«↓ [HSA] for Linda: 30% ↑»
«↓ Share Stats? ↑»
'Yes.'
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«↓ Sharing Stats... ↑»
«↓ Congrats. Stat points have been shared successfully to your HSP ↑»
«↓ Harem Sharing Points [HSP]: 144 ↑»
>> Harem Sharing Point is a special type of value Host gains from completing quests, or directly from sharing Harem's abilities.
>> These points can equally be used to boost Harem members' stats, if need be.
«↓ How do you wish to distribute the points? ↑»
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'Accordingly.'
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« Congrats! »
«↓ ...Stats... ↑»
« VIT: 11 → 30.5 »
« STA: 5 → 17.6 »
« MANA: 7 → 28.3 »
« STR: 6 → 15 »
« AGI: 3 → 17.4 »
« INT: 15 → 36 »
« WILP: 4 → 14.5 »
« W-MAS: 20.7 »
« W-RES: 15 »
«↓ Total Stat Points [TSP]: 195 ↑»
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«↓ Congrats! You have leveled up ↑»
The rush of data from the system was so fast that I found it difficult to keep up, as the screen displaying each data point continued to change.
«↓ You have gained a Power | Temperature Manipulation ↑»
>> You can manipulate the temperature of water to form your imaginary desires. Be it ice or steam.
'Let's call this proper Awakening.'
«↓ Congrats! You have leveled up ↑»
'Another level up?'
«↓ You have gained a Skill | Spirit Pouch ↑»
>> This is a small enchanted container that can be used as storage for items, whether living or non-living, far beyond its physical state.
The moment the system was through with its notification, Linda had to jolt out of my embrace the moment she noticed a change in my body reaction.
It was as if my very veins had been frozen.
Icy steam flooded through my body, fierce and intoxicating, yet sharp enough to tear me apart from the inside. My heartbeat thundered like a war drum, each pulse sending waves of raw Mana crashing against my bones, making my veins visible for a while.
My breath hitched. My chest heaved as every muscle trembled between unbearable agony and euphonic exhilaration.
While all these happened, I unknowingly lay back in bed, struggling to get hold of myself, with thoughts that I wouldn't make it.
For a while, the bed foam felt rigid. My world seemed to shatter.
Cold flux spread through my whole body.
Seriously, it was terrifying and utterly consuming. As if for a moment, it became both predator and prey in the same instant.
Not until a soft, warm fabric rested on my forehead.
Linda had rushed the moment she noticed a rapid change in my body reaction, and brought forth a white fabric dipped in lukewarm water. Her actions seemed unnecessary, given that she could have used her power for that purpose.
However, in that instant, as if nothing ever happened, all those feelings left me.
I felt alive once again.
Strength? Filled.
Agility? Amazing.
"You awakened your power?" Linda guessed.
"Not just that... I leveled up x2," I added with a satisfying smile on my lips, claiming my sitting position once again.
Worry couldn't leave Linda's face.
Not only have I been acting somewhat odd lately, but I have had a rapid breakthrough to both level up and awaken a Power.
"Don't think much about it. It's just a chippy chirpy thing, you know," I chopped my right hand close to her face, causing a brief smile to play on her lips.
...
The tension from my proper awakening was gone.
Linda had returned to my shadow to exercise her healing power, in case I was injured internally.
But I called her out after giving her the benefit of the doubt to check if I was in good health.
"Tell me about the Academy."
Now feeling a bit more comfortable around me, she sat up close beside me and began to pour out all she knew about the Academy and its test.
"The Academy is called Purity Academy. Their mission is to cleanse the world of existential demons and impure living things. And their vision is to stabilize the world's balance and let peace become the order of the day, once again." Linda introduced herself quite well and turned to me, wrapping both her palms over my left hand.
"You must not attend their test. Don't listen to little Lord Muna, she's probably a pass for the test, but you, you only gained your power."
I understood her concern, but I forcibly let go of her grip, stood up, and paced a few steps across the room.
"Muna knows I might not be prepared, and this is why she has proposed a training. I will attend the training..."
"Little Lord Muna can be brutal with her technical training," Linda interrupted. "She—"
Before she could utter more words, I was already an inch from her, collecting her jaw in my hands, raising her face to mine.
"You are my shadow. You also don't think I'm capable?"
She forced her face down and rose from the bed, rubbing her two hands together.
"It's not it. Passing Purity Academy Tests will qualify you as a Purifier (a name the students of the Academy were called)," she said, and paused in her steps. "I'm just worried the other Elements are attending, as well as top noble teen practitioners. They can be brutal."
As she completed her last words, I turned to her direction. The word that captivated my interest was "Elements".
"Elements?"
She looked up at me knowingly and ventured to the stool beside my bed.
"There are four Duchedoms, as well as four Elements across Montana. There is the Air Duchedom, Water Duchedom, Earth Duchedom, and Fire Duchedom. These four Duchedoms have their various heirs, and they are referred to as the four Elements."
"Miriam Aerialis is the Lord of the Air Duchedom. Her sky-blue eyes shimmer like endless horizons, carrying the freedom of drifting clouds and the sharp clarity of the open sky. Her hair dances in wild, wind-swept waves, never still, as if caught in a perpetual breeze that wrapped her in motion. She seemed less a girl and more a blooming elemental Air."
"And there's Ngozi Rose Terravale..."
I folded my hands behind my back and stood, listening to her descriptions as she interpreted and demonstrated them with her hands.
"...she is the Lord of the Earth Duchedom. Her deep brown eyes glow with the steadiness of fertile soil, rich with quiet strength. The way her bronze hair fell in heavy, lustrous waves that gleamed like the sunlit world, each strand carrying the warmth of nature itself."
"Then, we have the most serious, Lyra Pyrrath, Lord of the Fire Duchedom. Her deep red eyes burn with an intensity that could both warm and scorch, glowing like embers within a blazing hearth. Her golden hair shimmers like the sun itself, each strand catching light as though it were spun from fire itself, swaying with the restless energy of a rising blaze."
"Interesting."
Linda's demonstration came to an abrupt pause. Her jaw dropped at my word.
"Interesting? If you encounter them, you might not make it alive," she complained. "Worse, you will be embarrassed."
"And the fourth Element?" I ignored her complaint.
"The fourth Element is a He. Very stubborn and lazy, boring to be with, and inconsiderate. Sometimes, I doubt if his deep blue eyes ripple with the calm mystery of the ocean's serene and hidden storms. His long, silvery hair cascaded like moonlight upon water, moving with a liquid grace as though it belonged to water currents."
On hearing her descriptions, I rushed to the mirror close to the top of my bed...
"He's currently perfected as a weakling."
She was actually describing me.
"You—" I turned, pointing a finger at her as I jokingly chased her around.
"He's Mobix Seafrost, Lord of the Water Duchedom." She stopped running when I did, panting.
In that last moment, the system chime sounded with its notification.
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«↓ HSA for Linda: 30% → 50% ↑»
>> She's happy that you no longer play mean with her, but now acknowledges her as part of you, the moment you said to her, "You are my shadow. You also don't think me capable?"
«↓ Share Stats ↑»
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'Yes.'
« Note: Until Linda undergoes a breakthrough, you can only share an available 20% of her stats. »
'Shit, cut the crap.'
I dismissed the screen with a knowing, yet not suspicious, wave of my hand and served myself the ceramic cup of water that had been included with my morning meal.
"Linda? Go and tell Muna that I will be training with her."