Max was pretty happy with the progress, so he gestured for Charlotte to swear the oath. Fortunately, she was a decisive person and didn't waste any time.
"I, Charlotte Sinclair, swear an oath to keep Maxwell's secret—that which he will tell me until my death—completely hidden from everyone. Nobody will know of it through me in any kind of way. I will also not use his secrets against him. In exchange, he will owe me one and will help me once in the future when I ask him to. He can also reject it if he wants to!"
Five seconds after she stopped talking, crimson sparks of light formed around her before solidifying into a small red line. The line then entered her forehead and disappeared, showing that the oath was made.
Max also didn't waste any time and did the same.
"I, Maxwell Corelhelm, swear an oath to help Charlotte Sinclair in case she asks me in the future with all of my abilities. I will only refuse if I have a strong reason to do so."
There were loopholes in both of their statements and they realised it too, but nobody pointed them out as they knew the purpose for the oaths was fulfilled.
Max then looked at Stelle, who just stood there with a blank look on her face. He asked, "What happened to you?"
"I'm just trying to repeat her words," Stelle said as she scratched her cheeks. In the end, she just threw her hands back and declared,
"I, Stelle Sinclair, swear an oath to keep Maxwell's secrets with me till I die and will never use his secrets against him."
Charlotte facepalmed and muttered, "This girl...."
"You gotta look after her for future oaths," Max said, suppressing his laughter. "Anyway, my secret is this."
In his mind, he asked Kafka for leveling up. A warm current once again washed over him, strengthening every fibre and cell of his body.
The power system he made was inspired by Xianxia Cultivation realms, and in it, the Bronze Rank was equivalent to the Body Strengthening Realm.
Without the help of the leveling system or the labyrinth system, others would have to go through the cultivation process, which would have definitely taken longer.
As he opened his eyes and sighed in bliss, he found Charlotte standing there with her jaw almost on the ground. She tried to say something, but words choked in her mouth.
"What the hell? How did you level up on the spot?" Stelle, unable to contain her shock, asked. "How is that possible?"
"Pretty simple. I can just kill the monsters and get their Mana directly instead of sitting around and fighting their remnants to level up," Max said, giving her a wink.
"No way!" Stelle realised something as she asked. "That's why you wanted to kill every monster! Shit!"
She quickly jumped to his side and held his hand, looking at him with a puppy face, "Big Bro Max, can you help me with it too? I also want it!"
"I would have, but it's something even I don't understand," Max said, as he looked away so as not to get carried away by her cute face. "But I will still help you level up when I become strong myself."
"Ohh!" Stelle was clearly disappointed, but she had expected this outcome, so she said, "Then, I can just help you level up quickly and then you can help me with other things."
"Sounds good to me. That's why I wanted us to become a permanent team," Max said. "We can grow to be the strongest with each other's help."
"Yayy! I'll help you kill that Silver Rank boss so you'll instantly level up a few times," Stelle said, but then asked, "Or am I getting things wrong?"
"No, you're right. I don't need to fight any remnants, so I can just take mana directly without any worries."
"I'm not gonna lie, I personally would have kept that secret to my grave," Charlotte said, finally getting over her shock. "Why do you trust us so much?"
"If I trusted you that much, I wouldn't have asked you to swear an oath," Max said as he turned around. "Let's go! We have a lot of work. Up ahead, people will soon discover the skeleton army's strength, so we don't have much time."
Watching his back retreating in the tunnel along with Stelle, Charlotte frowned and thought, 'This changes a lot of things. He regressed and is also loved by the Labyrinth System... wait! Is the Labyrinth System related to all of this?'
That certainly meant there would be a massive change in the world. The Labyrinth System was a neutral entity that brought both destruction and opportunities with it, so now that it was favouring someone, it certainly meant something big was going to happen.
'Now, I have the chance here. He will bring those changes and I can either witness them by staying away or by being with him.'
A smile formed on her lips as she thought, 'I guess it's time to gamble. A gamble I will not lose!'
All of a sudden, she noticed a detail she had forgotten, so she shouted, "Hey, did you say Corelhelm?"
"Yeah, I'm a bastard of the Royal Family, one of many actually, so don't worry about it," Max said without even turning back. "Let's focus on our future and that brings me to the point: what is our Cohort's name?"
'A bastard, huh. Things are beginning to get interesting. Maxwell Corelhelm, since you have trusted us, I will also trust you and put my bet on you.'
Max ignored Charlotte, knowing very well that she must be thinking of lots of things. After all, she was the clan's future head and her actions had to be in line with that position.
'Now, this will let me level up without any worries, and I can also get that Boss's kill. Hehe,' Max thought, and his smile just grew bigger when he noticed a pair of skeletons running towards them.
A pair of Level 7, Undead Marcus Soldiers.