The Level 30 milestone skill selection had been waiting since last night.
Rama sat in the kitchen at dawn, coffee cooling beside him, staring at the three options floating in his System interface while Sekar slept.
[MILESTONE REACHED: LEVEL 30]
[SELECT ONE SKILL:]
[OPTION 1: SOVEREIGN’S PRESENCE - RANK A][EFFECT: Passive aura that suppresses weaker enemies and slightly buffs allies. Range increases with level.]
[OPTION 2: VOID STEP - RANK S][EFFECT: Enhanced version of Shadow Step. Teleport anywhere within line of sight regardless of shadow availability. No MP cost. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]
[OPTION 3: IRON FORTRESS - RANK A][EFFECT: Temporary transformation. All defense stats triple. Movent reduced by 40%. Duration: 3 minutes. Cooldown: 30 minutes.]
Rama studied each option carefully.
Sovereign’s Presence felt like a crown—visibility, authority, inevitability.
Iron Fortress was survival, Endurance, A shield against failure.
Void Step was different.
Void Step was freedom.
He selected Void Step.
[VOID STEP - RANK S ACQUIRED]
[EFFECT: Teleport to any visible location. No MP cost. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]
[NOTE: This skill cannot be suppressed by Presence Concealnt. Use with extre caution around observers.]
The last line made Rama pause.
Void Step couldn’t be hidden. If he used it near Sekar, she’d detect it imdiately. The skill was powerful but essentially unusable in his daily life until he revealed himself.
If he used it in front of her even once, the lie would collapse instantly.
Which ant he’d need to be very careful about when and where he used it.
He dismissed the interface and picked up his coffee, now cold.
Sekar appeared in the kitchen doorway, hair loose, wearing his oversized shirt. She looked at him with careful eyes that had been carefully neutral since last night’s conversation.
"Early again," she said.
"Couldn’t sleep. Too much energy."
She moved to the coffee maker without comnt, going through the morning ritual. The silence between them wasn’t hostile, but it wasn’t comfortable either. Last night’s conversation had shifted sothing fundantal—like furniture rearranged in a familiar room.
"I want to see you train today," Sekar said without turning around.
"Sekar—"
"Not to evaluate or limit you. Just to watch." She finally turned, coffee in hand. "I’ve never actually seen you fight properly. Everything at the guild was a performance—I could tell even then. I want to see what you actually can do."
Rama considered. This was dangerous. But refusing was more dangerous.
"Okay," he said. "But no interference. No comntary about whether sothing is safe or not."
"Agreed."
They drove to a private training facility Sekar rented occasionally—a proper reinforced space designed for high-rank Hunters. Not the guild’s evaluation chamber with its surveillance systems. Just walls, floor, training equipnt, and space.
Rama changed into combat gear while Sekar settled onto a bench at the far wall, coffee thermos in hand. She looked deliberately relaxed.
He knew better.
"Just train normally," she said. "Pretend I’m not here."
Rama ward up slowly, going through the basic forms Yanto had drilled into him. Proper stances. Correct footwork. The fundantals first.
Then he moved to actual combat drills. Faster now. More aggressive. Using his real speed without holding back quite so much.
He activated [Steel Body] and worked through his defensive combinations. Activated [Phantom Strike] and ran through his attack sequences against training dummies.
He kept [Shadow Step] subtle—short teleports of two or three ters that could be explained as exceptional Agility rather than skill activation.
From the bench, Sekar watched without speaking. Her expression was neutral, but he could see her reading him with S-rank precision.
After thirty minutes, Rama stopped. "Well?"
"You’re B-rank," she said quietly. "Combat capability. Maybe B-plus." She paused. "Your registered rank is E."
"Sekar—"
"I’m not angry." Her voice was steady. "I just want to understand. The dungeon grinding explains so of it. The Forge training explains more. But there’s a quality to how you move that cos from sothing deeper." She t his eyes. "You had a breakthrough. You said that last night. What kind of breakthrough?"
Here it was. The mont required more truth.
"When I died in that C-rank dungeon," Rama said slowly, "sothing happened. Before I lost consciousness completely. It felt like sothing unlocked. My body adapted in a way I can’t fully explain." He chose each word carefully. "Like my potential ceiling just disappeared."
"A natural awakening evolution," Sekar said. "It happens. Extrely rarely, but it happens. A Hunter faces death and their body evolves to survive." She frowned. "But the growth rate is still extraordinary even for that."
