The tree became enveloped in brilliant white light, and I watched as it began to slowly transform, its shape shifting and condensing in ways that defied natural physics.
"Okay, this is taking way too long," I muttered under my breath after several minutes had passed. The fairy was clearly struggling to contain her rage, her hands trembling as she maintained whatever magic was required for this process.
Twenty more minutes crawled by at an agonizing pace.
"Oh, for crying out loud, can you move any slower?" I snapped, my patience finally reaching its limit. "At this rate, I'll be here until next semester."
She didn't respond, but I could see her jaw clenched tight with the effort of not lashing out at me. Then a troubling thought occurred to me.
What if she was just stalling for time? What if this whole elaborate transformation was just a way to keep me here until those academy trackers arrived?
I stood up from where I'd been waiting and walked directly toward her, manifesting a new fireball in my palm. Without hesitation, I pointed it directly at her face from close range.
"If you don't finish this process in the next twenty seconds," I said with deadly calm, "you'll be joining whatever's left of your fairy friends in the afterlife."
Her posture went rigid, but she still didn't move to speed up the process.
"One," I began counting down.
She flinched visibly.
"Take it!" she suddenly shouted, her voice filled with resignation and defeat.
A sphere of concentrated light broke away from the transforming tree and flew directly toward me. My first instinct was to reach out and touch it, but something felt wrong. Some deeper survival instinct kicked in, and I jumped backward just in time to avoid a set of mana-coated fingers that swept through the air where my neck had been.
"Oh, I see how it is," I said, touching my throat where I could feel a thin line of blood from how close her attack had come. "So that's the game we're playing."
Her face had gone pale as a sheet. It seemed like she'd used the very last of her mana reserves for that desperate assassination attempt, and now she was completely defenseless.
Too bad for her that she'd missed.
I activated my mana enhancement technique, coating my body with what little energy I had left, and dashed forward before she could react or try anything else. Before she had time to dodge or defend herself, I landed a solid punch directly to her face.
Wow.
She really is in a weakened state.
Well, lucky me.
"Kya!" she let out what I had to admit was a rather cute yelp before collapsing to the ground.
Ignoring her completely now, I reached out and touched the ball of light she'd created. It immediately began to shrink, condensing down until it transformed into an earring that attached itself to my ear. The process was surprisingly painless—just a brief tingling sensation.
Nice. But I knew this wasn't the end of it.
I glanced down at the fairy, noting the murderous glare she was directing at me even from her position on the ground. She definitely thought I didn't understand the full situation.
While it might appear that the relic was now mine, that couldn't be further from the truth. If I let my guard down for even a second, she could potentially reclaim it and disappear. The bond wasn't complete yet.
Fortunately, I'd read the novel thoroughly and knew exactly what came next.
I bit down on my index finger hard enough to draw blood. Her eyes widened in sudden realization and horror.
"WAIT! NOOOOOOOO!" she screamed, but it was far too late to stop what was coming.
I touched the earring with my blood, and it immediately began to glow with intense light, its color shifting and deepening until it became a rich amethyst purple. The transformation was irreversible now—a blood bond that couldn't be broken by anyone except me.
The earring itself was actually quite elegant in its simplicity. It was shaped like an elongated purple diamond, thinned out and refined, but not overly fancy or ostentatious. Despite its understated appearance, there was an undeniable elegance to it that spoke of its true power.
"Perfect," I said with genuine satisfaction, turning back to see her utterly shocked and horrified expression. Pure dread was painted across her beautiful features.
"Have a good day... fairy, right?" I chuckled, then immediately started running toward the forest exit.
According to my calculations, I had maybe five to ten minutes before those academy tracking teams arrived at my last known location. If they found me here with an obviously magical artifact and evidence of a major magical battle, there would be questions I couldn't answer.
Thankfully, I'd paid attention during my hike in and could retrace my steps back through the forest. The return journey felt much faster, probably because I wasn't constantly looking over my shoulder for predators this time.
Soon enough, I reached the gate checkpoint. As if sensing my approach, the heavy barrier opened—or rather, one of the guards manning it saw me coming and activated the mechanism.
"Name," the guard said in a gruff, no-nonsense tone.
"Ryan," I replied.
He nodded and typed something into what looked like a rugged laptop computer designed for field use. After a moment, a notification appeared in my vision.
[Notice: Sense Tracker has been disengaged.]
"You may proceed," he said, stepping aside to let me pass.
I nodded my thanks and headed straight for the teleportation zone. At the service counter, there was a bored-looking man handling transportation requests. I approached him to purchase a return ticket.
The cost was absolutely brutal—a whopping 100 points just for a one-way trip back to Sector 1 where the academy was located. That was nearly a fifth of my total accumulated points, but I didn't have much choice in the matter.
Holding my ticket, I moved to the actual teleportation device, where a group of security personnel verified my documentation just like they had when I'd arrived. After their approval, I stepped into the transportation circle.
The familiar sensation of magical travel washed over me, and moments later I was back in familiar territory.
"Finally," I exhaled as I materialized at my destination.
Almost immediately, I felt a cool sensation spreading through my chest, and I could sense my mana regenerating at a much faster rate than normal. The trinket was already working, providing the passive benefits I'd hoped for.
This made everything worth it. Having outmaneuvered Lucas and claimed this power boost for myself felt incredibly satisfying.
The journey back to the academy dormitories took longer than I'd expected, but I managed to arrive just before the official curfew time. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to avoid trouble.
The dorm master was waiting for me, and apparently I'd missed curfew two days in a row. As punishment, merit points would be deducted from my overall grade. These people really were greedy—they couldn't let anything slide, no matter how minor the infraction.