The next day

A bet?"

Ashoka narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of bet are you talking about?"

He couldn't understand why Draco suddenly wanted to make a bet.

You don't need to be nervous. The King of Essence doesn't lie, nor will I try to deceive you. I will show you myself.

A new message appeared as soon as he said that.

[Drakorinith, the dragon monarch proposes the first bet.]

[Condition: Pass the test for official trainee Knight in first place on the list while using only 50% of your power.

Upon success: All stats +2, a random trait.

Upon failure: Drakorinith, the dragon monarch will swallow 1% of your consciousness.]

He could understand what he meant upon reading the message. It looked like Draco intended to hand over his own abilities if Ashoka managed to win the bet.

"Are you talking about ending up first in the test to become an official trainee that Alberad mentioned?"

{That's right. He said that there will be a first place, so the result will be clear.}

"Hmm…"

As he was now, Ashoka could win without even a problem, but using only 50% of his power made him think about it.

And he still had a few questions.

"What do you mean, a random trait?"

{One of the traits that This monarch possesses will be granted to you. Of course, its level will be downgraded to match your mediocrity.}

"A trait…"

Ashoka looked at Draco, who was burning as if fuel had been added. He had always called himself a Monarch.

He couldn't trust him on that, but it was obvious that he was a special existence.

In the first place, Dragons were considered the apostle of gods.

They are beings closest to invincible. If it isn't for their arrogance which made them live alone, they would have long ruled the world.

That meant that his random trait was most likely going to be a useful ability.

"One more thing. This is the most important part. What do you mean by consuming 1% of consciousness upon failure?"

{It means what it says. Your consciousness will be swallowed by me, Drakorinith, the dragon monarch}

"Are you saying that you are capable of that?"

{I know why you are looking down on me, you brat! but it is just that I am weakened now, and with the help of the system, I can take over your body anytime, it's just that I have to play by the system's rule.}

Draco's voice contained an obvious expectation.

Just like the saying goes, many a little makes a mickle.

{If I keep swallowing a part of your consciousness, you won't be able to control yourself anymore at some point… No matter how strong your willpower is.}

"Was that your goal all along?"

Ashoka looked down at Draco coldly. It seemed that he was trying to slowly take over his body, giving up on doing it at once.

{You should've realized that your body changes according to the stats in the status window by now. If you partake in this bet, you will become even stronger.}

Draco calmly worked to convince him to accept his suggestion, despite being the monarch.

Ashoka felt frustrated by him for the first time.

'Why is he making a bet like this?'

Since his soul existed still, he could've just used that to conquer his mind. Ashoka couldn't understand why he had to use such an elaborate method instead.

{As I've already said, the abilities of this monarch are connected to you. If I could use that power, I would've taken over your body already.}

Draco responded as if he read his mind.

"Are you sure there's no lie?"

{I am the dragon monarch, Drakorinith, you dare suspect my words as a lie?!}

"Haaah…"

Ashoka sighed lightly.

Draco was certainly a psychopath, but he had never lied about anything when he answered him.

"Do I have no choice but to eat this poisonous apple?"

He couldn't refuse, not when the reward was two points in all stats and a new special ability.

On the other hand, the risk of failure was relatively small—if dangerous when accumulated.

"Hmm…"

There were many outstanding children in the fifth training ground. Not just Vikram and Ahmed, but the noble children and the recommended children also had special talents.

Not to mention the monstrous talent of his brother who is going to be joining them from tomorrow.

An average child couldn't ever dream of being in the first place.

However, Ashoka had been reincarnated.

Whatever the test was, no matter how talented the children were, he was confident he wouldn't lose.

Even though there was a condition that he only had to use 50% of his power, Ashoka was confident he could win.

"Alright, I accept."

{A wise decision.}

[You've accepted the bet with Drakorinith, the dragon monarch.]

Ashoka looked into Draco's eyes through the message. He was smiling, confident that he would win.

So he smiled back.

'It won't go the way you think it will.'

***

The Next Day, Before Dawn.

Vikram opened the door to the training ground and entered.

