Chapter 16
Yui stayed on her knees, head bowed, waiting.
At the far end of the massive hall, the Ruler hadn't moved in minutes, he just sat there on the throne like a statue carved from silence.
Then, slowly, he rose...
The second he stood, the air changed.
It wasn't loud because it didn't need to be, the pressure rolled through the chamber like a tide every commanding officer in the hall dropped to one knee bowing before their king
His cloak shifted behind him, barely making a sound as his crimson eyes looked down at Yui.
"Takahashi… Ren," he said. Calm. Like he was tasting the name.
He stepped off the dais.
One step.
Then another.
Each movement carried weight the officials bowed lower without even realizing they were doing it.
He stopped a few paces from Yui.
"Tell me mizuki yui," he said, voice low and deep. The kind of voice that made the floor feel smaller.
"This woman. Is she as strong as me?"
Yui hesitated as her mind flashed back to sylva's smile, and her earlier confrontation, she thought about it she really thought about it.
Then she answered.
"No, my lord," Yui said. "There's no one as strong as you expect your class because you're one of the Four Grand Monarchs."
The Ruler smiled, somehow that felt refreshing He turned and walked back toward his throne.
"I see," he said. "Then there's no need to dwell on the matter any longer."
He sat down. Relaxed back like the conversation was over.
"Go, enjoy your day. And may the blessing of our creator be with you."
Yui bowed her head deeper.
"Yes, my lord."
Back at Slyva place, sylva crossed her arms and gave Ren a strange look.
"Calm down, stupid," she said flatly. "Looks like the System's rushing your growth."
Ren scoffed
Rushing?
"Tsk it doesn't feel like rushing to me," he shot back, his voice coming out rougher than intended. "Feels more like this thing has a mind of its own."
Sylva ignored him completely but her eyes narrowed slightly as she muttered under her breath.
"A System that can generate Gates…" She slowly shook her head. "That shouldn't even exist in the first place."
"So… it's actually that serious?" Ren asked carefully.
Sylva went quiet for a second.
Hmm why don't you tell me how you really feel," Ren muttered. "And maybe tell me what I'm supposed to do?"
Sylva sighed as her tone dropped lower.
"Normally, Gates are created through dimensional instability they are random and chaotic, even the Federation can't fully control when or where they appear."
Her expression darkened slightly, like she had remembered something unpleasant.
"But an artificial Gate?" She glanced at Ren. "One made specifically for a single person?"
She clicked her tongue.
"And now your System is forcing you to hit level ten but you can't do that unless you fight monsters and at the same time you can't fight monsters without entering Gates."
Ren still looked completely lost.
"So… what exactly am I supposed to do?"
His eyes drifted toward the floating System window.
The timer was still there.
Time Remaining: 71:58:03
"Yeah, no pressure or anything," Ren muttered nervously. "But we seriously need a plan."
That was when Sylva let out a long, dramatic groan.
"Ughhh. I know, I know."
She rubbed her temples like he was personally ruining her day.
"And there goes my peaceful life."
"I've been avoiding unnecessary attention," Sylva explained while pinching the bridge of her nose.
"My only goal was protecting you quietly."
She sighed deeply but apparently, I don't get a choice anymore on that matter "
The exhaustion in her voice felt real.
"What a pain…"
Then suddenly she crouched down.
Clink. Clink.
Two heavy shackles dropped from her ankles and slammed onto the floor.
Ren blinked huh wait. Were those always there?"
"What do you mean?" Sylva replied casually.
She stood up and dusted off her hands like she had just finished cleaning.
Then a dangerous smile spread across her face.
"Now then," she said far too cheerfully.
"Here comes the fun part."
…BOOM.
The air changed instantly before Ren could even react, an overwhelming pressure crashed down onto him.
His knees slammed into the floor because it felt like an invisible giant had grabbed his body
What… is this it feels like murderous intent..?!
His mind blanked out completely.
Then suddenly the pressure vanished as sylva burst into laughter.
"Ahh, Ren-sama, you should've seen your face!" she laughed between breaths. "You were totally making the 'who's this hot girl trying to murder me' expression!"
Ren wasn't laughing, he stayed on one knee, struggling to breathe properly again.
"What the hell was that?" he wheezed. "Are you trying to kill me?!"
"Ah, sorry, sorry," Sylva said while lazily waving a hand.
But she did not sound sorry at all.
"I had to remove two of my eight limiters, if we're going to make you stronger, you'll need to fight real monsters. Can't do that with me walking around half-asleep."
She flexed her fingers slowly.
"Though even now, I'm only at low alpha level. How annoying."
That word immediately caught Ren's attention his eyes moved from the broken shackles on the floor back to her.
" wait you had eight limiters on this whole time?"
The implications hit him a second later.
And his stomach dropped.
"Hold on…" Ren stared at her carefully. "I never actually asked before."
His voice lowered slightly, "Sylva… what rank are you?"
Sylva only chuckled while staring directly at him.
Before she could answer...
The System window suddenly appeared in front of Ren's face.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
[ +5 Bonus Stat Points Awarded ]
Ren blinked.
"Huh?"
He quickly read through the message again.
"Wait… I'm getting bonus points now?"
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
"Okay maybe I can work with that."
Without hesitation, he dumped all five points into Strength.
Strength +5
Ren flexed his hand slightly.
"…Yeah. I can definitely feel that."
Then his expression quickly turned serious again.
"So what am I supposed to do now?" he asked.
Sylva stared at him for exactly one second.
Then suddenly
Grab....
"Eh ... Wait ?!"
She grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him away.
"Let's go," Sylva said casually.
"W-Wait, where are we going?!"
Sylva glanced back at him with a grin that immediately raised every possible red flag in his mind.
We're going to get evaluated