Chapter 1269: Practice Makes Better

It may not look like it, but Luca Kyros really did not mean for the training to be grueling, perilous, or even regret-filled!

All he wanted was for his brother to return to his normal life as quickly as possible without having to walk on eggshells around everyday things like a running blender or even a hair dryer.

Though Luca figured that, aside from the obvious problems involving most electrical sockets, it was probably his brother’s fear of never being able to confidently open the refrigerator again, lest he accidentally trigger another bout of positive feedback loops, that had Ollie willing to roll up his sleeves and keep trying.

Oh, and there was definitely Kyle, too!

But for a blonde who loved food almost as much as he loved his husband’s hair, space buttons and the dungeon inventory simply weren’t the same. There was a special kind of joy in opening the refrigerator and seeing all the possibilities waiting inside, and apparently, getting that back was motivation enough to have Ollie get up close and maybe even too personal with the corrupted beasts.

"Just like that, Brother! Keep it up!" Luca hollered supportively from where he stood, preparing to hurl a few bolts of his own straight at the airborne beasts.

"And don’t worry, D-29 is taking note of all the confirmed hits! So just keep aiming for the eyes, and we can look for new cup noodle flavors to buy!"

Hopefully, the tangible reward would prove a little more encouraging, especially when Luca’s sentiments and most sincere wishes didn’t mean all that much when the only things currently echoing throughout the area were different variations of...

"Waaaaa!"

Still, when it came to his brother, such sounds usually meant he was doing well.

Kind of like the newborn babies of Tesseris crying loudly to announce their grand arrival!

So the normally agreeable Guide managed to stay positive and simply asked D-29 whether it might be better to do the same instance twice for now and put off the other two uncleared ones until Ollie had better control over his bloodline ability.

Thankfully, the blonde who was currently hard at work for something he’d really never asked for couldn’t hear the kind of conversations only unhinged personalities would be having after a very, very long day.

But of course, in the spirit of whatever could possibly result in greater gains, the little system responded like the lunatic it was.

"Yes, Host! We may not know the exact details of those simulations, but we sure know that better clearing ratings mean better rewards!"

And D-29 didn’t even need to point out that, with more people searching for the core, they might actually be able to clear the simulation much faster.

Especially when, based on their observations, the leaderboard they’d seen seemed to track clearing times!

"Right. I think so too." Luca nodded thoughtfully. "We should probably try to do another round of this once we’re done. I’ll also try to practice a different ability later! Then maybe we can schedule the next instance for when more people are free."

Such words would’ve probably sounded like a curse to most mortals.

But after experiencing such a simulation themselves, the Marshal and the other elites occupying critical Imperial positions were of the mind that they needed to increase their preparations as well.

Sure, this was only a simulation and might not reflect reality.

But with corruption remaining their most glaring threat, one that had already proven capable of devastating entire planets in much the same way, they could only be extremely glad to have another avenue to practice dealing with it under much safer conditions.

And because they couldn’t exactly bring the entire military inside to train, then they, as the leaders, would simply have to compensate by training harder on everyone else’s behalf.

They didn’t particularly want to alarm Luca or make the cadet feel like he needed to train even more than he already did.

But for as long as Oliver Mylor needed to practice controlling his new ability, they would try to come along as often as possible.

Then again, unbeknownst to all the worried adults, Luca probably wouldn’t have guessed they were feeling quite that anxious in the first place.

Because from the young cadet’s perspective, all he was really seeing was just how adaptable the people of the Empire could be.

Which was probably rather ironic, considering the very people Luca was admiring were currently reinforcing just how heavily they still relied on him and his abilities.

After all, when it came to taking down as many beasts as possible in record time, who else could possibly do it?

__

See, all those realizations came about when they returned to the same E-rank simulation, this time also helping the others who’d missed the first run, simply because they hadn’t been inside the dungeon space when the prompt first went off!

And if young Owen had been there, the teen would’ve definitely said something about Luca and Xavier carrying everyone else to victory with their earlier experience.

After all, people like the Emperor, the Empress, Uno, and even the Mylor Marquis couple were clearly having a much smoother run than those poor, unsuspecting people who’d entered the simulation earlier, fully expecting to see nothing but pretty plains and practically singing and dancing as they went on their merry way, only to be greeted by the horrors of a full-scale invasion.

Still, the golden-eyed cadet found it deeply interesting and impressive that the newest additions to their clearing party could remain so calm and collected after entering the admittedly harsh E-rank simulation.

Maybe it had a lot to do with being far more comfortable with their own bloodline abilities, having been awakened for much longer than most...

But Luca was especially impressed by how the Emperor and Empress moved around the battlefield while using a combination of the very abilities his own husband possessed.

Watching them, Luca couldn’t help but wonder if Xavier would look something like that in the future.

Would he become even more gallant and dependable than he already was?!

The thought had Luca sneaking playful glances toward the Imperial Crown Prince, who definitely noticed those bright golden eyes continually flitting back and forth between himself and his parents.

Realizing that his little wife was probably lost in some very busy thoughts, especially with how secretive yet oddly giggly he’d been acting, the white wolf decided it’d be best to simply take the initiative and ask.

"Should I worry about you liking them more than you like me?"