September 24.
That day was her birthday, and also her coming-of-age ceremony.
Her mother had said that an eighteenth birthday, the day one became an adult, was one of the most important days in a person's life.
Thinking of that, she secretly glanced at Luke, and for some reason found herself wondering what kind of gift His Highness would give her...
It was not as though she cared that much about gifts.
Well, at least not gifts from other people.
After all, over the years, every birthday she had ever celebrated had brought her plenty of presents, including quite a few expensive ones.
But this time was different.
This would be the first birthday of hers that Luke ever attended, and it happened to be such an important one too—her coming-of-age ceremony.
So Lux cared a little...
She had already mentioned her birthday to him two or three times, either on purpose or pretending it was accidental.
But looking at the way this guy spent every day doing nothing but eating and sleeping, had he already forgotten about it?
Should she remind him again?
Sigh... she really wished her birthday would hurry up and arrive.
With all those thoughts swirling around in her head, Lux also finished the rice in her bowl and set it down, seeming to declare that lunch was over for her today.
Luke looked up at her. "You're not eating more?"
Lux paused at that, thought about it, then sat back down. "Two more bowls, then."
Everyone: "..."
Some people were just capable of delivering enormous shock without even trying.
And only at that moment did the girls, finally belatedly realizing something, discover a terrifying truth.
Usually, they eased their anxiety about their figures by comparing themselves to Miss Crownguard.
But now they had suddenly realized something.
Miss Crownguard ate a lot.
She ate that much every single day and still never gained any weight!
That was the truly terrifying part. Having the legendary kind of body that never got fat no matter how much you ate... what an enviable gift that was!
Watching Lux wolf down her food with obvious enjoyment—
the girls' anxiety came flooding right back.
They wanted to eat like that too.
After lunch, Luke did not go out again that day.
Things at the Research Institute could slow down for now. After all, in recent days he had already passed on quite a bit of physics knowledge.
That was enough for them to digest for a while.
This had never been the kind of thing that could be accomplished overnight anyway. It all had to be taken slowly.
The day passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, the next morning arrived.
September 3, clear skies.
Luke got up early again as usual. Lately his schedule had become impressively healthy—early to bed, early to rise—and he felt like he was in excellent shape.
He had only just settled into his chair in the courtyard when he saw Fiora walk in.
Luke smiled and greeted her. "Good morning, Miss Duelist."
"Good morning."
Fiora glanced at him and replied in her usual cool tone before heading into the backyard.
Soon, she arrived there.
As always, Fiora loosened up first, then drew her rapier and began striking at the training dummy.
The swordsmanship she was using now was not her Peerless Swordsmanship.
Not long ago, after breaking through with the Peerless Swordsmanship, the speed of her progress had slowed considerably.
So for nearly the past month, what she had been practicing was Swift Thunder Swordsmanship instead.
She hoped to find inspiration for further advancement through it.
As her blade moved, fast and fierce, faint peals of thunder could almost be heard exploding from its motion, and the speed of her swings grew quicker and quicker.
Then suddenly, with a hum and a sensation of her entire body opening up completely, a small-achievement level Swift Thunder Sword Intent burst from her blade.
Fiora halted her movements, and for the first time, a trace of delight appeared in her cool eyes.
She had broken through.
Reaching small-achievement Swift Thunder Sword Intent meant her Swift Thunder Swordsmanship had already reached the perfected return-to-simplicity level.
Even someone like her could not help but feel a swell of pride at that moment.
Spending all day around that guy had nearly made her forget that her own talent was not bad either.
In less than a month, she had cultivated Swift Thunder Swordsmanship to the return-to-simplicity level.
What kind of expression would that guy make when he found out?
At that thought, a faint smile lifted the corner of Fiora's lips, and she made her way toward the front courtyard.
Meanwhile, in the front courtyard, Luke was waiting for something.
He had not rushed to check in today.
Because there was still a Special Check-In Card sitting in his inventory.
Thinking back on why the monthly check-ins from the past two months had not produced anything especially good, he felt the problem might have been a lack of luck.
So what did you do in a situation like that?
