The moon hung like a silver sickle over the palace of Astheria. Midnight had arrived. Kaito slipped out of his chambers, his movements guided by the [Mini-Map] overlaying his vision. He moved like a ghost, using his [Passive Packet Sniffing] to detect the mana-signatures of the patrolling guards before they could turn the corner.
[Stealth Mode: Active][Detection Probability: 4%]
He reached the Royal Garden, where the Great Mana Fountain stood. It was a massive structure of white marble, flowing with liquid light that powered the entire palace's magical defenses. To any mage, it was a holy site. To Kaito, it was a giant power outlet.
"You're late, Glitch," Riya's voice drifted from the top of the fountain. She was shimmering in the moonlight, her silver hair glowing with a faint phosphorescence.
"I had to dodge my brother's guards," Kaito whispered, walking toward the base of the fountain. "Now, tell me. How do I stop my body from burning up every time I use a command?"
Riya jumped down, her feet hovering an inch above the glowing water. "Your body is trying to process raw data using your biological nervous system. It's like trying to run a lightning bolt through a copper wire meant for a candle. You need a buffer."
She pointed to the base of the fountain, where a small crack had formed in the marble. "The fountain has a [Memory Leak]. Mana is escaping here, unformatted and raw. If you can bridge your terminal to this leak, you can use the fountain's 'hardware' to process your commands instead of your own brain."
Kaito knelt by the crack. He summoned his interface.
[Scanning Local Environment...][Found: Unstable Mana Stream (Raw Data)][Action: Establish Bridge?] [Y/N]
Kaito pressed [Y]. Suddenly, his mind was flooded with a roar of information. It felt like a thousand voices screaming at once. His blue screen turned a blinding white.
"Don't let it overwhelm you!" Riya shouted, her voice sounding distant. "Filter it! Write a [Firewall] in your mind!"
Kaito's teeth chattered. He forced his mind to focus. He began to type in the white void, his mental fingers flying across a keyboard he could no longer see.
[Command: sudo_mount /dev/mana_fountain /mnt/external_buffer][Status: Mounting...][Success: System Load transferred to External Source]
The pain in his head vanished instantly. The heat in his chest cooled into a refreshing breeze. Kaito opened his eyes. He felt lighter, faster, and more connected to the world than ever before. He could see the 'code' of the grass, the trees, and even the air molecules vibrating.
"Better?" Riya asked, crossing her arms.
"Much better," Kaito said, standing up. He felt powerful. "I can run ten scripts at once now without even sweating."
"Don't get cocky," Riya warned. "This is a temporary patch. You're tethered to the fountain. Once you leave this area, you'll lose the buffer. For the Royal Duel, you'll need to find a way to carry a portable power source."
Suddenly, the [Passive Packet Sniffing] in Kaito's vision flared bright orange.
[Hostile Mana Signature Detected!] [Class: Fire Mage | Level: 25] [Distance: 15 meters]
"Kaito? Who are you talking to in the dark?"
A tall, muscular figure stepped out from behind a hedge. It was Prince Jiro, Kaito's second brother. His hands were wreathed in flickering orange flames, his face twisted in a sneer of contempt.
Riya vanished instantly, leaving Kaito alone in the moonlight.
"Jiro," Kaito said, his voice calm. "I was just... getting some air."
"In the middle of the night? At the sacred fountain?" Jiro stepped closer, the heat from his hands singeing the nearby flowers. "I heard you managed to trip Hiroshi yesterday. A fluke. But I won't be so easy. I'm going to make sure you don't even make it to the duel, you pathetic glitch."
Jiro raised his hand, a ball of intense fire forming in his palm.
[Threat Level: High] [Action: Defensive Script?]
Kaito didn't flinch. He looked at the fire, then at his terminal. He saw the 'code' of the flames—a simple sequence of oxygen acceleration and thermal increase.
"Jiro, you should be careful with fire," Kaito said, his fingers moving subtly at his side. "Sometimes, the system... crashes."
[Command: delete /target: jiro_fireball/thermal_energy]
Jiro smirked and threw the fireball. "Die, trash!"
But as the flames left his hand, they didn't explode. Instead, they turned into a puff of harmless grey smoke and vanished into the wind. Jiro froze, staring at his empty hand in total shock.
"What... what did you do?" Jiro stammered, trying to summon the fire again. But every time a spark appeared, it immediately blinked out of existence.
"I didn't do anything," Kaito lied, walking past his stunned brother. "Maybe your 'hardware' is just outdated, Jiro. You should look into an update."
As Kaito walked away, his screen showed a new notification:
[Hidden Objective Complete: Humiliate a Superior User] [Reward: +500 EXP | Admin Level: 1] [New Feature Unlocked: Remote Process Kill]
Kaito smiled. The Royal Duel wasn't just a test anymore. It was going to be a massacre. But as he looked back, he saw Riya watching him from the shadows of the palace roof. Her expression wasn't one of pride—it was one of fear.
Kaito didn't realize it yet, but by 'deleting' Jiro's magic, he had just signaled his location to the true enemies of the system.