I smiled and immediately checked my rewards.
[Ding! You have leveled up! You are now a Rank Two Conqueror!]
I could feel my strength increasing in real time, it was euphoric.
[A random skill selection from your target: At the current target's favorability level, only low-rank skills can be inherited!]
The system explained before a wheel with many obscure skills appeared in my mind. It spun before stopping on one of those skills, and a flash of light moved into my soul, the skill's information ingrained in my mind.
[Ding! Skill [Echo] acquired!]
It was a simple skill, but one I greatly needed at the moment. Elaria must have used a similar skill to ensure there was no danger nearby.
[Echo: With you as the center, spread your mana to detect any intruders. The more mana used, the greater the skill's range became.]
To put it simply, this skill was like a radar—exactly what I needed.
I didn't notice Elaria calmly watching me, as I was too busy checking my rewards.
[Ding! You have acquired a skill and reached Rank Two. Unlocked Conqueror's Core Skill:
[Charm Lv1]]
[Charm Lv1: A passive skill. The higher the skill level, the stronger the effect.]
"A pretty simple and straightforward description. I like it," I mumbled under my breath. Truly satisfied with this new skill.
If I weren't in the presence of my future wife, I would have jumped around, maybe even doing the famous booty dance. But I didn't want to embarrass myself, so I refrained from celebrating.
[Final Reward: 100 CP.]
[Note: Conquest Points (CP) can be used to level up your skills and buy items from the store. (Store is currently sealed.)]
[To level up a skill, the ratio is 2 CP for 1 level until Level 5. Beyond that, the CP cost will double, depending on the skill's rank.]
[Skills have four ranks: Low, Medium, High, and Transcendent. [Teleportation] and [Charm] are High rank skills.]
From the system's explanation, I got the gist of how it worked. I summoned my status window with a mere thought to see the changes. I checked my skills and immediately decided to spend some conquest points.
First, I increased [Charm] to level 5, spending 8 Conquest points in the process. I then deactivated the passive skill so it wouldn't affect Elaria; I didn't want to conquer her like this. Next, I spent another 8 Conquest points to level [Teleportation] to level 5. I had spent 16 Conquest points and had 74 Conquest points left.
After a moment of hesitation I decided to go for it, I spent 25 more Conquest points to level it up to the maximum. In total, I spent 41 Conquest points, leaving me with 59 Conquest points remaining.
[Teleportation (Max): Teleport anywhere within your line of sight for 100 Mana. You can teleport up to three people with you (cost doubles the amount of mana per each person). You can also teleport to any location you have previously visited, taking a maximum of five people with you for 500 Mana.]
I nodded, satisfied with the result. With this, I now had a powerful trump card. I was steadily progressing. In just one day, my rank had risen, and I'd gained a bunch of useful skills.
•••
[Miles Butler]
[Human]
[Age: 20]
[Class: Conqueror]
[Rank: Two]
[Mana: 3000]
[Skills: [Teleportation Max Lvl], [Item Box] (Current limit: 300kg), [Echo], [Charm Lv5]]
[Items: Magic Gun, Food, Coins]
[Targets Conquered: 0]
[Elaria: Favorability: 20 (Slightly Interested)]
[Conquest Points: 59]
•••
I took a deep breath, calming my excitement to go test my new skills. It was time to go back to the real world.
"Are you done now?" Elaria asked, seeing I had regained my focus.
"Yeah! Sorry, I was doing something important," I answered, not going into detail. For now, I had to keep the system a secret, though I would eventually tell her. Once I opened the system store, I planned to buy a ring to help seal her eyes' power so she wouldn't need the blindfold anymore. Those beautiful eyes shouldn't be hidden; I wanted to admire them to my heart's content.
"You have grown stronger," she remarked and I did not deny this affirmation.
"I promised I would protect you. I have to work hard you know!" I said in joking tone.
Elaria simply smiled in response.
"You said you are from another world, right?" she asked after a moment of silence. I had been expecting this question all along; this shows her growing interest in me and that she was accepting me as part of her life, I couldn't be more excited for this.
"Yes, I am," I answered honestly.
If I could see her eyes, I bet they would be sparkling. A certain joy could be detected in her voice; she was excited to learn something new.
"How is your world? Is it more beautiful than this one?" she fired off questions excitedly. I found her behavior quite adorable.
"I haven't explored this world yet, but I can say mine has its own charm. While we don't have magic, we have technology. We build tall, sturdy buildings. We have things like airplanes—flying machines capable of transporting hundreds of people across the sky from one city to another. We've created artificial intelligence capable of working autonomously to help us. We have smartphones, wonderful little devices we use to communicate with each other from across the world. Distance doesn't matter. We've even created special spacecraft to explore the universe and have sent people to another planet for exploration purposes. Overall, it's a wonderful world, though it is dying because we overused its natural resources and polluted it with our creations. If it's possible, I'll let you see and experience everything I've described. I'll leave that to the future."
Elaria stayed silent after hearing my explanation, biting her lower lip, a clear sign she was truly fascinated by Earth.
"I hope you'll keep your word. I want to visit your former world."
"Don't worry, I will. And you'll be there to make sure I do. For now, let's plan what to do next."
Elaria nodded as if to say she had been waiting for this. "What do you suggest, Miles?"
"Let's wait here for two days before finding a human settlement. I want to register and become an adventurer, if such a thing exists here. We can get guild cards to travel freely, visit dungeons, and so on."
"The Adventurer's Guild does exist," Elaria shared. "As do dungeons. There are also Mercenary Guilds, Merchant Guilds, and various other organizations you'll have the opportunity to find out."
I nodded in agreement. "Let's do that. But for tonight, let's sleep. You can separate the ice dome into two parts. I'll take one, and you the other one. You don't have to worry about keeping watch; I'll take care of it." I declared, yawning as exhaustion from the day's events finally caught up with me.
Elaria nodded and did as I asked. She created a larger igloo and separated it into two rooms, even creating ice beds. The temperature was regulated so it wasn't too cold, and while the bed was hard, it was surprisingly comfortable to sleep on.
"Good night, Elaria!" I wished her as sleep began to whisper in my ears, and I succumbed to its embrace.
"Good night, Miles," came Elaria's soft whisper. I was glad it was the last thing I heard before falling asleep. I didn't forget to use the newly acquired skill: Echo. Spreading my mana radius twenty meters, with the amount of mana had I wouldn't have trouble enduring for a few hours.