***

'Heh... surely, I passed her test!'

As soon as Eleanor mentioned playing chess, I knew what she was trying to do. 

'If you're going to test my personality, do it in more subtle ways'

It was simply a personality test that I had to pass. 

Wanting her to underestimate me as much as possible, I acted like I was a good and caring person who didn't dare to sacrifice anyone. 

'But I don't want her to think that I'm a pushover like Arthur...'

As such, I sacrificed pawns, and only pawns.

Due to Eleanor being exceptionally good at hiding her true feelings though, I wasn't exactly sure what she thought of me.

However, upon hearing her next words, I knew for a fact that I had passed.

"Now, let's get to the main topic, shall we?"

'Finally!'

"Certainly", I gave her a slight smile.

However, something was definitely off.

'Why is she smirking at me?'

It was as if she wasn't looking at a person, but a tool instead.

'I must be overthinking things...'

And I didn't have time to think about her smirk any longer, as Eleanor continued speaking immediately after.

"Theodore Gray, age 16. Your grandfather, Marcos Dervit was a famous novelist, inventor, and business owner that came into contact with various dark and curse mages"

"..."

"Your mother, Karin Gray ran away from home and she lived with you in a small town. She then abandoned you and made Viscount Irene Nightshade your guardian"

"..."

"You then spent 2 months being adventurers with her daughter, Krista Nightshade. During that time, you protected a caravan from bandits, raided a bandit base, and suddenly adopted a girl with no background just a month before enrollment"

'How does she know this?'

"You acted strangely during the Keras forest incident, and you somehow miraculously found where Sylvia Ecertold was being held at and rescued her"

"..."

"Did I miss something?", Eleanor said as she sipped the tea from her cup.

I was now extreme wary of her. After all, it was clear that she had done a very thorough investigation on me. And she wouldn't have revealed that fact like she did just now if she didn't have a plan of some sorts.

"...Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because, Theodore Gray—"

GULP—!

I gulped a mouthful of saliva as something... fundamental about Eleanor had just shifted. Her slightly playful demeanor from before was nowhere to be seen. Instead, I felt as if I was looking at a shell of what was once Eleanor.

'Wh- What's this ominous feeling?'

However, I endured through it to hear her next words.

"You're also a regressor, aren't you?"

'R- Regressor?'

I was confused, but I didn't let it show on my face.

Soon, my confusion turned into panic.

'There are no regressors in the novel!'

Much less a heroine being one.

To be honest, there also weren't any transmigrators either but that's besides the point!

However, I soon calmed down. Panicking in this situation wouldn't do me any good.

I decided that the best course of action right now was to act under the assumption that she was really a regressor.

'Did she 'regress' from the first version of the novel.... or the second one?'

That was what I wanted to find out as soon as possible. However, I knew better than to ask her directly.

Thus, I resorted to what I was best at: Activating my Skills and lie my way through.

<[F - Emotionless]>

I gazed coldly at her for a second before switching my demeanor to an excited one.

"Hahahah! Eleanor! You're a regressor too?"

To her, I must have looked like I could jump up and burst into cheers at any moment.

Tears then began to flow from my eyes as I sobbed uncontrollably. "Hic... I- I thought I could never be by your side again... I w- was heartbroken when I- I saw you in Avaron.... I though t- that despite a- all the time we've spent together, y- you w- wouldn't recogniz—"

"Stop with that disgusting act of yours", Eleanor growled as she conjured up blades of light and moved them closer to me at an immense speed.

Briefly glancing at the Light blades that were pressing against my neck as if they were mere annoyances, I kept my silence as I gazed coldly at Eleanor.

"There's no needs to pretend. First, I don't recall seeing someone as... unique as you in my past regressions"

'So she regressed multiple times? Interesting...'

"Second, your eyes, they were cold and uncaring, just like mine. I can see that you're similar to me at just a glance. And people like us don't dwell on such feelings"

I smiled mysteriously at her words. "Is that so?"

'As expected, she noticed'

Knowing Eleanor's intellect, I didn't expect her to fall for my lies that easily in the first place.

