Chapter 102 The News For Everyone

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: The News For Everyone

His eyes stayed locked on the beast in front of him. Golden specks of mana began leaking from its body. Within moments the entire creature disintegrated into mana dust and vanished. The beast was gone.

Xavier immediately ran back to the chamber where Elena and Melli were. Upon entering he saw them standing close together near the pedestal in the center of the room. The runic arrays beneath their feet were already disintegrating and fading away. Both girls’ eyes were fixed on the object in Elena’s hands: a golden bracelet fitted with a shining clear crystal.

Xavier walked closer. "Is that... what is that? Is that another clue?" He would lose his mind if all this turned out to be for just another clue.

"Can you feel it?" Elena said. "Come closer and feel it."

Xavier closed the distance and stood right between the girls. Elena placed the bracelet into his palm. He felt the weight settle on his hand, then the invisible, faint aura radiating from it—heavy and calm.

"What do you think?" Elena asked.

"I think it feels precious, like a sacred artifact lost in chaotic times. I feel like we hit the jackpot. This might just be the real treasure," he said with a satisfied smile, the kind that only appears when something you’ve worked hard for finally pays off.

Hearing Xavier’s words, Elena and Melli’s lips curved into smiles as both girls cheered in excitement and joy. Their full breasts and heavy asses jiggled from the sudden, excited movements.

"Here you go," Xavier said, handing the bracelet back to Elena. She took it and fell silent for a while.

"What is it? Why do you look sad? Isn’t this what you wanted all this time?" Xavier asked, watching her blank expression.

"All my merchant instincts are telling me to sell it off and make a fortune worth generations of money... but that’s not what I want," she said.

"Then what did you want?" Xavier asked.

"I wanted you. I wanted to get close to you, go on an adventure with you. I wanted you to love me. I started to think I didn’t need this treasure on the first night we had sex, and that thought kept going through my mind until the day I found out you had other partners. I told you it was fine, but the truth is I felt a little jealous." Her gaze shifted to the floor. "I wanted your love all for myself, so I continued the treasure hunt, seeking any way to get closer to you, spend more time with you, take more of your love. A selfish thought crossed my mind, if I gifted you this treasure, you would love me more than the rest of your girls. But right now, with this bracelet in my hand, I realized just how silly I was being." She raised her head and looked into Xavier’s eyes once more. "I want to give this bracelet to you not because I want you to love me more, but simply because I want you to have it," she said, eyes almost tearing up.

Melli stood by their side, silently watching with her hands clasped over her mouth. Even she got emotional from Elena’s speech. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and ran down her cheek.

Xavier firmly held both of Elena’s shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were feeling these conflicting emotions all this time. I should have done a better job of making you feel secure," he whispered into her ear lovingly and kept her in his arms until her felt her heartbeat return normal.

"Give me your hand," Elena said after calming down, trying to put the bracelet on Xavier’s wrist.

Xavier raised his hand. Elena slid it over his fist down to his wrist. The loosely hanging bracelet immediately closed on its own, fitting his wrist size perfectly.

"It looks good on you," Melli said.

"Does it?" Xavier asked.

"Of course it does," Elena replied.

Ouch! Xavier suddenly felt a sharp sting in his wrist where the bracelet sat, as if something small and needle-like had pierced his skin.

"What is it?" Elena asked, concerned.

"It’s the bracelet," Xavier said. "I think it’s sucking my blood."

Elena’s eyes widened, her face turning worried . "Take it off immediately," she warned.

"It’s fine. I’m all right now," Xavier said, pointing to the bracelet. The clear shining crystal began to fill with crimson-red blood.

"Is that your blood?" Melli asked.

"It appears so," Xavier replied. The crystal turned completely red but didn’t lose its sheen.

"I think it was just trying to form a blood bond," Xavier said as he closed his fists and felt a new surge of power rush through his body. The air felt cooler, his hearing clearer, his sense of smell cleaner, his vision sharper. His muscles felt denser. The change was instantaneous and extremely noticeable. He felt all of his muscles burn for a single second before returning to normal.

"You look different... more charming," Melli said.

"Yeah, you even feel different. It appears as if you’re leaking aura," Elena added.

"You’re right. I can feel it too. I feel like I’m on another level." He didn’t mean it emotionally. He was literally feeling on another level. Xavier had leveled up, jumping straight to the fifth level of mana control—a two-level leap from the bracelet’s effect.

"This is awesome."

The darkness of the night was beginning to fade, and the first rays of sunlight spilled into the chamber through the shattered windows. When all three of them realized they had spent far more time there under the moonlit hallways, sunlight was never meant to fall there. If it hadn’t been for the deactivated runes, they would have been trapped for a whole month.

They made their way back. Upon entering the central hallways, they finally believed it after seeing it with their own eyes. The pathway was still open. The corridors had stopped shifting.

"It’s done. The legend of the forbidden hallways is over," Elena said.

"It will be quite the news for everyone once they find out," Xavier replied.

They quickly sneaked out of the building and parted at the roundabout fountain after the whole night of adventure. All of them were exhausted and decided to take the day off to rest. Melli returned to her dorm while Elena and Xavier returned to their own rooms. Each of them felt too tired for any intimate moment. They simply crashed onto their beds and fell asleep the moment their heads touched their pillows.

When Xavier next opened his eyes, he was not in his room. He stood in vast, lush, luxurious gardens on the soft green grass, but these were not the gardens of the Emberfell dorms. He knew that much from the huge castle in his line of sight. This was neither the Imperial Castle nor the Drakenfell Castle, yet it did not lose to either of them in size or majesty.