. And the challenges comeonlyfrom those with higher point values than me.
Although I aim to accept only fights with those below level three, it’s getting harder and harder to do so.
I curse softly at this maddening conundrum as I sharpen my blade on a piece of metal.
There’s a sudden movement at the door of the room.
I raise my head and meet Moe’s gaze.
She smiles brightly and skips over to me.
“Here.” She hands me a book.
“What’s this?”
“I finished transcribing the domains so I returned the book. I found one that mentioned levels and thought it might help. I’ll transcribe this, too.”
I take the book from her and flip through it. It has the names of each level but only some basic information since for every domain, the levels can manifest differently.
She sits by my side and leans over my shoulder to read.
“The first level is called Awakening. That’s quite fitting.”
“If only I could get that Awakening faster,” I mumble.
Her eyes widen and she bites her lip. “I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“Huh?”
