Walking down the hallway back to my room, I could feel the heat rising in my body as my eyebrows furrowed.

Mana was surging through me, and I bit my lip, trying to hold it in, but the pressure was slowly getting unbearable.

I had been casting a lot of spells, trying to burn through as much mana as I could, hoping to get some relief.

But the problem was, when I used my mana to knock out the Iron Wrestler, I pushed myself past my limit.

In other words, I used too much mana.

And now, my body was paying for it.

It was like I had broken through the “threshold” of how much mana I could utilize, and my body was falling apart because of it.

“Fuck…” Sweat trickled down my forehead, and I cursed under my breath.

I needed to take a bath, and then meditate for the rest of the night to get the mana under control.

The problem was my mana pathways weren’t big enough to handle all the mana flooding my body.

Normally, if you wanted to hold more mana, you’d need to expand those pathways, either through meditation or with special items.

If you don’t, the mana will overflow, and your body will literally explode.

Hence, the reason why I am basically spamming ice spells on my fingerprints.

“Oh my~! Aren’t you full of surprises?” A sly voice interrupted my thoughts.

It was Yara, standing in front of me with a mischievous grin.

Fuck.

Not right now.

I directly passed through her.

“Don’t you want my help with that?” she said, stepping in front of me again, blocking my way.

I paused for a second.

I knew that she could easily see my condition—after all, she was an SS-rank awakened—but I really couldn’t trust her.

Not for a second.

“Actually, don’t bother responding,” she said, cutting me off. “This is my gift to you for making me a ton of money.”

She smiled wider, stepping closer to me.

Before I could even react, her whole body was covered in this beautiful grey mana.

She placed her right hand on my chest, and I couldn’t stop the groan of discomfort that escaped my lips.

“Ugh…” I winced, trying to pull away, but she didn’t let me.

“Hold it in,” she said calmly.

The grey mana from her body seeped into mine, and I felt it spreading. It was like it was digging into my mana pathways, attacking them, breaking down the barriers.

The pressure in my body started to lessen.

The mana I couldn’t contain began to dissipate, thanks to that grey mana. It wasn’t long before a cool, soothing sensation swept over me, and the pain slowly faded.

I felt the mana settle, leaving just about half of what my body could handle right now.

“Now… as a temporary factor for my dear challenger…” Yara’s voice came from close by, and when I looked up, her eyes locked onto mine.

She was grinning, but it looked… strange.

“Hagh… w-what are you doing?!” I couldn’t help but ask in surprise as I felt the grey mana in my body starting to go berserk.

“Shhh… don’t worry about it,” she said, placing her left hand on my hair, stroking it softly, almost comforting me.

“It’ll be fine…” she whispered.

“Haagh…!”

The grey mana in my body started convulsing slightly, and just as it reached my heart, it stopped, and instead, it moved a bit to the right side of my chest.

And there… it stood, quietly…

“This…”

I closed my eyes, focusing on the strange feeling inside me, and followed the movement of the mana.

There, on the right side of my chest, was a grey heart made entirely of that same grey mana. It was like a mini heart, pulsing softly.

What was even stranger was how the mana around me that had been flooding into me now bypassed my heart and went straight to this grey heart.

And as it did, the grey heart absorbed it all… and then it vanished. The mana was gone, completely, in less than a second.

It was like the grey heart was devouring the overflow.

It worked. I wouldn’t have to worry about my body exploding anymore.

But, looking at it more closely, I realized it wouldn’t last long. Three days, maybe?

Just enough time to get through the competition.

“See? Not so bad, right?” Yara said, her voice sweet. She tilted her head to the side, a bright smile still on her face.

Her hand continued to gently ruffle my hair, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward.

“Thanks…” I muttered, letting out a soft sigh.

I really didn’t want to be in a position where I owed her anything, but what could I do?

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” she said casually, brushing my thanks away like it was nothing.

I just nodded and turned to head back to my room, hoping that was the end of it.

But then, her voice stopped me again.

“You know… a Lich Heart will only last a few months, right? If you really want to fix your problem, you’ll need a Dragon’s Heart.”

I already knew that.

The whole point of asking for a Lich Heart was to buy me a little more time. I was planning to save up enough to afford a Dragon’s Heart later on.

“The last Dragon’s Heart for sale is going to be at the next big auction from the Luxuria Merchant Family… Do you think you’ll have enough money by then?” she said, and something in her voice made me freeze.

If I wasn’t wrong, that auction would be happening in two or three months… and I definitely wouldn’t have enough by then.

Even a single Dragon’s Tear could cost tens of thousands of platinum coins, and although they were cheaper than a Dragon’s Heart, they were way more rare than a Dragon’s Heart.

