Chapter 134: Hitting Beginner SS-Rank, the Perverted Fingering Technique, and the Hunt on Floor 10!

Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Hitting Beginner SS-Rank, the Perverted Fingering Technique, and the Hunt on Floor 10!

Lucien headed upstairs and once the master bedroom door clicked shut behind him, he pulled up the system interface he’d been meaning to check since dinner.

[Investment Rewards Generated.]

[Aurelia Astrax]

[×77]

[Investment Reward: Technique Comprehension (1 Month), Body Refinement Potion (Rare) ×3.]

[Seraphina Lilith]

[×123]

[Investment Reward: Alchemy Ingredient Pack (Rare) ×7. Charm +100.]

[Evelisse Noctis]

[×84]

[Investment Reward: Peerless Golden Fingering Arts (Super Rare Rank).]

"Not bad at all." He said as she scanned the list of rewards while sitting on the bed.

’A 123 multiplier off one dinner, seems like my luck is still holding.’ He thought funnily.

’Kael would definitely agree with that.’ He chuckled.

The Body Refinement Potions were straightforward, they were used by body cultivators to refine their muscles, increase their bone density and give them a nudge in physical refinement.

The Alchemy Ingredient Packs were self explanatory too, as they contained random Rare Rank Alchemy materials and ingredients.

’Seraphina will light up like a firework the second she sees these.’ He thought and moved to the other investment reward he got.

And as he saw what it was he paused as this was the first time he has got something like it

’Lucky the system provides descriptions for them, so I don’t run around like a headless chicken, that would be sad and embarrassing.’ He thought glad.

’My system’s quite the nice one, unlike what I’ve read about on Earth, like those that have death penalties or worse.’ He smiled wiping a drop of sweat, imaginig what could have been.

’A plus 100 to charm, whatever that means.’ He read and pulled up the description for it.

[Charm]

[Measures the host’s natural attractiveness, physical appeal, presence, and ability to leave a favorable impression. Higher Charm increases natural appeal and social presence. Does not directly control the minds or emotions of others, bur can affect their behavior to a certain extent, if they have weak minds.]

"So it’s just my hotness measured?"

"It must be very high seeing how handsome I am and how much Evelisse loves my muscles." He laughed.

’It only makes sense. I was already quite the looker even before the cheat like bloodlines or the system.’ he thought, definitely not actively inflating his own ego a bit.

’I was so good looking that Silas that bum was jealous of my looks, hell even that princess wanted a piece of my body before.’ He joked.

’And now that the Crimson Sovereigns Allure is baked into my divine bloodline and me, my charm should be off the charts.’

’So basically charm is just like another stat apparently, sweet!’

[Ding!]

[New stat unlocked!]

[Charm.]

’So it is a stat, well that was pretty obvious from the start.’ He laughed and checked his status.

’Wonder how high it is with everything I have right now.’

[Charm: 1,099]

’Eh?’ His eyebrows went up as every other stat he had sat somewhere between five and six figures.

"Is that high?" He asked blinking at the screen.

He had absolutely no frame of reference, the System didn’t helpfully supply an average mortal or person benchmark.

And asking his shameless master hey, how attractive am I and if you had to give it a number hownhigh would it be, felt like a conversation he wasn’t ready to survive.

"Guess I’ll find out eventually after appraising other people." He shrugged, then and with considerably more hesitation, he opened Evelisse’s reward.

[Peerless Golden Fingering Arts (Super Rare Rank)]

[ A technique detailing precision finger work, pressure point mastery, mana vein stimulation, and deep muscular relaxation developed by a reclusive master who claimed that any tension, anywhere on the body, could be worked loose with sufficiently skilled hands.

And in the masters own words ’no matter how tight, wet, or dry the situation is, any tension absolutely anywhere on the body can be thoroughly worked loose with sufficiently skilled hands, no I am not a perve-’.

At higher mastery, the technique can be adapted to stimulate mana pathways directly and improving physical recovery efficiency far beyond surface injuries. ]

Lucien stared at the description for a long moment.

"Golden Fingering Arts, I should have known the maker was a pervert just from the name alone."

He closed his eyes, pressed two fingers to his temple, and considered, briefly, whether the System had a sense of humor or simply no filter whatsoever.

"Well," he said, finally, with the weary resignation of a man who knew exactly how this book’s name was going to go over at the dinner table.

"No matter the reason it was made for, at least it’s useful for the girl’s."

’For recovery purposes, I am choosing to focus on the recovery purposes.’ He thought definitely not for other reasons.

Setting the awkwardly named manual aside, he checked his remaining resources and he had a good stock of ordinary mana crystals, D Rank through A all sat waiting in his large storage ring.

’Not blood mana crystals but it’s still good.’

’Twenty four months of progression left but let’s not blow through all of it in one night, I’ve still got things to do tomorrow.’

He arranged the crystals, set the array plates in a loose ring around the bed, and settled back into position.

[Cultivation Progression Available: 24 Months]

[Use 3 Months of Cultivation Progression?]

[ Yes / No.]

’Yes.’ He confirmed.

’Should be 3 hours at most, so I’ll have enough time to rest and I don’t want to waste to much, this is just insurance.’

[3 Months of Cultivation Progression Used.]

[Beginning accelerated cultivation using the Blood Sovereign Scripture.]

Mana gathered immediately, the crystals glowing soft and steady this time with no dramatic red mist storm, just a quiet and efficient draw of mana flowing into him being refined through the Blood Sovereign Scripture into Sanguine Mana and pouring down into his massive mana core.

