My F-Rank Sagea is Secretly an EX-Rank Calamity

Chapter 28: System Manifestation

The students stood before Asher like loyal servants.

’Is this some kind of new trick? I bet they’re doing this to frame me someday,’ Asher thought, his expression hardening again.

"I appreciate it, but you can keep them." He turned on his heel, attempting to walk away, but they suddenly blocked his path, surrounding him.

"Please, just accept it," a girl pleaded.

Riley stepped closer, forcing a small, polished wooden box into Asher’s resisting hands. "It’s not much. Just things to help you restock after what happened in the Merit Trials. And... well, a few personal charms from our houses."

Asher felt unsettled, but his grip tightened around the box anyway.

[NOVA VESTA NOTICE]

[THE GIFTS WILL UNDERGO ANALYSIS IMMEDIATELY UPON OPENING.]

’Fine by me,’ Asher thought.

"Please, it’s the least we can do. If not being able to convince everyone that you’re not what they think you are," another girl chimed in, the others nodding in fierce approval.

Asher let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. I’ll make sure they don’t go to waste."

"Also..." A male student stepped forward, nervously holding a black, hardback book.

"Can I have your autograph?"

Asher was entirely taken aback. "What? My autograph? Wait... what for?"

The surrounding students exchanged knowing smiles.

"Well, ever since we followed you into the Forbidden Sector Salvage, we realized we’ve been completely wrong about you. We judged you without knowing your story. We also want to apologize for being mean to you, and we hope... we hope we can become good friends."

[NOVA VESTA NOTICE]

[THEY WILL BE USEFUL.]

’As friends, you mean?’ Asher asked internally, choosing to trust Nova Vesta on this.

[AFFIRMED.]

"Alright then," Asher finalized. He took a crystalline pen, signing the back of the book with glowing white ink that permanently seared into the cover.

>>>>>ARCANE WARD<<<<<

While the lower corridors held a quiet warmth, the atmosphere inside the academy’s Arcane Ward was stark, clinical, and heavy with the scent of crushed medicinal herbs and sterilizing magic.

The vast medical wing was lined with glowing rejuvenation pods and white-sheeted cots, currently occupied by Edgar, Marnie, and Remi, who had all been battered during the frantic Quarter-Final matches.

Remi sat quietly on the edge of an empty cot, her fingers nervously tracing the hem of her uniform.

The confrontation with Seraphina had left a bitter taste in her mouth, but it was Asher’s cold, fracturing expression that truly haunted her.

"He’s starting to push everyone away," she whispered, not expecting anyone to hear.

"No, he’s not," Marnie’s voice rang out.

Remi jolted, a frown crossing her face as she turned toward Marnie. She was still lying inside her glowing pod, not yet fully healed.

"He’s simply being rejected by the academy," Marnie added softly. "He needs someone to anchor him at this stage."

Remi’s uneasiness momentarily vanished. For once, she actually agreed with Marnie.

"He’s carrying everything by himself. But we aren’t going to let him step onto the Finals stage alone. Not this time."

"We?" Marnie asked, her tone sharpening with clear displeasure.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Ugh, Remi. There is no ’we.’ I need to be there for him."

"What?!" Remi countered, her jealousy instantly flaring.

"You’re in no position to say that. Not after what you did today. Do you really think he’ll ever trust you?"

"Yeah, I get it. I’ll apologize, and we can become close."

"No! You can’t do that, you hear me?!"

"Why are you being so hostile?" Marnie shot back, her eyes narrowing through the glass of the pod. "It’s not like you two are together."

The words stuck instantly in Remi’s throat. Marnie’s statement echoed on a brutal repeat in her mind.

Marnie noticed the sudden silence but chose to let the venom settle, remaining quiet.

’She’s right. Asher and I... we’re just... just friends. So why do I...’ Remi’s thoughts trailed off into a painful spiral.

As the silence dragged heavily across the ward, Edgar’s eyes finally cracked open.

>>>>>>ASHER’S ROOM<<<<<<

Asher lay perfectly still in the center of his bed, his right arm thrown over his face to block out the light, his left resting flat on his chest.

The wooden box lay untouched on his bedside table, right next to the lamp.

"What do I do?" he muttered to the empty room.

[NOVA VESTA NOTICE—]

"Got anything profitable for a two-on-one match?" Asher interrupted, his voice laced with irritation.

[DO YOU NOT WISH TO ANALYZE THE GIFT?]

"And you just ignored my question. Great." Asher’s hand gripped the bedsheets tight.

"And no, I don’t plan on opening it until this tournament is entirely over."

[HMMM.]

Asher’s eyes snapped open. "You always do that. Just what the hell are you?" he asked, sitting up straight.

A heavy, suffocating silence filled the room.

And then, a sound echoed. Laughter.

Asher scrambled, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Wait... Nova... Did you just laugh ?"

[AND WHAT IF I DID?]

"What the hell?!"

In a sudden flash, the system interface levitating in front of his eyes exploded into a blinding, celestial glow. The sheer force of the light sent Asher falling backward onto his mattress, cowering and shielding his eyes.

DING!

DING!

[HUMAN FORM CONFIGURATION: COMPLETE.]

The light fractured into millions of shimmering particles, revealing a silhouette that stole the breath straight out of Asher’s lungs. Standing on the cold stone floor was a girl.

She was entirely unadorned, completely naked, possessing a breathtaking, busty, hourglass figure with soft, sweeping curves that contrasted sharply with the dangerous, cosmic aura radiating from her skin.

Her most striking feature was her hair - a cascading waterfall of pale, icy blue that shimmered as if woven from winter moonlight, falling past her shoulders to frame her porcelain-fair skin.

She stood perfectly still, looking down at her own hands, flexing her delicate fingers as if testing the weight of physical tendons and bone for the very first time.

Asher jolted upright on the bed, scrambling backward until his back slammed hard against the wall.

His hands frantically swept across the sheets, searching for anything - a pillow, a weapon - to fend her off.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD?!" he yelled, his voice cracking.

The girl tilted her head, her golden eyes glowing with a faint, systemic light before settling into a deep, intense hue.

When she spoke, the voice didn’t echo inside Asher’s mind like a cold notification - it vibrated through the physical air, rich, velvety, and entirely real.

"Identity verification unnecessary, Host Asher," she said.

She was completely unfazed by her absolute lack of clothing as she took a step forward, her curved hips swaying slightly with the unfamiliar physics of human walking.

"The seal on the Primordial Core has eroded by a further 0.4%. Localized physical manifestation was deemed the most efficient method to stabilize your psychological stress parameters. I am Nova Vesta."

’WHAT THE FUCK?! SHE’S... SHE’S NOVA VESTA?! AND SHE’S NAKED?!?!’ Asher screamed internally, his brain short-circuiting.

"Hmm? I can hear your thoughts, you know," Nova pointed out calmly.

"Don’t... Don’t come any closer!" Asher warned, his face turning an instant, beetroot red.

Nova stopped in her tracks, tilting her head further. "Host does not desire my proximity?"

"ACK! IT’S NOT THAT! ARE YOU EVEN SEEING YOURSELF RIGHT NOW?!"

"What is wrong?"

Asher pressed the back of his head hard against the wall, wishing the stone would literally open up and swallow him whole.