Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)
Chapter 143 - Rewards Rigged… Or Riggable?

Chapter 143: Chapter 143 - Rewards Rigged... Or Riggable?

The reward being imminent pulsed insistently in front of me. I stared at it for a few moments, then made a decision on how to proceed. I need to know if how it has been working is how I’ve been coming to think of it.

"If you’re really responding at least partially to what I want... let’s test that theory."

I focused very intently on the blue foxfire glow of the Apocalypse System - and made my first wish. The wish of any land bound creature when seeing the greater freedom of certain other varieties of animal.

"I want to be able to fly."

Nothing. The reward remained pending. Suggesting that either than my request was impossible or... perhaps just not within the scope of this particular Task’s reward.

"Fine. I want the ability to choose which rewards you give me from a list."

Still nothing. A shame, as I’m sure I could learn a lot about what is and isn’t possible from this entity if I could look at that. I might even be able to determine what sort of fae or deity sent it my way.

"I want to never need sleep again."

The pulsing continued unchanged, seemingly unimpressed by my attempts at gaining incredible powers. Though truthfully, I quite like to sleep. So maybe it just understood that such a request wasn’t truly in my heart’s desire.

Vrika sent impressions of amusement from my mindscape, clearly entertained by my ridiculous requests. I stubbornly ignored the details of some of the ones it was pushing at me to try. I didn’t want to be affected by its one-track thoughts.

"Okay, something more reasonable and task related. I want to never miss a shot with any weapon."

The interface pulsed... and remained stubbornly unchanged. But that offbeat pulse felt like a step in the right direction.

"I want my hands to never shake when I hold a weapon."

A slight persistent flicker appeared in the blue glow around that strange wad of | ⚝ |. I thought deeper about what had just happened lately. The meditative calm I’d found while practicing, the way my accuracy had improved as my nerves settled.

The fact that my nerves had been frayed at all. That I had gone into that deep of a shock. Letting myself lose control of my own body. The notification blazed brighter, already knowing what I was about to say.

"I want to stay calm when I need to survive."

Probably because it already knew what I wanted when it first gave me the Task.

| Guardian’s Composure |

A warm sensation spread through my chest as the text unfurled, settling somewhere between my heart and my stomach before chilling and... solidifying. Not like some magical transformation into a new organ, but a steadying presence.

Like finding concrete ground after walking about on shifting sand. In my mindscape, around the center of it where Vrika so often stayed... the result was even more pronounced. A diamond shaped slab of consistently warm stone had taken a home.

The black wolf’s tail wagged approvingly at the new addition. Though I couldn’t help but feel a spike of concern. I knew that | Mother’s Intuition | seemed to affect my sense of things, but I had assumed it was mostly... on a physical state.

> This thing can actually alter my very spirit? I’m not sure I like that very much. <

And yet ironically, the very ability it gave me helps me not panic as much as I did when I first tested the | Single Parent Stash |. I begin to think about how I’d always been able to see the glow in my vision, even here.

What’s more, assessing the new landscape feature below I can tell that it hasn’t actually... added anything. Nothing about it feels foreign. It’s more like it somehow located every piece of self-assurance, calmness, serenity, and composure I’ve ever had and placed it onto one reliable spot.

A core of steadiness that would help me think clearly when everything around me was falling apart.

> No, I am not wishing for her to fall even more in love with me next time!? <

I snapped at Vrika and discovered a flaw in the reward. Namely, that it seems to do little to ’keep me calm’ when it comes to things like that! It howled in great amusement, reflecting its ability to show pictures with the blushing look on my face outside... and making me shake and huff.

The wolf’s amusement only intensified when I ran away to the real world, but I ignored it. As much as I could... now that it knows how to smash through to me as spiritual equals. As I started to stomp away, I got a little further than I’d been shooting from and turned.

I nocked an arrow one more time while focusing on the new system perk. This time, everything aligned almost perfectly. My stance was as solid as any I’d used, my draw was smooth as smooth can be, and my aim down the attached sighting was true.

All in all I calmed completely and set the anchor-point to my face rather quickly. Released with confidence. And the arrow flew and struck the dead center of my crude target from something closer to thirty yards.

"YES!"

I threw my arms up in triumph, bow still clutched in one hand. After hours of gradual improvement, that shot felt like vindication. Proof that Princess Citra Lomdi could master anything she set her mind to, even in this new world.

The satisfaction was so immediate and pure that I found myself loping over to examine it up close. Without thinking, I pulled out my phone and snapped a series of photos. Happy with the image that captured the arrow’s perfect placement - and the carved rings for context.

Of course, the impulse struck me that I wanted to share this. To show someone what I’d accomplished, to receive acknowledgment of my skill... and the first person I thought of wasn’t Ravi.

It was Kyrie.

My finger hovered over the screen as my eyelashes fluttered, suddenly aware of the direction my thoughts had taken. When had her opinion started mattering so much to me? When had I begun craving her approval?

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