[TRIAL COMPLETE]
[Rating: A+]
[Rewards:]
[+3,000 Tower Coins]
[+3 Intelligence, +5 Endurance]
[Infinite Reward Multiplier — Activated!]
[Multiplier: x9]
[Rewards adjusted:]
[+27,000 Tower Coins]
[+27 Intelligence, +45 Endurance]
Kael barely spared the notification screen a glance before dismissing it immediately.
He slowly pushed himself to his feet, though his body still trembled faintly.
The hunger was gone now that the trial had ended, but the lingering psychological effects remained. Even after surviving it, Kael could still feel traces of that maddening starvation clawing at the back of his mind.
The forest around him slowly dissolved into motes of light, and moments later he reappeared back inside the start room.
Kael did not linger there for even a second.
He immediately grabbed the two unopened reward boxes and tossed them into his inventory before willing himself out of the Tower.
Aiona did not even get the chance to congratulate him before he vanished.
The start room disappeared.
Then the next moment, Kael found himself back inside his apartment room.
He immediately checked the time on his phone.
6:55 AM.
The sun was already beginning to rise outside, and faint sounds of the waking city could already be heard through the window.
But Kael barely noticed any of it.
Because at that exact moment, a sweet aroma drifted into his nose.
Food.
Before he could even consciously react, his body had already moved.
Kael practically burst out of his room and headed straight toward the kitchen, drawn entirely by instinct.
The moment he spotted the covered plate sitting on the table, he descended on it immediately.
The lingering mental imprint left behind by the Hunger Forest still clung heavily to him.
He was already halfway through the food before his rationality finally caught up.
Kael slowly froze.
Then raised his head.
His mouth was still stuffed full of food.
Across the table, Lyra sat staring at him with an extremely complicated expression.
Silence filled the kitchen.
Kael felt his cheeks heat up slightly in embarrassment.
Slowly, he forced himself to calm down before chewing and swallowing the food in his mouth.
"...Hey," he greeted awkwardly. "Good morning. I didn’t notice you were there earlier."
Lyra raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," she replied calmly. "I noticed."
Kael somehow felt even more embarrassed hearing that.
He coughed lightly before trying to explain himself.
"So, uh... you see, I didn’t really get anything to eat, and the Tower trial drained me pretty badly, so I was feeling extremely famished."
"Oh, is that so?" Lyra said slowly.
Her gaze drifted meaningfully toward Kael’s plate, which had somehow already been reduced to half its original amount within seconds.
The suspicion in her eyes was obvious.
Still, she did not press further.
Instead, she simply returned her attention to her own food.
She had originally been eating peacefully before Kael suddenly stormed into the kitchen and started devouring food like a starving beast.
Soon, both of them quietly resumed eating.
Several minutes later, the meal finally ended.
Kael leaned back slightly in his chair while Lyra focused on her phone screen, both of them doing their absolute best to ignore the awkward atmosphere lingering between them.
Especially Lyra.
She seemed determined to erase the image she had just witnessed from her memory entirely.
Eventually, Kael broke the silence first.
"So, what are you doing today?"
Lyra finally looked up from her phone.
"I plan on doing my Tower tutorial today," she said. "I’ve already made all my preparations, so I think today’s the day."
Kael nodded.
"That’s good."
Then Lyra asked, "What about you? Doing another Tower run today?"
Kael shook his head.
"No."
He leaned back slightly before continuing.
"I’m taking a couple days off before entering again."
He was not lying either.
The previous trial had been rough.
Very rough.
Even without physical injuries, the mental strain from the Hunger Forest was still lingering heavily inside him.
He needed time to recover properly.
Besides, tomorrow was already the day he agreed to explore a Rift with Zoey and Adam.
He still needed to figure out how to deal with the leveling issue before then.
So taking today off from the Tower was honestly the best option.
Hearing his answer, Lyra visibly relaxed.
"Wow," she said. "Someone’s actually being careful for once."
Kael shrugged.
"Can’t help it."
Then he smirked slightly.
"Who else is supposed to take care of my cute little sister if something happens to me?"
Lyra instantly turned red.
"You—!"
She muttered curses under her breath while quickly standing up and grabbing the plates before heading toward the kitchen sink.
Kael could not help chuckling quietly.
Seriously.
She was just too cute.
After a moment, he also stood up and followed after her.
"Oh right," he said casually. "I’ve been thinking maybe we should move."
Lyra paused slightly.
Kael continued.
"Maybe somewhere better. A better district, a better apartment... stuff like that."
The moment he said that, Lyra suddenly froze.
Then after a few seconds, she quietly spoke without turning around.
"Why would we move?"
Kael blinked slightly.
"I like it here," she continued softly.
Then after a brief pause, she added,
"...It’s home."
Kael frowned slightly.
"But this apartment is old. And the ambient mana in this third-tier district—"
"We’re awakened."
Lyra interrupted him before he could finish.
"Well... you already are. And by the end of today, I will be too."
She slowly turned toward him.
"You know ambient mana barely affects awakened people."
Then her expression softened slightly.
"And Mom is in a hospital here."
"We can’t just leave her."
Kael replied, "We can transfer her to another hospital."
But Lyra immediately shook her head.
"No."
Her voice was quiet but firm.
"I don’t want us to do that."
Kael paused.
Honestly, he had expected Lyra to love the idea of moving.
Especially considering everything currently happening at the hospital with the director situation.
He genuinely thought the idea of relocating somewhere better while transferring their mother to a safer hospital would make her happy.
Apparently not.
Still, Kael did not push the issue further.
Lyra was an extremely reasonable person. If she felt this strongly about staying, then there was probably a reason behind it.
Besides, for Kael personally, moving was not really important right now.
All he truly cared about was climbing the Tower, becoming stronger, earning money, and protecting the people he cared about.
Everything else was secondary.
Eventually, he sighed softly.
"Alright. We’ll stay then."
Lyra visibly relaxed slightly.
"Thank you for understanding."
Kael simply nodded before leaving her to finish washing the dishes.
He returned to his room shortly afterward.
The moment he entered, he removed the combat suit and changed into comfortable home clothes before collapsing directly onto the bed.
Almost immediately, he fell asleep.
*****
Time passed quietly.
Eventually, Kael slowly woke up again.
Sunlight now streamed brightly through the window, and the city outside had become far livelier compared to earlier in the morning.
Kael sat up slowly before leaving his room to get a drink of water.
After quenching his thirst, he returned to his room once more and sat quietly at the edge of the bed.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
It was finally time to open the unclaimed rewards from the last two trials.