"Kaaaah! This is life," Raum let out a deep, satisfied sigh. He was currently floating on his back inside a huge bathtub.

"Aaaaa! Truly, this is life, brother," Aron agreed with him completely.

The two of them were currently inside the healing bath on the second floor of the castle. The girls had forced Aron to take the healing bath to cure his internal injuries.

Mia took the children at Aron's request to help them into a good meal, and the girls chose to help her too. After Viper brought the map of this maze-like castle like a good little lamb, navigating it was much easier.

The chamber was massive, with a stone bath intricately carved from marble or hewn from natural rock. The bath was large, deep and could easily fit 20 people or more.

Aron was surprised that the bath was still usable since this is an ancient castle. However, he could see that there were repairs to the bath here and there. Probably the leader of the Rats, Maxwell, had repaired it to use the water to heal his condition.

Mia told Aron everything she knew about Maxwell, from his condition to the deals she knew about between him and the strange hooded men.

"I'll find them and kill them all." Aron's eyes glowed red for a second.

"Thank you, Aron," Raum suddenly said.

"Hmm? For what?"

"For keeping your promise." Then he floated close to Aron. "You destroyed those Rats and avenged me; for that, I thank you."

"Hahah~" Aron chuckled slightly and patted Raum's head. "No need to thank me. We're brothers now, and as brothers, we help each other no matter what."

Raum closed his eyes, enjoying the warm feeling inside him. He felt happy, especially when Aron called him 'Brother'.

At that moment, a system message appeared...

…

[Quest completed: Revenge of the Raven]

[Quest rewards: Instant level up

+10 points in all stats

+100 points to HP/MP

Item: @#$&#?]

…

[Congratulations, Master! You have reached level 10, and with the quest reward, you're now level 11.]

Aron raised his eyebrow. 'Level? What do you mean?'

[...]

[Master, did you forget about your status and levels?]

'Aaaah! Yes, I'm sorry about that. I completely forgot about them since I threw everything at you.'

[...]

[Excuse me for a second, Master.]

'Sure.'

[Step. Step… BAAM!... BAAM!... Step. Step]

[I'm back, Master.]

"..."

'Did you slam your head into a wall or something? More importantly, do you even have a head?'

[It's your imagination, Master.]

'Oh!... Yes, of course, it's my imagination. Like HELL, I'm going to say that.'

[I prefer not to talk about it.]

Aron was at a loss for words. He began to wonder if this system had more to it than meets the eye. The system right now is different from the first day he got it; it shows more personality. It seemed to have a mind of its own.

As Aron soaked in the healing bath, he asked the system to show him his status...

…

[Status]

Name: ????

Race: Dragon

Level: 11

Experience: 0/200

Class: ????

Health: 210/210 (+100)

Mana: 105/105 (+100)

Strength: 21 (+10)

Stamina: 11 (+10)

Agility: 10 (+10)

[Dragon Core: 12/1000]

[Skills]: [Wrath] [Mana manipulation Lv2] [Fire Legacy] [Shadow Library][Dragon Breath] [Pride]

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Attribute Points: 00

…

"Nice," Aron said, smiling from ear to ear. His status was far better than when he awoke. He was now faster, stronger, and had more skills. Aron noted a few things that caught his attention.

'A new skill? Is this the one I got from the beast inside me?'...

…

[Unique skill: Pride: "Kneel before the dragon"]

[Passive: You are immune to Mind attack skills and crowd control effects from opponents at a similar or lower level. You also have strong resistance to skills that are of a higher level than yours.

Active: You create an aura around you with a radius based on your level (current: 100m). Within this aura, you share your passive effect with your allies, and as long as you remain inside the aura, you cannot be killed.

Caution: The skill's duration is 5 minutes, and it can only be used once a day.]

…

'I see, so that's how I broke those golden rings. Interesting.' Then he noticed another odd thing. 'System, is the experience needed to level up supposed to be this low? As far as I remember, the more I level up, the more XP I need.'

[You're right, Master. However, that only applies if you're trying to break one seal, and now you managed to break the weak seal when you reached Level 10.]

'Hmm!... I see. So, I'm now in the process of breaking a new seal.'

[Yes, Master.]

'That's great. So, if I reach level 20, I should be able to break the next seal.'

[Probably, but you have to remember, Master, that XP now is harder to get.]

'What do you mean?'

[Take the goblins as an example. When you kill a goblin, you get 20XP, but now, when you kill them, you'll probably get 5XP or nothing at all.]

'Aaaah! That's the catch!'

[Yes, Master. You need to seek out stronger monsters to slay. The stronger the monster, the more XP you'll get.]

Aron's smile widened. 'Perfect. I always welcome a stronger challenge.'

'Now tell me about that item as a quest reward.'

[I don't know, Master. Would you like to receive it?]

'Yes'

[Quest reward: Item: @#$&#?]

Suddenly, a small black ball the size of an egg appeared out of nowhere in front of Aron. He quickly grabbed it before it fell into the bath.

'A ball?' Aron was confused.

[Analyzing]

[Master, this will take some time. Please be patient.]

Aron held the small black ball in his hand, waiting for the system to analyze it. Wondering what kind of item it could be, he allowed himself a moment of relaxation in the hot water.

However, the next moment, he heard a loud bang immediately followed by...

Step. Step. Step.

A figure came running at extraordinary speed before jumping high in the air.

"YAAHOO!"

