Free Web NovelChapter 25: A New Companion
The next morning, the first rays of sunlight barely filtered through the curtains when someone knocked on the door.
Knock.
Knock.
Adam slowly opened his eyes.
Lyriana stirred against him, still half asleep.
Before he could answer, the door opened a crack.
Elena poked her head inside.
"Adam? Lyriana? Breakfast is almost—"
She stopped.
Her gaze flicked from one to the other.
Then a huge smile spread across her face.
"Oh."
Lyriana’s eyes snapped open.
For a split second, her expression remained calm.
Then her cheeks flushed.
"Elena."
"Yes?"
"Come out."
Elena put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.
"I see the discussion went well."
Adam sighed.
"Hello to you too."
Elena stepped further into the room, clearly far too amused to leave immediately.
"I’m happy for you both."
Then her gaze fell on Lyriana.
"Really."
Lyriana’s expression softened despite her embarrassment.
"Thank you."
Elena smiled.
Then, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she added:
"I can’t wait to join you someday."
Lyriana froze.
Adam did too.
Elena burst out laughing.
"Well, I’ll let you get ready. But don’t be too long, my mother will guess before you even arrive."
Lyriana whispered:
"She probably already has."
"Most likely," Elena replied with a smile.
Then she closed the door behind her.
A silence followed.
Adam slowly turned his head toward Lyriana.
"She really likes to tease you."
"She likes to tease everyone."
Lyriana sat up slightly, then sighed.
"And unfortunately, she’s very good at it."
Adam chuckled softly.
A few minutes later, they finally got up.
They took a hot bath, enjoying the morning calm before the day’s responsibilities caught up with them.
The water, powered by the magic core, quickly relaxed their tired bodies.
Lyriana, sitting in the warm water, watched Adam with a more tranquil expression than the day before.
"What are you going to do today?"
Adam thought for a few seconds.
"Continue working on the barrier. But I also have to start my training. Selene will probably want to break my bones to test my strength." "
Lyriana smiled slightly.
"She’ll call it a physical evaluation."
"That’s even less reassuring."
"Then Vespera will want to test your magic."
Adam closed his eyes.
"I’m going to die."
"Not so fast."
"You say that as if it’s supposed to reassure me."
Lyriana smiled.
"I’ll probably start your detection and stealth training tomorrow or the day after."
Adam looked at her.
"Are you going to be strict?"
"Yes."
"Honest, at least."
"Always."
After washing and dressing, they went down to the dining room together.
This time, Adam immediately noticed the difference.
Lyriana walked as usual.
Silent.
Elegant.
Controlled.
But when she thought no one was watching, her hand would sometimes brush against his.
An almost imperceptible gesture.
But Adam noticed.
And smiled.
When they arrived in the dining room, Elena was already seated, her chin resting on one hand.
Isadora was quietly drinking her tea.
The duchess looked up.
Her gaze flickered over Adam.
Then over Lyriana.
Then over their expressions.
A slight smile appeared on her lips.
"Good morning."
Lyriana remained perfectly still.
"Good morning, Isadora."
Elena, for her part, didn’t even bother to hide her amusement.
"They slept very well."
Adam sat down slowly.
"I’m beginning to think that the greatest danger in this manor isn’t the Holy Empire."
Isadora smiled.
"You learn quickly."
Lyriana looked away.
But, under the table, her hand gently sought Adam’s.
And this time, he took it without hesitation.
The day was just beginning.
And despite the threats looming over the world, despite Nocthar, despite the plans of the Sacred Empire and the terrifying training that awaited him...
Adam felt something simple.
He was no longer alone.
Breakfast continued in a strangely peaceful atmosphere.
Elena kept glancing amusedly at Lyriana, who was doing her best to maintain her usual composure.
Isadora, for her part, observed the scene with a slight smile, as if she perfectly understood everything that was happening without needing to ask a single question.
Adam, sitting between them, felt as if he were at the center of a silent conversation.
"You know," he said finally, "I’m really starting to think you’re all communicating telepathically."
Elena burst out laughing.
"No."
Isadora calmly took a sip of tea.
"Not yet."
Adam stared at her.
"That ’not yet’ worries me."
Lyriana looked away slightly, but a faint smile played at the corner of her lips.
The meal continued more calmly afterward.
They discussed the day’s schedule.
Elena was to join the Order of the Knights to resume several inspections delayed by recent events.
Isadora had an administrative meeting with the heads of the merchant districts.
Lyriana had to deliver some reports concerning suspicious activity near the border.
As for Adam...
He didn’t even need to ask.
Isadora put down her cup.
"Selene is expecting you today at the Adventurers’ Guild."
Adam froze slightly.
"Already?"
Elena smiled.
"You wanted to get stronger, didn’t you?"
"Yes. But I naively hoped I had a few more days before being broken by a tiger woman."
Lyriana replied calmly:
"Selene won’t break you."
Adam sighed with relief.
Then Lyriana added:
"Not intentionally."
