Six.
Alex sat there with his mouth hanging open, and Lena’s hand still resting on his chest, and the last echo of the chimes fading from his ears.
’I leveled up six times in a row. For what?’
He hadn’t killed a monster. He hadn’t entered a dungeon. All he had done was upgrade two skills and kiss a woman.
"System."
His voice came out hoarse.
"What was that?"
The screen shimmered.
[THE LEVELS WERE GRANTED AS A REWARD]
[SOURCE: THE GODDESS]
Alex stared at the line.
’The goddess. Again.’
He leaned back against the headboard, rubbing his jaw. This was the third time she had shown up.
’Who is she? What does she want with me? And how is she even connected to my time in this world?’
He waited, the screen said nothing.
He let out a long breath.
’Well. She doesn’t seem to be killing me. And she just handed me six free levels.’
He decided he could live with that.
He opened the status window.
[Name: Alex Vance]
[Level: 7]
[Strength: 20]
[Agility: 20]
[Stamina: 20]
[Sense: 20]
[Mana: 100]
[Unallocated Stat Points: 30]
Alex looked at the last line.
Thirty.
Five per level, six levels. He had known the math before he even checked.
’Okay. Think.’
His first instinct was to spread them evenly. Six points each, a neat little block, no weakness and no strength. It was what a scared man did when he did not know what he wanted.
’No. That’s a waste.’
He knew exactly what he had. A hundred mana. A skill that cut steel with a blade made of water, and a skill that read many people at once. He had Appraisal Eye to read his enemies and Harem Nexus to find his own. He was not a warrior. He was a mage.
So his stats should serve that.
’Mana first.’
Tidal Severance scaled with his output. Mana Resonance would drink from the same well.
[MANA: +10]
The number on the screen rose to 110. Then he thought about yesterday.
’Daniel’s punch.’
He still remembered the feeling. The numbness.
’I can’t win by taking hits. So I shouldn’t take them.’
[AGILITY: +8]
His eyes narrowed.
’But I’ll take one eventually. Everyone does.’
When that happened, he wanted a body that could survive it. A body that did not break when someone swung a fist at it. A mage who collapsed after one blow was just a very expensive corpse.
[STAMINA: +6]
That left six points.
He weighed Sense for a moment. But Mana Resonance and Appraisal Eye already did most of that work for him, reading people before they could surprise him.
’A little. Not much.’
[SENSE: +4]
Two points remained. He looked at strength
[STRENGTH: +2]
[ALLOCATION COMPLETE]
The screen rearranged itself.
[Strength: 22]
[Agility: 28]
[Stamina: 26]
[Sense: 24]
[Mana: 110]
’Not bad at all.’
He closed the window and let out a long breath.
Then he remembered what he had been about to do.
His smile came back.
’Right. The other thing.’
He turned to Lena.
She was still beside him, curled under the blanket, watching him with a curious smile. She had not asked him what he was doing. She had simply waited, as she always did, her hands folded in her lap.
He leaned in and kissed her.
It was soft. A little lingering. When he drew back, her cheeks were warm and her eyes were glowing.
"I’ll be right back."
"Where are you going, young master?"
He just smiled.
He did not answer. He did not make up an excuse. He only touched her cheek, slow and easy, and let the silence say what it wanted to say.
Lena looked at him.
She was not a fool. She could feel something behind that smile. But she pressed her lips together, lowered her eyes, and nodded.
"Do not worry," Alex said. "Wait for me."
"I will wait."
She hesitated, and then she spoke again, carefully.
"May I stay in your bed, young master? Until you return?"
"Of course."
She smiled, and sank back against the pillow, and tugged the blanket up to her chin.
Alex dressed quickly, straightened his collar, and stepped out into the corridor.
’Elena’s room.’
He knew it the way he knew the creak of the third step. His feet carried him there without effort.
When he reached the green door, he stopped.
And listened.
At first, there was nothing. Then a sound slipped through the wood.
It was faint and muffled. A soft, breathless, rhythmic murmur, rising and falling like someone trying very hard not to be heard.
"Ah..."
"Ah... ah..."
Alex froze.
’...What the hell is that?’
He frowned and took half a step closer.
’Is something wrong?’
His first thought was that she was hurt. His second thought was far less innocent, and he did not entirely want to follow it yet.
He closed his eyes.
’Mana Resonance.’
The skill answered at once.
A soft pulse spread out from his chest, cool and silent, and the corridor lit up in his mind like a net of fine threads. The walls stood out in clear, quiet lines. Beyond the door, he felt the shape of the room, the narrow bed, the small table.
And in the middle of it, a single signature.
One.
A bright, unsteady glow, flickering rapidly, pulsing with every breath. It was Elena’s.
And there was nobody else.
Alex opened his eyes.
’Just one person in a room making that sound.’
He thought about it for a moment.
Whatever he had first imagined required two people. This did not.
A slow, cheeky smile crept across his face.
’Oh.’
’Oh, Elena.’
He did not knock.
He placed his hand on the handle, turned it slowly, and pushed the door open.
The hinge did not make a sound.
Inside, the room was dim and warm, lit by a thin strip of light from the window. A narrow bed stood against the far wall. And on it, with her black braid undone and her head tipped back against the pillow, Elena lay with her eyes closed and her lips parted.
Her uniform was half open at the collar.
One hand had slipped beneath the fabric.
She was caressing herself, slowly, breathing in soft, broken sighs, completely lost in it, and had not yet noticed the door.