In the shadows of the S Ranked Main character
Chapter 59: Rewards

Chapter 59: Rewards

As Kai swung his legs over the side of the bed well, leg, singular he braced himself on the edge of the mattress, ignoring the dull ache in his shoulder and the hot, pulsing throb from the ache in his right leg His head still spun from the dreamKathlyn in his shirt, straddling himbut he was already shaking it off, focusing on the moment.

That was when the air shifted.

It was subtle at first. The background hum of healing wards and academy energy faded, replaced with a low thrumming sound, almost like a heartbeat not his own, not anything physical. The light in the room dimmed slightly, though no source flickered or changed. It was like the world had decided to pull inward.

Then the energy appeared.

Blue.

Gold.

Purple.

The same colors that had rippled through the Prism during its final pulse. The same hues that had washed over the school when the fairies fused into that golden shard and sealed it shut.

It started above his head floating, spiraling, twisting like smoke trapped in zero gravity. The energy wasn’t wild. It didn’t spark or lash out like some unstable explosion. It coiled.

Deliberate. Intelligent. Watching.

Kai stiffened.

"...Is this normal?" he muttered.

The energy pulsed in response—once—then began to spiral tighter, forming into a faint ring. Not solid, not material. A crown. Or something trying to be one. It hovered just above his hairline, pulsing with slow, rhythmic flashes, each throb syncing with the beat of his heart.

He didn’t touch it. Something instinctual stopped him. But he felt it. Deep in his bones.

A message pinged in his system window.

> [Delayed Reward: Trial Completion Recognition — Authenticated by High-tier Relic Authority]

> [Level: 6 → 14]

> [Total Power Rating: 3,400 → 9,050]

> [New Designation: Crown-Blessed Initiate — No Known Effect]

Name: Kai Asukura

Mana Control: B

Physical Ability: C

Mana Affinity: Darkness

Talent Grade: B+

Mana Potency: 10,000

Power Level: 9,050

Kai blinked. "Wait, wait, wait—eight level jumps?"

He felt it hit immediately. Not just numbers ticking up — a pressure release. Like something in his core had been blocked, throttled, and now the limiter had finally come off. Mana pulsed faster. His circuits—normally sluggish after big fights—felt refreshed. Rebuilt.

And the strength.

The kind of strength that made him aware of his own body again.

Even with one leg and a busted arm, he could feel the baseline boost. Every inch of him felt... heavier. Not in a bad way. In the way a drawn blade feels heavier than a sheathed one.

He flexed his fingers. Mana flowed through his good arm instantly Smooth Clean Fast

His breath hitched.

"I just skipped, like... a semester’s worth of grind."

He wasn’t a glass cannon anymore.

Level 14.

That put him up near the high end of first-years dangerously close to the power levels of The average A-class members in normal years. Most people took afes to get from 6 to 14.

He’d done it by barely surviving a Prism collapse.

They dangerous but Kai would be a fool to not acknowledge the godly benefits

He glanced up at the crown again. It still floated there, slightly off-center, shimmering faintly. No new system messages. No sudden powers. No stat bonuses. Just... there.

"I don’t even want a crown," he muttered. "Do I look like some noble reincarnator? You giving me a harem next?"

The crown pulsed.

Kai frowned. "Don’t answer that."

He stood carefully, testing the strength in his leg—the good one—and hobbled a bit to the mirror near the corner of the infirmary room.

There it was.

The crown floated faintly above his head, visible only in reflections. Wisps of light, colored threads of blue, purple, and gold, like stained-glass mist, swirling just enough to give it form. Vague Ethereal

But present.

And behind it he swore, for half a second he saw something else reflected in the mirror. A door. Tall. Arched. Etched with fairy runes.

Then it was gone.

Kai turned, startled. The room was empty. Quiet.

Just him. The crown. The mirror. The stillness.

His face hardened.

"...Alright," he muttered. "I’m not letting you trap her in there alone. I don’t care if I have one leg and a mystery floating head ornament. You want me to wear this thing?"

He stared hard at the crown’s reflection.

"Then start showing me how to

---

The crown didn’t react.

No flash of insight. No hidden power. No voice. Nothing.

It just hovered there above his head, pulsing slowly like it had all the time in the world. Kai stared at it in the mirror, waiting expecting something. But after a full minute passed and it remained just that... a floating crown of color and silence, he let out a long breath.

"Figures."

He turned from the mirror and limped to the edge of the room. The infirmary was too clean. Too empty His gear was there,

But no staff No windows. No sound outside

This wasn’t the academy.

He was underground.

Kai grabbed the edge of the wall near the doorway and felt along the frame. Stone but not natural. Set in layers. Artificial. The door had no handle on the inside.

They had sealed him in.

He stared for half a second, then took a step back and threw all his weight into a shoulder slam.

The wall cracked.

The second hit dented the frame. The third sent a deep line running through the stone near the door’s edge.

On the fourth, it gave way

The slab tilted and crunched inward, throwing dust and stone across the floor. Kai limped through it, breathing hard, pain burning through his side, his broken arm pressed against his chest.

The corridor outside was dim.

But it wasn’t dark

Blue, purple, and gold light spilled in from around the bend soft at first, then brighter the further he pushed.

He moved slowly, dragging his leg, ignoring the ache screaming up his back. There were no signs, no torches, no mechanical lights.

Just flowers.

When he turned the last corner, the full sight hit him.

The entire hall had transformed.

The walls were cracked, uneven stone, but every inch of the floor was covered in soft, glowing petals. Purple at the center. Blue along the edges. Gold threads running like veins through the stems. They grew from the cracks. From the gaps between stones. From places where nothing should grow.

And not just the floor.

They climbed the walls in slow, curling patterns. Hung from the ceiling. Some were suspended in midair clusters of color slowly rotating in total silence, not floating like energy, but held in place, as if the entire underground space had obeyed a different set of rules now.

He limped forward slowly, not saying a word.

Every step was soft.

The scent was faint, clean. The kind of smell you noticed only after standing in it for a while—like something terrible

The crown above his head pulsed once as he passed through an archway, but again, no answers. No voice. No system message. Nothi

Kai stopped in the center of the long hallway and looked up.

There was no ceiling now.

Just open space.

The flowers continued climbing, stretching up into darkness. Columns of color, shifting just slightly as though the place was breathing.