Chapter 138: The Next Morning

Adam slowly opened his eyes.

For a few seconds, he remained perfectly still.

The first thing he noticed was the light.

That faint greenish glow again, produced by the small mushrooms scattered around the room.

The second...

The presence against him.

Adam turned his head slightly.

Astraea was still asleep.

Her face was much more peaceful than when she had chased Lyriana and Elaria through the house the day before.

Adam smiled slightly.

"Much less dangerous this way."

No response.

Obviously.

He hesitated to wake her.

Then immediately abandoned the idea.

They had nothing urgent to do in the next few minutes.

And after several days of traveling...

A little extra sleep certainly wouldn’t hurt.

So Adam remained lying down.

Then his expression changed.

"Let’s see what you have in store for me today."

He silently called his interface.

Almost immediately...

Several notifications appeared.

A lot.

Adam sighed.

"Obviously."

He opened the first one.

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System Notification

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Satisfaction confirmed.

Target:

Astraea Noctis Sylvermoon

Rating:

Outstanding

Reward:

+1,650 Satisfaction Points

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Adam blinked.

"Sixteen hundred and fifty..."

He instinctively looked at Astraea.

Still asleep.

Then he returned to the window.

Another notification appeared.

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Satisfaction Points Update

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Previous Total:

8,824

Reward Earned:

+1,650

New Total:

10,474 Satisfaction Points Satisfaction

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Adam stared at the number.

"I’ve just passed ten thousand again."

It was becoming almost a habit.

But he didn’t have time to think about it any further.

A new reward appeared.

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Special Reward Earned

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Item:

Ring of Promise ×1

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Adam remained silent for a few seconds.

Then his gaze returned to Astraea.

"Okay..."

He simply placed the ring in his inventory.

He would decide later when the time was right to give it to her.

A new window appeared.

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Additional Rewards

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*Common Chest ×1

*Rare Chest ×2

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Adam smiled.

"Now we’ll start talking."

He naturally began with the least valuable chest.

"Open the common chest."

A faint light appeared.

Then it disappeared.

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Common Chest Opened

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Item Obtained:

Black Iron Ore ×1

Type:

Material of Forge

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Adam examined the piece of ore that had appeared in his inventory.

Black.

Dense.

With faint metallic glints.

"Black Iron..."

He was already familiar with this material thanks to Elaria’s lessons.

More difficult to work than ordinary iron.

More durable.

And especially interesting for certain crafts using mana.

Adam smiled slightly.

"She’s going to want to analyze it. »

Then he thought.

"And probably wonder why I didn’t show him immediately." »

He put away the ore.

" Later. »

He moved on to the first rare chest.

"Open." »

The light this time was much more intense.

A second later...

A book appeared.

Adam immediately frowned.

"Another skill?" »

He opened the information.

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Obtained Skill Book

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Name:

Desire

Rank:

Orange

Grade:

Single

Type:

Competence in perceiving and converting sexual emotions

Main effects:

*Allows you to perceive the intimate desires and strong attractions present around the Host.

*Allows you to amplify or attenuate the intensity of the desire felt by a target, without suppressing their consciousness, judgment, or free will.

*Allows you to absorb part of the emotional energy naturally emitted in your environment.

*This energy can be converted to speed up the recovery of the Host.

Possible applications:

*Accelerates the Mana recovery

*Accelerates the Stamina recovery

*Support for physical recovery

Restriction:

Competence does not remove the will, judgment, or control of another person.

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Adam read again.

Then again.

"Okay...this one is really strange. »

A skill capable of perceiving something as abstract as a desire...

This was well beyond his ordinary skills.

Even Eyes of the World normally obtained information from a target or phenomenon.

Here...

The skill seemed to directly interpret an emotion.

Adam examined the book again.

Then shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"Anyway..."

He took it.

"I’m not going to let a Unique rank book sit in inventory. »

He used it.

The book disappeared.

An orange light briefly passed through his body.

Then—

Adam froze.

Something had just changed.

Not physically.

Rather...

In his perception.

For a split second, he felt like a new layer had been added to his senses.

He looked at Astraea.

Then immediately turned his attention away.

" All right. »

He almost instinctively deactivated this new perception.

"It’s going to take practice. »

But before he could even think further...

Another feeling appeared.

This time in his system.

Two skills seemed to react to each other.

Desire.

And...

Kamasutra.

Adam frowned.

"What the..."

A notification appeared.

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Skill Resonance Detected

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Skills concerned:

*Desire — Lv. 1

*Kamasutra — Lv. 2

Compatibility:

High

Comment:

Both skills belong to a compatible set of abilities.

Current synergy:

Incomplete

Missing condition:

Unacquired synergy component

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Adam stared at the last line.

"A third is missing? »

No new explanation.

" Obviously. »

The system clearly loved giving away just enough information to create more questions.

