Chapter 354 - CH. 363: A Stalker
Chapter 354 - CH. 363: A Stalker
"That was satisfying," Rini muttered. "I'll get more skills, Onii-san."
Asahi patted her back. "Have fun. I'll have breakfast then teach Ryuu and others."
He had a fulfilling breakfast while teasing Alise and others, where Alise reminded him of the rapier she lent him for enchantment. He took out the blade and did an enchantment in front of everyone. The sword was already a first-class weapon among the others, but Asahi's magic completely changed their perception. It could now gather heat through her battle spirit, surroundings, or mana. He couldn't defy the laws by letting it receive heat through nothing.
"This is some serious upgrade," Alise said in awe as she eyed the shiny rapier. "I'mma solo a Monster Rex now!"
"Yeah yeah," Kaguya said with a blank face. "Why don't you get a hold of this sword first?"
Kaguya's advice provoked a smile on Aimi's face. "I'll help you."
"We just had our training…" Alise gave a puppy-eyed look. "I don't wanna go through it again…"
Aimi would most likely beat her up again or toss her into a horde of dragons. She was fine with the latter, but getting beaten up by Asahi's beloved girl was a disgrace.
'How can I be a part of the family if I keep getting my ass handed to me by everyone!'
Aimi smirked as though she read Alise's heart. "Stop crying… just get better."
Alise pointed her rapier at Aimi's face. "Mark my words, Aimi. Vengeance—"
A slap on her butt froze Alise for good. Asahi snuck another one with his telekinesis and grinned. "Tomorrow's our date. Don't forget."
"Woah. What!"
Asahi dragged Astraea into his room and let her update his status.
[Falna updated. Status is updating to reflect the changes…]
[Strength +14, Constitution +10, Defense +12, Dexterity +18, Magic +20]
"Not bad," he commented as he looked over his shoulder.
"Do you want to level up?" Astraea asked with a sigh. She had given up on restraining his levels since he needed strength to achieve his goal. She saw his nod and updated his status once more, bringing his level to 5.
Two new development abilities appeared on his back.
"Spirit's Scourge and Blacksmith. Another unknown skill… it's related to spirits."
The odd-sounding skill was no doubt powerful.
(My love launched a genocide on the monsters twisted by the spirit's powers.)
"Choose the scourge one."
Astraea gave a nod and traced the hieroglyphs.
[Spirit's Scourge (Unique): The user manifests an aura that intimidates or kills the surrounding spiritual bodies. The effect is dependent on the enemy's mental strength.]
'Damn. It's like a tamer version of Conqueror Haki for spirits. Why is the effect related to mental strength though?'
(Mental strength is an indicator of how strong someone's soul is… Remember when you felt a headache from reading Grimoires written in God's language. But now you can read them all day.)
'So my soul grew.'
(Exactly.)
'Can I kill gods with this?'
(Intimidate, yes. Kill, probably not. The gods of this world are quite high leveled. My love can cripple their original bodies residing in Heaven. As for weaker gods, they will die if you release the aura at full strength.)
'A sexy addition to my ever-growing skills.'
Asahi got up and pulled down his folded shirt. "Astraea, don't freak out."
Astraea nodded her head, even though she was clueless. Asahi triggered his new skill. A brilliant azure aura, almost like embers of a senseless fire, enveloped him. Astraea shivered as the aura asserted its presence. Despite knowing Asahi wouldn't harm her one bit, she couldn't suppress her instincts screaming only one sentence.
Death.
Asahi quickly stopped the skill and pulled Astraea in his arms. "Did it scare you?"
"Just what is this skill?" she asked as she regained her willpower again. "I felt like I'd really die."
"I need to control it properly."
Besides, Astraea wouldn't have died even if he fully released his new aura.
Asahi spent a few more minutes cuddling with Astraea before he left the Stardust Garden with Ryuu to train. Ryuu had to deliver something to the Hostess of Fertility, so they decided to walk through the city instead of teleporting.
Instead of watching her front, Ryuu stared at him with confusion in her eyes. "You… your aura is different."
She couldn't wrap her head around the change. He was different from when she saw him at breakfast.
She reached out and touched his shoulder. "It's slightly warmer?"
"It's just in your head." Asahi grinned. "Is this your way of touching me in public? You should have just asked me."
"That's not what I wanted. I really felt something strange."
"Feeling tiny changes that no one else did—you observe me that much, Ryuu?"
Ryuu turned her head and blushed. "Elves are sensitive to changes..."
"Or they always want to be in a stalemate?"
Ryuu didn't answer him this time, silently reflecting on his words. They arrived at the Hostess of Fertility in a matter of minutes. The first thing Asahi noticed was the brunette cat girl waitress waving at Ryuu from the door. When Ryuu ignored her, the girl pouted and tried to grab Ryuu's ears.
"Having a boyfriend doesn't give the right to ignore me, nya."
Ryuu passed a murderous glance at the catgirl. "Anya, he is a friend."
"Friend, oh," the catgirl giggled. "Welcome to Hostess of Fertility, nya."
"I'm Asahi."
"Asahi… where have I heard of this?" The catgirl muttered to herself before she raised her hand with a bright smile. "You're the rising star! Goddess Astraea's lover!"
She enthusiastically stretched her hand, so Asahi shook hands with her.
An unconcealed killing intent targeted his back, coming from the second floor of the building behind him. It wasn't just killing intent from a random person. The culprit was more or less on the same level as Finn, a level 6 adventurer.
Asahi smiled as he recalled the catgirl's identity who had a level 6 stalker.
"I'm Anya, nya. Ryuu's bestie in the Hostess of Fertility."
She introduced herself with a child-like spirit.