Dragons hardly ever shed tears, so you can imagine how hard it is to come by one.

“…Thank you for the information.”

I could feel her eyes on me, but I didn’t turn back.

I didn’t even bother responding to her question.

Once I was inside, I let out a frustrated breath.

“Hah… dammit.”

I lay down on the bed of the room, gazing at the ceiling while still thinking about her words.

For now, the only possibility I have is turning into Eleonora’s disciple. Other than that, everything else seems impossible.

Maybe I could steal it…

“No, that would be me jumping into a rabbit hole.” I shook my head at those thoughts.

Especially when the auction was being held by the Luxuria Merchant Family, in other words, an auction held by Violet herself.

“Fucking hell…”

I whispered, blinking a couple of times as exhaustion began to hit me hard.

“Ahhhh…”

I yawned.

I would take a bath after waking up…

“Yeah… I’ll let my future self worry about that.”

.

.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, in a small, dimly lit room, four figures stood gathered around a table, each wearing a distinct emblem on their chest.

“So, what should we do about this ‘Moonlight Swordsman’?” one of them asked, breaking the silence that hung heavy in the room.

“I say we just kill him.” another responded with a sharp tone.

“The kind of power he showed is more than enough to win the tournament without breaking a sweat.”

“Yeah, no way we’re letting that damn woman get her hands on the prize,” another added in a frustrated tone as he clenched his fists to show it.

“Yeah sure, but who the hell can we hire to take him out? I don’t think there’s anyone strong enough to kill him,” someone else murmured.

“That is indeed true…” the figures mumbled between themselves.

Then, one of them suddenly spoke up, a grin forming on his face.

“How about… Thorn Rose?”

There was a pause as soon as the others heard those words.

“Thorn Rose? You mean the genetically modified perfect human?”

“Exactly. Her power is currently in pair with a high s-rank awakened, it should be more than enough to deal with that brat, no?” the man said confidently.

“But doesn’t she charge an insane amount of money for each job” One of them muttered low and hesitant voice.

SLAM!

One of the remaining figures slammed his hand onto the table, rattling everything.

“The fuck are you thinking about?!” he yelled, his voice loud and angry. “We’ve been planning and winning all these tournaments just to get that damn item, and even with that, we’re still weaker than her!”

“If she does get that item we will be fucked! Is either kill her challenger or all of us fucking die!”

He stood up, fists clenched, and took a few heavy breaths.

Sweat had already started to form on his forehead.

“Haaa… haagh…” he sat down back in the chair, taking deep breaths.

The room was turned tense, and the others exchanged looks before the angry figure spoke again, looking at the others like they were useless.

“So… fucking call Thorn Rose before I get even more bad than I already am! And ask about what she wants, and we’ll directly pay in full, no fuckign questions asked!” he said so, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

Gulp…!

The man who had been questioning the cost sighed deeply, defeated.

“A-Alright…”

He pulled out his phone, dialed the number, and waited.

Ring…

Ring…

Ring…

Ring—

—Beep!

Thorn Rose had picked up the call.

[Thorn Rose, how may I be at your service?]

Her voice was cold, completely emotionless. It sent a chill through the air as if the temperature had dropped by several degrees.

“I want to hire you for a killing job,” the man said quickly.

[Who is the target?]

Her response was direct, no hesitation in her voice.

“…What was his name again?” The man quickly muted the phone, turning to ask the others.

“Let me check… I had someone look into him earlier,” the loud one said, rifling through a paper in his jacket pocket.

He glanced at the paper and then spoke.

“Aestrea… Moon.”

The man repeated the name into the phone.

“His real name is ‘Aestrea Moon,’ but he goes by the alias ‘Moonlight Swordsman.’ He’s currently at the base of the underground queen, ‘Yara Deveux,’ and is her challenger.”

[Oh? Another one of those cases? So annoying…]

Thorn Rose sighed in boredom, her voice was as cold as ice, completely emotionless. No joy, expectation, excitement, or anything like that on it.

The man who had been on the phone waited, holding his breath, before speaking again.

“How much will this cost?”

[What exactly is his battle power?]

“…About a low-to-mid S-rank awakened,” he answered after a beat.

[Understood. That will be… one thousand platinum coins.]

“One thousan—?!”

The others gasped, shocked by the amount.

[Isn’t the price satisfactory for you? If not, you can always choose another assassin.]

She directly checked them, putting them in place.

The figure holding the phone looked at the others, exchanging glances at each other before they all nodded to him.

After a long pause, he sighed.

“It’s a deal.”

[Great.]

Beep~

The call ended with a click.

“Haaa… now we just wait for the job to be done.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep