"Hahaha, thank you for the compliment, you're beautiful yourself. I can see where you get your looks from." He walked over, took her hand, and kissed the back of it.
Helen's face turned bright red as he kissed her hand. She fanned her face while taking a deep breath. "T-Thank you." All she could do was stare into his eyes, it was like he was a vampire compelling her to do what he wanted with how she wouldn't look away.
"Ahem, shouldn't you greet the lady of the house like that as well?" Freida asked
"You're right, I'm sorry." He turned around and kissed her hand as well.
"Good, now you two get to know each other well okay? I'll make dinner while you guys have fun." Freida walked toward the kitchen, fanning her face as she too was flustered by Joren's attractiveness.
"Shall we go?" Joren asked, but Helen was too focused on his eyes to respond. She didn't even know what he said. "Heh." He kissed her on the lips, snapping her out of her trance.
"Y-You just...you...we...kiss...oh my gods." She fell back and fainted. Luckily, Joren caught her before she hit the floor.
'How convenient.'Joren walked upstairs, carrying Helen, and searched for her room which wasn't too hard as the door was open. He rested her on the bed and sat on it as well imprinting her with his slave sigil.
'I should temporarily remove some functions so she doesn't outright obey me. She'll continue to act like the normal Helen while I pull the strings from the shadows, haha.' He sat in the lotus position and decided to check his body.
'Let's see, what changed.' As he scanned his body, he didn't notice anything different compared to how he was a year and six months ago. The three biggest changes to his body were breaking through to the 3rd circle, undergoing body ceasing which made his mana pure, and his meridians have all been activated.
'It seems that my body noticed that it was dying and allocated all my mana to the meridians. I see! Back when I tried to cultivate my meridians, I only tried to pump it with mana, but I was supposed to cultivate it like a normal circle. Just as the circle around my heart is actually around the meridian, I just needed to do the same for the other 11. So each meridian has three circles around them which also made them have a core.' Feeling the mana in his 11 other cores, Joren came to that realization.
'I remember the meridians pouring mana into my heart to fix my broken core. Can each meridian function as a separate core?' He put his thoughts into action. While he had 12 cores in his body, his heart was the centralized one as that's where he cultivated his mana, so he tried focusing on the meridian in his lungs to make that his main core, and to his surprise, it worked.
'Holy fuck I can shift the cores in my body! I feel like my breathing got better! What about my Pericardium Meridian?' Shifting to his Pericardium Merdian, his blood flow increased making him feel energized, but not only that, his emotions skyrocketed, and his intense anger burst from his body in the form of bloodlust.
Instantly shifting back to his heart meridian, Joren panted as he had never felt his emotions so heightened. 'I almost blew my cover as well. I need to be cautious.'
Continuing to practice with his meridians, Joren concluded that centralizing his core on a specific meridian would amplify what that meridian does. He also tested and confirmed that he can centralize multiple meridians at once or even all. He also tested how much power each meridian adds to him.
'So having a normal core, I would be the normal strength of a 3rd circle, and each core adds a small, but noticeable boost to my overall strength. If fighting against two 3rd circle cultivators would give me trouble, activating one core would even the playing field sort of boost of strength.
It also seems that activating all of them at once empowers me to the utmost limit my body can handle for my current level. It's like going as fast as you can in a car without air resistance. 300mph is only 300mph because of air resistance and the meridians take that factor away.'
Moving away from the meridians Joren focused on his mana as it was pure now and not riddled with impurities. He could feel his mana pushing back the impure entities every time he absorbed mana.
'This must be how people in the 5th circle and up feel. It's as if my mana is nature itself. My mana is just as pure as someone who underwent body cleansing but my mana isn't on the same level of power as I'm not on the same circle. But this means that no one under the 5th circle is my opponent as my mana is too pure, and purity adds strength. This doesn't even include my meridians. If I come across Bia again, while I still can't win against her, I can definitely injure her and stand a chance as my mana is now pure.'
As he finished assessing his body, Joren opened his eyes and saw that Helen was still sleeping so he continued to meditate.
'Just like my other self said, I need to be strong and trample on those who stand in my way. I'll take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.' With that, Joren started absorbing fire mana to obtain the fire element.
...
Hours later, Helen woke up to see Joren meditating on her bed.
