My heart hammered as the dark circle took shape around it.

The mana tightened, coiling like a living thing, then snapped into place.

The leftover erratic mana that couldn’t be pulled back into the circuits blew out of me in jagged sparks.

Black motes rained down on the ground and trees like tiny thunderbolts. They had no real force, just left a string of small craters wherever they hit.

I drew a slow breath and opened my eyes. First circle, done. Officially a first-circle mage.

[Congrats. Now you can allot the stat points you got from capturing Drane, the 4-star quest, to MP.]

I stretched, joints popping. ’Did I just get some stat points or a 4-star quest item?’

Surely a four-star quest gave something useful. I hope games from my previous world were not lying to me about that at least.

[Of course. You get "260 + 680" stat points and a D-tier item.]

I blinked. "Wow... 940 stat points? That’s like killing two hundred.. no, more A-rank threats. Am I really allowed that many from a single 4-star quest?"

[Actually... no. You are only given 260 stat points.]

My heart took a small nosedive. "Then... what’s the 680?"

[Conversion. I converted remaining credit into stat points. The other reward was to choose an artifact proportional to your quest credit. I could have chosen up to A-tier artifacts, but I chose D and converted the rest.]

I froze.

A vein bulged on my forehead.

"You chose D

rank instead of A-tier...?"

I mustered the most innocent smile I could. They say smiling is the best way to control anger.

"You know there are fuckton of wonderful A-rank artifacts right?"

[You got a wonderful smile, and besides... you’ll praise me for the selection.]

A loot window popped up in front of me, like a slap in the face.

[Item: Slave Collar.

Tier: D

Description: Can be placed on a living unconscious target. Works only if the user’s aura mastery is two tiers higher than the target. The user can only hold up to three ownership slots, each bound to a different race with a different collar.]

My temple began to throb. I felt the blood hammer in my head.

I snapped. "This shit has more limitations than uses! And what the fuck am I supposed to do with a slave collar?"

[Obviously, to capture Merin. You have Emperor’s mastery and Merin has Master (IV). So it’s no problem until she gets to Sovereign(II).]

"That’s not how it works, you dumbass!" I barked. My tone probably rattled birds. "There are loads of A-rank artifacts that do more than just capture! Like.. like the Seraphic Veil (A-). it ties down targets and sucks aura and mana out of them. If we use that while Merin’s fighting, she’s finished."

[No no, then she can’t move.]

Veins popped all around my body. I clenched my fists until my nails hurt.

’Please tell me you have a neck so I can strangle it to my heart’s content.’ I sent the thought with too much feeling.

[You dumb? I wouldn’t have done that if I had a neck.]

Okay. Breathe, Rune. Calm the volcano.

I forced a laugh that felt like chewing glass. Nexar loved to rage bait me, yes. But... he always had a reason buried behind his actions.

"Why would I want Merin to move, my dear friend, Nexar? Why would you imagine Merin getting to Sovereign(IV) when I’ll kill her after torturing her?"

I have never been this polite in my whole life.

[That’s simple, Merin is your third crewmate.]

........

[......]

***************

Huff... uff... I wiped the sweat trailing down my temple with the back of my hand. My other hand stayed near my knee, fingers still curled around the dagger’s hilt.

My chest rose and fell as I looked at the small craters around me.

The ground torn up, tree bark split where the aura and mana bursts hit. Rune made this technique look simple, but gods, it was anything but.

The Fatal Maneuver had six steps. The first three felt natural, kind of like my assassin footwork. Fast, controlled, light. I’d nailed those in no time. But the fourth step ... that one was driving me crazy.

"How did he show it so easily?" I muttered under my breath. "I can’t even link its flow to the first three..."

I stood up from my crouched stance, finally catching my breath. Still, I could feel it. I was close.

The connection was right there, just a thread away. Rune said I had until evening to master it. But if I pulled it off before lunch, he’d definitely praise me.

That thought alone was enough to fill me with fresh energy.

"Alright... let’s do this."

I tied my hair back into a messy bun; it had come undone again when the wind from my failed fourth step blew back at me.

The first three steps of the Fatal Maneuver built up a strong enough force to guide the aura and mana bursts forward, but the fourth step was meant to shield the user from their own backlash.

Until now, I’d always used aura bursts in a brute-force way. The recoil rattled my bones so much that I had to hold back every time. That meant less impact... less damage.

But if I learned the fourth step properly, I could go all out.

I got back into position, grounding my feet, dagger in hand, ready to try again.

But then.

BOOM!

A sharp blast echoed from where Rune had gone earlier.

My head snapped toward the sound.

"What was that?"

My legs moved before I even thought.

Rune.

I sprinted, leaping over roots and rocks, my body moving in a blur.

When I reached the spot, I froze.

Rune stood there, swinging his sword like he was swatting at an invisible fly, except each swing sent out mana slashes that tore through the forest with a deep whoosh and rattled the air.

"You... fucker..." he muttered under his breath, cursing someone only he could see. Then he swung again. And again.

If anyone saw him right now, they’d probably think he’d gone insane.

Wait... those mana slashes... the density... the pressure in the air...

My eyes widened.

"Did he just... form a circle?"

A grin crept up on my face before I could stop it.

Then another BOOM! followed, shaking the ground slightly.

I blinked.

"...He might’ve really lost it."