Chapter 115: System Check
Ding!
[Challenge: Unholy Orgy] [A sexual union between a human, a dark nymph, and an angel]
[Completed!]
[+8 AP]
[Celine +10 FP] [Total FP: 223]
Ethan sat alone on a thick toadstool at the edge of the clearing, browsing through his system. Somewhere behind him, the three wolfkin cubs were still growling and laughing as they tried to catch Celine's ankles. He stared at the numbers for a long moment, the weight of the last few days settling over him like a second cloak.
"Huh? Cassandra, how did I gain 223 Faith Points?"
[Religious acts of lust and corruption by 213 unnamed followers added 213 FPs]
"Ah," he muttered. "So the followers of Debauchery had some fun with Gabriella while I was gone. Of course they did. A chained angel in a basement full of desperate, sex-starved townspeople…"
"I should have expected it. I need to return soon and convert her the same way I did Celine, before any other angel finds and releases her."
[You can perform miracles with Faith Points]
[xlockedx]
[Faith attribute too low (current: 4/10). Attain 10/10 to unlock miracles in Religion section]
"Miracles, huh?" Ethan rubbed his chin, eyes narrowing at the locked icon. "Sounds exciting. It seems like the kind of power that could turn a losing battle around in a single breath."
"But the last time I pushed Faith higher, Archangel Michael tried to hijack the whole system from the inside. I still don't know how close he came. I'll have to think carefully—very carefully—before I touch that attribute again."
[Reward: Choice of new spell from User2: Cassie] [Granted!]
[Switch to User2: Cassie to claim your reward]
"I am indeed in desperate need of something strong enough to give me an edge against Rachel and Rochel," he told himself.
Celine and Artis already knew about the Cassie body-switch. The cubs were still too young for that particular truth. He would have to handle the claim in private later.
Ethan leaned back on the toadstool and watched his new family across the clearing. The revelation that Celine was pregnant still surprised him. He had underestimated what his seed could do.
When it survived inside an asexual dark nymph like Artis and produced three wolfkin sons, that had already been shocking enough; now it had done the impossible—impregnated an angel of heaven—an angel who had once been sent to kill him. The thought made something complicated twist behind his ribs.
The cubs had been aggressive and territorial toward anyone near their mother at first. Once they understood their father was bringing another child into the world, something in them softened.
Right now they were circling Celine as she hovered a few feet off the ground, wings half-spread, laughing as they tried to nip at her ankles and the hem of her armor.
Lupin, the largest, kept leaping higher than the others. Sylvan and Grimm worked together, trying to herd her downward. Ethan felt a quiet, unexpected pride watching them. They were growing fast—too fast, maybe—but they were his.
It felt nice to have a real family. As the family head, he had to preserve it and keep the members from harm.
They were safe for the moment, deep enough in the Whispering Woods that even Rachel and Rochel would have trouble finding them quickly. And if the twins did appear, the portable home waited. One step through the door and the entire family could vanish.
[Surprise Reward: Loading...]
[Loading…]
"Huh? Why is it taking so long?" The notification sat there, stuck. Ethan eventually swiped it aside.
A different set of lines appeared almost immediately.
[Skill: Ghost hands level up!: 4~5] [Effect: 5 minutes]
[Skill: Ghost hands Maxed! ~5]
[Evolving skill...]
[Error! Reach User Level:3 to evolve skills]
"Hmm. Ghost Hands wants to evolve, but Level 2 is too low. Level 3 is also supposed to tell me why Michael is after me."
"Cassandra, how do I reach Level 3?"
[By spending attribute points]
"I don't understand. Give me the full picture of leveling up."
[Generating detailed explanation...]
[LEVELING section]
[Level 2]
[PHYSICAL: Strength—5/10, Beauty—7/10, Agility—2/10, Libido—4/10, xlockedx, xlocked]
[MAGICAL: Soul—3/10, Grimoire—3/10, xlockedx]
[CHARACTER: Intelligence—10/10, Perversion—4/10, Faith—4/10, xlockedx, xlockedx]
[DESTINY: Luck—7/10, xlockedx, xlockedx]
[User's Leveling System has 4 attribute categories and 18 attributes]
[10/18 attributes are active. Rest are locked]
[46/900 attribute points have been spent]
[Leveling up pathway: Level 3 at 150/900, Level 4 at 400/900, Level 5 at 900/900]
"I see. Interesting. What happens after Level 5?"
[User evolution]
"Evolution? Into what? Tell me everything."
[A higher life form. Details are locked due to level restrictions. Reach Level 3 for better access to Akashic Records]
Ethan sighed and let his head tip back against the rough bark of a nearby tree. Suddenly he felt small again. There was still a long road ahead—Level 3, Level 5, whatever 'evolution' actually meant.
Still, he had survived this far. He had grown stronger. He had collected remarkable women from different races and somehow founded a religion in a dying town. That counted for something, even if the system still treated him like a beginner.
[Surprise Reward: Loading...]
Ding!
The interface shuddered hard, the way a satellite feed glitches when the signal is about to die. Ethan barely had time to react.
