Sovereign of Hearts

Chapter 4

Thwack!

The sharp, rhythmic drone of the lecture was punctuated by a sudden, violent impact. Inside the hall of Class 2-Spirit, a small white projectile—a stray piece of chalk—soared through the air with the precision of a heat-seeking missile, finding its mark directly on the forehead of a young man slumped over his desk.

Leo Shaw jolted awake, his eyes snapping open as a surge of adrenaline forced him to his feet. The transition from deep slumber to total alertness was so jarring that his knees caught the underside of the heavy wooden desk, sending it flipping forward. Textbooks, pens, and loose-leaf papers cascaded across the floor in a messy symphony of clattering plastic and rustling parchment.

For a heartbeat, the room was vacuum-sealed in silence. Then, like a dam breaking, the classroom erupted.

"Hahaha! Look at him! Man's trying to fight the desk!"

"Classic Shaw. Even his dreams are full of action."

The waves of derisive laughter washed over Leo, clearing the lingering fog in his brain. He stood there, slightly breathless, feeling the dull sting on his forehead where the chalk had landed. As his vision focused, he looked toward the front of the room, and his heart sank.

Standing behind the mahogany lectern was a woman whose presence alone could command the attention of the most unruly battalion. May Lewis was the primary instructor for the Mutants & Monsters Class, a woman who looked like she had walked straight out of a high-fashion magazine and into the grim reality of a post-Spirit Revival academy. At twenty-six, she possessed a sharp, refined beauty—a perfect oval face, skin the color of cream, and dark, obsidian hair that cascaded over her shoulders in a silky curtain. Her professional attire—a sharp, charcoal-grey blazer over a white silk blouse—did little to hide a figure that turned heads in every corridor of the Spirit Martial Academy.

At this moment, however, her beauty was masked by a mask of cold, simmering fury. Her lips were set in a thin, dangerous line, and her eyes, usually bright with intelligence, were narrowed into daggers aimed directly at Leo’s heart.

"Leo Shaw!" her voice rang out, clear and melodic, yet carrying the weight of a thunderclap. "Do you find the study of survival so tedious that you’ve decided to treat my classroom as a dormitory? Or perhaps you believe that your academic standing gives you the sovereign right to do as you please?"

Leo felt a flush of heat creep up his neck. He rubbed the back of his head, looking everywhere but at her piercing gaze. "I... I’m sorry, Professor May Lewis. I just didn't get much sleep last night. It won't happen again."

"Save your excuses for the Headmaster," she snapped, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the edge of the lectern. "I have no interest in why you failed to manage your schedule. Pick up this mess, and then spend the remainder of the hour standing at the back of the room. And after class? You will report to my office. We are going to have a very long conversation about your future in this academy."

Leo sighed, a sound of pure resignation. He knelt, beginning the tedious task of gathering his scattered life from the floor. The laughter of his peers had subsided into low, mocking whispers, but he ignored them, focusing on a particularly stubborn ink pen that had rolled under a neighboring chair.

Suddenly, a pair of slender, pale hands entered his field of vision. They held three of his heavier textbooks, stacked neatly.

Leo looked up and found himself staring into the eyes of Yuna Lynch. She was the definition of "the girl next door" if that girl happened to be a burgeoning goddess. Her hair was pulled back into a practical, bouncy ponytail, and even the drab, standard-issue uniform of the Spirit Martial Academy seemed to transform into something elegant when she wore it. There was a quiet, serene kindness in her expression that felt like a cooling balm to his scorched pride.

"Here," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of the classroom’s Energy Screen. "I think these belong to you."

Leo took the books, his fingers briefly brushing hers. "Thanks, Yuna. I owe you one."

She offered him a small, encouraging smile—one that didn't hold a trace of the mockery the others had displayed—before turning back to her own notes. Leo finished gathering his things, righted his desk with a heavy thud, and retreated to the very back of the room. He stood there, back against the cold stone wall, trying to look attentive while his mind was anything but.

At the front of the room, May Lewis resumed her lecture, her voice returning to its professional, instructional cadence. She tapped a remote, and the holographic Spirit Energy Screen behind her flickered to life. Instead of the complex calculus or literature of the old world, the screen displayed a high-definition image of a terrifying organism.

It looked like a cactus, but it was bloated, pulsating with a sickly green hue, and covered in obsidian needles that looked like they were forged from tempered steel.

"This," May Lewis said, gesturing to the image, "is the Iron-Spike Cactus. It is a Tier 1 Mutated Flora, and it is one of the primary reasons why the outskirts of Forest City remain a restricted zone. Do not let its lack of mobility fool you. These needles are not merely defensive; they are projectiles. An Iron-Spike Cactus can sense the vibrations of a human footstep from over fifty yards away and launch a volley of spikes with enough kinetic force to pierce light armor."

She paused, her gaze sweeping the room to ensure everyone was taking notes. "The weakness, however, lies in its reproductive cycle. Once a cactus has depleted its primary store of spikes, the main body—the pulp—becomes extremely soft and vulnerable to fire-based Spirit Power. If you encounter a cluster in the wild, you must bait the initial volley before closing the distance."

