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Chapter 737 - Investments
🕑 Added 2025-11-17 09:30:43 +0000 UTCLooking at it from any reasonable point of view, it should be impossible for Biscuit to produce this much saliva, not in his puppy form. It has already been five minutes, and I still lie there while he keeps licking my face, hair, neck, anything he manages to reach.
A few times, he even pushes his butt against my face as he turns around to bite the hem of my shirt and tug at it playfully. That makes him stumble and shove his butt even harder into my face before barking at some invisible enemy who clearly caused it.
He turns again and starts jumping up and down, his front paws pressed against my cheeks as he bounces them like rubber. Then he chomps on my nose only to get distracted instantly, and like a hyperactive puppy in full zoomies, he bites into my hair and starts pulling again.
The whole time, I just lie there without making any attempt to defend myself, moving only my eyes as I follow Biscuit and watch him have fun while showing his affection. He keeps shouting things like (Happy), (Food), (Friend), and for some reason, he also throws in (You came to the wrong neighbourhood, motherfucker!). That last one makes me decide I will find out which absolute idiot from group four is ruining him like that.
His thoughts also spill into my mind as pages and pages of sensations, mostly smells and raw feelings, but between all that, I filter out what has been happening here, and it seems everything is going pretty well.
Noticing movement nearby, I shift my eyes to the side where Noodle stands, in the exact same place he stood when I arrived, looking down at me with a strange expression. It is safe to assume the polite white snake either pities me or is stunned by my lack of reaction.
I look at his new eyes again. All six are green, arranged in a reversed triangle shape, two on top next to each other, and the last one in the middle below them. It does not look silly at all, instead, it gives Noodle a dangerous appearance, something like a beast with an ancient bloodline, a world devouring snake. Who knows what happened here? Maybe his Fragment of the Eternal Fire caused it, or maybe it is because of his bond with Izzy. Hell, maybe Izzy now has 6 eyes too.
Finally, after another ten minutes, Biscuit seems done and completely tired out. He now lies on my chest with his chin resting on his front paws as he stares at me.
I reach out and rest my hand on his head, petting him slowly. “I’ve missed you too,” I say with a smile.
Biscuit yawns, showing his tiny pink tongue, then closes his mouth and his eyes and slowly falls asleep.
Now that he is asleep, I allow myself to threaten him, and in a quiet voice I whisper, “You bite me one more time and I swear I will file a complaint with whoever regulates hyperactive burrito gremlins.” Then I turn to Noodle and say, “If you plan to step in and save me, now would be a perfect time.”
The snake blinks all six eyes slowly.
Understandable. Have a nice day.
With my arms around the puppy, I carefully sit up and then stand, absorbing every vibration so I do not disturb his sleep. As I do that, the view finally opens enough for me to see Tess, who has been sitting on the balcony railing since the start, watching the entire brutal attack, even though I could not see her earlier from the floor.
Her gray eyes shift from my soaked shirt to my hair and face before she whispers with a smile, “Ew.”
“You can keep that reaction to yourself,” I say.
I walk a few steps and sit down in the chair on the balcony in front of her, not reacting further to the undignified comment.
“You are a day later than we scheduled,” she mentions.
“I got a last minute Beyond quest. But it got me some really nice techniques from a Champion, and we can break them down and take what works for us if we want.” I say in my defense.
Tess nods seriously, but with a playful twist, “Do you still sometimes feel like we are primitives smashing stones together and hoping a spark shows up?”
“Constantly, but does it not have some charm? We are frontrunners, explorers. You know that saying about being too late to explore Earth and too soon to explore space? Well, not anymore, Tess. In the future, there will be kids studying in Academies or training their disciples on Earth, while I will be able to look at all that and say something like: “When I was younger, we did not have it so easy.”
Tess chuckles quietly, “In a way, you are right. We have the chance to explore paths people stuck in rigid systems probably will not. But in another way, we can fuck up so hard we lock ourselves out from progressing.”
“I am an optimist at hearts.”
She rolls her eyes, “Do not think I did not notice how much you like to use that phrase lately, and how often you try to find sentences that use ‘heart’ just to end up replacing it with ‘hearts’.”
"I said it because I speak from the hearts."
"Nat..."
"You know I follow my hearts more than my head."
"You are terrible."
"It felt right in my hearts, so I went with it."
Tess laughs shortly, "If your hearts talk that much, I worry for your brain."
“I am not sorry, and I will continue.”
