Lys opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

Wooden beams crossed above him. They were dark and smooth, nothing like he ever saw in both of his lives. The air smelled different too, clean fresh clothes scent mixed with something sharp and medicinal hit his nose.

His whole body hurt. Every breath caused him to feel a little ache on his ribs. His left hand also felt heavy and stiff. And his face throbbed on one side and his jaw ached where teeth had been knocked loose by the punch of that goblin.

He lay completely still and slowly started to notice everything around him.

Thick bandages wrapped his chest. His left hand was splinted straight with clean strips of wood and cloth. The right side of his face also felt swollen and tight. He moved his tongue carefully across his teeth and found two gaps in the back. It made him remember the impact with the tree trunk.

He didn’t try to sit up yet. He just breathed slow and shallow to let the pain in his body settle into something he could manage.

On pure habit he opened the system screen before his mind was even fully awake.

The usual white Milf Breeding System window appeared first. Then, right beside it, a second darker screen with faint red lines running through it opened up, too. It was the Cursed Sword screen.

A soft ping sounded in his head with it.

[Level Up Bonus Available]

{Choose one skill as your Level up reward}

-You have 10 Skill Points remaining. These can be used to buy the available skills or upgrade the chosen skills-

Three skills available to him right now floated in front of him.

He read them carefully, still lying on his back.

Sword-Shield – Passive defensive stance. Automatically redirects a percentage of incoming physical damage back at the attacker when CorpseSlayer is held as a shield.Curse Sense – Detects nearby corrupted or cursed entities within 50 meters.Mana Echo – Once per day, absorb a limited amount of corrupt mana from the environment to restore your own mana pool.

Lys stared at the options for a long time. His mind was still foggy from sleep and pain, so deciding on a skill right now felt too hasty.

But then after thinking about it a while, he chose Sword-Shield for some reason.

The moment he selected it, the screen updated.

’If I think about it, I don’t actually have any need for curse sense or Mana echo right now as far as I think. But having a battle skill like Sword-Shield might actually be a game-changer in a life and death situation like before. Currently I don’t have any battle skills. So, the more I have the better.’ He thought before glancing at the other screen.

[Cursed Sword of the Fallen Witch]

Level 1: 128/200

Skill Points: 10

Skills: Sword-Shield (Level 1 - Upgrade requirement: 5 Skill Points)

Cursed Object Attributes: Corrupt Mana Absorption, Experience Absorption

Lys opened his mouth slightly in surprise with understanding the point for this system existing all of a sudden finally. If what he is thinking is correct, then the CorpseSlayer sword itself has its own separate leveling system like him now. Then the ten skill points sitting there, ready to upgrade whatever he picked as it was saying, were basically for the sword’s growth, not him specifically. He had never seen anything like this before, not even in any game or anime from back on earth. So, thats why it was fascinating for him.

But then he realized that the sword’s growth could also be counted as his growth, too, as he is the only one who can use this sword. Meaning if the sword gets stronger or something, then won’t he also have better results with it while fighting?!

Then a thought occurred in his mind. ’Are there other cursed object like this sword out there? Can I also unlock separate system for them, too, if I find them and understand their features, just like CorpseSlayer?!’

The thought itself was fascinating, but there was noway for him to know the real truth unless he finds another.

But he knows it won’t be easy, as what are the chances of him finding a cursed weapon by his own. If it was not for Madam Vesper, then he couldn’t even dream of getting this sword for free. It was pure luck. Or is it?!

He closed the sword screen by shaking his head, getting rid of these thoughts for now and focusing on what is in front of him. He opened the main system status window. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

<< Milf Breeding System >>

<< Host: Lysander Veyne >>

Title: Wielder of the Strongest Sword

Strength: 38 → 42

Stamina: 49 → 55

Mana: 180/220

SP: 160

Skills:

Basic Mana Breathing (Tier 1)

Basic Hunting (Tier 2)

Basic Herb Knowledge (Tier 1)

Basic Regeneration (Tier 2)

Enhanced Stamina Skill (Tier 2)

Appraisal (Tier 1)

Iron Skin (Tier 2)

Aura of Intimidation (Tier 2)

Persuasive Master (Tier 2)

Lys read the numbers twice. Strength and stamina had both jumped significantly. Mana storage was also higher than it had been before the fight with the goblin.

Plus he felt different too. Not just seeing the numbers on the screen, there was a quiet confidence in his chest that had not been there before. The thought of going back into the forest did not fill him with the same fear as he expected it to after that life and death battle with a monster all on his own. That surprised him a little.

Then he noticed the new title, sitting at the top of the screen. Wielder of the Strongest Sword. He had no idea what it actually did, but seeing it there felt good.

If it was the cause of his sudden confidence boost or not, he wondered about it a little.

