1000x Random Returns: Investing in My Crippled Demon Wives!

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Husband’s New Weapon!

[Cultivation Rank Increased!]

[Previous Rank: Peak D-Rank]

[Current Rank: Beginner C-Rank]

Lucien opened his eyes slowly to a room full of dead crystals and cores.

Hundreds of them, scattered across the floor, every single one drained completely dry.

He flexed his hand experimentally. Nothing looked dramatically different same fingers, same skin but everything felt different.

His mana veins sat wider now, circulation smoother, like water finally given a properly sized pipe to flow through. His core felt denser, more compressed and more stable while his body felt more powerful and durable compared to before.

He pulled up his status.

[Lucien]

[Race: Vampire]

[Cultivation Rank: Beginner C-Rank]

[Bloodline: Mythical — Crimson Origin Bloodline]

[Talent: Divine — Sanguine Genesis Crucible]

[Traits: Keen Smell (Lv.5), Enhanced Musculature (Lv.5)]

[Skills: Mana Sense]

[Techniques: Culinary Technique (Rare), Basic Swordplay (Uncommon), Basic Hand to hand Combat (Common), Basic Footwork (Common) .]

[Stats: —] 1

[ Strength: 310

Agility: 360

Constitution: 335

Vitality: 400

Intelligence: 340

Mana: 350 ]

He scanned the stat increases, satisfaction settling in.

’A few days ago, a Peak D-Rank fight actually worried me. Now?’ He flexed his fingers again.

’If that Alpha showed back up, I’d probably kill it before it registered the fight had started.’

’B-Rank’s still a different conversation, though maybe with Overdrive I could?’

’No! Don’t get cocky.’

As he was deliberating the bedroom door slammed open.

───

”You’re awake!”

Evelisse launched herself across the room and directly into him before he could brace for impact.

”Good morning to you too,” Lucien wheezed.

She sat back, taking in the graveyard of drained crystals surrounding him. ”...You actually cultivated all night.”

”That was the plan, so yes I did.”

”I can’t sit still for more than an hour.” She flopped dramatically onto the bed beside him. ”If there was a way to cultivate automatically, even is it was slower, I’d take it in a heartbeat.”

”That’s because you have to much energy from over eating,” Lucien said, entirely deadpan.

Evelisse gasped. ”Excuse me?”

”If you don’t cultivate, you’ll always be at the bottom,” he said, unable to hide the grin.

She considered this seriously, brow furrowed. ”...How long would I have to cultivate to actually catch up to you?”

”A lot,” Lucien admitted.

”...Then I’ll stay at the bottom,” she declared, entirely satisfied with the decision.

Lucien laughed outright. ”That’s the spirit.”

”Also I reached C-Rank,” he added.

She sat bolt upright. ”What? You were E-Rank just a week ago!”

”I’ve been busy.”

She stared at him, betrayed. ”You cannot just casually drop that on me, how am I supposed to catch up to you like this?”

”I just did and I’ll make sure you do even If I have to tie you down, so don’t worry.”

She smacked his arm, unimpressed, and rolled off the bed. ”Anyway. Are you hungry? Seraphina already made breakfast and it is delicious.”

───

Downstairs, Seraphina hummed over the stove while Aurelia stretched out a final set of cooldown movements near the window, sweat still faint on her collar from morning training.

Lucien greeted them both, a hug for Seraphina first, warm and easy, then Aurelia, who stiffened a little for half a second before relaxing into it.

They sat down to eat, and Evelisse was already three bites into a plate that shouldn’t have technically existed yet.

”Didn’t you eat already?” Lucien asked.

”I’m still hungry.”

”She had two servings before you came down,” Seraphina said, smiling.

”Your cooking is dangerous, Sera.” Evelisse said around a mouthful.

”At this rate I’ll go bankrupt feeding you,” Lucien said.

”Then become richer.”

”That’s actually sound financial advice, you should take it Lucien otherwise she’ll eat us dry.” Aurelia said, not looking up from her tea.

