"I’ve already defeated you countless times though..." Quinn claimed, his voice dropping low...after recovering from the seduction!!

’Hoh...that’s dangerous man..!’

Lyra couldn’t help but hide her face behind the silk like curtain of her cascading hair. She can’t find any better excuse to what he said!

"You really are beautiful... and incredibly cute when you’re flustered" Quinn while gently brushing her hair away, revealing the ethereal beauty that she usually kept locked behind a cold persona...

"Hmph... that’s only natural..." she muttered, trying to regain her dignity, though her trembling voice betrayed her...she liked what Quinn said!

"Hahaha! You’re even cuter when you act high and mighty" he teased, nudging her playfully to watch the way her eyes looking away...

Quinn’s expression softened for a moment, a trace of genuine regret flickering in his gaze. He went quiet then, a very important matter surfacing into his mind...

The brochure he stole!!...well it’s already a trash but...that’s considered stealing no matter where you look!

"Lyra... actually, I stole something from you while you were asleep. I’m sorry for that..." Quinn confessed

"Hehe, silly Quinn... of course I know that~" she whispered, her eyes softening.

"I’m an Elite... remember? My senses don’t just shut off because I’m tired. Still, it doesn’t matter. I’ll forgive you because you confessed what wrong doings you’ve done...fufu" She reached out and pinched his nose...though her hand was shaking so much from exhaustion that the gesture was more of a clumsy poke.

Quinn opened his mouth to utter a single word no words escaped into his mouth, and simply offering her a sincere smile.

"I won’t do it again. I won’t just promise you with words...I’ll prove it with my actions." Quinn promised

The atmosphere in the room shifted then, the playful banter dying down as Lyra looked at him with a sudden, sharp intensity.

"Quinn...will you survive tomorrow?"

"Me? Haha, of course I will," he replied, his hand drifting to pinch her nipple playfully!

"I refuse to die as long as you haven’t fully become mine yet...hehe"

"Hmph... pervert!" she huffed, though she didn’t push him away, she accepted it!

"But... I really hope you survive..." She muttered barely audible breath.

"I don’t think I could handle seeing you die out there."

Quinn caught the shift...even if Lyra didn’t address it directly....

"By the way... how do I actually get to a higher tier? I’ve been feeling stronger, but I’m still stuck at the bottom..."

"Hmmm... are you seriously asking that now?" Lyra looked at him with genuine surprise...

"Is it that weird of a question?"

"Well... totally not, but almost everyone in this world knows that! did you bonk your head?..." she paused ... trying to look Quinn’s face.

"Let me give you some insights silly Quinn..."

Quinn’s ears practically perked up. This was the information he had been waiting for, the lacked of information was eating his mind...

"In this world, there are currently nine known tiers..." Lyra explained...

"These tiers are categorized into three brackets...Low, Mid, and Top. I’ll focus on the Low Tiers for now, because anything else is just a daydream for someone at your level..."

"I can sense you’re currently Tier 1, and honestly... that’s hard to stomach given what you can do you know?..." She sighed, settling into his chest comfortaby...

"Tier 1 is the Novice. Tier 2 is the Adept. And Tier 3...my current rank..is the Elite.

" These are considered the easiest ranks to achieve, but let me give you a reality... the heirs of Dukes and those true monsters can reach Elite status by the age of sixteen. "

" That is the kind of monstrous talent we are up against... They are not just strong, they are born with the wisdom and power to decide the fate of everyone beneath them."

Lyrq looked away, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"I’ll be honest with you... I was lucky to even reach Elite. This world is cruel...Quinn. That’s why there are so many slaves to begin with, the gap between the talented and the common is utterly cruel..."

"So, how do I bridge that gap?" Quinn asked.

" Well...you just need to grow stronger by killing and absorbing cores... simple but first..." Lyra paused

"Focus your mind, and dive deep into your own consciousness, you will see something floating there. That is your Talent Core. Once you fill that core to its limit with your own energy and experience, you break through to the next tier. It sounds simple, but for most...filling a core takes a lifetime."

Quinn nodded, absorbing every word.

"I’ll try it now."

Quinn closed his eyes and pushed the world away...and focused everything to his mind.

Suddenly a ripple...the darkness shattered. Quinn found himself standing on the surface of a perfectly still, crystal clear lake...

’Holy.... I am pretty sure that’s a Sun! ’

Quinn was surprised to what he is seeing...the space is completely beautiful...but the most striking thing was the bright enormous ball. floating right in front of him! It was a massive, blinding sphere of golden light with a radius of at least thirty meters!! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

" Woah..this is... incredible." Quinn marveled. Even though it looked like a literal star, it didn’t burn. It radiated a magical, soothing warmth.

He focused on the sphere the so called Talent Core...Quinn was shocked to see that it was only about 20% filled!!

’Hell... if this thing is thirty meters wide and it’s only 20% full, how much power do I actually have?...I am really OP right?!’

He exited the meditative state, snapping his eyes open.

"Lyra... what’s the biggest Talent Core ever recorded?"

"Hmm?" Lyra blinked, looking tired.

"I don’t know the details for sure but is was said that it belongs to the Emperor. They say when the Emperor was still at the Elite rank, its Talent Core was a massive sphere with a 20 meter radius.

No one knows how big it has grown since he ascended to the higher tiers, but that core is why he rules the world today...

Quinn’s heart skipped a beat...

’20 meters? My core is already 30 meters radius at Tier 1?!’

Quinn realized he couldn’t stay in this shithole prison much longer and be more productive...to grind harder and to fill the massive core, well he can only grind it with the help of Lyra....

"I’m going to be busy tomorrow," Quinn whispered to himself, a predatory glint in his eyes.