"Oh my gosh! He's my future husband? My fiance?! Dad, you did well this time. I won't question you ever again." She laid her head on his lap and stared at his handsome face. 'I can look at him all day!' She giggled, thinking of a way to break the news to her friends.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew her off Joren. It wasn't enough to make her fall or flung into the wall, just enough to force her from Joren's lap. She tilted her head, confused at what just happened when Joren opened his eyes. She stared deeply into his beautiful crimson eyes, blushing when he smiled.
"It seems like you're up now." Getting off the bed, Joren stood up and stretched his body.
"What was that?" She asked
"What?" He questioned
"The wind."
"Oh, you mean this?" Extending his hand, a small tornado the size of his palm danced in the middle of his hand. While he was cultivating, he obtained the fire element, but he didn't stop there. He decided to get the wind element as well. Why? To aid in his flight. Joren could already stand in the air and even lift himself using mana force. His lightning only made him faster. So, he added fire and wind to his arsenal to aid in his speed. 'I'll get water, earth, and wood after I'm done with my business here.'
"Y-You can use mana?! You have magic?!" She was already content with his face and build. Knowing her dad, she knew Joren would have money but what she didn't expect was for him to have mana.
"Yup. That's not all either." A fire ignited and lightning crackled in his palm.
"T-Tripple elements? I-Isnt having one element rare for a cultivator? And you have three?" She was flabergasted. Her fiance was the best man ever.
"I can also use healing magic. But it's not as strong as your father's, otherwise, I wouldn't be seeking his help."
She didn't even know why he needed her father's help and she didn't care. All she cared about right now was how to brag to her friends about how amazing her fiance was.
"Shall we go downstairs? Whatever your mother is cooking smells nice."
"Y-Yeah, let's go." She clutched his arm and walked downstairs together.
...
"I'm home!" Trey announced as he entered the door.
"Welcome home Honey, food's almost done," Freida spoke as she prepared the food.
Trey walked to the dining room and noticed four plates on the table instead of three.
"Do we have a guest today?" He asked confused.
"Oh stop it, Trey. You already know he was coming here today." She laughed
"Huh? What are you talking about?" He was genuinely clueless not knowing what his wife was talking about.
"Helen's fiance? Don't tell me you forgot that you were meeting him today."
"Her fiance? What-"
"Daddy, your home!" She ran down the stairs and greeted him with a warm hug.
"Hey, my little princess! How are you?" Trey loved his family and seeing his daughter smile moved his heart.
"I'm great. You finally found me a good man after all, haha." She blushed and walked back slightly
Trey was about to respond, his confusion noticeable, when he heard someone greet him.
"Hello Trey, it's nice to see you again." Joren came from the stairs walking into his view.
Trey jolted with surprise as he was confused about how Joren managed to escape the dungeon. Scratch that, he was confused about how he found his house. He didn't look how he did in the dungeon either. He was taller, full of energy, healthy, and looked stronger than ever.
Joren went in for a hug, wrapping his arms around Trey as he whispered into his ears. "Act natural or I'll kill your fucking family." Normally, Trey wouldn't be scared of him. But as he felt the hatred in his voice, feeling the slight but very noticeable bloodlust, and thinking about the safety of his family, he smiled and greeted Joren like a friend.
"Joren! It's good to see you. I apologize but it slipped my mind that we were meeting today. I see you've already met my daughter. So, tell me, what do you think?" He laughed dryly but was fuming on the inside.
"She's amazing. I'm already captivated by her beauty. She'll be an amazing wife. I can't wait to take care of her. Not only her but you and your wife as well, after all, you both will be family." A sinister smile was on his face as he spoke.
"Hahaha, I'm glad you feel that way. Make sure you treat my little angel right you hear me!"
"Dad!" Helen blushed
"Fufu, don't embarrass her, dear." Freida laughed, wiping her hands with a cloth.
"Sorry, sorry. Say, Joren, can we speak alone for a bit?"
"Ahh, for my treatment? Of course, lead the way." Trey took him upstairs to his office.
"Treatment?" Helen asked.
"Joren had scars and bruises on his body that no healer could remove so he came seeking your father for aid. They eventually ended up talking about you and that's how he's your fiance. Your father was working so he set up an appointment to meet him and it was today."
"Oh, okay. I'll help you set dinner." They went into the kitchen to set dinner on the table.