"I’ve been maximizing every advantage. Every dungeon. Every training session. Constantly pushing."
"Obsessively," she corrected.
"Yes."
Sekar stood and approached him slowly. She stopped an arm’s length away and raised her hand, palm open—a Hunter’s request to sense aura.
"May I?" she asked.
Rama hesitated. If she reached out with her S-rank perception, she’d feel the System’s energy. [Presence Concealnt] should mask most of it, but Sekar was exceptional even among S-ranks.
"Okay," he said.
Her palm hovered three centiters from his chest. Her eyes closed.
The silence stretched.
Rama held himself perfectly still, keeping his breathing controlled, his heartbeat steady, his System interface fully minimized.
Sekar’s brow furrowed slightly.
A faint pressure brushed against the edges of his consciousness.
He kept his expression neutral.
Co on. Don’t find it. Don’t—
Her eyes opened.
"Dense," she said. "Your mana is unusually dense. Like multiple energy signatures compressed together." She lowered her hand. "I’ve never felt exactly that pattern before."
"Is that a problem?"
"I don’t know yet." She studied him. "Are you sure you’re telling everything important?"
The question was direct. Surgical.
"I’m telling you what I can," Rama said.
It wasn’t a yes. Wasn’t a no. She heard both.
"That’s not reassuring," she said softly.
"I know. I’m sorry."
Another long silence. Outside the training facility, Jakarta humd with morning traffic.
"D-rank dungeons," Sekar said finally. "I want to clear so with you. See you fight in a real environnt, not just training dummies."
"You’d go into D-rank dungeons with ?"
"I’d significantly suppress my abilities so you could actually participate. Yes." Her expression was careful. "Think of it as couples training."
Couples training. A way to watch him in a real combat environnt, more controlled than hiring surveillance.
Smart. Very smart.
"Sure," Rama said. "When?"
"This week. I’ll arrange it." She picked up her thermos. "And Rama? Whatever you’re not telling —and I know there’s more—I need you to know that I’m not going to break. I’m not going to cage you or lock you away. But I need you to trust with the truth eventually."
"I know."
"Do you?" She looked at him steadily. "Because I love you. And I’m trying very hard to be the kind of partner who deserves your honesty." Her voice was quiet. "I’m still figuring out how to not be overprotective. But I’m trying."
That was worse than anger.
Anger he could deflect. Suspicion he could manage.
This—this was trust offered carefully, painfully.
Rama crossed the distance and kissed her. Not the gentle reassuring kisses of recent weeks but sothing more urgent. More real.
When they separated, Sekar’s expression had shifted into sothing softer.
"Co on," she said. "I’ll buy you breakfast."
That afternoon, while Sekar was in guild etings, Rama ran three E-rank dungeons back to back.
Faster than yesterday.
Cleaner.
Less hesitation.
He used Void Step once—deep in the cave, far from any signal range.
The teleportation felt effortless.
Addictive.
[DUNGEONS CLEARED: 3]
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL 30 → 31]
[SKILL PROFICIENCY INCREASING]
[VOID STEP: RANK S - FIRST ACTIVATION COMPLETE]
He’d tested Void Step deep inside the last dungeon, far from any observers. The difference from [Shadow Step] was staggering—instant teleportation to any visible point, no shadows required, no mana cost. The cooldown of thirty seconds felt limiting until he realized most fights lasted under a minute.
It would change everything about how he fought.
His phone buzzed. ssage from Budi.
[BUDI: Training session tomorrow? I heard about the Ascended briefing. We should work on evasion patterns specifically for hostile Player combat. Different from monster fighting.]
[RAMA: What ti?]
[BUDI: 7 AM. Before your wife’s morning schedule if possible.]
[RAMA: I’ll be there.]
Rama pocketed his phone and stood at the dungeon exit portal, watching the gate close behind him. Nine days remaining. Nineteen levels to go.
The numbers were daunting. But each day he was finding new efficiencies. Better strategies. Faster clear tis.
And now with Sekar partially in his confidence—not the real secret, but enough of the truth to reduce her active investigation—he had slightly more breathing room.
Slightly.
The door wasn’t open. But it was unlocked.
[Hidden Quest Progress: 15/30]
Progress. Slow but steady.
Rama allowed himself exactly thirty seconds of satisfaction before mounting his motorcycle and heading ho to make dinner before Sekar returned.
The double life continued. But it was evolving.
In nine days, he would either outgrow the lie—
Or be crushed by it.
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