Chapter 55: The Offer

[I can only tell you that you are lucky to be yourself.]

[The Vorath energy, which is Dark Magic, or better said, Dark Mana repels all other mana.]

[Whether flame, lightning, or water, Vorath mana repels everything, wiping the remaining laws out of existence.]

[That is the characteristic attribute of Dark Mana.]

[On the other hand, the Fallen Angel physique is devastatingly fast.]

[So fast that at their peak, they can follow the light of stars.]

[A Fallen Angel can never be taken by surprise, and though not overly muscular, they possess ruinous strength.]

[They are more of a cursed race. So no, there is no way you can one day remove the ’fallen’ from your name.]

[Try checking the system description, perhaps you will understand things better.

[Besides, you also have two level-up cards...]

The system said, and Arlo activated his system interface.

[System Interface]

[Name: Arlo Eclipsion]

[Title: None.]

[Race: Lesser Arcana Human]

[Cultivation: 1st Grade CyberEnhancer]

[Level: 4]

[EXP: 0/1000]

[Level Up Cards: 4]

"Oh, I still have an unused level-up card from completing the Hidden Quest of reaching the Magic Apprentice Realm."

"That gives me a total of four Level Up Cards..."

Arlo mused, having almost forgotten about the previous ones.

[Do You Wish to Level Up?]

"Yes."

[Congratulations, Host has leveled up.]

[+10 Attribute Points gained.]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has leveled up.]

[+10 Attribute Points gained.]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has leveled up.]

[+10 Attribute Points gained.]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has leveled up.]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[You have leveled up.]

[Level Up Cards remaining: 0]

[Congratulations on reaching Level 8.]

[Total Attribute Points: 40!]

"Closing in on Level ten."

[Attributes]

[Strength: 40(+15)]

[Agility: 30(+20)]

[Perception: 20(+20)]

[Intelligence: 15]

[Charm: 4]

{Attribute Points: 40}

"I’m guessing those bracketed stats are from the evolution, right?"

[Correct.]

"I can see my strength increased greatly, but my agility and perception increased the most. Now my intelligence is starting to lag behind..." Arlo mused, analyzing his stats before immediately making his choice.

"Add 5 points to strength, and 35 points to intelligence..." Arlo ordered, and the system’s reply came just as fast.

[Congratulations, points have been successfully added.]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 60]

[Agility: 50]

[Perception: 40]

[Intelligence: 50]

[Charm: 4]

{Attribute Points: 0}

"Nice. Now my agility and intelligence match up, with my strength higher and perception trailing just behind..."

Arlo mused, satisfied, before moving to his Arcane Masteries tab.

[Arcane Masteries]

[Skill Name: Fallen Angel Halfling Transformation]

[Skill Level: 1]

[You have contracted the form of an angel corrupted by the Chaotic Evil essence of a Beyonder Entity. In this form, you gain the perfected war body of the Fallen Angel race and the abominable Dark Mana energy of the Vorath race.]

[Cons: Inability to remain in this state for long due to incredibly high energy consumption. Your kind is cursed and greatly unwanted!]

"Perfected war body, huh? I really did feel more agile, with better control over my body in that state. But cursed and greatly unwanted?" Arlo mused, furrowing his eyebrows.

There was little to be done about such an explanation, so he could only ignore it in the end.

___________

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

The sound of knocking rang through the room, and Arlo turned his attention to the door.

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

It came again, and Arlo finally rose to his feet, walked to the door, and unlocked it.

Standing before him was a man dressed in a dark robe, a scroll in his hands.

"Are you the one named... Arlo?" the man asked, his eyes fixed on the scroll, which Arlo suspected was where he had read the question from.

"Yes?"

"Well then, good things await one with this name!"

"Our greatly revered King Eboncrest has invited his unworthy self to his mighty palace."

"I, as one of the King’s emissaries, am to bring this god-forsakenly lucky one to the palace..." he read aloud before rolling the scroll back up and tucking it into his robes.

"You understood the message, right?" he asked, his eyes seemingly looking down his nose at Arlo, who twitched before nodding.

"Kinda. But can you come again. I couldn’t...?"

"Good. Then follow me..." He turned and walked away.

’What type of weirdo is this?’ Arlo thought, but he quickly shut the door and ran after the figure.

____________

The Vorath palace was truly worthy of its name, standing over the land like a ginormous castle rather than a mere palace.

Along their path, Vorath guards lined both sides, their eyes constantly scanning the emissary and Arlo as they walked along the long corridor before finally arriving at the front doors.

