After several rounds of experimentation with the future Mrs. Yuichi—a title Lisa never formally agreed to—Kei finally began to narrow down the elusive mechanics behind the Charisma stat.

  Despite what people might assume, it had absolutely nothing to do with appearance or how attractive others found you. At least, not in the way most expected.

  Its real value… was with aether.

  Kei had long wondered why manipulating ambient aether came so naturally to him—why he could wrest control of it from others, override skills, and shape it to his will with no system aid. Now, he had a theory: high Charisma was the key.

  That said, Lisa—whose Charisma was even higher than his—wasn’t able to achieve the same feats. Her aether control was impressive, sure. Like him, she didn’t rely on system-provided skills to guide it. She could tap into the environment, feel the flow of it around her, and even weaponize it without much effort.

  But even so, there was a gap.

  Her Force Progression lagged far behind Kei’s, and it showed. The things she could do with raw aether, he could do better. Faster. Stronger.

  It wasn’t just about Charisma, it seemed. It was about how Charisma interacted with your force progression—how attuned you were to the energy in your body and the world.

  Charisma may have opened the door… but Force Progression decided how far you could walk through it.

  Even then, Kei was left slack-jawed.

  “A monster…” he muttered, watching her fluid movements and the way she adapted on the fly.

  It hadn’t even been a full day of training—and yet Lisa had matched weeks of his progress like it was a casual stroll.

  “If you keep this up, people are going to think I married you because I’m a masochist,” Kei groaned, staring into the distance as if re-evaluating every decision that led him here.

  At this rate, one snap of her fingers might be all it took to rattle his soul straight out of his body if he ever pissed her off.

  His future? Looking grim.

  His judgment? Questionable.

  His wife? Terrifying.

  And somehow… that only made her cooler.

  “You know, this isn’t so bad. I don’t know why I was so scared before,” Lisa said, flexing her fingers and examining her hands. “My Intelligence even ticked up a little… Strength and Endurance too. So—what do you think I should use my stat points on?”

  “Oi! No stat points!” Kei immediately barked.

  “Geez, bossy much?” Lisa rolled her eyes. “You better know a good marriage therapist or we’re not gonna last long.”

  She idly tossed a small orb of compressed sound between her hands, the vibrations subtly humming with potential. Curious, she flicked it toward an encroaching creature. The sphere struck dead center—and the beast spasmed violently before collapsing. A system notification chimed in her mind. The thing was dead.

  “So… what should I do with the exp?” she asked casually, turning around—only to find Kei completely still, hands clasped together in prayer.

  “…I’m sorry for what she did,” he said solemnly, eyes locked on the fallen boar. “She’s kind of reckless sometimes.”

  Lisa raised an eyebrow, unsure whether to be offended or concerned.

  Kei finally looked up, his expression distant. “Do you think it’s sad? To live a life with no purpose by the time you die? Like… what if the world was actually better off without you in it? Worse—what if it would’ve been better if you were never born at all?”

  He let the silence linger, eyes softening as they rested on the boar’s still form.

  “…Don’t worry. Your life won’t be wasted. You’ll be sustenance—and that means your existence had meaning. I’ll make sure of that,” Kei said, voice low but steady.

  Lisa blinked.

  “…You’re a weird little husband, you know that?”

  Kei just gave a small smile. “Yeah. But I’m your weird little husband.”

  Using aether control to spark a flame, Kei calmly tended to the fire as the smell of roasting boar filled the air. Lisa sat nearby, quietly watching him move—precise, practiced. It was calming, in a strange way.

  She broke the silence.

  “Is that something you’re afraid of? Dying without ever having had a purpose?”

  Kei didn’t flinch at the question. He stared into the fire, absentmindedly rotating the boar on the spit.

  “I spent over 3,650 days of my life being told exactly that,” he said, voice low. “After a while… I wished they’d just kill me and get it over with.”

  Lisa blinked but didn’t interrupt.

  “I was alone,” he continued. “Completely. The only voices I ever heard were ones wishing I’d never been born. After a while… I started to believe them.” He paused, flipping the boar again, the flames licking just beneath the surface. “I guess some people would say I went a little far to make sure I was never alone again.”

  He gave a bitter chuckle.

  “But there was this guy. A janitor. Old man. He came around sometimes—talked to me. Said I looked too bored for a kid.” Kei’s mouth tugged into a faint smile. “One day he smuggled in a laptop. Showed me games. Said if I was going to be locked in a place like that, I might as well enjoy a fake world instead of the real one.”

  Lisa listened, her arms hugging her knees.

  “He introduced me to programming,” Kei said, voice quiet but steady. “Even taught me math, science, literature—everything he could think of. Said a kid should at least have an education, even if the world decided he weren’t worth it.”

  He gave a small laugh, though his eyes didn’t leave the fire.

  “Eventually he started scolding me for learning too fast. Told me I was cheating. Not in a bad way, more like… he couldn’t wrap his head around how I could study multiple topics at once and keep it all straight. Said it wasn’t fair. That most people struggled through school one subject at a time, but I just... jumped between them and retained it all. He said I was breaking the rules of learning or something—‘technical violations of the academic code,’ he joked.”

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  Kei chuckled again, softer this time.

  And then he went still.

  The laughter lingered on his lips, but his eyes were glazed over, locked on the dancing flames. A long pause followed—too long—and only then did he realize his cheeks were wet. He blinked, touched his face like he didn’t believe it, then gave a sheepish smile.

  “…Guess I’m crying. Huh.”

  He wiped at his eyes half-heartedly.

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to trauma dump in the middle of making dinner.”

  “At least ten years of your life... alone. That must’ve meant—”

  “They died,” Kei cut in quietly. “I never got to see my parents. From what I’ve been told, I was taken the moment I was born. I wasn’t breastfed, never held by my mom—not that I know of, anyway.”

  He stared into the fire, its warmth contrasting the cold weight in his chest.

  “There were voices… the ones that reminded me I wasn’t wanted. But sometimes,” he paused, “I’d hear another voice. It was soft, almost too quiet to make out. A woman. She’d sing to me from outside. I think… I think it was my mother.”

  Kei’s grip tightened around the stick he was using to turn the boar meat.

  “The old man, the janitor, he used to joke about her. Said she was tenacious. That somehow, she found out where I was being kept. That she sang outside every day, even if no one would let her in. She only had the clothes on her back—a dress covered in cherry blossom patterns. Said the guards felt so bad, they stopped trying to chase her off. Figured she couldn’t do anything anyway.”

  He went quiet.

  “Then one day… her voice stopped.” His lips thinned, his voice brittle. “But a single cherry tree leaf made its way through the vent in my room, like it had come to say goodbye.”

  Kei exhaled through his nose.

  “And just like that, I knew. She wasn’t in this world anymore.”

  Taking the food handed to her, Lisa bit into it, savoring the flavor.

  “Lisa Sakura Yuichi,” she repeated, testing the name aloud with a soft smile. “Doesn’t sound so bad, huh? Kinda has a ring to it. And funnily enough… my aether’s pinkish, like cherry blossoms.” She laughed quietly, then looked toward the fire. “Your mom sounded like a really good woman. I think I would’ve liked my mother-in-law. She’d definitely be bragging about her son’s cooking—this is honestly one of the best meals I’ve ever had.”

  Kei chuckled, a bit of warmth returning to his voice. “Your inventory keeps food preserved really well, no spoilage or flavor loss. So stock up, take as much as you want. And if you need more…” he leaned back, flashing a grin, “your future husband happens to be a pretty decent chef. I’ll cook you something even better next time.”

  Lisa gave him a playful side-eye. “See? That’s husband material right there.”

  “We should probably head back,” Lisa said, storing the rest of the boar in her inventory. “I’ve been gone for a few hours, and if I’m not back soon, that stall lady might raze my entire shop down.”

  “Sounds good,” Kei nodded. “Want to try out a few movement techniques on the way back? Could help us get there faster—and double as more training.”

  Lisa grinned. “I’m game.”

  The two broke into a steady run, but it wasn’t just about speed anymore. During their earlier training, Kei had picked up on something—Lisa’s sound-based aether had a unique reflective property, one that interacted with the environment in interesting ways.

  As they moved, they experimented. Lisa began refining the way her aether bounced off nearby surfaces—trees, rocks, the ground itself—timing each pulse to create bursts of propulsion. With Kei’s guidance and her natural affinity for control, it wasn’t long before she was practically gliding between steps, short bursts of compressed sound launching her forward like shockwaves underfoot.

  What started as a run turned into a sprint, then a blur of movement that cracked through the air like muffled thunder.

  By the time the settlement came into view, Lisa’s eyes were lit with excitement.

  “I think I’m onto something,” she said, breathless but exhilarated.

  Kei smiled. “Told you your aether had potential. That might just be your first real movement skill.”

  “Okay, I’ve got some weapons to craft for their big Apex Boss adventure. I should probably get started.”

  “You’re heading out of the settlement again?” Lisa asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “You noticed, huh?”

  “I notice everything. I listen to everyone—and their… activities—and you’re always coming and going. Never settling.”

  “Don’t worry,” Kei grinned. “I’ll show you our makeshift home next time. It’s a bit rough, and there’s a couple of freeloaders hanging around, but I think you’ll like them.”

  “Hehehe, I better,” Lisa teased.

  “So, what kind of armor and weapon would you like? You’re really good with that carving tool—I’d like to try and match that with something custom.”

  “I’ll trust you with it,” she said with a playful wink. “And I’ll get to work on that weapon design of yours.”

  Back in her shop, Lisa hunched over the workbench, completely focused as she began sketching out the schematics for Kei’s weapon design. To her own surprise, she found herself giving it her all—more than she ever had on any project. As she worked, a light, melodic hum escaped her lips, filling the shop with a soft tune.

  That hum greeted Jenny as she shuffled in, messy-haired and mid-yawn.

  “Why are you so happy?” Jenny mumbled, stretching.

  “Just in a good mood, I guess,” Lisa replied cheerfully, glancing up. “Better question—are you just now waking up?”

  “Yeh,” Jenny yawned. “Why?”

  “I’ve been gone for hours, and you didn’t even notice?” Lisa teased. “It’s a good thing I found a husband to take care of me. I’d probably starve to death in your care.” She slid over a wrapped portion of food Kei had cooked.

  “You got married and I wasn’t even the maid of honor? Wasn’t even invited?” Jenny said through a bite, eyebrows rising as the flavor hit. “Some friend you are. Who’s this so-called husband anyway?”

  “Not telling,” Lisa said with a smirk. “That’ll teach you to stop being so lazy.”

  “Blah, blah, blah… wait—what is this?” Jenny’s eyes locked onto the schematics spread across the table. Her brows furrowed, head tilting slightly. “This looks familiar…”

  “Also,” Lisa said casually, summoning a compact ball of sound into her hand, “I think I’ll join that Apex raid after all.”

  She tossed the sound orb into the air—it bounced from wall to wall, growing louder and more ethereal with each impact.

  Catching it mid-flight, Jenny absorbed the kinetic energy effortlessly, a glint of curiosity lighting up her face. “What changed your mind?”

  “I need to get stronger,” Lisa said, her voice softer, but full of intent. “There’s something I just realized I need to protect.” Her smile widened slightly. “Plus, this whole aether thing? It’s actually pretty fun.”

  As if to prove her point, she clenched her fist—sound pulsed out in a controlled echo, rebounding with increasing strength, the hum turning crystalline.

  Jenny’s eyes flickered with energy. “Well… I was told I’d get a new scythe if I joined. So there’s that.” She grinned, her usual sleepy expression sharpened into excitement. “Guess we’ll go together. It'll be fun.”

  Back at his clearing, Kei dashed straight to his forge, his focus razor-sharp. The others were already there, waiting for him.

  “Draggbane and Kaito offered these ores as payment,” Talia said, gesturing to a collection of vibrant, exotic materials she laid out in front of the forge. “We figured you’d have fun experimenting with them.”

  The moment Kei laid eyes on the ores, he froze. His pupils dilated, and he slowly knelt to examine them. One by one, he flipped each with the tip of his finger, reading their descriptions.

  “These two… they’ll work perfectly,” he muttered, stars practically shining in his eyes.

  Without another word, he tossed the selected ores into the forge. The heat roared to life, flames swirling with aether-rich air. Sparks flew as he began crafting a mold, and the rhythmic clang of hammer on metal rang out soon after. The others watched for a few moments before quietly excusing themselves—judging from the excitement radiating off him, this was going to take all night.

  And it did.

  By the time morning arrived, the clearing had been bathed in a surreal glow. Aether flowed like streams of color across the air, swirling toward Kei’s forge as if drawn by some unseen magnet. The others woke to the otherworldly sight, the atmosphere pulsing with unnatural energy like an aurora borealis dancing just overhead.

  Then the sound stopped.

  A heavy sssss echoed as Kei quenched the creation. Steam hissed out around him, and for a moment, all was quiet.

  The others, finally unable to contain their curiosity, stepped forward.

  Kei turned to face them, holding a weapon in his hands.

  “That’s… definitely unique,” Kai said slowly, unsure if he should be impressed or concerned.

  “Honestly… I have no idea what you plan on using that for,” Reese added.

  THANG.

  Without warning, Kei tested the weapon by casually swinging it into the side of Owen’s head. The poor guy collapsed with a thud.

  Talia winced. “Well… effective. No doubt about that.”

  Kei beamed, admiring the weapon like a proud parent. “This is gonna be fun.”