[Thanks to the Flying Shield Mastery skill, in a fair one-on-one duel you finally defeated that knight's Past Shadow.]
[The system confirms you have completed the hidden opportunity "Duel with the Otherworldly Shadow." Now it issues the reward.]
[You will randomly obtain one Noble Phantasm or skill from the Otherworldly Shadow.]
[Do you wish to draw now?]
"Draw! Why not?!"
Gawain rubs his hands together eagerly as he looks at the screen. Although he just acquired what looks like another dumb, situational skill, it doesn't matter—it was free, self-learned, and he need not worry about it. The real excitement is this adrenaline-pumping gacha moment!
After shouting that magical word, the familiar shield silhouette reappears against the starry backdrop on his display; the familiar summoning circle forms again. Then, accompanied by that poverty-inducing sound effect, the glow appears once more.
"Gold, gold! Gold! Gold—holy crap!"
When the bright golden light erupts, Gawain leaps up in excitement. "Wahaha! What do you mean 'Luck A'?!" Remembering that in his initial panel the only "A" rank was nestled among Es, his grin almost splits his face. Yes—single draw, confidence!
After the dazzling brilliance, the golden card back appears again—like last time when he drew "Rune of the Fading," it's the familiar interlocking Elden Ring motif. Unfortunately, compared to last time's deep reddish-gold card, this one's gold hue seems less intense, giving off a somewhat cheaper feel. Does that mean last time was five-star and this is four-star? Oh, and last time the glow was multicolor rather than gold.
Gawain strokes his chin thoughtfully. Whatever! No matter—two single draws yielding one SSR and one SR: can't complain. "And since Yuser is all about long-range techniques, maybe this draw will give me a killer ranged skill?" he thinks.
The card flips; golden light flickers as an aged parchment unfurls, projecting a dazzling torrent of starlight.
[Congratulations: you have obtained the Noble Phantasm "Comet Azur."]
[——"Child of the Stars, return once more to the far darkness."]
[NP Rank: A]
[Type: Anti-Army Noble Phantasm]
[A weapon from a distant universe: an origin magic that explores the courses of the stars, possessing unmatched firepower.]
[It belonged to one of the Origin Mages; Azur's magic is among the "legendary magics."]
[Legend says his homeland of starstone lies in the boundless dark of the cosmos.]
[Azur beheld the origin—that darkness—and besides robbing him of his mind, it instilled deep fear.]
[With sufficient mana, one can unleash an endless flood of stellar energy.]
[Requires a "staff-type" magic catalyst to use.]
["Someday, we outcasts may also become shining Children of the Stars."]
["Starstone is amber formed from stars; starstone magic seeks the life of the stars."]
["When a star falls, our fate begins to turn anew."]
[—From a mage who pursued the forbidden.]
"Woah… holy crap!"
Before Gawain can even jump for joy at this awesome NP, another message pops up:
[Due to Comet Azur's synergy effect, you also obtain the Craft Essence "Azur's Starstone Staff."]
[Craft Essence: Azur's Starstone Staff]
[Rarity: SR]
[This is the starstone staff of Azur, one of the Origin Mages. Only one who has touched the Wisdom in Stone—those distant primal insights—can wield it.]
[This CE functions as a universal magic medium: it shortens all casting times but increases mana consumption.]
[When casting "star"-attribute spells with it, you gain extra bonus.]
["I know that someday you will become Elden King,"]
["If you cannot become king, return to my side,"]
["Even if a pupil fails, one must still hold a place of return for them."]
["...Pupil, seeing you now, do you feel fear?"]
[—From a certain magic teacher]
[This Noble Phantasm is permanent, but once Azur's Starstone Staff is destroyed, the NP cannot be used again for a time.]
"Holy… woah! Off we go!"
Having read both NP descriptions, Gawain is overjoyed, leaping around like a monkey, nearly pounding his chest in celebration. "Shield mastery? What's that? No idea—doesn't matter. I'm Luck A!" He dismisses all other mechanics: trials, royal finances, divinity—what use? Everyone who wins the Grail War has high luck, right? Please: this is Comet Azur! One of the top builds in Elden Ring lore! Among all spells, in both flair and utility it ranks among the top three! It's unquestionably the strongest magic for pure ranged firepower! One word: powerful—invincible! Got it?!
He imagines gulping a blue mana potion to get infinite mana buff, lasting ten seconds: against demi-gods, heroes, dragons, ancient kings, even supreme gods—one Comet Azur blast and they'd all be obliterated! ...Wait a moment?