Simple.
Borrow outside help.
For instance, he was currently staring at Lux, who skipped cheerfully into the courtyard in a very good mood.
Luke waved to her with a warm smile. "Miss Crownguard, come here for a second."
Lux stopped immediately. Looking at that expression on his face, she became wary on the spot. "What are you trying to do?"
Luke answered honestly, "Nothing. Let me pat your head."
"No!" Lux refused without hesitation, her face full of disgust.
But the moment the words left her mouth, she saw Luke pull out a glossy, tempting candy apple, bright red and impossible to ignore, as if he had prepared it in advance.
She instantly fell silent.
Then Luke pulled out a second one.
Lux struggled internally for a moment, but in the end chose to follow her heart. She walked over, accepted the candy apple with one hand, and sat down beside him.
Luke immediately placed a hand on her head and began rubbing it without the slightest restraint, casually playing with her bright golden hair.
The feeling was really quite good. It was oddly similar to petting one's favorite little animal.
Lux, meanwhile, showed no reaction whatsoever. She simply bit into the candy apple one mouthful at a time, looking faintly satisfied.
And in his heart, Luke kept chanting like he was reciting a spell:
Steal your luck, steal your luck, steal your luck...
Then, once he felt the moment was right, he immediately thought without hesitation:
System, use the Special Check-In Card and check in!
[Special Check-In Card used successfully. This check-in has been changed to a Special Check-In]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained perfected Cloudlink Sword Intent]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained high-tier skill—Chain Jump]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained treasure—True Silk Satin (Star-Blessed)]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Beginner Skill Upgrade Card x3]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Intermediate Skill Upgrade Card x1]
[Rewards have been automatically stored in the system inventory. Please check and claim them yourself.]
A series of system notifications rang out in quick succession, making Luke's eyes light up.
It had been a while since he had heard so many pleasing messages at once.
[Detected perfected Cloudlink Sword Intent. Fuse?]
"Fuse."
Luke answered in his mind at once. The next second, as a strange sensation surged through him, his eyes slowly closed.
With a low hum, a soft wind rose from his body together with his small-achievement sword intent, making Lux—who had been happily eating her candy apple—sense that something was off. She immediately stood up and backed away a little.
On the rocking chair, Luke sank into a state of enlightenment with his eyes closed, as a special feeling flowed into every corner of his body.
As time passed, the aura around him began to rise, filled with the sharpness of a honed blade. It had clearly advanced to the small-achievement level.
But the improvement did not stop there.
If anything, it felt like it had only just begun. The wind swirling around him grew stronger and stronger, and along with a mounting pressure, his sword intent broke through again.
It advanced directly to the great-achievement level.
And right at that moment, with a hiss, the piercing edge in Luke's aura dispersed.
But the oppressive feeling in the air did not vanish. If anything, the sword intent seemed to have become even more solid, carrying not only a pressure that made it feel hard to breathe, but also a certain gentleness.
It had now reached the perfected level.
Fiora: "???"
Her mood had been perfectly good this morning.
At least, until she ran into this guy.
She stared blankly at Luke lying there, her heart filling with one enormous question.
Why was it that she had spent ages practicing day and night, working herself to the bone, and still needed nearly a month to raise Swift Thunder Swordsmanship to return-to-simplicity—
while this guy did absolutely nothing all day, just lay there in that stupid chair from morning to night,
and then suddenly comprehended a perfected sword intent?
Heavens, would you like to explain what exactly you think you're doing?
Even though she had already decided before that she would avoid this guy in the future so she would not keep getting irritated—
Fiora never could have imagined that avoiding him would be impossible.
She had done absolutely nothing, and yet somehow still ended up witnessing this guy comprehend sword intent.
It felt like she had just been walking peacefully down the street and gotten slapped out of nowhere.
The anger inside her rose immediately.
And with that, Miss Duelist's sense of inner balance was ruined all over again.
At that moment, as the sword intent around him faded, Luke let out a breath and opened his eyes—only to find Fiora staring straight at him.
"Did you need something?"
