The Glitched Mage-Chapter 37: And the winner is…

Riven let out a slow breath, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten as he stared at the now-empty clearing. The weight of Seraphis's presence still lingered within him, a silent, coiled force resting in the depths of his shadow. Even now, he could feel the beast's mana thrumming through him, shifting, waiting.

This… this changed everything.

The sheer power he had absorbed was unlike anything he had wielded before. But it wasn't just about power. It was about what it meant.

If he could take control of a divine-grade entity… then the limits of what he could command had just expanded far beyond anything he had ever imagined.

And yet…

Riven flexed his fingers absently, feeling the strain of his depleted mana still weighing him down. He wasn't strong enough yet. Not truly. Taking control of Seraphis had nearly drained him completely.

His gaze flicked down to the countdown still glowing faintly on his forearm.

Six hours left.

He exhaled sharply. He had work to do.

With a flick of his fingers, he sent a silent command through the bond.

Nyx. Krux. Come out.

Dark tendrils of shadow slithered across the ground, forming two distinct shapes as Nyx and Krux emerged from their concealed forms. Nyx stepped forward immediately, scanning the surroundings with a sharp, assessing gaze - making sure they were alone again before she focused back on Riven. Her expression was unreadable, but something in her dark eyes gleamed with quiet excitement.

"My king," she murmured, bowing her head slightly. "You've done something… remarkable."

Riven simply nodded, stretching his arms and legs to shake off the lingering stiffness in his body. "It's a start," he admitted. "But I nearly drained myself in the process. I need to form my Second Circle if I want to maintain control over Seraphis without it becoming a liability."

Krux, ever the dramatic one, stepped forward with his fists clenched, still practically radiating unfiltered admiration. "Let me say this again - you are beyond comprehension, my liege! To subjugate a divine creature… ha! The legends of your reign will be sung across the abyss for eternity!"

Riven arched an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. And yet, I don't have time for songs. We're on a clock."

Krux straightened immediately. "Of course, my liege! Then allow me to scout ahead for more mana beasts worthy of your strength! I shall bring you only the strongest prey!"

"…Just don't get carried away," Riven sighed, rubbing his temple. "We need as many mana cores as we can get."

Krux clutched his chest as if wounded. "You doubt me? Never! I will return with only the most formidable foes!" With that, he blurred into the jungle, disappearing into the undergrowth.

Riven sighed. "I give it ten minutes before he picks a fight with something unreasonable."

Nyx smirked. "Five."

Shaking his head, Riven turned his focus back to the task at hand.

Right now, his priority was gathering more mana cores. If he wanted to expand his mana reserves and solidify his control over Seraphis, he needed to push himself to his limit before he had to leave this island.

He needed more mana cores. As many as possible.

"Go," Riven ordered, his voice firm. "Gather as many as you can."

Nyx bowed in acknowledgment before vanishing into the jungle, her form dissolving into the shadows.

Riven flexed his fingers, dark energy coiling around them as his shadow claws took shape once more. His gaze shifted, locking onto a nearby mana beast prowling through the underbrush.

A slow smirk tugged at his lips.

Time to hunt.

—x—

As the final minutes of the countdown ticked away, Riven exhaled a slow, satisfied breath. He withdrew his hand from the gaping wound in a mana beast's chest, its still-warm heart slipping from his grip as the creature collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

[[ Mana Beast Defeated ]]

[[ Rare Mana Core Acquired ]]

With a flick of his wrist, he shook off the excess blood, droplets splattering against the jungle floor. Not that it made much difference. After reprimanding Krux earlier, it was almost ironic how he now found himself drenched in mana beast blood, from head to toe.

"Ugh." Riven wrinkled his nose in distaste, glancing down at himself before turning on his heel and making his way back to the small pond he had passed earlier.

Kneeling by the water's edge, he cupped his hands, scooping up the lukewarm water and splashing it over his face. The moment it touched his skin, streaks of deep red bled into the surface, swirling like ink in water.

His reflection stared back at him—familiar, yet different.

The boy he had once been was nowhere to be seen.

His features were sharper now, his jawline more defined, the soft traces of youth burned away by battle and bloodshed. His eyes, once just deep pools of thought, now carried something darker - an edge, a quiet intensity that hadn't been there before.

