Evolution of the Ruined Heir - Chapter 188

Chapter 188: Surprise Rewards
While Renlo was busy trying to reach the end of the training course, Malakai was inside his room, eyes fixed on the large square box in front of him.

‘It’s finally here.’

Minutes ago, Nyx had shown up at the training course, informing him that the package he had been waiting for had arrived.

He had immediately excused himself, racing straight to his room where she claimed to have left it.

Now, he stood over it, and couldn’t hide the excitement bubbling up inside. He opened the box, and a wave of vita surged out, slamming against him violently.

It felt like a sudden gust of wind had struck his face, sending his crimson hair fluttering wildly. But Malakai didn’t even flinch.

His eyes were locked onto the object now revealed, a small, greenish orb radiating a staggering amount of vita.

‘A grade three vita core.’

Malakai felt giddy, but didn’t waste a single moment. The box had been keeping the energy sealed, and now that it was open, the core’s energy was already dispersing. The room’s vita density had spiked drastically.

He quickly grabbed the pouch at his waist and placed the core inside gently before sealing it shut. Only then did the energy stop leaking, and he let out a breath of relief.

‘I only have to use it in very enclosed spaces.’

The smaller the space, the less spread out the vita would be, and the longer the core would last. He resolved to follow that method from now on, then turned back to the chest.

‘There has to be more compartments.’

The core couldn’t be the only reward. The box was too tall, too heavy, too large to hold just one item.

He examined it for a few seconds, poking around until he discovered that the topmost layer was removable. He lifted it with both arms, only for his eyes to land on the next reward.

‘What?’

Malakai’s gaze narrowed.

He had been expecting a single vial of grade two Vitaeon. But there weren’t just more than one, there were four. And one of them wasn’t even grade two.

‘What’s going on?’

Each vial was labeled. Three said grade two. The last one, grade three.

‘A mistake?’ he thought, but instantly dismissed it.

There was no way. Not even one extra would’ve slipped through, much less this. Including a grade three Vitaeon, this couldn’t be a mistake.

Vitaeons were extremely rare and difficult to produce. Unlike vita absorbed from killing darkness creatures, Vitaeons were in liquid form and lingered in the user’s body until fully absorbed.

You could use them to recover when you were running low… or even boost your total vita reserve.

Whatever the reason, Malakai wasn’t going to reject them.

He grabbed them all and clipped them tightly onto his utility belt. Right now, they had instantly become his most valuable assets.

‘Let’s check the last item.’

He moved on, lifting the final compartment, and laid eyes on the final reward.

Malakai smiled. ‘Perfect.’

His battle with Aurelia had exposed a flaw in his combat style when wielding the scythe. While he had made up for it with daggers, he needed something more long term.

He reached into the box and drew out two long black rods, each about the length of his forearm.

They were linked together by a thin yet durable chain. The rods had a subtle curve at their ends, and near the tips was a long, narrow slit, barely noticeable unless you knew what to look for.

The rods looked simple at first glance, but that was the point. He glanced into the box again and picked up one of six long circular bars tucked neatly into the corner.

‘Batteries.’

He flipped one of the rods over and located a small socket. ‘Perfect fit.’

He slid the bar in, then repeated the same with the second rod. With both rods now powered, he held them tightly in his arms and began channeling vita into them.

In an instant, two gleaming, curved greenish blades burst out from the slits, lighting up the air with a powerful hum.

The blades curved forward like miniature scythes, one on each end, connected by the chain.

Malakai’s eyes widened slightly.

‘A grade three.’

That wasn’t just his weapon mod. The core powering this was something else entirely. The design was what he wanted, two smaller scythes instead of one large one, connected by a chain for more versatility. But the quality wasn’t what he expected.

He glanced back at the remaining batteries in the box.

‘This isn’t a grade two weapon… it’s grade three.’

Another mistake? Malakai didn’t think so.

Someone was behind this. And only one person came to mind.

‘The Sovereign.’

But why? Why would the Sovereign go out of his way for him?

“Maybe he secretly cares about you?” Valentine said, appearing beside him with a thoughtful hum as he stared at the weapon with fascination.

Malakai threw the ghost a dry look. ‘What are you even saying?’

Valentine shrugged. “I’ve seen this in tons of dramas. The family head secretly loves the child but can’t show it publicly, so he does it in secret. This is exactly like that!”

Malakai sighed. “Stop living in your delusions and come back to reality.”

“But—”

Malakai didn’t let him finish.

“First off, I’m sure that happened in your beloved dramas, but this is real life. The Sovereign is the most powerful person in the West, he doesn’t need to fear anyone. If he wanted to show favor, he’d do it openly. And secondly, someone who secretly cared about me wouldn’t have sent me to die in the pit.”

That shut Valentine up.

Malakai fell into silence again. He didn’t understand why the Sovereign had given him these rewards… but he’d be damned if he didn’t use them well.

After that, he stopped channeling his vita and deactivated the weapon. The blades faded instantly, retreating back into the rods.

He reached into the box, gathered the remaining batteries, and secured them on his utility belt. Then he picked up the waist strap meant to hold the rods and clipped each one neatly to either side of his waist.

Once he confirmed there was nothing else left in the box, he turned and left his room, heading back to the training course.