Chapter 339: Level 100

"I love you," Mark murmured as he laid her back down on the bed and settled over her. "And I’m going to make sure you never doubt that again."

Mary smiled up at him from below.

"You’d better, sweetheart... I’m not letting you get away with it just on some pretty words," she replied, spreading her legs. "I want at least ten kids."

Mark let out a small laugh and, instead of answering, leaned down and kissed her.

What started with that kiss didn’t end there.

After everything they’d just confessed to each other, Mark and Mary seemed unable to pull apart.

Both of them ended up giving themselves over to each other with a ravenous urgency, fucking nonstop for what easily amounted to two full days.

In Mary’s dream world, exhaustion didn’t exist, so they had no real reason to stop either. Every time it seemed like they were finally going to calm down, all it took was a glance, a touch, or a kiss to reignite the flame between them.

And the truth was, Mark needed something like this.

He’d spent four days trapped in an exhausting routine inside that void, killing summon after summon, burning through spell after spell, repeating the same process over and over until even leveling up had started to feel mechanical.

But the real exhaustion hadn’t come from that.

It had come from Mary.

From having seen her entire past life through her own eyes, from discovering how much she’d suffered, and above all, from learning that he had been part of that story without holding onto a single memory of it.

All of that had piled up in his head until it left him drained.

But after pump all his stress deep into Mary’s pussy, Mark finally felt back to normal.

His mind was clear, his body relaxed, and for the first time in days, he had enough energy to focus back on his real goal.

Leveling up.

Mark got to work and kept eliminating summons until, little by little, he managed to unlock the rest of his abilities, recover his spells, and regain access to all his equipment and inventory.

Everything had come back into his hands.

Well, almost everything.

His level 100.

That maximum level, the same one he’d reached in his previous life playing Eternal Conquest Online, was still out of his reach.

And with it, everything that came along with it.

His final class abilities, including instant death against low-level enemies, along with his super-level spells, designed for PvP fights between veteran players.

Along with all the endgame content the developers had added over the years to Eternal Conquest Online for those who completed the main skill tree.

Mark opened his interface and reviewed his profile, frowning slightly.

[PROFILE]

[User: DarkLord69]

[Class: Necromancer]

[Race: Reincarnated (human)]

[Level: 99]

The window flickered, and beneath his name a second section unfolded, far more detailed than the last time he’d checked it.

[Soul Bond Detected.]

[Analyzing subordinates linked to the wielder’s soul...]

Mark raised an eyebrow. That was new.

Little by little, one after another, his subordinates’ names began appearing on the screen, each one accompanied by its own profile.

[Current Subordinates:]

[Ely]

[Race: Human (Undead)]

[Class: Holy Knight]

[Adjusted Level: 87]

[Yuki]

[Race: Human (Undead)]

[Class: Assassin]

[Adjusted Level: 72]

[Aria]

[Race: Human (Undead)]

[Class: Support Mage]

[Adjusted Level: 49]

[Rose]

[Race: Vampire]

[Class: Mage]

[Adjusted Level: 89]

[Alice]

[Race: Human (Undead)]

[Class: Cleric]

[Adjusted Level: 83]

[Vorax]

[Race: Slime]

[Class: Familiar]

[Adjusted Level: 64]

[Bayle]

[Race: Dragon (Undead)]

[Class: Legendary Beast]

[Adjusted Level: 95]

"...Adjusted level?" Mark murmured, confused.

But before he could say anything more, the interface itself cleared it up for him.

[Note 1: Most of the user’s subordinates were brought back to life through necromancy, causing their souls to become directly bound to the user’s own.]

[Note 2: Thanks to this bond, each subordinate receives a portion of the user’s power. As a result, their true strength may far exceed what their natural level would suggest.]

[Note 3: The "adjusted level" shows each subordinate’s equivalent level within the Eternal Conquest Online system. It also accounts for the power boost gained through the soul bond, making it a more accurate representation of their current strength.]

Mark went over the explanation once more and finally understood the true significance of that bond.

It wasn’t simply a matter of translating his subordinates’ levels into the system he was familiar with.

By reviving them through necromancy, their souls had become connected to his, and part of his power flowed to them constantly.

’So leveling up has a chain effect,’ Mark thought, pleasantly surprised. ’It strengthens me, and at the same time, it improves everyone bonded to me.’

Mark frowned.

’No wonder Mary’s subordinates were always so overwhelmingly stronger than us...’

With the explanation now clear, Mark looked back over the level list.

Bayle still sat at the top with level 95, something that didn’t surprise him too much.

Rose, Ely, and Alice weren’t far behind either, all above level 80, while Yuki sat a bit lower than the rest.

That also made sense.

Yuki was an excellent fighter, but as an assassin, her specialty wasn’t going toe-to-toe against powerful enemies head-on, but exploiting openings, hitting weak points, and ending fights quickly.

Further down was Aria, though her position didn’t really mean much either.

Her true value had never been in direct combat, but in support, where a simple number could hardly capture everything she brought to the group.

Vorax, for his part, was a slightly different case.

Mark hadn’t revived him through necromancy, but had subdued and turned him into a familiar. Even so, that process had also bound his soul to Mark’s, so he received the same kind of boost as all the others.

"What’s wrong, sweetheart?"

Mary’s cheerful voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

When Mark turned toward the bed, he found her lying on her stomach, completely naked, chin resting in her hands, legs swaying gently behind her.

She watched him with bright eyes and a smile she couldn’t hide, like a girl too in love to bother pretending indifference.

"Why the serious face?" she asked, tilting her head. "You just unlocked almost your entire potential, shouldn’t you be jumping for joy instead of frowning like someone stole your wallet?"

"It’s nothing bad," Mark answered, a faint smile forming. "I really am happy about it."

He looked back at the floating screen.

"It’s just... there’s something I still don’t fully understand."

"And what’s that?"

"This," Mark said, pointing at his level. "I got stuck at 99... it’s like there’s an invisible wall right there, on that last step, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t get past it."

He frowned again.

"It doesn’t make sense. If I’ve been able to climb all the way up here, why is it exactly that last level that’s resisting me?"

Mary listened to his confusion and let out a little laugh, as if the answer were much simpler than Mark imagined.

"Ah, so that’s it," she said, sitting up on the bed and crossing her legs, still watching him with that relaxed expression. "Level one hundred is different, sweetheart. It has a special rule."

"What rule?"

Mary’s smile turned a little sharper.

"You can only reach it by killing other reincarnated ones."