Crunch!!
The sound echoed softly through the spacious kitchen as Will took a deliberate bite from the apple in his hand.
The fruit was crisp and sweet, and the faint juice dripped down his fingers as he chewed slowly, his thoughts already drifting elsewhere.
With his free hand, he passed a neatly folded short note toward one of the shadow-borne stationed nearby.
The shadow-borne accepted the note without hesitation; its movements were smooth and devoid of any expression or curiosity.
"Hand this to your master."
The entity did not respond verbally; it simply nodded and turned immediately, disappearing silently into the deeper corridors of the mansion.
Watching it leave, Will finished the last bite of the apple and wiped his hand casually against his sleeve.
He turned around and walked out of the kitchen at an unhurried pace, his footsteps echoing faintly through the vast halls.
The mansion was quiet as usual, despite its enormous size. The silence no longer felt oppressive to him. Instead, it felt strangely comforting; after all, he was not a fan of a crowded line of snotty children crying for unlimited chocolate.
When he reached his assigned room, Will entered and shut the door behind him. After a brief pause, he locked it carefully, more out of habit than necessity. He stood still for a moment, exhaled slowly, and let his shoulders relax.
He then turned toward the center of the room and spoke softly.
"Let's go."
His figure vanished instantly as he entered the Domain of Infinite.
Will reappeared in a vast expanse of open land, standing exactly where he had left weeks ago. The environment greeted him with familiar calm.
The sky stretched endlessly above him, and the air was dense with rich mana that seeped into his body with every breath.
He looked toward the cliff in the distance.
The same cliff he had obliterated during his previous training session now stood whole and unblemished, as if it had never been damaged at all.
Will nodded to himself, unsurprised.
"Ok, system, show me the returns I gained from all the bound individuals."
The system responded instantly.
[ding!! While the rewards notifications were turned off, two bound individuals, Leila and Seraphine, also awakened.
[Individual Leila has awakened SSS-ranked talent CELESTIAL ARCHER and SSS-ranked ICE affinity.]
[Individual Seraphine has awakened SSS-ranked talent SPIRIT TRANSFORMER and SSS-ranked LIGHT affinity.]
[Ding!! Do you want to receive 100X feedback?
Will's eyes lit up immediately.
He nodded fanatically without hesitation. These two were not weak in any sense, and although their talents were technically ranked lower than Ethan's, they were terrifying in their own right. Each of them had the potential to become monsters in their respective paths.
The system processed his response.
[ding] Congratulations, you have received the following rewards:
Talent: Heaven-Piercing Archer (legendary)
talent: sovereign spirit transformer (legendary)
affinities: ICE (absolute), LIGHT (absolute)]
Will let out a slow breath as the information settled into his mind.
Two years ago, placing binders on these two heroines had not been easy.
Leila had been the daughter of a renowned noble house, surrounded by guards, servants, and strict social boundaries. Getting close to her directly had been impossible. Instead, Will had taken a more indirect approach.
He had befriended her personal maid.
It had taken time, patience, and an absurd amount of chocolate. He had given the maid so many chocolate sweets, often mixed with tiny amounts of his blood, under the pretense of friendship. His plan had relied entirely on probability.
And it had worked.
After countless liters of blood drained and an embarrassing number of free chocolates wasted, some of those treats had eventually reached Leila herself. The binder had taken effect quietly, without fanfare or immediate consequence.
Sadly, the maid thought that Will was courting her. Naturally, she was also into him due to his handsome face. Sadly, a maiden's heart would be shattered soon.
Meanwhile, Seraphine's case had been entirely different.
She was a high blood elf, the rightful heir to the elf queen, although she did not know it herself.
As a child, she had been abducted by human slave merchants and sold into captivity. Her time in the slave market had been long, traumatic, and degrading.
The slave merchants had erased her memories of her homeland.
Fortunately, fate had intervened.
The tower master of the mage tower, who was also a spirit summoner, had sensed something unusual during a slave auction. Numerous spirits had been clustering around Seraphine, drawn instinctively to her latent talent.
Recognizing her potential, the tower master had purchased her freedom on the spot, later accepting her as his disciple.
As for how Will had fed her his blood, it had not been simple.
He had used a cloaking veil called Trickster's Veil, an item obtained through one of his free system purchases. The artifact was described as top-tier, worth billions of SP, and its description had unsettled him deeply.
The system had stated that the limit of its cloaking was undefined.
That explanation had not helped.
What did "undefined" mean? There was no rank threshold, no cultivation ceiling, and no clear weakness. Despite his unease, Will had trusted the system's assurance.
He knew the name of the slave house where Seraphine had been held.
Every night, he had gone to her.
He brought her food, gifts, and small comforts. He told her stories about the outside world and spoke to her softly, never demanding anything in return. Over time, a feeling of trust had formed in her.
This went on for countless nights. Eventually, he had fed her chocolates mixed with his blood.
Will did not lie to himself. He missed those days.
He remembered her innocent expressions and the way her eyes would widen in shock whenever he narrated folktales from Earth. She had been especially fond of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.
She had once told him that she wanted to be a monkey queen someday if it were possible.
Unfortunately, those days of innocence had ended abruptly.
She had grown up and now had been taken away to be sold at an auction, exposed to countless wretched gazes that made her cry throughout the night. Will had cried with her, even though she had not seen him.
He had wished desperately for her suffering to end.
And surprisingly, it had.
One day, the tower master had arrived and taken her away.
[OK, LOVER BOY, FOCUS NOW. will you...?
Will snapped out of his daze and sighed.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered mentally before continuing.
"What about the rest?"
The system responded promptly.
[ding, individuals Maximus and Ethan have been training in sword techniques and have also started cultivating mana]
[ding!! Would you like to claim 100X sword training and cultivation feedback?
Will did not hesitate long.
"Take the sword training experience; save the cultivation feedback for later."
A massive influx of sword experience surged into his mind.
Sinclair's family sword technique, known as the Sinclair Serpent Blade Art, unfolded within his consciousness. It was a Heaven-ranked sword art, considered among the strongest techniques on the Aris continent.
Heaven-ranked techniques were the peak of what the continent's people could know about. Anything beyond that required beings like Storm Dragon or Tamasya to pass on such legacies.
Currently, Will had reached the intermediate stage of the first form of this technique. Maximus, by comparison, was still at the beginner stage.
Despite possessing Saint- and God-ranked techniques, Will did not underestimate this art.
A mighty sword was needed to cut cloth, but a needle was needed to stitch it.
Will understood that not every situation required world-shattering destruction. Low-ranked techniques had their place, and he planned to master many for specialized applications.
As for saving the cultivation feedback, Will had something far more ambitious in mind. A crazy plan, and for that he needed to wait a few more weeks.
"Hehe!!"
[sigh!! After such a long time, you finally listened to my wisdom-filled advice.
"Save the flattery; this thing was too good to miss, so I made an exception and decided to lend you an ear."
[hehe!!! Admit it, I am amazing.
Twitch!!
"TSK, yes, you are an amazing bitch."
[Come on, host, don't be frugal with praises; not every piece of advice gives you the secret to become so broken.]
"TSK"