Gathering Wives with a System

Chapter 622: Celia’s New Transcendent-Rank Class And Skills

He then looked at Daybreak Incarnate. Unlike Solar Dominion, the improvement was straightforward, but it was just as overwhelming in practice.

The stat enhancement had increased from one hundred and twenty percent to two hundred percent. Alice already possessed absurdly high stats thanks to her Conqueror Candidate Title, and this simple numerical increase would push her combat ability to another level. When combined with her evolved Aura, very few people would be capable of matching her head-on.

Isaac couldn’t help smiling after reading both descriptions. Every improvement made their chances of surviving the future a little higher.

”You look unusually happy.”

The familiar voice made Isaac look toward the staircase. Celia was leaning against the railing with a bright smile on her face, and the moment Isaac saw that expression, his own smile disappeared.

He narrowed his eyes at her. Experience had taught him that Celia rarely smiled like that unless she wanted something.

She slowly walked down the stairs before stopping a few steps away from him. ”I heard you can duplicate items now. Emily mentioned it while we were talking earlier.”

”That’s right.” Isaac nodded.

”Then give me the Crown of First Command. If you cloned Selene’s, then you should have a second one,” Celia said without the slightest hesitation.

Isaac simply looked at her for a few seconds before chuckling. The Crown of First Command was an equipment capable of controlling machines, and someone who fully mastered it could accomplish far more than that. Handing such an item to Celia would be one of the dumbest decisions he could possibly make.

Celia immediately understood the answer from his expression alone, and she pouted.

”I helped you with Selene and Alice, and I didn’t tell anyone about the buff I received after what happened this morning. Doesn’t that deserve a thank-you?” she asked.

”What do you mean, what happened this mor...” Isaac stopped halfway through his sentence as he finally realized what she meant.

She was talking about the buffs she must’ve received through ’Golden Seed Nourishment’. An awkward expression immediately appeared on his face.

Even so, Isaac quickly regained his composure and shook his head. ”Everyone is going to find out about that ability sooner or later, so you can’t blackmail me with it. As for thanking you for helping with Selene and Alice...”

He reached into his spatial ring while speaking. He had intentionally saved the last Soul Evolution Potion for Celia because Emily, Alice and Catherine had already received theirs, and he had planned to give it to her now.

His hand searched through the contents of the ring once before searching again more carefully. The potion wasn’t there.

Isaac frowned slightly. For a moment, he wondered if he had placed it somewhere else, but he immediately rejected that possibility because his memory was perfect.

The idea that someone had stolen it also made no sense. His sensitivity to mana was high enough that almost nobody could approach his belongings without him noticing.

Only someone who was as strong as Catherine had a chance to do that. But someone like that must be an Overlord already, and would have no need for a single Soul Evolution Potion. They would have had far more valuable treasures to steal from his spatial ring. Moreover, the spatial ring’s defenses were not broken. Someone who knew the password had opened it.

That left Isaac with only one possible conclusion.

Whoever had taken the Soul Evolution Potion had done so while he was asleep, and it had to be someone whose presence he was completely familiar with. Otherwise, his instincts would have woken him the moment they approached his spatial ring.

His gaze slowly shifted toward Celia, who was still standing nearby with an innocent smile on her face. Isaac didn’t say a word. He simply flicked one finger.

A wave of Telekinesis wrapped around Celia before lifting her cleanly off the floor. She let out a startled yelp as the invisible force pulled her through the air until she was floating directly in front of Isaac.

”H-Hey, what are you doing?” Celia asked as she struggled against the Telekinesis. She twisted her body from side to side, trying to break free, but the invisible force didn’t budge in the slightest.

”I knew something felt strange this morning when your breakthrough happened, and it made you aroused. A rank up shouldn’t do that. Tell me honestly. It’s because of the Soul Evolution Potion, isn’t it? It must have reacted differently with you.” Isaac looked at her calmly.

Celia blinked several times with an expression so innocent that anyone else might have believed her. Isaac, however, had known her long enough to recognize that face as one of her favorite ways to avoid answering questions.

Without another word, he raised a finger toward her forehead. Celia reacted instantly. He always used that against her, and it hurt a lot, even if there was no injury. She swiftly used evolved Aura and gathered it around her head before Isaac’s finger had even moved.

Isaac stared at the Aura for a second before giving her a speechless look.

”So, you really stole it? Who even told you I had something like that?” he asked.

Celia coughed awkwardly and looked away.

”I was saving that potion for you. You would have gotten it without doing this.” Isaac let out a sigh and shook his head.

”Well, I thought your reaction would be much funnier if I took it myself. After seeing your face just now, I’d say I was right,” Celia admitted without sounding guilty in the slightest.

Isaac rubbed his forehead before looking at her again. ”That’s not the point. Do you realize how dangerous your stunt was?”

”What do you mean?” Celia asked.

