Their staring contest seemed to last for several minutes before Serena broke it with a light nod and strode off.
Malcolm let out a relieved breath that he didn't even know he had been holding in, a cold sweat matting his back and sticking his shirt to the chair.
Despite his bravado, that felt like staring down a roaring dragon. If he had said the wrong thing, her Affection might have dropped straight down to "hate" levels.
.......
Malcolm followed Serena to her bedroom, passing several servants on the way. None of them gave Malcolm or Serena suggestive brow-wiggles or winks as he had half-expected them to, perhaps because they knew their mistress well.
When they arrived, Serena threw on some pajamas and crawled into bed without a word.
Malcolm scratched his head. He didn't have any pajamas himself, but at the same time, he had reservations about getting into bed with her in nothing but his underwear.
Eventually, he shrugged and stripped down to his boxers. 'She's seen more than this.'
Folding his clothes and setting them nearby, he got onto the bed and slipped under the covers.
Instantly, he let out a sigh of ecstasy, earning a weird look from his wife. But Malcolm didn't even see this, as his eyes were closed so he could better experience the heavenly feel of the bed.
If his own bed felt like clouds, this felt like being cradled by a gentle angel's wings. It molded itself to his frame perfectly, as if it was made just for him, and lulled him to a sense of complacency and safety like a mother's embrace.
Bing!
[Quest complete! Dispensing rewards…
Rewards generated!
Reward 1: 5 CF
Reward 2: 1 Stat Point
Your realm has changed! Calculating…
Please see Status for your new realm.]
'Status.'
He examined his status, nodding to himself when he saw what had changed.
So he was in the Candle realm now? And it seemed that entering this new realm also gave him another five stat points, for a total of six. His CF had also increased to eleven.
The stat points were what interested him the most, however. With a thought, he went to the glossary, finding a new entry within titled "Rank Up."
It turned out that every rank-up earned him five of these stat points, which were then multiplied by ten for every rank he entered after Candle. So the next rank, Torch, would bring 50, then Bonfire would bring 500, and it would just keep increasing exponentially for each.
He could also earn them from quests, as demonstrated by the side quest he had just completed.
The stat points had a few different uses. First, obviously, he could spend them on increasing his Charisma, Perception, and Strength stats. A stat increase of one would cost one stat point.
Second, he could spend ten to buy a random Technique or Spell. He couldn't choose its Grade or even whether it was a Spell or Technique, although its Grade would never exceed his current rank. It didn't seem like a good option.
He honestly doubted if he would ever even use it.
Finally, he could spend 15 stat points to improve a Technique or Spell he knew to the next Grade. Similar to the stat points he earned with each rank up, this was multiplied by two for every Grade above Candle that the Spell or Technique was at.
So for a Technique at the Torch Grade, it would cost thirty stat points to improve it to Bonfire, and for a Bonfire Grade Technique, it would cost sixty to improve to Blaze.
This seemed like a much better return on his investment than the second option, and he could only lament the fact that he didn't have enough stat points to afford it. Improving his cultivation technique would do wonders right now, especially with the increased amount of CF he'd need to rank up.
The strength of his CF, or Crimson Fire as he was sure it stood for, was what determined his rank. And just as each rank was ten times stronger than the last, so too did each rank require ten times the CF to enter.
Spark was the easiest, needing a mere 1 CF to enter. Candle, the rank he had just entered, required 10. Torch required 100, Bonfire required 1,000, and so on.
He'd need another 89 CF to advance to Torch. With the strength Love Cultivation was currently at, that would take an entire 89 affection points, not counting the bonus he received for crossing the Affection Meter's thresholds.
"Hey, Serena?" he asked curiously. "How strong are you?"
The only response he received was the sound of her light snores.
'She's asleep already?' he thought. That was fast.
Well, he supposed he should try to sleep too. They did have a meeting in the morning, after all. He didn't want to embarrass Serena by showing up completely exhausted.
.......
"Vahl City has gone too far!" shouted an irate young man, who slammed his fists on the table for emphasis. "This is a declaration of war! Why else would they cut off our supply routes?"
"You're overreacting," snorted an equally as young woman who was fanning herself with an expensive-looking folding fan. "It could have easily been a passing wild beast that wiped out the caravan. They haven't 'blocked off our supply routes.'"
"Are you thick in the head? This is a sign of – !"
Malcolm tuned out the arguers, giving Serena a tired glance.
Despite the angry words flying, she was as prim and proper as always, her red eyes betraying no emotions whatsoever. She quietly waited for the other two to tire themselves out before stating her own thoughts, but Malcolm barely listened to them.
When Serena told him that they would be meeting with city officials, he hadn't expected other Ascended to be here.
The three of them were practically the only ones that were even saying anything; while there were at least ten mortals seated around the round table they sat at, they appeared too terrified to say anything.
Clearly, it was the three Ascended that ran this show.