Chapter 969 - Propose? Or Not!
Alex found it weird to hear those words, but Eve made a comment. "Master, I do think it"s something big, you know."
"What do you mean?"
"Even though you are limiting your power to 1-Star Martial Saint…Even if you don"t have your Divine Techniques, you still have the same ability as her, capable of rivaling people three stars above you. And there is this experience, Divine Techniques, and so on, increasing that limit even further.
"That"s why you are too strong even for her. She may have 4-Star Martial Saint strength, but it"s not enough to defeat those that have acc.u.mulated in you." Eve let out a long sigh. "That"s why she is so happy just to push you back."
"But…" The words stuck on his throat, realizing that his words should be directed to Aria instead of Eve. In that case, he chose to say it out loud, so both could hear him. "But you need to know that this was only a spar. If it were a real fight, your head would have rolled on the ground."
"Of course, I know. If this were a real battle, I wouldn"t fight you anymore. I would seriously run away from you." She shook her head. "Still, I take pride in pus.h.i.+ng you back."
Alex sighed. Since fighting while trying not to kill was harder than fighting for survival, he wanted to rebuke her again, but he chose not to do that because both of them were trying to do that.
"Anyway, I win." Alex sheathed his sword and walked to Aria, stretching his hand.
She smiled and took his hand, standing back up. "By the way, is there any reward for accomplis.h.i.+ng something like that?"
Alex thought for a moment and smiled. "Close your eyes first. Besides, you don"t need to use your Sword Eye any more, don"t you?"
Listening to Alex, she closed her eyes and waited with great interest. Before Alex took out anything, she remembered that her mother told her a story of her father proposing to her. She asked her to close her eyes, and bam, he did it.
Looking closely at that scene, she smirked and teased him again. "Is this a proposal or something? You don"t happen to have a ring with you, no?"
Alex smiled and raised her left hand gently before stroking her middle finger.
Her heart beat rapidly when he did this as she thought, "Eh, seriously? I meant it as a joke, but I have never thought he is going for real. Even though it"s on my middle finger instead of my ring finger, it"s still…"
Alex didn"t pay attention to her and put the ring on her finger.
"What should I do? He…He is going to…Wait, he will be my boss in the future, right? Does he actually want me…" Her face flushed and thought of it seriously. "Well, he is better than all men that only want my family influence or my body, so I guess it"s fine."
She prepared herself to say "I do" or "Yes" when he later said anything.
However, Alex didn"t say anything for the time being, gently raised her other hand, specifically her middle finger, and put on another finger.
"This…What is the meaning of this? I don"t know anything about two rings." She started panicking.
Finally, Alex broke his silence and asked. "Are you happy now?"
"I do!"
"Good. You can open your eyes for one or two minutes." Alex smiled.
When she opened her eyes and saw the beautiful rings, she was mesmerized before looking at him awkwardly. "Nyx…"
Alex smiled at her as if he wanted to say something nice, albeit everything turned upside down when Alex said, "Activate."
"What—" Before she managed to say anything, the rings suddenly released overbearing pressure. It was like having ten 10-Star Martial Saint releasing their pressure on her, trying to suppress her power.
She fell on her knees and looked up to see Alex"s face that still had the same smile.
To her surprise, Alex suddenly showed her his fingers. On the left hand, he had a ring on his ring finger that seemed to be the proof of marriage. However, he had one more ring on the middle finger on his right hand. "This is a Pressure Ring that my wife made. I never mentioned this to anyone since my wife could only make that recently. The ring will give you a certain amount of pressure for a period of time…This will be perfect for training your body.
"You said you are happy with the present, right? Seeing you are still able to tease me in the process, you must have enough energy to do one more training menu, right? I am just helping you, so no need to thank me for this. Now, do your practice." Alex smirked like a devil.
Aria"s body shook as her face turned pale.
"You devil b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Give me my sweet feelings back." Despite saying that, she still managed to get back up and started running, completely enduring the pressure. "You are not a human, you are a devil! I swear I won"t have that feeling again!"
Meanwhile, Alex only muttered in a low voice. "You are confusing your own feelings. Besides, I am searching for power, not women from this world…*Sigh*."
The day pa.s.sed just like that as Aria collapsed again.
…
The next day, Alex and Aria met again, but Aria made a sour face in front of him.
"How are your rest?"
"Not great. Thanks to a certain someone." She pouted.
"So, you have been harboring that kind of thought to the point you are hoping to have one moment like that?" Alex smirked, teasing her. "Such a naughty girl."
"No!" She stomped the ground and looked away. She truly meant it. What she had for Alex was not love, it was simply interest, admiration, and other things. She knew that as well, so no word could escape her mouth.
"Anyway, are you ready for another session of training?"
She paused for a few minutes before letting out a long sigh. "Can I get an explanation about the ring first?"
