Rewards? This was the first time Julius had heard about a reward for the tournament other than prestige. “What kind of rewards?” He asked Aubrey.

“Goldencrest will reward anyone who does well. I got tenth place in my class last year in the Intra-School Tournament and I was given personal training and delver’s rights to a rift that was perfectly suited to me. I even leveled up many of my skills during that rift. It is very worth it,” she explained.

The Intra and Inter-School Tournament was separated into two different age groups. One for underclassmen and one for upperclassmen, most people want to watch the upperclassmen tournaments, but many also want to watch the younger students too.

It was a good place to display your talent and was a good indicator of your potential. Julius didn’t know about the delver’s rights, but that would be a good reward if it got you exclusive rights to a rift fit for your needs. One of the reasons why it mattered what school you went to, was that the better schools had many more rifts available to them. Some of them were artificially created, and others were naturally formed that the academy cultivated over many years.

Julius knew that he would be delving into rifts throughout his time in Goldencrest, but that would be with other students of his class. Exclusive rights were different, he would have free reign within a rift, allowing him to challenge himself and practice with more freedom. The only thing was that Julius doubted they would just allow him to into a rift alone. Although it might be exclusive to him, he would still probably have a professor who would watch over him, to make sure he didn’t die.

If that was the case, then he wouldn’t be able to go all out either way. So the rewards didn’t matter as much.

“You can also get resources that will increase your skills or advance your tier,” Edgar added. “I got a special fruit that was able to upgrade my body and skill last year.”

Now, that was more tempting to Julius than exclusive delver’s rights. Resources that could upgrade someone's physical body were extremely sought after and rarely available on the market because more people keep them for themselves.

Something like that might lure Julius into participating. But he expected that the rewards for the underclassmen were not as good as those for upperclassmen. He asked the group this just to make sure though.

“Yeah, last year the upperclassmen winner of the Intra-School Tournament last year got a soul-bound weapon that was personally crafted by a Tier 6 blacksmith. You won’t find anything like that for winning the underclassmen tournament, but that doesn’t mean the other rewards aren’t good. They are still better than almost any top reward from other schools,” Derek told Julius.

“You should totally try! Even if you don’t do that well it's okay. I don’t do that well usually, Kyle and I aren’t specialized in combat, but we learn a lot from the experience.” Lily encouraged him. She probably thought that Julius was nervous about not doing well and embarrassing himself.

“Don’t downplay your success, Lily, you and Kyle both nearly made the top 50 in last year's Intra-School Tournament, as third years. That is impressive.” Aubrey said to Lily.

“Well, it doesn’t feel that good when everyone else did so much better than us. You, Edgar, and Derek all made it top 50. Derek and Edgar even made it to the top 25.” Lily stated.

Julius heard that and was impressed. Even amongst other fourth years Derek and Edgar were among the best as third years. He wondered what that meant for this year. Were they favorites or were there more impressive third years?

“What Lily is trying to so say is that it might be something to consider. I haven’t seen you fight yet, but I believe it would be a good experience. You don’t have to make a decision now, you can wait,” Derek said to Julius.

After that, the conversation turned back to more normal things like how busy things were getting now that most of the students were returning today.

A note from l-Ryn-l

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Chapter 61: Meeting His New Roommate

After the beach with the others, Julius went back to his room. He didn’t know if his roommate was still there but thought there was a good chance he was. Last night Julius had noticed a lot of bags and items that hadn’t been unpacked yet. So, there was a good chance the other boy was still moving in.

Julius walked through the campus, observing how much more busy it was in just a matter of a day. Now, it seemed like the entire campus was alive with hundreds of students going back and forth. There were students of every kind.

He even saw some beastkin and half-elves roaming around campus, trying to find their dorms. Julius tried to squeeze his way through the crowds, but it was hard without outright shoving people of the out way. No wonder the others chose to get back to school early, it was a madhouse.

Finally, after double the amount of time it should have taken, he got back to the Crescent Dormitory. There were many staff around trying to direct students where they should go and trying to keep the chaos to a minimum. Julius barely got through the hallway to his room, where he found his roommate unpacking his stuff with the door open.

Julius squeezed past a particularly large amount of luggage from another room and went into his room. The boy must have heard Julius, because he turned around.

