"It seems like you've gone too far this time..."
Alhaitham glanced over his shoulder with an awkward expression.
The mountains behind him—completely devastated by the blast from EA—were now nothing but scorched earth. From his position, the damage extended nearly 50,000 meters in length and over 3,000 meters wide. What had once been an endless expanse of rolling mountain terrain was now a massive, smoking trench that looked like a highway carved by divine wrath. The destruction didn't end there—several deep chasms had cracked open across the ground, and the remaining forest lay flattened like paper.
It was as if a magnitude-nine earthquake had collided with a category-five tornado. Honestly, Alhaitham couldn't even remember what the original landscape looked like anymore.
"Emmm... well, although it looks like chaos, I think I did alright. No, this prince did not make a mistake—in fact, I dare say he rendered a great service to the kingdom!"
Alhaitham quickly shifted his mindset.
Sure, it looked catastrophic now, but if one viewed it from a different perspective... wasn't this essentially a newly constructed superhighway? A straight, accessible route through what was once treacherous mountain terrain.
Because of these very mountains, trade caravans in the kingdom were constantly forced to take long detours, making development slow and transportation expensive. Even the king had expressed his frustration on more than one occasion. But now? Problem solved. A single, direct path now cut through the region, dramatically lowering transport costs.
Thinking about this, Alhaitham puffed out his chest with pride.
"As expected of this prince! I've easily achieved something others have failed to do for generations. Hands on hips—ahh, ow, that hurts!"
The pain from his wounds quickly reminded him he wasn't exactly in top form. He sat down on the scorched ground, wincing as he shifted to find a semi-comfortable position.
Without a soft sofa or even grass underfoot, Alhaitham—raised in luxury—felt quite out of place here. But more importantly, to prevent his system from escaping, he had forcefully bound it using a risky technique. While he had successfully secured the system, the cost had been high: injuring both himself and it in the process. Still, he had no regrets. The gain outweighed the pain.
He would recover—eventually.
Just as he was catching his breath, a familiar sound reached his ears—hurried footsteps.
Immediately, Alhaitham sprang to his feet, brushing dust off his tattered clothes, pinching color into his pale cheeks, and smoothing down his hair.
The head can be cut off, but the hairstyle must remain perfect!
Blood can be shed, but one must never lose composure!
With hands clasped behind his back, he struck a calm and collected pose.
"Alhaitham! Are you alright?!"
"Humph, what could possibly happen to me? More importantly, it looks like the mission is complete. Good work, Alpha."
"Yes, yes, I—eh? What happened here? What happened to the terrain?!"
Alpha had rushed back, relieved to see Alhaitham standing tall and seemingly unharmed. But the moment her eyes caught the sheer scale of the destruction behind him, her jaw dropped.
The forest had been leveled.
The sky above was eerily clear.
The earth—torn open.
Just minutes ago, none of this had existed. Now, the once-majestic mountains bore massive gashes, hollowed out over thousands of meters.
"Was this... you, Alhaitham? Is this your power? This level of strength... it's beyond anything I imagined. Just how powerful are you?"
"Hmph, no need to be so shocked. This is merely the limit of what I can do for now. This body is still in a growing phase, so unfortunately, this is the best I can manage."
"T-This is your limit?!"
Alpha's hand flew to her mouth in disbelief. Her eyes sparkled as she stared up at him, full of admiration.
In the past, her affection had been born from gratitude—he had saved her in her darkest hour.
But now? This was something else entirely. Her heart raced not with relief, but awe. Pure, unfiltered admiration for overwhelming strength.
In that moment, her emotions spiraled—respect, reverence, awe—rising exponentially like a quadratic function.
"I see... I'm still not strong enough. No wonder you sent me away earlier. But I won't stay weak. I'll work harder, grow stronger—until I earn your recognition!"
"Excellent," Alhaitham replied with a rare nod of approval, reaching out to pat her on the head. "I'm looking forward to seeing that growth."
"By the way," he continued, "what exactly happened while I was out?"
"Well, I encountered an old enemy... but don't worry. As you can see—after one strike, nothing was left. Completely annihilated."
He said this with a proud smirk, as if the cataclysmic destruction had been no big deal—as if the mountains had politely stepped aside for him.
"Wow... I don't even know who your enemy was, but anyone who dares oppose you must be an idiot."
Alpha's words were sincere, her eyes shimmering with admiration—no, worship. Those stars in her gaze were dangerously close to becoming hearts.
Alhaitham noticed.
Though proud and haughty, he wasn't clueless. He could tell Alpha was in a heightened emotional state—a perfect moment, if he played it right.
[If I recall... in my past life, I read a book about this sort of thing.]
A memory sparked in his mind. Some old novel or article about influencing others through the dual impact of overwhelming power and gentle reassurance. The theory was that by first showing someone true strength, then immediately following it up with warmth, you could win their complete loyalty and admiration.
It was worth testing out.
"Alpha," he called softly, waving her over.
"Eh? What is it?"
The blonde elf walked closer, tilting her head in confusion.
Before she could react, Alhaitham stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
"Wha—?! A-Alhaitham, what are you doing?!"
Alpha's face flushed crimson in an instant.
Her bright blue eyes went wide, spinning in confusion. Her heart slammed against her ribs like a drum. Something inside her stirred—a seed of emotion she couldn't identify yet, but couldn't suppress.
Still trembling, she stopped resisting. She leaned quietly into the embrace, allowing his warmth to seep into her.
This embrace wasn't particularly strong or wide, but somehow... it felt secure.
Reassuring.
Safe.
Alhaitham (peeking through half-lidded eyes): [Looks like it's working.]
According to that old book, showing absolute power followed by gentle reassurance increased your subject's loyalty. This was similar to how a protector creates reliance in someone weaker—or a warrior shelters the innocent.
The theory seemed solid.
Metaphorically speaking, it was like the bond between father and child, savior and victim, guardian and protected.
Alhaitham: [At this rate, Alpha's loyalty should've shot up, huh? Huhu~ As expected of me.]
However, there were a couple of flaws in his execution.
First—he might have gone too far with the power display. The book only recommended showing strength, not reshaping the terrain across dozens of kilometers.
Second—the book didn't account for a few important variables.
For example, if the target was of similar age, of the opposite gender, and already emotionally attached… the result wouldn't just be loyalty and admiration.
It would blossom into something far more dangerous: infatuation.
----------------------------–-------------------------
Extra chapters available in patreon
patreon.com/Dragonscribe31