Raziel felt a blazing fire ignite within him, burning fiercely!
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained the Talent: The Flame of Annihilation (S)!]
The Flame of Annihilation
Tier: S
Category: Elemental System
Description: Originating from the Emperor-level Contract Beast [Human] (female), this is a slightly enhanced version of the Talent that the Contractor obtains, with an additional slaying effect.
Effect: The Host gains control over the Flame of Annihilation, able to expend energy to create flames that have high temperature, melting properties, and are further enhanced by the Contractor's abilities—namely, the slaying characteristic.
"Feels... so powerful!!"
"The Contractor's Talent is truly god-tier, and it even upgrades the Talent feedback."
Raziel's expression shifted again and again.
His eyes gleamed with confidence.
Even if Avril managed to break free from her Contract Beast status, it didn't matter.
Raziel had obtained a power even greater than that of the future Empress—The Flame of Annihilation!
At the same time, he could feel that with the awakening of this powerful Talent, his attributes had increased significantly. Strength, agility, constitution, and spirit—all four major stats were now slightly above the limits of a trained adult, at the level where most people's attributes would be when they become a Level 1 player.
"Not bad," Raziel thought. "So, I'm basically like a Level 1 player with S-Class Talent now."
His mood lifted even more.
In this world, the wild monsters are quite powerful. In the early stages, players often lack the necessary skills and equipment, making it difficult to defeat monsters of the same level. As a result, most players need to find a stable leveling team to improve themselves after they become players.
However, Raziel possesses an S-level Talent, which allows him to solo monsters even before becoming a player! He has also reviewed materials from training institutions, learning that an S-level Talent, with just a bit of attribute enhancement, can deal damage equivalent to that of players who are ten levels higher when using their skills!
Now, Raziel can go out to level up and continually grow stronger, truly taking control of his own destiny. How could he not be thrilled?
He was still sitting there eating with Avril, so he had to hold back his smile and keep his excitement in check.
"This dish tastes pretty good," he said, cutting a piece of steak with his knife and fork.
But then, suddenly, he froze.
Out of nowhere, he felt a soft sensation, like something was brushing against his leg.
Raziel blinked, looking down briefly. He could vaguely see Avril's long leg, clad in black stockings, gently grazing against his.
What the hell?!
Raziel was stunned.
Avril wasn't intentionally trying to seduce Raziel. The future Empress, burdened by the fact that she had become a Contract Beast, was eating her meal with a heavy heart. Her unconscious instincts led her to crave physical contact with Raziel.
Her upper body was bathed in the soft light of the restaurant, while her lower body, hidden in the shadows, became a little less composed.
Suddenly, Raziel's expression froze!
He wasn't s
The silky sensation against his leg made Raziel's thoughts begin to wander.
He realized that no other person, male or female, had ever touched Avril in such a manner on campus—let alone something so suggestive.
Raziel felt his body stiffen in response.
The atmosphere in the room became incredibly charged and ambiguous.
He didn't dare say anything, fearing that Avril might notice and become angry or embarrassed.
"Ugh..."
"I guess I just have to bear with it."
He sighed inwardly, thinking that in the end, it was up to him to endure everything.
A few minutes later, he thought to himself,
"Well, I should investigate this situation further."
"Simply telling her father that I've become her Contract Beast will probably make things worse."
Avril, meanwhile, had returned to the present moment after her thoughts had drifted. She suddenly felt something strange underfoot.
In the next moment, she realized what she was doing, and her face flushed bright red.
Thud!
She quickly withdrew her leg, her body stiff as she moved to the other side of the table.
But the quick movement caused her to bump into the edge of the table.
Raziel, who had been trying to pretend he hadn't noticed, could only awkwardly ask,
"Avril, are you alright?"
"It's nothing."
"I'm full now," Avril said quickly, devouring the last two pieces of bread on her plate. Her voice was soft, and her face was still flushed. "I've already paid the bill."
"I'll be leaving now."
With that, she stood up in her high heels and walked away, leaving only her retreating figure behind.
Raziel let out a quiet sigh of relief. But as he watched her long legs move gracefully, he couldn't help but recall the sensation from before.
"Shit..."
Raziel muttered under his breath.
His body was still stiff, unable to relax, as he sat there.
At that moment, a new message flashed before his eyes.
[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully formed your first Contract Beast, and the Talent fusion is complete. You have now acquired the cultivation method for Contract Beast [Human] (female).]
"Human female..."
Raziel looked at the System's message, feeling a bit speechless.
