[The soul slave Aurora is requesting 50 MP/sec from the host.]
[Allow/Decline]
The moment Alex accepted, granting Aurora's request, something subtle—yet profound—shifted in the air.
Her body, once a dim shimmer barely holding form, began to solidify. Light wove tighter around her frame, and what had resembled the fading glow of a dying ember now sparked with renewed vitality.
Her ethereal outline sharpened, her pale, ghost-like skin tinged faintly with color. She was still only halfway restored—perhaps fifty percent of how she had once looked at the academy—but it was a striking improvement.
Alex watched in silence, eyes narrowing slightly.
'She's almost how she was back then… or at least getting there.'
It made sense. Aurora's soul required a continuous influx of mana—at least a hundred units per second—just to maintain stability. Until now, she'd been sustained by the Soul Nexus Ring.
It had kept her functional outside the academy's mana-rich environment, but only just. The ring could only recharge during breaks inside the warded tent, and even then, its capacity was limited.
She had been running on battery-saver mode. Dimmed. Fragile.
But now—with Alex supplying half of what she needed in real time—the strain eased. Her presence grew stronger by the second.
"It feels... better now." Aurora murmured, her voice steadier.
Alex gave a small, wry smile.
"You've been pushing yourself. Least I can do is help carry the load."
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
Alex's gaze lingered on Aurora a moment longer before drifting elsewhere—toward something only he could see.
He reopened the System Shop, navigated to the Magic tab, then to Improve Magic Affinity.
As the list unfolded, a new entry flickered into view: Ice (F).
Without hesitation, he tapped Upgrade.
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[Improve Magic Affinity]
-Ice (F→E): 100 SP
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He accepted instantly.
As usual nothing happened—no surge of power, no rush of sensation. Just a quiet deduction of points. Then, the next prompt appeared.
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[Improve Magic Affinity]
-Ice (E→D): 1000 SP
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"Yes." he murmured, tapping again.
Another deduction. No dramatic flare—just another step. The next prompt appeared, and with it, a wall.
The next jump cost 10,000 SP. That's where it ended—for now.
Alex exhaled and checked his SP. Just around 3,800 remained. He dismissed the screen with a sigh. Guess I'll have to grind the rest.
Still, beneath the frustration, a quiet satisfaction stirred. D-rank Ice Affinity. That was no small feat. His Ice spells would now cast better, faster—stronger.
In this world, magic affinity was fixed.
Everyone was born with a set affinity—or none at all. That trait, along with its rank, was determined at birth. Improving it? A fool's errand. Some spent their entire lives chasing a single rank's improvement—usually to no effect. Mythical treasures or forbidden methods could offer a sliver of hope, but they came at steep prices: agony, madness, or death.
Yet here he was, tapping a screen, boosting his affinity from F to D in under thirty seconds. If word got out, there'd be chaos. Nations would scramble.
Beside him, Aurora tilted her head slightly. "You did something again."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "You felt that?"
"Mm-hm." She stepped closer, studying him like a puzzle. "You feel… colder. Sharper."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I upgraded my Ice affinity."
"Your cheat system is absolutely ridiculous." she muttered, eyes narrowing.
He grinned. "Thanks."
Aurora rolled her eyes, though a faint smile tugged at her lips. "At this rate, you're going to break more than just the laws of nature."
Earlier, Alex had noticed his experience bar edging dangerously close to the cap. It had been creeping upward for days, and finally, just yesterday, the system had pinged him with a prompt:
[Does the host want to update the system?]
[Y/N]
He hadn't even hesitated—clicked 'No' without a second thought.
An update sounded tempting. New features, improved functionality, maybe even something entirely new. But it came with a serious catch: during the update, the system would temporarily shut down. No tracking, no skill usage, no points from kills.
And right now? That was unacceptable.
'Not during Wilderness Survival Training.'
The wilderness was crawling with monsters. The Academy had essentially dropped them into a semi-controlled, monster-infested war zone—and every monster out there was a walking bag of XP and SP.
This was peak grinding time.
'I'm not pausing now. Not when every second counts.'
With a flick of thought, he dismissed the floating system window. It could wait.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
The next morning, Alex and Sherry stepped out of the tent, both well-rested and ready to move.
