Alex managed to break free from Alera's overly enthusiastic embrace, catching his breath and adjusting his clothes as her strength had nearly flattened him.
As he straightened up, he noticed Lilith giving him an amused, if slightly annoyed, looks.
He cleared his throat, a bit embarrassed, but quickly turned his attention back to Alera.
"Actually, Alera," he began, "I wanted to ask you about something specific. Do you know any ways to help level up a companion, like a pet?"
Alera's gaze turned curious, but before she could answer, a dark shadow appeared above Alex, casting the whole area in a sudden dimness.
Alphox materialized as soon as he heard the word "pet", his massive, scaly form hovering right over the group.
"A DRAGON!" one of the fox women screamed, pointing with wide eyes.
"THAT'S A PRIMORDIAL DRAGON!" Another fox girl dropped her food and bolted.
Panic spread quickly through the entire tribe.
Foxes scattered in all directions, fleeing from Alphox as if they'd seen a ghost.
"Yes! YES! Run from me, fools!"
Alex sighed, realizing too late that he'd overlooked one major detail: primordial dragons were universally feared across almost every race in this world.
Even though Alphox's aura was dimmed and weaker now, the sight of him was terrifying enough to make even level 500 warriors shiver.
Alphox let out a small snort, a puff of dark flames escaping from his nostrils, causing even the bravest of fox girlx to freeze in place.
"So," Alera said, stepping back cautiously but only for a moment. "You want to help this... thing level up?"
She tilted her head at Alphox, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully as she assessed the dragon's form.
Despite her initial wariness, she approached Alphox again, her confidence returning as she sensed he was harmless for the time being.
"Yeah, exactly," Alex replied with a nod.
Alera smiled, crossing her arms as she spoke.
"I wouldn't trust it, but oh well, it's your choice," she shrugged before answering, "Well, actually, the monsters in the Mystical Forest have a small chance of dropping magic crystals."
"Not anything too powerful, but they could work as level boosters."
"The catch is that it'd take a while to get even one of them, but it could be good enough, right?"
Alex chuckled, catching her confused expression as he did. "Yeah, leave that to me."
Alphox let out a low growl, dark smoke curling up from his mouth in anticipation. "Finally," he muttered, clearly eager for some action.
Instead of jumping into the fight himself, though, Alex took a deep breath and, for the first time, decided he'd let his army handle it.
He was tired, and besides, he had an army for a reason.
Alex raised a hand and summoned all of his undead minions with a single thought: 80 skeletons, 13 grand skeletons, 4 bony knights, and 3 spectral wraiths materialized in a cloud of dark magic.
The village square filled with their eerie presence, each one standing perfectly still, awaiting his command.
With a grin, Alex activated his Synthesis ability, watching as the magic crystals floated in front of him, merging one by one until they transformed into a single, glowing blue gem.
Ding!
[You have created "S-Level Magic Crystal (Mythical)"]
"You'll get your food soon, Alphox," Alex grinned as he stored the crystal in his inventory, feeling satisfied.
"Nice," and Alphox was actually pleased.
[Your favorability with "Alphox" has increased.]
Favorability with pets was important, and it was now the third time such a panel appeared.
Maybe soon enough Alphox would actually help him out in battles.
He just needed to wait for [Potential Extraction] to kick in now.
He got up, feeling good about everything that had happened recently.
Alera and Lilith were beside him, the latter looking at the sky.
"Alright," Alex sighed, "That should be enoug-"
He wanted to speak, but yet again, he was interruped by the feeling of his heart being struck by a hammer.
"ARGH-"
It was more powerful than before, so painful in fact that he spat blood.
"ALEX?" Lilith approached him as he fell to his knees, breathing hard.
"Hm," Alera kept looking at Alex, noticing a faint dark aura around him, "You're cursed."
"Cursed?!" Lilith gasped.
"Yeah... I am..." Alex mumbled, struggling to get up, "This is the side effect of my curse."
"What is the curse?" Alera asked, raising her eyebrows, "And what's the side effect?"
"..." Alex looked at Alera with a neutral expression.
Saying the curse would be fine, but the side effect was another story.
Alice also wasn't there, and she's currently completing her tier 3 advancement task, he couldn't disturb her.
In the end, after being pressed further by the [Ice Fox Queen], Alex gave in.
"Curse of the Undead King," he sighed, "If I don't have sex regularly, this happens," he gasped, spitting more blood.
"..."
"..."
The two fox girls looked at one another, Lilith's face turning bright red.