?


    "Sigh, you should not persist in drinking if you cannot handle alcohol..."


    Tyler helplessly ruffled his hair as he looked at Emilia, who had copsed on the table after finishing her second drink.


    Tyler had trained his alcohol tolerance, and despite appearing to down his drink in one go, he had actually taken many small sips.


    In contrast, since Emilia had proposed drinking apple wine, so Tyler initially assumed she had some tolerance for alcohol.


    Moreover, he had seen in her thoughts that "Foxkin have a high alcohol tolerance," and thus didn''t stop her, curious to see just how impressive the foxkin''s alcohol tolerance was.


    .


    As it turned out, she couldn''t handle more than two drinks.


    .


    Being drunk wasn''t the problem; the problem was having to take care of a drunk person.


    Tyler had encountered many individuals who became unruly when drunk, so he could rte deeply to the situation.


    ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm Right now, he just hoped that Emilia would be the type to fall asleep quietly after getting drunk.


    "Ban...ning... Are you drunk~? Why... are you lying down~... Hahaha..."


    However, Emilia, who had copsed on the table, was now speaking nonsense with half-open eyes.


    It was as if his fears hade true.


    Tyler sighed and, while Emilia was still only in the stage of talking nonsense, quickly finished his lunch, put away Emilia''s portion in the kitchen, and then attempted to help her to bed so she could rest.


    But the intoxicated Emilia was entirely uncooperative.


    The moment Tyler tried to touch her, she started iling her arms and legs, shouting, "Don''t... don''t touch me... Ah... Banning~... If you want to touch me... finish your meal first..."


    Emilia''s words were incoherent, but Tyler didn''t pay much attention to what she was saying.


    He tried to forcefully carry her, but failed.


    So, Tyler decided to pick her up horizontally in a princess carry and take her to bed.


    However, as soon as he lifted Emilia, she suddenly became excited.


    Her soft, fluffy fox tail swiftly wrapped around Tyler''s waist, and she hugged his neck with both hands while licking him like a kitten drinking milk.


    "There was no soup for lunch～... How can there be... soup now..."


    Emilia continued licking her way up, eventually reaching Tyler''s earlobe, which she gently sucked.


    Even Tyler was finding it hard to endure at this point.


    Having wet saliva stick to his face was an unpleasant sensation.


    Before Emilia could make any further advances, Tyler quickly ced her on the bed.


    What Tyler didn''t expect was that even after being ced on the bed, Emilia''s tail remained tightly coiled around his waist, relentlessly pulling him onto the bed as well.


    She then wrapped her arms and legs around Tyler tightly like a ko hugging a tree and rubbed her soft body against him…again and again…


    For a moment, the soft touch of a young "fox"''s body, her faint scent, and the two tender yet slightly firm "mounds" pressed against himunched a full-scale assault on Tyler''s senses.


    He struggled to keep his consciousness clear, reminding himself that Emilia was drunk, and he must not take advantage of her vulnerability.


    Just as Tyler was about to forcefully push Emilia away, she suddenly stopped moving.


    Then, he heard faint, even breaths near his ear.


    Emilia had fallen asleep.


    Tyler: "..."


    .


    Upon falling asleep, Emilia''s tail naturally loosened its grip.


    Listening to her soft and even breathing, Tyler couldn''t help but reveal a wry smile.


    "I must never allow Emilia to take alcohol again," he thought.


    Afterward, Tyler cautiously climbed out of bed.


    Having helped Emilia turn over and adjust to a side-sleeping position, Tyler sat down and activated his skill "Calction Boost."


    He then seriously began contemting his ns for the future.


    Tyler first reviewed his basic information and status,paring it to when he had just left Sandrift Gorge.


    [Click paragraphment for previous status]


    [Click paragraphment for current status]


    Indeed, there had been significant improvements.


    However, if he wanted to challenge the upation advancement trial, Tyler believed his current strength was far from sufficient.


    With 300 points of Life Energy, the margin for error was virtually nonexistent; 259 points of Endurance, insufficient for confidence in a protracted battle; 1,290 points of Magic Energy, the only somewhat satisfactory attribute, was thanks to Tyler''s fervent grinding of skill proficiency.


    Yet, 1,290 points of Magic Energy were only enough for Tyler to safely use the Shadow Sword ze Steed once. To apply it in actualbat, he needed to increase it to at least 3,000 points.


    Otherwise, if his remaining Magic Energy dropped below 444 points, he would immediately trigger the bacsh effect of the Shadow Sword ze Steed.


    Therefore, to enhance his chances of survival during the trial, Tyler set twopulsory courses and one elective course for himself:


    Compulsory Course 1: Master thebat techniques of the Shadow Sword ze Steed and raise Magic Energy to over 3,000 points;


    Compulsory Course 2: Increase Dexterity to over 150 points, or acquire an ability that enables rapid movement within a short time, toplement the three-second pre-warning of the Divine Eye of Transcendence;


    Elective Course 1: Increase Life Energy as much as possible without wasting too much time.


    Once these twopulsory courses werepleted, thebat system centered around the Shadow Sword ze Steed would be considered preliminarily established.


    After pondering all of this, his "Calction Boost" skill had already reached level 2.


    ━━━━━━━━━


    Intelligence +10↑


    Max Magic Energy +100↑


    During activation, increase calction ability by 5+1↑%;


    Consumes 5+1↑ magic power per second during activation, with less than one second counted as one second.


    ━━━━━━━━━


    Tyler wasn''t certain if it was merely a psychological effect, but after activating the "Calction Boost" skill, he did feel that his thought process had be more agile and clear.


    ·


    Regarding the trial, having set a goal, all that remained was to strive towards it.


    In addition to the trial, Tyler had another short-term objective: to free himself from the state of surveince.


    Following the previous night''s events, Tyler learned that the second observer was Splurt and that an organization called the "Shadow Serpent Society" stood behind him.


    Based on the basic information, Splurt held a higher position and had slightly stronger numerical strength than Granny Kasi within the Shadow Serpent Society, yet he was still considered a low-ranking member.


    Was the "Earthly Ghost" the head of the Shadow Serpent Society?


    How strong would the head of the Shadow Serpent Society be?


    Tyler had no way of guessing, but one thing was certain: he could not directly provoke them in the short term.


    However, not provoking them did not mean Tyler had to silently endure their surveince.


    Now that the pressure of the death countdown had been lifted, Tyler needed to start devising a way to break free, and the entry point was Granny Kasi.


    ·


    Simultaneously, on the outskirts of Sunny Town, Granny Kasi was giving her daily report to the Earthly Ghost.


    "Banning participated in the battle at the North Sunny Wastndst night. I watched from afar and couldn''t see the details clearly, but the kid really has a strong will to live. He almost died a few times."


    "Hiss... So do you think his survival is due to actual strength or good luck?"


    The green snake gazed down at Granny Kasi from its lofty position in the tree.


    "Good luck, I suppose. I didn''t see any signs of him having any real strength."