Chapter 12: Sleep In My Room
[You have completed the Quest.]
[You have met the conditions to unlock three Investment Targets]
[You have gained $100,000,000 x3]
[You have gained SSS-Class Swordsmanship x3]
[Reward has been upgraded]
[You have received Mythic-Class Swordsmanship: Shadow Sword]
[You have gained The Indestructible Heaven Body Script x3]
[Reward has been upgraded]
[You have received the Limitless Body Script]
[You have received the Endless River Circulation Script x3]
[Rewards has been upgraded]
[You have received Limitless Mana Flow]
[You have made your first Successful Investment.]
[Thalleria: HIGH.]
[You have received Skill: Appraisal Eye]
[Estea: LOW]
[You have received: Herbal Tea Recipe]
[Sesan: LOW]
[You have received: Uncommon Fruit Salad x1]
***
[STATUS
Name: Theolyne Chadwick
Age: 21
Rank: (-)F
Awakened Skill: Hardening
Skill Proficiency: 2.03%]
[INVESTOR STATUS]
[Name: Theolyne Chadwick
Age: 21
Rank: unregistered
Attribute Affinity: Shadow, Ice, Fire, Wood.
Constitution: Unassimilated(+1 available)
Circulation Art: unregistered (+1 available)
Skills: [Appraisal Eye(C)0.1%], [Shadow Sword(Mythic)0%].
Inventory: Uncommon Fruit Salad x1, Herbal Tea Recipe x1.]
The whole way home, Theo was stuck staring at these things. He didn’t even know how to feel about it all.
Two major systems hovered in front of his eyes. One was plain blue with white text. The other had a golden background with black text, and that was the more interesting of the two, though smaller notifications still hung scattered around the edges of his view.
He was seated in the front now. The system had kept beeping earlier, and he had tried to ignore it while he pushed Estea’s wheelchair and helped her back into the car. Now they were on their way home, and the car was silent, partly from the dawning reality that they were married.
And partly because Theo was only now realizing he had really received rewards from this strange system, the one he’d gotten after getting killed.
’I don’t even know what to think of this...’
Then Thall’s phone, which he was still using, chimed. Theo opened it and saw:
{You have received a credit alert of $300,000,000}
{This account has been flagged as the credit is beyond your credit limit}
{Visit the bank for verification}
’Oh shit...’
Something turned strangely in Theo’s stomach. He was happy and not so happy in the same breath. He had received a vicious amount of money, far more than he had ever expected, and then watched every last coin of it get seized by the bank. He sat there in the passenger seat, half wishing he could just go mad thinking about it.
’Three hundred million, and I can’t touch a single coin.’
But there were a lot more things to think about.
Unfortunately, the car pulled up at the entrance of their building. It was already late at night. Theo climbed out, pulled Estea’s wheelchair from the trunk, and helped her down onto it.
He had settled the taxi fare earlier, back when he booked it, so there was nothing left to worry about on that front.
Theo looked up at the building, and his dread came back to him. He sighed, and began the long climb, one slow flight after another.
After a while, they reached the rooftop.
Sesan was already sleepy and staggering in her wedding dress as they climbed the last of the stairs, so Thall held her through the rest of it and, once they got home, laid her gently on the bed. Theo carried Estea and set her down beside Sesan, weathering her scathing glare the whole time.
The rooftop house was a bedroom and a parlor, the parlor opening straight onto the kitchen. The bed they slept on was only large enough to take two, with a little space remaining.
’Has Thall been sleeping on the floor all this while?’ Theo wondered as he studied the place.
Thall had slipped outside and sat on the bench, looking up at the spread of stars. Far off, the silhouette of a tall tower stood cloaked in dark clouds, its upper floors lost somewhere above them.
Theo sat down next to her, removed his jacket, and laid it gently over her shoulders.
Thalleria smiled warmly.
"Thank you Theo."
[Investment Detected]
[Thalleria: LOW]
[You have received Bottomless Flask]
Theo glanced at the system.
’So, I just receive random rewards for everything I do?’
"Two days ago, I never thought I’d be married." Her gaze stayed lost in the dark skies. "Certainly not to you, Theo."
Theo kept his gaze on the floor, his tie still hanging a bit loose.
"I know... too. I didn’t exactly come off as the marriage type."
She looked at him.
"I mean what I said though. Theo, you are a kind person..."
She smiled again, softer this time.
"The only kind person I have ever met."
