The dust hadn't yet settled.
Chunks of obsidian stone still fell from the cracked ceiling, echoing softly into the silence that followed the explosion of the dragon's death. Its corpse massive, coiled, and steaming lay still, its eyes extinguished, its mouth agape like a monument to ancient fury.
No one moved.
Not even André.
His body was still, motionless in the flickering torchlight. He stood where he had thrown the staff, surrounded by ash and smoke. The blood on his armor had dried in long, ragged streaks. And yet, he remained upright like a statue that refused to crumble.
Then, without warning, the silence shattered.
[Congratulations! Your follower "André" has slain an S-rank dragon.]
[Reward: 200 points.]
The words appeared midair in glowing letters.
His eyes were locked on the screen, his breathing quiet, shallow. The tension in his shoulders said everything. He didn't expect it. None of them did.
Then, as if the world wasn't already twisted enough:
[Congratulations! André has reached the peak of Rank A.]
A stunned silence rippled through the chamber like a silent scream.
"…Impossible," Lucas muttered under his breath.
He stepped forward slowly, his boots crunching over shattered rock. The light from the system screen reflected in his eyes, revealing something unreadable half concern, half fascination.
"I didn't even… give him points,"
Lucas exhaled. Then, louder this time, and with complete certainty:
"Alright… I'll give him 100 points in Mana, 80 in Strength, and 20 in Agility."
The moment he said it, the air shifted.
André's body jerked subtle, but definite. His head tilted slightly back. His spine straightened like a blade being drawn. A low hum began to vibrate around him.
Energy erupted from within.
Not gentle. Not gradual.
It burst out violently.
A pulse of magical pressure slammed into the room like a tidal wave. Loose debris flew back. Darlene nearly stumbled, and Kyle had to brace himself on the wall. Even Siman's coat rustled from the force.
André's golden hair lifted, strands floating as if caught in a storm only he could feel. His wounds were still there blood still stained his jaw, his chest but it no longer mattered.
His eyes opened.
And they were wrong.
No longer blue. No longer human.
They pulsed with raw magic, like miniature storms caged behind a thin layer of glass. A low, unnatural hum surrounded him like the whisper of a dying star.
Siman narrowed his eyes. "...Hoh. Did he really reach Rank A?"
Nobody answered. The answer was already obvious.
But what none of them said what each of them felt but couldn't explain was that this wasn't just Rank A.
This was something else.
[New Skill Selection Available.]
[Choose one skill from the following three:]
▸ Reaper's Dance – Greatly enhances the user's ability to wield weapons for a limited time, granting them near S-rank power.
▸ Sura's Eye – The Blind King's Gaze – Can freeze an enemy in place for two seconds.
▸ (Loading third skill...)
The third icon flickered, unstable.
Before it could finish generating, Lucas's voice cut through.
"Choose the Eye skill."
André didn't speak. He didn't need to.
The screen blinked.
[Skill Selected: Sura's Eye – The Blind King's Gaze.]
[Skill Level: 1 | Cooldown: 60 seconds]
A faint glyph etched itself into the air behind André's left eye. It vanished in a second but Lucas had seen it. All of them had.
Darlene looked rattled. "What even is that? That… thing in his eye "
"Magic beyond ours," Siman said simply. "Ancient. Maybe older than the System."
Then, a second screen bloomed into view this one gold-edged, its corners shifting like living light.
[Choose a Floral Treasure from the following three:]
▸ A-rank Scythe – "Soul Harvester"
▸ S-rank Radiant Cube – "Core of Dark Energy"
▸ S-rank Ring – "Oath of the Storm"
Lucas let out a soft, breathless laugh.
"Amazing… I can choose between treasures too?"
Siman glanced sideways at him. "So New system feature?"
Lucas didn't respond. He only walked closer to the screen, his eyes flickering between the three choices.
Each one pulsed with silent power.
The cube glowed with chaotic dark energy unstable, deadly. The scythe shimmered with hungry intent. But the ring… the ring hummed.
Not with rage or violence.
But with something older. Dominion.
Lucas made his choice without hesitation. "The ring."
And in an instant
The treasure materialized.
It floated downward, rotating slowly through the air. A silver band etched with runes, crowned with a small azure gem that sparked with crackling wind.
[S-rank Ring "Oath of the Storm" has been equipped.]
The moment it touched André's hand, it vanished absorbed into his skin.
And then
Nothing.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the air grew heavy. The ground groaned.
André's aura expanded again this time not violently, but quietly, methodically. Like the spread of a shadow over a battlefield.
Lucas watched him carefully.
The changes were subtle. His posture. His breathing. His presence.
André wasn't just powerful now.
Kyle finally spoke, voice uneasy. "He's not gonna go rogue, right?"
Lucas answered without looking away. "No. He won't."
"How can you be so sure?" Darlene asked. "Look at him. That's not just leveling up. That's a transformation."
Lucas's voice was low, but firm. "Because I designed him to obey."
A beat of silence.
---*---
Name: André
-Stats:
Strength: 164
Agility: 31
Mana: 104
-
Skills:
Sura's Eye
-
Equipment:
S-Rank Ring – "Oath of the Storm"