Strax glanced ahead at the status screen as he prepared to leave. Initially, he thought about highlighting the stats that would aid him in close combat.
Assuming, of course, that Intelligence was relatively Mana, then this would be his least problem at the moment.
What he wanted to focus on was the sword; after all, his family would look at that first, and then the other abilities.
Considering his current self and his stats, he had 20 blank points to be distributed, and so he did.
First, he used 10 points on defense. Sure, he could increase this attribute further down the line, but his first thought was, "We're going through unknown places, and my head is at stake. Survival capability will be the best bet at the moment. Of course, it doesn't mean I have to spend everything on defense, but I'm facing a big problem...
Just 5 in defense won't help with this issue," he said as he pondered what to improve first. Nevertheless, ten points in defense were his best option.
"Distribute 10 Points in Defense, 5 in Vitality, and 5 in Strength," he said, and the System followed suit, revealing his new statistics.
[Level: 10]
[HP: 242/242]
[Vitality: 17]
[Endurance: 10]
[Strength: 15]
[Agility: 10]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Defense: 15]
"I'll have better chances of surviving now. I can't trust this strange mercenary. She has a level that may or may not be high, I still don't know the cultivation levels, but the Master must surely be something elevated," Strax said, looking out the mansion window, witnessing the strange scene of a woman with orange hair fighting with one of his subordinates who carried some kind of barrel...
"Are they stealing drinks?" Strax questioned himself as he watched the huge barrel being carried back into the mansion. "I really can't trust these guys completely. She must be hiding her cultivation level from them, or they all follow her because she's smoking hot," Strax said, eyeing the woman's body. He might be drooling at this moment if he weren't aware that the woman knew he was watching her.
"Tsk, annoying woman," he said, seeing the woman's serious look in his direction. She was clearly still annoyed for being called "little fire" by Strax, but she wouldn't admit it. She would make him eat his words.
"I hope you find beasts to kill. The little spiders gave me little XP, but humans... they give a lot, even if they're not cultivators," Strax said. "Wait, my head is at stake, and those guys attacked Beatrice but..." He started connecting some dots, and...
"Sons of bitches... They were after me, not Beatrice," he said, his eyes marked by an expression of anger. He was not happy at all to realize this.
Unfortunately, now he couldn't do anything about it, but he felt a little relieved. "If this means they came after me, I can relax a bit knowing that Beatrice will be safe when I leave." Of course, there was still a chance they would attack Beatrice, but it was much lower once the possibility of the main target being him was much higher.
However, he couldn't just rely on that; after all, they were talking about his wife.
Strax pondered asking the female members of Samira's Guild to keep an eye on Beatrice until she sold the Title. It would be more convenient for both of them. But when he opened the door, he came face to face with Beatrice.
"Hi?" He said, seeing the woman who didn't look well at all. "You traitor!" She shouted, giving him small punches to the chest, but Strax barely felt her hits. 'The increase in defense worked well,' he thought.
"Hey, what did I do?" He questioned quickly, holding Beatrice's hands, who was really nervous. Seeing that she wouldn't stop, he quickly pulled her into a hug. "Kyaa!" She startled, but soon felt Strax's embrace and calmed down, feeling his warmth.
"Now that you've calmed down, tell me what happened," Strax said, looking into her eyes, which were very different from usual. "We've only been together for a few days, and you already want to betray me?" She said hurriedly. "You're mine only!" She proclaimed.
'This is going to be a problem... Damn Harem System,' he cursed as he understood what kind of situation was about to unfold. 'Having this conversation... right now...'
"Beatrice, sit down," Strax said, placing the woman on the small sofa and sitting beside her. "Who told you this?"
"The woman! That woman with fiery hair outside!" Beatrice said quickly, and Strax felt a bad taste in his mouth. 'Damn... is that how you want to play?' He roared, but then asked, "Beatrice, who am I?"
"Strax... Vorah," she commented, and it seemed that she partially understood the situation. "Yes, unfortunately, I am a Vorah," he chuckled awkwardly and continued, "In the future, I really won't be able to have just one wife. Being completely honest with you, I don't even know if that will be possible for long, as I'm being forced to return," Strax said, and Beatrice bit her lip.
"I don't want to share you," she said proudly, looking deep into his eyes. 'At least she has attitude and doesn't hide,' Strax thought.
He didn't have much to say to the girl, and he didn't know if he could reveal the existence of the system to her. Of course, that would be much more convenient, but something would probably stop him from telling her. He had seen too many stories where the System simply blocked the user and punished them, and he didn't want to take those risks now.
"Beatrice, I will find more women, yes. But I won't stop loving you because of that. I know that's your fear, believe me, I know. That's why I promise that forever, you will always be the first wife," Strax said. But Beatrice, in turn, "Ah~ Really," she sighed, the air changed completely.
"I did it!" She smiled. After all that scene, she just accepted it and smiled? Strax... broke.
"B-Beatrice?" He questioned, seeing how well she seemed. "Oh, darling, come on, we live in an era of cultivation, do you really think there aren't many men with many harems out there? What I'm doing is just common sense, I'm securing my place!" She said quickly and excitedly. "The First Wife!"
[The Title: The First Wife, has been duly linked to Beatrice Vorah.] Strax read the message with a poker face. Was this all a big joke? He didn't know, but now he was sure.
"This world is crazy, even for me," he thought, as he saw the beautiful smile on Beatrice's face as she agreed to him having more wives...