Silence returned to the cave, heavy and intimate.
Vanessa lay sprawled on Ren's jacket, her chest heaving. Her combat suit was in a pile nearby. Her skin was no longer blue; it was flushed a deep, healthy pink.
Ren sat up, running a hand through his hair. He felt stronger. Denser.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[Ritual Complete.]
[Level Up: 2 -> 3]
[Target Vanessa: CURED]
[Affection Status: IMPRINTED (She will crave your Yang energy)]
[Skill Stolen: FROST BITE (Passive)] – Your physical attacks now inflict a slowing effect.
Ren stood up and began to dress, casually, as if he hadn't just taken the virginity of the most powerful girl in school.
Vanessa watched him. She pulled the jacket over her naked body, her hands trembling. But she wasn't cold anymore. She felt... full. And strangely, she felt a pull toward him. A magnetic need to be close to him.
"You..." Vanessa's voice was hoarse. She looked at the bloodstain on the ground, then up at Ren. "You took..."
Ren zipped up his pants and looked down at her. He didn't offer comfort. He didn't apologize.
"I saved your life, Vanessa," Ren said smoothly. "Whatever happened here... was just medical treatment. Right?"
He leaned down, grabbing her chin. Her eyes were wide, dilated with lingering lust. She leaned into his touch without thinking.
"Right?" he repeated.
Vanessa swallowed hard. The memory of him inside her made her thighs clench. She realized with horror that she didn't hate it. She wanted him to do it again.
"Right," she whispered, looking down in submission.
"Good." Ren turned his back on her. "Get dressed. We have a boss to kill."
Ten minutes later, they emerged from the cave.
The jungle was still humid and loud, but the silence between Ren and Vanessa was heavier.
Ren walked in front, adjusting his collar. He looked energized, his stride confident. The System screen flickered in his peripheral vision.
[Status Update]
Ren: Level 3
Energy: 100% (Overcharged)
Passive Effect: The scent of your mana is now permanently imprinted on Target [Vanessa].
Behind him, Vanessa walked slowly. She had fixed her combat suit, but her hair was still slightly disheveled, and her lips were swollen and red. She wasn't walking with her usual icy precision. She was walking with a slight limp, her thighs trembling with every step, the phantom sensation of him still inside her making her breath hitch.
They reached the clearing where Jax and Mila were waiting.
"Ness!" Jax shouted, running over with his shield raised. "You're okay! We thought the mana shock might..."
He stopped. He looked at Vanessa.
She didn't look sick. She looked... radiant. Her skin was flushed a healthy, deep pink. Her eyes were bright and dilated. And there was a smell clinging to her—a musky, masculine scent that Jax recognized instantly. It was Ren's scent.
Jax looked from Vanessa to Ren, his eyes widening. "Wait. What exactly was the 'treatment'?"
Vanessa froze. She looked at Ren, panic flashing in her eyes.
Ren stepped forward, casually checking his gauntlets. "I told you. Core Stabilization. I had to manually restart her circulation. It was... exhausting work."
Ren looked at Vanessa, a dark, knowing smirk playing on his lips. "Isn't that right, President?"
Vanessa bit her lip, her face turning crimson. The memory of his hips slamming into hers flashed through her mind. She felt a sudden, sharp throb of desire between her legs—the Imprint working its magic.
"Yes," she whispered, looking at the ground. "Ren... saved me."
Jax frowned, suspicious, but before he could ask more, the ground shook.
SCREECH!
The trees at the far end of the clearing snapped like matchsticks. A massive creature burst into the open.
[BOSS DETECTED: Razor-Beak Matriarch (Level 15)]
It was twenty feet tall, its feathers made of jagged steel, its beak dripping with venom. It roared, spotting the intruders near its nest.
Mila screamed, backing away. "It's an Alpha! We can't fight this! We need to retreat!"
Jax raised his shield, his knees shaking. "She's right. Ness, your core is just recovering. We can't—"
"Quiet," Ren said.
It wasn't a shout. It was a command.
Ren walked past Jax, standing between the terrifying monster and the team. He looked back at Vanessa.
"Vanessa," Ren said coolly. "I didn't just fix you. I upgraded you. Stop trembling and freeze its legs."
Vanessa's head snapped up. Usually, she would have snapped at anyone giving her orders. But hearing Ren's voice trigger the Imprint, her body moved before her brain could object. It was an instinct to obey the man who had claimed her.
"Y-Yes," she breathed.
She raised her rapier. The air didn't just get cold; it turned absolute zero. The mana flowed through her clearer than ever before, amplified by Ren's essence.
"Glacial Chains!"
Thick, jagged spikes of ice erupted from the ground, clamping onto the Matriarch's massive legs. The beast screeched, struggling, but the ice held. It was stronger than her magic had ever been before.
"Jax, shield bash the head. Mila, haste on me," Ren ordered, seamlessly taking command of the squad.
The elites hesitated for a split second.
"Move!" Vanessa shouted at them, her voice sharp. "Do what he says!"
Jax and Mila jumped, terrified, and immediately fell into formation. Jax charged, slamming his tower shield into the bird's beak to distract it. Mila cast a green wind aura on Ren.
Ren turned back to the beast. He raised his right hand. The black gauntlet materialized, pulsing with the violet energy he had siphoned from Vanessa during their sex.
"Now," Ren grinned, his eyes glowing. "Let's test this new level."
He sprinted forward, faster than any F-Rank student should be able to move.
The Matriarch snapped at him, but Ren slid under its beak, the [Frost Bite] passive slowing the creature's reaction time just enough.
He leaped up, grabbing the feathers on its chest.
[Skill: MANA DRAIN]
He punched his hand directly into the bird's chest cavity. The creature shrieked as its mana was ripped out in a violent torrent. Ren didn't stop. He channeled all that stolen energy into his other fist.
[Skill: VOID IMPACT]
CRACK.
He punched the bird's heart. The impact was deafening. The massive beast stiffened, then collapsed, dead before it hit the ground.
Ren landed gracefully on his feet as the monster fell behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust.
[BOSS DEFEATED]
[Experience Gained: 2500]
[Level Up: 3->4]
Silence.
Jax dropped his shield. Mila was trembling. Vanessa stared at Ren's back, her heart pounding so hard it hurt. She wasn't looking at the monster. She was looking at him.
Ren stood up, wiping purple blood off his gauntlet. He looked back at the stunned team.
"Grab the core," Ren said, pointing to the carcass. "We're done here."