"Mike, I don't think that much is necessary," she said nervously.

Mike glanced at her.

"Relax. Think of it as a gift. You don't have to pay me back," he said lightly.

"No, I want to pay you back, I was just planing to borrow some money." Lily said, clearly distressed. "But now it's two hundred thousand credits."

"Don't worry," Mike replied calmly. "You can always give me another skill book, like Lion's Roar."

He smiled.

"After all, I'm a knight. Unlike you, I can properly use skills that mages can't."

"And you happen to be a mage, so, if you get another non-mage usable skill drop, you know who to give it" He added.

Lily thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay. I'll do that."

Mike smiled back.

"Good. Then let's see what else is here, since I'm already here."

Lily nodded, and they began looking around the auction hall.

"Hm, this one's interesting," Mike said, stopping in front of a display.

It was a Rank Three Drake Egg.

Drakes were lesser dragon species. Unlike true dragons, they were earth-aligned and much weaker, but still valuable because of their strength and durability.

"If it could fly, I'd have bought it already," Mike said casually.

Lily stared at the price tag.

"Ten million credits… just how much did you get from that ruin?" she asked.

Mike shrugged.

"Enough to splurge like this."

They continued walking through the auction house.

As expected, there wasn't much truly exceptional on display. This was a 24/7 normal auction, after all. The real treasures only appeared during monthly or annual grand auctions.

Still, there were plenty of useful items.

Lily paused when she noticed something.

"Mike, look at this."

It was a Skeleton Mage Creation skill.

Mike read the description carefully.

"It's Rare rank…" he said.

"You should take it," Mike continued. "Necromancers only lack one thing—mana. With enough mana, they're basically invincible. A one-man army."

He added, "And you can use it easily given your mana."

Lily nodded slowly.

"Do you think I awakened the wrong class?" she asked.

Mike laughed.

"Hell no. A water mage with enough mana can drown cities and create tsunamis. No class is weak, Lily. We were taught that."

She smiled faintly.

"Yeah. We just need the right conditions, and any class can shine."

Mike nodded.

"Unless the Talent itself is broken," he said with a laugh.

She laughed too.

"So," Mike said after a moment, "let me sponsor you."

Lily blinked.

"…What do you mean?"

"You know," Mike said casually. "Like rich guys who can't grow strong themselves, so they support someone who can."

She stared at him.

"So you want me to be that powerful woman for you?" she asked.

"Yes," Mike replied honestly. "Let's be real. I'm just E-rank right now. Even if I grow in Rank, I'll still be weaker in terms of stats. Not to mention, you also have that broken talent of yours."

He lowered his voice slightly at the last part.

Lily was quiet for a moment.

"…Okay. I'm not saying no to free money," she said.

Mike smiled.

"So, do we need to sign a contract?" she asked.

"If you want," Mike shrugged.

"I want to," Lily said firmly. "Not because I doubt you—but because I doubt myself."

She continued, more seriously.

"I don't want to one day look down on you. I saw how fast things changed. Just weeks ago, I was invisible in class. Now I'm being noticed, invited to bloody single parties… and I like that feeling. A little too much."

She looked at him.

"I don't want to get lost in that and forget the one who always stood by my side—when I was invisible to others."

Mike looked at her quietly.

"I know you won't," he said.

"I know," she replied softly. "But still… I want to."

Mike nodded, giving her a bow as others looked at her.

"As you wish, my queen."

Lily stared at him, clearly embarrassed, while he casually continued browsing the auction listings as if nothing had happened.

Soon, they bought a few more things. Their city had many undead-type dungeons, so the auction house carried plenty of undead-category skills.

In the end, Mike bought Skeleton Mage Creation and Skeleton Warrior Creation skills. He even bought a pet for her—it was the same drake they had seen earlier.

Since Lily was a mage, she would need a sturdy tank, and the drake was perfect for that role.

The next day, all the items they bought were delivered, but Mike didn't give them to her right away.

"Do you remember I told you I also have a talent?" Mike asked.

Lily nodded.

"Mine allows me to upgrade the rank of anything by one," he said calmly. "So after I do that to everything we bought, I'll give them to you."

Lily stared at him, her mouth wide open.

"And you were saying I'm the broken one?" she said.

"You are," Mike replied. "I mean, you're a mage with an insane amount of mana. Me? I'm just a knight. My talent doesn't really help my class."

He continued, "Sure, I can upgrade skills or items, but there's a limit. I can only use it once on any item, and even if I use it on my own class, It would still only reach D-rank. There's no huge difference for me."

He shrugged.

"At best, I can use it to make money."

Lily thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah… when you put it like that, it's true."

She then narrowed her eyes at him.

"Still, I trusted you unconditionally telling you about my Talent, On the other hand you didn't even tell me about your talent until after I signed this contract."

Mike nodded.

"Unlike yours, my parents doesn't have that much power and connections. I was just being careful."

As he spoke, he put away the contract they had signed.

It was a mutual contract. Mike would help her grow stronger by giving her the financial needs, and she would support him in ways she could. They agreed to keep its details secret and not tell anyone else.

"I really want to punch your face right now," Lily said.

"You'd only hurt yourself," Mike replied with a shrug.

Her anger flared even more.

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