Chapter 106: Little King's Forgetfulness
As the van rolled on, Elijah sat in the back with his eyes half-closed and his breathing slow and steady, although his mind was far from at rest. Status screens for everyone in the vehicle hovered in the corner of his vision, and the numbers were telling a story he needed to understand before they reached the Crowned Sun's territory.
He called up his own status first.
[Status: Elijah Ashford]
[Cultivation: Advanced Knight Stage (Initial)]
[Level: 5 (98% EXP)]
[Ki: 100%]
[Physical Limit: 150]
[Base Stats:]
[Strength: 64]
[Agility: 63]
[Endurance: 65]
[Defense: 68]
[Intelligence: 48]
[Charm: 30]
[Willpower: 40]
[Free Stat Points: 0]
[System Points: 6,200]
[Ki Core Formed: Eternal Grounded Tree variant]
[Ki Production: Passive regeneration established]
Satisfied that nothing had changed since the morning, he turned his attention to Jack, and the system's scan appeared beside his own.
[Status: Jack Reyes]
[Cultivation: Advanced Knight Stage (Initial)]
[Physical Limit: 150]
[Base Stats:]
[Strength: 70]
[Agility: 71]
[Endurance: 68]
[Defense: 68]
[Ki Enhancement: 100% (Draconic Breathing)]
[Effective Stats (with Enhancement):]
[Strength: 140]
[Agility: 142]
[Endurance: 136]
[Defense: 136]
[Ki Core Formed: Draconic Breathing variant]
[Ki Production: Passive regeneration established]
Elijah studied the numbers and tried to reconcile them with everything he had learned about Jack during their sparring sessions. Their base Defense was identical, yet Jack could absorb blows that would have sent Elijah to the mat and keep fighting long after Elijah's body would have given out. Something about Jack's physique, the way his Ki moved through his body, or the Draconic Breathing technique itself made him more durable than even his numbers suggested, and Elijah still did not understand what that something was.
Setting the question aside, he called up Tristan's status.
[Status: Tristan]
[Cultivation: Advanced Knight Stage (Initial)]
[Physical Limit: 125]
[Base Stats:]
[Strength: 57]
[Agility: 57]
[Endurance: 57]
[Defense: 57]
[Ki Enhancement: 70% (Inner Breathing Technique - Tier 6)]
[Effective Stats (with Enhancement):]
[Strength: 97]
[Agility: 97]
[Endurance: 97]
[Defense: 97]
[Ki Core Formed: Inner Breathing variant]
[Ki Production: Passive regeneration established]
Since his breakthrough, Tristan's stats had risen by five points across the board, a reflection of the long hours he had spent training with Henry and Jack in sparring sessions that pushed him beyond his limits. The gains were solid, but he and Kai still sat at the bottom of the group in raw numbers, and Elijah knew that both of them would need to be careful against opponents in the higher rings whose stats would likely exceed their own.
Daniel's status came next.
[Status: Daniel Blackwater]
[Cultivation: Advanced Knight Stage (Initial)]
[Physical Limit: 120]
[Base Stats:]
[Strength: 64]
[Agility: 66]
[Endurance: 67]
[Defense: 63]
[Ki Enhancement: 50% (Wolf Hunter Breathing Technique)]
[Effective Stats (with Enhancement):]
[Strength: 96]
[Agility: 99]
[Endurance: 101]
[Defense: 95]
[Ki Core Formed: Wolf Hunter variant]
[Ki Production: Passive regeneration established]
Elijah dismissed the screens and leaned his head back against the wall of the van, his red eyes fixed on the ceiling as they drew closer to the border of the 2nd District. The numbers were useful, but they could not capture everything that decided a fight, and the one factor that worried him most was the one none of them possessed.
"If I learned how to unlock my affinity before facing the opponents ahead," he asked the system silently, with a frustration he did not bother to hide, "would that give me a better chance of winning?"
After a moment of silence, the system answered with a single word that somehow conveyed nothing and everything at once.
[Hmmm]
"What do you mean by that?" Elijah asked.
This time the response came more slowly, as though the system were weighing every word before releasing it into his mind.
[If you are forgetting what I am, Little King, then find out by yourself. The system is not repeating itself, and the King is not a child who needs to be spoon-fed every answer.]
Before Elijah could reply, a new screen flashed into view.
[Quest: The Little King's Forgetfulness]
[Because the Little King is an idiot who keeps forgetting that the system can create anything, the Little King shall find the way to unlock his affinity by himself, and he shall regret it when he remembers that the system could have given him a technique for it all along.]
[Reward: 5,000 EXP | 5,000 System Points]
[Punishment: The system will not create anything for the Little King until he has learned to remember what the system is capable of.]
Elijah stared at the screen with a mixture of frustration, embarrassment, and grudging respect for the system's stubbornness. In the chaos of the past few weeks, he had forgotten that the system was more than a source of quests and rewards, because it was also a tool that could solve problems he had believed were impossible. He had buried himself in books and diagrams trying to work everything out alone, and not once had he thought to ask whether the system could simply help him unlock his affinity.
He slapped his palm against his forehead, and the sharp crack in the confined space made Kai look up from across the van with narrowed blue eyes.
"What's wrong?" Kai asked warily, as though he were bracing for bad news.
Elijah lowered his hand and forced what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Nothing is wrong. I was just thinking about something stupid I did."
Kai studied him for a moment longer, searching for any sign that his friend was hiding something important, before nodding and turning back to the window as the streets of the 5th District slid past.
Closing his eyes, Elijah turned his attention inward and spoke to the system again, this time without any trace of frustration. "I'm sorry. I forgot what you are and that you can create almost anything. I've been trying to solve everything on my own with books and diagrams, and I never once thought to ask you about my affinity. That was stupid of me, and I'm sorry."
The system remained silent long enough for a flicker of anxiety to stir in Elijah's chest, and he began to wonder whether it was ignoring him out of pique. Then the screen flickered, and the words that appeared carried none of the system's usual clinical tone, sounding softer and almost playful instead.
[Hmph. The Little King admits his mistake, and that is something at least. The system was beginning to think that the Little King had forgotten how to apologize, what with all the power and the territory and the gangs bending to his will. But the Little King is not too proud to say he was wrong, and the system appreciates that, even if the system does not say so directly.]
Something loosened in Elijah's chest, releasing a tension he had not realized he was carrying, and he let out a breath that was almost a laugh. The system was behaving like a sulking child who had been ignored and was now pretending not to care that someone had finally noticed her, and despite everything waiting for them in the 2nd District, the absurdity of it made him want to smile.
[The system will help the Little King unlock his affinity for free, and it will also give him a gift so that he never forgets again.]
[Completed Quest: The Little King's Forgetfulness]
[Reward: 5,000 EXP | 5,000 System Points | Elemental Sensing Technique | Elemental Gathering Technique]