I grow stronger by making my wife happy.

Chapter 433: 433:System is back

Silver had to stop himself from reacting when the first wave of notifications appeared.

Antony was still watching him from across Room 314, Jude had finally lifted his eyes from whatever he had been reading, and even Dillian had paused while cleaning his sword.

None of them knew about the Happiness System, and Silver intended to keep it that way. Ravenna remained the only person he had ever willingly told the truth, and after everything that had happened between them, he trusted her with it completely.

That did not mean he wanted his three roommates watching him stare blankly at the air for the next twenty minutes.

He rubbed his face and stood from the bed.

”I’m taking a shower.”

Antony’s eyes narrowed immediately. ”You came into the room looking normal, sat down, suddenly started smiling like someone deposited several million into your account, then went completely silent. Now you’re announcing that you’re going to shower. I’m beginning to think something is wrong with you.”

Silver scowled at him.

”Something has always been wrong with me.”

”That isn’t reassuring.”

Jude looked back down at his reading. ”Let him shower.”

Antony pointed toward Jude. ”One day he’s going to disappear and you’re going to regret constantly enabling this kind of suspicious behavior.”

Dillian resumed cleaning his sword. ”If Silver intends to disappear, I doubt stopping him from showering will prevent it.”

Antony looked between them.

”I hate sharing a room with people who refuse to appreciate my concerns.”

Silver picked up his clothes.

”I appreciate them.”

”Really?”

”No.”

Antony loudly sighed.

Silver left before he could continue.

The dormitory bathroom was mostly empty at this hour. He entered one of the private shower stalls, locked the door and sat on the small changing bench instead of immediately turning on the water.

Then he exhaled.

”All right.”

The interface appeared.

[Happiness System Online.]

Silver smiled.

”I was starting to think you died.”

There was no response... of course. The Happiness System had never possessed much personality.

Silver almost found the silence comforting.

Then the notifications continued.

[Stage One Relationship Milestone Successfully Completed.]

[Target: Ravenna Arkland.]

[Final Recorded Affection Before Synchronization: 68.]

[Emotional Classification: Love.]

[Stage One Completion Reward Calculated.]

[Synchronization-period emotional gains have been processed.]

His expression changed.

Synchronization period.

That meant everything that had happened while the system was offline hadn’t been lost.

A new prompt appeared.

[Accumulated Affection Reward: +12,500 AP.]

Silver stared in complete disbelief.

”What?” He exclaimed inwardly.

Another notification followed.

[Stage One Completion Bonus: +5,000 AP.]

He didn’t move, not like he had it in him to move.

Then:

[Upgrade Synchronization Compensation: +2,705 AP.]

He slowly leaned back against the wall.

His previous balance had been 688 which just showed how poor he had been.

The number changed.

[Current Affection Points: 20,873.]

Silver stared at it for several seconds.

Twenty thousand.

He’d gone from carefully thinking about whether a relatively inexpensive purchase was worth sacrificing AP to possessing more than twenty thousand.

And the system wasn’t finished.

[Stage One Attribute Reward Granted.]

[Unassigned Attribute Points: +30.]

His eyes widened.

Thirty... that is enormous.

His original attributes had already changed significantly through the system, beast integrations, combat, training and the physical punishment he’d survived in Death Row Valley.

Thirty free points meant he could create an immediate increase equivalent to months, perhaps considerably longer, of natural development.

Another series of notifications appeared.

[Skill growth accumulated during Synchronization has been processed.]

[Short-Step Lv2 → Short-Step Lv3.]

Silver’s attention immediately sharpened as information entered his mind.

Short-Step felt different, cleaner in a sense.

The distance he could cover had increased, but that wasn’t the part that interested him most.

The energy consumption had fallen.

Not drastically enough that he could teleport indefinitely, but enough that repeated short-range movement would be far more practical.

There was also less disruption between consecutive uses.

In Death Row Valley, chaining Short-Step repeatedly had contributed heavily to destroying his body and exhausting his reserves. Lv3 wouldn’t magically prevent overuse, but it gave him considerably more control over how much power each movement consumed.

[Spatial Distortion & Barriers Lv1 → Lv2.]

He sat straighter; that one mattered even more. His previous barriers had been powerful but horribly inefficient.

Now he understood instinctively how to create smaller distortions; angled barriers, localized defensive surfaces and brief disruptions designed to redirect rather than completely stop an attack.

Maintaining a huge barrier would still consume enormous amounts of energy, but Lv2 finally transformed the ability from something Silver reserved for desperate situations into something he could realistically incorporate into normal combat.

”That’s useful.”

The system continued.

[Advanced Swordsmanship Lv1 → Lv2.]

Silver smiled.

Peter would probably approve.

His baseline evaluation had already made it obvious that his firearm skill was considerably better than his swordsmanship.

Lv2 wouldn’t suddenly place him on Ravenna’s level, especially considering how long she’d trained, but it gave him a stronger foundation to build on during academy practice.

[Field Analysis Lv1 → Lv2.]

Information reorganized itself inside his mind; observation, terrain, tracks, damage patterns and environmental irregularities.

The skill’s improvement didn’t simply give Silver more information. It helped him process information faster and distinguish relevant details from noise.

[Mind Fortress Lv1 → Lv2.]

Silver felt that change immediately. His thoughts became strangely clear and more structured.

The skill strengthened his resistance against mental interference while also improving his ability to maintain coherent thought under psychological pressure.

After everything underground, Silver appreciated that more than he expected.

[Soul Insight Lv1 → Lv2.]

Silver closed his eyes.

Another subtle change came into being.

Soul Insight had always been strange because it interacted more directly with beast souls, cores and integration compatibility than ordinary perception did. At Lv2, the information available from a beast core and people became considerably more detailed.

That would help with Ravenna.

He immediately thought about the Tier Two strength-oriented core. Now he could examine it properly before she integrated anything.

He would also be able to see more of people’s information, hopefully, after testing it on someone.

Another notification appeared.

[Linked Awareness Lv2: Synchronization Reinforcement Completed.]

[Linked Awareness Lv2 functionality expanded.]

Silver paused.

The level hadn’t changed.

The skill had already reached Lv2 before Death Row Valley, but apparently the system upgrade had strengthened what that level could do rather than simply forcing an unnecessary level increase.

He accepted that.

Then another prompt appeared.

[Shared Beast Absorption compatibility improved through Target Synchronization.]

[No level increase.]

[Efficiency increased when used with Primary Target Ravenna Arkland.]

Silver smiled.

Ravenna is going to like that.

Then the notifications finally slowed.

He opened the full interface.

”Status.”

The screen appeared.

[STATUS]

Name: Silver Ruddington

Current Rank: Rank 2

Title: Reliable Companion

Soul Capacity: Limit Removed

Soul Stability: Stable

Silver paused at Rank 2.

Considering everything that had happened, he’d wondered whether he’d accidentally crossed into Rank 3.

Apparently not.

That meant whatever separated him from the next Rank wasn’t simply a matter of gaining attributes.

He continued.

[BEAST TATTOOS]

Current Tattoos: 2

Maximum Capacity: Unlimited

Then his attributes appeared.

[ATTRIBUTES]

Strength: 42

Agility: 32

Endurance: 31

Soul Synchronization: 44

Perception: 35

Mental Resistance: 27

Silver looked it over twice.

Those were already significantly higher than the status he’d possessed before entering Death Row Valley.

His previous recorded values had been Strength 38, Agility 28, Endurance 26, Soul Synchronization 40, Perception 31 and Mental Resistance 21.