Chapter 23: No Longer the Same Nero

Hearing this, Lucas casually replied, "Oh, hey, Lyris. Yeah, Nero is right here."

He pointed toward Nero without giving it much thought.

The moment Lyris saw him, she froze.

"Nero?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

She was completely stunned by his appearance. Although she could still recognize his face, he looked quite different from the Nero she remembered.

His posture was straighter, his eyes were clearer, and he carried himself with a calmness she had never seen from him before.

However, she could still recognize traces of the old Nero in him. There was no doubt that this was really her childhood friend.

After a moment, Lyris collected herself.

"Nero, can I speak with you? Privately?"

Before Nero could answer, a familiar golden window appeared.

[Choice Detected: Confrontation]

[Option 1: Tell Lyris you are busy.]

[Reward: $500 (Common)]

[Option 2: Go with Lyris and listen to everything she has to say without allowing your emotions to waver.]

[Reward: ???]

Nero’s attention immediately settled on the second option.

’An unknown reward?’

He had encountered this type of reward before, and judging by the condition, the reward would probably depend on how well he completed the choice.

But something else caught his attention. It was the controlling the emotions part.

’Wait, is this System actually conditioning me?’

Thinking back to his previous choices, Nero began wondering whether the System was deliberately putting him in uncomfortable situations to help him grow mentally.

Perhaps it wanted him to experience embarrassment, rejection, and other unpleasant situations until he could handle them without losing control of his emotions.

’So that’s how it is...’

Nero sighed internally before selecting the second option.

He then turned toward Lucas.

"I’ll be right back, Lucas."

Lucas nodded, although he seemed a little confused about the situation.

Nero followed Lyris outside, where she continued walking without saying anything.

"Let’s find somewhere quiet," she said softly.

"Sure."

Nero answered.

Lyris found his response rather strange.

The old Nero had always spoken quietly, and even his voice carried an obvious lack of confidence. However, the person walking behind her now sounded much more composed.

’Just what happened to him in these four days?’

As they walked, Lyris glanced back at him.

"You’ve become quite close with Lucas, haven’t you?"

"Yeah. Lucas is my friend."

Lyris seemed surprised by his answer before giving him a small smile.

"That’s good. I’m glad you’ve made a friend."

They eventually reached a quiet corner of the campus, away from the other students.

Lyris stopped walking and took a deep breath before turning toward him.

"You must have noticed that I’ve stopped talking to you."

Nero nodded.

"It’s because I got together with Richard."

"I know. I was there when he confessed to you."

Lyris’s expression became complicated.

"I’m very happy right now, Nero."

She hesitated briefly before continuing.

"Richard is a good person, and he treats me extremely well. You might not know this, but I’ve always had feelings for him."

She raised her head and looked directly at Nero.

"Just like how you’ve always had feelings for me."

Nero almost flinched.

However, remembering the condition of his choice, he immediately composed himself.

He couldn’t afford to let his emotions get the better of him.

Lyris continued speaking.

"I wasn’t sure whether you truly liked me before, but after what happened at Richard’s birthday party, I became convinced."

Her voice softened.

"But I can’t return your feelings, Nero. I don’t deserve them."

"We can never go back to how things used to be, and I hope you can understand that."

She paused before continuing.

"I want to spend my time with Richard now. Besides, I’ve recently awakened a Dual-Talent, so I’ve been focusing on developing it."

Nero was slightly surprised by that information.

’A Dual-Talent?’

It was extremely rare for someone to possess more than one awakened ability, so he hadn’t expected Lyris to be among those fortunate enough to have one.

However, he kept his reaction to a minimum.

Lyris sighed.

"Thank you for being my friend all these years."

She hesitated for a moment, as though preparing herself for what she was about to say.

"But I think it’s better if we stop being friends."

Lyris hadn’t made this decision without thinking.

She understood Nero’s feelings, and even if they continued calling themselves friends, she believed those feelings wouldn’t simply disappear.

Knowing that someone close to her still loved her would make it difficult to fully devote herself to Richard.

She didn’t want that emotional burden affecting their relationship.

For both their sakes, she believed ending their friendship was the best decision.

Nero remained silent for several seconds.

