Another week passed.
After delivering the remaining Skill Fruits, Drake—this time with Amelia's help—planted a new batch. Fifty fruits in total. The fruit seller had been so ecstatic with the results that he'd given Drake twice the number of seeds compared to last time.
Now, though, it was time to return.
The night in Drake's world must have already passed.
Amelia was in the field, a wide farmer's hat perched on her head, diligently watering the newly planted fruits. If it weren't for Supernatural Senses, Drake would've only seen a hat and a hose floating mysteriously in midair.
"Amelia," Drake called.
She turned toward him with a bright smile. "Yes?"
Drake scratched the back of his neck.
Leaving her here… alone—after everything she'd been through—felt wrong.
"I'll… be leaving for… a bit," he said.
Amelia's smile vanished instantly.
"D-Don't be sad," Drake hurried to add. "I-It's just for a day—"
Before he could finish—
Amelia hugged him.
Drake froze.
"I'll come with you!" she exclaimed.
"N-No, Amelia, you can't—" Drake started, but she cut him off.
"Why?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes.
Her touch was cold.
Not unpleasant, but intense—her ghostly aura seeped straight through his clothes, sending chills down his spine.
"W-Well…" Drake hesitated. He couldn't exactly tell her he was traveling to another world… could he?
…Wait. Why couldn't he?
She was trustworthy. And she was a ghost—no one could hear her even if she screamed it out loud.
'But… she could write it', Drake thought, quickly abandoning the idea.
"Please! Please! Take me with you!" Amelia begged.
Drake sighed. "I can't, Amelia. It's a far place and—"
Then something clicked. "Wait… you can't move too far away from the house, right?"
Amelia nodded. "If you take something that belongs to the house, I can follow it."
Drake closed his eyes.
'System…' he asked inwardly, finally giving up. 'If I take a piece of the house with me, can she follow me to my world?'
[Affirmative, host.]
Drake let out another long sigh.
"…Fine."
"Thank you! Thank you!" Amelia cried, hugging him tighter—her chest pressing firmly against his torso.
Drake's face heated up instantly.
It feels good but…
It's freezing.
The cold from her spectral body seeped deeper into him.
"C-Could you…" he asked, embarrassed. "Let go? You're freezing me…"
Amelia's entire face turned crimson.
She immediately stepped back. "S-Sorry…"
...
Drake stepped inside the house, scanning the interior.
He needed something.
An object—anything—that could count as part of it.
Before he could search for long, Amelia floated up to him, holding a pendant in both hands.
It was old, simple, with a small green crystal embedded at its center.
Drake's eyes lingered on it.
"…That might work," he muttered. Then he hesitated. "But… does that really count as part of the house?"
Without answering verbally, Amelia stepped closer and gently placed the pendant around his neck.
"Yes," she said softly. "It belonged to the farmer's wife. It was still here when I ate the Skill Fruit, so it should count."
She looked away, cheeks faintly pink. "She… forgot it here after what happened."
"After what happened, huh?" Drake repeated lightly.
Amelia went quiet.
Drake smiled and patted her head, not pushing further.
"Alright," he said. "Let's go."
They stepped outside together, the fields silent under the night sky.
System… let's go home, Drake said inwardly.
He held the pendant, then turned to Amelia.
"Hop into the pendant."
Amelia blinked. "Like this?"
She reached out—and her body dissolved into wisps of pale light, flowing smoothly into the crystal.
The pendant glowed softly for a moment.
Then, the light faded.
The next instant, Drake's body shattered into countless particles of light—
And vanished.
...
He reappeared in his room.
His bed. His desk. His world.
Almost immediately, the pendant glowed again, and Amelia emerged from it, stumbling back in confusion.
"D-Drake! What is this?!" she exclaimed, spinning around. "Where are we?!"
Drake leaned back against his desk, smirking slightly.
"This," he said, "is my world, Amelia."
She froze.
"Y-Your… world?"
"Yeah." He scratched the back of his neck. "I've got a special power. I can travel between worlds."
Amelia stared at him, eyes widening.
"W-What?! Really?!"
"…Yeah."
She took a step closer, staring at him like he'd just rewritten reality itself.
"Drake," she said hesitantly, "are you… something like a god?"
He choked slightly.
"N-No! Definitely not."
She looked unconvinced.
Handsome. Kind. Absurdly strong. Able to walk between worlds.
There was one flaw, though—she'd noticed how his eyes lingered whenever she bent over to water the crops.
A little perverted.
But still…
...
An hour passed as Drake explained everything—his world, his school...
Eventually, the time came.
Drake quickly changed clothes, hiding the medieval attire from the Fruitmaster world somewhere, then headed downstairs.
The house was still empty.
Good.
Status window.
[Name: Drake Curtis]
[Age: 16]
[Gender: Male]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Thief (Ordinary)]
[Stats:
Strength: 99 (99) (F)
Agility: 99 (99) (F)
Vitality: 99 (99) (F)
Intelligence: 7 (6) (F)
Charm: 56 (51) (F)
Luck: 55 (50) (F)]
[Active Skills: Pick Lock (Lv. MAX), Slap (Lv. MAX), Backstab (Lv. MAX), Swat (Lv. MAX), Stealth Walk (Lv. MAX), Shatter (Lv. MAX), Widow Maker (Lv. MAX), Cut (Lv. 35), Water Breathing (Lv. 90)]
[Passive Skills: Sword Mastery (Lv. MAX), Cat Charmer (Lv. 1), Tool Adept (Lv. 30), Still Hands (Lv. 41), Supernatural Senses (Lv. 5)]
[Traits: Sword Genius (Epic), Sun Descendance (Epic), Sweet Lips (Rare), Titanic Endowment (Epic)]
...
Drake sighed.
No matter what he did, he couldn't push past the stat limit.
The system had already explained it—the human body in his world had a hard cap.
Ren had found only three ways around it:
A Skill Fruit that upgraded his entire physique—something like Amelia's ability, but different.
Becoming a demon.
Or awakening the Demon Slayer Mark, forcibly breaking the body's natural limits and shattering the stat counter even outside its activation.
Becoming a demon still felt… wrong.
And Skill Fruits like that were nearly impossible to find.
Which left only one option.
Awaken the Demon Slayer Mark.
That shouldn't be too difficult… with my talent.
All his thief skills were maxed.
Water Breathing was slowing down—it was getting harder to level now as it approached the cap.
Cut and Tool Adept were rising fast thanks to Sword Genius' EXP bonus.
Still Hands leveled naturally just by using his hands—and apparently, gripping a sword counted too for Sword Genius' bonuses to apply.
Cat Charmer, however…
Still level one.
He had no idea how to level that.
And then—
With Supernatural Senses, he heard it.
A door opening upstairs.
Footsteps.
Someone coming down.
Drake's eyes sharpened.
It was—
Elle.
To be continued...
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Sorry if I didn't post these days, I was busy.