However, since she was already under the misconception that I was a regressor, it would be somewhat easier for me to make her fall even deeper in the misunderstandings.

Thus, when I said what I said earlier, I merely wanted her to not underestimate me in this exchange, as she would probably not give me sufficient information if she deemed me unworthy.

Of course, even if she viewed me as an idiot who couldn't even execute his plans properly, I still have some countermeasures prepared.

"Let me ask you a question, your highness", I spoke as I stared deep into her eyes.

She stared back at me, her ruby-red eyes showed no signs of wavering.

'You won't be able to keep that calm facade for long...'

"How can you be so sure that we are from the same timeline? I'll have you know, I was fairly famous during my past regressions. Hero of Lightning, I believe people called me. I've fought alongside the Hero of Light - Arthur Kilvillain in countless battles"

"..."

"There's no way you wouldn't have heard about me if you indeed came from the same timeline as mine"

"...", Eleanor kept her mouth shut while being deep in thoughts.

'As expected, she didn't think of this possibility'

Seeing her being this silent, I knew I had succeeded.

'You can't afford to kill me as easily anymore now'

Just as Eleanor said, I could also tell that she was like me. Mainly, both I and her would probably kill someone if it meant that we could monopolize the knowledge of the future for ourselves.

Thus, I had to interest her enough so that she doesn't kill me on the spot.

"Well, glaring at each other all day won't solve anything. So, I want to make a proposal"

Eleanor woke up from her thoughts and stared at me skeptically.

"Speak."

"How about we... exchange the knowledge of our first regression?"

She then frowned as she fell into thoughts again. No doubt she was slightly resenting me for taking the initiative of the conversation away from her.

I was fairly certain that the world where she had regressed in was based on the 2nd version of the novel judging by the fact that... I was also in the 2nd version of the novel right now, and the fact that she didn't seem all that surprised that Arthur was weaker than normal at the start of Avaron.

Thus, I was most likely the only one who had knowledge of everything that were unique to the 1st novel.

Eventually, Eleanor sighed and accepted by proposal. "Fine... But you're going first"

I smiled wryly at her words.

'Seems like she's desperate to take the initiative again'

Despite knowing full well what she was trying to do, I still had to give in. After all, being too aggressive with my approach wouldn't do any good, especially with someone like her.

Thus, I started to summarize the events that happened in the first novel. And of course, I altered a few things in my favor.

She listened to me intensely; her eyebrows twitching ever so faintly from times to times.

This did not escape my eyes.

'Caught you!'

"Judging by your expressions, it seems like we really are from different timelines"

"..."

"Now then, princess, it's your turn"

Eleanor then began to recount the events up until the halfway point. As I didn't know what would happen after that, I listened to her words very intensely.

However—

'She's obviously lying'

After all, the first half of her story didn't match the novel at all. And I full well plan on taking advantage of the fact that I knew that she was lying.

"Interesting... but—"

<[A - Authority of fear]: Dread>

"Do you think I'm so foolish that you can lie to me without getting detected?", I calmly spoke as I channeled some mana into my Eyes, intimidating her.

Her pupils contracted in fear for a split second before she was back to her usual calmness.

'As expected, she had never been caught lying before'

However, why was she still keeping her cool? Was she that good at masking her emotions? Or did she have something to use against me?

'She's definitely hiding something'

Wanting to find out what Eleanor was hiding, I decided to pressure her by bullshitting.

"Our timelines were probably separated initially. For some reasons, they have converged into one unstable and unique timeline"

"..."

"Judging by the fact that Anna Ferden was 1-1's homeroom professor instead of her brother, we can safely assume that the current timeline mostly followed the events of your original timeline. Of course, it's only the case if you were telling the truth about Anna Ferden earlier"

"..."

"However, that is not to say that this timeline is only affected by yours. In fact, my timeline also affected it. That's why Arthur got his System much earlier than he should have if he was in your timeline, and why there was a <B> ranked cultist in the Keras forest"

In response to my bullshits, Eleanor nodded her head as if she understood everything I had just said.

"Is it my turn to ask questions now?"

'So you're asking for my permission now, huh?'