”You have two Physiques. That alone shouldn’t be possible under normal circumstances. Since your body is already different from everyone else’s, using something like a Soul Evolution Potion, which changes you at a fundamental level, could have caused all kinds of problems. You should have waited until I was watching you in case something went wrong,” Isaac replied.

He continued explaining every possibility that had crossed his mind. By the time he finished, Celia’s expression had become increasingly strange as she listened to him.

Finally, she couldn’t help interrupting him. ”Why do you sound like my brother? You’re worrying about every little thing.”

”Someone has to worry because you obviously won’t,” he replied.

”Then what about you? You have multiple Physiques too, and your breakthrough went perfectly fine.” Celia pouted.

”My situation is different,” Isaac replied.

”How is it different?” she asked without missing a beat.

Isaac shrugged.

His Bonded Blessing System was acting as a stabilizing force behind the scenes, allowing him to carry multiple Physiques and Bloodlines.

Moreover, it wasn’t just his Physiques and Bloodlines that were abnormal. Isaac possessed an absurd number of skills for someone at his rank, and under normal circumstances, his soul should have long since collapsed under their weight.

He had always planned to stop sharing new skills the moment he sensed even the slightest strain on his soul. That moment had never arrived, and it often felt as though the System quietly dealt with the strain before it could become a real problem.

Since there was no point dwelling on unanswered questions, Isaac changed the topic instead. ”Did anything change besides your evolved Aura?”

Celia thought quietly for a few moments before answering. ”I felt... strange. I didn’t gain another skill or anything like that, but I kept feeling as though I’d be able to do something if I filled myself up.”

”Filled yourself up with Dark Mana?” Isaac frowned slightly.

”That too. But... with you as well,” Celia replied.

Isaac looked at her with a confused expression. Seeing that he didn’t understand, Celia made a small gesture with fingers that made her meaning painfully obvious.

He immediately understood she was referring to his ”Golden Nourishment Seed”. Isaac didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh, but considering her Physique was literally called the Sinbound Physique, the strange explanation somehow made perfect sense.

Instead of dwelling on it, he asked another question. ”How is your Dark Mana training progressing?”

Celia let out a small sigh before answering. ”Sword Empress has been teaching me as much as she can, but it’s still difficult. She understands enough to point me in the right direction, but Dark Mana behaves very differently from ordinary mana. If I had an actual Devil teaching me, I think I’d make much faster progress.”

Isaac nodded thoughtfully because that matched what he had expected. Sword Empress could teach theory, but practical experience with Dark Mana was another matter entirely.

Leaving that topic for later, Isaac opened the information about Celia’s newly evolved Class.

Rift Marshal Class (Transcendent Rank) had granted her two new skills: Vector Shift (SSS+ Rank) and Fold Counter (Transcendent Rank).

He read through Vector Shift first. The skill allowed Celia to swap the positions of every target within a fifteen-meter radius, although enemies with significantly greater mana could partially resist the displacement. Even with that limitation, the ability was incredibly powerful because it could instantly reorganize an entire battlefield.

Isaac then turned his attention to Fold Counter, and this time he raised his eyebrows in surprise. The skill created an area around Celia where movement became increasingly difficult the closer someone approached her, making it feel as though they were trying to swim through a quagmire.

He immediately remembered the strange sensation from earlier that morning.

’So that’s how she immobilized me,” he thought.

Both of the skills were quite powerful.

Without wasting any more time, Isaac spoke silently in his mind. ’System, share Celia’s Class skills!’

Vector Shift (SSS+ Rank) gained.

Fold Counter (Transcendent Rank) gained.

Isaac smiled with satisfaction as the familiar notifications appeared. One skill would greatly improve his battlefield control, while the other provided an excellent defensive tool that would be useful in countless situations.

Meanwhile, Celia was still suspended helplessly in the air with her hands pinned behind her back by Telekinesis.

After waiting several more seconds, she looked at Isaac with an pleading expression. ”Can you let me down now?”

Isaac simply continued working with a smile. The moment Celia saw that smile, she immediately realized he wasn’t planning to release her anytime soon.

”You bully!” she shouted while struggling against the invisible force again. ”Stop pretending you can’t hear me and let me go already.”

She continued complaining and calling him every name she could think of while Isaac calmly ignored every single word.

Her protests entered one ear and left through the other. In fact, hearing her, Isaac felt that getting a little revenge on Celia wasn’t such a bad way to start the morning.

Still holding her in place with Telekinesis, he carried her into the gym before sitting down cross-legged on the floor.

Ignoring her protests, Isaac spoke in his mind. ’System, copy the effects of the Soul Evolution Potion that Celia consumed!’

A warm current spread through his chest almost immediately, and the breakthrough that had stalled before finally began moving again.

Isaac felt like something fundamental was changing within him.

Twenty minutes later, powerful Aura burst out from Isaac in every direction.

His clones reacted at once and contained the eruption before it could spread through the mansion.

Once the breakthrough settled, Isaac slowly stood up and opened his eyes. He exhaled white mist and grinned.

The changes of the second soul evolution were enormous.