"Is this the spot you mean?"

"Umm… yes, that spot, Young Master. Please do it slowly. Your touch gives me goosebumps."

"You're still embarrassed? Aren't we used to this by now?"

"Even so, it's still embarrassing. My skin is very sensitive."

Inside the room, Maya lay on the carpet, her beautiful figure uncovered by any fabric.

She lay on her stomach, her face burning red as she covered it with both hands.

Meanwhile, Merlin sat cross-legged behind her, carefully massaging her soft, smooth back.

Each movement sent a tingling sensation through her body, making her tremble unconsciously.

Merlin felt embarrassed, but he forced himself to stay calm and focused on massaging Maya's back.

'Again… it's leaking out,' he muttered with a long sigh. "At this rate, I'll have to buy the antidote soon."

His gaze rested on Maya's pale back.

There, one detail stood out—a star-shaped tattoo.

Located at the center of her back, the tattoo emitted a faint aura that made anyone who sensed it feel uneasy.

The mysterious mark had appeared about two months ago.

At first, Maya hadn't noticed anything unusual. But as time passed, a strange sensation began to surface.

Her back felt as though it were burning, the pain growing worse with each day.

Merlin's parents had tried every method they knew to treat her.

Unfortunately, even the most skilled healers were powerless.

The tattoo wasn't recorded in any mage catalog, leaving its origin and meaning unknown.

Fortunately, Merlin had Lyserra by his side—someone whose knowledge far surpassed that of ordinary mages.

Lyserra said that the tattoo was a curse from the Lord of Death.

Anyone who was cursed would surely die within a year.

Of course, Merlin was terrified when he heard this. However, there was a mistake in Lyserra's explanation.

It was indeed a curse of the Lord of Death, but Maya would not die as Lyserra had said.

On the contrary, the curse was a sign that Maya had been accepted into the Lord of Death's bloodline.

Even so, the curse still had effects. At certain times, it felt like burning, and the pain was clearly severe.

Merlin searched the system shop and found a potion that could relieve the effects Maya was suffering from.

However, it was extremely expensive—100,000 system points.

Earlier, after killing two thousand monsters, he could have bought it for Maya.

What filled him with regret was that he had already used most of those points to buy potions to raise his power to the Fifth Spirit Core.

For the time being, he had no choice but to suppress the curse by massaging it while using a special massage liquid purchased from the system shop.

"I'm sorry, Maya. I broke my promise again," Merlin said with a wry smile. "I should have brought you the healing potion I promised, but I didn't. I… I'm really sorry."

It wasn't that he was being cruel. At that time, his power was already at its limit.

If he hadn't used those potions to force a breakthrough, his body would not have survived.

"It's okay, young master," Maya replied as she shook her head. "I'm not angry or resentful about it. On the contrary, I'm very grateful that you care so much about me. That alone is more than enough."

She still remembered her childhood, when she lived in a place steeped in poverty.

There was only one rule there: the strong preyed on the weak. And as one of the weak, she was eventually captured by slave traders.

If Merlin had not bought her, she would have ended up as a sex slave in a brothel.

What was more, she was no longer an ordinary human. She now possessed power that only special people could wield.

And all of it was because of one person—Merlin.

Because of that, she was deeply grateful to him and felt she owed him an unrepayable debt.

Merlin fell silent for a moment, then smiled softly.

"Thank you for not being disappointed in me, Maya. A promise is a promise. I will keep it. Please believe me," he said, patting his chest with confidence.

Tears welled up in Maya's eyes as she suddenly leaned forward and hugged Merlin tightly.

Her soft, warm chest pressed against his face.

"Thank you, young master!" Maya sobbed quietly.

Merlin felt his heart pound wildly. Her chest was so overwhelming that it became hard for him to breathe.

"Young master?"

Maya frowned when she received no response. A moment later, she realized what was happening.

Her face turned red as she quickly pulled away, covering her chest with both hands.

"I—I'm sorry, young master! Are you okay?" she asked in a panic.

Merlin coughed, wiped his nose, and then shook his head.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. The most important thing right now is for you to put your clothes on."

Maya's hands couldn't even cover half of her chest, showing just how much she had grown.

She looked down, and her face instantly turned red like a tomato.

Without saying a word, she grabbed a towel and covered herself.

Then she took her clothes and rushed into the bathroom.

Once she disappeared, Merlin finally let out a sigh of relief.

'Thank goodness she's gone. Otherwise, I'm not sure I could've controlled myself,' he muttered softly.

He was twelve years old now, and according to the laws of the Holy Kingdom of Aldoria, he had only three more years before he was allowed to marry.

In a sense, he was already close to adulthood. Not to mention, before reincarnating, his soul had belonged to a man over twenty-five years old.

Buzz!

Lyserra suddenly appeared beside him. Merlin was briefly startled, then smiled.

He reached out to pat her head, but Lyserra immediately moved away, glaring at him.

"Don't touch me, you pervert!"

Merlin: "…"

...

The next day…

Whoosh!

A shadow rushed toward the hundreds of monsters below, destroying every creature that came close.

With two daggers in his hands, any monster that approached was instantly split in two.

"Tsk! After experiencing this again and again, I'm getting more and more excited about killing these monsters," Merlin said with enthusiasm.

While twirling the dagger in his right hand, he stabbed a two-meter-tall tiger monster, killing it on the spot.

Awoo!

Kyiik!

A wolf and a bird monster, both at level six, charged toward him.

Merlin remained calm. He twirled the dagger in his left hand, then hurled it at the giant bird.

Srck!

The dagger lodged in its forehead, piercing straight through the back of its head.

A moment later, the bird crashed heavily into the ground.

Merlin sprang upward to dodge the three-meter-tall wolf's attack.

Spreading his palms, he shouted, "High-Level Magic: Thunder Dragon Roar!"

Boom!

Black clouds gathered in an instant. Moments later, black lightning intertwined, forming a thunder dragon dozens of meters long.

Merlin lowered his hand. At that moment, the massive dragon swooped down, obliterating not only the wolf but also hundreds of monsters around it.

Boom!

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