Monster Cultivation — Harnessing Monster Powers

“Grandjins?” Milia asked, inspecting the orange, apple-shaped fruit with its bumpy skin.

Drew leaned against the wall, gesturing toward the fresh plate of food on her bedside table. “Since you’re not going to be eating, I figured you’d need this.”

“It doesn’t taste that nice, though…”

She’d already eaten the pineapples, so this was all that remained. And it was clear the pineapples hadn’t been enough to fill her up.

Drew only shrugged.

Milia sighed and bit into the fruit, chewing like it was a chore.

Drew exhaled, tired.

When she’d woken up earlier, a medic had notified him, knowing he was there to check on her. As he entered, she looked like she’d just come out of a deep sleep, her hair a tangled mess with strands falling across her face. She looked at him groggily, then noticed the straw bag in his hand.

She pointed at it. “What’s in that?”

“Fruits.” Drew took out the pineapples and Grandjin from the bag. “Can you cut it yourself?”

“Of course—” She paused, then thought better of it. “No.”

Drew’s attempt to keep a neutral expression almost broke. “You were about to say ‘of course.’”

“I did not. Please cut it. My body is in pain.”

“It can’t hurt that much.”

“La la la.”

Drew summoned his Whirlwind Hands monster, increasing the speed at his fingertips until they moved like claws. He began slicing the pineapple. It wasn’t as neat as a knife, but it did the job.

Milia watched one of the Hands. “Where did you get this? I didn’t see it in the pen.”

“I was wondering when someone would ask me that.”

“So, where? Have you been doing other trials?”

“I got it from a friend.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re lying?”

Drew summoned the other Hand and had it gather the food from her plate. Once clear, he stacked the pineapple pieces on it.

Milia took the plate and started eating the pineapple quickly.

Returning to the present moment—

Milia finished the Grandjin. “You’re not so bad.”

Drew ignored her remark, his gaze shifting to the healing pills on her table. “How often do you take these?”

She glanced at them. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t take them, do you?”

She didn’t respond.

A knock sounded at the door. “Hello. It’s me, Palio.”

Milia called out, “You can come in.”

The medic entered—a man with shoulder-length hair, strikingly handsome, looking to be around thirty.

He greeted Drew. “Good to see you’re sparing some time for the patriarch’s daughter.”

Drew replied, “It’s an honor, truly.”

“I agree…” Palio glanced between the pills and the plate. “You brought the food? I’m surprised. But you really should take the healing pills. Your blood levels and fractured bones need time to recover.”

“I’m fine, really. And no, I don’t need you to fix my fractured ribs. They’ll heal on their own.”

Palio smiled, his fingers tapping against each other, as if holding back annoyance. “If that’s the case, then by all means.”

He left the room.

Drew asked, “So, do you think they’re all out for you, or have you just marked the ones you don’t trust?”

“You should already know I’m not going to answer.”

“Why? What’s the secret now? It’s already obvious. Just how naive do you think someone could be?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Drew clicked his tongue, shaking his head. He couldn’t understand her.

"I’ll head out and be back later.”

She didn’t respond. Drew opened the door, but just as he was about to leave, she called out, “When you visit later, bring mangoes. Lots of them.”

"Sure."

Drew made his way to the stairs to leave the medical facility, lost in thought.

If anyone else had been so unappreciative, he would have cut them out of his life. But Milia was a special case.

The main reason was clear: she could be a potential threat if left alone, and she was lonely.

There were other reasons, of course—reasons that grew clearer each time he interacted with her.

Was it nostalgia? He wasn’t sure if that was the right word. But he knew that when she’d died in the alternate timeline, Future Drew had become deeply depressed.

For a long time afterward, he’d been consumed with regret.

'If I’d done this. If I hadn’t. I should have. Why didn’t I?'

When Current Drew had experienced these memories, he wondered if Future Drew had ever truly moved past his grief. It never seemed so, no matter how many centuries passed.

It was sick and painful to feel. He had never met this individual, yet he felt so much hurt for them.

At times, it felt like Future Drew had forgotten about Milia, forgotten his grief. But sometimes, he would start crying, screaming, and rambling because of her.

Perhaps what hurt future Drew the most was the promises he made to her—promises he’d postponed time and again.

Promises of affection, traveling together… Promises Future Drew had no real intention of keeping. There was one goal that mattered the most. A goal, a dream that came before everything.

Becoming the strongest. Becoming so strong that the only thing he would fear would be himself.

