"97... 98... 99... 100! Huh... damn, my arms are trembling. Curse it."
After doing fifty push-ups and sit-ups, Neonidas looked at himself in the mirror. His body had developed quickly in a short time, but he still didn't look great. Of course, it was still impressive how much he had developed in just a few days. This was because Neonidas had multiplied his stat points by two, using his ring, turning his original 92 stat points into 184, and finally, he had decided to use these stat points.
____________________________
Name: Neonidas
House Name: Oreoned
Age: 21
Intelligence: 4 (?)
Strength: 42 (+8)
Agility: 43 (+12)
Mana: 115 (+25)
Mentality: 3 (?)
Charisma: 20
Special Powers: Power of Light
Passive Abilities: Immunity to poison, Some of the Great Wolf's passive abilities
Bloodline: (?)
System Comment: Fine, you're okay now... Is that good? But you're still nowhere near the league of legends.
[Total stat points: 0(0)]
____________________________
These were Neonidas's new stats. Of course, he started by boosting his strength and agility, which he desperately needed. After all, he was so weak that even a simple mountain walk would exhaust him, and he was also too slow to respond to any attack. The next stat he increased was Mana, since he needed it to use his powers. He also boosted his charisma a little. As for intelligence and mentality, Neonidas decided not to spend stat points on them for now.
Neonidas, or rather Orson in his original form, already had extra stat points, but since he didn't know how many they were for now, he decided to ignore them.
By the way, stat points don't directly affect the human body, but they still have an effective existence. For example, if Neonidas had spent all of his stat points on strength, his muscles wouldn't have developed, but his strength would still increase. In short, stats don't change the body itself; if they did, Princess Allea would probably look like a massive Minotaur by now.
It's worth mentioning that in this reincarnated novel world, Neonidas would have been strong enough to defeat an average person, but his special powers had the potential to change this situation.
Meanwhile, the female wolf had started healing day by day, and with the special healing elixirs provided by Neonidas, she was slowly approaching the next level.
After quickly washing up, Neonidas started putting on his elegant clothes. Currently, Neonidas and his team were stopping in one of the towns closest to the capital. They were about to head to the capital, which was about half an hour away.
Neonidas stepped out of the bathroom, looked at himself in the mirror, sighed, and then headed to his wardrobe to get ready for his stylish look. Since Neonidas was a duke, his clothes had to be elegant and in line with his status.
The outfit he chose started with a dark blue, slim jacket that reflected a noble and stylish look. The jacket had subtle gold embroidery on the shoulders and was embroidered with delicate patterns on the sleeves and collar. Underneath, he wore a white, collarless, slightly shiny shirt. The shirt had a fine gold chain detail in the front, which completed the elegance of the outfit. His pants were dark gray, perfectly fitting, and made of fabric that didn't restrict movement.
Since Neonidas cared about his appearance, his shoes were simple but striking: black, shiny leather shoes that reached just below the knees, with small silver accents on the sides. He wore a belt with both decorative and functional purposes, and in the center of the belt was a symbol of the Oreoned family crest.
On his right hand, he wore a delicate engagement ring and the duke's ring, which he had received from his sister. He also kept the "dark ring," which transformed his hand into a sword on his finger. Additionally, he put on the cufflinks from his family's coat of arms, which were on the sleeves of his jacket.
Once Neonidas finished dressing, he took one last look at himself in the mirror. "Yes," he said, smiling slightly. He had shortened his slightly long hair and, for now, he styled it in a way that he thought would suit his baby-faced look, parting it down the middle. His blue eyes shone in the mirror, and his hair really did match well with them.
"This bastard looks pretty handsome" Neonidas said as he left the room.
After leaving the room, he found himself face-to-face with Soren's sister. Soren and his twin sister, Solara, had arrived in the town earlier that day. Although their training had been short, it seemed to have gone well for now. However, once the celebrations for their victory were over, they would continue their training directly at the ducal mansion.
As written in the novel, Soren was characterized by his magical powers, but Solara showed potential with thin swords or small knives. In fact, one of the combat trainers hired for them had praised Solara even more and said she had the potential to be an excellent assassin.