BOOOF!

The figure crashed into the water with a loud splash, causing a tidal wave of water to wash over Aron and Raum.

"HAHAH~... This is refreshing," a familiar voice echoed in the bath.

Aron wiped the water from his face and narrowed his eyes.

There stood a beautiful woman with long, thick silver hair falling gently like a shimmering waterfall down her back.

Her tanned skin glistened with the remnants of the bathwater, giving it a radiant glow. The droplets that cascaded down her skin emphasized her athletic figure and well-defined muscles, hinting at her physical strength and agility.

Her beauty enchanted Aron to the point where he could barely resist her. After kissing this woman, something inside him began to stir.

As she emerged from the water, a mischievous glint sparkled in her blue eyes, reflecting her playful nature.

"Heheh~ I came to join you, Boss," Freya giggled playfully as she approached Aron.

Aron was mesmerized by the beauty of this werewolf. He couldn't help but express it aloud.

"You look beautiful, Freya."

"!!!" Freya immediately stopped in her tracks, her face blushing instantly. She lowered her head and hid her face behind her thick, wet hair.

"T-Thank you."

'H-He said I'm beautiful! BEAUTIFUL!.... AAHH! I can't hold it any more.'

She raised her head, her eyes glowing dangerously at Aron. She tried to leap at him, but before she could...

FOOOSHH.

BAAAM!

"OOUUCHH!" A wooden bucket hit her right on the forehead.

Aron turned around and saw Pethra wearing only a towel. She shouted with a red face at Freya.

"Stay back... A-And wear something, Freya!"

"I'm sorry, Pethra. This wet dog doesn't understand the meaning of clothes," Scarlett said with a tired voice as she appeared behind Pethra.

"What did you just say, torchhead?" Freya didn't waste time retaliating against Scarlett's insult.

Scarlett shook her head. "See, Pethra, she's just a wild, wet dog. Please forgive her."

Pethra was about to speak, but then someone else screamed from behind.

"F-Freya-dono, this is... Wear something, please. Master is here."

Kasumi entered with Luna clutching onto her arm like a child.

Aron smiled gently at the four girls who had just entered the chamber, wearing nothing but towels.

"Relax, girls. Come join us."

"..." Seeing his gentle smile, Pethra was the first to move. She immediately sprinted, and when she reached the edge of the bath, she jumped in the air, crashing down with a splash.

"Sigh, is she a child or what?" Scarlett let out a sigh as she entered the bath elegantly. She chose a corner of the bath and let the water reach her shoulders. Kasumi and Luna followed her example and sat close to her.

Pethra emerged from the water and swam close to Aron. She rested her head on his shoulder and asked, "How are your injuries?"

Aron gently placed his hand on Pethra's head, feeling the warmth of the water and her presence. He smiled at her question. "Thanks to this healing bath, I'm feeling much better already."

Pethra's eyes softened as she looked up at Aron. "I'm glad to hear that, Aron. I was worried about you, seeing you spitting blood like that."

Aron smiled and brought her closer to him. He asked, "And how about you, still feeling tired?"

"Yes, but not much. I just need to rest."

Aron then shifted his gaze to Luna, who was enjoying the hot water.

"How about you, Luna? Are you alright?"

"!!!" Luna visibly shook upon hearing her name. "F-Fine, I'm fine physically, but my Mana is still not fully recovered for some reason."

Aron narrowed his eyes. "Your Mana won't recover unless you leave this castle."

"Why is that, Boss?" Scarlett's interest sparkled upon hearing that. She and Freya, who had recovered from Pethra's hit, sat close to each other and spent this time examining Aron's figure. What caught their attention were the scars on his body.

Aron turned to the red-haired woman. "Our Mana is being drained slowly, without us noticing. My guess is that there is something inside this castle that is draining our mana, or it's the castle itself."

Scarlett's eyes widened in realization. "So that's why I can't activate my 'Scout' skill."

Aron nodded. "Probably, and if not for my skill that detected this, I wouldn't have known. But don't worry; the Mana drain will stop at 50%."

Pethra raised her head and glanced at Aron. "Are you telling me that we fought that poison mage with half of our strength?"

Aron shook his head. "No, draining half of your Mana will take time, but he was using half of his strength."

Pethra trembled when she thought about it. Maxwell was extremely dangerous, even with half his strength. Pethra didn't want to imagine what could have happened if he had been at his fullest.

Aron sensed her hugging his arm tightly. He brought his face close to hers and spoke in a soft and calming voice. "Shhh! I'm here, my little witch. Everything is fine; no one is going to hurt you."

Then he turned to Luna. "I'm sorry, Luna, for putting you in harm's way. I promise I'll do my best to not let that happen again."

"...Mn." Luna simply nodded. The blue-haired elf was not used to the kind of treatment that Aron was giving her.

"Hm?" Scarlett turned to her former cellmate and saw that Freya was visibly shaking for some reason, and she had a dark and dangerous smile on her face.

Immediately after that, Freya dashed to Aron, using her extraordinary speed. She was close to him in a split second.

"!!!" Aron was taken aback when Freya jumped into his lap, not caring if he could see her naked figure.

Freya held Aron's shoulder and began rocking him as she spoke with excitement.

"Boss. Aron, ARON!"

"Y-Yes?"

She brought her face close to his and gazed at him with her blue eyes. She spoke words that caused everyone's minds to shut down.

"Marry me."