Sherry brushed her pink hair behind her ear. Over the past few days, she'd been trying—subtly but surely—to shed her timid, meek demeanor.
"Ready?" Alex asked, collapsing the tent with a click and storing it into his storage ring.
She gave a small nod. "Mhm."
Together, they cleaned the campsite thoroughly, then they set off, heading deeper into the Wilderness—into the territory most students instinctively avoided.
Their destination: the regions where B-Rank monsters roamed.
Sherry followed without question, her trust in Alex implicit. Still, he could feel the quiet curiosity radiating off her as they started out.
Alex pulled out his phone, a holographic topographical map blooming to life in the air before him. He zoomed in, fingers brushing over a shaded sector in the far eastern quadrant.
"Aurora", he called out mentally.
"Yes, master?" came her reply, her tone light with teasing amusement.
Two days before the Wilderness Survival Training had even begun, Alex had made a request of her. While the other students were busy forming teams and planning routes, he had sent Aurora out to scout. As a spirit only visible to him, she was the perfect reconnaissance agent. Silent. Unseen. Untouchable.
While others planned, she had moved.
The second-year and third-year students had far more experience in the Wilderness. They knew the hunting zones, the patrol paths, the danger spots.
But none of it mattered if your secrets weren't truly secret.
Aurora had slipped between teams unnoticed, eavesdropping on discussions, tracking movements, and mapping patrols. Her intel wasn't flawless—there were gaps and blind spots—but it was more than enough.
Enough to help Alex and Sherry avoid coming in contact with other students. And more importantly… enough to uncover a few hidden places.
It had taken Alex and Sherry nearly two hours to traverse the rough terrain on the ATV, even with the throttle pushed to its limits.
They were heading into dangerous territory—an area infamous for one thing above all: Stonehide Grizzlies. Massive, bear-like creatures with limbs as thick as boulders, their bodies covered in jagged, earthen plates that resembled natural armor.
Despite the rocky exterior, patches of coarse brown fur still clung to their backs and limbs, blending the strength of the earth with the wildness of a beast. They resembled massive, moving boulders more than living creatures.
Not known for intelligence, the Stonehide Grizzly made up for it with sheer brute force and stubborn resilience. Its instinctual ferocity and natural stone armor rendered most attacks useless, making it one of the most dangerous monsters in its class. Worse still, the creature could manipulate rocks in its environment—hurling boulders or even raising rock barriers to block attacks.
A massive rock outcrop loomed ahead, surrounded by uneven ground littered with stones, rubble, and half-buried boulders. Prime Grizzly terrain.
Sherry stepped down beside him, her gaze sweeping the rocky terrain with quiet caution.
"This whole region's crawling with threats," Alex said, walking toward the edge of the clearing. "But this part—" he gestured at the looming rock outcrop, "—this is Stonehide Grizzly territory."
"You'll find Silverback Monkeys and Lizardmen across the area, but this patch? It's Stonehide Grizzly territory."
Sherry stiffened slightly, her eyes widening. But Alex added calmly, "Don't worry. We're only here for the Grizzlies. The others tend to avoid this territory—too risky to share space with something that can crush your spine in one swipe."
Just minutes into their scouting, the ground gave a low, ominous rumble.
Both Alex and Sherry froze.
Its massive body was encased in armor-like plates of rough stone, cracked and jagged in places but no less formidable. Thick tufts of coarse brown fur poked out from between the rocky plates, the only sign of flesh beneath its living armor.
'It's even larger than I imagined.' Alex thought.
For a brief moment, it just stared.
Then it roared.
The sound tore through the clearing like an avalanche, raw and feral. Sherry instinctively stepped back, breath catching in her throat as her gaze remained fixed on the monster.
Alex stepped forward, shielding her slightly.
"Listen closely," he said, voice low and calm. "The moment it spots us, it'll start throwing rocks—or worse, charge. It fights purely on instinct. And once it's aggroed, it won't stop."
Sherry nodded, slowly steadying her breath.
"I'll draw its attention," Alex continued. "Keep your distance, watch for an opening, and hit it from the blind spot. Don't hesitate."
She swallowed hard and whispered, "Got it."