She leaned in closer, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered with her bewitching voice, "if you accept, I will be giving you a reward later today~"
That was the final nail in the coffin.
Alex glanced at Maya looking at him with bright expectant eyes and sighed, "okay, I will teach you how to defend yourself."
"Yay!" Maya and Amelia exclaimed in unison, clapping their hands against each other in joy.
"I will make sure to pleasure you later as a thank you~" Amelia whispered to Alex and planted a kiss on his neck.
"You better," Alex retorted, not really pleased with having to train Maya.
However, it couldn't be helped, he couldn't refuse anything to either of his wives. Even if Amelia hadn't promised to give him a reward, he would have still accepted; that was how much he loved her.
"Let's start right away," Alex told the overjoyed Maya. "I will show you some moves on how you should act when being assaulted by someone... or when you need to attack someone."
"Yes, I understand!" Maya nodded enthusiastically.
'The least you could say is that she is motivated,' Alex thought as he did as he said, showing Maya some moves.
The moves he showed her were absolutely basic. They were moves he had learned when he joined the army on Earth. Yet, from the expression she portrayed, she seemed to be impressed.
As he adjusted her stance and observed her focused and determined expression, Alex couldn't help but wonder how the heiress of the Drazen family lacked even basic self-defense skills. Sure, the Drazen family focused solely on their auction house and making money, but Alex thought it was foolish not to let their heiress know at least the basics of fighting or at the very least how to defend herself.
This was the mentality of an earthling who had practically grown in a world where war ravaged and where survival often hinged on such skills.
Watching into Maya's sparkling orange eyes, Alex thought, 'I'm curious though, how long will it take to completely master these moves?'
Maya's ability granted her a perfect memory. Based on that, it should normally be easy for her to recall every move Alex taught her, thus replicating them wouldn't be too difficult for her.
Indeed, barely half an hour later, Maya got the hang of it and Alex could finally focus on other things.
'Status,' Alex called in his mind.
[Name: Alexandre Eswald
Age: 60
Level: 4
Strength: 650
Agility: 650
Stamina: 550
Defense: 500
Mana Points: 90
Harem: Lilia Eswald, Annaline Maxwell, Amelia Eswald;
Abilities: Soul Linkage, Smoke sovereign;
Soul Points: 2]
'Hmm, I don't have many soul points left,' Alex remarked.
As he said, Alex had been progressively enhancing his stats. However, for the past few days he hadn't done anything lustful with Amelia, so his soul points income stalled greatly.
'That's it. From now on, I won't hold back and will focus on accumulating soul points,' Alex vowed with determination.
When he traveled with his three wives, Alex had to stop himself from touching them because Cedrix was there. Later on, he couldn't touch Amelia because Maya was around.
Looking back on it, Alex felt that that was stupid. With everything Lilia had told him about—the dangers of the sin's game, the various forces that might be heading toward him—he was stalling his growth for what... cautiousness? To hell with that!!!
Currently, the source of his power was the lust artifact, and the fuel for that artifact was sexual activities. If he didn't want to remain weak for a long while, then he needed to engage in those activities.
He didn't care about whoever might hear him making love to his wife; it wasn't a crime anyway.
'I will also need to find a way to compare my physical prowess to others,' Alex noted.
Currently, Alex was confident that despite being at level 4, his physical strength surpassed that of others at the same level. Based on his assessment, he believed his strength fell between mid-level 5 and high-level 5. However, he wasn't sure if that was accurate, so he needed to find a way or, better yet, a rating scale that would help accurately measure how strong he was compared to others.
'Well, that will have to wait until I finish with the boss,' Alex sighed.
He didn't want to waste too much time and wanted to quickly defeat the boss so he could concentrate on other things like being with Amelia. Frankly, he had been getting bad vibes from this dungeon for a while, so he judged it was better to conquer the dungeon swiftly. It might be dangerous facing a peak level 5 with his current stats, but Alex was confident in coming out on top, especially since he wouldn't be fighting alone.
"It's time," Alex said to Amelia, who had been watching and cheering on Maya.
"Mm," Amelia nodded and stood up.
Seeing the solemn expressions on their faces, Maya understood what was going on.
She stopped her training and was preparing to follow them when Alex inquired, "where are you going?"
"Where would I go? Of course I'm following you," Maya answered.
"Sorry kiddo, but it's too dangerous," Alex denied without even thinking, "Amelia and I are the only ones going. Staying here is safer for you."
It was at that moment that Maya understood why Alex went out of his way to eradicate every lizardman on this floor even if it took time. 'He did it so that I wouldn't be in danger when they left me.'
It was strange to Maya. No one besides her mother had ever shown her any love, compassion, or even consideration for that matter—not even her own family. Yet, this pair of siblings she had just met a few days ago had been nothing but considerate. It felt really warm.
"Plus, you are too weak. You will just end up holding us back. I don't want to carry a dead weight," Alex said honestly.
"Of course you had to ruin the moment," Maya snorted while Amelia giggled.
"What? Why are you glaring at me?" Alex wondered in confusion.
"For nothing," Maya scoffed.
"If you say so," Alex shrugged and turned to Amelia, "let's go, sis," he said before walking to the door of the boss's room with Amelia following behind him.
Without hesitation, Alex pushed open the door to the boss's room and stepped inside; moments later, Amelia followed him in.
As the door was about to close, they heard a voice shout, "SHOW THE DUNGEON'S BOSS HELL!"
"OF COURSE," Alex shouted back.
A second later, the door of the boss's room closed, sealing them inside until Alex and Amelia either defeated the boss or met their end, allowing others to challenge it.
"Now where—" Alex began to say when a bright light suddenly appeared in his vision. In the blink of an eye, an immense fireball four times Alex's size hurtled towards them, its furious flames, destructive force and swiftness threatening.
Not wasting a moment to comprehend the danger they faced, Alex grabbed his sister and swiftly moved out of the fireball's path, evading it with his utmost speed.
A split second later, the fireball collided with the ground where they had stood moments ago, causing a devastating explosion.
'Where is he?!' Alex pondered as he extended his senses, trying to pinpoint the boss's location.
It didn't take him long to locate the boss. Contrary to his expectations, however, the boss wasn't rushing to attack them. In fact, it was comfortably seated on the ground with its eyes closed, seemingly deep in meditation.
Unlike the other lizardmen Alex had encountered, the boss sported scales that gleamed dangerously red, reflecting the remaining flames of the explosion.
Resting on the boss' lap was a spear. This spear stretched three meters in length, boasting a rudimentary yet magnificent design. Its shaft was crafted from sturdy wood, and at the tip was a 50 cm blade that gleamed with a sharp, dangerous allure. Despite its simplicity, the dungeon boss' spear exuded timeless beauty, blending functionality with an elegant, handcrafted aesthetic.
An eerie sense of calm permeated from the dungeon boss, but Alex knew this calm was merely the calm before the storm.
It was because the lizardman exuded an oppressive and suffocating pressure that sent shivers down Alex's spine, despite him not being near the dungeon boss.
The lizardman's eyes snapped open abruptly, revealing two vertical slits resembling dagger blades, and it fixated on Alex and Amelia.
In the next instant, a grating voice akin to ancient thunder reverberated within the boss's chamber, tinged with a faint note of surprise.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to evade that attack."