Chapter 43: Bloody Traits!
A wave of water hit Lucien square in the face.
He wiped his eyes to find Evelisse grinning, hands still cupped from the attack.
"That’s an act of war," he said.
"Declare it, then."
He splashed her back, considerably harder. She shrieked and immediately dove behind Seraphina like a soldier seeking cover.
"Seraphina! He’s attacking me!"
"You started it," Seraphina said mildly, not moving to shield her at all.
Evelisse gasped, betrayed. "You’re choosing him over me?"
"I’m choosing not to get involved."
"That’s the same as choosing him! You’re picking dick over chicks!"
Seraphina went bright red. "Evelisse!"
"I’m not just some random man," Lucien pointed out, wading closer. "I’m your husband."
"That’s exactly the problem," Evelisse said, then shrieked again as he finally caught her with a full splash to the face.
Aurelia leaned against the tub’s edge, eyes half-closed, thoroughly unbothered by the chaos unfolding around her.
"This household has gotten considerably louder," she observed.
"You love it," Lucien said.
"I tolerate it," Aurelia said, though her mouth curved slightly.
---
Lucien climbed out first eventually, toweling off before pulling on comfortable shorts and a t-shirt.
"Don’t take too long," he called back. "Dinner won’t cook itself."
"You’re the husband," Evelisse shot back. "Isn’t that your job?"
"Not exactly, but I try." Lucien said, and disappeared toward the kitchen before she could argue further.
---
He gathered ingredients with practiced efficiency now, Stormwing Chicken, sourced from a mana-infused magical bird, marinated in crimson pepper, moon-salt, fragrant mana herbs, a garlicky Shadowroot, and a touch of honey.
He worked mana carefully through the marinade as it soaked, letting it settle deep into the meat rather than just sitting on the surface, and fried it with controlled precision, mana threading through the batter to lock in flavor and something more.
Golden Crystal Rice simmered alongside it, faintly luminous. Mooncap Mushroom Soup rounded out the meal, mild but restorative. For dessert, he assembled a Honey-Moon Berry Cream Tart, already anticipating exactly whose eyes would light up first.
By the time he called them down, the table looked like something out of a fancy restaurant.
---
The moment their mouths touched food, the chime rang.
[Ding!]
[Investment Detected]
Along with it, three spinning wheels appeared above each wife and started spinning.
The first wheel landed.
[Aurelia Astrax — Bond 39% — Max Multiplier ×39]
[×21]
[Investment: Rare-Grade Meal]
[Reward: 7 Months Cultivation Progress]
Then the second one.
[Seraphina Lilith — Bond 37% — Max Multiplier ×37]
[×14]
[Investment: Rare-Grade Meal]
[Reward: 420× D-Rank Mana Crystals]
And finally the last one.
[Evelisse Noctis — Bond 42% — Max Multiplier ×42]
[×17]
[Investment: Rare-Grade Meal]
[Reward: 1700 Gold Coins]
’All of their bonds went up,’ Lucien thought.
’Let’s see, Cultivation Progress, could always use more of that, mana crystals and gold. Now my wallet isnt as empty, it finally has some weight to it.’
’The better the meal, the better the returns,’ Lucien noted, leaving the rewards in the system inventory.
’Looks like I got to carry on making good food for my wives to get stronger.’
---
As they all ate, the girls brought up what they were doing, Lucien listening to them.
"I’m E-Rank now," Evelisse announced, mouth half full.
"Congratulations, Eve" Lucien said.
"Thank you." She swallowed, then added, "Cultivation is boring, though."
"It’s not supposed to entertain you," Aurelia said.
"It should."
"Then train."
"...I suddenly remember why I liked watching TV," Evelisse muttered.
Aurelia didn’t let it go. "Your Talent is powerful," she said, "but you can’t rely on it alone. You need to actually learn how to fight. Otherwise the first real opponent who ignores your talent effects walks right through you."
Evelisse sighed dramatically, but nodded. "...Fine. Fine! I’ll train more."
"Good."
"I’m still complaining about it the whole time."
"Wouldn’t expect anything less of you," Lucien said.
---
Seraphina spoke up next, quieter. "I’ve been experimenting with potion-making. I’m improving, but I’m running low on certain herbs. I could also use some proper alchemy equipment, better containers and maybe cauldron, at least, and a few manuals beyond what I remember from training."
’Going to remember that but its better to file it away,’ Lucien thought.
’Another investment opportunity and thisntime a proper alchemy setup, next priority after the master bedroom is completed.’
"I’ll look into it," he said. "Make a list for me."
She smiled, pleased. "I will."
---
Once dinner wound down, Lucien set his fork aside.
"I’m cultivating tonight," he said.
"Scared I’ll catch up to you?" Evelisse asked, grinning.
"Terrified," Lucien said. "Actively trying to stay ahead so I don’t get bullied by my own wife."
She looked far too pleased with that possibility.
Aurelia studied him a moment longer, sensing there was more to it. "That’s not really why, is it."
Lucien exhaled. "Yes that’s not all,"
"The dungeon break reminded me of something. That woman’s visit reminded me even harder." He looked at all three of them.
