Val stripped her naked and tossed her torn and bloody clothes into the firehouse where they were reduced to cinders. He then wiped her holy blood off of her using a wet towel before changing her into a new set of clothes and laying her down on the bed.
He sat down on the chairs beside her bed.
This was a good chance to increase the affection she had for him. He wasn’t going to miss it for the world.
In the depths of the night, Eliana’s soft gasp pierced the silence.
As if she had experienced a nightmare, she woke up startled, her body drenched in a cold sweat, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest. The horrific memory of being suddenly attacked and possessed by a devil played out in her mind, haunting her like an evil ghost and striking fear in her heart.
However, before she could succumb to panic, Val’s calming presence enveloped her. His strong and manly arms wrapped around her, drawing her into a warm embrace that comforted her.
“There, there, it’s alright,” Val said to Eliana gently, his voice a soothing balm to her terrified heart. As he spoke, he stroked her back, easing her rapid breaths.
She looked up, her almond eyes meeting Val’s inky black ones.
“Val, I…”
She attempted to say something, her pale lips trembling, but he shushed her.
“It’s over now. Don’t talk about it. Just take it as a nightmare.”
His deep voice washed over her like a calming wave
As for his comforting presence… it gave her a sense of security she needed the most at the moment.
And because of how kind and gentle he was being to her, tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. His gaze softened at her tears, and his thumb gently brushed away the one that spilled over onto her cheek.
“Thank you for saving me,” she whispered to Val in a voice choked with emotion.
Val looked deep into Eliana’s eyes, the corners of his mouth curling into a gentle smile, “You don’t have to thank me, Eliana. I have saved you today, and I will save you many times more without hesitation if you ever find yourself in trouble. Do you want to know why?”
Eliana gave a soft nod, her almond eyes wide with anticipation.
Without the slightest of hesitations, Val leaned closer to her, bringing his lips next to her ears, his voice dropping to a whisper as he said, “Because you’re important to me. I love you, Eliana.”
At his words, Eliana’s cheeks and ears flushed a deep shade of red that contrasted beautifully with her pale skin. He watched with satisfaction as she forgot about the incident and felt flustered but also happy.
The corners of her lips twitched upwards into a small, shy smile as she looked back at him and said, “I…I love you too, Val.”
The affection she held for him surged dramatically, reaching new heights. His comforting presence, his gentle confession of love – everything had played a role in deepening her feelings towards him, firmly rooting his position within her heart.
And just like that, Val’s plan was perfectly executed.
Val thought, ‘In a few days, I can definitely expect good news. I wonder what buff I will get this time.’
After that, he left Eliana alone.
Back in his own room, he decided to increase his strength.
Or else, it wouldn’t be easy to increase the level of his White Devil Disciple Class to 3.
He had more than 50k EXP. Sadly, leveling up his Blood Devil class would only net his stat points. As for his White Devil Disciple Class, he couldn’t use the system to increase its level as it wasn’t registered as his secondary class. If he wanted to increase the level of his innate class, only the universal method was available.
His sub-class was Wizard Class. Not to mention, leveling it up was more beneficial than the Blood Devil Class. Although the stat points provided were only 1 every level up, half that of Blood Devil Class, it would directly strengthen his Arcane Heart and improve his wizardry.
Thus, Val dumped his EXP into it.
[Ding! Several thousand experience points were used to increase the level of your Wizard Class to 10.]
[Gained +2 stat points, and a few dozen points increase in your soul power reserve and soul power production and regeneration rate.]
“Not bad. Not bad at all,” Val said.
Suddenly, another notification popped up in front of him.
[You’ve reached the peak of the Wizard class. You can no longer level it up!]
[The Class Advancement Dungeon has been unlocked. It can be used to advance your sub-class.]
[Would you like to challenge it now?]
“Yes,” Val said. 𝑜𝑽𝑳xt.𝕔𝑜𝐌
Almost immediately, a black door manifested out of thin air. It appeared a few steps in front of him.
With a determined expression, Val stepped forward and swung the door wide open.
On the other side of the door, a tunnel could be seen.
The tunnel stretched as far as the eye could see but was only wide enough for two humans to walk side by side. Luminescent stones were embedded in the walls at regular intervals, their soft glow illuminating the inside of the tunnel, but even if they weren’t there, his vision wouldn’t have been compromised.
“I don’t know how dangerous it is, but I have no other choice but to move forward,” Val muttered under his breath.
Without any further hesitation, he walked through the door. As soon as he was fully inside the tunnel, the black door vanished behind him.
Just then, a chime sounded in Val’s mind.
[Ding! You have entered the Cave of the Shadow Drakes. The inhabitants of this cave are of three different kinds: the Archers of Obsidian, the Swordwielders of Eclipse, and their chief, the Sorcerer of the Twilight Abyss.]
[Kill all of them and find a way out of the cave to complete the first layer of the dungeon.]
[Reward: Return Scroll!]