Primordial Lust System

"Ahh, crap!" Aurelian cursed under his breath, his figure appearing outside the Raging Boar Dungeon as he fiddled with an interspatial storage ring between his fingers.

"Of course it's locked. Why wouldn't it be?" he muttered, walking away while chiding himself for the oversight.

As with all interspatial dimensional storage rings, they were bound to their owners. Unless that bond was willingly severed, or broken by death, the rings remained inaccessible to others.

There were, of course, ways to bypass those restrictions, such as refining them. But that would eat into his already tight schedule. Expanding his sphere of soul detection had drained a massive chunk of time, leaving him with barely a day before the academy selections began.

He had planned to clear another batch of E-rank dungeons, but that was off the table now. He'd also intended to spend this time researching the academy selections in depth. Given how pivotal they would be to his next step toward power, it only made sense to treat them with importance.

Then again, he mused, surprises weren't always bad. Maybe one last dungeon run wouldn't hurt… He hummed, lost in thought, before a voice in the distance snapped him out of it.

"Look! It's him...he's the one who saved us in the dungeon!"

"Huh?" Aurelian murmured, lifting his head as his eyes settled on the source of the voice.

A young woman with short blonde hair stood there, wearing a simple blue mage's robe. Her black eyes sparkled with excitement as she pointed at him.

A member of the team he'd saved from the Golden-Tusked Boar? Aurelian groaned softly, his memory flaring with clarity as her image resurfaced in his mind.

Before he could think further, the space in front of him shimmered with liquid-like light before it suddenly parted. A figure blinked into existence before him, forcing him to instinctively take a step back.

"It's you… it really is you," the newcomer said, her form coming fully into view. A middle-aged woman, clad in intricately forged armor lined with glowing runes. Long, silky black hair flowed down her back, framing a striking face with dark, intelligent eyes that now studied him closely.

A subtle yet commanding aura radiated from her, carrying the kind of maturity and power that demanded respect.

Before Aurelian could speak, the blonde girl rushed to stand beside her, staying quiet but visibly excited.

Then the woman spoke again. "Aurelian Draeogor… your reputation precedes you."

"Do I know you?" Aurelian asked, scanning her calmly. He wasn't particularly surprised she knew his name, after his recent feats, keeping a low profile had become impossible.

While he remained unimpressed, the girl beside the woman was anything but. Her eyes widened, fluttering rapidly as she tried to process what she'd just heard.

The youth before her… was Aurelian Draeogor? Eira's breath hitched at the realization. She'd heard the name, a top rising genius in Maelstrom among the newly awakened, and dismissed most stories about him as exaggerated nonsense.

No way someone who'd only just awakened could stop an E-rank dungeon break. That was absurd. And yet… here he was.

She had thought their savior was just another skilled adventurer from a guild, not this. It was almost unbelievable.

"I'm Sera," the woman said finally, smiling faintly. "Guild leader of the White Springs Guild. We haven't met before, but you saved some of my most promising members—and I wanted to thank you in person."

"Sera?" Aurelian repeated, nodding thoughtfully. It made sense. But it was her last line that caught his attention. Appreciation, huh? A gift, perhaps?

He didn't have to wonder for long before she continued, arching a brow with curiosity.

"Anything I can help you with?"

"Help?" Aurelian muttered, his eyes lighting up before a thought clicked in the back of his head. "Information. I need information, lots of it, about the academy selections. Do you know anything about it?"

Asking directly was far better than snooping around for scraps, as he'd originally planned.

"I had a feeling you'd ask something like that," Sera murmured, a faint smile stretching across her lips, the little hope she had of miraculously recruiting him into her guild already snuffed out. Leaning forward slightly, she continued,

"Mind following us back to the White Spring Guild? Somewhere with a bit more… privacy." She gestured toward the growing commotion buzzing around the dungeon.

Their presence was already drawing far more attention than he liked.

"Also…" she added, lowering her voice, "there are some things better shown than spoken aloud."

"Hm." Aurelian hummed in thought. The situation felt oddly convenient. Even if she wanted to show gratitude, wasn't this a little too much?

Still, he obliged. He wasn't in a position to refuse favors, especially not now.

"Sure," Aurelian said, shrugging his shoulders, unbothered. He wasn't afraid of things going wrong, and even if they did, he was confident in his strength and abilities.

"Good!" Sera said, visibly pleased with his easygoing attitude. She snapped her fingers, perhaps a bit too eagerly, and a carriage waiting in the distance rolled toward them, stopping right in front.

She gestured for Aurelian to enter first. Eira followed behind him, then Sera herself, before the carriage set off into the distance with the three of them inside.

Once settled, Sera spoke first. "So, what about the academy selections do you want to know?" she asked, breaking the silence, her dark eyes glinting with something unreadable.

Ever since they'd met, she had been quietly observing him—most notably, his lack of interest in her. She was well aware of the curves that turned heads wherever she went; most men she encountered tried sneaking glances, their eyes filled with lust.

But this youth… he was different. And she couldn't decide whether to be pleased or annoyed about it.

"Uh, all of it," Aurelian admitted with a sheepish smile. The memories of the academy selections were foggy, lost to the previous host of his body. In truth, he was completely clueless.

He sighed helplessly as the two women exchanged a look, both staring at him like he'd just said something utterly ridiculous.