Vivian's Spring

Choi Yeon tilted her head at the spring in the center of the temple.

"A spring? Even though it's underwater?"

"It's nothing compared to the water up top."

"Huh?"

Vivian's spring water. This was the pinnacle elixir that bastard had been so desperate to hide and produce.

I crouched down and slowly reached toward the spring. An item description popped up before my eyes.

Yeah, this was worthy of being one of the academy's top rewards.

Since it showed up as an item, it should fit in a cube too. I slowly transferred the spring water into a cube, and what had looked like a huge amount condensed down to 2L before vanishing inside.

The water level dropped noticeably as a result. Choi Yeon peered into the spring curiously.

"Huh? The water level seems a bit lower."

"It's just regular water now. Sure, it's clean... but you wanna drink it?"

"Nah, I'm not thirsty."

With the elixir secured for myself, it was time to give Choi Yeon something for helping me get here.

"Hold on."

I plunged my hand fully into the spring and felt something snag on my fingertips. I pulled it out.

"Here, this is yours."

An item description appeared simultaneously.

It was a material item only usable for crafting or wielding swords—nothing I'd ever use. And with an Excalibur fragment involved, you needed specific conditions to even equip the resulting sword.

As far as I remembered, you had to be at least Sword Saint level with karma tilted fully toward good, right?

So it was useless to me anyway. Better to give it to Choi Yeon, who'd helped out, and take the credit.

"...This metal shard is glowing?"

Choi Yeon examined the Excalibur fragment I'd handed her, turning it this way and that in fascination. It shone even brighter than when it was in my hand. Looked like it suited her better than me.

"It's a fragment of the original Excalibur. Ray Pendragon was restoring it here as a replica to use. Put it in your sword, and you'll get something incredible."

"...Sword material?"

The moment she heard "sword material," she smirked and pocketed it.

"It's valuable enough that the student council president was hiding it. Use it well when the time comes. You'll get even stronger."

"Stronger just from a sword?"

"That's how rare it is."

Her eyes went wide at the promise of getting stronger. Well, in the game, she went on rampages with far lower-rank weapons. Mythic properties would make her unstoppable.

"...You sure it's okay to give something like this to me?"

"I'm giving it to you because it's you."

With those strict conditions, no one else could use it properly anyway. Might as well put it to good use here.

"Because it's me... Okay, I'll make sure to use it for a great sword."

"Good. First period's almost over—let's head out. Oh, and keep today's visit a total secret."

"Yeah. Our secret."

"Perfect."

He didn't come here often anyway. When he found his hidden elixir stash and weapon stripped bare, he'd lose his mind. Just imagining it already felt refreshing, like a weight off my chest.

"This is proper mafia revenge."

Theft was a time-honored mafia tradition, after all.

* * *

I replaced the signpost and erased all traces of our visit, then slipped out of the garden like nothing had happened.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

It was right around the end of first period. As we walked silently, Choi Yeon occasionally glanced at the Excalibur fragment in her hand with a smile. Once we reached the main building and saw people around, I turned to her.

She's smiling again.

"Choi Yeon."

"...Yeah?"

She wiped the smile off her face and looked at me when I called her name.

"No one's around to see, but try not to flash it around. As fancy as it looks, it's a national treasure from England."

"Oh... right."

Not just any treasure—this was a piece of Excalibur from King Arthur's legend. Items with deep history had a high chance of becoming powerful unique weapons with skills. They could even rival strategic armaments.

Come to think of it, the student council president... smuggled this out of the country on his own?

"So... can I tell my grandpa?"

"Your grandpa... Sword Saint senior? Yeah, someone like him is fine."

If anything, it'd be better if the Sword Saint knew. Choi Yeon was fiddling with it like a pretty rock—she clearly didn't grasp its value yet. He'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠recognize it, and feel indebted to me for gifting it.

Then even that old geezer who always looked down on the Caliones wouldn't mess with us lightly.

"Anyway, never show it to anyone at the academy. Got it?"

"Yeah. I won't."

"But definitely show your grandpa."

"Okay."

Perfect. Setup complete.

"See ya. Sparring. Don't forget."

Choi Yeon left those words and headed toward Class C.

Even at parting, it's sparring with her.

"...She'll pass it on properly, right?"

* * *

"Why's everything been so peaceful lately?"

Requests to the club had spiked recently. From resolving disputes with other clubs to protection gigs.

'Familia's reputation was spreading through the academy, building trust in the name.

And the result:

Just one more request to the next stage.

"Two very satisfactory, two satisfactory... So that's what they meant by rewards varying by result."

For the last one, I'd have to aim for very satisfactory.

The good news? These recent requests had been way simpler than the Recipe ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Development Club one.

"Hope the story reward is aura-related."

I could barely emit aura, let alone control it. A skill for handling it would be a godsend.

With that in mind, I tried my new habit: shaping aura above my palm.

Sphere, pyramid, cube, star.

Still wobbly, but I could hold basic shapes now. Without Gwak Chunsik's bracelet, it'd be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠impossible—but I was growing, and this training showed it.

Speaking of, he'd said he'd sort his thoughts and contact me. Where was he?

As I fiddled with the aura:

-Knock knock

"A guest?"

Requests came from clients, not guests. Curious, I got up and stepped out of the office.

"Guest? Who's coming besides a—Senior Lee Se-ri?"

"Ah, Y-Yujin junior! Long time no see!"

Petite build, twin tails tied halfway up. Lee Se-ri always reminded me of a puppy. She beamed in front of the Familia club room door.

"Uh, come on in."

"Th-thank you."

She entered with a bright smile and set a massive box on the table.

"Whew... My arms hurt. A bit longer and they might've fallen off..."

"What's this?"

"Oh, this? Nothing much. With the freshman welcome party coming up, I made some new recipes to practice. Made too many, so I thought we could share?"

She opened the box to reveal beautifully decorated cupcakes.

"Cupcakes?"

Sea-a gulped, probably remembering the Recipe Development Club's treats.

"Yeah. Since they'll be for the event, I got help from the Bakery Club to make them fancy."

Ah, that explained the elaborate decorations. Probably came with different buffs.

Sea-a, bouncing in place beside me, stared pleadingly.

"Whoa...! Eugene. Eugene. Can we eat now? Right? Please?"

She looked desperate to try one. I sighed and handed over the box.

Sounded like Youngje and Jinwoo were training separately, so I pointed toward the training room.

"Go ahead. Share with the ones in the training room too."

"Yay! Got it!"

She bolted off with the box the second I approved. Lee Se-ri just smiled softly, pleased by the reaction.

"Thanks for always bringing snacks like this."

"Aw, no biggie. We're Familia, right? Hehe."

Since that last request, Lee Se-ri had been dropping by occasionally with food. As she said, the Recipe Development Club folks were practically Familia members now.

"Um, do you guys do club promo at the welcome party?"

"The welcome party?"

"Yeah. No one's ever started a club before the party as a freshman. Just curious how you'd handle it..."

Oh yeah—the academy's freshman welcome was coming up. A major event once everyone adjusted, for recruiting unclubbed kids and mingling seniors and freshmen.

"Haven't heard anything from the academy, so no idea."

"Ah, yeah... Never seen an all-freshman club either."

"Right. Plus, Familia's not much to show off."

"True... Mercenary and combat clubs don't promo much anyway. But you're vice chair, so maybe you'll do something."

"Ah... Probably."

Wait—in the game, at the welcome, vice chair and top student gave speeches up front, right? In Choi Yeon's top route, the silver spoon always spoke for her since she wasn't great at it.

...Was this coming back to bite me?

My uneasy thought was confirmed.

"What the—"

It really happened.