"Why do you keep making fun of me? Is it because you hate me or something?" Linlin asked, narrowing her eyes. "Or are you just some sadist?"
"Neither. I'm just bored," Rael said with a shrug.
The carriage was pretty comfortable, and while he could buy a car, that would defeat the purpose of traveling, as he would save that for the future.
Even so, he hadn't made it far before she spoke—so now he was stuck dealing with it.
"Then why don't you just use my name? You do know I can beat you in a fight, right?" Linlin said confidently.
Out of curiosity, Rael decided to fact-check.
—Friend: Linlin Xu (General Class Boss) [Level 143] [391,480,000/391,480,000 HP]
Yep, she can beat my ass, Rael thought with a sigh.
"So what? You do know you still owe me one."
"I have limits too. If someone keeps making fun of me, I'll retaliate," Linlin replied seriously.
However, instead of bothering with her, he wanted to check his own progress.
After all, with his race change, his stats must've increased by a lot.
Name: Rael Sutekh, The Platinum Overlord [+]
Race: Celestite Archon (Legendary) [+]
Boss Monster Variation: The Pay-to-Win Boss [Vice-General Class]
Experience: 15,867/39,682
•—Balance: 682,581 Trell—•
Premium Leveling [Special-Unique]
Premium Evolution [Special-Unique]
Premium Shop [Special-Unique]
Premium Override [Special-Unique]
Health Points (HP): [259,800/259,800] → [362,600/362,600]
Mana Points (MP): [43,300/503,200] (+100,000) → [163,843/663,200] (+100,000)
Strength: 633 (+153) → 883 (+153)
Agility: 653 (+153) → 853 (+153)
Constitution: 1,299 (+617) → 1,813 (+617)
Intelligence: 2,016 (+886) → 2,816 (+886)
Spell Power (SP): 6,048 → 8,448
Attack Power (AP): 1,899 → 2,649
Movement Speed Increase: 326.5% → 426.5%
Critical Hit Damage Increase: 64.15% (+5%)
+50% → +100% Increased Crystal-based Attack Damage
+20% → +35% Resistance to all types of Magic Damage
-15% → -10% Reduced Physical Damage Dealt
Crystal Genesis: [Level 93 | 88,472/89,686] (Pseudo-Legendary)
Fractured Prism: [Level 45 → 50 | 18,916/35,355] (Uncommon)
Fireball: [Level 30 → 38 | 21,298/23,425] (Common)
Frostfire Tempest: [Level 1 → 28 | 5,130/14,816] (Epic)
Dungeons in possession: 3
Time until V1.0 Release: 138 Days
Pretty big upgrades, but then again, he was nowhere close to Zafira's or Linlin's level.
Nonetheless, he was growing fast, and that was all that mattered.
But as for her cheeky behavior...
"How's the group going?"
He decided to steer it in another direction.
"Radiant Dawn?" She tilted her head. "Why are you so interested? I thought since you didn't check up on me for almost an entire week, it meant you didn't care."
Before she could pout further, Rael cut her off.
"I didn't even message Zafira since I was too busy crafting items. As for today, I was literally inside a dungeon."
He didn't have to explain himself, obviously.
But he also didn't like misunderstandings.
"Oh..." Linlin's eyes widened. "So that's why your HP was so low earlier."
Rael raised a brow. "Were you stalking me?"
Instead of snapping at him, Linlin calmly explained, "Whenever someone on our friend list drops below 25% HP, we receive an alert. Honestly, I thought you were going to croak with how low you got."
"I see... That's a pretty interesting piece of information," Rael replied, as he kicked up his feet.
They were sitting opposite one another, and his feet were to her side.
His mana wasn't full yet, but once it was, he'd craft some armor.
For now, there was nothing better to do than to get some sleep—
"Get your shoes away from me, that's gross," Linlin expressed.
"There's literally a two-meter gap between my shoes and you," Rael shot back, but upon noticing she wasn't backing down, he simply decided to change his sleeping position.
He kicked his feet onto his own seat, and now, it felt even more comfortable.
But just like the previous million times, his peace was short-lived.
"My group is doing well. It's on a trial period of sorts, so we're not an official order yet... but we're growing," Linlin explained softly. "I told the others about what you did for us, and they wanted to thank you from the bottom of their hearts as well."
"That's nice. I like people owing me favors," Rael remarked half-jokingly, which made her flinch.
"I hope you don't go around extorting my group in the future," Linlin said warily.
"Don't worry, Linlin. I plan to have good relationships with trustworthy people. Extorting them would not benefit me in the slightest," he stated, and as he was expecting an answer, all he got was silence.
Hm? Did she fall asleep? Rael reopened his eyes and was met with her startled look.
"What's wrong? Enemies?" he asked, sitting upright and preparing his staff.
However, she merely shook her head, a barely noticeable smile tugging on her lips.
"...You called me by my name."
"Come on now..." Rael facepalmed. "You don't need to change your drawers because of that, do you?"
That seemed to set her back in her usual mood as she looked at him with a frown.
"That's gross. I can't believe you put that thought back in my mind."
Back? So it was there before? Rael raised a brow but decided not to comment on it.
Instead, he closed his eyes and began dozing off.
But right as he felt himself begin to drift off, the carriage suddenly shook, nearly making him drop to the ground.
"Well, now we have enemies," Linlin remarked as she stood from her seat and looked out the window.
In the next moment, she stretched her fingers outward, and immediately, several emerald threads emerged, flying at speeds he couldn't even track.
He did take note that those threads looked the exact same as her eyes, though.
After a few seconds, she sat back down, crossed her legs, and flashed a victorious grin toward him.
"78 bandits dead. Seems like an organized attack—I'll let the queen know," she said, before tapping a few times in the air, likely sending Zafira a message.
As for Rael? A shiver ran down his spine.
After all, despite her looking physically strong, she was a mage.
"Well, princess, you may go to sleep now," Linlin said smugly, holding back a giggle from escaping.
Rael's brows twitched. "There's no way that's the nickname you're sticking with."
Instead of responding, Linlin began playfully humming as she rocked her feet back and forth, almost as if she was trying to piss him off.
"...Wake me up when we get there," Rael said as he rolled on his side.
Category: Miscellaneous/Noise/Ear Plugs
•—Balance: 682,581 Trell—•
• Premium Gold-Plated Ear Plugs (Common): 1,500 Trell
He bought them without hesitation, and, in front of her surprised face, put them in his ears.