NOVEL WEB Chapter 67: Increase
Richard could only say that Gray was far too reckless, trying to seize Wren's position after already admitting defeat.
Still, that wasn't his business.
Night had fallen by the time he returned to Lilith's empty home. There was no one there but himself.
He sat in his room, preparing a plate to place the Dark Black Rose upon.
This was something he intended to use—and of course, he would use it right away.
However, Richard did not use his own flames to burn the rose, afraid it might be reduced to ashes in an instant.
Instead, he lit a candle and burned only a small portion of the flower.
Buzz!
The rose immediately ignited, producing an extremely thick black smoke, and it burned quickly, making the smoke even denser.
Although Richard had no experience inhaling smoke directly—aside from cigarettes—he did not hesitate to draw it in, channeling Aether into his nose so his ability to inhale it was multiplied many times over.
The black smoke surged into his nostrils, making his eyes widen as the overwhelming sensation filled him—utterly unbearable.
But at the same time, he immediately felt something else, as if his mind was being sharpened several times over.
Even his consciousness was affected, as though dragged into an illusionary world where his vision shifted between endless light, boundless darkness, and terrifying storms.
Yet to him, those visions were meaningless. His mind was entirely focused—focused only on one thing: the Codex of Dragon Emperor.
This was not his choice—the rose's smoke seemed to guide him, steering his focus toward the strongest of all his Codices and Arcane Arts.
Of course, he didn't care which one advanced. They were all parts of himself. Any progress was cause for joy.
With his sharpened mind—thanks to the Black Heart Soul—combined with the effects of the Dark Black Rose, mysteries of the Codex of Dragon Emperor that had once baffled him became clear with ease.
As he unraveled those mysteries, his mastery of the Codex gradually increased.
He couldn't determine exactly how much he improved, but he knew this was no short training.
Nor could he predict the results until it was over.
Given the reputation of the Dark Black Rose, the outcome surely wouldn't be disappointing.
But Richard wasn't aware of when he stopped.
When everything was over, he simply fell into a deep sleep.
And in his sleep, he received a notification.
(Your mastery of Mind Attack has increased from 3% to 13%!)
Mind Attack (13%)
Richard snapped awake as soon as he received the notification—startled, because the System had only increased his mastery of Mind Attack.
At 13%, it meant he could now strike thirteen people simultaneously with Mind Attack.
Remembering his use of the Dark Black Rose the previous night, he immediately checked the Codex of Dragon Emperor's data.
Naturally, there was no notification—only an update to the data itself, since this was pure progress without the System's aid.
[Codex:
Codex of Dragon Emperor (40%)]
"What?"
Richard was stunned when he saw the number had reached 40%.
He clearly remembered it had been only 31% before. Now it was 40—an increase of 9%.
"Amazing!"
He couldn't be happier.
Looking toward the window, he realized the sky was already bright.
It was well past noon.
Richard quickly stood, but the house was still empty.
There was no one else but him.
Sister Lisa was nowhere to be found, and he couldn't guess when Lilith would return.
Since Richard's requests had been rather excessive, it was likely Lilith wouldn't be back anytime soon.
Not wanting to dwell on bothersome thoughts, he went to bathe first.
Unexpectedly, someone knocked at the door just after he finished.
Peeking through the window, he saw that it was Grace, accompanied by her maid.
Richard hesitated but still opened the door.
The two girls were slightly surprised to see him appear.
"Where is Princess Lilith?" Grace asked.
"She's not here. She went out," Richard replied.
"When will she return?" the girl pressed.
"How should I know?"
Richard felt a little irritated answering, since the girl's tone sounded more like an interrogation.
He thought, 'No surprise—she was raised by that madwoman who abandoned her own child just to protect her reputation.'
Richard stared at Grace, wondering what else she would say.
But she only furrowed her brows.
"Miss, perhaps Princess Lilith is busy. Let's come again tomorrow," her maid suggested.
Instead of agreeing, the girl, still staring at Richard, suddenly said, "How about you have lunch with me?"
"What?" The maid was stunned, and Richard himself hadn't expected such words from her.
He studied her and realized she was serious.
But was he interested?
Not at all. He had an adult's mentality—how could he be interested in having lunch with a seven-year-old girl?
Only if she were grown would he be interested.
Now? Absolutely not.
Richard shook his head.
"No, thank you. I'm busy," he said.
His refusal clearly caught Grace off guard.
She frowned, giving him a sharp glare.
Yet Richard's face remained utterly expressionless.
Then, without another word, she suddenly turned and left.
She looked annoyed.
Richard shook his head, but then suddenly noticed a crow flying swiftly toward the door.
Whoosh!
The crow spun around at the doorway and dropped a ring.
"I haven't found anything to increase your thousand Aether yet, but the other two items are inside that ring."
Lilith's voice echoed from the departing crow.
Richard scowled slightly, disappointed he hadn't received everything.
Checking inside the ring, he indeed found a torso bone and a golden sword adorned with engravings of an eagle and a wolf.
"Well, let's fuse this bone first," he said, returning to his room.
This was the final piece of his Aether Skeleton.
After this, it would be complete.
Next, all he needed was to gather ten thousand Aether, and he could advance to the next Realm.
Drawing out the torso bone, Richard immediately absorbed it into his body. The process was effortless, completed in an instant, since his skeleton was already dominated by the Aether Skeleton.
DING!
(Your torso bone has merged with the Aether Skeleton. Aether Accumulation +1000!)
[Aether: 3260 / 10,000 <Tier 3>]
[Aether Accumulation: 8260 <Tier 3>]