Copy Skills with Affinity! - Chapter 114

In truth, the first reaction he got wasn’t anything like what Aiden had expected—either way.

He’d braced himself for rejection, maybe even disgust, and in the worst case, a slap across the face.

But until their lips actually touched, Noel had simply stood there, eyes wide open in stunned silence.

She didn’t even seem to fully grasp what was happening.

Maybe it was only when Aiden slipped his tongue inside her mouth that she finally came to her senses.

“……!”

Her face turned red—so red, it was as if it had burst into flame.

No, this wasn’t just blushing. It felt like her entire face was about to explode, the redness racing all the way up to the tips of her ears in an instant.

Her hands immediately moved, as if to push Aiden away.

But the moment he pulled her into his arms to keep her from backing off, her body stiffened, frozen in place, and the motion came to a halt.

Seizing the moment, Aiden continued the kiss.

“……! ---!!”

…What was strange was that, even though Noel was expressing with her entire body that he shouldn’t be doing this, she didn’t actually push him away herself.

Questions—like why are you doing this, and what the hell is going on—piled up on her face in layers.

But not once did she take any decisive action to make him stop.

When they finally parted, their breathing ragged, Noel’s unfocused eyes darted frantically around her surroundings.

She opened her mouth, but it was as if her voice had been stolen—her lips just moved soundlessly.

…And again, he kissed her.

“-! --!!”

Noel froze, as if she were just one step away from completely losing her mind, forgetting where she was and what was going on.

It was a deadly situation, with murderous intent closing in from every direction, but the shock of what had just happened had flung that completely out of her awareness.

…To be fair, it made sense.

Even Aiden knew what he was doing right now was anything but normal.

Who in their right mind would pull something like this on the brink of death?

And the words that spilled from Noel’s mouth once their lips finally parted again… probably mirrored his own thoughts perfectly.

“At the very least, if you could explain… why you’re doing this… I’d really apprec—haah…!”

So before she could even finish that sentence properly, he acted again.

The moment he kissed her once more, Noel flinched, surprised, and began to struggle.

He had to prevent her from thinking too hard, from clinging to reason.

If she started genuinely contemplating why he was doing this, the “immersion” would break.

Emotions were funny like that—once you got immersed, it was surprisingly easy to forget about everything else.

When Aiden kissed her again—this time, much longer—and slowly pulled back, Noel immediately bowed her head.

She looked clearly dazed. Her breathing was ragged and uneven.

…Given her stamina, there was no way she was winded just from holding her breath a bit during the kiss. Which meant, indirectly, just how violently shaken she was inside.

“...At the very least… not when people are around…”

“……”

“A-Aiden, people are watching. They're watching, you know…”

…Oddly enough, there was no mention of her hating it, no protests to stop, no harsh demands asking what the hell he was doing out of nowhere. That, in itself, was surprising.

“Let them watch.”

Normally, Aiden respected Noel’s wishes. But not this time.

With his hands firmly gripping her twisting waist, he kissed her again.

“...I-I wanted this to be just a little more romantic—!”

No chance of that. This wasn’t a situation where he could afford to be picky. He kissed her again.

“N-no, Aiden, at least give me a reas—mmph!”

Explaining it would ruin the moment. He kissed her again.

“I-it’s my first—my first time! Why in front of everyone—please, wait a sec!”

It was Aiden’s first time too. He kissed her again.

“Stop! I said stop! Sto—!!”

Nearly screaming, Noel finally burst out in protest. Eyes welling up with tears, she slammed her hands over his mouth to stop him from coming in again.

That was the first strong reaction she’d shown, and Aiden finally paused. He had the sense that if he pushed any further, she might genuinely start to hate it.

‘…But shouldn’t this kind of reaction have come way earlier?’

He couldn’t help but think that. Still, the fact remained—this was the most intense reaction Noel had given so far.

“R-really! Why—why are you doing this! If you wanted to do something like this, any other time would've been better than now! Why! What for!”

Noel sputtered, her eyes spinning, words spilling from her in a flustered mess.

Her face radiated embarrassment, shame… and an unmistakable glimmer of happiness powerful enough to smother it all.

‘……’

Honestly, Aiden had predicted she might react like this.

He let out a silent sigh, flooded with complex emotions at having read her so accurately.

It was a terrible thing to do. A desperate move, like hitting the escape button during a crisis, just to score emotional points with someone.

But once he’d started, he had to see it through.

“Were you… displeased?”

“……”

At those words, Noel’s trembling grew even more intense.

Her lips turned downward. The tears welling in her eyes swelled, ready to spill.

“N-n-no… I didn’t hate it…! B-but still…!”

That fist slowly rose.

It was a movement clearly filled with the question—why are you making me go through this? Seeing it, Aiden took a deep breath inwardly.

…He’d never done anything like this in his life.

Sure, he’d played the conman for quite a while, but this kind of thing—this kind of line…

He’d never once delivered it with actual intent. So he needed a moment to brace himself.