"Stop! State your purpose!" the guards stationed before the door commanded as Arlo watched the emissary pull out the scroll and read through it once more, revealing exactly what Arlo had suspected.

Once he finished narrating the entire contents of the scroll, the two guards finally stepped aside, and the golden gate automatically swung open, allowing them to enter.

Beyond the gate was a large throne room, although no one currently sat upon the throne.

The emissary instead turned to the side, opened another door, and continued down a long, narrow passage with Arlo following behind him until they finally arrived at another door.

"You ought to know your place before the mighty King Eboncrest don’t you?"

The emissary asked before bringing both hands forward and pushing the door open.

Expecting to find another luxurious room decorated in gold, Arlo was instead met with what appeared to be a balcony, where three figures currently stood.

One of them was someone Arlo already knew, none other than Prince Demois. The other two, however, were complete strangers to him, a man and a woman.

Yet the moment Arlo looked at Prince Demois, then shifted his gaze toward the man standing beside him, his expression changed, and he bowed his head.

"Your Highness."

"An overly humble one, eh? Stand up, lad. Come, come. What do you think of this event that has been creating quite the buzz?"

The muscular man said, looking to be nearly twice as bulky as Prince Demois as he beckoned Arlo forward.

"Look. That tree over there. You can see that it’s burning, right?" King Eboncrest said.

Arlo followed his gaze and noticed that a single tree in the garden below was indeed engulfed in flames.

"Yes."

"Good. Now, there are ants inside that tree trying their best to escape the fire, jumping straight into the water below."

"But the moment they land in the water, they die. What do you think is responsible for their deaths?"

King Eboncrest gestured toward Prince Demois

"Demois here thinks it’s because the ants are too small and died due to the thick surface tension of the water, while Isadolla thinks, ’Oh, poor little things. It’s only because you’re so wicked, Eboncrest.’"

He imitated a woman’s voice, causing the woman beside him to huff in annoyance.

"So, what do you think, kid?" King Eboncrest asked.

Arlo furrowed his eyebrows as he considered the question before replying.

"Could there be a possibility that the water is too cold?"

"Huh?"

Isadolla and Demois both exclaimed, their eyebrows rising as they looked toward Arlo.

"How does the coldness of the water relate to their deaths?" Prince Demois asked with a raised eyebrow.

"While trapped in a burning tree, anyone might think jumping into a lake or river is the safest option, but in a way, that could also lead to their own death..."

"Interesting. Can you explain further?" King Eboncrest asked, his interest clearly piqued.

"The ants run out of their burrows, and once they see the puddle of water on the ground, they think it would be safer to jump into it rather than onto the bare ground."

"But if the water is cold, their bodies could freeze up from the sudden change in temperature, which might result in drowsiness, shivering, paralysis, and eventually drowning."

"The poor ants believe the water is safe, but once they jump into it, they slowly lose consciousness from the combined effects of the cold and their exhaustion before eventually drowning."

"Why don’t you try drying up the water and see what happens?" Arlo asked.

Prince Demois furrowed his eyebrows before pointing a finger toward the small puddle.

Immediately, a dark aura coated his fingertip, and the puddle dried up completely.

With the water gone, the ants could only jump onto the bare ground. Once they landed, they remained paralyzed for a few seconds before eventually getting back on their feet and running around once more, clearly still alive.

"That’s impossible!" Prince Demois exclaimed in shock as he stared at the ants.

He had believed that the ants were too small to survive the thick surface tension of the puddle, yet now they were landing directly on the ground and surviving.

If they were truly that weak, then how could they land on the ground and remain alive?

"Looks like our humble boy was right, hahaha. You see, Demois, there is still much you don’t know, and you can still learn," King Eboncrest said.

Demois’s eyes flashed before he gave a respectful bow.

"I understand the lesson."

"I knew you would. My son is the smartest, after all," King Eboncrest said.

Deomois could only shake his head. He had to admit that his father’s behavior could be shameless sometimes.

"Excuse me, Father, Mother..." he said before walking away, grabbing the emissary by the neck and dragging him out of the room.

"Hmph, he’s starting to take after your brutish character!" Isadolla complained as Eboncrest burst into another round of boisterous laughter.

"He understood the signal better than that sleek neck!" King Eboncrest said as he waved a hand toward the burning tree, extinguishing the flames.

"You might have been wondering why you’re here, boy, but worry not. It’s just as stated."

"You see..."