Kael’s shoulders slumped slightly.
"There goes that dream."
Aiona tilted her head.
"What dream?"
"Nothing."
Kael waved it off.
Then he looked back at her.
"If you can’t fight, what’s the point of summoning you?"
Aiona immediately placed both hands on her hips.
"I can provide tactical analysis and advice during trials."
She raised her chin proudly.
"I may not look like it, but I’m actually extremely intelligent."
After saying that, she struck what was clearly intended to be a majestic pose.
Unfortunately, with her tiny body and adorable appearance, the result was anything but majestic.
To Kael, she simply looked cute
The kind of cute that made it impossible to take her seriously.
Aiona seemed completely unaware of this fact.
Kael coughed lightly.
"Right."
"I’ll definitely keep that in mind."
The fairy nodded in satisfaction.
Clearly pleased with his answer.
Suddenly, Kael remembered something.
"Oh right."
"I should still have some unclaimed rewards, shouldn’t I?"
Every trial he had completed so far had ended with an A-Rank evaluation or higher.
That meant bonus rewards.
Aiona nodded immediately.
"Of course."
With a wave of her tiny hand, several flashes of light appeared before them.
One after another, seven glowing gift boxes materialized in the air.
Kael’s eyes brightened slightly.
Without wasting any time, he stored them all inside his inventory.
He would inspect them later.
After everything that had happened today, fatigue was finally beginning to catch up to him. With all the rewards safely stored away, Kael turned toward Aiona, no longer intending to remain in the Tower any longer.
"Well, I’ll be going."
"Take care."
Aiona waved enthusiastically.
"Goodbye, Challenger!"
A faint smile appeared on Kael’s face.
Then, with a thought, he activated the option to leave the Tower.
A familiar spatial fluctuation spread through the room.
The next moment, his figure vanished completely.
Silence returned.
Aiona remained floating where she was.
For several moments, she simply stared at the empty space Kael had occupied.
The cheerful expression on her face slowly faded.
"What a strange one..."
Her voice was soft.
Very different from her usual energetic tone.
After a moment, a small smile appeared.
"Not bad."
The smile widened slightly.
"Maybe he really can accomplish it."
A strange light flickered within her eyes.
"The Tower Master might be interested."
For a brief moment, she considered reporting immediately.
Then she shook her head.
"Not yet."
"He still needs more observation."
With that, Aiona turned around and flew toward the small house resting near the edge of the Starting Room.
Her tiny figure disappeared through the doorway.
The room became quiet once more.
Meanwhile, Kael knew nothing about any of this.
The moment he left the Tower, his vision blurred.
The next second, he found himself standing inside his apartment room.
Warm orange sunlight filtered through the window.
Judging by the position of the sun, evening wasn’t far away.
Kael stretched lazily.
Then his senses spread outward.
His Intelligence stat had increased to an absurd degree.
As a result, his perception had become frighteningly powerful.
Invisible waves of awareness swept through the apartment.
Everything within the apartment entered his perception.
After a few seconds, he withdrew his senses.
"No one’s home."
The apartment was completely empty.
Kael wasn’t particularly surprised.
"Lyra is probably at the hospital."
A trace of guilt surfaced in his heart.
With everything that had happened recently, he had been so focused on growing stronger that he hadn’t spent much time with his family.
His mother was still hospitalized.
And Lyra had practically been handling everything herself.
Kael let out a quiet sigh.
Since he would be taking a break from the Tower for the next month anyway, he would finally have some free time.
He made a mental note to visit the hospital tomorrow.
After that, he pushed those thoughts aside.
Right now, all he wanted was sleep.
Pure, uninterrupted sleep.
He removed his combat suit and headed toward the bathroom.
A hot shower later, most of the accumulated fatigue finally washed away.
Feeling considerably lighter, he returned to his room.
The familiar sight of his bed had never looked so inviting.
Without hesitation, Kael threw himself onto it.
The mattress sank slightly beneath his weight.
For a few seconds, he simply lay there staring at the ceiling.
Then exhaustion finally caught up to him.
His eyelids grew heavy.
The room slowly faded into darkness.
And within moments, Kael was fast asleep.
---
A series of knocks pulled Kael from his sleep.
His eyes slowly opened.
The room was dark.
The orange glow that had filled the room earlier was long gone, replaced by the cool darkness of night.
Knock. Knock.
Another knock sounded from the other side of the door.
"Kael, are you in there?"
Lyra’s voice followed shortly after.
Kael rubbed his eyes before sitting up.
"Yeah. What’s up?"
"Dinner’s ready."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"I’ll be out in a minute."
"Okay."
Her footsteps gradually faded away.
After sitting on the edge of the bed for a few moments, Kael stretched and stood up.
The moment he opened the door, the rich aroma of food drifted into his nose.
His stomach immediately responded.
Apparently, surviving impossible trials and obtaining absurd amounts of power didn’t make him any less vulnerable to Lyra’s cooking.
Following the smell, he made his way into the kitchen.
Lyra had already arranged everything on the table.
The two quietly ate dinner together.
Oddly enough, Kael found himself enjoying moments like these more and more lately.
Perhaps it was because he had seen enough danger recently to appreciate peace when it appeared.
Once dinner was finished, they cleaned up and returned to their respective rooms.
For Lyra, the day was over.
For Kael, however, things were a little different.
The sleep he had gotten earlier was already enough for him.
His enhanced body required far less rest than before.
After returning to his room, Kael settled into his gaming chair and turned on his PC. The soft hum of the machine filled the room as the monitor slowly came to life
Since he finally had some free time, he decided to relax with a few games.