Chapter 54: I Want You, Too

Alice bought the hundred Normal-rank Tier-1 units from the Tower Shop and closed the interface.

"Alright." She held them out to him. "Now what?"

Logan took a breath.

’Here goes.’

He summoned all hundred of the cards Alice handed over, small shapes filling the garden in row after row, and used his Talent in front of her without any further ceremony.

He started pairing them off.

Alice’s eyes widened and her jaw fell open as she watched two Normal-rank units merge into one Uncommon-rank.

Logan made one more Uncommon-rank, then merged both of them into a single Rare-rank.

"Holy #& $##&..." Alice.

"I’m out of Mana."

Alice waved her hand, and her storage ring spewed out fifty Mana Potions at once, piling up on the grass in front of him.

"Tell me if these aren’t enough."

Logan wryly smiled and kept merging.

Alice, like an excited child, ran around the growing pile of merged summons inspecting them.

"I’ll tell you what to merge!"

She already knew what his Talent entailed, even without seeing the details spelled out in an actual status window.

```

[ 25x Rare-rank merged into 12x Epic-rank ]

[ 1x Rare-rank remaining, unpaired ]

```

"One’s left over." Alice pointed at the single Rare-rank shape standing slightly apart from the rest.

"Odd numbers do that." Logan shrugged, already reaching for another potion himself.

He worked through the twelve Epic-rank shapes next, MP bleeding out fast enough.

```

[ 12x Epic-rank merged into 6x Legendary-rank ]

```

Six Legendary-rank shapes stood in the garden now, each one radiating enough presence that Logan could feel it even from a few steps back. He drank down an eighteenth potion, felt his MP settle back to something workable, and finished it.

```

[ 6x Legendary-rank merged into 3x Mythic-rank ]

```

Three shapes stood where a hundred cards had been standing less than ten minutes earlier, each one radiating something unmistakably different from anything else in the garden.

Alice didn’t say anything for a long moment. She just stood there, looking at three Mythic-rank summons that had existed as a hundred Normal-rank cards ten minutes ago, doing math Logan could actually watch happening behind her eyes.

"A hundred thousand Tier Points." Her voice came out quieter than usual. "That’s what one Mythic-rank unit costs at my rate. You just made three of them out of ten thousand."

"That’s the Talent." Logan let out a breath, some of the tension from earlier finally draining out of his shoulders now that it was actually said and done. "That’s why nobody can ever find out."

Alice looked at him for a long moment, something steady and serious replacing the usual mischief in her eyes.

"I understand now." She said it quietly. "Why you were scared to tell me. This isn’t a talent people would just admire from a distance."

"It’s safe with me." She held his gaze, steady. "I promise you that properly this time. Not just words."

Logan managed a real smile, tired but genuine. "I know. I wouldn’t have shown you otherwise."

Alice’s eyes were sparkling as she looked at him.

"Why are you staring at me?" Logan rubbed his nose, getting back at her.

Alice snapped out of her reverie, and for the first time, Logan saw her cheeks turning pink.

’That’s a first.’

"Humph." Alice cutely snorted. "Using my own words against me?"

"But seriously, you have crazy good potential." Her face turned somewhat serious. She grabbed both of his hands.

"I’m not the type to stretch things out, Logan." She took a deep breath. "This is a first for me, and I want it to be my last. You might not believe it, but I’m super hungry for power. I want to fight and train and get strong. I need it, so I can stand next to my parents and we can all kick our enemies’ asses together. You’re hungry for power too. I felt it the first time I saw you. I’m perceptive, you know?"

Her violet eyes were ablaze. "It’s just, you’re a man, and I’m a woman, and I want you so much. You’re a whole package that I desire."

"Together, we could be even stronger than my parents." She grinned, violet eyes filled with earnest yearning. "So please. Can you be my darling for real?"

Logan’s face flushed. Her eyes were killing him.

What was anyone supposed to do when someone looked at them like that?

He’d felt her hunger for power the very first time he saw her too. That kind of fighting spirit didn’t come from anywhere else.

His heart pounded hard enough that it felt like it might climb straight up his own throat.

He’d never been shaken like this before, her feelings crashing straight into him, from her eyes, from the whole aura she carried while she said it.

It felt like magic.

Even when Elena had wanted to be his girlfriend, back then, he’d been able to tell it was for the clout. He’d been the strongest student in their year at the time. They’d never even held hands. All she’d wanted was photos, parties, something to show off. He hadn’t had time for any of that, too busy with everything else.

But Alice. With Alice, he felt like he could actually make the time. He wanted to.

"Me too."

The words came out abruptly, but there was no doubt or wavering in them at all.

Alice blinked. "What?"

Logan grinned, a mischievous glint in his eyes. His hand went around her waist and pulled her in.

"I want you, too."

Her eyes sparkled, and Logan closed the distance and kissed her.

A current ran through his whole body, even though he was the one who’d started it.

Her arms locked around his back, and their chests pressed tight, their breathing quickening as their lips kept finding each other again and again.

After a minute, both of them were breathing hard, eyes drowning into each other.

"D-Do..." Her already red face went redder, her thoughts drifting somewhere at the sudden heat building low between her legs.

Logan felt the exact same thing, and then something volcanic threatening to break loose across his own face.

Then, without warning, snow rained down on both of them specifically, covering them head to toe in a sudden soft fall of it.

"This should help the situation." Andrivida left the words behind and disappeared.

Logan and Alice wiped the snow off their heads and faces before both bursting into laughter.

"Alright. Go finish your match." Logan smiled. "Make sure you break my record. You’re starting with three Mythics, after all."

"Look forward to it, darling~" Alice grinned and started matchmaking. "Once I gear up in Legendary-rank equipment, my stats climb higher, and with some buffs from potions and food stacked on top, they’ll go higher still. With my Mythic-rank class behind all that, I can kill the toughest bosses and clear the hardest challenges Floor One’s got, whatever map I end up with, according to my research. Three Mythic just made everything easier."

Right as she finished speaking, the match was found. A hundred Tier-1 players, pulled together from multiple worlds.

"See you soon." Alice left the words behind and disappeared.