I mentally accessed the Desire System’s black box, and, visible only to my eyes, it appeared with the usual red text.
[Name: Nida Keys]
[Class: Primal Tigerkin]
[Race: Therianthrope?]
[Level: 60]
[Open subwindow for additional statistics on Paragon 002]
The numbers tracked perfectly with my previous analysis. It seemed that every ten levels indicated strength equal to the formation of a heart ring, whereas every thirty levels marked a power increase akin to a realm change. It was also possible that someone with four heart rings who hadn’t coalesced them into a core would be considered level 40 despite being significantly weaker. After all, the system needed to lower the estimated level of most paragons upon metamorphosis. That seemed to be the most likely explanation.
Nida’s metamorphosis had dropped her by about 25 levels, starting her at level 15 afterward. Did that mean she’d begun with four heart rings? Given that she’d been injected with the Main System, it was possible she’d gained several levels and reached level 40 before shifting to the Desire System.
I needed to investigate this further and determine the conversion rate between systems. Something felt off—as if what one system considered level 40 wasn’t necessarily equivalent in another system.
The Desire System, at least, seemed to reflect heart cores.
And Nida had just made it to the silver realm.
Her growth rate was astonishing, especially considering the pathetic state I’d originally found her in. Based on what I’d gathered, Paragons gained levels not only by meditation but also through actual combat. There was no need to absorb a defeated enemy’s essence—the system rewarded the pure act of engaging in battle with skills and mental or physical effort.
I flexed my fingers under the black screen that obscured my vision. I dismissed the box and opened a similar one for Nasq, who was entering the stadium as Nida climbed down. The two exchanged sly grins and a high-five, though Nida winced from the impact.
[Name: Nasq Delacoire]
[Class: Primal Sorcerer]
[Race: Elf?]
[Level: 57]
[Open subwindow for additional statistics on Paragon 031]
He was close as well. I frowned, torn between satisfaction and unease at how easily my Paragons were amassing power. When translating my core realm into comparable numbers, I estimated my level to be around 75-79, steadily approaching my second heart ring. My progress wasn’t insignificant—advancing to the mid-stage silver realm in under two years was extraordinary by any standard. And yet, Nasq and Nida were outpacing me.
At this rate, I was going to be outpaced.
Was that even possible? Could Paragons surpass the system’s host? Or would my bottleneck cause a halt to their progress as well?
I closed the second box and drummed my fingers thoughtfully, watching Nasq step into the arena opposite a woman draped in a heavy red and white cloak.
“How do you think your mage will fare?” Hannah asked, leaning precariously over the railing.
“He’s a sorcerer, not a mage,” I corrected instinctively, despite still not being sure what the difference was beyond the amount of knowledge they had.
I ignored whatever she said next and opened the third box out of curiosity.
[Name: Ethan Brooks]
[Class: Primal Berserker] [EVOLUTIONS READY]
[Race: Human?]
[Level: 68]
[Open subwindow for additional statistics on Paragon 001]
Evolutions ready? What does that mean?
Whatever Ethan had been doing to find the Red Cardinal was quite difficult if he’d managed to progress even faster than Nida and Nasq. Considering they’d come face to face with a platinum realm eldritch creature, I could only imagine what he was experiencing.
As I dismissed the third box, I noticed a small red dot in the corner of my vision.
What in the worlds?
No matter how I moved my head or shifted my gaze, the red dot remained at the edge of my peripheral. At a thought, the red dot expanded into a fourth black box. With a thought, the red dot expanded into a fourth black box, displaying a single line I’d seen before, barely large enough to obscure a sliver of my vision.
[SYSTEM REMINDER: You have gained many Paragons. Congratulations!]
[Reward: You have gained the ability to reap a percentage of all Paragons’ heart energy whenever the System rewards them with bonus energy. Do you accept this reward?]
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
[Note: This now applies to previously rewarded energy as well. All chosen Paragons will have their levels lowered slightly in compensation for the energy reaped.]
