Chapter 17: One Epic Reward and a Clingy Bro!

Jasmine’s question caught Nero completely off guard.

He stared at her for a moment, wondering why she would suddenly ask something like that.

’Does she think I decided to change because Lyris got together with Richard?’

That was certainly possible. Perhaps Jasmine knew he once had feelings for Lyris and had figured everything out from his reaction earlier.

Nero was rather impressed by how observant she was.

After all, his friendship with Lyris wasn’t public knowledge. They often met in places where there weren’t many people around, so there was no reason for Jasmine to know they had been childhood friends.

At the same time, Nero was surprised by his own thought process.

He was now capable of analyzing situations and quickly understanding the possible reasons behind someone’s words.

Even his encounter with Old Man Drake had gone surprisingly well because of how logically he had handled the situation.

’Had I always been capable of thinking like this but simply lacked the confidence to use it?’

However, now wasn’t the time to think about that. He had already come up with an answer to Jasmine’s question.

"I decided to change after my half awakening," Nero replied after a brief hesitation. "I guess it gave me some hope that I could actually improve myself."

He continued, "It has nothing to do with Lyris. You’re overthinking things, Miss Jasmine."

The lie came out surprisingly naturally, almost without hesitation.

Even Nero was a little surprised by that. He was still nervous internally, but he was becoming much better at thinking on his feet.

Jasmine examined his expression carefully.

"Is that really the case?" she asked softly.

Nero maintained eye contact without flinching.

However, before he could answer, Jasmine suddenly changed the subject.

"Lucas told me something interesting yesterday. Apparently, your combat abilities are good enough to match Richard’s?"

"What?"

Nero turned toward Lucas in disbelief.

"He must’ve been joking. I only know the basics."

Both Jasmine and Lucas fell silent.

Lucas let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Bro, if what you showed me yesterday was only the basics, then I’m not even worthy of those basics. Are you calling me trash perhaps?"

Nero looked awkward hearing this.

"I didn’t mean it like that..."

"You completely dismantled me!" Lucas continued, crossing his arms. "I couldn’t land a single clean hit, and you were reading my movements before I could even finish attacking."

He shook his head.

"If that’s basic knowledge, then I seriously don’t know what to say anymore."

Jasmine nodded and then brought up something.

"Even Lilly, who’s considered an Awakener prodigy, hasn’t properly mastered the Combat Fundamentals."

"She’s among the top three students in our year when it comes to awakening power, but in pure hand-to-hand combat, she isn’t even in the top ten."

"Most of her combat education came directly from the university. I know that because I’m her friend."

Jasmine had a rather look of suspicion on her face as she spoke her next word.

"So how did you suddenly become so skilled? Where exactly did you learn those techniques?"

Nero felt sweat forming on the back of his neck.

’Why is she so observant?’

He was starting to wonder whether Jasmine had actually been researching him behind his back.

"Well, I received some private training at the Morgan Estate," Nero replied awkwardly. "Miss Lilia thought I was too much of a coward, so she arranged some lessons to help toughen me up."

It wasn’t a complete lie. He did live at the Morgan Estate!

It’s a pity that was the only truth he spoke to her.

Besides, his position as Lilia Morgan’s ward was already known to many people. He wasn’t officially adopted, and Lilia had made it clear that he shouldn’t call her his mother.

Still, Nero couldn’t understand why Jasmine was so interested in him.

Before she could question him further, Lucas suddenly stepped between them.

"Alright, alright! Stop bothering Nero, you dumb sister."

Jasmine’s eyebrow twitched at his words.

"...What did you just call me?"

"You heard me." Lucas grinned. "Didn’t you come here to train? Go get some training done instead of interrogating him."

Jasmine looked like she wanted to argue, but eventually let out a sigh.

"Fine."

She turned toward Nero one last time.

"We’ll continue this conversation later."

For some reason, Nero felt a chill run down his spine.

Lucas patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Don’t worry about her. She’s just curious by nature."

"Right..."

Nero wasn’t entirely convinced.

"Anyway, are you going to train too?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah. I’ve still got a lot to learn."

Although Nero had mastered the Combat Fundamentals, he understood that they were only the foundation.

His body still needed physical conditioning, and when it came to using weapons, he knew practically nothing.

There was still plenty of room for improvement.

With that decided, the three of them headed toward the training facility.

The next several hours were spent training.

Nero focused on practicing his newly acquired combat knowledge, repeating basic strikes, defensive movements, and footwork against the training dummies.

Although his techniques were already efficient, his body still needed time to catch up with what he had learned.

His muscles began aching after a while, but he continued practicing despite the discomfort.

Progress required pain, after all.

Partway through his training, Lucas wandered over.

"Hey, Nero." He scratched his head awkwardly. "Can you show me that counter you used yesterday? The one where you redirected my punch?"

Nero blinked.

"Sure, I guess."

He demonstrated the technique slowly, explaining how Lucas should position his feet and redirect the incoming force.

Lucas watched carefully before trying it himself.

His first few attempts were clumsy, but after Nero corrected his movements, he gradually began improving.

"That’s amazing!" Lucas exclaimed. "Show me more!"

Nero agreed and demonstrated several other techniques he had learned from the Combat Fundamentals.

Lucas absorbed everything enthusiastically, constantly asking questions whenever he didn’t understand something.

His enthusiasm was honestly a little overwhelming.

By the time they finished, Lucas suddenly grabbed Nero’s hands with both of his own.

"Nero."

"...What?"

Lucas looked at him with an unusually serious expression.

"You are now my best friend."

Nero stared at him blankly.

"Huh?"

"Thank you so much for helping me improve!" Lucas exclaimed, shaking his hands vigorously. "I’ve learned more in these past two hours than I have in months of regular training!"

"I... you’re welcome?"

Nero wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

’Does this guy get attached to people this easily?’

Just then, a familiar notification appeared before his eyes.

[Delayed Reward Distribution]

[The remedy you provided to Drake has been successfully prepared and administered by his experts. His Mana blockage has been completely cleared.]

[Quest Reward Confirmed: Enlightenment (Epic)]

[The ability has been integrated into your System.]

Nero’s eyes immediately widened.

’It worked!’

Old Man Drake had actually decided to trust his advice, and the remedy had successfully cleared his Mana blockage.

Nero was glad that the treatment had worked.

More importantly, he had finally received the Epic reward he had been waiting for!

’Enlightenment, huh?’

He immediately opened the reward description.

Initially, Nero had assumed the ability would work according to the usual meaning of the word, granting him a sudden realization or understanding of something profound.

Perhaps it could help him comprehend combat techniques, or even the nature of Mana itself.

However, halfway through reading the description, his expression became strange.

"...What?"

The description of the ability was completely different from what he had expected.

In fact, the ability had almost nothing to do with the usual concept of Enlightenment.

And yet, what it actually did was far, far better.