"Why did you do that, princess?"
Standing amidst the trees, a man with an air of arrogance questioned the young lady before him. Like him, everyone around was equally perplexed as to why their princess, who never engaged with others—let alone people of different races—had suddenly chosen to assist a short human.
She pursed her lips into thin lines.
Honestly, she had no idea why she acted the way she did. The moment she laid eyes on him, her heart, which was unfeeling like a cold stone even toward her own mother, skipped a beat and began to race.
She felt as if she had encountered someone she desperately wanted to meet, yet she had no idea why she felt that way since she didn't even know him.
Her heart was still racing, and the tips of her ears and neck were completely red from just making eye contact with him once. She was so surprised that she turned and left.
"I think..."
She swallowed her next words. The sole reason she had been waiting to turn 20 and enter the preliminary test was to search for the scattered fragments of her broken soul. She had even fought with the Spirit Queen, her mother, who had ordered her not to, as she had already sent countless people to look for the fragments of her soul.
But now she had done something that could never be undone.
'I marked him as my mate.'
She was only half spirit, but she was still part of the spirit race, and no spirits ever used the term 'mate' lightly. A mate was a lifelong partner, and because the hearts of spirits who possessed physical forms were made of white heavenly fire, they could only have one such partner in their lifetime.
Once their instincts marked someone as their mate, they could never feel the same way for another. It was a lifelong bond.
This is why spirits usually remained single for countless years, and many never even entered into relationships. Yet, her instincts had gone ahead and marked someone she didn't even know as her mate.
She took a deep breath to steady her heart. She couldn't, for heaven's sake, admit that she had marked a human as her sole mate, especially not in front of her own people. If her mother found out, she would kill him.
The usual coldness returned to her face, masking the flustered look she had as she regarded the winged people around her.
"Let's leave. You all followed me of your own accord when I never asked because you wanted to help me find the scattered fragments. We shouldn't waste time."
Everyone around looked at each other, their iridescent wings fluttering in confusion. But they didn't say anything. As they moved, the man who had spoken earlier paused.
"What about the spear? It wasn't an ordinary weapon. Is it acceptable for the princess to just give it away?"
"It's just a spear. I can get a better one anytime in the spirit realm."
She didn't stop, but her crimson eyes, sparkling like rubies, glanced back one last time toward the place where the human who stirred her heart was present.
'I hope we don't meet again. I don't want the first person who made me feel something to die because of me.'
'Stay safe... my mate who may not even know that I exist in this life.'
But she knew, deep down in her heart, that she still hoped they would meet again in the higher levels of Battle Royale.
What she didn't know was that as one of the largest fragments of her soul, she was one of the few fragments who had such remarkable self-restraint.
Perhaps it was because spirits could only have one mate in their lifetime; they were inherently extremely possessive.
The other fragments of her soul could feel her emotions, albeit faintly, and who knows what they would do once they met him.
***
Atop the battle stage, Skyler rose to his feet. He retrieved the spear he had nailed to the stage. Tiny sparks of lightning crawled across its surface before fading.
It was clear the one who threw it poured their Evol into it for him to use it effectively. He couldn't tell its tier, but he knew just by looking at it that it was not a weapon that an ordinary person could possess.
Just like many other things, weapons in Eldoria were categorized into five distinct tiers: Novice, Adept, Epic, Legendary, and lastly Mythic, with Novice as the weakest and Mythic as the strongest.
However, unlike other items, each tier of weapon is further divided by crafters into three categories according to their quality and endurance: ordinary, exceptional, and unique, with ordinary being the weakest a tier can have and unique the strongest.
Normally, Novice tier weapons cannot absorb Evol, but higher tier weapons can. These weapons are often embedded with tiny elemental stones or infused with Evol, which enhances the user's attack power.
The dagger Mila gave Skyler was a Novice tier weapon, but the category of its quality was unique. He could easily tell that. But the spear in his hand felt very powerful to him, and he couldn't identify its tier at all, even though it was right there with him.
Skyler placed his other hand on his heart and stared blankly into thin air.
The crowd surrounding his stage gritted their teeth, but they had no choice but to retreat for the time being and sit down.
They were certain that now that he had a powerful spear, he wouldn't come down at all. Perhaps this bastard would even camp up there for the duration of the test.
Austin kicked the ground.
"What a terrible day! Just let me find out which jerk threw the spear... I'm going to set him straight myself!"
Zack shared his sentiments.
On the stage, a familiar system screen flashed in front of Skyler's eyes.
("Congratulations, host! You have slain your first 3-star monster! With the essence, you have earned 15 more points, which can be used when the system store opens!
Would you like to continue fighting or admit defeat to leave the stage?")
Skyler blinked, and his answer left the system completely speechless.
"505, I believe I just developed my first crush."