"From the data I have here, it says you possess the Fire, Light, and Blessing Elents. You also used Earth Magic during the fight against Ming Hao, but...I'll put that aside for now," Song Qian Long said, looking over a piece of paper on his desk. He then glanced at , a skeptical look in his eyes. "Quite the versatile trio of elents you have, hm?"
Fire for attack. Light for utility. Blessing for defense, or rather, support. Indeed, these three elents paired together made more or less an all-rounder, soone able to play any role in a team. But I didn't really understand his purpose in explicitly pointing that out.
"Yeah...what's your point though?"
"Nothing of concern, really...I was just wondering what type of Magic Artifact should I give you," he replied, stroking his beard. "I already gave the Yu sisters both powerful attack-oriented weapons, and student Qing Yue here received a defense-oriented artifact. Student Feng Mian was rewarded a utility-oriented tool that complinted her fighting style. In order to balance out the attack to defense ratio, it makes sense for to give you a defense-oriented artifact here, but with your three versatile elents, I cannot really settle on a final decision..."
As he trailed off, I sighed and cut to the chase. "Principal...everyone present right now knows about my true strength, so there's no need to pretend I only have three elents, is there? Don't pretend to have a dilemma when you clearly don't."
Hearing this, Song Qian Long chuckled. "Well, fine. However, you having all 21 Elents just makes it even harder for to settle on your reward, you know?"
I shrugged. "I'm perfectly fine with not receiving anything. I hate to admit it, but you've already done enough for us. Don't think I couldn't tell - the artifacts you gave these girls were clearly far beyond what a normal tournant would offer."
"No, no, that won't do," the principal muttered, denying my proposal. "You are the team leader; it would reflect badly on the school if you were to not receive a reward."
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. "Then have you thought of anything suitable to give ?"
The principal stared at for a couple of monts, before breaking into a smile, and nodding slowly as if he had found the answer. "Yes...yes, indeed I have."
As my interest got piqued against my will, Song Qian Long opened his Space Locket once again and took out a tiny object that looked like a wedding ring. However, the silver luster of its fra paired with the bloody crimson colored stone embedded on top of it didn't seem fitting as an engagent gift. It extruded an ominous aura that I couldn't quite explain.
I knew it was dangerous, but for so reason, I felt drawn towards it. Despite being completely sane, I could've sworn I heard a voice in my head compelling to sieze the ring imdiately. The creepiest part? The voice within my mind sounded like myself, even though I never consciously thought about taking the ring. The only explanation was I, sohow, subconsciously wanted to obtain that object, for reasons I didn't even know myself.
Putting that mysterious phenonon aside for now, I fought back the urge to listen to the voice - my own voice, and regained my composure. I decided to ask about the mysterious object. "What is that?"
Song Qian Long shot a grin. "To be honest, I do not know myself."
"You what?"
"Hey now, why do you look so surprised?" he said with a chuckle. "I am not so all-knowing god; there are so things I do not understand either."
"...Then why do you even have this thing?"
"Well, at the auction I found this artifact in, no one else wanted to buy it, so I decided to do it myself."
"Hold on, so what you're saying is this artifact is worthless...?" Feng Mian cut in with a puzzled expression.
"Oh, no. Far from it," Song Qian Long replied with a smile. "At the ti of the auction, we were all sitting too far away to feel it, but once I actually brought this ring ho and observed it closely, I could feel a faint magical energy from it."
"Huh...now that you ntion it, yeah...I can indeed feel so energy co from the ring," Yu An Yan murmured.
"However," Song Qian Long continued. "What is peculiar about that magical energy is not the amount. It is actually the nature, or rather, the elent of it."
"The nature...elent?" Yu An Xue echoed in confusion.
The principal nodded. "Correct. Normally, all artifacts are of a specific elent - or of course, multiple elents - but this one...I was not able to identify what elent it belonged to, no matter how hard I tried."
"So, in other words, you pushed onto a failed product, huh?" I said jokingly. "Whatever...I'll take this."
"Huh?!" the girls all shrieked in surprise.