“I would not expect anything else. Did you have any trouble? I heard some rumors in Beyond.”
“Everything should be mostly resolved and fine for now. The schedule for the fifth Beyond floor shifted a bit, but I got some information about it, and I can share it later. Anything fun for me?”
She takes a moment to think and then nods, “Maya progressed with her [Compounding] and Sophie with thought acceleration. They did some further tests a few days ago.”
“What level did they reach?”
“Level 0 so far. So ten seconds in that mental space Sophie and Maya created, and one second outside, more or less. They and the twins have been waiting for you to help. But yeah, it isn't that useful so far, but I believe you can see how amazing it could be in the future.”
“Sounds good. Noodle’s eyes?”
“Izzy leveled up quite a bit, and we think that, combined with their Fragment, caused that mutation or something. Honestly, no one is certain. I have been gathering information about Fragments in Beyond, but they are difficult and expensive to come by.”
“Do you need some shards?”
She sighs, “Go on, tell me how rich you are.”
“Do you remember that one time on Earth I bought you that box of chocolates you liked? Those fancy coffee ones made using beans that tiny animals poop out and someone collects?”
“Nat, you mean civet coffee, and no, they were not that. For the record, my mom liked that coffee, not me, and you know it. I never touched it, and I do not even know why I mentioned it to you. And one more thing, you bought those so called fancy chocolates with money you stole.”
“I found that wallet. But anyway, I am much richer than that. We will see if I can somehow transfer shards to you during the tournament or if we meet on the fourth floor when you guys get there soon. But I will give you a million.”
“So generous.” She leans back so far she should be falling from the railing, but she keeps herself there with her [Psychokinesis], and deep in thought before she says, “Give me two and in a few months I will return all of it with profit.”
“Really?”
A smile spreads across her face as she locks her eyes with mine, “What do you think?”
I notice her hairstyle is different again. This time, she has no bangs at all, her hair split cleanly in the middle so it falls to the sides and reveals her forehead. Her blonde hair waves a little, framing her face and falling just below her shoulders.
“And if I gave you five million?” I ask, meeting her gaze.
“In half a year, I would make it seven million at least, but likely more. Six back to you, one to me,” she answers as quickly.
Thinking it over, I keep petting the sleeping Biscuit and nod. “We have a deal, and we will make it work somehow later. But how?”
She jumps down from the railing and walks past me into the room without answering. I watch her go to one of the cabinets and take out a towel before walking back. She stops for a moment, her lips twisting in amusement as she looks at my hair and face covered in puppy drool. And even now, annoyingly, she is still a tiny bit taller than me. Just a tiniest bit, of course. It also might be only in my head, but I swear she is packing more muscle, too.
The towel drops over my head, completely blocking my view. The fabric is thicker than I expected, almost fluffy, with that faint scent of citrus. It clings to my face for a second, holding a bit of warmth from her hands.
Before I can react, she grips the edges and starts rubbing, firm yet soft, like she is trying to erase every trace of Biscuit’s rampage from my face. Her fingers move along the fabric as she works through the mess in small circles that tug at my hair in a strangely comforting way.
I try to move the towel a bit so I can see, but she pushes it back down on my head, and I hear her quiet laugh right above me.
She drags the towel lower, rubbing across my cheeks and jaw. The cloth scratches lightly across the stubble on my chin, then sweeps over my forehead and presses along the sides of my neck.
When she lifts the towel for a moment, cool air hits my face, and I instinctively blink against the bright light. I catch a glimpse of her expression, amused and just a bit too satisfied. Then the towel drops again as she goes for another round on the back of my head.
Biscuit snores softly the entire time against my chest.
Through the towel covering my head, I hear her soft, quiet voice, “If you talked to people and made more contacts, you would come up with ways to make more money too. You just need to be careful and pick the right people, while avoiding the ones that want to take advantage of you. Sometimes you have to invest more into relationships at the start. Even if you do not get your time’s worth right away, it will pay off later.”
“I talk to people. I know a lot of demons.”
She grabs my head through the towel and shakes it a little before continuing to dry my face.
After a while, I ask, “Is it not tough for you? All that effort, constant thinking, balancing so many things, and dealing with people?”
She stops, and for some reason, I am annoyed that I cannot see her face. Then she speaks right next to my ear, “It is tough, very tough even, but nothing I cannot handle. You should know exactly how I mean that, Nat. Do not think I have not noticed your state. I am not as naive as the others from our group might be.”
