Chapter 459:Control your boyfriend.

Chapter 459: 459:Control your boyfriend.

The instructor looked toward the audience.

"Your next assessment will not reward the same strengths in the same way. Continue developing your weaknesses."

Silver nodded, since he intended to.

After the ceremony, Class Four returned to Room 4A for their individual evaluations.

Peter stood at the front.

He didn’t congratulate them immediately; instead he displayed their squad rankings.

"Two Class Four squads placed in the top five."

Several students smiled.

Peter continued.

"That’s good."

The room relaxed slightly.

"Don’t become arrogant."

The smiles disappeared.

Peter looked toward Helena.

"Seer."

She stood.

"Yes, sir."

"Good command."

"Thank you, sir."

"Your barriers remain too dependent on stable positioning. Improve your ability to defend while moving."

"Yes, sir."

Peter looked toward Mina.

"Cole. Excellent detection work. Your ability prevented multiple ambushes. However, you exhausted yourself unnecessarily during the final stage."

Mina nodded.

"Understood."

"Thorn. Good accuracy. Improve your ability to fire while changing position."

Elias nodded.

Peter continued through the class, when he reached Ravenna, he paused.

"Arkland."

She stood.

"Yes, sir."

"Excellent combat performance."

"Thank you, sir."

"Your fire control has improved substantially."

Ravenna smiled faintly.

Peter continued.

"Your physical strength has also increased."

"Yes, sir."

"Don’t let that become an excuse to stop thinking."

Her smile faded.

"Understood."

Peter looked toward Shirley.

"Your reconnaissance was effective. Your cooperation with your squad was better than during earlier exercises."

Shirley nodded politely.

"Thank you, sir."

Peter continued.

"Maintain it."

Then his gaze moved toward Silver.

"Ruddington."

Silver stood.

"Yes, sir."

"First place."

He nodded.

"Apparently."

Several students laughed but Peter didn’t.

Silver immediately corrected himself.

"Yes, sir."

Peter studied him.

"Your combat support was excellent. Your spatial perception prevented multiple unnecessary engagements. Your ability usage was considerably more efficient than during baseline assessment."

Silver listened carefully.

"Your decision to disengage from the Dreadclaw Iron Bear was correct."

"Thank you, sir."

"Your decision to physically intercept the Armored Rift Boar was questionable."

Silver paused.

Caleb immediately looked down to hide his smile.

Peter continued.

"You had other options."

Silver nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"Why did you choose that one?"

Silver considered.

"Because I knew I could stop it, and I wanted to preserve energy."

Peter stared at him for a few seconds before nodding.

"Reasonable."

Silver relaxed slightly.

"Still risky."

"Understood."

Peter continued.

"And walking through another student’s fire?"

The classroom became silent.

He closed his eyes.

Oh, no.

Ravenna immediately covered her mouth. Caleb started shaking as he tried not to laugh out loud. Mina looked toward Silver before shaking her head.

Peter flatly stared.

"Ruddington."

"Yes, sir."

"Do you believe your uniform possesses any sort of Fire Resistance?"

Several students burst out laughing.

Silver sighed.

"No, sir."

"Then stop treating it like it does."

"Yes, sir."

Peter looked toward Ravenna.

"Arkland."

She immediately straightened.

"Yes, sir."

"Control your boyfriend," he firmly said.

The classroom erupted.

Ravenna’s face turned beet red.

Silver stared at Peter who looked completely serious before he continued the lesson as though nothing unusual had happened.

Silver sat down slowly.

Ravenna leaned toward him.

"I’m never letting you forget this."

He sighed.

"I know."

That evening, Silver finally received his system rewards.

He was sitting in the dormitory’s private study room when the familiar translucent interface appeared.

[Quest Complete: First Major Assessment.]

[Primary Objectives: 3/3 Completed.]

[Optional Objective: Spatial Efficiency - Completed.]

[Optional Objective: Controlled Short-Step Usage - Completed.]

[Performance Evaluation: Excellent.]

[Reward Calculation Complete.]

Silver straightened as the rewards appeared.

[Reward: +3,500 Affection Points.]

[Reward: +5 Unassigned Attribute Points.]

[Reward: Advanced Swordsmanship Fragment ×1.]

[Reward: Spatial Energy Refinement ×1.]

Silver smiled.

This isn’t so bad.

Another notification appeared immediately after.

[Target Development Milestone Detected.]

[Ravenna Arkland has demonstrated significant growth in combat performance, ability control and physical integration.]

[Target Happiness Increased.]

[Target Confidence Increased.]

[Relationship Synchronization Stable.]

[Additional Reward: +2,000 Affection Points.]

[Additional Reward: Fire Resistance Proficiency Enhancement.]

Silver’s smile widened, he had not expected that but he couldn’t be any more happier.

