CHAPTER 172: CLASSES AND LEVELS

Aria let out an unimpressed scoff at Rae’s comment, one elegantly arched brow rising like a queen unimpressed with the court jester before her. Then, she shifted her position with one long, sensual leg crossing slowly over the other with the kind of poised grace that only added to her regal menace.

Her voice softened, but the edge remained. "On a more important note, there are only four bedrooms in this house. From what I gather, you two plan on staying here as part of our protection detail, so we’ll need to make some adjustments."

Rae blinked, then waved a hand as if brushing off a dust mote. "Nah. Don’t worry about us. I’ll just crash on the couch. Honestly, I sleep wherever I drop. As for my dear sis..."

She tilted her head toward Riven, who was already half out of the conversation, busy quietly fiddling with a small mechanical component in her palm, eyes far away in blueprint land.

"... she’s probably already mentally converting your basement into a high-tech lab-slash-bunker of her own. She’ll never sleep if she’s got projects to tinker with, so no need to waste a room on little old us."

But Aria shook her head with her expression softening, just a little.

"No. I wouldn’t feel right asking you both to risk your lives for us while not even offering a proper room in exchange. You deserve at least that much." Her voice dropped into a more possessive, but warm register. "I don’t need one. I’ll sleep in Kaiden’s anyway. So... you can take mine."

"Same," Nyx added with a breezy wink, already relaxing against Kaiden’s back again. "I was never intending to live in my room anyway. I’ll be staying in the harem suite, naturally."

Luna nodded calmly, though her arm snaked tighter around Kaiden’s waist. "You can have mine too... Originally, I wanted to have my gamer room, but I’m not so sure anymore... The stakes might be a bit too high for me to sit back and leisurely play video games anyway."

"We’ll see what to do about that, don’t you worry, Luna," Kaiden replied, stroking her lush purple hair before he looked around at the sudden and very generous surrender of private space.

Kaiden chuckled, clearly amused, as he stretched an arm across the back of either girl on his legs.

"Well," he said, glancing around at the group, "now we’ve got too many rooms freed up. Let’s not overthink it. Just go with the flow, I say. If anyone needs more personal space, just speak up. We’ll adjust accordingly."

He gave a lopsided grin. "We’re not posh old losers in fancy suits with trust funds and platinum pillows. This isn’t some billionaires’ retreat with rooms scented by imported moonlotus and beds that adjust to your blood pressure."

Luna stifled a small giggle under his arm. She continued, looking at him with eyes full of adoration. "That’s right... We don’t need gold-plated jacuzzis or hand-fed grapes from a temple orchard. We’re not ancient aristocrats with fragile bones that need climate-controlled oxygen rooms. We’re fighters. Survivors. A little chaos, a little closeness, and a few missing doors won’t kill us."

Rae let out a loud bark of laughter. "Damn right. And here I thought I was the only one who thought luxury was a scam for the bored and wrinkled."

Even Riven’s lips twitched, like she was suppressing a smile.

One by one, small smiles passed around the room as the vibe settled into something... surprisingly warm. For all the madness and flirtation, there was a calm undercurrent of mutual respect.

Kaiden leaned back, enjoying the hum of comfortable silence that filled the air for a moment. Then he tilted his head, eyes flicking to the new duo.

"I’ve got a question of my own, if I may."

Rae glanced up with a raised brow. "Shoot."

"What are your classes?" Kaiden asked, his tone casual, yet laced with keen interest. "And your levels?" He thought he’d get this information in before he looked at his own status window to finally assess his gains from the Bastet video.

The entire room went quiet.

Riven finally paused her tinkering, looking up at him with unreadable eyes.

Rae’s smile widened with a mischievous glint flashing in her bright eyes as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees.

"Oooh~" she purred, voice playful yet laced with anticipation. "Now that’s a spicy question..."

She chuckled low in her throat, the sound more like a devil’s drumroll than a laugh. "You know, I might enjoy lounging on a comfy couch in such fun company, but I still much prefer getting some outdoors action."

She kicked one up, flexing her toned leg with zero shame.

"So instead of boring you with even more mundane chatting of words and numbers..." she added with a smirk, "how about a showcase instead-"

"Level 72, A-Tier Awakened."

The voice cut through the room like a scalpel, sharp, smooth, and utterly unbothered.

Rae’s smirk froze instantly.

"...Hey."

All heads turned.

Riven hadn’t even looked up.

Seated cross-legged on her comfy sofa, the interestingly dressed woman calmly swiped across her tablet from time to time, making the soft flick of her finger against the glass sound across the room. Her voice remained flat, composed, and clinically precise, like she was reading from a grocery list instead of casually dropping their critical information.

"Rae and I share a unique class dynamic born from our twin-based resonance. Our bloodline synchronization generates mutual energy harmonics that unlock synergistic evolution between our respective classes."

She paused, tapped a schematic, then continued.

"I have the Constructrix class."

Rae gave an exaggerated sigh and slumped sideways, flopping onto Riven’s form defeatedly. "Sis..."

"Primary focus: Summoning autonomous or semi-autonomous constructs, battlefield fortification, enhancing material integrity, defensive utility, and regulating power flow input from Rae’s chaos output."

Another swipe of Riven’s fingers came.

"Rae has the Rendrix class."

Now she looked up. Just barely enough to check if they were following along with her detailing.

"Primary focus: Material deconstruction, energy redirection, environmental destabilization, and systemic weakening. She breaks it. I build it. She disassembles mass. I reroute output. Her chaos charges my circuits."

Rae groaned into a pillow. "You’re ruining my fun, Riven."

Riven didn’t blink at being accused. "You were behaving very shamelessly. Just because you’re already bored doesn’t mean you should nag others to entertain you. Your TV will get here soon. Bear with it until then."

"Ugh!" Rae flailed in defeat.

"I like her a lot," Luna whispered, eyes on Riven, impressed.

"Same! Both of them are badasses, just in different ways," Nyx whispered back.

Aria, meanwhile, observed the twins with new curiosity, tilting her head slightly. "So your synergy isn’t just metaphorical?"

"No," Riven replied flatly, now adjusting the 3D model of what looked like a modular turret with glowing coils. "Her existence literally powers my best work. Rae’s energy output is erratic but massive. I refine it into stabilized constructs. Together, we function as an entropy loop."

"...We make beautiful disasters together," Rae chirped while giving Riven a big sisterly hug.

Kaiden chuckled, shaking his head. "So you’re chaos and control."

With his little information gathering completed, it was time to check his gains and move forward, capitalizing on their current immense fame! He was ready to rock the world a second time!