[Yes] / [No]
Unlike the first time I saw this message, I didn’t immediately hit [No]. I was far more powerful than when I’d previously encountered this option. At that time I hadn’t known anything at all about the Desire System. Although the system was still a great mystery to me, I had started to understand the basics of its mechanics and purpose.
I was reluctant to bind my growth to anything or anyone outside myself, but weren’t Paragons extensions of my power? As long as I absorbed their energy and refined it into my own without allowing the System to directly convert the absorbed energy into heart rings, would that not be considered my own power?
It was worth considering. If I could choose which Paragons and how much energy to pull, I could start with small amounts and experiment with it. If the energy turned out to be indistinguishable from normal heart energy and free from the Desire System, I could scarcely imagine the boost it would be able to provide my core. With around 80 to 100 Paragons, most closing in on at least level 30, I could potentially soar straight into the mid-gold realm.
Probably.
Or it could result in the Desire System binding my soul and progression to its machinations.
I sighed and realized I’d allowed my gaze to shift from Nasq to the blue sky overhead. I forced myself to glance back down just in time to watch Nasq summon three different types of elements, air, fire, and… I wasn’t sure what the third one was.
“Is that raw mana?” Brianna gasped. No one had time to spare her an answer as the opposing mage created matching bundles of fire and air elemental magics. The two mages clashed, their air and fire elements colliding, sending sparks of twisted fire in every direction.
The third element was oddly opaque and dark, writhing around itself as it twisted into a pulsating arrow of smoky black tendrils. It surged forward and penetrated through the colliding magics like a knife to heated butter.
No, it wasn’t cutting through the other elements, I realized silently. The magic fire and air are parting away from the third element.
The opposing mage shouted something but was cut short as the bolt of raw mana slammed into her chest in a blinding burst of white light. I was forced to shield my eyes from the brilliance of the miniature sun.
When the light faded, the unconscious mage was sent flying out of the arena, crashing into the stone wall of the colosseum directly below the onlookers. She slumped away from the body-shaped dent she’d made, caught by a sprinting medic who barely saved her from a face plant.
[Name: Nasq Delacoire]
[Class: Primal Sorcerer]
[Race: Elf?]
[Level: 58]
[Open subwindow for additional statistics on Paragon 031]
I clicked my tongue. That’d apparently been too easy for the elf, just barely raising him a level. Fortunately, there were still the quarter-final matches ahead.
The remaining fighters didn't strike me as the most powerful warriors I'd ever seen, but the remaining female mage was closing in on the second realm of magic similar to Nasq.
Though I’m pretty sure Nida will win the whole tournament anyways now that she’s progressed into the next realm.
“That Nida is going to get bounced from this tier,” Darrow observed, gesturing to a group of men in black and white uniforms who had left their positions around the stadiums to converge in a huddle during Nasq’s fight. “She can’t be a participant in it after breaking through.”
“Really?” I asked, frowning. When Darrow simply nodded, I followed up with another question. “Will she be able to join the expert tier, then?”
The pompous boy shrugged. “I can’t be sure of that. It’ll be up to the tournament judges.”
“How are they even judging her power level?” I muttered, not meaning to speak aloud.
“The energy radiating off her is pretty obvious,” Darrow snorted.
It was true, but it didn’t make any sense. If a Paragon’s power came from the Desire System and they didn’t have a core, how was she exuding so much energy? I glanced at Nasq, who had casually stepped down and was speaking with Nida. The sorcerer had wielded mana, but I hadn’t felt mana actually exude from him.
Heart energy couldn’t be manipulated like that since it only existed within cores.
How did she do that?
The deliberations didn’t take too long. The striped judges retook their positions, and one of them disappeared for a few moments before Jarold’s voice rang out over the audience.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have witnessed something rather special this afternoon. We were blessed by the Gods to watch a warrior reach the silver realm! Let’s give a round of applause for Nida the Paragon!” The crowd roared, and Jarold hushed them. “Okay, okay. While it’s amazing that we witnessed that, it has created a slight hiccup. We can’t continue to pit a silver realm fighter against those in the bronze realm.” The crowd responded with boos and a few accepting calls. “The judges have decided that while Nida the Paragon will not be allowed to continue in the bronze realm tournament, we’ll allow her late entry into the expert tier matches.”
