“Hello, Sir Finnian and Madam Helena,” Aether greeted with a wave, his hand moving awkwardly through the air. He cast a quick glance at Helena, who stood nervously behind Finnian as if she were afraid of him.
‘Did she tell him everything?’ Aether thought to himself.
He then said, “Is there anything you need from this humble servant?”
Finnian, with his piercing golden eyes, stared intently at Aether before speaking, “I heard you entered a woman’s dormitory.”
“Yes, Princess Aqualina summoned me, and the Dorm Manager allowed me in after some earnest pleading from the princess,” Aether replied, maintaining a stern and serious expression on his face.
Finnian continued to scrutinize Aether for a few more moments before pulling Helena forward. She had been hiding behind him, her cheeks tinged with a faint red hue, “Go on,” he prompted her.
Helena blushed slightly and looked at Aether, her voice soft as she said, “Thank you for your help before.”
Finnian then added, “I heard she threatened you to help her. She felt guilty about it, so she asked me to come along with her.”
“I see,” Aether nodded, inwardly sighing with relief. He then looked at Helena, ‘At least she apologized for her actions’ and began with a smile, “I’m glad to see that you are fee—” But before he could finish, Finnian stepped in front of Helena and said, “We are leaving now. The interval is over.”
Finnian turned and pulled Helena along with him as they walked away. Helena glanced back at Aether, a look of something in her eyes made Aether gulp in fear before they disappeared from sight.
[+100 Affection]
“What was that all about?” Aether mumbled to himself, shrugging off the encounter. He decided to stick to his plan for the day, focusing on his tasks.
He gathered a few items and set out to feed the animals he found around the city.
“Take it!” he said cheerfully, handing out food to various creatures.
[+10 Affection]
[+10 Affection]
[+10 Affection]
[+10 Affection]
[+100 Affection]
[+100 Affection]
[+100 Affection]
[+200 Affection]
[+100 Affection]
…..
…
[+500 Affection]
After a full day of feeding animals, Aether had amassed a significant number of affection points. Some of the points even came from his innate charm, which seemed to attract the animals to him.
‘Lick!’
[+500 Affection]
A deer licked his face before returning to its family, adding to Aether’s collection of affection points.
“Well, that’s quite a nice income,” Aether thought as he reviewed his affection points, feeling a sense of satisfaction.
[Remaining AP: 30,338]
Although his money was depleted, making him feel like a beggar again (not really, since he still had 20,000?), he was truly happy to have earned so much in a single day.
Previously, he could only gather around 10 affection points at a time, but today, everyone seemed to be showering him with more and more affection.
“It must be the charm,” Aether mused. He felt a bit uneasy, knowing that increasing his charm might be dangerous, but he needed to level up, so it was necessary.
‘It’s kind of an annoying rule that I need to increase every attribute in order to level up..’ Aether grumbled as he looked at his log and allocated his points, determined to improve his abilities.
!~Ding~!
[You have Levelled up!!]
[Level: 5↑]
!~Ding~!
[Congratulations on Levelling up]
[Reward: 10000 Affection Points]
/
Attributes:
Strength: 40
Agility: 40 frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Intelligence: 40
Magic Affinity: 40
Charm: 40
Affection Points: 11,338
/
He could feel his body becoming more powerful, and he started to gain a deeper understanding of controlling Arcane energy. With focused intent,
‘ssshh’
A small ice cube formed in his hand, and he examined it with curiosity.
“Cool!” Aether exclaimed, amused by his newfound ability.
He licked the ice cube to see if it was edible and found it harmless. With a happy and content smile, he put the ice cube in his mouth and headed back to the Academy, thinking about the few days left before the contest. He knew he needed to level up to at least Seven or eight to avoid serious trouble.
“Sigh, lots of things need to be done,” Aether lamented. Despite the hard work ahead, he felt a sense of joy and aliveness, relishing the challenges before him.
[+10 Affection]
A female small bird landed on his shoulder, chirping happily.
“Chirp, chirp,” it sounded so cute…. Aether smiled and reached out to touch it when,
‘Chrippp!!!’ Another male bird swooped down, glaring at Aether as if he were stealing his mate.
“…” Aether blinked in confusion, glancing at the female bird on his shoulder, who turned her head away as if dissatisfied with her mate.
‘Chrrrippp!! Chrip, Chrip!’ == “Bastard, how dare you steal my wife!!”
‘Chrrrrrrppp, Chrip, Chrip’ == ‘My dear comrades, this is the man who has been stealing our wives’ love,’
The male bird furiously chirped, rallying other birds around.
“Chirp?” == “Really?”
“Chirp? Chirp!” = “Did you finally find him? The human male that stole my sweetheart’s heart?”
More birds arrived, joining the commotion where they were being NTRed by a human male, their chirping growing louder and more frantic.
‘Chrrrrrrppp, Chrip, Chrip’
‘Chrrrrrrppp?’
They seemed to be having a heated discussion before glaring at Aether with deadly eyes.
“…” Aether was bewildered by the situation. Though he didn’t understand their words, he knew they were angry. Their expressions mirrored those of Alaric when his wife merely spoke with Aether.
“FUCK!” Aether ran immediately as the birds,
‘CCCHHRRRPPPPP!!!’ == ‘ATTTTAACCCCCKKK’
People watched in amazement as a boy was chased by a flock of birds. They were taken aback, knowing birds usually didn’t attack unless provoked. They assumed Aether must have done something to anger them.
Thud!
Aether slipped into an alley and crouched down, waiting for the birds to pass.
‘SSSSSSHHHHHHH!’
‘Chrrrrrrppp, Chrip, Chrip…’
Aether sighed in relief as he saw the group of angry birds flying past, their chirps fading into the distance.
“Sigh,” Aether sighed again, just about to make a run for it when he heard something.
“What!!! Are you sure about it?”
“Hmm?…..” Aether flinched at the sudden exclamation. He peeked around the corner cautiously, curiosity piqued.
“Isn’t that the wolf guy?” Aether mumbled when he saw Kaelen Darkfang, the one who had led Monster Bears towards Aria during the entrance ceremony.
“Don’t shout!” another voice hissed, sounding urgent and secretive.
Aether frowned, curious about the conversation. He tried to listen, but they had lowered their voices. His curiosity got the better of him, and he slowly, quietly crawled closer to them, his movements painstakingly slow and deliberate.
It was very slow… like a Sloth!
This was one of Aether’s best moves to escape from school in his old days—crawling down from the class while teachers were busy teaching.
Anyhow,
Finally, close enough to hear, Aether hid behind a wall and strained to catch their words as he saw a hoodie figure along with Kaelen.
“Sigh, I hope you keep your end of the bargain,” Kaelen said, taking something from the hooded figure with a wary expression.
“As long as you kill her, I will do what is necessary to elimi—” The voice abruptly stopped, cutting off mid-sentence.
‘Crack’
‘Tsk’ Aether clicked his tongue when tried to get closer he was stepped on a broken glass.
“What happened?” Kaelen asked, frowning deeply.
“Someone is here,” the hooded figure whispered.
Kaelen’s eyes widened in surprise.