’Let’s see how much further this takes me.’ He closed his eyes and let the process run as roughly three hours passed.

The glow around him finally dimmed as the mana gathering around him settled down and dispersed back into the surroundings.

[Cultivation Rank: Beginner SS Rank.]

He exhaled, satisfied with eyes still closed.

’Good, no need to burn through everything tonight, using it in the dungeon would be better.’

He collected the array plates, stretched, and glanced toward the door just as it opened.

Aurelia stepped in first, already dressed down for bed, and didn’t even ask but just climbed in on his right like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Seraphina followed a moment later, claiming his left with a soft, affectionate smile.

Then Evelisse appeared in the doorway, looked at the two of them already settled, looked at him, and made an executive decision by climbing directly on top of him and declaring the matter closed.

"Comfortable?" he asked her amused.

"Extremely," she said yawning and already closing her eyes.

He smiled, pressing a kiss to Aurelia’s forehead, then Seraphina’s, then finally Evelisse’s who was tucked right against his chest.

’Peak SS Rank doesn’t mean much if there’s nobody around worth protecting.’

And somewhere beyond the edge of his senses, Carmilla’s presence withdrew quietly into the contract space, leaving the four of them to the dark and the quiet.

’Good night sugar disciple.’ He heard her say.

’Good night master.’ He said as he closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

Far below, in the Bloodmoon Ruins, Group 7 had finally reached the staircase down to Floor 18 and looked considerably worse for it this time.

Garruk’s armor bore fresh scratches. Kiera’s uniform was torn at one shoulder, exhaustion plain on her face. Neris sat slumped against a rock, catching her breath, mana reserves clearly scraped thin. Even Orion had a few cuts he hadn’t had an hour ago.

Only Adrian looked, somehow, mostly untouched.

"Everyone all right?" He surveyed the group and asked.

"Nothing serious just some scrathes," Garruk said.

Selene adjusted her grip on her spear, wincing slightly. "We should rest properly before pushing further."

"Agreed," Adrian said.

"We’ve made good time there’s no point rushing ourselves into a mistake now."

They set up a temporary camp near the stairs, treating minor injuries and sharing out what rations remained.

Nyla glanced toward the dark stairwell. "Think Group Two’s already hit Floor Twenty?"

"Possibly, but it doesn’t matter." Adrian said.

"They’ve got two princesses carrying that group. Of course they’re ahead." Orion snorted.

"Three Peak A cultivators with one being a healer, too," Garruk added.

"So it’s a considerable advantage."

"We’re not doing badly ourselves, though." Selene glanced at Adrian.

"No," Adrian agreed, something quietly certain in his voice. "We’ve come this far together, let’s see how much further we can push before I get serious."

The others nodded, tired but resolved and excited to see their leader in action once again.

’Floor Twenty,’ he thought.

’Let’s see if we can still catch them.’

’Boy, with your strength catching would be simple, but of course you’re not showing everything here.’ Gus murmured.

Far above, inside the instructor’s spatial observation tent dimension, the feeds kept drifting between floors.

"They’ve reached Seventeen," Garrick noted, studying Group 7’s projection.

"Not bad at all."

"Still behind Group Two and Three." Varkesh scoffed.

"Let them breathe," Brannoc rumbled.

"Their teamwork’s improving every floor and that matters, it’s an exam and a learning experience after all."

"Their coordination’s noticeably tighter than it was at the start, Adrian’s doing solid work." Vespera’s tail flicked thoughtfully.

"Their real test is still ahead as the difficulty scales sharply past Floor Fifteen, and since this is a new dungeon and we didn’t want to spoil the end, we still don’t know what the final boss or bosses are." Maerwynn finally spoke as no one argued with that.

Far below all of them, on Floor 10 the boss lay dead as Malrith stood near the staircase leading down to Floor 11 while the exit portal shimmered next to, all the while his expression was cold as ice.

He’d combed every inch of Floor 6 through Floor 10, searched the hiding spots he found, secret places and every shadow deep enough to swallow a body.

But he found no corpse, no blood trail and no tracks like dead monster bodies, or anything else but worst of all he still couldn’t sense the mana tracker he left on Lucien at all.

’Nothing?’

’Where did that bastard go?’

He replayed the scene again in his head, the dagger finding its mark, the sudden, inexplicable disappearance that followed with no teleportation signature he recognized and no trace left behind.

’Could he have doubled back and hidden somewhere on Floor Five itself instead?’ His fist clenched.

It was the only explanation that still made sense, through some spatial artifacts trick or a some concealment technique, something to keep a wounded man alive and invisible in a dungeon crawling with predators.

"You’re not getting away," Malrith said, low and certain, turning toward the exit portal.

If Lucien was still there, he’d find him and if he had to search every corner of the Bloodmoon Ruins to do it, so be it.

’I’m not going back to Young Master Dravik empty-handed, not like the other failures.’

He stepped through it appearing back at the entrance of the dungeon in the Bloodmoon Wilds.

His face grim but patient, utterly unaware that the man he was hunting was, at this exact moment, completely fast asleep in a massive warm bed and with three wives tangled around him, hundreds of kilometers away in Bloodthorn City.

And at Beginner SS Rank instead of C like before with two new and absurd bloodlines, a Goddess in his head and with not the faintest trace of fear left over from their last encounter.

’I will find you and deliver your head and that of your wife’s to the Young Master!’ He thought stepping back into the portal.