“Most people join this battle for the sake of the rewards,” said Paragon Ying Xin. “And rightfully so, because we’ve placed attractive rewards for killing as many enemies as possible. Our prediction was that the Knights and Lords who joined us would find it hard to score kills, since they’re matched against equal opponents who outnumber them.”

Gaius glanced at the glaring number on his chest, and immediately understood what was going on. The points system had been put in place to encourage volunteers to keep fighting, and given that kills were hard to come by, these people would be stuck at the frontlines for quite some time, at a rate of one or two points per day.

But Gaius himself was too deadly to be limited by such an arrangement. The most expensive item that he could exchange for — the Crystal of True Restoration — was a hundred kills right now. Within a few more days, he would obtain it…and then scoot off once he had no more reason to fight.

The Powers-That-Be in the Eastern Territories clearly didn’t want such a scenario. His performance earlier had been too eye-catching, and him leaving a few days after his arrival would not help matters at all.

Having ran through all these in his mind, Gaius smiled. “What arrangement do you have for me?”

“We’ll give you the Crystal of True Restoration right now. In exchange, you’ll continue to fight for the next month, which is when our main body of reinforcements will arrive,” replied the Paragon.

“For free?”

She smiled. “The Crystal’s use is rather…niche, so we can afford to give one out to combatants like you. I’ll be frank. Your tactic is somewhat impossible for us to replicate. We know that the sigils you use are ones that increase speed, but standard Shot artefacts are unable to put out the kind of range and deadliness you have.”

“So, you need me.” Gaius pondered for a moment. “I can accept, on the condition that I still can gain points from kills, and exchange them accordingly.”

“Naturally.” The Paragon got up, and walked over to a nearby cabinet, which was full of wine bottles. “Do you drink?”

“The doctor told me not to.”

“In that case, have some orange juice,” replied Paragon Ying Xin. Two bottles and glasses floated out of the cabinet, which closed on its own accord. Gaius watched the entire scene closely — he could sense something like a sigil being activated, just that said sigil was too weak.

“Curious?” Paragon Ying Xin asked. “It’s a rare Art — Hand of Manipulation, which enables me to control my local surroundings to an extent.”

She raised her right hand, where a pattern was carved into it. “It’s saved my life lots of times. Arrows going slightly off course, things like that. What Arts do you have? Maybe I can get someone to increase your strength, if your slots aren’t filled.”

Gaius pondered on her question for a moment, wondering how he should approach this question. If he lied, it would be easily exposed — Arts were sigils carved on skin, and his scarless skin would give him away almost immediately.

The boy decided to go with the truth.

“I don’t have any Arts at all.”

“Any?” Ying Xin replied in disbelief. Lord Jing Xian, who was leaning against the corner of the living room, craned his neck as the boy’s words entered his ears, and the house shook again as the Lord fell onto the ground.

“Stop doing that!” Paragon Ying Xin barked at him, and then turned back to the boy. “You don’t have any at all?”

“Correct.”

“Ah. You aren’t using a Dynamo, you’re using an Engine! I knew it!” She walked over to the window, opened it, and stuck her head outside.

“PAY UP!” Her voice, magnified to the point of pressing down onto Gaius’ eardrums, echoed throughout the empty sky. “I TOLD YOU SO!”

“I’LL DO THAT TOMORROW!” Another voice hollered back, and Gaius stuffed his fingers into his ears. As for Lord Jing Xian, he’d sat down, his hand over his face. The man was most likely embarrassed by his superior’s show, but as the boy moved closer to console him, Gaius heard him mutter “There goes my salary…”

The boy’s cheek twitched. In front of him was an object lesson about the dangers of gambling, and whatever pity he had for the saddened Lord dispersed immediately. And yet, the fact that these people were still able to bet on such things was somewhat heartening. Not all of them had been engulfed by the insanity that the Knights on this particular battlefield — there was still room for other pursuits, as frivolous as this one might be.

After a few more exchanges between Paragon Ying Xin and whoever she was yelling at, she closed the windows. “Well, let me extend my gratitude. For your efforts in the battlefield.”

And for helping you win the bet, probably, thought Gaius. Just that you can’t really say it.

He stole a glance at the sad Lord sitting in the corner, an action that drew the eyes of Paragon Ying Xin.

“What are you moping around for?” she asked.

“I lost the bet…”

“Who told you to gamble, hmm? Gambling’s bad, unless you’re on a hot streak. And are you on a hot streak, hmm?”

It was somewhat refreshing to see the calm and confident Jing Xian, who had handled a crowd skilfully, be bullied by the Paragon for some reason. It was nice watching these two people act out a comedy show, but Gaius didn’t come here just for that. He cleared his throat.

“Oh, I forgot you were still here.” Ying Xin stopped her barrage of words for a moment, and another cabinet opened. “This here is the Crystal of True Restoration. Please do your best to fight for the next month or so.”

“Naturally.” Gaius caught the box floating to him and opened it. The insides were laid out with velvet, but that wasn’t the thing that caught the boy’s attention. The mere touch of the Crystal’s purple light sent a soothing warmth through his body, and Gaius nearly moaned out loud at that sensation. He snapped it shut, and holding on to it tightly, Gaius stepped out onto thin air, and returned to his lodgings.

He’d finally obtained the Crystal, after all. It was better if he used it as quickly as possible, before anything untoward happened to him. The boy stripped off his tunic and took out the Crystal.

Nexus had taught him how to use it. It was simple, really. Gaius laid down on his bed and placed the glowing gem onto his heart, where it immediately began to emanate heat. The boy’s limbs grew heavy, and before long, waves of drowsiness were lapping away at the edge of his mind.