Riven smirked, his damp hair clinging to his skin.

He was changing.

Inside and out.

The stillness of the jungle settled around him, the humid air thick with the scent of blood and damp earth. Riven ran a hand through his wet hair, shaking off the excess water before rising to his feet. The countdown on his forearm flickered.

Five minutes left.

He exhaled, rolling his neck to shake off the lingering tension in his muscles. His body ached, his mana reserves still far from full, but the weight in his inventory told him that today had been a success.

[[ Inventory: Mana Cores Collected ]]

[[ Common Mana Cores: 87 ]]

[[ Uncommon Mana Cores: 22 ]]

[[ Rare Mana Cores: 14 ]]

More than enough to push him closer to his goal and to win this competition.

A flicker of movement in his peripheral vision made him glance to the side. Nyx emerged from the shadows near the treeline, her armor unmarred, not a single drop of blood staining her as she approached.

"I take it your hunt was successful?" Riven asked, arching a brow.

Nyx smirked slightly. "A productive endeavor. I gathered a rather sizeable amount."

"Good." He nodded. His gaze shifted toward the jungle. "Where's Krux?"

"Here, my king!"

Follow current novels on freewebnσvel.cѳm.

Krux's voice boomed through the clearing, and a moment later, the warrior burst through the undergrowth, dragging something behind him. A massive, mangled mana beast - a hulking creature with thick, scaly hide - was clutched in his grip, its head dangling limply to one side. Krux grinned proudly, his chest heaving from exertion.

"This beast put up an admirable fight!" he declared. "But, of course, it was no match for your most devoted general!" He threw the corpse onto the ground with a heavy thud. "Behold, another worthy offering for my liege!"

Riven stared at the dead beast, unimpressed. "And how much time did you waste fighting this thing?"

Krux blinked. "…A negligible amount?"

Nyx sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I win - it was within five minutes."

Riven sighed and shook his head, a small chuckle escaping his lips before he looked back at Krux who was scratching his head in confusion.

"I have no need for the corpse, Krux." Riven said and then lifted his hand. "Transport all the cores into my inventory and then hide in my shadow. I'll call for you again tonight once I'm alone."

Both knelt before him and grasped his hand.

[[ Items received from: Abyss Born Nyx! ]]

[[ Items received from: Abyss Born Krux! ]]

As they both disappeared into his shadows in a swirl of inky darkness, Riven checked his inventory once more with the new cores he received.

His dark blue eyes sparkled and his lips curved as he looked in his inventory.

Yeah… this was definitely enough.

—x—

The dense jungle gave way to a clearing where the class was already gathered, standing in a loose circle around Elder Thorne. The teleportation gate shimmered behind them, casting a faint glow across the bloodstained ground.

Lucenya, Jerrik, and Valis stood together, their expressions shifting the moment they spotted Riven.

Silence fell.

Riven strode into the clearing, his boots squelching slightly against the damp earth, and only then did he register why they were staring.

Oh.

Right.

He looked… terrible.

Blood soaked his clothes, dried in thick patches along his arms and chest. Even after cleaning himself up at the pond, streaks of dark red still clung stubbornly to his skin, evidence of the sheer number of beasts he had cut down. His once neatly tied hair had long since come undone, hanging damp and tangled over his forehead.

He probably looked less like a student and more like something that had crawled out of a battlefield.

Lucenya was the first to recover, though her green eyes were still wide with something between admiration and disbelief. "You look… awful."

"Charming as always," Riven muttered.

Valis scowled, crossing his arms. "What the hell were you doing out there? Swimming in their blood?"

Jerrik just let out a low whistle, shaking his head. "You look like you had fun."

Riven smirked. "Something like that."

Elder Thorne, who had been watching silently, finally spoke. "Now that we're all here, it's time to see how well you all did."

With a wave of his hand, a magical scale materialized in front of him. The ornate object hovered slightly off the ground, pulsing faintly with mana. It was designed to measure the total value of the mana cores collected - not just in number, but in overall quality.

"You'll each take turns placing your mana cores into the scale," Elder Thorne instructed. "The weight of the mana will determine your ranking."

Lucenya stepped forward first.

She untied the small pouch from her waist, her fingers slipping inside with practiced ease. Then - without hesitation - she pulled out handfuls of glowing mana cores, far more than what should have ever been able to fit in such a tiny bag.

