Guilliman held his breath.
He had seen a sorceress's body before, but Triss at this moment was pale, haggard, and pitiful, yet possessed a strange, fragile beauty stemming from extreme exhaustion after her ordeal.
She didn't meet his eyes, her gaze lowered, fixed on the buttons of his shirt, her voice so low it was almost a murmur, yet it clearly reached his ears:
"Gratitude is inexpressible. Promises are pale and empty. Wealth and schemes... too cold, insufficient to measure the weight of a soul... my soul."
Her fingers hesitated for a moment, then rose with determination, her cool fingertips quickly unbuttoning the man's shirt, as if touching a boundary line.
Her voice dropped, almost to a whisper: "Tonight, you need someone to warm your bed."
"...You need a presence that can drive away... that endless chill."
She stood on tiptoe, not waiting for his answer. Her body, smelling of herbs and a faint hint of sulfur, collided into his embrace.
Her arms wrapped around his strong but now stiff-as-stone neck like vines.
A trembling yet burning kiss, a mix of gratitude and an almost greedy demand for life, pressed unyieldingly onto Guilliman's surprisingly parted lips... The next morning, when Guilliman woke up, the beautiful woman was no longer beside him.
Whether it was shyness or embarrassment after sobering up, the red-haired sorceress, after being subjected to a barrage last night, was able to drag her exhausted body and quietly escape. Her willpower was truly astonishing.
Guilliman was quite surprised by the sudden confession last night.
He had originally thought he would need more time together, or more ambiguity, before he could have a romantic encounter with Triss, whom he liked.
He hadn't expected Triss to be so proactive, offering herself to him, throwing herself into his arms, and pledging herself to him even before her injuries had fully healed.
But thinking about it, it made sense. In the original storyline, Triss, envious of Yennefer and Geralt's undying love, had indeed stolen her best friend Yennefer's man.
However, now, Margarita was also Triss's best friend, and one of her teachers at the academy.
If last night's events had been initiated by Guilliman, it would have been fine; after all, he was a professional at being a scoundrel and was used to it.
But last night, it was Triss who initiated it, and she even wore such an alluring purple nightgown, clearly premeditated.
Sure enough, they were 'plastic' best friends. No wonder Triss fled as soon as dawn broke; she probably felt some shame.
Guilliman found it somewhat amusing, but also felt it was nothing, even finding Triss a little cute.
After all, they were no longer ordinary humans and had long lifespans ahead of them; ordinary human moral codes should not limit them.
He lay leisurely on the bed, then opened his Deep Blue panel.
At this point, after these days of effort, his total Soul Power had exceeded 15,000 points, and it was time to upgrade his skills again.
To advance to the [Saint] rank, three skills needed to reach LV9.
Although he also wanted to upgrade all skills to LV9, this would consume too much Soul Power, and he did not yet have the conditions for it.
So, besides the Igni Sign, an offensive magic, which was already at LV7, he needed to choose two other skills as upgrade options to raise them to LV9.
Indeed, no matter how he thought about it, as the only defensive Sign, the Quen Sign was a necessary choice. Looking at the Quen Sign, currently at LV5, Guilliman no longer hesitated and decisively cleared his current Soul Power to upgrade this special defensive skill to the Transcendent Rank.
Quen Sign LV5 upgraded to LV6, consuming 5,000 Soul Power.
Quen Sign LV6 upgraded to LV7, consuming 10,000 Soul Power.
In just a few seconds, the more than 15,000 Soul Power he had painstakingly accumulated was completely consumed.
At the same time, Guilliman once again felt his brain and the mutated organs in his body rapidly strengthening and mutating. The intense dizziness and burning sensation in his internal organs made him clench his teeth and cry out in pain.
Fortunately, this feeling came and went quickly. Compared to the pain of strengthening the physical body, strengthening the brain and internal organs was a painful yet enjoyable experience.
After the strengthening was complete, Guilliman immediately opened the panel to check his skills.
[Quen Sign] Level: LV7, Mental Power increased by 2.0, Magic Power increased by 12.0. Special Abilities: Exploding Shield LV3, Holy Shield Barrier LV2, Absolute Defense LV1. Shield Strength Level: 100, Shield Duration Level: 30.
Holy Shield Barrier LV2: By channeling, the caster can release a magic defensive barrier of three to ten meters around their body. The strength and range of the barrier are determined by the caster's magic power output. Its strength is greater than the Quen Shield, reaching up to three times the defense, but the barrier cannot be moved.
Absolute Defense LV1: A Transcendent Rank skill of the Quen Sign, it allows the Quen Shield to perfectly defend against one attack whose power exceeds that of a normal shield but is less than ten times the shield's defense value.
After reading the system's description of the LV7 Quen Sign, Guilliman secretly clicked his tongue, marveling at the system's powerful output.
After upgrading from LV5 to LV7, the defensive strength of the Quen Shield directly increased by about five times, and the shield's duration also increased from half an hour to almost two hours. Each shield could withstand more than thirty physical blows, which was simply abnormal.
If compared to real objects, Guilliman's current Quen Shield strength was roughly equivalent to the hardness of a two to three-centimeter special steel plate. Not to mention pistol bullets, even rifle bullets could be defended against for dozens or hundreds of shots, let alone remote arrows from the era of ordinary cold weapons.
And whether it was the Holy Shield Barrier or the Absolute Defense skill, which could defend against ten times the strength of a normal shield, probably only Boss-level monsters in the Elden Ring world could break his shield with a single blow.
However, the Quen Shield was not invincible. After all, it was also a consumable magic shield. Even if it was shot with remote arrows, as long as the number of shots was sufficient and the shield did not receive new replenishment, the Quen Shield would still be broken.
But even so, the strength of the Quen Shield had been greatly enhanced. Except for Boss-level battles, ordinary attacks could hardly penetrate the Quen Shield and attack his body before his magic power was exhausted.
This undoubtedly greatly increased Guilliman's confidence, giving him the ability and confidence to challenge stronger enemies.
After dealing with some minor troubles in the Witcher world, he should be able to focus his energy on going to the Elden Ring world and conquering those Boss-level monsters that originally seemed quite troublesome.
As for the next Transcendent Rank skill, he planned to choose a swordsmanship to upgrade.
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