"H-Hold on, Xuan Kai...are you sure?" Feng Mian asked in concern. "From every aspect...this artifact seems to be unusual...and above all else, weak."
"Yeah yeah, Big Brother Xuan Kai, shouldn't you ask for sothing else...?" Qing Yue suggested.
The Yu sisters harbored similar thoughts, and had expressions of worry clouding over their beautiful faces.
I smirked in response to their cries of apprehension. "Kuku...that's just because no one has been able to use it to its full potential yet."
"Hm...full potential, you say?" Song Qian Long murmured quietly. "Hahaha! Very well, student Xuan Kai. I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish with this ring."
"Heh. Keep looking, then."
Saying that, I began walking towards the door, since our business here was done. However, I stopped when I realized none of the girls were following. I spun around and faced them.
"Uh...why aren't you moving?"
"Huh? Oh! Right..." Feng Mian snapped back to her senses and began heading towards .
"What were you staring at anyway...?" I muttered.
"Sorry, it's just you and the principal seed so close for so reason..." Yu An Yan scratched her hair as Feng Mian nodded in agreent.
Hearing this, however, I stiffened. "E-Er, really now?"
"Yep!" Qing Yue joined in, skipping happily towards . "Well, maybe the principal just likes Big Brother Xuan Kai?"
Yeah, he likes alright. He's my damn godfather...not that I appreciated that fact. I'm definitely not telling any of you about it, though.
"A-Ahem...anyway," I recomposed myself, and looked at Song Qian Long, still sitting calmly in his chair. "Thank you for the rewards."
It didn't matter how much I disliked him. He still gave us very valuable items, and deserved gratitude for it. The girls all bowed down slightly, and echoed my words.
After that, the girls headed for the female dormitories, while I headed back to my own room in the male dorms. I glanced down at the ring, which I had placed on the index finger of my right hand (I didn't want people to think I was married and cause misunderstandings).
"Heh...thanks, old geezer."
*****
After getting back to my room, I found i Gui sitting on the couch silently, not budging an inch.
"Uh, hey?" I said cautiously, waving a bit.
The red-haired girl stood up like an automated robot, looked at , and bowed. "Welco ho, master."
I was taken aback at first, but sighed and rubbed her head. However, as I did so, i Gui flinched and looked up in surprise.
"What...?" I asked.
"Master...that ring, where did you get it from?" i Gui asked, grabbing my hand in a hurry and inspecting the ring closely.
"It was my reward for winning the tournant...Song Qian Long gave it to ," I replied truthfully. "Do you recognize it?"
"I do not believe 'recognize' would be the right word, but I can feel a great amount of Chaos energy coming from it."
"So you do too, huh..." I muttered. "From the mont I laid my eyes upon this ring, I felt drawn towards it for so reason. It was as if there was a voice in my head - my own voice - telling to take it..."
"Apologies, master. My mories are still not complete as of right now...I am unable to provide any useful information..."
She looked really sad and uncomfortable at not being able to help here, but that was guilt she didn't deserve. I patted her head with my spare hand and smiled. "Don't worry about it. If you don't know sothing, we'll just have to find out...together."
"Mm...okay, master," she smiled, leaning into my chest.
I looked out the windows, closed my eyes, and sighed. When I opened them again, they were full of newfound determination.
I guess...it's about ti, huh? I already killed Xuan Kun, and knowing that bastard's personality, he definitely won't just sit still. I've obtained magic now, and have already beco an Interdiate Mage. I think...it's about ti to settle things, once and for all.
i Gui, as if reading my mind, looked up at . "Master, I will help you."
"Uh...you sure?"
"Yes. No one the sa age as you will be able to defeat you in a battle, but in this case, you will be going up against an entire family - and one of the strongest families in this city, no less."
I smiled. She was right. "Well then...can I count on you to take care of the small fry?"
"Yes, master. I understand this is sothing you must accomplish alone. Thus, I will make sure no pests get in the way of that."
I grinned, and looked out at the brilliant night sky once more.
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