He wanted to react. There was still pain, anger, and sadness inside him, especially after hearing that she no longer wanted to be friends.

However, he suppressed those emotions and maintained his composure.

"Alright. I understand."

He nodded.

"I respect your decision."

Lyris appeared relieved, although she was also surprised by how calmly he had accepted everything.

She slowly lowered her head.

"Thank you."

Without saying anything else, she turned around and walked away.

Nero remained standing there for a while.

"Not even friends, huh?"

He let out a small chuckle.

’Perhaps friendship is more fragile than I thought.’

Nero shook his head.

Surprisingly, he didn’t feel as devastated as he had expected.

Of course, he was still sad about losing someone he had known for ten years, but at least he hadn’t lost control of himself.

He had managed to accept her decision without breaking down or making a scene.

For the first time, Nero felt a strange sense of pride in himself.

He had handled it.

Just then, someone suddenly spoke from nearby.

"Damn. I definitely didn’t expect that."

Nero turned toward the voice.

Jasmine stepped out from behind a nearby corner, looking rather dumbfounded by what she had witnessed.

However, her expression soon changed to one of genuine appreciation.

"You did the right thing, Nero."

She approached him and awkwardly patted his shoulder.

"Looks like you’ve finally grown a spine."

Jasmine had witnessed plenty of rejections and breakups before, but seeing Nero accept Lyris’s decision without causing a scene had genuinely impressed her.

She then scratched her head apologetically.

"Well, I should probably tell you something. I was actually the one who told Lyris you were training with my brother."

Nero raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"I saw her searching for you around campus," Jasmine explained. "Before she attracted too much attention, I decided to bring her to you."

Nero shook his head.

"It’s fine. It’s probably better that you brought her to me."

Jasmine smiled.

"Anyway, after training, I’ll buy you something to eat. We can go with my stupid brother."

Nero was slightly surprised by the invitation.

"Okay."

He agreed without thinking too much about it.

Then, as if remembering something, he spoke up again. "I’m sorry for lying to you yesterday. The truth is, Lyris and I were childhood friends."

Hearing this, Jasmine simply rolled her eyes. "It’s fine. Besides, I knew you were lying in the first place. Lyris going around the university looking for you only made it more obvious that you two were extremely close and that something had happened between you."

When the two returned to the training room, Lucas immediately approached them.

"Hey, Nero! What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Yep. Don’t worry about it."

Nero didn’t particularly want to discuss what had happened, so he decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, would you like to spar?"

Lucas blinked before breaking into a wide grin.

"Of course! I was waiting for you to come back so we could spar!"

Jasmine, who had followed Nero inside, joined the conversation.

"He’s been training all day back at our mansion," she said with a smirk. "He told me he learned a lot from your tips and is now confident he can beat you."

Nero didn’t say anything in response.

Instead, he began going over the Combat Fundamentals in his mind, preparing himself for the upcoming spar.

The two moved toward the center of the training room.

Lucas bounced lightly on his feet, with faint sparks of electricity crackling around his hands.

"Alright, Nero! Show me what you’ve got!"

The spar began.

Lucas immediately rushed forward, confident that his recent training would allow him to put up a much better fight this time.

However, Nero was already prepared.

He pushed his Combat Fundamentals to their absolute limit, making full use of everything he had learned.

His movements were precise and efficient, allowing him to recognize Lucas’s attacks and exploit the openings in his defense.

Lucas threw a jab, but Nero slipped past it and drove his palm into his chest.

The blonde Awakener stumbled backward before launching a combination of three punches.

Nero avoided all three strikes and immediately countered with a sharp elbow to his ribs.

"Ugh!"

Lucas grunted and tried to create some distance, but Nero quickly closed the gap and swept his legs out from beneath him.

Thud!

Lucas landed on his back, staring at the ceiling in disbelief.

"What the hell...?"

The entire exchange had ended within moments.

Jasmine, who had been watching from the side, couldn’t help widening her eyes.

"Holy shit."

She finally understood what her brother had been talking about.

He was without a doubt, a monster at combat.

Just then, a familiar notification appeared before Nero’s eyes.

[Ding! You’ve completed a choice]