Riven's eyes narrowed.

A spatial storage item?

His mind immediately compared it to his own system inventory, but this was different. More primitive, perhaps, but still incredibly useful. Just what kind of magic was embedded into that pouch?

She placed them onto the scale, and immediately, the weight shifted. Numbers appeared in the air above it, glowing softly.

[[ Common Mana Cores: 28 ]]

[[ Uncommon Mana Cores: 4 ]]

Elder Thorne nodded in approval. "A decent haul."

Lucenya stepped back, crossing her arms. "Not as many as I'd hoped," she muttered.

Next was Jerrik. He dropped his cores onto the scale with little ceremony.

[[ Common Mana Cores: 30 ]]

[[ Uncommon Mana Cores: 6 ]]

Not bad. A solid improvement over Lucenya. He just shrugged as if he wasn't particularly invested in the results.

Valis went next.

With his usual air of arrogance, he strode forward, retrieving a pouch identical to Lucenya's. Without hesitation, he tipped its contents onto the scale, letting the glowing mana cores spill out in a shimmering cascade.

[[ Common Mana Cores: 35 ]]

[[ Uncommon Mana Cores: 7 ]]

[[ Rare Mana Core: 1 ]]

A ripple of surprise passed through the group. A rare core. Even Jerrik raised an eyebrow.

Valis smirked, crossing his arms. "Not bad, huh?"

Elder Thorne hummed. "A solid result."

Then - his gaze shifted to Riven.

"You're next."

The others turned to him expectantly.

Riven stepped forward and accessed his inventory. Without a word, he willed all of his mana cores into existence.

In a single moment, an avalanche of glowing orbs materialized in the air, cascading onto the scale like a tidal wave.

The numbers exploded.

[[ Common Mana Cores: 87 ]]

[[ Uncommon Mana Cores: 22 ]]

[[ Rare Mana Cores: 14 ]]

Silence.

The scale trembled under the sheer weight of the collected mana, glowing with a brilliance that dwarfed every other attempt before it.

Lucenya's jaw dropped.

Jerrik let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. "Holy shit."

Valis, for the first time, looked genuinely taken aback. His brows furrowed, his fingers twitching slightly as if physically restraining himself from reacting.

Elder Thorne tilted his head slightly, a knowing gleam in his golden eyes. "Impressive," he mused, though there was something pointed in his tone. He knew Riven had done more than just gather random cores.

But he didn't press the matter.

Instead, he waved his hand, causing the scale to vanish.

"Riven," he said. "You win."

Lucenya let out a breath, her expression shifting from shock to reluctant amusement. "Well, that was… completely one-sided."

Jerrik snorted. "That's an understatement."

Valis said nothing, still staring at the spot where the scale had been, lips pressed into a tight line.

Riven simply smirked.

Of course he won.

Elder Thorne continued, "Your reward is a full day on a mana-dense island of your choosing. Think on it tonight and report your decision to me in the morning."

Riven nodded. He already knew exactly what he wanted.

A fire mana island.

If he could soak in pure fire mana for an entire day, he could restore the legendary fire staff in his inventory - and push himself even closer to forming his Second Circle.

Elder Thorne's gaze swept over the rest of the group. "For those of you who didn't win, don't consider this a loss. Your collected mana cores still hold significant value. Even common cores can fetch a high price if sold to the right people."

Lucenya perked up at that. "So we can sell them?"

Elder Thorne nodded. "If you choose to. Mana cores are used in potion-making, enchantments, and high-tier spellcasting materials. Depending on the quality, they can be worth quite a bit."

Jerrik glanced at Riven. "What about you? Gonna sell yours?"

Riven chuckled. "Not a chance."

He wasn't interested in money.

He was interested in power.

And right now, every single one of these mana cores would be used to further his own strength.

The thought sent a thrill through him.

This was just the beginning.

As Elder Thorne turned back toward the teleportation gate, motioning for them to follow, Riven's gaze lingered on the jungle for a fraction of a second longer.

His fingers twitched at his side.

Deep in the depths of his shadow, Seraphis stirred.

Riven smirked, satisfaction settling deep within him as he walked through the gate. Today had been nothing short of profitable.