Chapter 98: Netherworld, World System Shop, Instincts Of A Dragon

"No," Leora said. "Ghosts are monsters. They aren’t the souls of the dead. Emily’s the exception. She’s the first of her kind.

"When she died and turned into a ghost, she lost her memories... but her experiences are embedded into her soul. She doesn’t remember her family or what happened, but those feelings remain."

"So that’s why she loses control when she sees me injured."

Isaac glanced down, thoughtful.

"Yes," Leora said. "That instinct comes from loss. She might not recall it consciously, but the emotions linger in her soul."

There were so many questions he wanted to ask. What was the Netherworld? Why had it been destroyed? And—

He blinked. Something just clicked.

’How much time has passed since Netherworld was destroyed?’

’Leora just explained that Emily and her family were all Apex-rank species. But all Apex-rank species went extinct when the apocalypse arrived.’

’Emily’s status says she was 19 when she died. But it doesn’t say her actual age.’

’How old is Emily?’

Isaac raised his head and looked at Leora.

"How do you know about all this? And when was Netherworld-"

"That’s all I’ll explain to you." Leora said, cutting him off. "I told you all this because I hope you’ll avoid getting injured again. For Emily, even without memories, it’s traumatic."

Isaac looked at her.

It was clear she would not answer more.

He checked her status, but it didn’t have any useful information either.

Finally, he gave a small nod.

"Do you expect Emily to regain her original bloodline rank?"

"Yes," Leora said without hesitation. "And I believe it will happen naturally. Even if she doesn’t, we can buy it."

Isaac blinked. "Buy the bloodline?"

Leora nodded. "All Fortified City’s Central Hub has access to the World System Shop. Our cities are Tier-1 Cities, so the products available are limited. But this one, Fortified City 89, is Tier-2. I’m sure we can find a bloodline upgrade potion here."

Isaac raised an eyebrow.

As it turned out. the World System Shop didn’t just sell bloodline potions. It offered exotic materials, rare items, and other resources that could shift the balance of power.

Fortified cities were treasure troves, not just defensive zones.

"Do you remember the Titan Edge Guild?" Leora asked. "Why do you think they arrived so early, when the other three major guilds haven’t even shown up?"

Isaac thought about it. "Because of the World System Shop here?"

"Yes," Leora said. "Celia Rae has an SSS rank Talent, but she’s been stuck at Adept rank for years. The materials she needs for her Rank Up are rare, and haven’t been found yet.

"She is stuck at a bottleneck without them. That’s why the guild came here early. They want to recapture this city and get the materials for her from the shop."

Isaac exhaled slowly. A lot of things were beginning to make sense.

"So, how much will the bloodline potion cost from the World System Shop?"

Leora hesitated, then answered. "It should be about 50 Gold Coins."

Isaac stiffened. That number hit hard.

One Gold Coin was enough to buy a thousand hectares of land. Fifty Gold Coins would be enough for a one fourth of the city.

’Damn,’ he thought. ’My system’s shop is so much better. I only need 2,500 AP. And I don’t even need to risk my life for the AP.’

There was more Isaac wanted to ask.

He opened his mouth, but stopped when a knock echoed from the door.

Leora turned toward it, and a bitter smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"You can come inside," she said.

The door creaked open and Alice stepped in. Her eyes moved quickly, scanning the room.

"I was looking for Isaac. I needed him for something."

Maybe it was his imagination, but Isaac felt her mood wasn’t as light as usual. Her voice was neutral, but something in her posture felt off.

He used Inspect.

[Status 1: Horny]

[Status 2: Why is Isaac in a closed room with another woman?]

"Alice, sorry for taking Isaac. I was just talking to him about his rank-up materials," she said calmly. "Can you wait for a few minutes outside? I’ll send him out soon."

Alice kept a blank face, but Isaac noticed the faint reluctance in her eyes.

She held Leora’s gaze for a moment longer than necessary, then gave a short nod and stepped out.

As the door closed behind her, Leora exhaled and looked at Isaac.

Her smile was still bitter.

"You need to treat Alice carefully for the next few days."

"Why?" he asked.

"She awakened her bloodline and physique. That brings the instincts of a dragon with it. Until she learns to control those instincts, you should be cautious."