“Hello! You must be my roommate, I am Henry Bishop, of the Bishop Clan,” he introduced himself and extended a hand.

Julius reached over and shook the other boy’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Henry, I am Julius Snow.”

Julius saw Henry look him over like he was deciding whether or not Julius would be worth befriending. Julius didn’t like it. But he would at least give the other boy a chance. After all, they would be living under the same roof the year.

“I don’t think I have had the pleasure of hearing about a family with the surname of Snow. Are you perhaps from another country? Maybe Corvus?” Henry asked him with a plastic smile.

Julius knew what he was doing. It wasn’t that subtle, but he would play along for now. “No, I am from the Empire, just a commoner, not a noble.”

“Oh, that is a shame,” Henry said. Then he turned around ignoring Julius, and continued unpacking.

It does really sound like it is a shame. Julius thought to himself.

He had been having a lot of good luck lately with nice people and he was praying that his roommate would be one too. However, that didn’t seem like it was the case.

As long as they both could be somewhat respectful and courteous of each other’s space then Julius didn’t care. He wasn’t going to be spending a lot of time in his room anyway.

Julius went over to his side of the room where he saw a pile of clothing on his bed. It appeared that someone had dropped off his uniform this morning. It was a very elegant uniform of soft black cloth and brilliant gold embellishments that fit the style without being gaudy.

There were only two of them, as well as some other clothing he expected was for training. A note accompanied the uniform. It said that each uniform was enchanted with a self-cleaning feature and would completely disinfect the uniform with a small amount of mana. It was a good choice on the part of the school.

He couldn’t even imagine how much it would cost and waste time washing every student's uniform every day. It most likely saved them time, money, and energy with this one enchantment.

Julius quickly stripped down and put his uniform on. He didn’t mind that Henry was still in the room, he would have to get used to changing in front of him if they were to be roommates. The uniform fit perfectly, it was sharp but also loose in all the right places. Whoever made them knew what they were doing.

Julius made sure to feed Drasil before he left again. A part of Julius was worried about leaving Drasil in the same place as Henry, but decided it wasn’t a good decision at least for now. There were too many people moving back in today, and it was already hard enough to weasel his way through the crowd without a plant in his hands.


“How many more targets?” the most efficient assassin in the Court asked.

“Only seventeen without people already on the contract,” Caleb said with a sigh. “Four of which ended with the given assassin dying, so security in those locations will be heightened. Once done, chances are Arthur will just come with more, though.”

“Are those four close enough for me to take them all?” Matteo asked.

“No, only two of them are. I will have Nadia take one of the others and send team one to handle the last one once they return,” Caleb shook his head. He considered going himself, but he was frankly too busy these days. At least the levels were good.

Matteo nodded as he held out his hand. Caleb took out the given tokens with the information on the targets and their locations and handed them to him. The man looked them over but didn’t leave. Instead, he took a seat in another chair and looked at Caleb from across the table.

“What?” Caleb asked.

“Are you really okay with all this?” Matteo asked. “We are indirectly working against your brother no matter how we spin this. Compromising your personal values like this cannot lead to anything good.”

Caleb sighed and leaned back.

“What was the state of the last city you went to?” Caleb asked Matteo.

“It was an utter shithole,” the assassin answered without hesitation.

“Yeah, see, that is where all of this gets a bit more annoyingly complicated. The reason why these takeovers from the United City Alliance have been successful is that they are taking over from someone worse. Who would have thought that a system of governance decided solely by who was the best at killing stuff would lead to not-so-ideal City Lords?” the Judge of the Court said.

“If we were further fucking over the people of Earth just trying to survive, I would have less conflicted feelings, but as things are, I cannot say what we’re doing isn’t… good. Say what you want, but the United Cities Alliance cares about the approval of the public. They are also generally growing, and anywhere they go tends to improve for the better. I have even heard some leaders voluntarily reach out to join the United Cities Alliance and allow actual administrators from the Alliance to take over, leading to better-run cities. Who we're killing aren't pillars of the community, it is more that we are removing a few moldy support beams threatening to ruin the stability of the entire structure.”

“Doesn’t change the fact you are working against the interest of your family,” Matteo said.

“No, it doesn’t… but it does make this entire shitshow a whole lot more complicated. Also, rather than think of it as working against Jake, I would rather see it as doing him a favor, you know?” Caleb said with a slightly cheeky smile.

