Chapter 151
Rayne honestly didn't remember much of what happened after the battle against Atticus ended.
The fight had drained him far more than he initially realized. Between constantly using [War Pulse], multiple [Death Strikes], and pushing [Weaver's Protection] far beyond what he normally used it for, every bit of mana inside him had been wrung dry by the end.
Most of his memories from afterward were little more than scattered fragments.
He remembered Atticus being carried away by several healers while still unconscious. He remembered Darius and Mikel being dragged away shortly afterward. He remembered thousands of spectators staring at the arena floor as though they had just witnessed something they couldn't fully process.
The crowd hadn't immediately erupted into cheers either.
Instead, countless murmurs spread throughout the arena. The noise became so loud that it almost sounded like a swarm buzzing above their heads. People pointed. People argued. Some looked shocked while others simply looked confused.
It was probably louder than cheering would have been.
After that, Bran wasted no time getting them out of there.
Their battles for the day were finished and the old ranger had absolutely no interest in remaining near the arena any longer than necessary. More than once he muttered something about avoiding nobles before they reached them.
Rayne hadn't really understood what he meant at the time. His head felt too heavy to think properly.
So he simply followed along.
The three of them ended up taking a carriage back to the longhouse. Normally they would have walked, but none of them were really in a condition to do that comfortably.
Even Jason looked exhausted.
The large soldier had managed to defeat Darius during the battle, but not before taking a nasty wound himself. A deep cut stretched across his stomach where even his armour had broken apart. Fortunately, all three of them still had health potions available, and none of the injuries appeared life-threatening.
They could always visit a healer the following day if necessary.
By the time they reached the longhouse, nobody felt particularly interested in conversation.
Jason disappeared into his room. Bran did the same. Rayne barely made it to his own bed.
In fact, he wasn't even entirely sure when he fell asleep. One moment he remembered sitting down and the next everything had gone dark.
When he finally woke up again, sunlight was already filtering through the window.
His body still felt sore.
Several muscles complained whenever he moved, but compared to yesterday, he felt significantly better. The health potions, combined with [Lesser Regeneration], had already done most of the work.
Yet none of that held his attention for very long.
Something else had been sitting at the back of his mind ever since the battle ended.
Notifications.
He had felt them yesterday, but at that time he had simply been too exhausted to care. Now, however, he finally pulled them up.
Almost immediately, surprise appeared on his face.
***
You have levelled up the skill War Pulse. Level 2 reached.
You have gained the skill Mana Manipulation (Uncommon). The skill has been registered as a new skill.
***
[War Pulse] going up a level alone was good news, but it wasn't the notification that made him happy. It was the fact that he had finally gotten [Mana Manipulation].
For weeks he had been practicing with mana whenever he found free time. He had repeatedly tried to gain the skill and repeatedly failed. At one point he had started wondering if he was simply doing something wrong.
Apparently, that wasn't the case.
The gods had simply decided he wasn't ready for it yet. Or perhaps he had only needed a battle difficult enough to push him past the edge.
Either way, he finally had the skill.
A small grin appeared on his face before another thought entered his mind—That things would have been even better if Atticus had actually died during the battle. The system would have granted him stats, maybe even a useful skill.
Then again, killing the heir of House Arkala in the middle of a tournament probably would have created far more problems than any reward was worth.
Between the tournament and kingdom law, House Arkala, and the First Prince himself, surviving the aftermath would have been a battle all on its own.
And as he thought about that, another realization entered his mind.
The fact that he had just casually considered killing Atticus.
There had been no guilt attached to the thought. No hesitation either. He had simply looked at the situation from a practical perspective and concluded that killing his cousin would have caused more problems than it was worth.
A few months ago, that probably would have bothered him. Now it barely registered.
The realization sat with him for several seconds before he slowly shook his head, and reminded himself again that this world wasn't Earth.
Ever since arriving here, he had fought monsters, bandits, undead, and soldiers. He had killed more people in the past few months than most serial killers back on Earth in their entire lives. At some point, he had simply become desensitized to it.
Not that it mattered much.
Atticus was still alive, and if there was one thing Rayne was certain of, it was that the noble wasn't going to take yesterday's beating calmly.
The humiliation alone would be enough to drive someone like him mad.
An entire arena had watched him get dragged into the dirt and beaten unconscious. Rayne couldn't imagine Atticus simply accepting that and moving on with his life.
No, the man would try something eventually.
Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But sooner or later, Atticus would come looking for him again.
Thinking about that, Rayne found himself almost glad that he wouldn't be remaining in the capital much longer. Once the tournament ended, there was a good chance he would be leaving Valers for the godless ruins.
Whatever happened afterward would be a problem for the future.
For now, he still had a tournament to focus on.
There were more matches today, and like yesterday, people would be paying a lot of attention to him, maybe even more than yesterday.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when a sudden knock echoed through the room.
Rayne blinked and looked toward the door.
“Rayne, are you up yet?” Bran's voice called out from the other side. “Captain Edran needs us in his chamber.”
That immediately got his attention.
Rayne pushed himself off the bed and crossed the room before pulling the door open.
Bran stood outside waiting for him, and he blinked seeing him. The old man looked far brighter than usual. In fact, Rayne couldn't remember the last time he had seen him looking this pleased.
Looking Bran over more carefully, Rayne couldn't actually see any visible injuries on him. No signs that the old man had been involved in a difficult battle only yesterday.