Eleanor probably instinctively saw me as someone to be respected for my intellect now. I mean, I'd too if I had heard the bullshit I had just sprouted without knowing anything.

"Ask away", I said as I didn't really have any reason to refuse her.

"I'm currently in my 5th regressions. How many regressions have you gone through?"

Thinking for a bit, I answered. "8 regressions. This one's the 9th. I know almost every secrets this world has to offer"

"..."

Pausing for a bit to let her take in the information, I continued. "So, my dear Imperial princess, will y-"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH", Eleanor suddenly laughed like a maniac, interrupting me.

'Has she gone mad?'

Unconcerned with my thoughts, she continued laughing. "Amusing! Truly amusing!"

'I think I broke her with my bullshits... was it too much information for her brain?'

However, I soon discarded such thoughts from my mind. 

It was then that Eleanor's face turned cold again and she glared at me. "You wish to threaten me with your knowledge?"

"..."

"I have to admit, you might have gone through more regressions than me. However—"

She then reached into her <Space pouch> and took out some capture crystals. "—These are evidences of your fight with me. You don't need to be a regressor to know what my parents would do when these things miraculously appear in their room, right?"

Looking through the crystals for a while, Eleanor eventually grinned as she took out a newer-looking one.

"And here's you going to the black market. Although it's an open secret that the black market is authorized by the Empire, the common people aren't concerned about such things. Thus, I can persecute you anytime I want"

"..."

"And...", she then rewound the crystal to an hour earlier, showing my fights with the assassins that she herself sent after Raun. "...You're committing murder in the middle of the Capital. Although they might have been assassins, you don't have anything to prove that they are"

"..."

"I have to say though, dragging a bloodied person into an alleyway and torturing him is just the icing on the cake. I'm glad Kasumi caught all that, even if it meant that she lost sleep for a whole week"

I stayed silent as I stared at the Capture crystals on the table right in front of me.

'Should I destroy them? No... these are most likely copies. Eleanor isn't so stupid as to lay the original evidences right in front of my eyes'

As such, I ruled brute force out of my mind as a possible solution.

"So, will you obediently listen to me or will y—"

"Heh, is that all?", I interrupted her speech with a small chuckle. "Why are you looking so proud over these insignificant things?"

Although this might have sounded like a bluff, it really wasn't. 

Eleanor might have possessed evidences that she could use to incriminate me, but what I was hiding up my sleeves was infinitely more valuable to her than whatever she could bring up to blackmail me with.

And, as expected, Eleanor was looking at me as if she wasn't really believing what I had just said.

'You'll know soon enough'

"My dear princess, don't underestimate me. I've escaped the grasp of the Empire many times, even when I was at <G> rank"

"..."

"And don't even think about using the <Nightcrawlers> either. Even they couldn't catch me, and that's with the Captain being personally being dispatched"

"..."

"So, do you think I'm afraid of your puny little threats? If anything, you should be finding ways to stop me from helping the Kingdom, the Void fiends, or the Republic"

'It's all bullshit of course'

But, I really think I could escape from the Nightcrawlers, even for just a while. After all, I could jump to the Void realm whenever I wanted, and I could also ask for Semier's help.

'Come on, fall for it'

Since I really didn't want to use my hidden card unless I really had to, I was betting on Eleanor falling for my bluff.

It was then that I felt an indescribable chill running down my spine.

I quickly looked at Eleanor, the source of the ominous feeling, only to see bloodlust oozing from her as she glared at me with hatred.

'So she's not completely emotionless...'

It seemed that I had severely overestimated her capabilities. Whatever amount of regressions she had, it was not enough to erase every one of her emotions.

'I must have touched a nerve'

Was it the mention of the Kingdom? The Void Fiends? Or the Republic?

I didn't need to ponder over them for long, as my questions were soon answered.

"Y- YOU! YOU DARE MENTION HELPING THE REPUBLIC IN MY PRESENCE?"

'So it's the Republic that instigated that kind of reaction from her...'

Even Arthur, with all his denseness, would be able to tell that she hated the Republic with a passion if he was inside this room right now.