Solara was wearing a stylish yet simple outfit that allowed her to move freely. Her long, wavy white hair cascaded down her shoulders, and when she saw Neonidas, her blue eyes sparkled. After all, she now knew how and from where Neonidas had saved her brother. Before coming here, she had already started developing a deep bond with the man who had saved both her and her only family in this world.
"Good morning, sire" Solara said, kneeling.
"You don't need to kneel so dramatically. I'm not like those pink-assed nobles," Neonidas said as he passed her.
"My apologies, sire"
Neonidas and Solara walked through the corridors and left the luxurious inn. Outside, it was quite crowded, and there were guards in expensive armor all over the town. Only the highest-ranking nobles could enter this town; the rest had set up tents outside.
In this town, there were currently four different dukes, including Neonidas. The roads in the town were paved with stone, and each building was beautifully designed. It felt like a miniature version of the capital. Soren and Neonidas's guards were preparing their carriages and horses.
"You look quite elegant today, Duke Neonidas Oreoned," a woman's voice suddenly came.
Neonidas looked around and saw a woman holding a fan in one hand, partially covering her face. He recognized her immediately. The second most powerful woman in the empire after Empress and Princess Allea, Duchess Lyranna. She was also Princess Allea's closest childhood friend. In fact, she was the last person to stand by Allea's side until the end of the novel, and she was probably one of the people with the most blood on her hands in the empire.
But she hated Neonidas because she cared for Allea deeply and saw her as a sister. She was bothered by the fact that someone like Neonidas, who was worthless in every way, was engaged to the perfect Allea. Moreover, knowing that Allea herself didn't want this marriage made her hate Neonidas even more.
However, Neonidas wasn't at fault here. He couldn't break the engagement, even if he wanted to. After all, what kind of fool would break off an engagement to someone from the imperial family? That would be a huge insult to the emperor. Furthermore, the moment the engagement between Neonidas and Allea was called off, the other 11 dukes would use their rights under the imperial constitution to attack Neonidas together. Only the emperor could veto this decision, but even the emperor wouldn't be insane enough to face off with all 11 dukes without a valid reason. In the end, neither the original Neonidas nor the current Neonidas had any authority over the engagement.
"You look elegant as well" Neonidas said, cutting the conversation short.
Lyranna's short black hair waved lightly as she carefully examined Neonidas with her green eyes.
"I suppose the rumors are true, Duke. You seem to have changed and grown quite a lot. That's extremely impressive."
Neonidas realized that the woman was subtly insulting him. These were aristocratic-style insults, but Neonidas understood them easily. Duchess Lyranna took a step forward and stood beside Neonidas. Seeing that he didn't care about her or even observe basic politeness seemed to irritate her a little.
"I've heard that your duchy is in quite a bit of debt, Duke Neonidas. But if you'd like, I can help you. Of course, I would require something in return," Duchess Lyranna said, not even looking at Neonidas, just standing next to him.
"Thank you for your interest, but there's no need," Neonidas replied. He probably knew what the Duchess wanted, but right now, the last thing he wanted was to upset his relationship with the emperor.
Solara, standing behind Neonidas, had noticed that this woman was irritating her master, and she was struggling to hold herself back from intervening. After all, what kind of bitch woman was this, who was ruining her master's mood with her ugly mouth?! At least these were the thoughts going through Solara's mind right now.
Fortunately, before long, Neonidas's carriage approached, and the guards appeared fully ready. Soren dismounted from his horse and bowed respectfully before Neonidas, his long silver hair reaching down to his knees as he lowered his head.
"We are ready for the journey to the capital, my lord," he said in his velvet voice.
"Then let's go. It was a pleasure speaking with you, Duchess Lyranna. I hope we can repeat this delightful conversation when we reach the capital..." Neonidas said as he boarded the carriage.
Duchess Lyranna, however, continued to watch him sharply with her eyes from behind. After Solara got on, Neonidas closed the door, and with the sound of the horses' neighing, they left.
____
🥴