Gawain, bouncing around the room, suddenly halts. Blue mana potion buff? Where in the world is he going to find an infinite mana buff? His smile freezes. Right—both in reality and the simulation, he now realizes: as everyone knows, Comet Azur, while boasting the strongest firepower, also has the most outrageous mana cost in all of Elden Ring spells. Without infinite mana buff, can he even use it at all?
After two seconds of silence, Gawain resolves to test it anyway:
[Since at the battle's start you and Shadow Yuser moved away from the previous trial area and chose a secluded location as the arena, after defeating Yuser there is no one around you for now.]
[You take out the Craft Essence "Azur's Starstone Staff" and begin to test Comet Azur.]
[You target a distant stone pillar and unleash Comet Azur.]
[Comet Azur easily obliterates the pillar, and the torrent of mana continues to pour toward the horizon.]
[However, after just one second, you collapse from exhaustion.]
[You gain the debuff "Mana Overdraft": your attributes temporarily decrease, and you cannot use any mana-consuming skill; if you lose mana again in this state, you will lose life instead.]
"It's over—another flashy but essentially useless Noble Phantasm."
Collapsing weakly on the ground, Gawain stares blankly at the sky. It's agonizing. Regarding Comet Azur's mana cost: using the Origin Mage's starlight magic via Azur's staff feels even more draining than using his own innate staff for human-based fertility magic. Now he's at Mana Rank C, yet this spell floors him in a second. He can't call it just "situation"—it's basically unusable. Gawain feels like he wants to vomit blood. He was so cocky a moment ago; now he feels equally sick. Realistically, this reward is fancy, but in practice it may be less useful than a simple magic projectile he can actually cast. He almost hears the Flying Shield Mastery skill personified mocking him in his ear.
Suddenly he hears Artoria's urgent voice not far off:
[Artoria has found you resting.]
"I'm fine... Artoria, I'm just a bit tired," Gawain replies weakly.
"Tired? Oh! I know: you must have lost to Yuser in your fight, triggering Farewell, so you've exhausted all stamina, right?" Artoria guesses excitedly.
"Huh?" Gawain pauses. "Why are you so happy?"
"Am I?" Artoria is startled.
"You practically look thrilled," Gawain nods.
"Er… well, since it's just the two of us here, I'll be honest..." Artoria says awkwardly, smiling: "I lost too. I was so confident but in my duel with Shadow Shen I was defeated quickly. Shen is amazing—both in magic and martial prowess; I was no match at all." She scratches her head timidly: "When I came over, I thought: Gawain is always so strong; if you win quickly and I'm left dragging behind, that'd be awkward. But luckily you'd continue the challenge with me..."
Gawain imagines her reaction when she realizes the truth, and even his toes itch to dig a hole to hide in. As he starts to wonder how to tell her the truth, Reedra's voice calls from afar:
"Artoria! Gawain! Good news! Huge good news!"
[While you consider how to gently break the truth to Artoria, Reedra Bit arrives like the wind, followed closely by the others.]
"Just now, Shadow Shen—the Rain Witch—suddenly vanished!"
"Huh?" Artoria's expression shifts subtly. "Vanished?"
"Yes!" Reedra nods eagerly. "We suddenly saw her glance this way, then she sighed deeply and self-destructed on the spot!"
"Grim speculates that because Shadow Shen and Shadow Yuser are so tightly linked, once Yuser was defeated, Shen immediately self-destructed!"
"Eh?" Artoria's face falls. Yet in a final effort she asks, "Shadow Yuser... was defeated?"
"Yes, right?" Reedra, sensing Artoria's odd reaction, still answers honestly: "You rushed back here soon after you lost, but I didn't see Yuser return; Grim felt a presence vanish here—that could only be Yuser, right?"
"But Gawain, you didn't just..." Artoria shifts her gaze to Gawain.
"Well..."
Seeing Artoria's face flush red with embarrassment, unwilling to face reality, Gawain falls silent for half a second, then decides honesty is necessary:
"I'm sorry, Artoria. Actually, I did win. I was just tired afterward and wanted a rest... I didn't expect you to misunderstand... I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to deceive you, but I couldn't find the chance to explain..."
"..."
After Gawain finishes speaking, Artoria.exe crashes. After a long pause, her anguished scream finally shatters the silence.
"Waaah—why don't you all just kill me instead!?"