Chapter 153: Offensive spell

[Quest: Bathe your child for the first time]

[Reward: Fluid Dominion]

[Rank: SS]

Kai paid little attention to the reward, as his daughter occupied his entire attention at the moment.

"Don’t cry, baby. It’s over now." With Elara wrapped in a towel, he cradled her in his arms, gently rocking her as he tried to soothe her.

However, Elara continued looking away, her eyes filled with tears.

As one could guess, she wasn’t particularly fond of bathing.

Kai had tried his best to be careful, talking to her throughout the process and doing whatever he could to make her enjoy bath time. Unfortunately, his efforts hadn’t worked out very well.

"Give her to me. She always tends to be dramatic after a bath." Jean sighed as she took Elara from him. "You’re a girl. You should be enjoying your baths, but look at you." She lightly scolded the little girl, only to make her even more upset.

Kai offered an awkward smile. "I might not have been careful enough. Don’t scold her now."

Jean pursed her lips before shaking her head. He really was hopeless when it came to Elara.

Regardless, she turned towards him and asked, "Should I start getting ready? I’ll need half an hour to change and get the princess ready as well."

Kai checked the time. It was already six, so he nodded. "We’ll need another half an hour to reach there, so yes."

Jean nodded and reminded him to eat the snacks she had prepared in the kitchen before making her way to the bedroom.

Still wearing his loose T-shirt and trousers, Kai decided to eat first and change later.

It used to take him barely two minutes to get ready for any event. However, things had improved recently. With Jean’s guidance and a little help from the internet, he had become more conscious of what he wore and how he carried himself.

Now, he would need at least ten minutes to get ready.

"Hmm~"

Kai’s lips curved into a smile when he saw the garlic bread toast and soup waiting for him.

He had already eaten lunch, but Jean had somehow guessed that he would be hungry again before they left and prepared a light meal.

Naturally, eating too much at a formal gathering would be inappropriate, especially with so many eyes likely to be on him.

’I should ask Jean to keep an eye on me so I don’t end up embarrassing myself.’

He muttered under his breath before pulling out a spoon and settling down at the table.

Jean had experience attending gatherings, whereas Kai had never been to anything of the sort. He had even skipped his university orientation ceremony. So, a little nervousness was justified.

Taking a bite of the crunchy, cheesy bread, he hummed in contentment. The butter, garlic, and cheese complemented one another perfectly without any single flavor overpowering the rest.

Just then, Kai remembered something and questioned the system.

’You didn’t reward me the first time I bathed Elara, but why now?’

[You were merely being the helper back then, Host. But this time, you bore the burden all by yourself.]

Kai shrugged.

’I wouldn’t call it a burden, but it was certainly a big responsibility...’

One he felt he had nearly failed.

He then checked the reward he had received.

’An SS-rank, eh?’

He was surprised, considering that most of his recent rewards had been relatively low-tier. However, whenever a quest involved Elara, the system seemed considerably more generous.

Curious, he asked for a description of the skill. What appeared next caught him by surprise.

[Fluid Dominion: The ability to manipulate and exert absolute control over liquids in all their forms. This includes water, blood, oils, and other liquid substances, allowing the user to alter their movement, direction, pressure, and shape at will. With sufficient mastery, the user can manipulate liquids with incredible precision, control their flow, and even weaponize them for both offensive and defensive purposes.]

[Host, this skill has multiple levels of mastery that you need to be aware of. Your proficiency will increase alongside your experience.]

[Note: At the current level, the Host can manipulate a limited quantity of water within a radius of twenty meters.]

[Note: The system will notify the Host whenever the skill levels up.]

Kai was surprised. This was quite a broken ability.

The ability to manipulate liquids, rather than just water, gave him an incredible range of possibilities. Regardless of the situation, he would always have different ways to use it.

And on top of that, this was his first offensive spell. He already had martial arts, mythical weapons, and defensive spells, but Fluid Dominion was a genuine game changer.

Kai decided to test his newly acquired skill.

There were two things on the table before him: a glass of water and a bowl of tomato soup.

He focused on the water and willed it to move.

He could feel his mana being drained as he activated the skill, but the consumption was manageable. A moment later, the result of his efforts appeared before his eyes.

The water inside the glass began to swirl, initially at a slow pace before gradually picking up speed.

Kai tilted his head slightly, and the water responded to his thoughts, rising above the rim without spilling a single drop onto the table.

His eyes lit up.

He then willed the water to change its shape. The flowing mass began expanding, stretching further as he carefully manipulated its form. It took him nearly a minute of concentration, but eventually, he managed to shape it into a perfect orb.

A floating sphere of water now hovered before him.

"Man... I feel like I can do so many things with this spell."

Kai grinned as he rotated the orb above his palm, experimenting with how precisely he could control its movements.

However, another thought soon crossed his mind.

He returned the water to the glass before shifting his attention towards the bowl of tomato soup.

Clenching his fist, he concentrated on the thick liquid and tried to exert his control over it.

Unfortunately, the result was far from what he had expected.

The surface of the soup trembled slightly, almost as though something was crawling beneath it, but he couldn’t make it flow or change its shape the way he had with water.

"Haah... I guess I should focus on water for now, at least until I reach a higher level."

But regardless, he got his first offensive spell.