Chapter 97 | Sorting Out Rewards [5th GT]
Selene held on to his left arm tightly.
Her fingers wrapped around his forearm and locked there, squeezing as though she feared he might vanish at any moment.
She closed her eyes, pressing herself closer, and took in the warmth radiating from his skin.
"So warm," she whispered unconsciously, her voice soft and dreamy. She sighed a gentle, contented sound that came out like the purr of a kitten. "So warm. Very warm."
Dexter smiled. She was really beautiful. Her white eyes, her delicate features, the way her expression softened when she let her guard down.
It was so stunning it blew Dexter’s mind away for a split second before he recovered.
But as she held onto his arm, he noticed something else.
Her body was cold, deeply, unnaturally cold. The kind of cold that seeped through fabric and skin and settled into bone. It crawled up his arm and shot straight down his spine, making him shudder involuntarily. No wonder she had wanted warmth. Her body was practically radiating frost.
Although he shared her pain, he didn’t share her discomfort.
’Should I activate it?’
Dexter pondered a while but then shrugged and activated Flame Will within his body.
His blood heated instantly as it almost turned into molten magma in his body. But with the Chaos Flame Demon Bloodline, he was resistant to the heat.
The change was immediate and dramatic. Heat poured off his skin in waves, turning his arm into a furnace.
"Mmmh..."
Selene moaned unconsciously as her grip tightened and her fingers dug in harder, clutching his arm like a child gripping a teddy bear.
She pressed herself against him, absorbing every bit of warmth she could, and purred and moaned continuously and unconsciously as she simply held on, eyes closed, drinking in the heat like a flower turning toward the sun.
They stood there for ten minutes.
Dexter finally leaned down and whispered.
"Should we head to the living room?"
Selene didn’t respond. Her eyes remained closed. Her body continued absorbing the heat, and she gave no indication that she had heard him at all.
Dexter sighed.
He began walking slowly, toward the living room. Selene didn’t let go. She shuffled along beside him, her arms still wrapped around his, her eyes still closed, her body still pressed against his side.
When they reached the living room, he settled onto the couch. Selene sat beside him, still hugging his arm, her head gradually drifting down until it rested against his shoulder.
Dexter reached for the remote with his free hand and turned on the television.
The screen flickered to life. He scrolled through the channels—news, news, more news. He hadn’t purchased any subscription packages yet, so the available options were limited to free broadcasts. Everything was either news or mind-numbingly boring.
He kept flipping.
Then he landed on something unexpected.
A telenovela.
The episode was already in progress.
Two characters arguing passionately on screen, their dramatic confrontation underscored by swelling music and tight camera angles. Within moments, Dexter was hooked.
The plot twists came fast and furious, each one more outrageous than the last.
Beside him, Selene’s eyes were still closed. But through her echolocation, she could feel his heart rate spiking up sis she ended up listening to the drama on the tv.
Within minutes, she was as captivated as Dexter was. Her expression shifted with every scene and her eyes widening at shocking reveals.
Sometimes, she would even shake her head shaking slowly when someone did something spectacularly stupid. Occasionally, a small smile would creep onto her face when a character displayed unexpected cleverness.
Dexter didn’t notice any of this. He was too absorbed in the drama unfolding on screen to realize that the girl attached to his arm had quietly become his viewing or better still, his ompanion.
They sat for an hour.
When the episode ended, Dexter sat back, slightly dazed.
"That was..." he murmured. "That was really good."
Then he noticed something.
The temperature in the room had dropped.
A cold, biting fury radiated from Selene, it was directed squarely at the television.
Dexter’s eyes traveled downward.
The wooden TV stand beneath the television was frozen.
A layer of frost had crept across its surface. The cold had spread to the wall behind it.
Dexter’s eyes widened.
"Wait, wait, wait—" He held up his hands. "The TV—let’s not break the TV."
He lunged for the remote and switched off the television.
He let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, then turned to Selene.
"So," he said, his voice careful and measured. "You like telenovelas?"
Selene blinked.
Her eyes focused—as though she were waking from a dream. She looked down at her hands, still wrapped around Dexter’s arm. She looked at the frost-covered TV stand. She looked at the ice crawling up the wall.
The realization hit her all at once.
She immediately released his arm instantly, as though it had burned her. A deep blush erupted across her cheeks. It was so vivid against her pale skin. She stumbled backward, turned, and fled the room like a rabbit being pursued by the predator as she disappeared down the hallway toward the bedroom.
Dexter stood there, arm suddenly cold and empty.
He touched his nose, a crooked smile spreading across his face.
"After you used me, now you’re abandoning me."
He stood there for a moment longer, shaking his head softly. Then he turned off the lights in the living room and headed to his own room.
It was time to cultivate.
And more importantly, it was time to sort out his previous rewards.
[1. Professional Rank Promotion: Great Grandmaster Foodsmith (Early Stage) ➔ Great Grandmaster Foodsmith (Middle Stage)]
[2. Special Physical Constitution: Heavenly Gastronomy Body]
[3. Elemental Evolution: Alchemist Flame ➔ 9th Heavenly Flame: Emperor Void Flame]
[4. Raw Materials: 1,000kg of Premium Diamond Rice]
[5. Rare Liquids: 100kg of Cosmic Star Origin Nectar]
[6. Premium Alcohol: 100kg of Burning Sun Lava Wine]
[7. Talent Evolution: Mana Affinity (SS-Rank) ➔ Mana Affinity (SSS-Rank)]