Chapter 48. Dual Cultivation Bluff

Chapter 48: 48. Dual Cultivation Bluff

The heavy silence after the broadcast pressed against the walls of the house.

Kael stood in the center of his room, fingers slightly curled as he felt the flow of mana moving cleanly through his channels.

The difference was clear.

What had once felt like a narrow clogged stream now ran with steady pressure.

He was still only D- rank, still far weaker than Seraphine, but the foundation under his feet no longer felt fragile.

Footsteps stopped outside his door. A sharp knock followed.

"It’s me."

Seraphine’s voice carried its usual edge, but there was a tighter note underneath it.

Kael walked over and opened the door.

Seraphine stood in the hallway still wearing the same white t-shirt and tight yoga pants.

Her crimson eyes moved over him once, then paused.

Something in her expression shifted. She had seen him only minutes earlier, yet the man in front of her felt slightly different.

The residual mana still lingering at his fingertips was faint, but it was there, and the quiet confidence in his posture was new.

"Why is there mana residue on your fingers?" she asked thinking how he could have that much mana to remain the residue of it after using.

"What did you do?"

Kael stepped back to let her in before answering.

"I ranked up," he said evenly. "I’m D- rank now."

Seraphine’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. The surprise was clear before she forced it down.

"How? You were still stuck at E-rank a few hours ago."

Before Kael could answer, lighter footsteps approached.

Eira appeared in the doorway, hair slightly messy, eyes still half-lidded from sleep. The emergency siren had clearly pulled her out of bed.

"Dad... the noise..."

Kael gestured for her to come inside. She stepped in quietly and stayed close to his side.

"The broadcast said a demon army is coming," Kael said, looking between both of them.

"Five days. I was thinking about taking you two to the central district of the empire until things settle."

Seraphine’s expression hardened at once.

"I’m not a coward like you. You two can flee like rats if you want. I’m staying to fight the demons."

Her voice was sharp, but a quieter thought moved behind her eyes.

’I can’t look out for you useless guys when I’m fighting. Just go to the central district. We still have some days left.’

Kael met her gaze without looking away.

"I’m not leaving you behind. I’ll stay and fight too."

Seraphine stared at him for a moment, clearly surprised by the firmness in his tone.

Then the familiar mockery returned.

"Even if you became a D-ranker, you’re still a newbie D-ranker. Don’t pretend you can keep up. Take Eira and go. You’ll only get in the way."

Kael shook his head once.

"It’s fine. I have a way to get stronger within these five days. But it requires your active participation."

He turned to Eira and gently patted her hair.

"Go back to sleep. Don’t worry about this right now. I need to talk with Sera alone."

Eira looked between them, then gave a small nod.

She left the room quietly, closing the door behind her.

Kael and Seraphine were left alone in the quiet bedroom. The residual mana still faintly visible at his fingertips made the air feel slightly heavier.

Seraphine’s eyes narrowed. Her tone dropped, becoming colder.

"How exactly is my participation supposed to make you stronger? Are you trying to use me with some excuse?"

The memory of her own feet wrapped around his cock under the quilt earlier that night flashed behind her eyes.

The flush that threatened to rise was forced down by the darker edge in her voice.

Kael did not look away, but for the first time that night his words came out a little less smooth.

"No. I’m not tricking you, Sera. I love you. You’re my daughter."

’More like step-daughter.’

He paused, clearly choosing the next sentences carefully. Internally he was already calculating how she might explode.

’I shouldn’t tell anyone about the system right now. Dual cultivation is the only story that sounds half-reasonable or pure nonsense in this world. She’ll either slap me or try to kill me. Either way I need to say it.’

"I’m going to tell you the real reason I ranked up," he continued, voice still calm but carrying a slight awkward edge.

"I found a dual cultivation manual during the first dungeon delve with the Crimson Path team. I... practiced it with Tina and Brianna. Every time we did, the hard knotted channels in my body loosened a little more."

He stopped for a second, giving her time to absorb what he had said.

Seraphine’s face darkened without her fully realizing it.

The image of Kael with the dark elf and the green-skinned orc rose unbidden. A sharp, ugly feeling twisted in her chest.

’Those two bitches. Why is he doing that with them? Does he think their bodies are better than mine?

...What the hell am I even thinking? I don’t care who he’s sleeping with. Mother is the one who married him. Of course he would look for someone else if Mother is always away. It’s normal. It’s not my business.’

She forced the jealousy down and locked her expression into cold disdain.

Kael continued, still watching her carefully.

"But earlier tonight, the things we did loosened those channels more than anything I did with Brianna or Tina. That’s how I reached D- rank. Through your help, even if you didn’t know it at the time."

’This bullshit might not work on her or anyone at all,’ Kael thought.

’But there’s no harm in trying. It’s not like she’d kill me for that.’

He kept his voice steady.

"If we do more, who knows? I might climb from D- to full D rank within these five days."

The last sentence hung in the air.

Seraphine moved.

Kael did not even see the draw.

One moment she was standing several steps away. The next the cold edge of her dagger was pressed against the side of his neck.

A thin trickle of blood slid down his skin and soaked into the collar of his shirt.

The difference in speed and experience was absolute. Even with his newly opened channels he had been completely unable to track the motion.

Seraphine’s crimson eyes were cold and sharp.

The blade did not tremble.

Kael did not flinch. His voice stayed level even with the steel against his throat.

"I only told you it’s one of the ways I can get stronger. You don’t have to cooperate. I’ll go back to Brianna and Tina."

The words landed harder than he expected.

Seraphine’s grip on the dagger tightened for a fraction of a second.

Then, to Kael’s genuine surprise, she spoke.

"I’ll help you."

The dagger stayed against his neck, but the killing intent behind it had shifted into something else.

Her internal justification came fast and messy.

’If I leave him alone he’ll just run back to those two bitches. He might even leave with them when the army gets closer. Mother would be heartbroken if she came back and found him gone. Someone has to keep an eye on him. It might as well be me.’

Kael looked at her, blood still slowly trailing down his neck, and for the first time that night he was the one who needed a moment to process what he had just heard.

He stared at her in clear disbelief.

"Are you sure?"

The question came out almost flat.

He was genuinely dumbfounded that the most absurd, cliché dual-cultivation excuse had actually worked on her.

A soft translucent window flickered into existence only in his vision.

[It’s a world fitted to host’s choice after all. But be careful or the host might lose that little brother of his if host loses control during that dual-cultivation process.]ℴℴ𝘮

Kael’s eye twitched.

’Shut up, system. I’m doing the most work here.’

Seraphine finally pulled the dagger away from his neck.

She wiped the thin line of blood on the side of her pants with a sharp motion and then looked at him directly, chin slightly raised.

"So what should we do?"

Kael studied her face for a second longer. The flush at the base of her neck, the way she refused to look away, the forced toughness in her posture.

’Aren’t you too eager, Sera? Are you sure you hate me and my uselessness?’

He kept the thought to himself and simply met her gaze.

Outside the window the night remained quiet, but five days already felt far too short.

Kael cleared his throat once, still feeling the thin line of blood drying on his neck.

"Uh... I think if you used your hand instead of your feet it might open a few more channels for the mana to flow...uh..more freely."

Seraphine looked at him with a completely deadpan expression, crimson eyes flat and unreadable.

Kael saw the look and immediately raised both hands a little.

"Uh, it’s okay, Sera. You don’t have to do it if you hate it."

Seraphine’s jaw tightened for a second.

Then she answered in the same sharp, reluctant tone she always used when she was about to give in.

"I’ll do it."