Nida, bloody, beaten, and obviously in pain, waved to me with a wide smile. Her eyes were alight with pride, confidence, and—was that anticipation?
It hit me then.
She wants to fight me. I laughed at the thought and returned her smile. I mouthed the words “It’s going to hurt you. A lot.”
She grimaced but nodded, and Nasq helped her toward the stadium’s exit. When Nida joined us in the seating section about half an hour later, most of her deeper wounds were patched up, and Nasq was moving into the finals. Neither the semifinals nor the quarterfinals had been much of a challenge for him. While the opponents weren’t weak by any means, Nasq’s incredibly varied magic had overwhelmed the two melee warriors.
Nasq suffered a few hits against the human knight during the semifinal match, but his ability to manipulate raw mana proved to be more than the knight was prepared for.
Nida found a spot to sit and collapsed into it, while Darrow shook his head. “That knight would’ve had a better chance if he’d been given a better sword. That blade had rather pitiful enchantments.”
“How would you have dealt with him?” I asked, curious, since it seemed the boy knew exactly what Nasq had done.
“Raw mana manipulation is a very high-level form of magic,” Brianna explained when Darrow didn’t answer quickly enough. “Unlike actual elemental or formed magic, it isn’t really tangible, and it repels other types of magic. A master swordsman with a high enough core realm could combat raw mana with raw heart energy, but most heart energy users aren’t capable of doing that. Especially since forming a magic core is much simpler than forming a heart core.”
“Hmmm,” I mused. That made sense, in a way. It was true that most people—especially on Ordite—who awakened to heart energy wouldn’t bother with raw heart energy since it was so much weaker than attributed energy. Its only real use was when I needed to release it as Authority.
“Finally, the FINALS!” Jarold screamed, followed by a high-pitched squeal that nearly blew out my eardrums. I hissed, slapping a hand to cover my ears, as did everyone else. “Sorry about that. We’re looking into that interference. Anyway, today we have two sorcerers gracing our stadium to determine who is the strongest advanced-tier fighter in Elyndor and all of Alistar territory!”
Darrow snorted. “Strongest advanced tier peasant, maybe.”
“Shush,” I said, flicking a hand at the boy. “You could have fought like your cousin. Don’t belabor your own inaction.”
His face turned beet red but his response was drowned by Jarold’s next words. “Please welcome to the stage, Nasq the Sorcerer Supreme, our rising star! And on the other side, we have Elyndor’s very own Bellatrix, Witch of the North!”
I raised an eyebrow and tossed a glance at Brianna. “Isn’t the Alistar territory in the east of Lysoria?”
She shrugged. “It’s north of everything below it.”
“Bellatrix is a daughter of House Granger,” Hannah said, rolling her eyes. “Her father is Duke Elliot Granger, Duke and Warlock of the North.” She pointed to a section of seating directly opposite to ours.
I bit the inside of my lip. There were already more gold realm Awakeners than I’d expected with Dame Annalise in the mix, but now there was a famous magic user too?
“How powerful is he?” I pressed, and Brianna answered dutifully.
“Mid third realm. Doesn’t have a heart core, though.”
I needed to make sure there was a proper balance between power in the city and my attacking forces. If the forces in the city were strong enough to fend off the Hydra, there wouldn’t be enough impact when my forces arrived. If that happened, I’d need to conquer the city by force, through blood. I wasn’t opposed to that, but I’d prefer to keep Lysoria in a powerful state. Unless I planned to summon the entire city as undead, there wasn’t much point in rendering it incapacitated for generations.
One of them might need to die, I thought. The Legend Tier fight will expose both Duke Goldenhearts and Dame Annalise to potential harm. How do I turn that potential into definite...