Faced with that question, Fiora fell silent for a moment, then shook her head. "No."
Compared with this guy, had she been too slow, taking a whole month just to max out Swift Thunder Swordsmanship?
Her gaze drifted to Miss Crownguard nearby, who was still focused wholeheartedly on eating her candy apple.
A thoughtful look appeared on Fiora's face.
After hesitating for a moment, she extended a hand and placed it on Lux's head, gently rubbing it.
To be fair, it actually felt pretty good.
But why did she not feel even the tiniest sprout of sword intent?
Had that guy not just comprehended sword intent after patting the little blonde's head?
Taking advantage of the fact that Lux's attention was fully occupied, Fiora rubbed it a few more times while seriously considering this problem.
When nothing happened after quite a while, she finally withdrew her hand with obvious reluctance.
Without sparing Luke another glance, she turned and headed straight back to the backyard.
If talent could not win, then she would win with effort!
Luke, however, was not paying attention to Fiora anymore. He was still immersed in understanding the Cloudlink Sword Intent he had just obtained.
Cloudlink Sword Intent should be an ordinary-grade sword intent. In the system's words, its effect was to increase Luke's attack speed.
Naturally, each kind of sword intent came with its own unique effect.
For example, Wuju Sword Intent meant there was no limit. It let Luke grow stronger and stronger as battle continued, and even came with true damage.
It could be called one of the strongest sword intents.
Then there was Windrider Sword Intent, whose effect was to strengthen the force of wind, amplify burst damage, and allow Luke to slash out even fiercer tornadoes with a single strike. It could be said to be the core of Windrider Swordsmanship.
If one could not comprehend Windrider Sword Intent, then the strongest power of that sword style could never truly be brought out.
Then there was Swift Thunder Sword Intent. Although it was only an ordinary sword intent at the small-achievement level and did not offer the absurd bonuses of the first two, it could still raise damage.
Cloudlink Sword Intent worked in a similar way, except it was already at the perfected level.
Even if it was only an ordinary sword intent, Luke was still perfectly satisfied.
After all, it had been free.
Seeing that there was no more activity on Luke's side, Lux returned and flopped back down into her chair. She had already finished both candy apples, and the sugar overload was making her drowsy.
Stretching out in the chair, she prepared to take a little nap.
[Detected high-tier skill—Chain Jump LV3 (Somewhat Accomplished). Learn?]
"Learn."
Hearing the system's prompt, Luke immediately answered in his mind.
Looking at the very plain skill name, Luke was rather curious what gave it the confidence to carry a high-tier label.
The moment he confirmed, a strange insight poured into his mind.
There was not much information at LV3, and he finished digesting it quickly. Once he understood it, the first thing that came to mind was:
Oh, now that's interesting.
His expression became one of amused fascination.
Chain Jump really was exactly what it sounded like.
Once you learned it, you could chain your jumps.
Wasn't this basically that legendary trick where you stepped on your own foot and flew into the sky?
That was not literally how it worked, of course, but close enough. After Luke jumped once, he could jump again in midair without needing anything to push off from.
That was when he understood why this skill dared call itself high-tier.
That alone made it worthy of the title.
And if the skill's level kept increasing in the future, then it would not stop at just one extra jump.
Chain Jump, Chain Jump...
If he could keep jumping endlessly, then what difference was there between that and flying?
Without wasting any more thought, Luke said inwardly, "System, use two Beginner Skill Upgrade Cards to level up Chain Jump."
[Beginner Skill Upgrade Cards used successfully]
[Chain Jump skill level increased to LV5 (Masterful)]
As the system finished speaking, Luke immediately felt warmth spread through both of his legs.
It felt like soaking in a pleasantly warm spring, while his mind also filled with many new insights about Chain Jump.
He could clearly sense that as the skill improved, his legs themselves were also undergoing some kind of strengthening.
Soon after, the muscles in his calves began twitching slightly.
It was not like a cramp.
The sensation was more like a massage—so comfortable it was almost addictive.
Only after a while did that feeling slowly fade away.
At once, Luke stood up impatiently, eager to test just how good this skill really was.