'I don't think anyone can mistake her current emotions considering how she's glaring at me as if I had just murdered her entire family in front of her'

If looks could kill, I'd be dead many times over, and Eleanor would have been feeding my corpse to the dogs, collect their shit and tossed them into a volcano... And she'd ask her mother to erase the volcano from existence soon after.

'Yeah, I forgot that regressors are living manifestations of PTSD'

However, her rage then disappeared as fast as it came up, and her face returned to its usual calm expression.

That wasn't to say that she wasn't still glaring at me with cold rage coming from those ruby-red eyes of hers though.

Placing her hands on her chins, Eleanor spoke. "Ignore my earlier... outburst. I was merely reminiscing about some really bad memories"

"..."

"As for your earlier... 'threats', do you think I'm afraid?"

As soon as she finished her sentence, the Light swords that she had conjured up from the start of the conversation suddenly got much longer and sharper.

Some of them were even brushing against my neck, lightly cutting my skin and sending what would have been searing pain into my body if I hadn't already had my Skill active.

'She can kill me with a flick of her finger now... So that's her answer?'

"What's stopping me from killing you right now?", Eleanor then continued.

In response to certain death being right in front of my eyes, however, I merely closed my eyes in the emotion of frustration that was quickly eaten up by [F - Emotionless].

'So I do have to resort to that after all...'

"Speechless? As expected, you're just a—"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Adeliast"

Eleanor widened her eyes as she stared at me in shock. Her Light swords shook violently before dissipating into nothingness.

"Th- That name! H- How!?"

Fear manifested inside the Imperial princess for the first time in our entire conversation.

Knowing that I've won, I confidently spoke as I stood up from my seat and slowly walked towards her.

"Let's just say what I said right after you revealed yourself to be a regressor wasn't ALL acting"

Eleanor looked at my approaching figure with her mouth hung open, unsure how to react.

"Now you're finally taking me seriously. You know what it means for me to know your true name, right?"

True names are the most important things to Aether-based lifeforms. They can only be revealed in a marriage ceremony when an Angel or Demon swear love to their spouse under the watch of supreme God Erchast. 

If, for example, I were to look through Eleanor's memory while having no knowledge of her true name, any memories regarding her true name would just become an unintelligible mess to me.

Of course, there were other ways to get around it. You could sneak a glance at an Angel or Demon's Status when they had just awakened and unware of how to hide their true names in the stats interface.

...Or you can read about true names in a novel in another dimension like Marcos did.

True names were so important that dying is considered— no, dying is a better alternative to letting them fall into the wrong hands.

As I already knew Eleanor's and... Sylvia's true names thanks to the epilogue of the novel, I could make them drop dead with a mere basic cast of curse magic whenever I wanted. 

Truly, a glaring weakness for Aether-based lifeforms.

As such, it was understandable that Eleanor's expressions were switching between confusion and denial for a few minutes before she finally accepted the fact that I had her life in my grasp.

Seeing that she had came to terms with the situation, I looked at her expectantly.

Eleanor seemed to have noticed my gaze, as she stuttered while trying her best to not offend me. "F- Fine then, you w- won. Wh- What do you want of me?"

With me now towering right in front of her, I leaned forwards and paused my face just mere inches away from her. Forming a wide grin, I spoke.

"I want us to work together as equals. I know that you're planning on making me a hunting dog, but I have no plans on being one"

As to why I didn't make her my servant or something similar? Well, I didn't want to antagonize the imperial princess of all people, even if I had her life in my hands.

'She might be able to regress and kill the past me before I even know it...'

After all, I didn't know the exact trigger for her regression. It could be activated upon her death, or it could be activated whenever she wanted. Whatever the case was, I didn't want to risk her going back in time and kill me.

Unaware of my thoughts, Eleanor fell into deep thoughts for a few seconds before heaving a long sigh.

"Haaaah... fine. But—"

'Does she still have the courage to add more conditions?'

Even after she knew that her life was in my hands? Was she actually mad?

Before I could finish my thoughts, Eleanor had already continued speaking yet again.

"—Tell me, what is your goal?"