"That’s not reassuring."
Isadora smiled.
"She knows how to gauge her strength."
"That’s a phrase we always say before disaster strikes."
Elena chuckled softly.
"Don’t worry. Selene is strict, but she’s excellent. If anyone can properly assess your physical potential, it’s her."
Adam nodded slowly.
He knew he couldn’t avoid training.
If he wanted to survive in this world, understand Nocthar, explore the labyrinths, and one day confront the plans of the Sacred Empire, he had to become stronger.
Much stronger.
After breakfast, everyone left the dining room to go about their business.
Adam went back to his room first.
He needed to check something.
Once the door was closed, he sat on the edge of the bed.
"System."
A translucent window immediately appeared.
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System
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Rewards Earned:
Satisfaction Points: 1,650
Rewards Not Claimed:
*Ring of Promise ×1
*Rare Chest ×2
*Common Chest ×1
Recently Registered Partner:
Lyriana Noctis Sylvermoon
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Adam remained silent for a few seconds.
"Two more rare chests..."
He thought back to the rewards he’d received with Elena and Isadora.
With each new connection established, the system seemed to offer points, a ring, and several chests.
This confirmed one thing.
The Relationships feature wasn’t just a simple affection chart.
It was an integral part of his progression.
Adam first opened the Relationships interface.
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Relationships
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
*Elena of Valoria
Affection: 87/100
Trust: 95/100
Loyalty: Very High
Status: Companion
*Isadora of Valoria
Affection: 82/100
Trust: 91/100
Loyalty: Very High
Status: Mate
*Lyriana Noctis Sylvermoon
Affection: 89/100
Trust: 96/100
Loyalty: Very High
Status: Mate
Relationship Bonus:
Mutual Growth +30%
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Adam studied the last line for a long time.
"The stronger my bonds, the higher the bonus..."
It was powerful.
Very powerful.
But it also meant that the system was clearly encouraging him to create deep relationships.
"I still don’t know if you’re helping me or manipulating me..."
There was no reply.
Adam sighed.
Then he retrieved the Ring of Promise.
A silver ring appeared in his hand, identical to the others.
Delicate bluish runes shone softly on its surface.
"This one will be for Lyriana."
He carefully placed it in his inventory.
Then he opened the Shared Chest.
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Shared Chest Opened
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Reward Received:
+2 Stat Points
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Adam smiled.
"Simple, but always useful."
He didn’t use them immediately.
He preferred to wait and see the results of his training with Selene before deciding where to place them.
Then, he opened the first Rare Chest.
A bluish light filled the room.
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Rare Chest Opened
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Reward Obtained:
Spellbook
Sword Mastery
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A book appeared in front of him.
Its dark cover was decorated with a silver sword surrounded by runes.
Adam took it in his hand.
A description appeared immediately.
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Spellbook: Sword Mastery
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Allows the user to effectively master swords.
Bonus:
*Improved Handling
*Passive Sword Experience
*Instinctive Stance Understanding
*Built-in Parry and Attack Basics
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Adam froze.
"Right before my training with Selene..."
He slowly raised his eyes to the ceiling.
"You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?"
Once again, the system didn’t respond.
But Adam increasingly felt it possessed a logic of its own.
He then opened the second Rare Chest.
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Rare Chest Opened
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Reward Obtained:
Physical Enhancement Essence
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A small golden vial appeared.
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Physical Enhancement Essence
Grade: Blue
Effect:
Slightly improves muscle quality,
body density, and internal strength.
High compatibility with:
Mana Body
Vigorous Body
Body Control
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Adam examined the vial.
"That too, right before training..."
This time, he didn’t complain.
He drank the essence.
A dense heat immediately spread throughout his body.
It wasn’t harsh.
Not painful.
But profound.
His muscles seemed to contract and then relax.
His bones vibrated slightly.
His mana flowed on its own, guided by Mana Body, to absorb the effect without waste.
A few seconds later, a notification appeared.
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Absorbed Effect
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Integrated Physical Enhancement Essence.
Result:
Strength +1
Endurance +1
Improved Body Compatibility.
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Adam exhaled slowly.
"Perfect."
He then picked up the Book of Sword Mastery.
"Use."
The book instantly transformed into particles of light.
They entered his forehead.
A wave of knowledge flooded his mind.
Basic stances.
Defensive postures.
Angles of attack.
Distance management.
Footwork.
Simple strikes.
Downward cuts.
Thrusts.
Parries.
Counters.
For several seconds, Adam felt as if he had spent months repeating the same movements.
His body wasn’t becoming that of a master.
But he wasn’t starting from scratch anymore.
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Acquired Skill
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Sword Mastery Lv. 1
Allows the user to wield swords effectively.
Bonus:
*Improved Handling
*Passive Sword Experience
*Accelerated Sword Technique Learning
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Adam slowly opened his eyes.
"With Dagger Mastery and Sword Mastery, I’m finally starting to look like an adventurer."
