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"Look at that smirk on your face." Helena glared at Victor with an intensity that could peel paint. "You'd think you were the one who fought." Her hand drifted to the card holster at her hip. "Since you're in such a good mood, how about a round? Right here, right now."
Victor's good mood evaporated instantly. Nobody wanted a round with Helena Frost. The woman was a Sovereign Realm combat maniac who solved disagreements the way a hammer solved nails.
"This was a student exchange," Victor said, maintaining his composure through sheer force of will. "If you want to fight, wait for the City Lord Battle."
The City Lord Battle. Held once every ten years, all twelve cities under the Capital participated. As long as Victor's luck held, he wouldn't draw Helena in the bracket.
"Hmph." Helena's hand left her holster. She knew the idea was impractical. But she gave Luke one long, measuring look before turning away. "I keep my word. The ring is yours."
In the arena, Lily Everhart stared at the crater.
Gone. Silver Moon Fox and Nebula Rainbow Butterfly, her strongest combination, the pairing Helena herself had helped design. Destroyed by a single attack. And the boy across from her hadn't even summoned his second card.
She'd entered this fight with two Card Spirits. He'd used one. And he'd won so cleanly that it wasn't even close.
The Moonvale students were silent. A minute ago, they'd been cheering Lily's Stellar Shift transformation, riding the high of the fox walking on air. Now there was nothing. Levi, Zane, Warren, Preston. All quiet.
"Want to keep going?" Luke asked. Not mockingly. Just a straightforward question, the same way you'd ask someone if they wanted another hand of cards.
That almost made it worse. He was so calm about it.
And he's still hiding things. Lily hadn't missed the fact that the Spellcaster had shown different abilities in every fight. Homing spell control. Silence. Close-quarters staff combat. A wide-area blast. Flight. And now this, a finishing move that had erased her ultimate combo. What else hadn't he shown?
"Silver Moon Fox and Nebula Rainbow Butterfly were my strongest." Lily shook her head, biting her lower lip. "This one's mine. I lost."
A beat of silence. Then:
"But the next time we meet, I won't lose to you again."
Out in the crowd, Marcus and Hailey turned to each other. The same look crossed both their faces.
"That sounds... really familiar," Hailey said slowly.
"Yeah." Marcus coughed. "Weirdly familiar."
They'd said the exact same thing to Luke before the exchange match. Word for word. And their version hadn't aged particularly well either.
Neither of them brought that up.
Luke just smiled at Lily's declaration, then turned back to the arena. "Mana. Come on back."
"Coming~!"
Mana dropped from the sky, landed directly in Luke's arms, and wrapped both hands around his neck. Her face was flushed, her eyes sparkling with barely-contained excitement. "Master! How was I? I was good, right? Tell me I was good!"
"The best." Luke pinched her cheek gently. "My Mana is obviously the best."
Mana's face went cherry-red. She squirmed but didn't let go, burying her face against his shoulder with a muffled giggle.
"HEY! GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!"
"DID HE JUST PINCH HER CHEEK?! IN PUBLIC?!"
"I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS. I WON'T ACCEPT THIS. EVEN IF HE WON."
The Ashenvale male student population, which had been united in celebration thirty seconds ago, immediately fractured into Team Luke and Team Riot. Several students looked genuinely distraught.
Lily, who had not yet left the arena, stood there watching Luke cuddle his Card Spirit while an entire student body lost their minds around her. She couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh or sigh.
Could you at least wait until I've walked off the field?
Zane and Levi, still processing their own crushing defeat, found themselves staring at the scene with completely blank expressions. They'd come to Ashenvale expecting a dominant victory. They were leaving having watched the guy who beat all five of them flirt with his Card Spirit in front of everyone.
This was, without question, the worst day of their lives.
After the chaos settled, Victor and the principals came down from the platform. Helena and the Moonvale delegation joined them on the field. Victor held out a small, beautifully crafted ring that seemed to shimmer with faint silver light.
"You earned this." Victor placed the Moon Spirit Ring in Luke's palm. "The stake from my bet with Helena."
Luke turned the ring over. He'd never heard of a Moon Spirit Ring before. Marcus and Hailey crowded in, equally curious. On the Moonvale side, Lily's eyes flickered with unmistakable envy, though she said nothing.
"The Moon Spirit Ring is unique to Moonvale City," Harlow explained. "Only five are produced per year, and they're effective for any Card Master below Sovereign Realm. The ring does one thing: it nourishes the wearer's spiritual energy over time, gradually strengthening it while also accelerating recovery speed."
Luke's eyes lit up.
"You're still early in your path as a Card Master," Harlow continued. "If the Moon Spirit Ring nurtures your spiritual energy from this stage onward, then by the time you advance to higher realms, your spiritual reserves will be significantly stronger than your peers. Crafting higher-level cards will come easier."
Nourishes spiritual energy. Accelerates recovery. For someone running Simulated Crafting in the background every waking minute, that wasn't just useful. It was a game-changer.