His figure shifted, and he leaped into the air. Then, just as gravity started to drag him back toward the ground—
Luke activated Chain Jump.
His right foot tapped lightly against empty air, and it was as if gravity ceased to exist for an instant. His body leaped upward once more.
To Luke, it felt exactly like his right foot had stepped on something solid.
Then his left foot pressed down again, and suddenly he was already three meters above the ground.
The sensation of flying like that felt unbelievably strange and exhilarating.
A moment later, his body began falling back down.
As soon as he landed, Luke's playful side flared up. He pushed off the ground again and jumped lightly once more.
At that exact moment, Lux—who had only just started to drift off—heard the movement and sleepily opened her eyes.
She happened to catch that scene at just the right moment.
Then she rubbed her eyes.
Maybe she had seen wrong, but it had looked like Luke stepped on the air and jumped again...
"I must've gotten up too early. Better sleep a little more..."
She rolled over and settled right back into sleep with a peaceful expression.
Meanwhile, Luke was having the time of his life testing double jumps and triple jumps. But after a few tries, he noticed his stamina was dropping steadily.
This Chain Jump skill really was good.
But it also seemed to consume even more stamina than most ordinary skills.
Once he was a little tired from playing around with it, Luke stopped and lay back down in the rocking chair.
Then he turned his attention to the third reward in the system inventory.
True Silk Satin.
He knew what silk satin was—it was just silk, really. Demacia had that kind of fabric too.
But what exactly did the "Star-Blessed" part in parentheses mean?
Curious, Luke checked the system description, and understanding quickly dawned on him.
The star-blessing basically meant the material had been purified and given special properties.
Put simply, it was a material for making equipment.
According to the system, the Star-Blessed True Silk Satin now had a certain degree of magic resistance, dark resistance, and fairly impressive defensive power as well. Its special traits were that it was impervious to water and fire, and untouched by ordinary dust and grime.
On top of that, this silk satin would feel even smoother and finer when worn, with no discomfort at all. Warm in winter, cool in summer—an extremely precious material.
The system really was thoughtful.
Autumn had arrived, and it was just about time to add another layer of clothing.
This one reward alone came with a large amount of fabric in various colors, enough to make quite a few outfits.
This was a very good item.
The important parts were the magic resistance, dark resistance, and solid defense. Put those three together, and it already qualified as a pretty decent piece of equipment.
Looking at it that way, the system rewards this time were genuinely not bad.
Luke glanced at the peacefully sleeping Miss Crownguard beside him and sighed with emotion.
This batch of luck he had siphoned off her had been incredibly satisfying.
At the moment, he still had one Beginner Skill Upgrade Card and one Intermediate Skill Upgrade Card left.
After thinking for a bit, Luke decided to use both on the skill Swaying Willow in the Breeze.
[Used successfully]
[Swaying Willow in the Breeze skill level increased to LV6]
[Detected matching skill type—Godspeed Footwork. Automatic fusion will begin]
[Fusion successful. Congratulations, Host, high-tier skill Godspeed Footwork has increased to LV8]
The skill Swaying Willow in the Breeze, much like Wall-Creeping Lizard Step that Luke had acquired in the beginning, could be classified as one branch of the high-tier skill Godspeed Footwork.
Now that it had risen to LV6, it was equivalent to Luke getting a high-tier skill upgrade for free.
As the system notifications rang one after another, a great many new movement insights poured into Luke's mind.
With the renewed sensation of warmth and numbness in his legs, Luke almost felt as if he were gradually slipping free from gravity's influence.
Godspeed Footwork was already a kind of lightness art to begin with, the sort that let him drift and glide with ease.
And now, with it raised to LV8, paired together with Chain Jump—
calling Luke capable of flying would not be an exaggeration in the slightest.
This one round of check-in had given Luke quite a substantial boost.
Looking over at Lux's peaceful sleeping face, Luke decided that this morning he would make something especially good as a little reward for her.
As he got up and walked toward the kitchen, another thought occurred to him.
Come to think of it, that girl's birthday was coming up soon.
It was probably time to start preparing a gift.
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