Adam closed the window.

"I’ll ask the girls later." »

Elaria might understand something of the general workings.

Astraea too.

And Vespera would definitely want to analyze the magical structure of the skill for several hours.

Adam shivered slightly.

"Actually... maybe not Vespera right now."

He finally moved on to the second rare chest.

"Open it."

The light appeared.

Then—

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Rare Chest Opened

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Reward:

+2 Stat Points

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Adam blinked.

"Simple."

Then he smiled.

"But useful."

A notification immediately confirmed the addition.

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Stat Points

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Previous Total Available:

12

Reward:

+2

New Total Available :

14

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Adam didn’t spend them.

Like the previous twelve...

They would remain in reserve.

He had already progressed far too much recently.

Adding even more stats without needing them was pointless.

Then a new notification appeared.

This time...

It concerned his personal progress.

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Natural progression detected

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Stats increased:

*Strength: +1

*Agility: +1

*Stamina: +1

*Intelligence: +1

*Spirit: +1

Luck:

None Change

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Adam remained silent.

Then he sighed.

"Again."

He had finally accepted that certain particularly intense or significant experiences could produce progression independent of levels.

But this made his project to precisely study the rules behind these statistics even more necessary.

Another small notification then appeared.

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Companion Progression Detected

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Target:

Astraea Noctis Sylvermoon

Progression:

*Intelligence: +1

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Adam slowly raised his eyes.

"Even her..."

He looked at the sleeping Astraea.

The Guardian of the World Tree was already extremely powerful.

A single additional point probably wouldn’t drastically change her abilities.

But the mere fact that her system could also trigger or record the progress of the women bound to her was still extremely interesting.

Adam mentally added a new question to his list.

Then he finally opened his status.

"Status." »

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Status Panel — Adam

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Level: 46

Stats

*Strength: 67

*Agility: 67

*Stamina: 92

*Intelligence: 54

*Spirit: 52

*Luck: 13

Available Stat Points: 14

Talent

*Return to Player System Satisfaction

Satisfaction Points: 10,474

Blessings

*Mana Body — Orange Rank · Unique Grade — Lv. 3

*Eyes of the World — Gold Rank · Legendary Grade — Lv. 4

Skills

*Boundary — Rank - · Grade - — Lv. 3

*Adaptation — Blue Rank · Rare Grade — Lv. 3

*Vigorous Body — Blue Rank · Rare Grade — Lv. 5

*Healing — White Rank · Common Grade — Lv. 2

*Massage — Green Rank · Uncommon Grade — Lv. 4

*Fertility Control — Blue Rank · Rare Grade — Lv. 5

*Weapon Mastery — Orange Rank · Unique Grade — Lv. 2

*Kamasutra — Orange Rank · Unique Grade — Lv. 3 2

*Desire — Orange Rank · Unique Grade — Level 1

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Adam scanned the numbers.

Sixty-seven in Strength.

Sixty-seven in Agility.

Ninety-two in Endurance.

Fifty-four in Intelligence.

Fifty-two in Spirit.

Still thirteen in Luck.

And fourteen free points.

He looked mainly at the Satisfaction Points.

10,474.

"A Superior Draw is available again..."

He thought for a few seconds.

Then closed the menu.

"Later."

He had no reason to spend it all immediately.

Especially with the Technology Fragment still to be retrieved today.

The system disappeared.

Almost exactly at the same moment...

Click.

Adam turned his head.

The bedroom door had just opened.

Without knocking.

Of course.

Lyriana entered first.

Elaria was right behind her.

Adam looked at them.

They looked at him.

Then their gaze shifted to the bed.

Adam sighed.

"Do you know the concept of knocking on a door?"

Lyriana replied quite naturally:

"Yes."

"And?"

"I didn’t see the point."

Elaria nodded.

"We’re at home."

Adam remained silent.

"A technically sound but morally dubious argument."

The sound of their voices finally woke Astraea.

She stirred slightly.

Then slowly opened her eyes.

"Mmm..."

She stretched quietly.

Then she noticed her daughter and Elaria already in the room.

"You’re already here?"

Lyriana folded her arms.

"It’s almost time to get up."

Astraea looked at the dim light outside.

Then Adam.

Then Lyriana again.

"Then make some tea."

Lyriana remained silent.

Elaria looked away slightly to hide her smile.

Adam immediately understood that another family argument was about to begin.

He stood up.

"I’ll make breakfast."

Three eyes turned toward him.

Adam stopped.

Astraea smiled.

Lyriana did too.

Elaria adjusted her glasses.

Adam immediately had a bad feeling.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Astraea replied with perfect innocence:

"For no reason."

Adam narrowed his eyes.

After only a few days with this group...

He had learned an extremely important rule.

When one of these women said "for no reason"...

There was almost always a reason.

And he’s afraid to know what it is.