Darius looked at the bed he was sitting on and said, "Observe."
{An old bed.}
A small screen showed the information. He opened the status panel and checked the skill Observe, he saw that the XP bar had filled by 30% only from one use. Reasonable since it was only the first level.
{An old bed.}
{An old bed.}
{An old bed.}
He used it three more times in succession while keeping an eye on the status panel.
The first use of the skill, he saw an increment of 30% in XP. The second time, it was 20% and the third time, it was 10% and the fourth, a meager 5%.
Then to confirm his speculation, the next use was on a chair.
{An old chair.}
He saw that the chair had filled the XP bar by 30% again. He only needed 5% more XP to level up Observe.
{An old chair.}
[Observe LV up 1→2]
[Warning: Low Mana Detected. Please be careful.]
There was a sudden fatigue in his body, it was more mental than physical. However, there was a bit of physical tiredness too.
He looked at his remaining MP.
[MP: 15/40]
His skill Observe drained 5MP every use. He made a rookie mistake of not keeping note of his MP points.
And now he had to bear the consequences of it. Thankfully, he did not learn about this during a fight, then it would have been fatal.
"System." He called out, wanting to clear a doubt, "What will happen if my MP reaches zero?"
[You will collapse. Mana resides in your crown, so when your pool of Mana is emptied your mind will be directly affected.]
"I see." He nodded in understanding, "It must be quite difficult for mages to fight a battle of attrition."
[Indeed. But this is true only for rookie mages. A sufficiently experienced mage can empty his Mana Pool without having much effect on his mind and body. You just need to get used to it and practice more.]
'I need to train more.' he decided. His hands turned into fists and his lips curved widely in exhilaration. This world had so much to offer. There was so much to learn, so much to see.
He wondered if he had any talent for magic. Even if there wasn't, he would still learn magic and master it, no matter how long it would take.
As he was getting pumped up for the future, the door to his room creaked open, and in came the love of his life, Fiona. With Tiara following behind.
He was startled by the sudden appearance but quickly composed himself. Eyes closing and teeth showing, he greeted joyfully, "Hello!"
"Hello, dear." Fiona too smiled and gently, replied.
Tiara too from behind her mother greeted him, "Hi."
However, Tiara's words did not enter his ears. The time had slowed. Almost frozen for him.
A ray of sunlight landed on her leg, slowly crawling its way up the gown, up the breasts that could cover his whole head, onto her neck it reached and his heart skipped, resting on her face; skin tanned from the hard work under the sun. The radiant smile on her face became blindingly brilliant. Eyes golden brown shone with gentleness and kindness.
There was a thought speeding around his mind like a raging bull, a thought that was making his IQ drop at an alarming rate, 'She's here... She... She called me DEAR! Oh my god, she's in love with me too!'
[...]
He was screaming and running around in euphoria in his head.
Fiona and Tiara came near the bed and saw his heavily blushing face. Instantly becoming worried, Fiona put her hand on his head, "Are you feeling alright? Do you have a fever?"
His head was hot already but now it became hotter. Her cold rough hand sent shivers down his spine, making him pull away in panic and look away. He imitated a tomato.
"Nothing's wrong. I'm alright. It's just a little hot here that's all." Quickly, he explained.
Fiona's brows slightly closed, "But your head is quite hot. Are you sure you're not sick?"
"Of course not. I am alright. Look." He jumped out of bed and began doing jumping jacks, making the floor creak wildly.
Fiona's head turned away immediately while Tiara was looking at him curiously. He felt something weird but ignored it completely, "See! I'm good."
Fiona cleared her throat, "That's good." She avoided his eyes.
"We were here to change the dressing and clean your wound." She explained.
He saw a wooden box in her hands. "Ah, thank you very much."
"And I brought some clothes for you. You must have been feeling cold." Tiara said, frowning at his body.
"Clothes? Thanks?" He was confused, Tiara forgot to stutter. When they first met, she would not stop stuttering but now she was suddenly stutterless.
He saw that her mind was occupied by something. Following her gaze, he reached the point of interest.
There it was, the occupier of her mind, the cause of Fiona's avoidance. The great beast whom the women desired, the monster that destroyed the ego of men, the conqueror of women, His Dick!
Standing proudly like a lion, shaking and roaring in rage.
He saw this and his mind turned off. There were no words spoken from either side, a silence so thick that it was assaulted by men.
"Ahhhhhhhh~" He would later go on to deny that his scream was the most girlish.
...
He was scrunched up under the covers, trying to kill himself just from thoughts. Outside the haven of the covers, Fiona and Tiara were trying to get rid of the ringing in their ears.
Tiara was making different noises, seeing if she had lost her hearing. A few seconds later, they approached him again and Fiona asked, "Are you alright, Darius?"
Darius heard her. But he did not reply for a few moments and then asked, "...Do you have poison?"
Fiona's brow arched, "Yes, but why?"
"I have decided that this shame and I cannot live together." He said, solemnly.
"Oh, dear. Don't be ashamed." She tried to call him, blushing a little. "It doesn't bother me. You have been naked all this time. And I'm sure Tia isn't bothered also."
"Weh!" He made weird noise of depression and shame.
"Now, come on out. We need to change your dressing." She urged, like a mother.
For a while, he did not say anything then slowly peeked from the covers, "Turn around and give me the clothes." His voice was meek and embarrassed.
A sigh escaped Fiona and as she turned around, she nudged her daughter. Tiara put down the clothes on the bed and followed her mother's actions.
Darius swiftly moved, jumping around and pulling up the pants before sitting back down ont the bed.
"I'm ready." He informed.
They turned around to see a half dressed Darius blushing with his head down. Fiona in her mind compared him to a newly wed wife on her first night, making her giggle.
Darius blushed even harder, "W-what?" He asked.
"It's nothing." Fiona said, thinking that he was quite cute. "Now I'll start removing the dressing."
He sat straighter when she pulled a nearby chair and sat on it. Her fingers gradually peeled the wrappings around his abdomen revealing an almost healed wound.
She bagan cleaning the wound with a wet cotton swab before applying a green mixture on the injury.
Her hands wrapped another cloth on his abdomen and knotting it comfortably.
"Here, done." She said with a warm smile. "You go rest now, okay? I don't want you running around. I'll call you when lunch is ready."
She gave the dirty cloth bandages to her daughter and packing the wooden first aid box. Walking out of the door with Tiara, she said, "Have a good rest."
The door closed.