Of course, Rayne doubted that was the reason behind his good mood.
The fight against the Crimson Guard hadn't been easy for any of them. Even if the health potions had done their work, there was no way Bran had fully recovered already. There would still be soreness. There would still be strain lingering in his muscles.
Before Rayne could ask about it, however, Bran pointed toward the hallway.
“Let's go,” he said. “I'll tell you what happened while we walk.”
Rayne nodded and stepped out of his room. After closing the door behind him, he quickly moved alongside Bran.
A handful of soldiers were already awake and moving through the longhouse. Some were just talking. Others appeared to be heading toward breakfast.
As soon as they noticed him, several conversations died. Rayne immediately caught the looks directed his way.
He was already used to men staring at him, but this felt different. The expressions weren't hostile. They weren't mocking either. If anything, there was something else sitting in their eyes.
Fear.
Rayne could understand why. Yesterday, half the city had watched him beat Atticus unconscious in the middle of the arena.
That sort of thing tended to leave an impression.
“I know you might already be wondering about it,” Bran said as they reached the stairs. “But I broke through the first wall yesterday.”
Rayne stopped mid-step. For a second, he simply stared at the older man before finally understanding why he seemed so pleased.
“You selected a class?”
Bran shook his head. “Not yet. I'm still going through the options, but at least it proves your theory was right.”
Rayne frowned slightly before catching up again. “The one about breaking through barriers.”
“Yes, it worked.”
“You broke through your mental barrier yesterday?”
Bran nodded, and for a brief moment, something passed across his face, but it vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.
“It happened when I saved you. The notifications appeared then,” Bran explained. “I only checked them properly this morning. After that I informed the captain and consulted him through the class options.”
Rayne felt a surge of curiosity. Breaking through the first wall wasn't a small thing, especially not for a veteran like Bran.
He wanted to know what classes he had been offered. More importantly, he wanted to know whether any of them were rare.
Unfortunately, before he could ask, they had already reached Captain Edran's chamber.
Bran stepped forward and knocked three times against the door.
“Captain Edran,” he called out. “We're here.”
A moment later a familiar voice answered from inside. “Get in.”
The two of them immediately entered the room before offering a salute.
Captain Edran sat alone behind a desk. At first glance everything appeared normal, but the longer Rayne looked at him, the more obvious it became that something was off.
The captain looked tired.
Several maps had been spread across the table in front of him while multiple tomes lay open nearby. It looked as though he had spent most of the night reading rather than sleeping.
Captain Edran looked between the two of them for a moment before leaning back slightly in his chair.
“You two look like you have already used health potions,” he said, “but go visit the healers anyway after this. Potions aren't perfect. Sometimes injuries remain hidden, especially after battles like yesterday. I'd rather not have either of you discovering that in the middle of another fight.”
Both Rayne and Bran nodded. The captain remained silent for a second before continuing.
“But I didn't call you here only for that. First of all, congratulations on defeating Atticus and the Crimson Guard. You have managed to create quite the ruckus again.”
Rayne immediately felt his stomach tighten slightly. After everything that had happened yesterday, he wasn't entirely sure if creating a ruckus was a good thing.
“Is it going to be bad?” he asked.
Captain Edran gave him a tired look before nodding.
“Yes. Prince Melakar is furious about the humiliation of his guards. House Arkala is apparently one step away from demanding your execution, although they're trying to stay quiet for now because the rest of the noble families are currently enjoying their embarrassment far too much. As for the city itself, half the people don't know what to think about you anymore.”
The captain shook his head.
“You've become an enigma, Rayne, and people don't see enigmas every day.”
Rayne wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to that. Fortunately, Captain Edran didn't wait for an answer, but his next words shocked him.
“That's why I want you to withdraw from the tournament.”
Rayne's eyes widened immediately. “But Captain Edran—”
The captain raised a hand and interrupted him before he could continue.
“I'm not saying it only because we need to let this situation cool down. The truth is that we're about to receive official orders regarding the godless ruins.”
Both Rayne and Bran straightened slightly.
“It should happen within two weeks.”
Rayne immediately glanced toward Bran and found the old man looking just as surprised as he felt.
Before either of them could ask anything, however, Captain Edran continued.
“If we're moving toward the ruins, then I want my soldiers in their best possible condition. There is no point risking further injuries in the tournament.”
His gaze drifted toward the maps covering his desk.
“More importantly, some complications have appeared recently. Prince Caelan will also be travelling toward the ruins, and our warband has been assigned to accompany him as part of his personal force.”
Rayne immediately remembered the pudgy prince he had met before the trial, and hundreds of questions entered his mind at once.
“Why would Prince Caelan be going there?”
Captain Edran let out a long sigh. “If I knew the answer to that question, I probably wouldn't have spent most of the night staring at maps and reports.”
His fingers tapped lightly against the desk.
“Just know that the prince will be travelling there and that we'll be accompanying him, but before we leave for the ruins, there are two things for you, Rayne.”
Rayne raised an eyebrow. “What are they, Captain?”
For a brief moment, Captain Edran simply looked at him. Then he spoke. “First, Prince Caelan wishes to meet with you personally.”
Rayne blinked, and before he could process that statement, the captain continued.
“Second, if the warband is going to the godless ruins, I'll need additional squad leaders. We lost some in the plains. So, Rayne, I want you to become one of them.”
Rayne froze at once.
“And Bran,” the captain added, “I want you serving as his deputy.”
***