Chapter 62 - 61: The Lunatic

Chapter 62: Chapter 61: The Lunatic

Inside Veera’s Grimoire, the ancient spirit went quiet for a breath before letting out a disdainful sneer.

?<Calm down, kid. There is no way a ten-year-old mortal brat knows how to repair the Dimensional Sage’s spatial lattice. Even the Seventh-Tier Runic Grandmasters of this Empire couldn’t fix that crack without collapsing the pocket dimension. He only has 200 credits because he won a duel earlier, and his arrogance has gone to his head after hearing the proctor’s story!>

?The devilish spirit’s voice dripped with certainty.

?<Let him waste his two hundred credits today! Once he takes that broken ring back to his room and realizes that injecting even a sliver of normal mana will destroy it, he will have no choice. Either he will return it to this desk in a few days to recoup half his credits, or you can demand that ring from him as a wager when you crush him in the Monthly Battles!>

?Hearing his master’s analysis Veera’s panic finally receded.

He thought,

?"That’s right. Without the Abyssal Blood-Threads of my Supreme Grimoire, that ring is nothing more than a useless piece of scrap iron in his hands. Right now, he is just paying two hundred credits to keep it warm for me!"

?"Go ahead and buy it, Aegon Noiré," Veera hissed in a low voice so only Aegon could hear. "Even the Runic Grandmasters of the capital couldn’t mend that spatial core. Spending all 200 of your credits on a dead relic you can’t even activate only proves how arrogant and ignorant you are. Keep it safe in your pocket until the end of the month, because I’ll be taking it from you in the Battle ring."

?Aegon looked at the foolish confidence on Veera’s face and immediately guessed what the old Devil inside Veera’s Grimoire had just told him.

?"Is that so?" Aegon replied flatly, turning back toward the counter. "Proctor, deduct the credits."

?Shaking his head at the eccentric habits of this year’s top freshman, the elderly proctor tapped his runic pen against Aegon’s Golden Griffin Badge.

?Ding!

?[ Academic Credits: 200 -> 0 ]

?With a wave of the proctor’s hand, the protective glass dome atop the star-iron pillar slid open with a soft hiss.

?Aegon walked over to the pedestal and picked up the fractured platinum band from the crimson velvet cushion.

?The moment his fingers closed around the cool metal of the broken God’s Ring, Aegon did not walk away.

Instead, standing right there in the middle of the lobby under Veera’s unblinking stare, Aegon quietly activated the [ Ring of the Focused Mind ] and poured his 22 points of Nascent Soul Power into his palm.

?Hum.

?To the eyes of the proctor and the surrounding students, Aegon was simply examining his new purchase.

?Inside Aegon’s mind, however, time seemed to slow to a crawl.

?His spiritual perception dove straight into the microscopic engravings along the inner band and the three fractured pieces of the dimensional gem.

100 nodes, 1000 nodes, 5,000 nodes, 10000 nodes!

?Every single spatial circuit, gravity array, spirit-gathering rune, and phantom-projection matrix carved by the Dimensional Sage 800 years ago was scanned, dissected, and permanently etched into Aegon’s memory as a complete, flawless three-dimensional blueprint!

?Ten seconds later, the last spatial node clicked into place inside his mind.

?[ Blueprint Analysis Complete: Mythic-Era ’God’s Ring’ (Personal Spatial Training Center) ]

?Once the mental blueprint was completely recorded, the physical relic in Aegon’s hand had lost all value to him.

?Keeping it intact would only leave a chance for Veera’s Abyssal spirit to sense or salvage it later.

?Slowly, Aegon turned his head and met Veera’s greedy, expectant gaze across the lobby.

?"You said you wanted to take this ring from me at the end of the month, Veera?" Aegon asked softly.

?Veera’s heart skipped a beat, a sudden sense of dread creeping up his spine.

"What are you doing?!"

?Aegon didn’t answer with words.

?Channeling a single, violent spike of raw mana straight into the jagged fracture of the dimensional gem, Aegon simultaneously squeezed his right fist with all 62 points of his Dragon-Marrow Strength!

?<STOP HIM!> the ancient spirit in Veera’s chest shrieked in sheer terror.

?But, Veera was already late.

?CRACK! SHATTER!

?A sharp spatial pop echoed from Aegon’s closed fist as the fragile pocket dimension inside the broken gem collapsed into nothingness, and the ancient platinum band along with the three crystal fragments were crushed into fine, dull grey powder!

?Loosening his fingers, Aegon tilted his palm and let the worthless metallic dust pour out onto the polished basalt floor at his feet.

?"Now nobody can fix it," Aegon said calmly, brushing the grey dust off his palms as he walked right past the petrified Veera toward the exit of the tower.

"Have fun training in the public gravity chambers, 3rd Place."

?Behind him, the entire lobby of the Arcane Training Tower fell into a dead, horrified silence.

?The upperclassmen stared wide-eyed at the pile of grey powder on the floor. He had just spent 200 hard-earned Academic Credits to buy an ancient relic, looked at it for ten seconds, and then crushed it into dust with his bare hand just to spite Veera?!

?Standing frozen in the center of the hall, Veera stared down at the lifeless ashes of his Mythic-Era opportunity, his entire body trembling so violently that a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed straight out of his mouth onto the stone floor.

Blurgh—!

?Around the central pillar, the dozen upperclassmen and the elderly proctor stared at Veera in stunned silence.

?"Wow! That junior actually vomited blood from anger!!" a Second-Year student whispered, taking a half-step back in disbelief.

?"Can you blame him? He ran over here screaming about wanting to buy that ring, and then threatened to take it from Aegon Noiré at the end of the month. But, Aegon, instead of arguing with him, just spent 200 credits to crush the relic into dust right in front of his face! Who wouldn’t be angry?"

?"Haha, that Aegomn Noiré is a complete lunatic! How can someone burn 200 hard-earned Academic Credits just to send a message? Anyway, I’m never provoking that kid as long as I’m in this Academy!"

?Every whispered comment felt like a hot iron brand pressed straight against Veera’s skin.

?"I will kill him!"