"Oh, alright. My wife is an Array Master. She recently mastered a certain array that she found in an accident called Pressure Array. If a normal person could strengthen his body with gravity, it would be more effective for cultivators. After all, their body was far stronger than that of a normal person.
"I have been wearing this ring myself since a few months ago, so it"s only recently. Since I am training you, my wife makes two more that can contain the pressure from five 5-Star Martial Saints. So, two rings give you ten 5-Star Martial Saint. Meanwhile, the one I have contains two Rank 7 G.o.ds.
"You must have noticed that I started becoming easier to get tired, right?" Alex asked.
"Yes. I indeed felt that way…If I am not wrong, it started four months ago."
"That"s when my wife gave me this ring. Well, it becomes easier to surpa.s.s my limit with this…I probably need another one or change to a more powerful ring since I have improved a lot." Alex nodded.
"Don"t tell me you used this ring when you fought me?" Aria gasped, suddenly feeling pressured by that fact.
"Yes. In fact, I would lose if you maintained the course for another five minutes. I mean, I used seventy percent of my Spiritual Energy yesterday." Alex smiled as if he just fooled her. "Of course, it didn"t mean the ring was holding me back. Instead, I used the pressure of the ring to give me a bit more power in my swing, albeit it cost me too much Spiritual Energy."
"Then…Does that mean if I maintain my pace, I would have won?" She almost fell down before scratching the back of her head, knowing that it was her perfect chance to know something about Alex.
"The problem was…You didn"t know, right? You did not know my current ability and strength, so you could only risk it. Remember this well, if you have enough knowledge, you can turn any probability to one hundred percent."
Alex knew that he himself had Spirit Eyes with him to discover something like this. However, he was too special, so he taught her to be knowledgeable about her enemy, so she knew how to react to anything the opponent did. The N Squad helped him with this, but Aria had no one to rely on. This was the only thing he could teach her, even if it made him look a bit like a b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
"Anyway, you should keep practicing with this—" Alex stopped before glancing to the left, noticing that Silvia just came out of the house.
As observant as her, she obviously noticed the ring on Aria"s fingers before asking with a smile. "What"s this? I just went back for a day, and now you are husband and wife, leaving me out?"
"Me? His wife?" Aria rolled her eyes. "No way."
"You are still feeling sour about it? You do know my principle and your own feelings, right?" Alex shrugged.
Aria snorted and looked away.
"Well, well, you shouldn"t speak like that too…You are going to be single for the rest of your life." Silvia tried to stop this but to no avail.
Alex shrugged before tossing another ring to her. "Wear this. It"s a Pressure Ring. It will give you the pressure from two Rank 3 G.o.d, allowing you to train efficiently."
"Oh, there is something like that? And you are giving me this precious ring?" She smiled from ear to ear, never expecting that Alex would give it to her.
"My wife wanted me to give you that, considering you helped me. I contemplated for a few days before giving you this." Alex sighed.
"I see. Since this is your wife we are talking about, then I will gladly accept this present. This is different from you giving the present after all." She stuck her tongue out. She channeled her Divine Energy, and the ring immediately released the pressure on her body. Stumbling, Silvia smiled before deactivating again to wear it on her finger. "This is a treasure. Training will become even more effective."
Alex nodded. "Anyway, I have given it to you, so I hope you don"t misunderstand the intention…"
When Alex said that, he found Silvia almost put it on her ring finger before she playfully canceled that plan. "Oops…Wrong finger."
Alex twitched his eyebrows before letting out a sigh, looking at Silvia putting the ring on her middle finger instead.
"I was just playing with you. I mean, since this is from your wife, I will honor her for recognizing me, so I won"t steal the march with something like this." She stuck her tongue. "Besides, I don"t want you to hate me with something this small for now."
Alex didn"t deny it either.
A few days ago, Alicia told him to give the rings to Aria and Silvia. Aria had helped him understand the Sword Qi, so she should have something like this as a repayment. As for Silvia, this was a direct challenge and warning from Alicia.
This was a kind of telling Silvia that she had recognized her, but if she wanted to be one of them, she needed to prove her sincerity and efforts.
Alex needed a few days to ponder because of this reason. He wasn"t sure about her yet, but he decided to face her without drawing a line like how he planned to treat Evelyn and Letizia in the future.
"I accept," Silvia muttered in a low voice while looking at the ring as if she knew what the meaning of this ring was.
"Anyway, I have given both of you the rings, so my job is done." Alex stretched his body before continuing his training. "If you are done too, you should start your training."
Aria shook her head helplessly and followed him. "This man can only think about training. I feel like his wives are secondary to him."
"Nope. You couldn"t be more off the mark there." Silvia denied it completely with a smile, knowing the Spirit G.o.d"s reputation. However, it wouldn"t be good for the current Aria to know that, so she stopped there.