Fat Goose whispered, "Damn, the Golden Hills students must be loaded. After class they could just pluck so Kimbori, sell it off, and pay tuition like it’s nothing, right?"
Still caught up in the beauty of Golden Hills, Rita replied, "No way. Kimbori picked by a student can only be used personally, never sold. If you try to trade it for money, you’ll instantly gain a status called \[Kimbori Hates You], and you won’t be able to touch Kimbori at all for a while."
She had learned this back when she worked part-ti at Burrowbug Tavern. The Moonlight Marsh library also ntioned it, though only briefly, not with the detail that Golden Hills alumni could give.
Mistblade’s eyes burned as she stared at the golden fields. "What about outsiders? Can we pick it? Is there a penalty?"
Rita only answered what she was certain of. "No penalty, but you can only take five bundles. After that, you won’t be able to touch it again."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than she felt the world go oddly empty around her—because every single apprentice nearby had bent down, asses in the air, carefully selecting the heaviest, healthiest stalks of Kimbori.
Moonlight Marsh was expensive to live in. Between class materials, gear, skill scrolls, consumables, repairing shredded uniforms after placent battles, and growing bodies that always needed extra food from outside the school, everyone was perpetually broke.
Even the ones not strapped for cash still wanted Kimbori. It was a rare material with countless uses, and even if you didn’t need it yourself, it traded well for credits.
At the head of the group, GodDraw77 noticed the movent behind her. She turned back, frowning.
Her deathly gaze swept over the rows of raised rears before finally landing on the only one still standing upright: Rita.
"..."
Rita bent down without hesitation, butt in the air like everyone else, and started plucking.
Fortunately, their school wasn’t the only one doing it. Students from other academies were harvesting too.
Mistake Answer lay sprawled in the Kimbori, breathing in the breeze of Golden Hills. "It’s been seven years since Golden Hills last hosted the Divine Ga."
GodDraw77 said, "Lightchaser opened GodDraw77 here when she was in fourth year."
Mistake Answer chuckled. "That doesn’t sound like sothing you’d say."
If Lightchaser’s arrogance had earned her just as many haters as admirers, then Cinders’ humility and caution had won her far more love than resentnt.
And yet, years later, anyone who had seen those Divine Gas still rembered Lightchaser’s na. But when they thought of GodDraw77, most forgot that her real na was Cinders.
Love and hate carved far deeper than simple affection.
GodDraw77 didn’t argue. She simply said, "Maybe after so many dull years, I’ve found interest in the Divine Ga again."
Mistake Answer’s smile lingered. "I thought you’d cling to the title of GodDraw77."
"If the Divine Ga becos too dull, then the title loses aning. Do you know why Wail hates ? It isn’t that I claid GodDraw77—it’s that my GodDraw77 carried more weight than hers. Because in those years... there was Lightchaser."
...
Golden Hills had four distinct hilltops, each crowned with a tall magic tower. Bridges of magic now linked the towers, forming four enormous viewing stands.
Spectators entered through temporary gates opened by Golden Hills and were teleported directly to these stands, able to overlook the central hills. When the Divine Ga began, the principal would throw the three cards into this very zone.
Principal Vorant had chosen the site deliberately. The windmill cottages of the visiting schools ringed the area, right beside the stands.
His words: "So spectators and apprentices can interact closely."
As dawn broke and the Kimbori fields glead gold, a light curtain unfurled across the sky.
This year’s rules appeared.
\[AS171 Divine Ga]
\[Carry limit: 3 magic items]
\[Forfeit option: Sacrifice one skill of S-rank or higher, losing it permanently, to exit the ga mid-match]
\[Team Battle Champion Reward: Each mber may choose 3 SSS skills from the skill library and gain 200 free attribute points]
\[Individual Battle Champion Reward: May copy and permanently gain one skill owned by another contestant during the ga, plus 200 free attribute points]
\[Fun Match Champion Reward: Gain three chances to modify magical items’ skills, plus 100 free attribute points]
\[Opening GodDraw77 Reward: Raise racial potential; all racial talents B-rank or lower evolve up one rank; every mber of the race gains 30 free attribute points]
\[GodDraw77 Reward: Upgrade racial talent; gain the title "GodDraw77"; receive 500 free attribute points; choose 10 SSS skills from the library; casting SSS skills triggers celestial phenona; racial potential greatly improved, minimum talent rank raised to B; one magical item upgraded by one tier]
Ten minutes later, the curtain dissolved. Three glowing cards—crimson, gold, azure—spread across the sky.
Individual, Team, Fun.
Even their order had changed from last year, as if the cards had actually shuffled.
Fat Goose paced with his hands behind his back. "Honestly, being in the stands doesn’t sound so bad now."
Maple Syrup rested a hand on the miniaturized long gun hanging from her belt, a gift from her teacher ltrange. She gazed up at the cards. "I prefer standing here."
Motor muttered, "Let’s see if you still say that once the fighting starts."
Mistblade said, "Last year was probably just an accident. The year before, everyone was civilized enough."
Rita was about to speak when the cards shifted.
The gold one lit.
The first round was Team Battle.
Almost instantly, an invitation window popped up in front of Rita—from Maple Syrup.
She hit "Accept" without hesitation.
The mont all four teammates had joined, the golden card descended onto the field before a windmill cottage, becoming a massive golden curtain.
As they flew toward it, Rita grumbled, "You really had to send the invite before ."
Maple Syrup twirled her now full-sized gun and grinned back. "And compared to Lightchaser?"
Rita answered without pause. "In front of her, anyone ends up spineless, whether they an to or not."
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