"I don’t want us to be the ones that have to compromise and be weak, so we need to get stronger. If something comes for this family, and something will, eventually, I want us strong enough to stand together. Not me protecting you. Us protecting each other."
Nobody argued with that.
---
Before heading upstairs, Lucien handed Evelisse another batch of mana crystals.
"More?" she protested. "I already have plenty."
"Take them."
She sighed and accepted, and the chime rang the instant her fingers closed around them.
[Ding!]
[Investment Detected: 50 E-Rank Mana Cores → Evelisse Noctis]
[Multiplier: ×23]
[Reward: D-Rank Mana Cores ×115]
’She’s never going to catch up if I keep feeding her resources that come back multiplied,* Lucien thought, distinctly satisfied.
’Good luck, Eve but it looks like I’m staying on top.’
"What’s that smile about?" Evelisse asked, suspicious.
"Nothing."
"That’s never true when you say it like that."
"Go cultivate."
---
The house settled into silence as everyone drifted to their rooms.
Lucien sat cross-legged in his own newly renovated room, mana Crystals and Cores arranged in a loose ring around him, and began cultivating properly, mana drawn in through his veins, refined according to the Mana Devouring Scripture, funneled steadily toward his core.
Minutes passed in comfortable rhythm.
Then his eyes snapped open.
’Wait a damn minute.’
’The wolves, their blood. I never actually tested the Origin Trait talent ability on it.’
He reached into his Infinite Sanguine Cosmos, pulling a portion of stored Ironfang Wolf blood free, and compressed it down, liters folding inward until it formed a small, dense crimson sphere, easily small enough to hold between two fingers.
’Blood candy, sure, why not I am a vampire afterall.’
He popped it into his mouth. It tasted strange sweet, almost, maybe due to being a vampire, and although hard from the compression, it dissolved within seconds.
[Ding!]
[Origin Trait Extraction Successful.]
[Ironfang Wolf Bloodline Detected.]
[Traits Extracted: Keen Smell (Lv.1 → Lv.4), Enhanced Musculature (Lv.1 → Lv.3)]
The world exploded into scent.
Wood, stone even the faint mineral tang of the mana crystals surrounding him. Rain, somewhere far outside, still hours from actually falling.
And underneath everything, the unmistakable scents of all three of his wives, drifting faintly from down the hall.
’Holy shit.’
He inhaled again, half-dazed by the sheer volume of scents suddenly available to his nose.
Then his muscles tightened, not bulking or visibly larger, but denser with fibers reorganizing into something more efficient and elastic.
He flexed his hand experimentally, and the motion felt sharper, more responsive than it had a minute ago.
’Damn, this is incredible.’
He pulled up the descriptions.
[Traits: ]
[Keen Smell (Lv.4)]
[Perceive scents at several times normal sensory threshold. Identify individuals, blood, mana, toxins, and environmental traces through smell.]
[Enhanced Musculature (Lv.3)]
[Improves muscle density, elasticity, force output, recovery, and physical endurance. Scales with trait level.]
’And these aren’t temporary,’ he realized, letting that sink in properly.
’This isn’t like Furnace Ignition. This is permanent, I’m literally stealing pieces of racial evolution and keeping them.’
---
’I still have some wolf blood left,’ he thought, greed creeping in.
He pulled the remainder from storage, mostly the Alpha’s, since he’d sold off the standard wolves’ blood to the guild for their potion and rune-crafting value, and compressed the rest into a second sphere, considerably larger than the first.
He consumed it entirely.
[Ding!]
[Keen Smell (Lv.4 → Lv.5)]
[Enhanced Musculature (Lv.3 → Lv.5)]
Then, nothing. The blood storage space registered empty.
Lucien sat there a moment, processing.
’...THE FUCK?! That was almost ten liters of blood. And I only gained two levels atmost.’
’How much would Level 10 even require?’
’And that’s only from a C-Rank wolf.’
A slow, half-horrified grin spread across his face.
’What would even happen when I drink dragon blood?’
---
He set the thought aside, storing it under "problems for future Lucien," and turned back to the matter at hand.
He checked his stored cultivation progress, a healthy accumulation, waiting patiently, and released it all at once, mana crystals cracking softly around him as he deliberately drew from them rather than the surrounding air.
’Don’t want to pull enough ambient mana to draw attention since I will likely to break through to C-Rank.’
’Using Mana Crystals and Cores are cleaner and safer, don’t want to alert any watchers if there are any here.’
Mana surged through his veins, circulation quickening with each pass, refined energy pouring steadily into his body and core, pulled from the Cores and crystals around him.
The core compressed it. Again. Again. Again, density building past what it had ever held before, pressure climbing steadily through the night.
Hours slipped past unnoticed.
Then—
BOOM.
His mana core shuddered, a wave of mana rippling outward through the room, crystals rattling faintly against the floor.
Lucien’s eyes snapped open.
Sunlight streamed through the window.
"...Already?" he murmured, blinking against the brightness.
The system chimed, final and triumphant.
[Ding!]
[Cultivation Progress Fully Consumed.]
[Cultivation Rank Increased!]
[Cultivation Rank: Peak D-Rank → Beginner C-Rank]
Lucien stared at the words.
Then, slowly, a grin spread across his face.
’Finally, C-Rank.’