1000x Random Returns: Investing in My Crippled Demon Wives!

Chapter 114: Chapter 114: He’s Always Giving You the Good Stuff, Even in Bed!

Lucien paused as he turned the skill book over in his hands as the girls looked at him.

”Hurry up Lucien, we’ve got affinities to check husband.” Evelisse said seeing him deliberate.

’I already have Rare Appraisal, It’s not as good as this, but it covers what I need day to day, but if I invest it instead of keeping it.’ Lucien thought as he glanced at Seraphina deciding to give invest it into her

She was an alchemist and with a Mythical Rank Appraisal instead of the Uncommon Rank Appraisal she already had, she would be able read ingredient properties, hidden toxins, rare material compositions and things that would take her weeks to figure out by trial and error, all the while letting her appraise Mythical ranked objects compared to her Uncommon ranked limit she had now.

A familiar as these thoughts flowed in his head and quiet greed stirred in his chest, not only for himself, but for the girl’s and for the best way to maximize his and the girls profits through investing in them using the system.

’Proper gamer instincts, as they call it on back on Earth.’ He thought jokingly.

”Here Sera, I’d like you to have this instead.” He said after deciding on it.

”Me?” She blinked hearing him.

”Yes, you’re an alchemist so this will do far more good in your hands than mine, besides my current Appraisal skill is more than enough for what I need right now.” He said.

She looked at the book, then back at him, searching his face. ”Are you sure, this is a Mythical rank skill that Lady Carmilla have you.”

”Completely sure.” He smiled.

”Besides that I want you working with the best tools available to strengthen our family, we can’t have our beautiful alchemist be struggling now can we?” Lucien smiled and said to Seraphina.

”With this you’d be able to cook up even better potions, pills and whatever else alchemists make, and hopefully with less explosions.” He said teasing her.

Her cheeks went pink hearing this as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheeks, soft and quick.

”Thank you, hubby.” She whispered a bit shy.

Aurelia gave him an approving nod from across the table not at all surprised as she had gotten to know him since their marriage and from what she knew he wasn’t one to be greedy if it benefited them all.

Evelisse, meanwhile, was watching the whole exchange with open, undisguised interest.

”Our husband really loves you Sera, he’s always giving you the good stuff, even in bed.” Evelisse teased Seraphina who surprisingly didn’t blush as expected but smiled instead.

”If she gets a Mythical skill book, do the rest of us get something too, maybe something like those rare snacks you promised?” Evelisse said slowly adding she questioned him.

”We’ll figure out what everyone needs as for the snacks,” He said leaving her hanging.

”As for the snacks what?” She asked already imagining their deliciousness.

”First cultivate back up then I’ll give them to you.”

”So I’ve got to got through that torture for them again?” She said listless sititng back.

”Fine then, it’s just simple cultivation, then I’ll wring you dry of every snack you own.” She declared curling her fingers and making a fist.

”You sure you can?” He asked her with a wide smile.

”Maybe?” She said.

”That’s not a no.”

”It’s also not a promise.”

”But I’m writing this down, so don’t think you can trick me,” Evelisse muttered, pointing two fingers at her own eyes and then at him, in the universal gesture of I am watching you.

”Seems like my dear disciple is determined to give everything I gave him in order to grow, to my lovely little sister’s, not that I mind.” Carmilla said looking at them as she watched the whole thing with a quiet, knowing little smile, as she sat on Evelisse’s head.

”Hehe, that’s just how loving our husband is big sis.” Evelisse giggled hearing her.

”Yes, very loving indeed.” She muttered.

Carmilla had seen Lucien give away valuable things before, it was practically a personality trait at this point and she didn’t bother objecting and Seraphina’s profession made the choice an easy one, as it wasn’t like it mattered who in the family had it.

”We’ll, seems like little Sera is lucky.” Carmilla laughed.

”But just so you know, getting this was extremely hard even for me, so don’t expect to find one just laying around somewhere.” She said.

”You’d be surprised by his luck, he even knows some mysterious merchant who sells just about everything, so don’t count it out.” Aurelia said as she laughed, making the others join in as Lucien scratched his cheek.

Seraphina took the skill book in both hands as she let her now weaker and lesser amount of mana flow into it the skill book from her mana core, her mana passed through the skill book as it got activated.

The cover glowed and its pages then the entire book itself dissolved into drifting motes light that sank into her forehead, one by one, until the book itself had vanished entirely leaving her hands empty.

She closed her eyes as the knowledge of of Mythical Rank Appraisal skill settled in, it mana flow, the skills uses, etc, everything regarding the skill itself and when she opened them again, her expression was pure, delighted surprise.