Finally, she lets go of the towel and taps the top of my head without removing it. “Take your time to acclimate. You can join us in the main room in an hour or two.”
With that, she leaves through the balcony, leaving me with Biscuit in my arms.
Comments
Peter Smith
As much as im sure it would annoy people, i really do think that nat's going to end up with a small harem in the end. Most importantly, not of his own making.
Brian Latta
I dunno, noodle kinda filled it in with the 6 eyes, a majestic evolution.
Lance Beam
TFTC
caeven
I will NEVER leave the Tess ship train. No idea if its intentionally done, but their interactions when they have these one on ones just feel way too genuine. its a different side of nat that we almost never see. also suspicious how much he focuses on and notices her appearance.
Arnon Parenti
Funny how Nat recognized the game immediately but still failed to see the Saliva Mana construct that was healing him after his hard days on the field.
Rocotrap
Oh no ... I got caught up
Serendipity
genuinely asking, how did you arrive to the conclusion that the tutorial is tomorrow ?
DocSmitty
How long until Lily snaps and disintegrates Tess? “Nobody gets between me and my mana daddy”
Poutine Au Syrop d'érable
The TOURNAMENT STARTS TOMORROW? Damn, so construct fixing very soon!
Val the mysterious Jedi
Tess just made 7 mil easily
Sir Supports Alot
It's already very implied he isn't going to accept, that would literally be his downfall to accept being below anyone and not climbing higher, that weirdo pride
Edmund Dillon
Tftc!!!! Cerim you do not miss with any chapter, always fun to read!💯🔥
Andrew
Thank you!
RJ Barnes
He’s going to go KABOOM and forced into an absolute probably - hi fellow RJ
John
50mio
Audrey WJ
A Nat who's body isn't rebelling against him is going to be scary, I can't wait until he's somewhat fixed up but I hope he doesn't rely on Christophe and takes his offer, I'm sure he will find his own way.
Malestan
Biscuit is my favourite character in this serie :D I was starting to miss him and was that close to ask Cerim if the best doggo of the world will be back soon... And there he is ! Such a good boy ! I can't stop smiling whenever he appears, he's just too cute, it's almost criminal, he steals the show :3 Cerim is way too good at writing, seriously :D
Kirin
Thann you for the chappie!
Mark Bullock
3rd paragraph Bounces +on them like rubber
RJ
Seems like Nat is breaking down faster than expected.
Apollo Greed
Love this chap!
rams
arggg- this is NOT the time for a quite chapter
Ivan Jelenić
Funny, broke people giving advice to rich ones about making money. 😁
Terri Harris
Friends! And Happy puppy sounds! Priceless!!!
Fdrugc
Love tess and nat chapters biscuit chapters to although he didn't do anything particularly fun nat should have fed. him.
Fdrugc
How much is a mid-pristine skill?
Fdrugc
Tftc
jax rammus
Yes we do, its was a fake relationship, he used her for an alabi and she's pissed about that.
Josh Betts
I love lily but tess is best girl its crazy we still dont know why they broke up
Hydrabogen
You have eyes, but cannot see Mount Tai. We got a romance already, evidence of which you can see this very chapter
Augustus
Food! Biscuit used Slobber it was supper effective!
mitchell kaiser
Love this wholesome chapter!❤️
Arnon Parenti
Biscuit just butted off all of Nat's problems, you think you can heal? See this fleshy burrito? It can heal while you only dabble in pain alleviation.
Arnon Parenti
Flash momma
Adrian Rake
This chapter is really great. I like Nat’s interactions with other people. It makes this maniac more humanish.
Val the mysterious Jedi
Best heroine showing her awesomeness, I love Tess chapters, I'm a sucker for subtle romance. The chocolate story had me dying, up there with the note with compatibility score. Sweat chapter and love how Tess is still the only one who knows how to tease nat. Mana Daddy+ Lightning Mommi= best team.
John
Thanks for the chapter. Will we get some romance one day?
Alexander
The upgrade isn't gonna fix shit lol. It'll make it worse
Niclas Elmers
Tftc
Nictis
Tess remains the best~
frankie doerr
So how shit is Nat’s body for Tess to mention it and how crazy is the body upgrade going to be if it has to fix it to handle that stress
Gravitea
Love Biscuit Boy! Best Boy!
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Claro reyes
Tftc!
vEnviouz
TFTC!!!
