Chapter 15: The Sovereign's Conduit
The morning air in the Academy felt palpably dangerous.
It was the distinct sensation of navigating an active minefield, dodging lethal traps relying purely on blind luck and calculated audacity.
I entered the Great Dining Hall and claimed my usual seat beside Rolf.
Nyssa arrived a mere moment later and sat directly next to me.
Her traditional place had always been safely across the heavy oak table.
Clearly, last night's excursion had fundamentally shifted the geography of our squad.
She did not utter a single word, burying herself in her reading, but I caught the shy, incredibly genuine smile playing on her lips as her delicate green finger subconsciously traced the silver locket resting at her collar.
Every single time I reached for my water goblet, her glowing emerald gaze darted instantly to my hands, then up to my lips, before she frantically looked back down at her heavy textbook.
Her brilliant, hyper-logical mind was desperately trying to quantify our intimate kiss as a mere transfer of arcane resonance.
Her deeply flushed olive skin, however, broadcasted the undeniable truth.
Kaelith sat directly across from us.
The Shadow-Knight was unnervingly, dangerously silent, even for her typical stoic baseline.
She did not touch her roasted meat.
Her glacial silver eyes flicked methodically back and forth between Nyssa's flustered face and my perfectly neutral expression.
She looked like a flawless ice sculpture that was violently cracking from the inside out.
I could physically feel the lethal, possessive sentiment burning in her stare. It drilled straight through my soul.
Genuine jealousy is a terrifying weapon, especially when wielded by a master assassin.
"Are you three okay?" Rolf suddenly asked, pausing with a massive chunk of boar meat hovering halfway to his mouth.
Even the werewolf, who was often as dense as a stone brick, could physically feel the suffocating sexual and territorial tension strangling the air around our table.
"Did someone die?"
"I was just reviewing some complex tactical variables, Rolf," I said smoothly, instantly shifting the topic and standing up from the table.
I had let the two apex predators stew in their competitive tension long enough for one morning.
"I need to hit the training grounds early. I will see you in class."
I strode out of the Great Dining Hall, feeling the heavy, burning weight of two very different pairs of eyes tracking my every step.
I absolutely did not go to the training grounds.
I retreated to the absolute, windowless privacy of my tiny stone cell in the Scholarship Wing, securely locking the heavy iron bolt on the oak door behind me.
CLACK.
I sat cross-legged on the scratchy straw mattress and took a slow, deep breath. It was finally time to spend my hard-earned capital.
System, I commanded mentally. Open the Lust Shop. Filter specifically for mana utilization and core reinforcement techniques priced under 400 LP.
{
[Lust Shop Accessed]
[Current Balance: 395 LP]
[Skill Book: Infernal Combustion (Lvl 1)] - 250 LP: Converts ambient mana strictly into volatile fire magic. High damage, zero physical reinforcement.
[Skill Book: Beast-King's Breath (Lvl 1)] - 300 LP: Forges mana into a dense, physical Aura that coats the skin. Increases Strength and Agility, but permanently seals Arcane spellcasting.
[Skill Book: The Sovereign's Conduit (Lvl 1)] - 350 LP: A lost, universal conversion technique perfectly suited for Mutable Cores. Allows the Host to inhale ambient mana and instantly shift its frequency, converting it into either Martial Aura (Physical) or Arcane Magic (Spellcasting) at will. Passively tempers the Host's biology during active circulation.
}
My eyes locked instantly onto the third option.
This was my ultimate, system-breaking cheat code.
The monsters of this world were strictly bound by their bloodlines, rigidly confined to performing either physical Aura or Arcane spells.
But with this lost technique, I would not be restricted.
I would easily become the very first of my green bloodline to flawlessly perform all branches of the Arcane Arts.
"Purchase The Sovereign's Conduit," I ordered aloud in the empty cell.
[Transaction Complete. -350 LP. Current Balance: 45 LP.]
[Integrating System Knowledge: The Sovereign's Conduit (Lvl 1)...]
The integration was not blindingly painful like the initial core awakening.
Instead, I was enlightened with a sudden, rushing flood of ancient memories that blanketed me with profound clarity and absolute peace.
My muscle memory was instantly, permanently engraved with this incredibly complex and multi-layered breathing technique.
Every single step I required to know, and every precise arcane rhythm, was flawlessly integrated straight into my brain.
Breathe in. Compress. Shift the frequency.
I closed my eyes and actively performed the technique.
The small, muddy F-grade core in my chest flared brilliantly to life.
It was not yet able to generate its own massive reserves of power.
Instead, it violently absorbed the ambient mana from the surrounding room like an industrial vacuum.
As the old saying goes, size does not matter when you know exactly how to use it.
The gathered energy was forcefully pushed down into my scrawny muscles by my direct command, instantaneously shifting the magical frequency into a heavy, unbelievably dense Martial Aura.
My frail green arms suddenly bulged.
The thin veins beneath my skin turned a faint, glowing, pulsing silver.
I reached out, gripped the thick wooden frame of my bed, and squeezed with everything I had.
CREAAAAK.
The solid, ugly oak groaned in agony.
CRACK!
It violently splintered under my fingertips, utterly crushed by the newfound raw physical strength flooding through my optimized biology.
Breathe out. Shift.
I released the shattered bedframe, pulling the silver energy seamlessly back into my core, and instantly shifted the frequency outward into volatile Magic.
The silver glow in my veins rapidly turned into a chaotic, crackling, highly destructive purple.
I raised my open palm.
A perfect, dense sphere of highly condensed arcane energy snapped into existence, hovering dangerously mere inches from my skin.
BZZZT.
It was not a pathetic, muddy spark anymore. It was pure, lethal artillery.
{
[System Alert: Host has successfully circulated 'The Sovereign's Conduit'.]
[Physical Tempering Initiated.]
>Strength (STR): 5 -> 8 (Grade: F- -> F+)
>Agility (AGI): 8 -> 11 (Grade: F- -> E-)
>Vitality/Endurance (VIT): 15 -> 18 (Grade: F+ -> E)
[System Note]: Continued use of this technique will slowly overwrite your low-tier Goblin biology, paving the way for your first Species Evolution.
}
I smoothly dispelled the magic and let the crackling purple sphere dissolve harmlessly into the cold air.
I looked down at my green hands.
They were still clawed, still the hands of a goblin, but they no longer felt fragile and pathetic.
With this, I could match Kaelith with Aura, and I could rival Nyssa with Magic.
I stood up, sharply adjusting the cuffs of my black Academy coat.
The 72-hour timer had successfully reset, my physical stats were definitively climbing out of the gutter, and I finally possessed the lethal teeth required to back up my Rank 10 intellect.
The first year Ranking Tournament was only a few short weeks away, which meant I had to aggressively speed up my training and biological progress.
It was finally time to show all these arrogant, pesky nobles exactly what a tactician goblin could do when he stopped holding back.