───

Once breakfast wound down, Lucien turned to Aurelia.

”I think I need to actually pick a weapon,” he said.

”I’ve just been using whatever’s in reach but that’s not a strategy.”

”Really, I thought you liked the sword.” Evelisse said

”I do like it, but it’s not something I want to specialize in, I feel like there are better ones that fit my battle style.”

”Oh, like what?” Seraphina asked.

”I don’t know, but why don’t we ask the expert.” He said turning to Aurelia.

Aurelia’s eyes lit up instantly.

”There’s swords, obviously,” she said, already leaning forward, ”but you should also consider greatswords for raw power, spears for reach and control, axes if you want to break through guards, polearms for battlefield control, daggers for close-quarters precision, chains for unpredictability, dual blades if you value speed over defense—”

She kept going, faster, words tumbling over each other, technical detail piling on technical detail until Lucien had genuinely lost the thread somewhere around ”reverse-grip applications.”

Then she caught herself mid-sentence.

Silence.

A faint blush crept across her cheeks. ”...Sorry.”

”Don’t apologize,” Lucien said, smiling. ”It’s cute.”

She looked away, ears going faintly red. ”Let’s just go downstairs.”

───

The underground training room had come a long way from its original state, reinforced walls humming faintly with mana arrays, a proper sparring floor, weapon racks lining one wall from floor to ceiling, training dummies stacked neatly in a corner.

”I’ve got to hand it to Borin, he really does a good job.” Lucien said looking around.

”That he does, but focus for now.” Aurelia said to him.

”Don’t choose based on what’s strongest,” Aurelia said, gesturing toward the racks. ”Choose what feels natural to you, so try everything.”

He tried the greatsword first, too heavy, dragging his stance out of position.

The spear next, good reach but restrictive, fighting his instinct to close distance rather than hold it.

An axe felt powerful but clumsy in his hands, momentum working against him instead of with him.

Daggers were too short for how he actually wanted to fight.

A bow felt interesting but entirely wrong for his temperament.

Dual blades were fast but scattered his focus exactly when he wanted it centered.

Then his eyes caught something at the very end of the rack.

He picked it up.

And something just clicked, it felt comfortable in his grip.

His stance shifted naturally around it, weight settling into a rhythm that felt less like learning and more like remembering.

His grip found its position without conscious thought, heck even blood Manipulation stirred faintly in response, like the weapon’s shape was built for exactly this kind of control.

Aurelia went quiet, watching him move through a few test motions.

”There,” she said finally.

”There what?”

”That’s your weapon.”

”Now you just need to get used to it, so what we’ll do is spar for some time, and don’t worry I will hold back, can’t be abusing my husband now can I?” She said smirking at him.

She picked up a weapon and they both headed to the sparring arena, she got into stance before she checked his cultivation out of habit.

”You’re C-Rank?” Aurelia asked, checking his cultivation with visible surprise before they began.

”Apparently.”

”You were E-Rank a few days ago.”

”I’ve been busy,” Lucien said again.

She laughed, shaking her head. ”How?”

”Trade secret.”

She studied him a moment, curiosity plain, then simply nodded. ”Fine.”

’She trusts me,’ Lucien thought, grateful and slightly guilty in equal measure.

’I can’t keep explaining every impossible improvement away with vague nonsense forever,’ He thought, watching her return to her stance.

’Eventually ’trade secret’ will stop being a satisfying answer.’

He filed the thought away for later, unresolved, and readied his new weapon.

───

”Ready?” Aurelia asked, training sword in hand.

”As I’ll ever be.”

She moved first.

Lucien barely got his blades up in time, her strike redirected off the flat with practiced ease, and before he’d even recovered his footing, she’d already closed the distance and swept his legs.

He hit the ground hard.

Aurelia beat him in fourteen seconds.

He barely registered the movement before he found himself flat on his back, her training blade resting against his throat.

”And you’re dead,” she said.

