CHAPTER 836: 836: DIVINE GAME – CARD SWAP 85

It took Rita several days of rest before she fully recovered. Wail gifted her an assassin’s tactical belt, and at her waist now hung a third dagger—the spoils from killing the giant Chernor Worm, named Bonecrusher.

At her current rate of stat growth, it would take her ten years before she could wield it at full power.

Wail temporarily sealed part of the dagger’s energy. While this reduced more than half its attributes and locked away its attached skill, at least Rita could use it now.

Bonecrusher became her main weapon. The second dagger from Lightchaser served as her off-hand blade, and her very first dagger was now designated for poisons—its blade permanently coated in toxins for emergencies.

She also learned her second Wail technique—Loser’s Bite · Wail.

"This skill lets you grow stronger with every kill. Each time you take down an enemy, you temporarily absorb 5% of their highest stat into your own for three minutes."

It was a passive skill, which meant Rita had to dive into a lot of theory—arcane marks, runes, magic circles, and more.

Her mornings were spent in theory classes. In the afternoons, Wail dragged her out to hunt every variety of Chernor Worm. Evenings were her own—she could train, practice alchemy, or browse Wail’s study.

On weekends, she saw Lightchaser in the castle, who was there to teach her the fourth Lightchaser technique—Spell Break · Lightchaser.

Rita sometimes felt like she was living a dream, studying daily in an overpowered "super SSS-class" with two master combat artists personally feeding her skills.

But she didn’t feel superior or ahead. From Wail and Lightchaser, she’d learned that every prodigy in every school had teachers outside the academy as well.

Her friends were no exception—Mistblade, Maple Syrup, Fat Goose.

Mistblade’s teacher was a mage named Arcanum, whom she’d met in Gilane.

Maple Syrup’s was a gunman called Meltrange, met at an inn in Asaein.

Fat Goose’s case was messier—his birth parents, in a custody struggle, had summoned an entire nest of Candlebeasts. Now, custody was no longer up to his parents, but to the strongest Candlebeast in that nest.

His foster parents’ family wasn’t small either. Both families still quietly competed, but together they funded a top-tier instructor for him.

And these instructors all had names known across Kasilanar.

As Wail put it, "Lightchaser and I may be the strongest, but that doesn’t mean we’re the best teachers. Being strong and being able to make a student just as strong are two very different things. The ones you just named? None of their students are nobodies."

Rita’s expression turned serious. "For example?"

Wail sighed. "For example—Arcanum. Many, many years ago, she trained a prodigy who shocked all of Kasilanar."

Lightchaser was already rolling her eyes.

Rita missed it. Holding her breath, she lowered her voice like she might wake a sleeping giant. "Who?"

Wail said the name. "Wail."

Rita: ???

If Mistblade and Wail were from the same generation... what exactly did that make Rita and Mistblade?

...

On August 1st, Mistblade was waiting outside Moonlight Marsh.

She’d been staying at Lightchaser’s place these past days, but hadn’t seen Rita—only glimpses of Lightchaser, who looked unusually pleased.

Lightchaser always had that look after doing something sneaky—like tricking Rita into eating terrible candy, or both of them triggering one of her home’s hidden traps.

While she was lost in thought, her tail tip was suddenly tugged. Only one person liked to do that and dared to do that.

Mistblade turned around, delighted. "Rita?!"

There she was, in a black new school uniform.

Nearly half a year had passed; she’d grown taller, lost the baby fat, and was slimmer than before. But no one could doubt the power coiled inside her. She looked like a weapon forged and hammered until all impurities were gone—thin, sharp, and ready to strike at any moment.

It made her resemble Lightchaser even more, yet her face carried a bookish air like GodDraw77’s, the kind of scholar who could sit quietly all day with a book.

Her long hair hung loose, with two thin braids draped over her shoulders, each ending in a small bell.

Her belt held three daggers. The headpiece from Reyhana was pinned to her chest as an ornament; to a stranger, it might look like she was wearing a pocket watch.

These were surface changes. The real shift was that Rita felt far more dangerous now.

The proof? Mistblade used to sense her within three meters. This time, she hadn’t noticed until Rita’s hand was about to touch her tail tip—and when her tail tried to dodge, it still failed.

And Mistblade hadn’t been slacking—she’d spent her summer training daily under Arcanum.

Her feelings were mixed. "You’ve gotten even stronger."

She reached for one of the bells, but Rita stepped lightly out of reach, her expression sharp. Before Mistblade could question it, Rita explained, "Don’t touch. It’s cursed. If it rings, I get a random minor punishment."

Mistblade’s mouth twitched. "...Lightchaser’s doing?"

A glance confirmed it—hidden under Rita’s hair at the back was another thin braid with a bell.

Rita: "Mm."

She glanced around but didn’t see Maple Syrup or Fat Goose. Mistblade explained, "They’ll be here this afternoon. Your uniform looks different from Maple Syrup’s, though."

Rita grinned. "Because I’m more dangerous\~ What’s her deal lately anyway? I heard she didn’t go home for summer? Her mom even asked me. Has her rebellious phase finally kicked in?"

"No idea. She says she’ll go home once she gets GodDraw77."

"That’s peak rebellion. I say she should pick a new goal."

They chatted as they walked into Moonlight Marsh.

Even before Wail and Lightchaser’s joint training, Rita had already locked down one of the five SSS-class slots. After half a year away, there was no chance she’d be bumped to another class—though the jingling bells sometimes caused a slip-up or two.

Her snowman sales had gone up in price, but now her main income was from her Moment of Reversal.

That skill was no secret—Burrowbug Tavern had sold fairly accurate information on it.

So why not maximize it?

She launched a Divine Gift swap service in the school. Any two students wanting to trade Divine Gift skills could come to her. Both paid in credits, and GodDraw77 served as witness to keep everything aboveboard.

After all, she was worried that during a trade, when she temporarily moved her own Divine Gift out to make space, someone might snipe it...

Her initial price was 50 stat-boosting items with a 95% or higher success rate. But no one bit.

She thought it was fair—Maple Syrup and the others agreed. It wasn’t like anyone swapped Gifts daily. But every student who asked about it walked away.

Frankly, she thought it was a better deal than her snowmen.

Then, while claiming a skill reward from GodDraw77, she mentioned the issue.

GodDraw77 explained, "Your price scares them. Every transaction makes you visibly stronger. Fifty stat points for a swap isn’t expensive, but their fear of you getting stronger outweighs their desire to optimize their Gift."

After that, Rita changed her rates.

Each swap now cost 100 credits, 19 stat-boosting items with at least a 90% success rate, and 5,000 gold.

The stat cost dropped from 50 to 19, and the item requirements eased.

Since then, she was helping classmates trade Gifts almost daily under GodDraw77’s watch.

She told GodDraw77 privately, "What’s the difference? I can use the credits to buy stats and skills anyway."

GodDraw77 flicked one of the bells on her braid. This one she couldn’t dodge—its chime rang clear.

A moment later, Rita was a rabbit small enough to fit in GodDraw77’s palm.

Smiling at the tiny, resentful bunny, GodDraw77 said, "Rita gaining 10 stat points and Rita gaining 50 stat points may sound similar—but they’re not, are they?"