The system continued.

[Fire Resistance Passive Lv2 proficiency increased.]

[Fire Resistance Passive Lv2 → Lv3.]

He leaned back.

"Now that’s useful."

His fire resistance had already improved during the assessment. Apparently the additional reward had pushed it over the threshold.

He could feel the difference almost immediately. It was something subtle in his body, a greater tolerance for temperature changes and a stronger resistance to the discomfort that usually accompanied concentrated heat.

Silver smiled.

Ravenna was going to love that... or hate it, possibly both.

Then another prompt appeared.

[Advanced Swordsmanship proficiency increased.]

Silver paused.

Finally.

Every increase in his swordmanship had become a sort of celebration to him, especially after reality slapped him in the face when he used to think he was good at it, but now he could finally see how crude he had been.

Back then, swordsmanship had been something he used when his firearm wasn’t practical.

Now?

It had become an important part of his combat style.

Ravenna had spent weeks beating the bad habits out of him, sometimes literally.

Silver selected the inheritance.

[Advanced Swordsmanship Inheritance Activated.]

A wave of information entered his mind.

More understanding.

His previous training suddenly connected in ways it hadn’t before. He remembered mistakes Ravenna had pointed out, positions he’d struggled to maintain, and movements that had felt awkward.

Now he understood why.

The system chimed.

[Advanced Swordsmanship Lv2 → Advanced Swordsmanship Lv3.]

[Sword Technique Comprehension Significantly Improved.]

[Combat Transition Efficiency Increased.]

[Weapon Synchronization Improved.]

Silver exhaled, then smiled.

"Ravenna’s going to be annoyed."

He looked toward his remaining resources.

[Current Affection Points: 21,714.]

He had more than he’d possessed before buying Ravenna’s Tier Four core, and he still hadn’t purchased anything for himself.

Silver opened the Advanced Shop briefly.

The Spatial Comprehension Shard remained available.

Three thousand five hundred AP.

The Portable Spatial Anchor remained available.

Two thousand eight hundred.

There were also higher-quality swords, physical enhancement resources and several expensive items he hadn’t properly inspected.

He considered buying something immediately, then closed the shop.

Not yet.

He had just received a lot of rewards, he wanted to understand what those changes actually meant before adding more.

That was something he’d learned from the academy.

More power wasn’t always the answer, sometimes understanding the power he already possessed was worth considerably more.

Silver assigned the five attribute points after some consideration.

Two to Agility.

One to Strength.

One to Endurance.

One to Soul Synchronization.

[Attribute Allocation Confirmed.]

[Strength: 45 → 46]

[Agility: 37 → 39]

[Endurance: 36 → 37]

[Soul Synchronization: 52 → 53]

[Unassigned Attribute Points: 0]

Silver closed the interface and stood up. His body felt lighter and more responsive. His swordsmanship felt clearer, and his fire resistance had improved.

He knew exactly who he wanted to tell.

Ravenna was waiting outside the women’s dormitory when Silver arrived.

She had changed into a comfortable dark shirt and loose trousers, her white hair falling freely down her back.

She looked up from her communicator the moment he heard him approaching.

"You’re late."

"By three minutes."

"Still late."

Silver smiled.

"Missed me?"

Ravenna considered before smiling.

"Maybe."

"That’s progress."

She laughed and stepped closer.

Silver kissed her forehead, then took her hand.

"Want to go for a walk?"

She nodded.

They moved toward one of the quieter garden paths behind the residential buildings.

The academy grounds were beautiful at night.

Artificial lights illuminated the walkways, and distant training fields glowed beneath enormous overhead lamps. Students passed occasionally, but the gardens were quiet enough that conversations didn’t carry very far.

She looked toward him.

"You seem happy."

He smiled.

"I got a few system rewards."

Her eyes immediately brightened.

"What did you get?"

"Quite a lot."

"How much?"

"Five thousand five hundred AP total."

Ravenna stopped walking.

"Again?"

Silver laughed.

"Apparently you’re a very profitable girlfriend."

She elbowed him.

"Stop saying that."

"You’re my greatest investment."

"Silver."

He laughed harder.

She shook her head and stopped trying to stop him.

"What else?"

"Five attribute points. Spatial Energy Refinement. Another Swordsmanship advancement."

Ravenna nodded, then stopped as something came into her mind.

"Wait."

Silver smiled at her.

"Did you know prior or is this a sort of a boost?"

"I can feel but the system sort of c9nfirms it mist of time."

Ravenna’s eyes widened.

"Silver!"

He laughed.

"I wanted it to br a suprise."

"Your swordsmanship?"

"Advanced Swordsmanship Lv3."

Ravenna stared for a few seconds before breaking into a huge, delighted smile.

"That’s amazing!" She said outloud.

Silver hadn’t expected her to be quite that excited.