Matteo frowned. “How is any of this doing him a favor?”

“See, I would agree that usually making life harder for someone is a dick move, but for my brother, he tends to enjoy it. Moreover, when he returns and gets into action, I hope that a better future can come from it. He will not take this lying down.”

“What if he does not return in time? What if he does and Arthur still gets voted World Leader?” Matteo asked.

Caleb considered for a while. “I see three scenarios. The least likely is that we will simply remain. My brother leaves, and we all handy dandy hang out on Earth and use it as a branch, with Arthur being a nice ally. The second one is Arthur winning, and we leave. Even if the Court is against this, then I am willing to simply leave the Court altogether and take my family with me. Hopefully, the Order of the Malefic Viper will take us, and my gut tells me that the Malefic One would hide our family even if Jake died as a final gift to him. Finally, the most likely thing to happen if Arthur does become World Leader? This planet goes to shit, and Jake hunts him down and kills him; any kind of advantages granted by being World Leader be damned. I don’t see Valhal doing shit about it either, as while I didn’t see the contract, they are not dumb enough to not leave themselves an out and force them into a fight with the Order of the Malefic Viper.”

“Neither of those options appears particularly positive,” Matteo shook his head. “What about if the Malefic’s Chosen does return? Earth will not be the same after this, no matter what. Who will become World Leader?”

“That,” Caleb said as he tried to sound smart, “I don’t know.”

Ell’Hakan stared at the sun slowly descending towards the horizon as he focused. Soon it would be time. Taking out his trident, he made sure it was in top condition. He had made a small house in the middle of the plains outside of Haven and away from anywhere the humans lived. The reason was simple: he needed the Chosen to fight without any distractions.

The sun above bared down on him as he absorbed its light, the surrounding plains faintly glowing gold from the potent energy of the star. Everything was prepared, and he was ready for the fight. The plains were ready, and his domain was set.

Looking out the corner of his eyes, he saw one of the two servants stationed in their area make their way over. They had been placed in Haven to keep a look on things and make sure everything was going according to plan.

“My Lord,” the woman said as she stopped in front of him and kneeled. “The natives are still unable to break through the defenses created by the Verdant Witch and take control of the Pylon. I do not believe our interference is required unless the Malefic’s Chosen takes longer than anticipated to return.”

Ell’Hakan nodded. “As long as they do not manage to take control before there is less than a month to the World Congress, there shall be no worries. By then, it will be too late for the humans to claim it in time. Keep up the work and ensure things continue as they are.”

“Yes, my Lord. May I know what the intent is if the Malefic’s Chosen does not return according to predictions?” the servant asked.

“Predictions. Plural. Only a feeble plan fails if a few factors are out of place. The framework shall remain, and the objective accomplished. Have no doubt either… I believe he will make it back just in time,” Ell’Hakan simply said.

“Now go. Sunset approaches.”

The servant nodded as she rushed back towards Haven. Ell’Hakan did not look after her but instead stared at the orange glow on the clouds above and the sun slowly descending below the horizon. He sat down and marveled at the beauty of the celestial object.

Faint rays of sunlight licked his skin, and the orange glow faintly intensified. Minutes passed as the sun fully disappeared ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) below the horizon. Staring upwards, he saw the clouds obstruct him. Gripping his trident, he raised it and felt the resonance as a beam of faint light descended. The clouds parted as the moon appeared, lighting up the blue tattoos lining his body. The plains themselves also took on a faint blue color and glowed.

Power filled him as he smiled and bowed his head towards the moon before turning and bowing towards where the sun had gone down. “Your child thanks you. Mother. Father.”

546 chapter - Sandy's Personal Aquarium

“I feel bad for them. Imagine just living your happy life in the water, and then suddenly, this naked monster comes down and forces you to stab them several times as you try to get away in fear. But the monster refuses and just keeps smashing his body into you in a ridiculous display of self-harm. The confusion when he then just leaves with several of your spikes in his chest must only make it worse, too,” Sandy said in a highly judgemental tone.

Jake was sitting on a jagged rock sticking out of the deep ocean, completely naked. Well, naked, as long you didn’t count the many quills sticking out of many places on his body. He ignored Sandy as he meditated, feeling the venom from the many quills course through his body. He purposefully did not eliminate it right away but slowly integrated it into his body.