Theo stilled for a moment, then smiled appreciatively. And spoke carefully after.
"Do you mind if I ask a question, Thall?"
She looked at him and nodded.
"Back then, that man, the Disaster King, he said your families... would be disappointed in you. And you said they connived with the Tower. Can I ask what exactly happened? It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me, I was just curious about a bit more context."
Thall smiled as she responded.
"I will tell you... but only if you tell me about your family."
Theo nodded.
"Okay."
Thalleria exhaled, cold breath coming out of her mouth as she spoke.
"My family raised me to claim Yggdrasil. It has been my father’s long dream. Are you familiar with the Tower, Theo?"
Theo shook his head.
"Not much. I only know it’s a dangerous place. Even Jupiter Lady, a renowned Hero here, never goes past floor ten."
Thalleria gave a curt nod.
"Yes, the Tower is a very dangerous place, and Yggdrasil is on floor 50."
Theo’s head snapped up.
"What?"
"Yes. I was born and raised in the Tower. I knew nothing but battle, and my father used me to get Yggdrasil, then cast me away after. Estea’s father wanted to inherit the Fire Legacy. Do you know the difference between Lineage and Affinity, Theo?"
Theo shook his head.
Thalleria chuckled lightly.
"Theo, you really know nothing."
[Investment Detected]
[Thalleria: LOW]
[You have received Uncommon Quill]
’Seriously, I didn’t even do anything just now?’
"Affinity cannot be passed down. But when an affinity becomes a Legacy, it becomes a bloodline ability, and it can be passed down. Many prestigious families that moved to the Tower a hundred years ago used this method to establish themselves across the floors. The Hearthandal family, known for their Legacy of Water. The Weschneider family, known for their Legacy of Fire. The Chixu family, known for their Legacy of Ice. That aside, Estea’s father married a dragon, and she gave birth to Estea, promoting his bloodline. Chixu’s story is sadder. She was thrown into Nelfihmr, the 49th floor of the Tower, when she was merely 12. No one knows how she became the Queen of Nelfihmr twenty years later. And when her family couldn’t take it back from her, they did this."
Theo sighed as he took the story in. His hands had curled loose in his lap without his noticing, and he felt immensely sorry for the ladies, who had been used and thrown away by the very people they should have felt safest with.
Thall smiled.
"Do not feel sorry for us, Theo. We are in a better place than we were two years ago. So, you tell me about your family."
Theo nodded.
"My father used to be a Hero too. In his twenties, he managed to reach floor eight before he ran into the floor King there. He said the loss cost him more than his youth. He was ridden with an extreme illness that slowly took his powers. His wife at the time was the daughter of the CEO of the Agency he worked with. She left him, left the two of us, and never looked back. Everyone left him, and it was just the two of us since. He died nine months ago."
Thall had a somber look on her face.
"Theo... I’m sorry."
[Investment Detected]
[Thalleria: MID]
[You have received Bone Strengthening Broth Recipe]
Theo ignored the system.
"I’m fine. I’ve never thought about finding my mother, and I have no reason to. I feel like it’d be dishonoring my father, who was abandoned."
Thalleria nodded.
"That’s quite understandable. You are doing well on your own."
She sighed and straightened.
"I should go to sleep."
Theo spoke quickly, right after her.
"You should go to sleep in my room."
Thalleria froze and gave him an odd look. It took a moment before Theo caught up to how his statement had sounded, and he scrambled to fix it.
"Oh wait, no, no, I don’t mean it like that. What I mean is, I’ve noticed you might have been sleeping uncomfortably, and my bed is pretty good. So you go sleep there, and I’ll sleep out here. That way I can tend to Estea and Sesan while you rest."
Thalleria looked worried.
"Theo, you don’t have to do that. Please, sleep at your place. I can manage."
Theo held her hand and fixed her with a stubborn glare.
"I insist."
Thalleria sighed, exasperated.
"You’re stubborn."
Theo gave a victorious nod.
"Indeed I am."
[Investment Detected]
[Thalleria: MID]
[You have received Common Longsword]
He escorted her down, all the way to the entrance of his room, and opened the door for her, which earned him another Investment Return.
Then he went back up to the rooftop. He checked that Estea and Sesan were okay and sound asleep, closed the entrance door of the sitting room, and sank onto the two-seater couch to go through all his rewards properly and assimilate them. The golden panel appeared at his mental command and Theo got to work.