While the girls continued talking among themselves in the dining hall, Lys had settled into the bathtub. He lowered himself completely under the water, letting it cover him up to his neck. The cold water felt good against his skin after the long, sweaty day. It eased the ache in his muscles and cleared some of the fog from his head.
He could still hear the low voices from the dining hall drifting through the thin walls: Mira's teasing tone, Elara's light scolding, Selene answering questions about Sara. The familiar sounds of home and his beloved family should have calmed him. But today, for some reason, they didn't.
Not completely.
Lys stared at the wooden ceiling beams above the tub, water dripping from his hair. He kept thinking about what he had said to Mira earlier.
Now that he was under cold water, calm-headed, he wondered if he actually meant it. Sitting in his house while other people controlled the safety of his family still didn't sit right with him. It made him feel weak, the same way he used to feel back on Earth.
And he hated every inch of it.
Back then, even if he was weak, he didn't have much to protect. So it didn't bother him that much. But now everything was different. He had Elara, Mira, Sara, Selene, and the others. People who looked to him, who depended on him.
And to make matters worse, every dangerous encounter since coming to this world only confirmed how weak he still was when it came to keeping them safe in this world filled with danger.
The hobgoblin fight had nearly killed him.
Today's battle on the road, even though he didn't fight himself, still made him realise how quickly things could spiral even worse.
And now a full dungeon break was pushing stronger monsters toward the village. Toward his home.
Of course, he couldn't just sit back and hope everything would go well. He couldn't keep relying on others to protect what was his. That wasn't who he wanted to be anymore. He wanted to change, if not for himself, at least for this new family of his.
While thinking all of these, he finally realized that he really hadn't actually meant what he said back there to Mira. It probably was just him trying to convince himself that everything would be okay.
But in reality, nothing felt okay about any of this.
The system had gone quiet on the naughty quests for days. Not that he missed them, but at least they had forced him to grow stronger in a short time compared to the scrawny kid he had been back on Earth.
Lys looked down at his own body under the water. It was still a little on the scrawny side, but he could see muscles forming on his arms and legs. These muscles were his proof that he was actually growing stronger. And there was no denying that all of it came from the system the goddess gave him. Without it, there was no way he would be even this strong or confident in himself.
He sighed, the sound echoing softly off the walls of the small washroom. 'What the hell is going on with this stupid system? One moment it was giving me quests about touching Mom and Mira, and now it's completely silent? Though I can still open the status screen and check things, without any quests, how am I supposed to get stronger now?'
But as he thought more on this subject, suddenly it clicked.
Though the quests had stopped, back when he fought that hobgoblin, he had gotten stronger mid-battle while using the sword. And today the system had also alerted him about the cursed bow, too.
'What the fuck….! Is this damn system pushing me toward fighting by myself? Getting familiar with different weapons of this world to grow stronger? Because everything makes sense only if that's true. As far as I can see, that's the only way left for me to get stronger."
"I can't train in magic like Selene or practice enchantment like Mira. But if I use this right, maybe I can get stronger, much faster than through those other paths. Is this the reason for those quests not appearing these days, because I finally unlocked the weapons leveling system?"
Realizing this, Lys opened his system screen to check on something.
<< Milf Breeding System >>
<< Host: Lysander Veyne >>
Title: Wielder of the Strongest Sword
Strength: 42
Stamina: 55
Mana: 220/220
System Points (SP): 160
Partners:
[ Selene Veyne (Fiancé) ] -
Status: Talking with Tresta (Physical contact 0%) | Bonded
Strength: 18 | Stamina: 22 | Mana: 55/80 | Fertility: 55%
Potential: Priestess(Divine) Magic (Tier 2) | Leadership Aura (Tier 1) | Resilience (Tier 3)
[ Mira Veyne (Step-Sister) ] -
Status: Sitting on a chair (Physical contact 0%) | Bonded
Strength: 20 | Stamina: 25 | Mana: 40/40 | Fertility: 30%
Potential: Sword Mastery (Tier 3) | Agility Boost (Tier 2) | Loyalty Aura (Tier 1)
[ Sara Thorne ] -
Status: Sleeping (Physical contact 0%) | Bonded
Strength: 24 -> 26 | Stamina: 35 -> 38 | Mana: 10/60 | Fertility: 60%
Potential: Earth Magic (Tier 4) | Resource Management (Tier 3) | Combat Tactics (Tier 2)
Active Targets:
[ Elara Veyne (Step-Mother) ] -
Difficulty: SS- Rank
Status: In the Dining room (Physical contact 0%)
Affection: 93 | Lust: 55%
[ Bertha Hale (Maid) ] -
Difficulty: D- Rank
Status: Sleeping by Sara's side (Physical contact 0%)
Affection: 25 | Lust: 45%
[ Nora (Merchant Lady) ] -
Difficulty: D- Rank
Status: Preparing some potions (Physical contact 0%)
Affection: 39% | Lust: 48%
Passive Targets:
Elowen Valtor (Noble lady/Lord Valtor's daughter)
As the system was open in front of him, Lys could see almost everything in his system, but not what he opened the screen for.
Even after thinking about opening the screen for the sword, it wasn't appearing like it usually did.
At first, he thought maybe it needed him to touch the sword while trying to open its screen, but then he remembered he had seen the screen even without touching the sword multiple times before. But in those cases, he had the sword by his side or at least in the same room. But right now, as he was in the washroom, it wasn't showing, he guessed.
Closing the system screen, he stayed submerged in the cold water a little longer, thinking. The voices from the dining hall continued in the background, warm and familiar. But his mind stayed fixed on the system and what it might be trying to push him toward next.
He had people to protect now. And he refused to stay weak while they faced danger.
Thinking of getting stronger, suddenly Lys remembered something he had almost forgotten.
The Cursed Bow he had gotten from Tresta, he had almost forgotten to study its origin and stuff to unlock its features.
So, without any delay, he got up in the water-filled tub and got out of it. After wrapping his lower part with a towel, he finally got out of the washroom.