By the time he looked down at his body, he saw bandages covering his chest and left hand. The swelling on his face was still there, but the pain was less sharp than he remembered from the fight. Basic Regeneration must have been working the whole time he slept, he figured. The passive skill never stopped after all.

He tested his legs. They moved. Slowly, a little stiff, but they moved.

He pushed himself up to sit on the edge of the bed. The room spun for a second, but then it settled slowly. He found some clean clothes folded on a chair beside the bed, simple tunic and pants that smelled like someone else’s. He dressed as carefully as he could, wincing every time the bandages pulled against his ribs.

Voices came from the next room.

Standing up, he took a slow breath, and walked toward the sound.

Vessa stood near the table. Elara sat in one chair, completely still, hands folded tight in her lap. Mira sat beside her, gripping a wooden wine mug, smiling and nodding at Vessa’s words.

Vessa’s voice was calm and steady. "Nothing is permanent. He is tougher than he looks. So, don’t worry about him. The injuries might have looked bad earlier, but I have a feeling that won’t keep him down long. There is nothing to worry about."

Lys came inside the room. And Elara was the one who saw him first.

Her eyes widened. Seeing the complicated look on her face, relief mixed with something sharper, made Lys’s chest tighten.

Mira was on her feet before he could speak. She crossed the room in quick steps and wrapped her arms around him. Though she was careful not to squeeze his ribs, it still made him flinch a little. Her voice cracked against his shoulder.

"You absolute idiot. Why would you go that deep in the forest alone? We thought... we thought you were...again..."

She did not finish. She just held on and started sobbing quietly.

Elara stood up a moment later. Her eyes were wet at the corners. She walked over and hugged him from the other side, gentler than Mira but just as tight. Her hand rested on the back of his head for a second, like she needed to feel he was really there.

Vessa watched over Mira’s shoulder. On her lips were the closest thing to a smile Lys had ever seen on her face appeared for a brief moment. She said nothing. She simply let the three of them have their moment.

Thirty seconds passed like that. Maybe a little more. Mira kept talking through her tears, scolding him and calling him an idiot over and over again. Elara stayed quiet but kept one hand on his arm, trying to feel if his left hand was good.

Lys felt the relief in their bodies. He felt it in the way they held him. For a few heartbeats he let himself stay in that warmth, realizing how he had made them worry needlessly! He should cherish them more, the thought settled in his mind.

Then suddenly remembering something, his brain woke up properly.

’The herbs.’

He pulled back from Mira, from her mid-sentence. His voice came out rough.

"The bag? Did anyone check the bag?"

Mira blinked, still holding his arm. "Huh, what bag? When Miss Vessa found you..."

"The herb bag. From the quest. Was anything salvageable? Did the guild get it to that woman? You found it beside me, right, Miss Vessa?"

He looked straight at Vessa.

Mira turned to look at her too.

Vessa’s expression did not change, but her voice stayed even. "Oh, that. Yes, the bag was recovered. It was passed on to Pell at the gate. I have not had the full report from him yet. But I will let you know as soon as I hear anything. In the meantime, you need to focus on resting."

Lys wanted to push. He could see in her face that she knew more than she was saying. But he also knew that tone of hers. It was the one she used when she had decided the conversation would happen later and not now. Pushing would get him nothing out of her now.

He sat down at the table.

Vessa brought him a cup of tea without being asked. The smell was strong and bitter. So, he drank it slowly, feeling the warmth spread through his chest.

Vessa sat across from him. "Tell me what happened. Just the short version is fine."

Lys gave her the short version of the event in the forest. He spoke quietly, staring at the table most of the time. He told her about finding the herbs, about the goblin at the stream, about how it changed all of a sudden and grew bigger while he was running away from it. How it slammed him into the tree before he could react.

Though he cleverly left out the details of how he actually killed the goblin. As it was clearly related to his system ability, and the sword’s curse effects. He made it sound like he beat the thing with only the technique he had been training for under Vessa for the past couple of days. With his Aura of intimidation. She knew about it at least.

Though she was not aware of the fact it was a skill purchased from his skill shop. As far as he could read her, she was still in the assumption it was his natural talent or something.

Though he was explaining all of this to the women in front of him, his mind was already somewhere else.

It was at the guild, on the woman at the gate. Without even trying the thought just came in his mind that how her daughter would die if those herbs he collected never reached her in time.

When he finished talking, he looked at Vessa again.

"The woman from the quest... the one with the sick daughter. Did she get the herbs I collected for her? You know at least that, right? I’m sure I had collected all of the herbs, though some were crushed by that goblin, still, they should have been usable, right?"

Vessa held her own cup of tea in both hands. She looked at him across the table. Her expression stayed calm, but her eyes told him she was choosing her words carefully.

She did not answer right away.

Lys waited, the cup warm in his hands, his body still aching, and his mind suspecting something wrong from her way of choosing her words carefully, as if he knew she was trying to hide something from him.