'Well... that's easy to answer'

Slowly closing my eyes and pretending to think deeply about something, I replied.

"My goal is to end this hell. I'm tired of reliving the same life over and over again"

I then opened my eyes and stared right back at her.

"And I think helping Arthur save the world might just be the solution"

Eleanor's body trembled violently at my answer. Her red eyes became slightly moist as she she slowly opened her mouth, desperately trying to hide her emotions, but failed miserably.

"M- Me too..."

'Ah... I hit the mark'

Thanks to the novels Marcos had read, I knew of the one and only thing these kinds of regressor wanted the most: The ability to be able to rest... forever.

With small tears now running down her cheeks, Eleanor stuttered. "I- I agree to your proposal. L- let's meet again sometimes. I- I will give you real information wh- when we meet again"

"I'm glad you share the same goal as me, princess", I said in a grateful tone.

"N- No need for such pleasantries. We're both r- regressor, are we n- not? Call m- me Eleanor when we're alone"

"Okay, Eleanor", I took a step back and extended my hand towards her. "Let us mark our alliance with this handshake. After all, we never know if we would meet again should this regression also fail"

Staring at me hand for a few seconds, she hurriedly shook it with an expression of determination and gratitude on her face.

'That's more like it. Work hard for my sake'

After all, unlike her, I couldn't regress. So this was my only chance.

"Until next time, Eleanor", I broke out of the handshake and calmly left her dorm.

CLANK—!

As soon as the door behind me closed, I deactivated [F - Emotionless] and fucking bolted straight to my room. 

'SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! THAT WAS DANGEROUS!'

Only after I deactivated my Skill did I realize how close to death I really was.

From the start of the conversation, when Eleanor first conjured the swords of Light, to when I mentioned the Republic, everything were extremely risky, even for me. I could have been fucked beyond imagination if I had taken a wrong step.

'I'm glad it worked out in the end... but I don't want to do this ever again!'

After all, I had already got something good out of this whole ordeal. Mainly, someone to share the burden of making that bastard of a pushover stronger. 

***

Sitting alone in her dorm room, Eleanor wiped the tears of her cheeks and stared blankly at the floor.

"S- So he also wanted to end the regressions for good just like me, huh?", she muttered to no one in particular.

Who would have thought that Theodore was more like Eleanor than she herself had thought?

Although Eleanor wasn't that afraid of suffering an agonizing death by having her true name used in curse magic, she was still shaken greatly by the implications of Theodore knowing her true name.

'Did he observe my awakening ceremony? No, that can't be! He'd have to had been able to reach <S> rank at the age of 10 if that was the case'

Thus, Eleanor came to the most probable conclusion.

'Based on what he had told me, he most likely married me in one of his previous regressions...'

Believe it or not, although the Eleanor before her regressions was much softer than she was right now, she was by no means naive.

As such, she knew for a fact that she couldn't have married someone she didn't love. Even now, she wouldn't do it even if it was for the sake of ending her regressions.

It wasn't as if she did it because of her principles per se... but rather, it was because of the fact that Angels and Demons cannot lie to their creator - Supreme God Erchast.

As such, she would be lying if she said that she wasn't a bit curious as to why 'Theodore's Eleanor' fell for him instead of Arthur.

|<The supreme god of Time Chronzeit snickers at you>|

It was then that a translucent blue screen suddenly appeared in front of her.

"!", Eleanor widened her eyes in surprise.

Her surprise then quickly turned into hatred.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE ONLY SHOWING YOURSELF NOW!?"

Chronzeit, the fucker of a Supreme God that had trapped her in this endless loop of agony and suffering, hadn't spoken to her since the start of her 3rd major regression.

'So why is the bastard doing it now? And to laugh at me no less!'

She clenched her fists in anger. "IS WATCHING ME SUFFER THAT ENTERTAINING!?"

Seeing that Chronzeit still hadn't responded to her even after several minutes, Eleanor sighed and forcefully calmed herself down.

Despite the anxiety and nervousness she felt when Theodore revealed to her the fact that he knew her true name, and the anger she felt when Chronzeit appeared to merely laugh at her, a genuine smile could now be seen on her face.