Drew snapped out of his thoughts when he saw someone walking down the steps: Rei.

Rei walked on, ignoring the respectful bows from others around him, mostly medics.

Then Rei looked forward and made eye contact with Drew. They stared at each other.

He doesn't look hurt.

He doubted he would be there to see Milia. Their hatred for each other was easy to explain.

Rei was favored more, possessing the qualities of a charismatic young master. Milia, by contrast, was rude and withdrawn. Training her to be likable or to have the qualities expected of the clan leader’s child wasn’t seen as worth the effort, so her parents gave up on her. Her brother followed suit, seeing her as a stain on their family name.

At least, that was what Drew knew.

Rei and Drew passed each other, and Drew had no intention of saying anything. But once they passed, Drew turned to watch Rei walk straight to Milia’s room.

This surprised Drew, genuinely shocking him. He thought the twins almost never interacted.

Sure, she’d been injured, but it was nothing life-threatening. He hadn’t expected Rei to care.

Rei opened Milia’s door.

Milia looked over, surprised, at first expecting Drew. Her face quickly fell when she saw a gold-colored shoe step in.

Rei entered and closed the door behind him.

“What do you want?” Milia asked.

Rei glanced at the plate with traces of pineapple juice, noticing the lingering aroma of fresh fruit in the room.

He remembered the straw bag Drew had held earlier and quickly pieced it together: Drew had brought her fruits.

Rei touched his lip, then his eyelid. Milia noticed and immediately sat up. They started blinking at each other in rapid patterns, sometimes pausing between blinks.

Blink. Blink. Long pause. Blink. For example.

Then Milia asked, “Have you alerted Father?”

“No.”

“Fool. Do it.”

“It’d probably make things worse. Besides, I’m no coward.”

“Instead you're playing with our life.”

“Hmph. That friend of yours—best if you keep him from getting tangled up in this. He looks like easy prey.”

“He’s not a friend, and I haven’t told him anything to get him involved. They wouldn’t try to kill him.”

Milia’s expression turned conflicted. “But he’d probably get involved somehow.”

Drew had made a decision, one he thought was genius.

He stood in front of a small, familiar plant—the same one that housed the Moon Affair trial. The plant was short, with curling, silver leaves that caught the light oddly, giving them a pale, almost ghostly sheen. Tiny bits of moss were now growing around its roots, clinging to damp stones scattered around. The area was calm, with only a slight breeze rustling the leaves overhead.

The trial was already completed, so he couldn’t claim the rewards granted by the school for it. But that didn’t mean it was useless. And just because it was completed didn’t mean someone couldn’t still enter it. It being completed meant that the specific trigger to enter was most likely no longer.

Why bother entering? Because it might hold a clue or hint for finding other hidden trials—or perhaps even offer some insight into why Milia had been trapped in it.

He didn’t plan to interfere directly; just gathering information without actively being a “player” in the game. He intended to get involved later anyway, so he figured he might as well start preparing now.

He hadn’t entered the trial yet for one reason, though: *What if he got trapped like Milia?* He doubted it, but the thought lingered.

After all, the trap was likely set specifically for Milia—or one of the twins. It was probably designed to detect one of them.

It would be pointless if it indiscriminately trapped anyone, hoping they happened to be one of the twins.

The second reason he doubted he’d be trapped was that the trial was completed; there was no longer any incentive for those seeking rewards to enter it.

Still, he couldn’t completely shake the nagging part of his mind whispering, *What if the trapper was a complete idiot and didn’t care?*

The thought made him wince. He took a deep breath, staring at the plant. He had to trust he wasn’t about to make a stupid decision.

He dropped to his knees and parted the plant’s leaves. The stems felt cool and slightly rough under his fingers, almost like they were breathing. This time, the reveal was different.

A swirling yellow light appeared between the split. Above it, golden letters floated: *There are no rewards to reap. The Hidden Trial has already been completed.

Drew touched the swirling light, and in an instant, thought and sensation vanished. His body was pulled into it in nearly an instant.

The next second, he was rolling across a bed of white stones. They were small, smooth, and scattered unevenly, making each roll feel slightly different. He rolled a bit, feeling unusually light, almost weightless. He grabbed onto the rocky, white surface before opening his eyes.

He stared at the white ground and the floating pebbles. Then he lifted his gaze and saw nothing but endless darkness.

Clutching the ground, he turned and saw it—a massive blue and green sphere floating in space, far away from whatever he was on.

"Oh... Oh. Oh, holy shit!"