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Awakening (3)

-For today’s log in bonus, the skill boost buff is applied! All skills will increase by 30% for the day, and the probability of a jackpot has increased.

Saturday morning was the day Kang Shin-hyuk finally saw the skill amplification buff he had been hoping for. It felt fitting for what he needed to do today.

“With this…” Claire had given him a potion in exchange for his work yesterday. She called it a regeneration potion, but like one that returned things to their original state. It was one of the higher-level potions that only an alchemist could make.

‘But just sprinkling this on won’t restore the artifact. You need to use it and repair it at the same time. Artifact repair isn’t something anyone can do. Can you do it?’

Kang Shin-hyuk hadn’t immediately responded to Claire’s words at the time. Of course, the administrator reminded him he had already repaired the orb, but that was largely thanks to the spiritual glue.

“I have to try. After eating.”

-Myu?

“Yes, you should eat too.” Kang Shin-hyuk left some food for Onyx before heading out. He was thinking about eating breakfast at the Royal Class-exclusive restaurant. He left behind his key card, but he didn’t need it. It was more like an honorary identification card, and his stick carried the access codes for his room and the restaurant as well.

“Welcome. Enjoy your meal.” The Royal Class restaurant was located in the Unyu hall, along with several facilities exclusive to the members of the Royal Class. It felt like Unyu hall was a facility that existed just to emphasize the difference between the students. Of course, most students didn’t know of such facilities in the first place, just like Kang Shin-hyuk used to. That made him feel worse for some reason.

“This year’s Rookie King…”

“I heard he received an offer from the association…”

“The association? Ha, they don’t have any money.” The restaurant was incomparably spacious and luxurious compared to the regular student cafeteria. The number of students here, however, was much smaller.

“Shin-hyuk, this way.” A bright voice called out to him. Turning, he found Karen waving at him from a table where Eleanor R. Algiers was also sitting.

“It’s just you two.” Kang Shin-hyuk sat at the table with them just as a server arrived to present them with a menu board. He shook his head and handed it back, however.

“I’ll take it all.”

“Yes?”

“Everything. I want a big breakfast.”

“That’s impossible…we can increase the size of your main dish, however…”

“By a lot. Enough to feed three people.”

“Okay.” Karen admired his appearance as he proudly ordered breakfast in this new environment. Meanwhile, Eleanor disregarded the exchange and cut straight to the point.

“How about the repairs?”

“I found a way. I should have some results today, although I don’t know if I’ll succeed.”

“Thanks.”

“You can say that after I succeed.”

“I can’t wait.” As they waited for their meal, three men entered the restaurant. The one in the lead was Douglas Payne, captain of the Wyvern Knights. The other two were third-year students Shin-hyuk had seen with him in the measurement room. They flinched when they saw Eleanor, Karen, and Shin-hyuk sitting together.

“Vice-captain.” Douglas Payne was the first to speak up.

“You’re with an outsider?”

“…” Eleanor didn’t respond to him. He thought she was dealing with the captain’s unreasonable requests but looking at her attitude now, that didn’t appear to be the case.

“You…you were with him, then.” Douglas looked at Shin-hyuk with a slight frown. He was probably referring to Baek, who had defeated him. Kang Shin-hyuk shrugged, and he snorted a little before turning his head back to Eleanor.

“I need the dragon’s mark. I’ll go to pick it up in the afternoon.”

“Did you forget you broke the saddle yourself?” Finally, Eleanor spoke up. It was in very accurate Korean, although it had a peculiar British accent to it. Kang Shin-hyuk was a little moved at how well she spoke.

“I have a way to fix it, and I decided to seek support from the family.” Probably the dragon’s mark was the name of that taming artifact. Eleanor’s face hardened at the word family.

“That will involve outsiders.”

“You seem to have already brought one into the training camp.” It sounded like the information was leaking out, although there was no reason for it not to. Kang Shin-hyuk disregarded the stares of the three men.

“He is a member of Shinyoung and a candidate for the knights. It’s a completely different story when it involves the captain’s family.”

“Which is why I’m thinking of having Mr. Bolton present. Wouldn’t it be alright if he and you were there to directly observe it?”

“…Do whatever you want.” Eleanor replied with a bored expression and turned away. Douglas let out a faint laugh before turning to look at Shin-hyuk. He then walked away with the other two.

“It seems that you knew he was trying to repair the saddle.”

“He’s trying to now.” Kang Shin-hyuk only spoke up once he confirmed they had sat down somewhere else. Karen shook her head.

“He wants to secure his legitimacy as the captain. Why did he entrust it to the vice-captain in the first place?”

“It may have been out of good faith.” Kang Shin-hyuk’s reflexive remark got a rise out of Karen, who turned toward him.

“Shin-hyuk, there are things in this world you can say and things you can’t. What about good faith?”

“No, you don’t know?”

