Chapter 220 - 219 : A deal (2)
Arthur almost shouted.
"Are you serious? Winning the competition?" Arthur said. "If I remember correctly, we’ve been losing for the last two years, right? Always finishing in second or third place."
The moment he said that, a jolt ran through Athena’s body.
Her voice dropped into something colder.
"Do you have any idea," Athena said, "how much wealth, magical artifacts, research, and land I have lost over the last two years?"
She paused, her tone darkening even further.
"It amounts to billions of dollars," Athena said. "Along with the humiliation I have suffered... all because those cheating bastards ganged up on us."
Arthur stared at her.
"All eight academies against us alone," Athena continued. "Using whatever means necessary to win."
Arthur sighed.
"Now this is giving me a headache," Arthur said. "This year, you have so many talented students who can lead the first years, so why are you giving me such a headache?"
Athena’s voice came out sharp.
"Do you think I don’t know that?" she said. "But all of them are divided. They refuse to work together at all. And there is only one week left until the competition begins."
Her expression turned even more severe.
"And I would rather die than lose this year."
Even though Arthur could not see her face clearly behind the veil, he could feel the bloodlust in her gaze.
Athena looked at him with a dangerous, almost unhinged grin.
"You are one of the cruelest people I know," she said. "The kind of person who can use any underhanded method to win."
She crossed her arms.
"No one among the first years has that scumbag-like personality," Athena continued, "or the kind of wit that the others lack."
Her tone lowered.
"If we lose this year, we will lose our position as the number one institution in the world for training Awakeneds."
She sighed reluctantly.
"And even so, I hate to admit it... you are the perfect candidate to lead them."
A vein popped on Arthur’s forehead.
"Are you praising me or insulting me?" Arthur asked.
"Don’t mind the small details," Athena said.
Then her voice softened just a little.
"But if you can do it," she said, "I’ll even share the profits of our victory with you. So, what do you say?"
Arthur immediately grabbed her hand.
"How much are we talking about?" he asked.
Athena smiled.
"Billions of dollars’ worth of resources," she said.
Arthur straightened instantly.
"I humbly accept the offer," he said.
"Alright," Athena replied. "That’s a deal, then."
The moment the deal was confirmed, a system notification appeared before Arthur’s eyes.
══════════════════════════════════════
[ ULTIMATE CHOICE SYSTEM ]
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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Choice 1: Crown of Victory]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Objective:
Win the Inter-Academy Tournament and claim the championship.
Rewards:
• Unknown-Grade Artifact — Ring of Reversal
- A mysterious ring whose abilities remain unknown.
- Even the Ultimate Choice System is unable to appraise its true power.
Penalty for Failure:
• Every attribute permanently reduced by 50%.
• 50% of your current EXP will be deducted.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Choice 2: The Traitor’s Bargain]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Objective:
Deliberately lose the Inter-Academy Tournament and betray Athena Emberfall.
Rewards:
• Talent Upgrade Card ×2
• Lifespan +50 Years
Penalty for Failure:
• Lifespan −50 Years.
• All attributes reduced by 30% for one year.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Warning:]
Once a choice has been made, it cannot be changed.
The unselected choice will be permanently discarded.
[Please select your choice.]
Choice 1 — Crown of Victory
Choice 2 — The Traitor’s Bargain
══════════════════════════════════════
Arthur stared at the notification, his eyes widening in surprise.
Athena noticed immediately.
"What happened?" she asked. "Why are you look— Ah, it must be that system of yours, huh."
Arthur nodded and read the notification carefully.
’Wow... it really activates at the most random times,’ Arthur thought. ’What are these absurd choices and penalties?’
He examined the options closely.
The second choice was tempting as well.
But Arthur’s gaze settled on the first.
’Athena is not someone you want to make an enemy of,’ he thought. ’It’s better to keep her as an ally. Besides, I can make good use of her too.’
A sly smile formed on his face.
Athena frowned.
"Wipe that creepy smile off your face," she said. "And tell me when you’re going to give me the lifespan you just promised."
Arthur looked at her calmly.
"About that," he said, "I don’t know the process of transferring lifespan, so you’ll have to guide me."
He raised one finger.
"And to start, I’ll only give you one year of lifespan. The rest will be given gradually as we move forward."
Athena stared at him, dumbfounded for a moment.
"You made that absurd deal without even knowing how to transfer your lifespan?" she asked.
Arthur shrugged.
"Is that a problem for you?"
Athena sighed.
"Sometimes you act like a complete fool," she muttered.
Arthur’s mouth twitched.
"You’ll have to teach me if you want to live," Arthur said. "You don’t have a choice now."
Athena’s eyes narrowed.
"Was that your goal from the very beginning?" she asked. "To learn the method?"
Arthur looked away.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about."
Athena clicked her tongue.
"Forget it," she said. "Meet me tomorrow morning. I’ll teach you then."
Arthur nodded.
Then he added, "By the way, in exchange for doing all this for you, I want complete freedom as a student. Whether I attend classes or not will be up to me. When I come to the academy will also be my decision."
Athena considered it for a moment.
Then she answered, "Alright. Deal. I can already tell that keeping you tied down here will only hinder your growth."
Arthur let out a quiet, ominous chuckle.
"Thanks for understanding," he said. "Maybe you’re not as bad as I thought."
Athena laughed as well, just as ominously.
"You’re not as bad as I thought either."
They shook hands once again.
The deal was done.
───────────────
Meanwhile, Aiden walked back to his assigned accommodation.
As one of the top ten students, he had been given a luxurious residence within the academy grounds.
The house was spacious and elegant, with polished wooden floors, tall windows, luxurious curtains, and well-furnished rooms that reflected both comfort and status. A private sitting area, a study, and a neatly arranged bedroom made it feel more like a noble villa than a student dormitory.
But the moment Aiden stepped into his room, he froze.
A woman was already standing there.
She was holding a family photograph in her hand, quietly staring at it.
Aiden’s guard shot up instantly.
He drew his sword from his storage ring and pointed it at her back.
"Whoever you are," Aiden said, his voice tense, "you chose the wrong person to mess with. I’m already in a bad mood."
The woman remained still for a second.
Then she spoke in a low voice.
"You haven’t changed one bit, baby brother."
Aiden’s eyes widened.