“I said it because… I wanted to be sure of something myself.”

“…What?”

“In moments of danger and urgency… I figured your support would give me the most strength.”

The fist that had looked like it was about to start pounding his chest froze mid-air.

Noel’s lips twitched. Her expression screamed, Why are you saying that now of all times?

…And yet, the joy of hearing those words was written all over her face—something she just couldn’t hide.

As Noel dropped her head again, her fist slowly melted away, softly landing on Aiden’s shoulder.

“…Why the hell is that guy flirting with a girl at a time like this?”

“Haven’t you heard the rumors? He’s a real lady-killer.”

“……”

…Hearing the exasperated voices from above, Aiden broke into a cold sweat but pretended not to hear.

Honestly, he was well aware of it.

…At this point, he had no one but himself to blame for these kinds of rumors. He’d just have to accept them with humility.

Thankfully, the compensation for such disgrace was still more than worth it.

***

**-System Message**

▶ Affection level with target ‘Noel’ has increased.

▶ Affection level with target ‘Noel’ has increased.

▶ Affection level with target ‘Noel’ has skyrocketed!

▶ Affection level with target ‘Noel’ has skyrocketed!

▶ Target’s affection level has surged rapidly in a short time.

▶ You can now copy 6 additional skills.

▶ ‘Unique Trait: Origin’ has activated. The target is now more heavily influenced by you!

▶ Target ‘Katya’ has been affected by this incident. Be cautious!

***

As the flood of messages covered his entire vision, Aiden finally let out a sigh of relief.

If it hadn’t worked, he really would’ve been facing hell. Thankfully, it hadn’t come to that.

…Of course, these weren’t the only windows popping up. Some pretty terrifying system messages were appearing too, but now wasn’t the time to worry about those.

Because while he’d been pulling that stunt, the deathly aura had crept right up to their doorstep—and was just about to crash down upon them.

At last, Aiden hurriedly opened his skill window.

The skills he’d checked earlier were still there.

***

**-System Message**

▶ Copying ‘Skill: Qi Operation – Amplification’.

▶ Copying ‘Skill: Qi Operation – Expansion’.

▶ Copying ‘Skill: Qi Operation – Overload’.

▶ ‘Skill……

.

.

.

…He’d had this thought when skimming through the skill window before—

Noel, unexpectedly, had quite a few enhancement-type skills that could only be used once.

And just like he’d felt when using a Remnant before—skills limited to a single use were, without exception, absurdly powerful.

Up until now, Aiden had avoided even glancing at these because he needed to conserve his skill copies for the main scenario. But in a situation like this, there was no greater blessing.

“……!”

A violent surge of pure white qi burst forth, powerful enough to make it feel like his heart might explode on the spot. Even Aiden himself felt like he might pass out if he slipped up for a second.

Considering he’d once summoned Karva herself, this level of output being nearly on par with that was just absurd.

‘…This should be enough!’

So the next step was simple.

Using all the one-time enhancement skills he’d just copied, he deployed a barrier.

“…What is that?”

Someone mumbled in awe—and understandably so.

It was an enormous barrier, beyond words. Comparable in sheer size to the Remnant of the Warden of the Realm Aiden had summoned before.

And while that earlier one had been a massive feat, this time Aiden possessed an ability that could replicate a similar effect—albeit as a sort of instant version.

He infused another special ability into the barrier.

***

**-System Message**

▶ Activating ‘Skill: The Purifier’!

***

A unique ability that erased all supernatural power it touched—was now imbued into the barrier.

Mixing more than two supernatural powers was something Aiden had never attempted before. But the output of his qi, amplified sixfold, made him feel like a demi-god. It didn’t seem so difficult now.

And finally.

Against the deathly aura that mimicked the Fragment of the Demon God, Aiden collided it with a mimicry of his own—his version of the Remnant of the Warden of the Realm.

Both were imitations.

Under the same conditions—

They’d already seen which one would come out on top.

-……

-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The deathly aura, with a scream, was hurled into the sky.

***

▣

…It was over.

Watching the golden aftershocks ripple off into the distance, Aiden sighed in relief.

Exhausted, he collapsed onto the ground in a tumble.

Hm, come to think of it—he had the feeling he’d experienced this kind of free-fall landing before—

“…Hey.”

“……”

And just as he hit the ground, before he could even indulge in that bit of reflection, someone’s voice cut in.

Everyone was keeping a step’s distance from him. Clearly, no one wanted to get near Katya, who was now radiating an aura of cold fury.

“You’re tired, right? I get it. You just did something pretty terrifying.”

“……”

“But still—how about we talk for a bit?”

“……”

Honestly, if she’d just yelled, cursed, or thrown a full tantrum, it might not have been this scary.

But seeing Katya speak so calmly, with such a chilly demeanor, left him with only one clear thought.

It’s here.

Seriously.