Despite being so early that the sun hadn't even risen yet, his hair was properly brushed, and his training uniform was ironed out. He was indeed an exemplary noble.

"Hmm?"

Luz and a few other noble children, who used to make some arrogant remarks while seeing him, looked away after bowing awkwardly.

'Why are they doing that?'

He remembered the incident from the day before as he wondered.

'Don't tell me… Did they harass him?'

Vikram frowned.

He didn't like Ashoka either, but harassing him personally was an act that would stain the name of his family.

'Pathetic bastards.'

Just as he was about to approach the idiots to scold them, the door opened and Ashoka entered.

"Hmm?"

He was completely fine. There were no injuries nor bruises, so it didn't look like he'd been hit. Instead, he looked even more confident than the day before.

"Eek!"

"Hie!"

On the other hand, Luz and the noble children hid in the corner like dogs as soon as they saw Ashoka.

'What? Just what happened?'

Vikram swallowed. He couldn't understand what kind of situation this was.

"Hey."

He couldn't stop himself from approaching the trembling noble children.

"Heik..!!"

Luz and the other noble children lowered their heads with gaping mouths.

"Why are you trembling like that?"

"Th-That is…"

"Ahem!"

The noble children closed their mouths upon seeing Ashoka, not Vikram. Fear could be seen in their eyes.

'They are afraid of Ashoka instead of me?'

Just what did Ashoka do to them, for them to be so afraid?

"No, nothing happened."

"That's right. Nothing really happened."

"Hehe!"

The noble children scratched their heads with awkward expressions.

'Did they get beaten up instead?'

That was the only possibility.

The noble children must've been beaten up instead when they tried to teach him a lesson.

Vikram turned around to look at Ashoka. Just like the day before he was just standing silently as if he wasn't interested.

If there were any changes, it was another blond-haired kid beside him.

The blond kid was handsome, even more so than Ashoka.

His perfectly combed blond hair combined with red eyes were particularly striking.

The girls in the training grounds couldn't keep their eyes out of him.

'This handsome bastard!'

Ashoka thought rather annoyed and feeling jealous of Sudhatta.

But it wasn't like everyone was focused on Sudhatta, there were some looking at him with glares as well.

'So he was hiding his abilities.'

It was laughable for Vikram that a weak child like Ashoka would hide his puny level of skills.

'Struggle as much as you want.'

No matter what he did, he was going to remain at the bottom.

* * *

While stretching his neck, Ashoka met the eyes of the noble children that he'd had a 'talk' with the day before.

"Ugh!"

"Kuu!"

The collateral children let out strange sounds and backed away.

"Huh?"

"What's that?"

The noble children, who were openly insulting him the day before, were taken aback. The sight made the other trainees wonder about the situation.

Ashoka turned his head at the scornful laughter. Vikram was clearly jeering at him.

'I bet he's thinking that it doesn't matter, no matter what I do.'

Whatever Vikram was thinking was as clear as day. He must've been thinking that it was meaningless, no matter how much a talentless boy struggled.

'That's a huge mistake.'

Since Ashoka had the dragon grimoire, talent was meaningless. By the time he graduated from being a temporary trainee, he would be way ahead of Vikram.

{That snake's eyes are annoying. Pluck them out.}

'Not again.'

But Ashoka was also interested in whom Draco was calling a Snake.

It was none other than Ahmed Khan who was looking at him with a smiling face.

'him...?'

Ashoka was wondering why Draco called him a snake.

{Back in the days, whoever dared to move their eyes would all…}

'Please shut up.'

Ashoka tapped his ring. With a zapping sound, Draco went silent.

{Y-you bastard!}

'You talk too much.'

The door to the training ground opened as he tried practicing with the mana circulation, ignoring Draco.

Stomp!

Past the creaking door, Alberad and the trainers entered.

Unlike the trainers, who were properly lined up, Alberad ran up to the platform with a skip to his steps.

"Good morning."

Alberad smiled as he looked down at them.

"Yes!"

The temporary trainees responded loud and strongly, despite it being so early in the morning.

"Yesterday must've been difficult since you ran at full speed—even if you've been training your stamina. So…"

Alberad nodded his head and smiled.