“Huh?!” Kang Shin-hyuk turned to Eleanor for help, but she looked just as confused at his words. He began to faintly realize something as he connected Douglas Payne’s actions and words together.

“No, I’m still not sure, so let’s talk about it later. So, what are you planning? Shall we fix it?” Eleanor thought for a long time before lowering her head to Kang Shin-hyuk.

“I’m sorry, I think I have to return it. Repair it after they fail.”

“You don’t think they’ll be successful.”

“I’ve inquired with some trusted people back home. At least now, there’s no one who can fix it.” Indeed, in the process of asking her family for help, she had found that Douglas Payne’s family couldn’t handle it either.

“So… I’m really sorry, but I have one more favor to ask.”

“I can’t really tell what you want when you stare at me like that.” Eleanor’s expression was serious as she bowed her head deeply to Shin-hyuk.

“It’s alright even if it’s only temporary, but please join the Wyvern Knights.”

***

It was an established rule since its founding that the Wyvern Knights maintained a maximum of twenty people. Therefore, in order for new recruits to join when capacity was full, they would have to release existing personnel and re-enter with the approval of all the executives or retake their positions by playing a fair game with the existing members with the approval of the vice-captain or captain.

-Rookie King Kang Shin-hyuk, Wyvern Knights Joining Test! A duel with Ethan Milan, 3rd year C Class, with the approval of vice-captain Eleanor R. Algiers!

The Wyvern Knight’s traditions had been handed down since the founding of Shinyoung. Normally, the captain and the other executives directly selected members without any friction, but there were a few cases where recruitment had to be dealt with by duels.

“You.” Ethan Milan, who had been enjoying walking around the campus wearing the cape of a Wyvern Knight rather than working, hurried to the gym as soon as he received a message that he would be disqualified as a member if he didn’t fight. He had been dismissed from the halls due to his lack of skills.

“Should we really do this?”

“No hard feelings, I just need your spot.”

“Huh…” There were quite a few spectators seated around the gym. The Wyvern Knights were a fairly famous group, but there were also no classes today, so there were plenty of people lying about the dorms with nothing better to do. They gladly flocked to the gym for a chance at entertainment.

“Prepare…” The teacher in charge of the basic combat training course accepted the role of judge for the selection duel. Yesterday, when they went to apply for it, he begrudgingly accepted with a tired face.

“Match…start!”

“Kh!” Knowing that Kang Shin-hyuk was the Rookie King and emerging talent, Ethan decided his best chance at victory was striking first.

“Ahhhhh!” However, at the moment, he tried to knock Shin-hyuk down with his huge war hammer that amplified his B-rank characteristic [Shock Amplification], Shin-hyuk drew his sword and jumped off the floor. The enormous wind pressure from the Warhammer would’ve been enough to crush him even before it hit him head-on. It was a powerful attack that allowed no resistance, certainly worthy of the position of a Wyvern Knight. Kang Shin-hyuk, however, evaded it all and twisted his body in mid-air. His sword collided with Ethan’s mid-section.

“Kh!”

“Now…!” Shin-hyuk landed on one foot, pivoting to kick Ethan before he could recover. Ethan collapsed with a groan.

“Winner, Kang Shin-hyuk! Ethan Milan has been disqualified as a member of the Wyvern Knights. From this moment, Kang Shin-hyuk is now recognized as a member of the Wyvern Knights.” The teacher calmly declared Kang Shin-hyuk’s victory. The match was over in less than thirty seconds.

“It was so overwhelming he had no time to judge. Was Ethan Milan really that weak?”

“It’s said he’s probably the weakest of the knights, but he was still one of them, so he had to be strong.”

“More than that… didn’t Kang Shin-hyuk become stronger?”

“Right. His movements were clearly different from before.” Kang Shin-hyuk ignored the sounds coming from around him as he sheathed his sword. Ethan Milan was very weak for a 3rd year. Karen, or Do Woojin, if he pushed his characteristic to the maximum, would have been much more dangerous.

Only

“Shin-hyuk! Put on the cloak!”

“Ah.” Karen ran up to him, fastened a cloak on his back as if she expected this from the start. He didn’t want to wear it, but he reminded himself it was only temporary. Right. Only temporary.

“With this, I’ve met the requirements to be there in the afternoon.”

“It’ll be fun.” Kang Shin-hyuk responded with a bitter smile to Karen as she giggled. Among those who gathered at the gym, there were no Wyvern Knights from the first hall. Maybe they deliberately ignored it. Eleanor walked up and shook his hand with a faint smile.

“Please take care of us in the future.”

“It’s temporary.” Kang Shin-hyuk still shook her hand, however.

‘Now…’ He just had to wait for them to fail to fix the artifact. Kang Shin-hyuk headed to the 2nd hall with the cloak of a Wyvern Knight fluttering behind him. He was greeted by cheers.

Five hours later, Wyvern Knight captain Douglas Payne arrived.