Chapter 107

Almost six hours after I had walked into the room, I had long collapsed on the bed next to Marianne’s sleeping figure —as Titania had left a couple of hours ago to measure the defensive efforts— trying to push back temptation to sleep next to her, exhausted by the constant exertion, though not the physical side. It was not to say that the physical side of it was not exhausting, but my stats were more than enough to compensate for the particulars.

However, the mental challenge constantly enhancing Marianne’s soul space and converting my mana into experience again and again for six hours. And the strain from constantly depleting and refreshing my mana reserves was not inconsiderable.

Pity that with everything going on, I didn’t have the time to enjoy some after-sex cuddling.

I had a feeling that, if I dared to do something like that with a lower endurance, I wouldn’t have walked out alive. Still, what a way to go.

After throwing one last glance at Marianne, deliciously naked except copious amount of cum covering her tits as well seeping out of her every orifice, still wearing a silly smile even as she slept, I pulled the covers on her and left the room.

Since I had already discussed a strategy with Titania —basically advising her to act like she over-exhausted her mana while staying in a warded location to prevent ambushes— I didn’t waste much time in the town. I just walked around once to check the unique chaotic resonance the mysterious organization was using to create artificial monster hordes. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any, suggesting that, at least for the short term, they had reached the end of their little bag of tricks. Then, I conjured another trusty fake elemental steed, and left the town through the same tunnel I had created earlier.

[-1163 Mana]

As I traveled back to Silver Spires, enjoying the wind on my face while I considered the next steps.

The discovery of an organization of mysterious assassins just hours ago put a rather unwelcome twist to the challenge I was facing. First of all, it suggested that I was not the only one with the ability to manipulate the leveling system, but remembering the disgusting sight of their soul spaces, it was clear that they had a wildly different technique than mine. Whether it was the limit of their abilities, or I was facing just the tip of the iceberg, I didn’t know.

But I had a feeling that I would learn.

However, their inclusion meant I needed a develop a better strategy to protect myself than just handling whatever they were throwing at me.

The simplest thing to do that would be to talk to the headmistress about the plot, including the existence of the mysterious organization to see whether she would prepare any insights about them. Considering that she was a crone that had been alive for centuries, her knowledge did seem likely. They were targeting Titania, who was one of her loyal supporters until I sunk my hooks into her —well, I did sink something into her, repeatedly, which was decidedly more effective than hooks— which meant there shouldn’t be an alliance between the mysterious organization and the headmistress. As a bonus, openly talking with her would increase the defensive effectiveness of the school quite a bit.

Unfortunately, there was one very small problem with that plan. I didn’t trust her.

Admittedly, I wasn’t the most trusting person. Not that I had the luxury to extend my trust easily considering the challenges I had been facing, the potential worth of my unique system, not to mention the potential shady activities every single organization, official and illegal alike, might do to take someone that could actually manipulate the leveling system.

My distrust toward the headmistress was on another level.

First of all, for someone that managed the most important educational facility of the Empire, she was shockingly unknown, more of a scary ghost that perched on top of Silver Spires rather than an actual educator. And meeting with her directly didn’t help any. Her mysterious ability to limit the effectiveness of the system was very scary, and the way she dressed didn’t make her any more trustworthy.

Pity that I still had to collaborate with her to some degree.

I started to consider it a dangerous idea. “I need more data,” I murmured even as I turned my gaze toward the spires of the school, shining silver from a distance. I needed to know more about her before I could make a decision. What she really looked like? How did she act when alone? What was her objective? Why was she hiding in Silver Spires without taking any action for centuries?

Something resembling a smile crossed my lips as I considered the best way to do so. It had been a while since I sneaked around when being caught meant mortal danger. It was hard to feel the same exhilaration lately, because the worst thing that would happen was to waste a bit more time to get what I wanted more directly.

Sneaking into the personal tower of the headmistress was the opposite. Sneaking in through those expertly crafted magical defenses was hard enough, and the fact she lived in a self-enforced solitude meant that there was no convenient servant I could disguise myself to create an easy way to sneak in.

More importantly, getting caught had scary consequences, and just to make things better, I had no idea what those consequences would be. I didn’t know how strong she was —though considering she had to use Titania as a regent, I had to hope that there were some limits to it. However, even if that assumption was correct, she clearly had a range of mysterious abilities, as implied by her ability to empower Titania and hamper my connection with the system just by walking in her room.

When I arrived at the school, I met with a total cacophony, squads of students leaving the school, led by the faculty members, while the others returned with obvious signs of battle damage, their highly varying numbers and haunted expressions implying casualties.

The strategy to weaken the school through the monster hordes was clearly ramping up.

Strength: 41 Charisma: 53

Precision: 35 Perception: 37

Agility: 35 Manipulation: 40

Speed: 34 Intelligence: 44

Endurance: 34 Wisdom: 46

HP: 5370 / 5370 Mana: 1394 / 6600 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Arcana [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [97/100]

Expert Speech [70/75]

Advanced Craft [50/50]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 21/25]

[Helga - Level 17/21]