"Today you'll run again. At full speed!"

"Pardon?"

"A-again?"

"The limit of a human's stamina increases each time it is exhausted. So, sprint until I tell you to stop."

While the children were frowning, two people kicked the ground. It was Vikram and Ahmed again.

Pang!

Unlike the day before, when they had been saving their stamina, they ran with everything they had.

"Ugh!"

"It's a sprint again!"

The children that thought that they were going to learn something that day started running, all while complaining.

{Are you running again? This is boring. You can become stronger without something like this. If you kill an enemy…}

'I'm fine with this.'

Ashoka cut Draco off. He kicked the ground after inhaling deeply.

{Really? Do you enjoy endlessly running and eating dust?}

'I can become stronger by running.'

{You idiot! If you leave your body to this monarch, you could become the strongest within a year…}

'But there's no point if I'm not myself anymore.'

Stopping Draco from talking any more nonsense, he kept moving his feet.

'I'm faster than yesterday.'

Thanks to his increased agility and stamina, he could run faster than before.

"Huh?"

"Hmm…"

"As-Ashoka?"

The eyes of children in the middle-lower group widened as they saw him. It looked like they couldn't understand how Ashoka was running alongside them.

'I'm growing fast, for sure.'

Ashoka smiled lightly and ran with them.

Just beside him, Sudhatta was also running. It doesn't seem like he was exhausted or anything as he was running very stably without any problem.

Having stat points on top of the mana circulation method was making his growth unbelievably fast.

'It's not an unpleasant environment.'

Ashoka looked in front at all the people who were running faster than him.

Although he could overtake them anytime, he had decided to only use 50% of his power to adjust to that power level.

So he was maintaining his speed making sure his muscle are stretching enough.

It was the perfect environment to improve himself.

Ashoka looked at Alberad, who was dozing off on the platform. He was a frivolous guy, but his training method was reliable.

'Your training… I'll make good use of it.'

* * *

"Stop!"

The sprint that began before dawn only ended after the sun finished rising.

"Kuah!"

"Haah!"

"Huff!"

Without exception, the children were panting and lying on the ground.

Barely anyone was standing, as most of them had run at full speed.

"This is the end of daybreak training."

"Day… daybreak…"

"Not even morning, but daybreak…"

The children shook their heads when they heard that daybreak training had ended.

"The air is fresh at daybreak, and you can feel the mana more easily. You'd better get used to it since it will be useful even after you become an official trainee knight."

Alberad spun his finger. It was a gesture describing how the children were going to run endlessly.

"Now, go get your breakfast."

"After running so much, how can we have breakfast…?"

"I… I can't eat!"

"No way I can swallow!"

The children complained, still lying on the ground.

"You'd better eat, even if it's difficult. Since training will continue, you won't be able to handle it without eating. Although, like always, the choice is yours."

With that, Alberad left. It was as if he was telling them to do whatever they wanted.

'To tell us to eat after running so much…"

"I… I think I should eat. Even if I throw it up later…"

The children staggered as they went to the dining room. The food was light, and not at all greasy. It seemed they had considered the intensity of daybreak training.

Warm soup, soft bread, lean meat, and a few kinds of vegetables were the entirety of the menu.

"The food is really terrible."

"I think I can eat this."

The noble children looked at Ashoka who was just staring at the food on his plate.

"Look at him."

"He isn't eating."

"I guess he can't eat that since he grew up sheltered in the tempest manor."

"True. Despite being the worst in rank, he must've always gotten the better treatment as a patient."

Despite the other children giggling as they mocked him, Ashoka was thinking about something completely different from their expectations.

'They give food?'

He would've understood it if it was after training ended. However, giving food in the middle of training.

He had to suffer so much in his previous life just to get a meal per day but now they are providing food just for running?!

He had eaten grass or hunted animals on his own to appease his hunger, even when he was younger than his current age, he had never imagined that they would feed him.

'I guess it is natural since they are all nobles'

He thought picking up his breakfast, Sudhatta also did the same and followed him just behind.

---***---