us woke up a little after noon, having spent the entire night with the war goddess. They only stopped and fell asleep when the sun rose in the east. Though us knew the star yed a part in helping Miriam recover her stamina between sessions, he was still shocked at how intense things had gotten.


    Who would have thought that the cold, unloving, and arrogant Miriam had such a wild side? But then again, you can''t judge a book by its cover.


    us stretched his body and looked beside him. Miriam was still in a deep sleep, showing no signs of waking up soon. Smiling, he got up and took a bath. A few minutester, he left the room to find something to eat.


    As soon as he entered the living room, his eyes met his mother''s. She was looking at him with a mischievous grin.


    "Don''t start, Mom," us said quickly, knowing what she was about to say. But his mom just smiled and walked into the kitchen. A few secondster, she returned with arge tray of food.


    "You must be exhausted. Go ahead, eat, and regain your energy," she said with a smile, making us feel a bit embarrassed. He knew she was teasing him, but the idea of his mother overhearing something like that was too embarrassing.


    ''I need to buy a new house with more rooms,'' us thought to himself as he dug into his food. His mother sat beside him, gently brushing his hair with her hand.


    A whileter, after eating everything, us blurted out and fell into a chair, resting his head on his mom''sp. "Thanks for the food, Mom," he said.


    "No need," she replied.


    "By the way, has Hannae out of seclusion yet?" us asked, not wanting his mom to start teasing him again.


    "No," she replied. "Before entering seclusion, she said she was close to mastering something, so she won''te out until she masters it," she added.


    "That is good, then. I should get her a few skills," us said. Since none of his friends could use the skills he got from his past self just yet, he could only buy a few skills for her.


    Hanna was practically skillless. She didn''t awaken any skills as us did, so she could only use her lightning to fight, which was stressful, especially on her stamina.


    "That will be great," his mom said.


    "By the way, you''ve received a package from Oracle. Kofi and the guys ced it in your training room," she added. us nodded. It seemed Joon and the others had sent the modeling table faster than he anticipated.


    Feeling his mom''s hand brushing through his hair and cheeks, us didn''t even realize when he fell asleep again. He might be a tiger on the battlefield, but in his mom''s arms, he was just another innocent child who had no defenses around his mother.


    "He is now a big boy," his mom smiled, looking at the handsome face sleeping on herp.


    A whileter, us woke up in the chair, but his mother wasn''t there. After using his senses to do a quick scan, he located her sitting under a pavilion with Miriam. From the look on Miriam''s face, he knew he wasn''t wee there, so he quickly made his way to his training room and sat down.


    He then entered his soul sea to have a chat with the senior.


    "Looks like you are taking your training more seriously now. Your soul and Mental strength have increased, and even your sword qi seems to have gotten stronger." Immediately after he appeared inside his soul sea, the senior''s voice came from behind the first door.


    us raised an eyebrow. What training was he talking about? He hadn''t trained for a while, so where was all thising from? However, without even thinking about it, the answer entered his mind: Miriam.


    "I knew it," us said with a smile, clenching his fist.


    "Knew what?" the senior asked.


    "Uhm, Senior, I want to ask you a rather unusual question," us said with a small guilty smile.


    "Go ahead," the senior said.


    "Well, have you ever heard of a link forming between two people after they have sex?" us asked, feeling bashful. It was just too strange to ask someone he regarded as a senior this question.


    "A little more context will suffice. Of course, links form between sex partners, so why ask?" the senior replied, making us realize he had nothing to worry about.


    "Well, when I had sex with my women, a strange star tattoo appeared under their bellies, which allowed me tomunicate with them telepathically," us said, feeling a little clearer-headed now.


    "Is that all?" the senior strangely asked instead of responding directly.


    "What do you mean, Senior?" us replied, confused.


    "I mean, apart frommunicating with them telepathically, are there other effects?" the senior reiterated his question, making us immediately realize he hade to the right ce despite his hesitation.


    "No, aside from the telepathy, they also seem to get stronger as they level up and train," us answered.


    "I see. It seems it hasn''t fully awakened yet," the senior said with a sigh.


    "Uhm, what hasn''t awakened yet?" us asked. The senior didn''t reply immediately. It took a few minutes as if he were calcting his words, before he responded.


    "The mark, brat, is called the Paragon Mark. It links you to people you are close with, and when I say close, I mean intimate with. This mark creates a two-way link between you and the marked people.


    As for the use of this link, you have already discovered two of the many ways it can be utilized. Yes, there are many ways it can be used, but it will depend on you leveling up and breaking through realms. And no, they are not bing paragons," the senior exined.


    "So how do you exin the sudden increase in strength?" us asked. He knew they could never be paragons, but a boy could only hope.


    "That is because they are being affected by your Star Qi. You have a different source of energy, us. So despite being the weakest in cultivation base, your energy is potent—more potent than theirs. They are being influenced by your Star Qi."


    "Does this mean I will also be influenced by them in some way?" us asked.


    "Of course, you already have. Your ice element, though still small, has gotten stronger, which I suppose is a result of your nightly activities. And now, your soul strength has also be much stronger, which has affected your mind, so I guess this is due to anotherdy.


    Also, your sword qi has be stronger. All of this is as a result of the link between you and these people." The senior didn''t seem to care about us''s bedtime activities; he was much more concerned about us''s growth.


    "Well, that is also good," us said, more than happy to hear that. Now that he had be stronger just from having sex, wouldn''t that mean that when he became even stronger, the women around him would also be monsters?


    "You are a Paragon, us. The rules don''t apply to you, but of course, you will have to pay one way or another," the senior said. us just smirked; the heavens could go screw themselves for all he cared.


    "So, aside from telepathy and strengthening, what else can the Paragon Mark do?" us asked.


    "You will have to find that out yourself. The karma involved is not something you can carry right now. Just go and have fun, brat." His voice faded away.


    us stood inside his soul sea for a while until he decided to leave. However, just as he was about to exit his soul sea, something shot from the Pantaface Bead and entered his forehead. His vision immediately darkened, and then he faded away.


    When he woke up, he felt a terrible headache moving through his head like thunder. He walked to the fridge and drank a ss of water to calm down.


    After he felt some calm, he decided to check out his new upgrades. However, just as he was about to retrieve the Needles to test his soul and mental strength, he felt a new presence inside his mind.


    "Fruity," us muttered.