Chapter 32: Meet and greet
Isaac, still under his forced identity of Mordred, watched the end of the fight with painful tension. His body trembled slightly with exhaustion, but his mind was strangely alert, electrified by the vision of Akane slowly leaving the sand of the arena to the thunderous cheers of the dragons.
A few minutes later, while the audience was still roaring with excitement at the prospect of the gladiatrix’s next clash with a dragon, Mordred felt a presence approaching his cell. His heart suddenly raced as he saw Akane through the bars, exhausted, bloodied but strangely dignified despite her condition.
Their eyes met in a silence charged with meaning. She slowed her pace slightly, their eyes staring into each other’s, a brief but profound connection crossing the space between them. Slowly, a light, discreet but incredibly warm smile stretched Akane’s lips. This simple gesture, this silent acknowledgement of their shared struggle for survival, touched Isaac deeply.
It was the last image he saw of her before a strange, powerful and irresistible sensation suddenly seized him.
His mind was violently drawn out of this world.
Isaac awoke with a start, panting, his body sweating. He sat up abruptly in bed, his breathing jerky, his heart pounding furiously in his chest. He was back home, in his dingy Paris apartment. The familiar silence, the comforting half-light of his room, everything seemed strangely unreal after the brutal hell of the colosseum.
But before he could fully regain his senses, several notifications suddenly piled up before his eyes with rapidity, saturating his mind with new information:
[Ding!]
[Moonstone absorption successful].
[New skill obtained: "Dragon Hand" (active - level 1)]
Isaac stared at the translucent screen in front of him, intrigued and slightly anxious. The description immediately appeared: