CHAPTER 83: CONFUSING SYSTEM

Cynthia crossed her arms tightly as she stood up, her boots making a soft splash against the shallow water beneath them. Her gaze locked onto Tyr with a storm of disbelief and irritation swirling in her eyes.

"Are you telling me my technically great-great-grandfather or something was alive this whole time and just waited for his descendants to find this random location?" she said sharply, her tone laced with exasperation.

Tyr tilted his head, lowering his arms in a slow, placating motion. "Yes? I’m an elf, after all. I can live for eternity without leaving my prime..." he replied with a light chuckle, as if stating the obvious.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes. Her foot began tapping rapidly against the water, sending ripples outward like little shockwaves of annoyance. "Then why make this convoluted trial?" she shot back, her brows knitting together.

Tyr’s expression grew slightly defensive as he folded his arms again. "To make sure my descendants are worthy. Isn’t that the point of trials?" he countered, his voice firm with ancient pride.

"I wanted only the ones with both strength and wit. Not just magic. Heart."

Cynthia scoffed. "Can’t you just like... I don’t know? Train your descendants? It’s far more efficient than this trial that would likely kill ninety percent of your children who find it." Her foot tapped faster now, matching the rising pitch of her frustration.

Tyr laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. His silver hair shifted slightly in the moonlight. "My friends said the reactions from my trial would be... happy, not irritated," he said, half-sheepish, half-defensive.

Cynthia sighed and looked him over again—this legendary figure who, minutes ago, was nearly slicing her in half with divine swordplay. "It would’ve worked a few centuries ago, when people were still the noble type... not... an eighteen-year-old like me..."

Tyr’s shoulders slumped. His head dropped with a dramatic groan. "Can’t believe I wasted so many resources on this trial just for my descendant to react like this..."

Without missing a beat, Cynthia stepped forward and gave him a light punch on the arm—a casual, almost familial gesture. She didn’t let herself linger on the fact that the same arm once cleaved dragons, or that this was a man sung about in ballads.

Right now, he was just some goofy old man who built a death maze.

"Don’t get too caught up about it," she said, smiling just a little. Forgiveness, after all, came easy when you understood the cultural gap between centuries.

Then her expression shifted, businesslike again. "Can you let my friend out now?"

Tyr raised an eyebrow, blinking as if just now recalling a half-forgotten item on a checklist. "Oh, that kid? He seems fine."

With a casual flick of his wrist, Tyr conjured another watery mirror from the air. The surface shimmered before stabilizing into a live image—Marcus, in the middle of utter chaos.

He wasn’t just fine.

He was having a blast.

[Marcus POV]

Marcus dashed across the battlefield, chest heaving, his lungs burning like fire in his ribcage. Sweat drenched his back, and every step thudded against stone soaked with blood, water, and mana residue.

"I can’t just keep on running..." he muttered, twisting mid-stride to fire another rapid blast behind him. His run-and-gun tactics had slowed the horde down but hadn’t thinned it out enough.

Dozens—no, hundreds—of constructs swarmed in his peripheral vision.

"And where the hell are my system pop-ups!?" he shouted into the air, voice raw.

[Warning: System Error Spotted]

[System Fixed]

"Huh!? That’s awfully fucking convenient!" Marcus yelled, eyebrows shooting up as a flood of system notifications began scrolling down the edge of his vision like a holographic waterfall.

Still, his heart clenched.

’But that does raise a point... why did my system have an error until now?’

Before he could follow that train of thought, a wicked trident flew past him with a hiss, grazing his shoulder and spraying a thin arc of blood.

Marcus winced. ’I’ll focus on that later once I get into a safer position!’

But then—one notification glowed brighter than the rest.

[Soul Loom: 5/5]

His eyes widened. Energy pulsed in his veins like adrenaline shot through a leyline.

He stopped.

Turned.

Faced the horde head-on.

And smiled.

"Finally! Let’s make this a fair match!" he shouted, clapping his hands together—a habit-turned-reflex he’d accidentally developed to activate magic silently.

[Weavebound Construct Activated]

A surge of black energy exploded from behind him, swirling in spirals like smoke made solid. The energy slammed into the ground and began knitting itself into humanoid shapes—tall, cloaked, and wielding ethereal weapons.

"Take them all out!" he commanded.

The constructs roared into action like wolves unleashed, tearing through the oncoming tide with ruthless precision. Metal met magic. Shadow met flame. The battlefield turned into a frenzy of controlled chaos.

Marcus dropped to his knees, exhausted, catching his breath as the protective wall of constructs held firm in front of him.

"...Anyways," he gasped between breaths, "what did I miss..."

[EXP: 20,000]

[Absorption Complete]

+5 Rune Creation

+10 Mana Boost (Due to high mana usage during battle)

+Crystal Essence

"Woah... is this from the wyrm and those guys...?" he muttered, eyes glued to the stat increases, grinning like a man who’d just struck gold.

"And look at that exp... that’s quite a lot..." he said, laughing under his breath. The high from the numbers buzzed through his exhausted body like caffeine and magic.

[Objective Completed: Reach +20 Affection Points (Cynthia)]

Rewards Unlocked:

- Emotion Scan Feature (Improved)

- View Current Route Feature (Improved)

Marcus blinked at the last one, lips quirking in thought.

’While I’m happy the system rewards are finally starting to flow...’

’It’s still disturbing me what was causing it to not show up until now...’

’Why was it broken in the first place...?’

He glanced at the flickering notification again, unease crawling up his spine like cold fingers.

’This system... it’s not just overpowered, is it?’

’Feels like it’s got a mind of its own. I’ll have to run some tests later...’