F uck you.

He hated the system for doing this to him as this meant that he’d spend most of the remaining event time stuck in this Arena.

Considering how long it took him to reach a hero and complete their challenge, he’d be able to visit no more than three statues when he came back.

Annoyed as he was, he was still aware that the only way out was to kill the Black Tortoise as quickly as possible. To do that, he had to work together with his opponent. He could offer her the Heavenly Stone of Wisdom as a reward. He could always come back to the Arena for more rewards once the event was over.

Finally, he looked up at his opponent and was surprised to hear the familiar sounds of the strange language he had heard in the Space Store.

Why the hell is she pointing her sword at me? Is she challenging me to a duel?

Staring at the glittering blade, he waited to see what she’d do next and was surprised to see her cast a spell instead of strike with her sword. The words she spoke were making a fireball appear in front of her. But the spell was not quite like any other fireball he had seen in Ascension — pale in color, it seemed to have far less power than the standard one.

Confused, he used Identification.

Cannot be identified.

No connection.

The fireball slid off the blade and, hitting him in the chest, spread over his clothes. His magic resistance was so high that he didn’t even bother to dodge. Not taking his eyes off the girl, he brushed off the flickering flames and watched his opponent blink in confusion.

Not the best start, he thought.

The girl froze in astonishment instead of dashing forward to finish him off. Staring at his unscathed clothes, she wondered how the flames failed to burn them.

Raven was surprised as well, but by an entirely different thing. Why did it take her that much time to read a spell that simple? Every player or NPC wizard would cast it in a split second. If it weren’t for the five-second-long cooldown and the limited amount of mana, people would be shooting fireballs left and right.

He considered using Sun Impulse to test an idea, but this skill could seriously wound his opponent, which wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do if he wanted them to work together. He couldn’t use any scrolls either as the supposed within-Arena restriction could only apply to the player’s own spells.

Seeing his confusion, Niarrah gave no more thought to her mistake or her opponent’s high level of defense. Gritting her teeth, she adjusted the grip on her weapon and began to circle Raven, watching his moves closely.

She was serious about killing him. She had seen the same system message explaining the rules and her task. And although she wasn’t yet used to getting pop-up messages, she had no problems reading and grasping their meaning.

She needed the Heavenly Stone of Wisdom.

Unlike Raven, she knew what kind of item it was: a mind development stimulator, much stronger than the dorrah stones typically used for this purpose.

She didn’t expect to come across an item that precious. The moment she saw its name, she remembered her brother’s words. This was her opportunity. Heavenly Stones of Wisdom were rare even in the Royal Systems of a higher class than Litrah. They were rumored to grant as much as one percent of mental development in the early stages.

The stronger a player became, the more time and effort it took them to achieve the next evolution. For this reason, development aids were far more efficient in the early stages. Whenever they’d come across a powerful item, many Great Families and clans would give it not to their highest-level members but the young prodigies.

Heavenly Stones of Wisdom were the dream of every Novice or Apprentice. Considering that a gifted individual like herself would gain between zero point five and zero point seven percent over several years of diligent work, an item granting one percent could give her an edge over everyone else. Like hell she could turn it down. Even if her opponent belonged to a powerful clan, she was willing to take the risk.

Her figure began to shimmer, her sword ringing as she prepared to activate an attack skill when her opponent waved at her. He didn’t look hostile at all.

She lowered her sword but kept her eye on him, ready to attack, when he suddenly spoke in a strange language, taking out a pendant and pointing at it.

“Please tell me you have something like this.” Looking at her and pointing at Evil-In’s Pendant, Raven hoped that the guys from the Space Store weren’t the only translation device users in this world.

How are we to work together if we can’t understand each other?

Raven would rather not try playing charades in fear of any of the gestures being offensive in her culture. He had already taken a risk by waving at her.

In the worst-case scenario, he could kill her or escape.

But the girl was smart. Hearing the strange language and seeing the pendant, she nodded, then took out a ring and, putting it on her finger, spoke:

“I don’t know what clan or family you come from, but I propose to resolve our conflict through combat. Let the best one win and take the reward.”

Realizing that this time he was getting a proper translation, he sighed with relief and shook his head.

“You can have it. I don’t really need it. The only thing I need is to leave this place as soon as possible. I have too many other things to do.”

“Are you... Offering an alliance?” Her brows jerked up. Having considered the offer for a while, she looked at him with doubt. “That sounds really suspicious. Why would you give up a Stone of Wisdom?”

Raven could understand her suspicion. They were complete strangers; being too trusting in a situation like that could easily get you killed. He had to convince her that his intentions were sincere.

...or take a shortcut by intimidating her. Judging by the fireball, she was much weaker than he was.

Then again, this tactic could fail him if she turned out to be too proud, or too stupid, but it was worth a shot.

“I see you don’t believe me. If I really wanted the reward, I could take it easily. By using something like this.”

Saying that, he summoned Kharses. The huge monster appeared by his side, staring at Niarrah with its empty eyes.

Opening her mouth wide in astonishment, she leaped back and pointed her sword at the monster, gripping it tightly, her body enveloped in a battle aura. She seemed on the verge of using everything in her arsenal just to stay alive.

“Easy. It won’t attack you if you don’t attack me.”

Niarrah was silent, her mind swarming with many thoughts. But one was the loudest, drowning all the rest:

How is he doing that?!