How long had it been since the last time she sincerely smiled? She didn't know.

But one thing she did know for sure.

'It's not a bad feeling...'

Having someone to shoulder the burden of ending the regressions once and for all with her, that is.

And with that thought, she briefly glanced at all the capture crystal on her table, shattered them with her [Hardlight sword] and went to bed.

***

Having just entered my room, I ignored Sylvia, who was snuggling on my couch with the Wyvern egg, and walked straight into Alicia's room.

I then caught my breath, casted [Silence], and took out the Wyrm blood from [Alternate storage].

'I'll have to get as strong as possible... there's no telling if or when Eleanor finds out about my lies'

I noticed Lyra materializing from the corner of my eyes and watching me taking the Wyrm blood out with intrigue too, but I promptly ignored her.

"Haaaah... here we go"

Glug—!

I chugged down the Wyrm blood in the vial in one go.

"ARGHHHHH!", I screamed in pain as I felt my throat burning.

After a while, the pain subsided, and I could feel my power raising rapidly.

"Status"

=====

Name: Theodore Gray

Race: Human (Part-dragon)

Rank: D-

Strength: E

Agility: D+

Stamina: E+

Intelligent: D+

Mana capacity: F+

Profession: Inquisitor of Ashes and Lightning (Lv.1)

--

Affinities:

[Perfect - Lightning magic]

[High - Space manipulation]

[Intermediate - Time manipulation]

[Intermediate - Wind magic]

--

Skills:

[A - Authority of fear] 

The innate skill of Theodore Gray that was evolved thanks to the user assimilating a true dragon's blood into his body. Upon glancing at his eyes, people at lower rank than his will experience great fear. The user can also choose to make the target feel immense pain. However, its effects diminishes by half if used on people one major rank higher than Theodore himself. The effect of the skill is greatly reduced when used on people two major ranks higher than the user, while people stronger than that are not affected.

[F - Mana blood]

A degraded version of the innate skill [A - Fertilus' Blood] that every pure-blooded vampires has. Due to the user's barely qualified concentration of vampiric blood, he is granted the skill. The skill enables the user to recover Mana quicker than the average person, as well as control the Mana present within blood.

[F - Emotionless]

The skill consumes all of the user's emotion to boost the Strength and Intelligence stats while active, effectively raising the 2 aforementioned stats up to 2 minor ranks. However, it may backfire by amplifying emotions instead if the limit of the skill is reached.

[S – Monarch of the Storms]

Temporarily changes the user’s profession into [Monarch of the storm], boosting the user’s power up to a major rank at maximum. The casting speed as well as damage of Lightning and Wind related spells are greatly increased when the skill is active. This skill also nullifies any damage done by Lightning spells that the user uses on his or her own body while active. The user will fall into a state of vulnerability for 12 hours after the skill ends.

(Cooldown: 24 hours)

[B - Ash veil]

The skill allows the user to conjure veils of ashes at will. Ashes affected by the skill can be condensed, dispersed, or manipulated to the user's liking.

--

Battle arts:

[III - Roteare style]

Sword art created by Swordsman Theodore Gray, and modified by the god of Status - Ezra. The art allows the user's weapon to absorb the force enemies use in their attacks. The user can release the force stored within the weapon at any time he want.

[V – World splitter] — Mastery: 51%

A battle art created by an unknown master Space mage, and modified by the god of Status - Ezra. It allows the user to create a lingering trail of spatial distortion that shreds anything unprotected by mana to pieces. Upon mastery, the practitioner will be able to devastate a large area around them without even lifting a finger.

=====

Before I could appreciate the fact that I had finally became as strong as Arthur in the first version of the novel when he had just joined Avaron, however, I was distracted by Lyra's shocked face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

|Y- YOU!|, she grabbed my collars and glared at me. |DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID?|

"What? I consumed the Wyrm blood?"

|THAT'S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM!|

She then lets my collar go and paced around the room nervously. |Y- You're supposed to prepare a lengthy ritual before absorbing it! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU DRINK IT LIKE A FUCKING VAMPIRE?|

She then turned towards me with a worried gaze. |Y- You're going to die soon, a— huh? You're not imploding?|

"I'm not, I guess?", I looked at her confusedly.

