Resurrection System: Become the Strongest

Chapter 05

[Quest Title: Clever Revenge of the Outcast]

[Description: Head Butler Sean is attempting to spike your drink with Black Root poison to destroy your mana channels in public. Utilize System Analysis and your knowledge of the novel to turn this trap around!]

[Clear Rewards: 100% Poison Neutralization (Body Fully Healed), Active Skill: 'Dragon Scale Guard', Unlock: 'Mana Attribute: Black Flame'.]

Richard curled a subtle smirk. Excellent. I indeed need a bigger stage to ruin this old dog.

"Very well," Richard said nonchalantly. He reached out his hand and took the silver chalice from Sean's grip.

Sean's eyes widened in surprise; he hadn't expected Richard to yield so easily. "A wise choice, Young Master. Now, drink it all up."

"I will drink it," Richard said in a resounding tone, deliberately echoing his voice down the corridor. "But not here. I will drink it in the Main Hall, before Father and the Elders, as proof of my obedience to the commands of the Drag Family."

Without waiting for Sean's reply, Richard walked swiftly past the guards, heading directly toward the massive oak doors leading to the Main Hall. Left thoroughly stunned, Sean immediately gave chase with a panicked expression.

Brak!

Richard pushed the giant wooden doors wide open. The loud thud startled dozens of nobles, family elders, as well as Duke Harrison and his three children, who were standing around the Aptitude Assessment Crystal Stone.

"Richard?!" barked Leonardo, who stood beside the magic crystal. "How dare you cause a commotion in this sacred place?!"

Duke Harrison glared at Richard with a wrathful expression. "What is the meaning of this, Richard? Why are you charging in like a lunatic before the elders?!"

Richard remained undaunted. He stepped gracefully into the center of the hall, stopping directly beneath the glowing light of the magic crystal. He raised the silver chalice high in his hand so that every pair of eyes in the room could see it clearly.

"I apologize for my intrusion, Duke Harrison," Richard's voice echoed loud and clear, not sounding in the least like that of a sickly child. "I merely wish to demonstrate my obedience. Head Butler Sean just handed me this potion, stating that you personally ordered me to drink it before the Aptitude Assessment begins."

The atmosphere inside the room suddenly froze. The elders whispered amongst themselves in astonishment, their expressions tense.

Duke Harrison's face turned dark. "I never ordered any potion!"

Sean, who had just rushed into the hall, instantly turned deathly pale. His body trembled violently as he realized the trap Richard was orchestrating. "M-My Lord! I... I was only..."

"Oh? So this wasn't your order, Duke?" Richard interrupted in a feigned tone of surprise, though a terrifying sharpness glinted in his eyes. "Then why was Head Butler Sean so adamant about forcing me to drink this 'Black Root Solution'? Does a servant possess the authority to poison a member of the noble Drag family inside his own estate?"

"What?! Black Root Solution?!" shouted one of the Senior Elders standing beside the stage. Waving his hand, the elder used wind magic to draw the liquid from Richard's silver chalice into the air. He checked its scent, his eyes widening in fury. "This truly is mana-channel-severing poison! Who dares bring such poison into the Drag Mansion?!"

The entire room erupted into chaos. Indignant whispers spread rapidly among the nobles.

"No! That's slander! I didn't know it was poison!" Sean shrieked, dropping to his knees in terror. "Young Master Richard was the one who requested the potion himself!"

"How amusing," Richard interjected with a cold laugh that sent chills down everyone's spines. "A manaless child confined to his room can suddenly order mana-severing poison from a Senior Head Butler? And you handed it over to me just like that? How much of this poison have you laced into my food over the past five years, Sean?"

Every word that left Richard's mouth struck like a dagger pressed directly against Sean's throat. Richard's razor-sharp, indisputable logic closed every possible loophole for Sean to defend himself.

Ding!

[System Analysis Complete!]

[Poison evidence verified. Projecting poison mana traces from Host's body into the air...]

With the System's assistance, Richard unconsciously released the remaining neutralized poison from within his body through the pores of his skin. A thin, foul-smelling black mist rose from Richard's frame, forming a poisonous aura identical to the liquid hovering in the Elder's hand.

"Look at this," Richard whispered, gazing straight into his father's eyes. "This is the poison that has nested inside my body for years. Did you all think I was born without mana? No. My mana channels were intentionally blocked and ruined by this dog all along!"

Duke Harrison rose from his seat. An overwhelmingly formidable aura of authority suddenly pressed down upon the entire hall, cracking the marble floor beneath. The Duke's face was filled with intolerable rage—not out of pity for Richard, but because his family's pride had been tarnished by an intruder right under his nose.

"Sean..." Duke Harrison's voice resounded like a thunderclap ready to strike. "You dare play tricks with Drag blood under my watch?!"

"My Lord, mercy! I was ordered by—"

Brak!

Before Sean could utter the name of the mastermind behind his actions, Duke Harrison waved his hand, and an invisible wave of magic blasted Sean into a stone pillar, causing him to collapse unconscious and bleeding.

A suffocating silence reclaimed the Main Hall. Everyone stared at Richard with a completely renewed perspective. The child long considered cowardly, weak, and mute had just ruined a Senior Head Butler in mere minutes through sheer intelligence and terrifying intimidation.

"Richard..." Selena, standing near the Crystal Stone, stared at her brother with widened eyes, unable to believe the drastic transformation in her half-brother.

Richard turned around slowly, stepping toward the Aptitude Assessment Crystal Stone. His cold gaze, filled with dragon-like arrogance, swept over every family member who had ever insulted him.

Ding!

[Quest 'Clever Revenge of the Outcast' Complete!]

[Rewards Distributed:]

[100% Poison Neutralization (Body Fully Healed - Mana Core Fully Opened!)

Active Skill 'Dragon Scale Guard' Acquired!

Mana Attribute: 'Black Flame' Unlocked!]

"Now," Richard spoke in a low voice that shook the stage, placing his palm directly onto the Crystal Stone. "Let us see, who among us truly is the 'failed product' of this family."

The head-sized Aptitude Assessment Crystal Stone vibrated violently the moment Richard's palm touched its surface. The clear glow normally emanating from the crystal abruptly dimmed, replaced by flashes of pitch-black light that spread like cracks of lightning.

"W-What is happening to that crystal?!" one of the elders exclaimed, stepping forward with wide eyes. "That high-grade crystal was designed to hold mana capacities up to the Archmage level!"