Evolution Online: My 10,000× Reward System Multiplies Everything

Kaelen snapped his fingers, and the arena was plunged into darkness.

The room became noisy the next moment as the spectators surrounding the arena began mumbling amongst themselves, speculating about what had just happened.

The reason Kaelen chose Infinite Mana of all the Talents he could forge... was because it let him use all the skills in his arsenal to a certain limit without raising suspicion.

The arena was suddenly lit up again, but this time around, it wasn’t the torches and light crystals that had come back to life. It was as though the sun had suddenly been compressed inside the room, forcing everyone to back away from the arena as they shielded their eyes.

When they pried their eyes open once more, their pupils constricted as they witnessed thousands of fireballs suspended in the air behind the man standing on the stage, his scarf raging violently behind him as his shadow stretched long and wide across the walls of the arena.

”A-Are those... compressed fireballs?”

”What sort of magic is this?”

”You have to have Infinite Mana to command that many fireballs without a backlash!”

The arena instantly fell into chaos as everyone began muttering and speculating to themselves. But they were immediately silenced the moment Kaelen’s lips parted and the name of the skill was said for all to hear.

”Basic Fireball.”

”...”

”W-What?!”

Stephanie’s face turned ashen as she found it hard to look away from the spectacle. She was one of the best flame mages, but even she couldn’t pull that off.

Kaelen raised his hand once before snapping his fingers at the beast trio.

The summoner immediately turned tail and dove off the stage just as the torrent of fireballs hit the beasts, and a powerful shockwave spread across the stage but collided with an invisible barrier surrounding it, sending spiderweb cracks across its surface.

The entire arena immediately fell into a deathly silence.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Someone from the crowd suddenly began clapping, and then a second, and a third. Suddenly, the entire crowd began clapping and cheering loudly.

On another floor in the building, a board meeting was ongoing, and an executive was giving a speech. But the person sitting at the head of the table barely heard a single word they were saying as she stared intently at a single orb she hid under the cover of the table, which was displaying a young man standing amidst the wreckage he’d caused in the arena.

She had intentionally signed Kaelen up for Hell’s Mode to get back at him, but never expected him to clear the challenge so easily.

It was only now she believed he wasn’t lying about being a Tier 5 with an A-rank Talent, and she couldn’t really be blamed because he was simply acting too suspicious inside the carriage.

To pull off such a spectacle, one had to have an insane amount of mana to control such a heavy load, even if it was Basic Fireball.

She was certain his Talent had something to do with that.

Though she hadn’t expected him to pass, she was relieved that such a talent had decided to join her guild.

”Idris Thomas, huh?” she mumbled to herself, when her train of thought was suddenly cut short.

”What do you think, Guild Leader?” The executive ended his speech, and everyone’s attention turned to her.

She coughed slightly. ”Yes, I like that.”

The executives’ expressions immediately changed, and they exchanged glances with one another.

”Sorry, did you just say you like the fact that our villages in Okwa are starving and are being plagued by famine?”

”... Huh?” she blurted as she turned to Cindra, who was also staring at her strangely.

”No. I meant, I like that... we’re addressing that as an issue, and we definitely need a solution for it. Which is why I’ll be handing the matter to Cindra to look into. This board meeting has been adjourned,” she said as she stood and quickly left the room.

The executives were left stunned and confused. They turned to Cindra, only to her mirroring their reaction.

’What could possibly make Black Rose this distracted? And where was she even going?’ Cindra thought to herself in confusion.

Back at the arena, Kaelen was exchanging handshakes with guild members who were offering to buy him a drink, trying to make acquaintances with him.

Kaelen didn’t mind if it helped his disguise and increased his popularity in the guild, which should increase his chances of getting that invitation.

When Black Rose suddenly entered the arena, everybody immediately fell silent, and everyone made way for her.

She stopped before Kaelen, and he noticed all the people surrounding him immediately take a step back.

Black Rose stared at the wrecked stage slowly repairing itself before she turned back to him.

”I see you passed your aptitude test with flying colors,” she said with a tone that didn’t sound congratulatory.

”I guess you can say that.” He shrugged lazily.

”Good. Come with me,” she said, and without waiting for his reply, she turned and walked out of the arena.

Kaelen paused to look at the spectators, who were strangely quiet now, before he followed after her.

Stephanie stared at his back disappearing and felt her heart ache when her friend suddenly leaned in close to her.

”Do you think they’re going to make out in the bathroom?”

She immediately turned to glare daggers at the girl before she stormed out of the arena.

”What did I do?”

The beast girl looked confused, wondering what she’d done wrong to warrant such treatment, when another senior recruit who was close to her explained his theory.

”Have you heard the rumors of a grand expedition about to take place soon?” he asked softly.

The beast girl turned to look at him in confusion.

”I heard the Guild Leader left an open slot for the most outstanding recruit, and we all know that’s Stephanie. But if Idris joins us now... he could be a great contender against her.”