Blue followed behind Julie after the sun set for the day.
He had shown her his “progress” where his three attainments’ had increased by a phase each, with two of them entering the next stage because of it. His level had increased by one and the steps he could take in that increased gravity was twenty three now.
This greatly made her pleased with his performance and whenever she saw him now her eyes held the look of looking at a fine gem she discovered in a trash heap. Well, a bit exaggerated but he couldn't find any similar connotation to describe it.
The day-night cycle of this special facility was maintained to match with the outside and there were no time flow discrepancies present. So he decided to ask her permission about something,
“Lady Auburn, I wish to send texts and calls to some of my friends outside. Is this allowed here or should I refrain from it?”
“As long as you don't send any pictures of Mountain of Triumph then it's allowed. You actually don't need to ask my permission for it as anything related to classified information would be appropriately censored even if you use your smartphone to reveal it.”
“Thank you for clearing my doubt, your ladyship.”
After reaching the wooden hut and going to the room she designated for his lodging, he called Karla. He then talked with her about his days and after she had her fill of how much he “missed” her and whatnot he got her to get Clara on the call.
She didn't suspect anything and only thought he wanted to catch up with her as both of them were on very good terms these days. He then talked with Clara for a while before sending her a text about the time he would give her a private call later.
Laura was obviously in his “Home skill” and couldn't be let out because of obvious reasons as he already had talked with them about such arrangements before he left this morning. So after talking with all of them he ended the segment of connecting with the “family” for today.
He texted Luna next and asked if she was available for a video call.
Unsurprisingly, she replied swiftly and thus he got the reincarnator to listen to his experience here as his “close friend”. He chatted, joked, laughed and then finally bid farewell much to her reluctance. He did want to grind a bit on her side mission but she was a core denizen after all. Too much enthusiasm out of nowhere would be noticed by her future self and this will plant a seed of doubt in her mind.
Such a situation was to be avoided at any cost.
The only one remaining was his personal teacher Nicole who was at the peak of “goodwill” stage certainly. He followed the same pattern and later video called her. His conversation with her lasted longer than Luna's but obviously fell short to the two sisters.
After dealing with her, he revealed a grin as he had noticed her subtle emotions that wanted to spend more time with him. He was sure that Nicole had also noticed the oddity within herself and was considering what to do with these budding feelings that was inappropriate considering her position.
“Soon, this teacher would be up for grabs.”
He commented inwardly but he couldn't help but lament how he could have generated a side mission for her if he could appraise her right now. Though he was well aware of this system’s pickiness, he was certain that Nicole was bound to pique its interest.
There wasn't any evidence for it but rather it was more of his deduction from how much this system took the initiative to generate missions in earlier cases. Though special cases such as Blessed Womb physique and her daughters, the reincarnator who was a potential abomination were only able to gain a reaction from it till now but he doesn't believe that this system only targeted those special women.
It took a lecher who was also a leech to understand another of their kind.
In that opinion, he had to ironically agree that both his true personality and the system’s functions were perfect for each other. Because he had a profound understanding of himself, he also guessed the system's taste based on it with much certainty.
Special cases are always prioritized but this system would also target the likes of Nicole, a strong player with ready made available conditions for his conquest and Julie, a noblewoman who was the only condition available for his good future in the Inner Area after the academy.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
This is because even without the system he would have targeted these two so with the system now residing within his soul and on top of that being a perfect fit for his typical conducts then the only conclusion that could be easily reached with this analysis was that both of them would be squeezed for more benefits with this system.
The Pure Yin essence was something related to the cultivators so his past self as a lust incubating abyss spawn didn't have any need to utilize it as his race focused on bloodline abilities rather than cultivation as the main focus.
Now as an awakened human he got to taste the wonderful benefits it could bring and how this system managed to collect it to alleviate his existence level through its own wondrous means. And this isn't even the only thing this system can do as many of its functions and further evolution remain to be unraveled.
With his anticipation for the future plans and the secret call with Clara finishing his priority of checking on the girls to keep them cared and hooked, he exited the room before heading off to a place in the distance within this spacious wooden hut.
He knocked on the door where Julie now resided.
°°°°
Julie looked at the door of her room as she noticed the presence of Paladin Blue approaching it from a distance.
Sure enough, she heard a knock and his voice from outside asking her permission for a conversation about some important questions regarding the training schedule conducted today.
If Russell was here, it would have been him informing her about it and then he would have tended to do all the small matters she considered a bother to complete. Now that it was just the two of them she had to deal with everything.
She didn't mind it though as the usual responsibility of the vice principal was now put aside as she was “supervising” him when in actuality it was more of a retreat for her, a good rest for three days.
She opened the door and invited him inside before giving him permission to take a seat on the chair. As a noblewoman, the matter of a young man entering her room at night time, if found, would have caused a scandal and huge commotion if she was in her family estate back at Inner Area.
Now that others prying eyes were not on her in this academy she discovered that the present situation kind of amused her as she felt her upbringing as a noblewoman feeling reluctant and conflicted about letting him enter while the other part of her found it somewhat sneakily enjoyable as she felt similar to have done something that she was cautioned to refrain from till now.
She hurriedly put those thoughts aside as the young man in front of her was just a student of her grandfather’s academy. It was very inappropriate to think of his presence in such a way.
“Yes, student Blue? Let's hear your questions.”
“Again, thank you for your permission, Lady Auburn. I am aware that this is very inappropriate of me considering the time but it's just that I had some questions that were troubling me…”
She listened to his questions and found them indeed important enough to even make this ever diligent and mannered Paladin to approach her like this. She then answered them and gave some more explanations about it so he could truly understand the topic.
Their conversation turned out to be lengthier and he seemed to be glancing at the portable stoves and kitchenware in her room. She found it kind of cute how the serious expression he showed in front of her seemed to break a little as curiosity tinged his face every time he glanced at it.
She let him remain curious like this as she enjoyed this rare side before finally deciding to talk about it as the conversation neared its end,
“Hmm? Are you curious about it?”
She pointed at those things behind her and he seemed to be taken aback for a second before nodding with a bit of embarrassment present in his eyes for being found out about his curiosity that he probably wanted to hide from her.
“Hehe, I actually love cooking. Though with a purified body, sustenance becomes redundant but I kept this as a hobby of mine for relaxation. A player should not only be serious about gaining experience for level up but they should also take good care of their mental wellbeing as too much worry about the bottlenecks during refinement is never good. A hobby to indulge in will help in gaining new perspectives that you previously might have overlooked.”
“It turns out to be Lady Auburn’s hobby. That being said, how come I have never had any bottlenecks yet and my peers are also the same? Is it something only applicable to higher levels?”
“Umhm. Newbie players of level 1 to 20 wouldn't face any bottlenecks as the aura vein refinement is easier at these earlier stages. The higher you go the more difficult it becomes and starting from level 21 a player may start facing bottlenecks. For now, you don't have to worry too much about it.”
“Thanks to her ladyship's explanation I got to receive such knowledge about higher stages. By the way, I also have some experience in cooking.”
“Oh! Is that true? That's a pleasant surprise.”
She exclaimed a little as she never expected this Paladin to take up cooking. Hmm? Could it be that before awakening he learned the culinary arts from his world? She asked the question and it turns out she had hit the mark.
So a new conversation about the topic of cooking sprang up between them.