”I can already tell the difference,” she said.

”This is incredible,” she muttered, her mind already racing with potential alchemy applications.

”It way more than my old uncommon version, the mana drain is definitely steeper and I doubt I have the pool to push it for deep appraisals yet but the sheer detail is worth it.”She said as she looked up with a spark of excitement in her eyes.

”It’s a massive step up. Once my mastery improves, it unlocks even more utility. It can even chain with my other sensory abilities to map out things I completely missed before.”

”Thank you hubby.” She jumped and hugged him across the table in excitement while he smiled seeing her happy and hugged her back.

”Good but that skill alone won’t tell you much about affinities yet so for that, you’ll need context and knowledge on it, like all other Appraisal skills which will also lower the mana requirement for appraising them.”

She then produced a small translucent crystal, a memory shard, this one used for sharing information instead of techniques as fine threads of light drifted inside it like tiny trapped constellations.

”This holds the basic knowledge on affinities for the mortal realm,” Carmilla explained.

”Classifications, common manifestations, compatibility, how they interact with cultivation and bloodlines, appraisal’s only as good as the user’s understanding behind it.”

”How much does this cover Lady Carmilla?” Seraphina asked curiously.

”I told you to call me big sis little Sera, so stop with the lady nonsense.” Carmilla sighed as Seraphina giggled.

”It covers everything you’ll reasonably need for the mortal realm, no point stuffing your head with higher realm or deeper knowledge you won’t touch for years and would instead burden you.”

”Makes sense,” Lucien said.

”We’ll cross that bridge when we’re actually standing in front of it.”

Seraphina pressed the crystal to her forehead and let her mana flow into it, it glowed faintly, and her eyes drifted shut as a quiet stream of knowledge poured into her mind.

The table went quiet for a few seconds, everyone watching her focus on something none of them could see.

Then Lucien went very still for a fraction of a second as the sweet chine of the system rang in his head.

’There it is, it’s been some time since I last Invested in them.’ He thought as a familiar translucent neon blue interface unfolded in front of his eyes, invisible to everyone but him.

[Ding!]

[Investment Detected: Appraisal Skill (Mythical Rank)]

[Investment Target: Seraphina Lilith]

[Bond Level: Lover (13 → 15%)]

[Max Multiplier: ×152 → ×160]

[Investment Multiplier Rolling.]

’Seraphina’s Bond increased a bit, must be because of everything last night.’He thought as he kept his face perfectly neutral and took a slow sip of his tea.

’Here we go again.’

Above Seraphina’s head, invisible to everyone but him, a mystery wheel bloomed into existence and began to spin.

’Please be something good, anything above one hundred.’

Sections of light blurred past, faster and faster as the wheel spun, each section a different multiplier.

[×39.]

[×96.]

[×136.]

[×21.]

[×54.]

It spun and spun before it slowed to a stop on a certain multiplier.

[Ding!]

[Investment Multiplier Determined.]

Lucien’s eyes narrowed slightly as the result came into view as the familiar neon blue panel unfolded in his vision.

[×100]

[Investment Reward Generated!]

’A hundredfold, not bad at all, al the least it’s not low.’ He thought smiling.

[Investment Reward Generated: True Appraisal Skill (Divine Rank)]

’So I got a divine rank version of Appraisal?’ He thought.

’My luck is still as good as ever as Kael would say.’ He thought jokingly seeing his reward.

He sent the skill book directly to his system inventory, and then he claimed it without a second thought, and through the system he instantly learned the skill without a need to pass his mana through it.

Knowledge about the skill poured into his mind, and it reached further than his Rare Rank Appraisal ever had. The two skills didn’t conflict in the slightest but layered upon one another as the new divine one simply absorbed the older rare one.

’Perfect, between this and Seraphina’s Mythical Appraisal, there’s not much we won’t be able to pick apart from now on.’

He closed the interface deciding to check it in detail later on and turned back to Seraphina.

Across the table, Seraphina opened her eyes, blinking as the last of the memory crystal’s knowledge settled into her mind.

”Wonderful! Now that we’ve got all that sorted, we can finally get started with the affinity testing.” Carmilla said clapping her hands together with delight.

”Testing?” Aurelia raised an eyebrow hearing her.

”Isn’t big sis Sera supposed to use her new skill on us and check our affinities, so what are we testing?” Evelisse asked seeing Carmilla’s smile.

Hearing them Carmilla snapped her fingers as a crystal orb bloomed into existence in front of Lucuen, it was roughly head sized, faintly transparent with various strands of different colors of mana swirling inside it.

”Affinity testing obviously!”