Lucien stared at the ceiling. ”...That was fast, are you sure you held back?”

”You telegraph your attacks and yes otherwise you wouldn’t even last 5 seconds.”

”I do?”

”Constantly.”

Ouch.

Round two lasted longer — he managed nearly a full ten seconds more before she read through his footwork and put him down again.

Round three, he forced her to actually work for the opening.

Round four, he landed a glancing hit against her shoulder before she disarmed him entirely.

”Better,” Aurelia said.

That single word landed harder than any compliment ever had.

They kept going for hours, round after round, Lucien slowly adapting, Aurelia relentless but patient, correcting his footing between exchanges without ever losing her rhythm.

By the end, Lucien was thoroughly exhausted, breathing hard, muscles aching in ways he hadn’t felt since the Goblin King fight.

Aurelia was still standing.

But her breathing had gone slightly uneven too.

’Small victory. I’ll take it.’

───

Eventually they collapsed onto the training floor, both breathing hard, sweat-soaked and thoroughly exhausted.

”You rely too heavily on your Blood Manipulation abilities,” Aurelia said, staring at the ceiling.

”You don’t understand proper weapon distance yet. You overcommit on openings. No defensive rhythm at all you attack, then scramble to recover instead of flowing back into guard.”

Lucien listened without arguing, absorbing every word.

”You also don’t know how to fight someone physically stronger than you,” she continued.

”Your instincts are good. Genuinely good. But instinct without experience only gets you so far.”

”Got it,” Lucien said. ”All of it.”

Aurelia glanced over, something faintly surprised in her expression. ”You’re actually listening.”

”Why wouldn’t I?”

”Most people get defensive after hearing their faults.”

”I’d rather get better.”

She studied him a moment longer. ”Good, you just started out but you also improve quickly.”

”I’ve got a good teacher who also happens to be very beautiful.”

She looked away, the faintest smile tugging at her mouth. ”...You’re getting better at compliments too.”

───

Far across the continent in another city, inside a room lined with Asura war banners, Dravik Varkhan Astrax listened to his servant’s report without expression.

”Master, this is everything we could find.” He said handing a book to Dravik.

”Lucien Aethernis registered with the Adventurer’s Guild a few days ago under the name Luc Voss,” the servant said.

”Cleared the Goblin Mine on his first attempt. Also likely obtained a high ranking Chest. A few days later her passed his D-Rank rank evaluation, defeating a Peak D-Rank simulated monster in the process.”

Draviks fingers stilled against the armrest.

”Peak D,” he repeated.

”His combat capability appears significantly higher than his registered rank suggests, also his rank increasingso fast is somethingwe still haven’t figured out.” the servant continued.

”The estate now also possesses a defensive barrier of notable strength, which is likely something he bought. Renovations were completed in an unusually short timeframe too by some dwarf named Borin. Aurelia herself hasn’t left the property since the wedding so her current condition remains unconfirmed.”

Dravik leaned back, expression unreadable.

”He was supposed to be worthless, talentless with a weak bloodline discarded even by his own family. So what is this?”

”That was our understanding,” the servant said carefully, ”but we’ve been unable to determine what changed.”

”Then someone gave him an opportunity,” Dravik said slowly, ”or he found one himself.”

He tapped one finger against the armrest, considering. ”Continue watching and investigating but don’t touch them just yet.”

The servant bowed.

”If you learn nothing more within the week,” Kaelzar added, ”send Malrith .”

───

Back at the estate, Lucien sat on the training room floor, weapon resting beside him, muscles aching pleasantly from hours of honest work.

”So?” Aurelia asked, nodding toward it.

Lucien looked down at the war scythe’s dark, curved blade, its long shaft still faintly warm from his grip.

He smiled.

”I think I found it.”

For the first time since waking up in this world, he hadn’t been handed a weapon by someone else’s decision.

He’d chosen it himself.

And somehow, that felt like the beginning of something entirely new and something he was very excited for.

Average Beginner C-Rank Stats are around 250.