DINGGG!!!!
The notification slammed into his vision with enough force that he actually toppled backward off the toadstool and landed hard on the ground.
"What the hell!"
[New skill: Cumcraft Level 1 (active)] [MP cost: 150] [Effect: 120 seconds] [Cooldown per entity: 24 hours]
[Description: User can gain skills and abilities of any entity he has seeded]
Ethan stared at the glowing text, heart still racing from the fall. He pushed himself up onto one elbow, then sat fully, brushing grass from his sleeves.
"Wait—what? This is an incredible skill. Who have I seeded so far? Celine and Artis. I can use their abilities?"
The implications hit him in a slow, spreading wave. Angel wings. Dark nymph strength and regeneration. Whatever else those two carried in their blood. No, the ability transfer was probably graded according to the skill's level. He ran the numbers quickly in his head.
"But the mana cost is brutal. My total MP is only 160. One use will nearly empty the bar for two full minutes. Still… pretty damn awesome. If I time it right, two minutes might be enough to introduce a dark horse in the middle of the race."
He pushed himself back up and opened the leveling screen properly.
"Anyway, let me allot the points. I need to get from 46 to 150 as fast as possible."
[Allotted Points: 46]
[Unallotted Points: 8]
"Agility is still a pathetic 2/10. That's why I keep having such a hard time dodging, running, and staying alive in a real fight. Time to fix that."
[-8 AP]
[Agility 10/10 (+8)]
[New skill unlocked!: Lightning Step Level 1 (active)] [MP cost: 2]
[Distance: 10 feet] [Cooldown: 10 minutes after 5 lightning steps]
A clean, electric sensation ran down his legs. He flexed his toes in the moss and felt the difference already. The air itself seemed thinner around his feet, as if the ground had lost some of its claim on him.
Ethan stood up slowly, testing the new weightlessness. He looked at the nearest tree—a thick, moss-covered giant that rose high above the canopy. A small, reckless grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He took a step forward and said, "Lightning Step."
The world blurred.
One moment he was standing on the forest floor. The next he was already ten feet up the trunk, his boots finding purchase on bark that should have been impossible to grip at that speed.
Another step. Another. The trees around him became green streaks. He laughed once, short and sharp, as the skill carried him higher in a rapid series of almost weightless bounds.
Five steps.
He burst through the upper leaves and landed in a low crouch on a broad branch near the very top of the tree. The cooldown settled over his legs like a faint numbness, but the view made it worth it.
The Whispering Woods stretched out in every direction—an endless, rolling sea of dark green broken by pale mist that clung to the lower hollows.
In the far distance he could just make out the smoky haze that marked the direction of Gulchtown. Closer, the forest looked peaceful, deceptively so.
Somewhere beneath those leaves Artis and the cubs were playing with a fallen angel. Somewhere beyond the horizon, his mother and the others were preparing for battle.
Ethan stayed there for a long moment, breathing the cooler air, letting the new Agility settle into his bones. Then he opened the system again.
[Ethan, you have pending notifications in FAMILY TREE and RELIGION sections]
He opened the Family Tree first.
[FAMILY TREE]
[Partner Slot 1: Artis Lupine - Status: Bonded]
[Child Slot 1: Lupin - Status: Heir (Wolfkin)]
[Child Slot 2: Sylvan - Status: Heir (Wolfkin)]
[Child Slot 3: Grimm - Status: Heir (Wolfkin)]
[Open Slots: Partners (7), Children (Unlimited)]
[Add Celine to Partner slot?] [Y/N]
Ethan rubbed his jaw slowly. "Celine acts like a slave and a devoted follower, but she hasn't proven herself the way Artis has. Artis risked her life for me more than once. Celine is pregnant with my child, and that matters, but it doesn't automatically make her equal. Not yet."
He selected [N] without hesitation.
Celine could wait. Loyalty earned through fear and pleasure was not the same as loyalty proven under fire. Artis had bled for him. Celine had not—not yet.
Then he opened the Religion section.
RELIGION — Debauchery
Rank Name FPs
Supreme God Ethan Cromwell 223
High Priestess Celine 10
Unnamed followers (213) 213
[Update: Unnamed followers = 0]
"Zero?" Ethan frowned. "Did those Gulchtown perverts lose their faith the moment I left? Did they get tired of Gabriella? That doesn't feel right."
[Negative. Blasphemy and apostasy will be notified accordingly]
[The unnamed followers are no longer connected. Conclusion: They are dead]
Ethan shot to his feet so fast he almost fell down the tree.
If two hundred and thirteen residents of Gulchtown had suddenly died, there was only one explanation that made sense.
The Orcs had attacked. Beatrix and Athena were there. The Fondel army was stationed, not expecting any battle anytime soon. What about Gabriella chained in the shrine's dungeons? What if she escaped?
Most importantly, his mother, Velma Cromwell, was there. What if Garkash got to her first?
Ethan clenched his fists until the knuckles whitened. His lightning feet lit up subconsciously. "Cassandra. We're leaving."