Lust System: Conquering the World Beauties

Liam remained on one knee for several seconds, his hand still buried beneath the hilt of the sword as though the weapon had somehow decided that this was where it belonged. His arm was trembling now, not because he was exhausted but because he was putting an absurd amount of strength into trying to move the damn thing. Every muscle in his shoulder and forearm had tightened, yet the sword remained completely unmoved. It was humiliating, confusing and, most of all, irritating. Liam had faced creatures that could tear through flesh like paper, had punched a Gargoyle hard enough to send it crashing into a mountain and had walked away from situations that should have killed him, but somehow an ugly old sword hanging on the wall of a drunk dwarf’s miserable shop had forced him onto one knee. He stared at the weapon for another few seconds before finally accepting the obvious. There was no point pretending otherwise.

Liam slowly lifted his head and looked at the dwarf.

"Okay, fine. I get it."

His voice carried the reluctant defeat of a man who hated admitting that someone else had been right.

"You’re the blacksmith."

The dwarf’s eyebrows rose.

Liam gritted his teeth and continued.

"Now please get this thing off my hand."

For a moment, the dwarf simply stared at him.

Then his lips began to curl upward.

A chuckle escaped him.

"Hah."

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

The chuckle became a laugh.

"Hahahahahaha!"

The dwarf threw his head backward and laughed so loudly that his enormous belly shook with every breath. He slapped his thigh several times, nearly dropping the wine pouch still clutched in his other hand. His beard bounced against his chest as he laughed harder, and after a few seconds he was practically wheezing.

Liam’s expression darkened.

"What exactly is so funny?"

The dwarf ignored him.

Instead, he turned his attention toward Tatiana.

He looked her up and down, and for once the drunkenness in his expression was replaced by genuine appreciation.

"Pretty lady."

Tatiana blinked.

The dwarf pointed toward Liam.

"What do you think? Should I take it off him?"

Tatiana immediately looked at Liam.

The sight of him kneeling there finally brought the humor out of the situation for her. His face was still composed, but she could see the tension running through his arm and the slight strain around his eyes. Whatever was happening, the sword was clearly causing him considerable pain.

"Yes," she answered without hesitation.

Her voice carried genuine concern.

"Please."

The dwarf stared at her for a moment.

Then he rolled his eyes.

"You like him?"

Tatiana’s cheeks changed slightly.

She didn’t answer.

The dwarf made a disgusted sound.

"Ughhh."

He shook his head dramatically.

"For a beautiful lady, you have such horrible taste in men."

Liam’s head snapped upward.

"Excuse me?"

The dwarf didn’t even look at him.

Liam’s jaw tightened.

The pain coming from his trapped hand was becoming increasingly unpleasant, but somehow this little man’s words were beginning to annoy him even more than the sword.

"You better not release me from this," Liam said through clenched teeth, "or else I’m ripping you into a thousand pieces."

The dwarf finally looked down at him.

There was a brief silence.

Then he laughed again.

"Listen to the little dog barking."

Liam’s eye twitched.

He genuinely didn’t know what it was about this dwarf, but the man had managed to irritate him more in the few minutes they had spent together than most enemies had managed to do in days.

The dwarf suddenly looked past him.

His gaze landed on Irina.

He stopped.

His expression changed.

"Oh."

Irina raised an eyebrow.

The dwarf’s eyes widened slightly.

"Another beautiful face."

Irina immediately looked uncomfortable.

The dwarf rubbed his beard thoughtfully.

"Now this is interesting."

He looked between Tatiana and Irina before glancing down at Liam.

"Why are you beautiful women walking around with such a lousy and cowardly man?"

Liam’s eyebrows shot upward.

"Cowardly?"

The dwarf continued as though he hadn’t heard him.

"You two are clearly suited for calm and reserved men like me."

Liam stared at him.

"Calm?"

The dwarf nodded confidently.

"Reserved."

Liam slowly looked around the shop.

He remembered the dwarf shouting at them moments earlier.

He remembered the man waking up drunk behind his counter.

He remembered the smell of alcohol coming off him.

He remembered the fact that the first thing the dwarf had done after waking up was insult them.

Liam looked back at him.

"Really?"

The dwarf smiled proudly.

"Yes."

Liam’s expression became almost disbelieving.

"Wasn’t your face buried in the floor when we came in?"

The dwarf waved his hand dismissively.

"That is irrelevant."

"You were drunk."

"Also irrelevant."

