Chapter 188: 188 | Four Words and a Silver Lining

I grabbed my spear and followed her to the center of the field. She set up targets at twenty, thirty, and forty meters. Hay bales stacked in a line.

"Hit all three. One shot each."

I pulled Wave Motion into my right palm. The energy spiraled up almost instantly now, hungry to be used. Golden-white light twisted between my fingers, that low hum building as the power compressed.

First shot. Twenty meters. I fired and the hay bale detonated into burning scraps that scattered across the grass.

Second shot. Thirty meters. The spiral punched straight through the center, leaving a hole the size of my fist.

Third shot. Forty meters, right at my maximum range. The energy wavered a bit during flight but still connected solid, ripping the entire bale in two pieces that tumbled across the dirt.

Belle walked the field checking each target. She crouched next to the burnt remnants of the first one, then examined the clean hole in the second. When she came back her expression was calculating.

"That’s Bronze rank output."

"Told you I upgraded it."

She went quiet. I watched her do the mental math, same way she added up core values and loot profits in her head during gate runs.

"If boss kills boost you this fast," she said slowly, "we need to fight more bosses."

"Pretty sure Misato would kill us."

"Misato can get in line." She grabbed my hand. "Come on."

"Where?"

"Your room. We’re doing this properly and I want actual privacy."

We walked back across campus. Students milled around enjoying Sunday afternoon freedom. A Ruby second-year called out asking if I was the guy who killed the alpha. I waved and kept walking.

Belle’s grip tightened on my hand. "You’re getting famous."

"Don’t remind me."

"It’s good though. Means people respect you."

"Or they think I got lucky."

"Same thing in the end."

I unlocked 5E and we went inside. Hikaru’s door still closed. Still dark underneath.

Belle walked straight to my bedroom and shut the door behind us. "Lock it."

I did.

She turned to face me, backing up until her legs hit the bed. "Okay. Full session. The works. I want the Gold-tier buff like Aurora got."

"Aurora started with silver."

"I’m Bronze. So mine should be Silver for forty-eight hours, right?"

I thought about it. The buff scaled based on tier. Bronze essence giving a tier jump meant Gold rank temporary.

"Yeah. Should work like that."

"Good." She pulled her tank top over her head. No bra underneath. Just her, standing there with her chest exposed and her blue hair starting to come loose from the ponytail.

My mouth went dry.

She hooked her thumbs in her shorts. "You gonna stand there or are we doing this?"

I crossed the distance. "We’re doing this."

Her smile was all teeth. "Then show me what you learned from Aurora."

Two hours later Belle lay sprawled across the sheets, breathing hard and covered in sweat. Her blue hair stuck to her forehead in damp strands. Her chest rose and fell with each breath, nipples still hard and glistening from where I’d been drinking.

The system notifications had stopped pinging. Four hundred points total. Four more days.

Belle’s buff was active. Silver-tier Treasure Sense for the next forty-eight hours.

She tested it, her eyes going distant. "I can see everything."

"How far?"

"Campus-wide." She focused on something. "There’s a Platinum-tier mana crystal in the restricted section. North end. Probably worth a hundred thousand credits."

"Can you get to it?"

"Fuck no. But I know it’s there." She grinned. "This is insane."

"Good insane?"

"The best insane." She rolled to face me. "You know what else is insane?"

"What?"

"You just made me come five times in one session."

"Lost count after three."

"I didn’t." She traced a finger down my chest. "Five. That’s my new record."

"Congratulations."

She hit my shoulder. "Don’t be smug."

"I can only be so smug." I laughed, collapsing onto my back beside her. "You drained me three times yourself."

Belle’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction as she propped herself up on one elbow. "That’s right. And don’t you forget it." She ran her fingers through my hair, tugging lightly. "For a milk vampire, you’re surprisingly easy to drain yourself."

"Karma, I guess."

She snorted and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. The afternoon light spilled through the blinds, painting stripes across her skin. We lay there breathing together, the comfortable silence of two people who’d shared something intense and were now floating in its aftermath.

"Jace?"

"Yeah?"

"When you’re with me. In here. Do you think about the others?"

"No. When I’m with you I’m only thinking about you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

She nodded, accepting it. "Okay."

Belle sat up and started gathering her clothes. "We should probably go before Hikaru comes home and hears us again."

"Probably."

Belle checked her phone. "Shit. It’s six-thirty."

"We were in it for ninety minutes?"

"Time flies when you’re getting your soul rearranged." She stood and fixed her ponytail in my mirror. "I need to shower and study. Quiz tomorrow."

"Yeah?"

"Garrett’s doing endurance benchmarks." She turned to face me. "Try not to die."

"I’ll do my best."

She walked to the door, paused with her hand on the knob. "Thanks."

"For?"

"The buff, loser."

Then she left.

I collapsed on my bed and stared at the ceiling. My phone was full of messages.

Naomi: Did you have fun with Aurora?

Yeah. It was good.

I’m glad. Want to study together tonight?

Can’t. Need to crash early. Garrett’s thing tomorrow.

Okay. Sleep well then. Love you.

I stared at those last two words.

Love you.

She’d said it casual. Easy. Like it was just a fact of life, something simple and natural as breathing. Not a grand declaration or a milestone moment, but a quiet truth slipped in right before goodnight.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard for several seconds. This wasn’t a line I’d crossed with any of them yet. The words carried weight, implications, a promise of something beyond the physical. I hesitated, watching the cursor blink, then typed four words that changed everything.

Love you too.

I sent it before I could overthink.

Three dots. Then: Really?

Yeah.

Okay. Good. I was worried I said it too fast.

You didn’t.

Okay. Goodnight Jace.

Goodnight.