"What instincts?" Isaac frowned.

Leora leaned back slightly, folding her arms. "Dragons are lustful, and power-hungry. They’re possessive of what they consider their treasures, and they have a tendency to react violently when someone tries to take that treasure away."

"Treasure?"

"Yes, so Alice would be protective of her treasure too."

"And what’s that?"

Leora looked at him.

Isaac pointed at himself.

Leora nodded.

"So if other girls approach me, she might... explode?"

"That’s a strong possibility," Leora confirmed.

That didn’t exactly shock him. Alice had always been territorial, even back in the Academy. She just hadn’t acted much on it openly before.

With nothing more to say, he nodded and left the room.

Outside, he saw Alice standing at the corridor’s edge, staring blankly at the stone steps leading downward. Her back was straight, arms folded, and she looked deep in thought.

He walked up behind her quietly and slipped his arms around her waist. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," she said. "Just thinking about some things."

He felt a small twinge of disappointment when she showed no startled yelp, or flustered reaction. With high stats, her senses improved, and she had caught him sneaking behind her.

"Why is my mad princess mad?" he teased gently.

"You tell me."

’Damn. She’s really pissed if she’s not even refusing that nickname.’

He tilted his head, thinking. A smile formed on his lips.

"Because my mad princess hasn’t received a welcome back kiss from me yet?"

She turned her head slightly. "What are you talking ab—"

He kissed her.

For a second, she froze. But instead of pushing him away, she leaned in.

The anger in her status vanished.

[Status: Horny]

He chuckled inwardly. ’Vice Principal wasn’t kidding about those instincts running wild.’

Another thought crossed his mind.

The whole scenario sounded like one of those clichéd excuses from a low-tier hentai that said—"this is just how dragons are!"—but in this case, it was also... true?

Well, he wasn’t the type to complain if he was benefiting from it.

Without saying a word, he slipped an arm under her knees and another behind her back, lifting her into a princess carry.

"Eh—?!"

Satisfied by her small gasp, he started walking towards his room.

She didn’t resist, and just buried her face in his neck, cheeks hot.

...

Leora POV

Leora rubbed her temples and leaned back in her chair, letting out a long sigh.

The room was quiet, comfortably dim, and the walls were insulated. Even Champion-ranked awakeners couldn’t sense anything beyond a single wall of their house. That showed the quality of their house.

But to her, these walls might as well not exist.

She blinked slowly. Then her expression stiffened.

The faint sounds of movement came from the room next to hers. She couldn’t see anything, but her senses painted a detailed enough picture that she didn’t need to.

Her cheeks flushed.

’...Kids these days.’

She looked away instinctively, but that did little to help. Her mind didn’t need visuals to fill in the gaps.

She could sense when Alice moved, the shift in her weight, the rising heat, and when she dropped to her knees—

Leora clenched her jaw and stood up from her seat.

She paced across the room once, then twice. Her body felt uncomfortably warm.

"Haah... I need to calm down. Even if this body is young, I shouldn’t let hormones control me."

She shook her head and pulled out her device. The screen lit up, and her fingers moved. She found the contact she needed.

General Magnus.

After a short buzz, the call connected.

"Vice Principal," came the deep, steady voice on the other end. "What’s the matter?"

"I wanted to ask how the talent crystal testing is going."

There was a brief pause before he responded, "It’s progressing. But we have just begin. It will take time for any result to appear."

Leora sat back down, composing herself.

With Alice awakening, the theory Leora told Isaac was strengthened.

There was a possibility that every person had a talent but for some, it was either too strong or too weak to be triggered with the current awakening crystals.

If they could improve the awakening process, they might be able to reach a one hundred percent success rate of awakening.

"Anyhow, I’ll let you know when we get results worth sharing, Vice Principal. There is no need to worry."

"Hm." Leora nodded even though he couldn’t see it. "Keep me posted."

The call ended with a soft click.

She placed the device on the desk and sat quietly for a moment.

Her gaze drifted to the small model of the city beside her.

It had neatly laid-out sectors, districts, residential and training zones. Every piece represented the lives of thousands.

If the successfully recaptured the Fortified City 89, this city design would be implemented.