When he finally woke up, he found himself in his room. He was shocked to be back there, and he started wondering whether Duke had been the one who carried him. He sighed in disappointment, because he had almost won, though he had expected nothing less when he was going up against a black knight. Zeke realised that he had done everything he could possibly do, and that it had still been useless against Duke.
Zeke had wanted Duke to let down his guard by repeating the same attack over and over again, so that he could open a gap using the might of the dragon. Zeke had even used the dragon eyes to try to strike him, and it had not been enough. Zeke worked out that the move Duke had used towards the end of the fight was definitely his secret move.
Even though he had been knocked out because he used the draconian skills excessively, Zeke was thankful that he had got to see Duke's secret move. Zeke worked out that Andre had been able to rise to the position of red knight thanks to that skill, even though he had such weak stamina. Even though Zeke had not managed to learn Duke's secret move, he was pleased that the whole battle had been worth it.
Zeke had been able to see the might of the dragon's power first-hand, and he had worked out that any knight below the black level would have surrendered immediately.
Just then, the system informed him that he had an unopened message. The system displayed it, telling him that the swift step skill had been upgraded from D rank to C rank. In addition, his soul was said to have developed due to the demonstration of his strong will.
Thanks to the development of his soul, his system functions had also been activated. The system then told him that it was possible for him to activate the next function using karma points. A bunch of functions immediately appeared on the screen. There was a mini map, a function in which the geographical terrain and its features could be seen in the form of a map.
There was also the inventory function, which allowed him to store items. Both of these required twenty points to unlock. However, there was a third function called the elementary level quest book, which included tutorials and missions for the effective development of low-ranking administrators. Since Zeke had only forty karma points to spend, he decided to look at the inventory first.
Zeke unlocked the inventory function, and the system informed him that he could store selected items in it. When retrieving stored items, he only had to think of the name or the shape of the item to get it out. In addition, the amount of space an item took up in the inventory depended on the item's weight and size.
However, he had the option of increasing his inventory size by using karma points. Zeke immediately decided to try the inventory out, and he grabbed his sword with the intention of storing it. He thought about saving the sword, and it immediately vanished into the storage. Zeke checked the status window and realised that the sword had taken up two of the twenty-eight boxes in the inventory.
Zeke finally understood what the instructions had meant when they said that the space an item takes depends on its weight and size. Since he only had to think of the name or shape to retrieve it, Zeke tried that out too. The moment he thought of it, the sword reappeared in his hand. Zeke was extremely pleased, because he realised it was actually better than subspace.
It then dawned on Zeke that he was still a low-rank administrator, and he wondered what would happen when he reached a higher rank. Since the points appeared to be hard to come by, Zeke worked out that it would be stupid of him to use them recklessly.
Just then, Decker knocked on the door, asking to come in. Zeke granted him permission, and Decker told him that there was a message for him. Decker said the sender had claimed Zeke would already know who it was from once he heard the name, garden keeper Dexter. Zeke smiled as he took the letter to read its contents. He realised that the duel had not been a total failure, because Duke had written that he was free to come again if he ever wanted to challenge him.
Zeke finally realised what Duke had meant by calling the duel a draw. Zeke was pleased that he still had another chance to get what he wanted from Duke.
Decker then told Zeke that he still had one more piece of information to give him. Decker revealed that it was about the blacksmith he had mentioned. Decker said that he had found the blacksmith, and Zeke excitedly asked him when the appointment was set for.
Decker then revealed that there was a major problem, because the blacksmith had refused the appointment. Zeke was stunned to hear it, and Decker revealed that the blacksmith said he was no longer making weapons.
After the rejection from the blacksmith, Zeke decided to pay him a visit himself.