Logically, the System wasn't wrong. If Raziel had captured a Goblin, it would've also stated something like [Acquired the cultivation method for [Goblin]].
But... hearing Avril, someone who had just made Raziel a bit excited, being referred to in this way by the System sounds really strange!
"From now on, you'll call her Avril."
Raziel thought to himself.
[Ding! Name change successful. Your Contract Beast [Human (female)] has been renamed to [Avril].]
[Congratulations, Host! As a Contractor, you have taken an important step. Giving your Contract Beast a specific name and building a relationship with her will help enhance her combat abilities. You are very perceptive—please continue your efforts.]
"..."
Raziel was speechless. He couldn't help but mutter in frustration, "I want to view Avril's cultivation method."
[Ding! Cultivation method has been generated:
First-stage cultivation for Avril (Upon completion, improves Talent quality and permanently boosts attributes):
4 Dragon-fire Fruits (consume)
Skill [Melting Heart] (learn)
3 Condensing Pills (consume)
5 kg of Flame-refined Gold (System will refine into a pill)
After using the above resources, it has been detected that Avril matches the Host's aesthetic preferences and that both the Host and Avril belong to the same race. It is suggested that the Host mate with Avril to enhance the energy absorption efficiency of Contract Beast: Avril, potentially increasing the effect of Talent and attribute enhancements.]
"???"
Raziel was completely stunned after reading the cultivation guidelines.
The first part of the message made sense to him.
He understood that with Divine-level Contract Master Talent, it made sense that such powerful recommendations would follow.
He recognized the Dragon-fire Fruit—it was a rare resource found in a level 20 dungeon near Keller City. Consuming one could increase fire-type skill damage by 1%, with a maximum usage limit of once per person.
As for the skill [Melting Heart] and the other materials mentioned, Raziel wasn't as familiar.
But he didn't think it was a problem. In this game-like world, there were countless strange materials that humans had never fully cataloged or classified.
Based on the value of the Dragon-fire Fruit, Raziel speculated that the remaining skills or materials could be obtainable by players around level 20.
That meant...
He could likely use those resources soon to boost Avril's Talent and attributes, which in turn would give Raziel another reward.
But when he looked at the next part of the cultivation guide, he was at a loss for words again.
The diplomatic way to put it would be—System's suggestion was too blunt.
"Mating... to enhance the amplification effect??"
If someone had told Raziel that he had to sleep with Avril to help her, he would've been ecstatic.
But once the word "mating" was used, Raziel felt like a cold bucket of water had been thrown over him.
All excitement instantly vanished.
Luckily, he was gradually becoming accustomed to the ridiculousness of the System.
A quick rant and it was over.
Afterward, Raziel hesitated for a moment, glancing at the table full of delicacies.
"Waiter, could you pack this up?"
...More than an hour later, Raziel had not returned to school. Instead, he rushed to the Adventurers' Association. He had just found a place without surveillance to test the effects of The Flame of Annihilation. Unfortunately, he was unable to measure anything. Against ordinary objects, the flame could instantly incinerate everything!
Raziel then decided to head over to the Adventurers' Association, where there were special instances designed specifically for testing damage! Moreover, these instances had built-in confidentiality features, so he didn't have to worry about his talent being exposed.
...
Raziel took the subway to the West District. He walked directly into the side hall of the Adventure Association that offered testing instance services. He was lucky; after only two hours of waiting in line, he obtained access to a testing instance. He then followed the established protocol, passing through an iron gate and entering the hidden blue teleportation array, quickly entering the instance.
But just as Raziel's figure began to dissipate, a woman in work clothes rushed over anxiously.
"Everyone, stop entering the instance!"
"The instance's energy has been affected by the Scarlet Tide and has temporarily transformed into a formal instance! The resurrection mechanism has been disabled!"
She was visibly tense. Testing instances were usually incredibly stable, rarely experiencing any issues for decades. However, just a few days earlier, members of the Heaven-Hunting Team had a confrontation with a future Calamity-level BOSS in the wild, which triggered the Scarlet Tide. Under the influence of this energy fluctuation, the number of monsters in the testing instances within Keller City would skyrocket, and all the monsters would enter a frenzy state!
While the silver lining was that the drop rates and the quality of the drops would significantly increase, the downside was that most of the players entering the testing instance were newcomers with levels below ten! At that moment, they were essentially facing certain death!
The woman watched as Raziel disappeared, letting out a helpless sigh, a flicker of guilt flashing in her eyes. If she had arrived just a few seconds earlier... she could have saved a life! These novice players would not get to enjoy the increased drop rates... they could only endure the relentless pursuit of the frenzied monsters!