Isabella waded over to Yuto, her chest heaving. She looked at the massive haul of loot floating in the water.
"Over two thousand tokens," Isabella breathed, her eyes wide with shock. "And a Rare Core. Human... do you have any idea what you can buy with that? You can instantly cure your poison, fully restore your party's mana, and buy the Senator's favor to get us out of this round!"
Yuto looked at her. Then he looked at the loot.
[Action Required: Consume all loot for full restoration and +200 Agility, or Discard?]
Vault it, Yuto commanded, an uncontrollable grin spreading across his face.
[Loot Vaulted. Current Stack: 1 Mythic Chest, 6 Fragments, 2,700 Tokens, 1 Rare Hydro-Core.] [Multiplier: 1.18%] [Vault Pressure: 12%. Warning: Internal bleeding detected in Host's right arm.]
The glowing gold and blue loot vanished into thin air.
Isabella blinked. She rubbed her eyes. She looked down at the empty water, then back up at Yuto.
"Where did it go?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Did you... did you put it in an invisible inventory? Are you going to spend it at the mid-round shop?"
"I'm not spending it," Yuto said, wincing as a sharp spike of pain shot up his heavily bandaged arm. He gripped his bicep, trying to hide the glowing red mist leaking through the cloth. "It's accumulating."
Isabella's brain completely short-circuited. She was a gladiator. In the arena, you spend what you kill instantly, or you die. Hoarding was a concept that fundamentally did not exist in her brutal, hyper-fast reality.
"You're not spending it?!" Isabella exploded, grabbing Yuto by his soaked shoulders. "You just absorbed a lethal dose of poison! Your arm is literally glowing red and bleeding through its bandages! Spend the damn tokens and heal yourself, you suicidal maniac!"
[System Prompt: Tsundere/Gladiator Bond Detected! Opponent: Isabella. Aggressive concern registering as Intimacy. Claim 15% Synergy Bonus?]
Yuto groaned, closing his eyes. The scent of her sea-salt perfume and the fierce, fiery determination in her ruby eyes were completely overwhelming. The System UI flashed a bright, tempting pink right in the center of his vision.
1.18%... 1.18%... don't reset the multiplier. Look at a wall. Walls are not cute. Walls do not yell at you, Yuto chanted internally, sweating profusely.
"I'm fine," Yuto choked out, gently prying her hands off his shoulders and taking a step back. "I work better under pressure."
Isabella stared at his hands as he pulled away. She felt the insane, crushing gravity radiating from him again. It wasn't weakness. It was absolute, terrifying restraint.
A strange, unfamiliar heat bloomed in her chest. For years, she had relied only on herself, striking first and spending fast. But looking at this boy—who could casually obliterate a siege-monster and voluntarily endure agonizing pain just to prove a mathematical point—she felt an instinctual, undeniable pull.
He's the apex predator here, she realized, her face flushing a deep, embarrassed crimson. He's not ignoring the rules of the arena. He's so strong he's playing an entirely different game.
High above them, in the velvet-lined VIP balcony, Senator Cassius slammed his golden wine goblet onto the marble railing.
"Two thousand tokens hoarded, and he refuses to spend them on the arena shop?" the Senator hissed, his iridescent blue scales flaring with anger. He tapped his comm-link. "The surface-rat is trying to break the Colosseum economy. Open the main floodgates. Release the Floor 14 Boss. Let's see if his invisible bank account can stop a Tsunami-Class threat."
Deep beneath the arena floor, the water began to violently bubble. A shadow the size of a skyscraper detached itself from the ocean floor.