Free Web NovelChapter 37: Chapter 37: A More Intimate Action
Lloyd snapped at Weiya, then quickly scooped her up and ran out of the cell, intending to get help from the prayer room.
But before he could take more than a few steps, he heard an endless, extremely annoying DING~ DING~ DING~ in his ear.
[DING~ Madness Value +1]
[DING~ Madness Value +1]
[DING~ Madness Value +1]
Lloyd didn’t get it. The Demon was already dead, so where was this Madness Value coming from?
’Huh? Wait a second...’
He stopped in his tracks, glanced at Weiya in his arms, and then held her a little tighter.
[DING~ Madness Value +2]
[DING~ Madness Value +2]
[DING~ Madness Value +2]
Lloyd quickly activated [Inspect] again and saw that although Weiya was still in a state of [Moderate Madness] and the text was still flickering and changing, the frequency was now visibly much slower than before. This meant the rate of her deterioration was slowing down.
He quickly hugged Weiya with even more force, holding her so tightly it was as if he wanted to embed her into his own body.
[DING~ Madness Value +5]
[DING~ Madness Value +5]
[DING~ Madness Value +5]
The words ’Moderate Madness’ were no longer flashing, but there was still no sign of improvement.
’Does it require even closer contact?’
Lloyd realized something.
But for the moment, he couldn’t think of any way to get ’closer.’
’Back on Earth, I’d had plenty of "wives," but they all lived in my phone. I couldn’t even hold their hands.’
’Since coming to this world, the only hand I’ve held is my sister’s...’
In his desperation, Lloyd didn’t have time to overthink it. He simply performed the most intimate gesture he had ever shared with his sister, Evelor, on Weiya.
He leaned against the wall and sat down, cradling Weiya’s head to bring her face closer. Then, he leaned his own head forward and...
...pressed his forehead against hers.
’This is the most intimate form of contact I can think of.’
’What else was I supposed to do? I can’t just take advantage of her when she’s vulnerable, right?’
[DING~ Madness Value +50]
[DING~ Madness Value +50]
[DING~ Madness Value +50]
The intimate gesture really worked!
Lloyd let out a long sigh of relief and closed his eyes. He continued to hold Weiya tightly, their foreheads pressed together, until a final notification sounded in his ear:
[DING~ Skill Acquired—Swordsmanship LV3]
’Huh?’
Lloyd quickly released Weiya and inspected her status.
’She’s already recovered to a state of [Mild Madness]?’
’That’s great!’
Only then did Lloyd truly relax.
According to the books he had read, [Mild Madness] was indeed a common mental state among the extraordinary, and it came in varying degrees.
In its mildest form, the symptoms were things like nervous exhaustion, insomnia with excessive dreaming, listlessness, and even infertility.
A more severe case could lead to schizophrenia or delusional disorders—for example, someone calling any pretty girl he sees "wife," or, like Buster, constantly believing his daughter is still alive.
At this level, although there were dangers and hidden risks, it was manageable as long as one was careful and took precautions. It couldn’t be cured, but it wouldn’t worsen, and it wasn’t bad enough to get someone committed to a mental asylum.
Any further, however, was dangerous. That was the brink of [Moderate Madness], where one’s core values and Cognition would essentially collapse and become pathological. All sorts of dangerous thoughts would emerge, like, ’He glanced at me, he’s harassing me!’ or ’I want to kill my own father!’
Once a person reached that stage, they were basically beyond saving. They would either spend the rest of their lives in a mental asylum or go one step further and take up residence on floor -3.
Lloyd had successfully pulled Weiya back from the brink of [Severe Madness], but he could no longer gain any more [Madness Value] from her. He could only help her this much; she still couldn’t make a full recovery.
’From now on, Weiya will always be a little bit... mad.’
But it was still so much better than before.
A relieved smile appeared on Lloyd’s face. Leaning against the wall, he finally had the peace of mind to call up his status panel and check his gains for the day.
From the [Madness Value] he had absorbed from the giant cicada and Weiya, he had gained six opportunities to allocate points, accumulating a total of 30 unspent points.
’Time to assign these points...’
Lloyd thought for a moment, finalized his point allocation, and confirmed it.
[DING~ Point allocation complete.]
[User: Lloyd]
[Status: Normal]
[Madness Value: 233/2000, Limit: 5000]
[Rationality: 50]
[Spiritual Power: 45]
[inspiration: 30]
[Cognition: 45]
[System: Twist LV1]
[Mastered Skills: High-Efficient Learning; Inspect; Divination LV3; Dizziness Resistance LV3; Precise Dissection LV3; Twisted Realm LV3; Swordsmanship LV3; Aggressive Speech LV1]
The points had been distributed among the other three stats, with none going to [inspiration].
’Ahem, it’s definitely not because I’m giving up on a well-rounded build. My hand just slipped, and I misclicked...’
Lloyd explained to himself before looking at his two new skills.
One was ’learned’ from Weiya; the other had been pieced together from skill fragments obtained while fighting the giant cicada.
[Swordsmanship (LV3) — An advanced skill in the use of melee weapons. Not limited to swords, it is also effective with other common types of melee weapons. Continued practice can increase the skill level. Can be fused with other similar melee weapon skills.]
As usual, a line of small text was added below the skill description:
"Within seven paces, a gun is faster. But what if the bullet can’t get through?"
On top of that, a dialogue box surprisingly appeared with an option:
[DING~ Assessing... Compatible skill detected. Fuse with Precise Dissection (LV3)?]
Lloyd didn’t rush to make a choice. It was a brand-new skill, after all. He would decide after he’d had a chance to actually experience its effects.
He then focused on the new swordsmanship techniques in his mind. There weren’t many—just a few hazy impressions. The most important part was the new muscle memory that had settled into his body.
For instance, holding Weiya in his arms, Lloyd could clearly sense her vulnerabilities. He knew exactly where to strike to make her cry out in pain.
It was similar to when he had learned [Precise Dissection]—his hands knew what to do before his brain did.
Lloyd moved on to the second new skill.
[Aggressive Speech (LV1) — Activating this skill will continuously consume Spiritual Power, imbuing your subsequent speech with a certain degree of aggression. It causes different effects on different targets. Collect more fragments to increase the skill level.]
The small text annotation below it read:
"A sharp sword can be blocked by sturdy armor, but how does one defend against venomous words?"
’Hsss... this skill...’
’Why does this feel so strangely familiar?’
Lloyd pursed his lips, reminiscing about his glory days on Earth as a ’Key Immortal.’
’I wonder what this skill’s specific level of aggression is. Could I use it to, say, curse an old man to death on a battlefield between two armies?’
