Chapter 19: Frost Essence, Soaring Affection

How can "three hundred thousand" and "barely enough" be connected??

Are you kidding me??

The young girl was stunned.

If she had had these three hundred thousand gold coins, she wouldn't have had to take private jobs from the military and wouldn't have met Leon because of it...

Vivian hesitated for a moment, ready to refuse, but her movements were not as decisive as they usually were.

She was genuinely stunned by the huge amount of money.

The young girl was not greedy for wealth, but...

This time, this huge sum of money was genuinely linked to her research in alchemy, making Vivian's heart race.

Just at this moment, Sila warmly embraced her, their bodies pressing closely together.

Sila pressed his jaw against the young girl's forehead and said, "It's okay. If you feel guilty, just think of it as me paying you to be my good friend. How about that?"

He could feel the softness of her skin and the gentle sway of her hair, which made him feel even more at ease!

Vivian was stiffened by Sila's sudden move and was about to resist, but she was "caught off guard" by his words.

She wasn't very knowledgeable about relationships between men and women. If Sila had directly proposed something like keeping her, Vivian would have refused outright. The physical contact she was experiencing now only made her feel a bit uneasy and embarrassed, but also strangely aroused a slight excitement.

Even so, Vivian's first reaction was, "I don't think friendship can be bought."

The young girl gave a very morally upright response.

Sila didn't mind and stopped while he was ahead.

He unleashed a series of extremely tempting words.

"How about we call it an investment? This time, I will mainly fund the creation of alchemical equipment for the expedition, and I'll take the lion's share of the rewards from the Dimensional Rift."

"Also, you've been working for the military, making some alchemical weapons, haven't you? From now on, you can work exclusively for me, how about that?"

"I'll pay you 20% more than the military." Sila looked confident.

Vivian was just about to question why he would "invest" in her for no reason.

Sila continued, "I see potential in you. The military only wants to do one-time deals with you, but I see your future."

"You can at least grow to be a master, or even a grandmaster alchemist. By then, the extra money I'm spending now won't matter."

"But you have to promise me that, as long as the price I offer is reasonable, you can't refuse my orders."

It sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Vivian was once again successfully swayed and unknowingly overlooked Sila's offensive physical contact.

As the female protagonist of "Journey of Radiance." the young girl had a bit of pride in her heart. As Sila had said, she also believed that it wouldn't be difficult for her to grow into a master or even a grandmaster in the future.

Vivian gritted her teeth and slowly nodded.

At that moment, she noticed that Sila's spatial equipment was still spilling out gold coins, and there was hardly any room to stand around them.

Upon seeing this, Vivian's eyes flickered slightly again.

She wasn't unfamiliar with money, but the impact of such a pile of wealth was something she had never experienced before.

Along with that...

She looked at Sila with a softer expression.

Earlier, Leon Chester and Vivian had had a delightful conversation about alchemy, but none of that compared to Sila's 300,000 gold coins in cold hard cash!

This money would allow Vivian to avoid working for the military for a long time, freeing up time for her to train and experiment with several new alchemical equipment refinements.

It could even allow her to enter the Dimensional Rift, and even with Sila taking the lion's share of the rewards, she would still reap a great harvest.

No matter how indifferent Vivian was to money, she was captivated by its magic and couldn't help but feel grateful and develop a slight liking towards Sila in front of her.

Seeing this, Sila waved his hand and stored all the gold coins back into his ring, tossing the spatial equipment towards Vivian.

Vivian caught it with precision.

Just as the young girl had finally convinced herself to accept everything, essentially being "kept." Sila's hands became restless again, already touching her face.

Vivian instantly snapped back to reality, and her dissatisfaction surged up once more. She struggled vigorously, trying to break free from Sila's grasp.

At this moment, she was far from her previous indifferent demeanor. With each skin-to-skin contact, Vivian felt hot all over, her face flushing, and she only wanted to escape from this place.

Sila called out to her again, "Oh, by the way, take a look at this. Consider it a gift for our meeting today, to witness our cooperation."

Sila pulled out a gem-like object.

Vivian was initially on guard, but when she saw it clearly, her eyes widened. "Frost Essence! How did you get your hands on this?"

"Wait, I can't accept this."

The young girl, who had almost broken free from Sila's grasp, was easily distracted again.

Frost Essence was an extremely rare core material in the field of alchemy, making many difficult alchemical experiments possible.

Her dissatisfaction with Sila dissipated without a trace under the impact of this precious item.

All that was left in Vivian's heart was shock.

She had never seen someone with such financial resources before!

Thirty thousand gold coins alone were nothing special.

Rare resources like Frost Essence couldn't be bought with money.

They were often controlled by powerful forces or large families.

Who would use treasures of this caliber to motivate their members and offspring to complete difficult tasks before rewarding them.

Sila had casually handed it to her.

For a moment, Vivian's worldview was once again severely impacted.

She could imagine someone wastefully spending 30,000 gold coins, but someone willing to waste Frost Essence was, in Vivian's view, utterly incomprehensible.

The young girl was stunned, and she didn't even react when Sila forcibly stuffed the gem-like object into her hand.

Then, contrary to his usual demeanor, Sila released Vivian with utmost gentlemanliness and turned to leave.

The young girl was about to chase after him, but Sila darted to the side, his figure dissolving into the air, leaving only the words, "Hurry up and prepare all kinds of alchemical equipment. I'll come for you in three days."

Vivian was left standing alone, holding the Frost Essence, with a dazed expression.

She looked at the spot where Sila had stood and, somehow, felt a sudden surge of emotion.

Vivian remembered that her mother, along with her sister, had left the Rockefeller family because of Frost Essence, following another alchemist.

She never expected that after entering the Magic Academy, someone would willingly give her the resource that her mother had sacrificed her children to obtain, without hesitation.

In an instant, Vivian's long-held calm could no longer be maintained, and her heart pounded vigorously.

Even though Sila had been gone for a long time, her mind was still filled with the image of the young man casually handing her this precious resource just moments ago.

As for Leon Chester, sorry, but not only was she not familiar with him, she had almost forgotten about him now.

Not far from Vivian, Sila, who had cast a beginner-level invisibility spell, watched the young girl's expression and wore a triumphant smile.

"It seems I've maxed out my likability with her in one go."

The reason he could disappear.

Just then was that Sila had spent 2,500 points to exchange for a [Beginner-level Invisibility Spell: Essence Crystal.]

After crushing it, he immediately mastered another magic spell.

This invisibility spell is very practical for evading monsters that rely on visual tracking and offers significant advantages for exploring the Dimensional Rift.

It also allowed Sila to assertively force the Frost Essence upon Vivian.

Sila was aware that this was not just an ordinary alchemical material but also one of Vivian's psychological knots.

Her mother had once betrayed the Rockefeller family and followed an alchemist after needing Frost Essence to develop the masterpiece "Cold Resonator" and achieve mastery level.

As a result, Frost Essence held great significance for Vivian.

In gaming terminology--

this was Vivian's "key gift."

In "Journey of Radiance." the male protagonist can increase his affinity with each female protagonist by giving them gifts. Each female protagonist has preferred gifts and key gifts.

Preferred gifts can raise affinity levels well, while key gifts are unique and serve as plot items. Giving a key gift not only significantly boosts affinity but also unlocks additional storylines. Vivian's corresponding key gift is Frost Essence, which is also one of the easiest to obtain among the gifts given to the various female protagonists.