Sizing me up for a few minutes, Lyra spoke up again. |Do you happen to be... a vampire? You must have been one, or at least have the blood of one flowing in your veins. Otherwise, nothing can explain how you can survive after drinking the Wyrm blood!|

'Now that I think about it...'

Ever since I got the blood from Evanos' treasury, I have had the instinctive urge to just drink it. Somehow, drinking it just felt... right.

Furthermore, [F - Mana blood]'s description greatly supported Lyra's theory.

The fact that I had a bit of a vampiric ancestry was... extremely worrying due to several reasons. One of which being the implication that I might have the Fertilus bloodline running inside me.

'Neither Marcos nor his wife is a vampire... It must have came from my father's side'

However, it wasn't as if duke Alucard Fertilus himself was my father. After all, the skill wasn't exactly unique to the main Fertilius house.

'Maybe he was from a collateral branch?'

I decided to not think about it for now for the sake of my sanity.

"Haaaah... enough of that", I sighed. "Let's see if there's any physical changes this time..."

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, scrutinizing my face.

'I don't think I can hide the fact that I'm a Halfling anymore...'

After all, my vertical pupils had just gotten more prominent after I consumed the Wyrm blood. So much so that wearing 5 pairs of sunglasses at the same time probably wouldn't do anything to hide them.

'Well... it's not just the pupils either...'

I noticed that the edges of my mouth, had gotten... sharper? I couldn't really describe it but they looked somehow more dragon-like.

'At least it's not as obvious as Sylvia's sharp mouth...'

In fact, I was sure that unless someone was deliberately staring at me for dozens of seconds at a time with the specific purpose to discern my facial features, they wouldn't even notice my slightly sharp mouth at all.

|Ooooh! You definitely look more handsome now!|, Lyra suddenly interjected.

I wasn't sure whether she was being sarcastic or not but I was leaning towards her making fun of me.

"What will this do anyways?", I asked Lyra.

|What do you mean?|

"The fact that I'm slowly becoming more like a dragon", I sighed. "Asides from not being able to hide that I'm a Halfling anymore, I don't think it will do anything... Well, maybe the lizard folks will like me more... but that's not really a plus to me"

|Hmm|, Lyra fell into thoughts for a few seconds before answering. |There's many benefits. But I won't spoil them for you!|

"Come on, can't you at least tell me one?"

|Fine then|, she sighed, |If you take one more drop of Wyrm blood with the same quality as this one, you'll be able to command every Storm Wyverns that are weaker than you|

"It's very situational... but it's better than nothing I guess"

'Speaking of Wyverns though...'

I was reminded of the egg that Sylvia was probably still snuggling up with on the couch right now.

'I've been meaning to ask Lyra this for a long time'

"Hey Lyra"

|?|

"You remember the Wyvern egg?"

|Of course I do!|

"Well, both Sylvia and me poured our Mana into it, right?"

|Mhm|

"And we're both halflings"

|Yes?|

"So does it mea—"

|Ah! I know where you're going with this|, Lyra exclaimed.

|Don't worry, neither of you have Void mana present in your bodies to stabilize the mana you infused into the egg and give it a form so it probably won't happen|

"Really?", I raised an eyebrow at her explanation.

|Yep. Without Void mana, the chances of that actually happening is lower than someone accidently stumbling upon the Hall of Divinity through sheer luck|

I sighed in relief upon hearing this. After all, I didn't have nearly as much luck as Arthur did.

However, I couldn't help but to have a bad premonition whenever I thought about the egg.

'It might be extremely unlikely but... why do I feel like it's going to happen anyways?'

However, I quickly discarded such thoughts from my mind. 

'What was I thinking? There's no way my luck can be that good... or bad, depending on how I see it'

Thus, I can only reply to Lyra with a sigh.

"I sure hope that it's the case"

After all, I didn't want to accelerate the plotline yet again by accidently helping the <Darkest night> achieve one of their goals.