"You could barely stand."

"Minor details."

Liam stared at him.

This old fucker was unbelievable.

The dwarf casually waved his hand toward Liam.

"Let’s not mind the barking dog."

Liam’s forehead twitched.

Tatiana immediately noticed.

She tried to hide the small smile threatening to appear on her face, but Liam caught it.

"Don’t encourage him."

Tatiana looked away.

"I didn’t say anything."

"You smiled."

"I did not."

"You definitely did."

The dwarf suddenly climbed onto the wooden table.

The entire thing creaked beneath his weight.

He planted both feet firmly on the surface and stood there as though he had just ascended a throne. From his elevated position, he was finally close enough to look directly at Tatiana and Irina.

He stared at them.

And for the first time since waking up, the dwarf became completely quiet.

Tatiana had the kind of beauty that was difficult to ignore even in a filthy workshop. Her long red hair framed her flawless face, and her crimson eyes carried an intensity that made it clear there was far more beneath her beauty than appearance alone. Irina was different. Her beauty was colder, sharper and almost ethereal, with her features carrying the natural elegance of someone whose presence could command attention without effort.

The dwarf slowly stroked his beard.

"Well, well."

He looked at Tatiana.

"Red hair, beautiful eyes and a figure that could make a statue feel ashamed of itself."

Tatiana blinked.

The dwarf turned toward Irina.

"And you..."

He clicked his tongue appreciatively.

"Those eyes could freeze a man’s heart before you even touched him."

Irina’s face reddened slightly.

The dwarf grinned.

"Two beautiful women standing in my shop and somehow the only man among you is the ugly one."

Liam’s mouth fell open.

"Wait."

The dwarf continued.

"Your faces are the kind painters would spend their entire lives trying to recreate. Your figures are the sort that make men forget what they were saying halfway through a sentence."

Tatiana glanced toward Liam.

Liam was still kneeling.

His expression was becoming darker by the second.

The dwarf leaned slightly toward them.

"You two should abandon this rat and travel with someone who knows how to appreciate beauty."

"Rat?"

Liam’s voice was dangerously quiet.

The dwarf didn’t seem to notice.

Tatiana’s eyes immediately moved toward Liam.

She could see the veins beginning to bulge on his forehead.

The dwarf stepped closer to her, completely blocking her view of Liam’s injured hand.

"So tell me, beautiful lady," he said, resting his hands on his enormous belly, "why does a young woman with such devastating beauty choose to travel with a rat?"

Silence.

Liam slowly raised his head.

His eyes narrowed.

A vein bulged visibly against his forehead.

"Rat?"

The dwarf smiled innocently.

Liam stared at him.

The pain in his hand was still unbearable.

The sword was still crushing his strength.

His knee was still planted against the floor.

And yet, somehow, at that exact moment, none of those things mattered anymore.

Because this fucking dwarf had just called him a rat.

Liam gritted his teeth so hard that his jaw began to ache.

A rat.

That old fucker had just called him a rat.

His eyes slowly narrowed.

Fuck this.

A faint golden light suddenly appeared beneath his skin.

It began at his wrist and traveled upward through his veins like liquid sunlight, spreading through his forearm and disappearing beneath his sleeve before continuing through the rest of his body. The Aetherial power inside him responded almost instinctively to his irritation, his blood becoming infused with that strange golden radiance that had already proven capable of pushing his physical strength into a completely different realm.

Nobody noticed.

Gregor and Leonid were too busy watching the dwarf make a fool of himself while Tatiana and Irina stood there with increasingly uncomfortable expressions. The golden glow beneath Liam’s skin remained hidden beneath his clothes, and the only person who might have noticed something unusual was the dwarf, but his attention was firmly fixed on the two women.

Liam tightened his grip.

The sword moved.

At first, barely an inch.

Then another.

His muscles tightened as the weapon slowly rose from the floor.

Liam’s eyes widened slightly.

He could feel the enormous weight resisting him, but this time it wasn’t enough.

He pulled harder.

The sword came completely free.

Liam stood.

Nobody noticed.

He looked down at the weapon resting in his hand and couldn’t help but feel a strange mixture of relief and annoyance. The sword looked even more pathetic now that he was holding it. The blade was covered in scratches, its surface was dull and aged, and there was nothing about its appearance that suggested it should possess enough weight to force him onto one knee.

Yet here he was.

Standing.

Holding it.

And suddenly Liam felt like testing exactly what the weapon could do.

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