Skill Forge: Broken Extra Character

Aiden raised an eyebrow, holding up his ring. "We could just ask," he pointed out, as if the whole intense fight had made them momentarily forget the communication tool. He smirked, "And Freya's still out there."

Rey looked down, noticing his ring glowing, a series of persistent pulses flashing from numerous missed messages. "Right… Freya," he muttered, seeing a backlog of notifications. As he scrolled through, he chuckled. "Speak of the devil. She's been spamming us nonstop."

The messages were a mix of frantic inquiries and exclamations:

-Freya- "Are you okay?"

-Freya- "Is everything under control?"

-Freya- "Why isn't anyone answering?"

-Freya- "Did someone get hurt?!"

-Freya- "What's going on over there??"

-Freya- "Are you ignoring me?"

-Freya- "Please say something."

Rey pressed the ring, finally replying.

-Rey- "Hey Freya, how's it going?"

There was a pause, and then her voice came through, sharp with annoyance.

-Freya- "You're replying now? You just left me here, Rey!"

Rey winced, sensing her irritation even through the ring.

-Rey- "Come on, I couldn't afford to put you in any more danger."

-Freya- "Oh, that's not fair!" she shot back, clearly frustrated. "You're treating me like some baby."

A few feet away, Finn elbowed Aiden, laughing quietly. "If they've got time for chitchat, I'd say things must be looking good on her end too."

Aiden chuckled, "Yeah right, just go over there and collapse already."

Finn gave a sly grin. "Care to make a little wager?"

Rey, meanwhile, tried his best to soothe Freya's frustration.

-Rey-"Just bear with it a little longer. How are things on your end?"

There was a pause, then Freya's voice sounded with an unexpected note of relief.

-Freya- "Actually, we're doing great. They just… retreated. Out of nowhere. No idea why, though."

"Oh nice! Would you look at that," Finn said, turning to Aiden with a satisfied smile. "You owe me a thousand points."

Aiden rolled his eyes, muttering, "Tch, whatever," and casually punched Finn's shoulder, fully aware it would sting.

Finn winced, squirming in pain as he clutched his shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?"

*****

Meanwhile, in his cell, Jett sat cross-legged, eyes closed as he focused on drawing out his Aura. "Unknowingly, I got put in one of the best conditions to train my Aura," he thought with a grin.

The cell was lined with intricate magic circles that dampened both Aura and Mana by 90%. Normally, this would be a hindrance, but Jett knew that training under such intense suppression could boost his power exponentially. Deciding to focus on Aura, which was slightly easier to harness than Mana in such an environment, he settled into a corner to meditate.

As he concentrated, a notification suddenly popped up right in front of him.

[[A Hidden Scenario will be activated soon.]]

[[Make your choice.]]

[[A. Stay here. You will receive a special technique.]]

[[B. Breakout. You will receive a hidden map.]]

Jett glanced at the notification, frowning. "I can do this later. I need to concentrate right now." He tried to brush it aside, pushing it to the back of his mind, but it popped up again, brighter and more intrusive than before.

Annoyed, he waved it away, but it reappeared instantly, flashing insistently. "What's wrong with this stupid thing? Just go away already," he muttered, swiping his hand as if physically trying to dismiss it. The guards passing by his cell threw him suspicious looks, whispering to each other as they wondered what he was doing.

"Ahhh, stop bothering me!" he groaned, feeling his frustration mount.

Then, the next notification appeared, larger than the previous ones, with a bold five-minute timer ticking down from the top.

[[5:00]]

[[Make your Decision. And by the way moron…]]

[[I am not a thing and I am definitely not stupid… Dumbass.]]

Jett blinked, momentarily stunned by the notification's unexpected sass. "You've gotta be kidding me…" he mumbled, staring as the timer ticked down, mocking him as if daring him to make a decision.

"What the hell? You can communicate with me?" Jett blurted, staring at the notification in disbelief. He tried speaking directly to it, "Hey, say something. You've already slipped up, so there's no need to hide now." But there was no response, just the same pulsing countdown ticking down relentlessly.

His eyes flicked to the timer, now at 3:50. He took a deep breath to center himself, trying to think clearly despite the confusion swirling in his mind. "Alright, focus, Jett." He frowned, "What even is this thing?"

He eyed the two options, his mind racing with questions. "Stay here and receive some mysterious technique? Or break out and get… a hidden map? Neither of these options even says what I'd really get. It's like rolling the dice on mystery rewards."

From outside his cell, the guards exchanged wary glances, clearly viewing his one-sided conversation and intense expression as signs that he'd gone a bit mad. Ignoring their stares, Jett continued mulling over his options.

'If the rewards are vague, might as well leave it to chance, I mean I do have maxed out luck right? Although, I can't call what Aurelia explained for me maxed out luck…, whatever,' he thought, reasoning through his situation. 'I'm still under restrictions, and there was already a reward for just staying here right?. Choosing to stay in the cell might mean two rewards stacked together.'

After another moment of contemplation, he let out a resigned sigh, deciding on his path. "Yep, no reason to overthink it." With a slightly nervous smile, he chose Option A. "I wonder how long I'll have to stay here, though."

[[1:17]]

Just then, another notification popped up.

[[Congratulations, you have picked A]]

[[A. Stay here. You will receive a special technique.]]

[[Reward Loading…]]

"Oh, I get the reward immediately? Cool." Jett chuckled to himself. 'Please, don't be some boring text I have to memorize,' he thought, crossing his fingers.

[[Reward: Twin Cultivation Technique. Train two sources of power simultaneously.]]

His eyes widened with excitement. "For real? I could use that to quickly level up my Mana and Aura. Better still, I could train Lumix alongside any of the others… Hehe…" He couldn't contain his grin as the possibilities unfolded in his mind.

The system then prompted him.

[[Pick two.]]

[[A. Aura]]

[[B. Lumix]]

[[C. Mana]]

"I'll just choose Lumix first," he muttered, pressing it eagerly. But his excitement was cut short when an error message popped up.

[[Error…]]

[[Not an option.]]

Jett's face twisted in frustration. "Then why put it there?!" He glared at the notification, half-expecting an answer.

A new notification blinked on the screen.

[乁 ˘ o ˘ ㄏ]

Jett's jaw dropped, feeling completely thrown off. 'Did it just… shrug at me?'

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Wild