Leo watched the screen, but the information felt distant. His mind was preoccupied with a much more pressing matter. He wasn't ignoring the lecture because he was lazy; he was ignoring it because his entire perception of reality had been hijacked five minutes ago.

What kind of broken, defective system knocks its user unconscious just to finish a boot-up sequence? Leo thought bitterly. It’s like someone tried to install a supercomputer into a toaster and the fuse blew.

Five minutes prior, while he had been peacefully daydreaming about lunch, a voice had manifested inside his skull. It wasn't a thought—it was an external auditory sensation, high-pitched and sugary-sweet.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have successfully initiated the binding process for the Goddess Affection System! Initializing synchronization... Estimated time: five minutes. To ensure a stable Neural Link, the Host’s consciousness must now enter a forced sleep state. Sweet dreams!]

And then, blackness. No transition, no warning. Just a total shutdown of his nervous system that had led to the chalk-on-forehead incident.

Leo wasn't a native of this world. In his previous life, back on a version of Earth where the laws of physics were boring and predictable, he had been known as Leo Shaw. He hadn't been a hero or a scholar. He had been a "heartbreaker"—a man who lived for the thrill of the chase. He had perfected the art of the "slow burn," winning the hearts of the most beautiful women in the city only to vanish once the mystery was gone. He never sought anything physical—at most, a chaste hand-hold or a brief embrace under a streetlamp. For him, the "game" was the reward.

His life of shallow conquests had ended abruptly on a rainy Tuesday. He had been crossing a street with his thirty-fifth "girlfriend" when a heavy freight truck, its brakes screaming and its driver ignored a red light, barreled toward them. In a rare moment of genuine selflessness, Leo had shoved the girl out of the way. The last things he remembered were the cold rain, the blinding glare of headlights, and the distorted, tear-streaked face of a girl whose heart he had been planning to break by the weekend.

When he woke up, he was in The Grand Dominion, a world that had been fundamentally altered centuries ago by the Spirit Revival. Here, the air was thick with Spirit Air, and the old world of technology had been supplanted by a hierarchy of martial prowess and elemental control. In this world, the Awakening Ceremony determined one’s fate. If you had the talent, you became a god among men. If not, you were just another gear in the machine, living in the shadow of the massive walls that kept the Mutant Beasts at bay.

He had spent a year in this new life, adapting to his new family and the rigorous curriculum of the Spirit Martial Academy. He had expected to go through his Awakening Ceremony as a normal, albeit slightly older, student. But now, on the anniversary of his arrival, the "Golden Finger" of every reincarnated soul had finally arrived.

System? Leo called out internally, testing the waters of his own mind. Are you still there, or did you crash after the chalk hit me?

Immediately, the Loli Voice chirped back, sounding disturbingly cheerful.

[Host is awake! Synchronization complete! Welcome to the Goddess Affection System. I am your personal assistant. My goal is to help you become the ultimate sovereign of this world by harnessing the power of... well, love!]

Leo's brow furrowed. Love? You mean I'm supposed to go back to being a professional flirt? I thought I’d retired from that business when I died.

[Not just a flirt, Host! By increasing the Goddess Affection Points of high-quality female targets, you will unlock rewards that will make you the strongest being in The Grand Dominion. Think of it as a mutually beneficial exchange of emotional energy and divine power!]

Suddenly, a series of glowing blue notifications flashed across his vision, invisible to everyone else in the room.

[System Binding Complete! Newbie Gift Pack detected. Would you like to open it?]

[Alert: High-tier Goddess detected in the immediate vicinity! Searching database...]

[Target identified: Sonya Sutton. Correlation: Host’s legal guardian/elder sister figure. Analyzing current Goddess Affection Points...]

[Analysis complete: Sonya Sutton’s affection for Host is currently at 100%! Logic: Pure, unconditional familial devotion and protective instinct.]

Leo blinked. Sonya,the woman who had taken him in when he first arrived in this world. She was a high-ranking officer in the West Martial Military District, a woman of iron will and incredible beauty who had treated him with nothing but kindness. Knowing she cared for him wasn't a surprise, but seeing it quantified as "100%" felt strange.

[Ding! Because Target Sonya Sutton has reached maximum affection, the Host has achieved a Hidden Milestone: "Absolute Devotion"!]

[Reward: One Random Mysterious Gift Box has been added to your Inventory!]

[Reward: One free spin on the Supreme Gacha Wheel!]

Leo felt a surge of excitement. In this world, power was everything. Without an awakened talent, he was nothing more than a refined civilian. But with a system... he could potentially bypass the biological limitations that held others back. He looked at the hovering prompts, his heart hammering against his ribs.

Open the Newbie Gift Pack, he commanded mentally.

The virtual box in his mind exploded in a shower of golden sparks and digital confetti.

[Congratulations! You have received the following items:]

1. Spirit-Forged Body (Passive Talent): Your physical constitution is now optimized for the absorption of Spirit Air. Your muscles, bones, and tendons are five times denser than a standard human's, providing natural armor and explosive strength.

2. 1,000 Spirit Stones (Low-Tier): Currency and energy source commonly used in The Grand Dominion.

3. One Spirit-Backlash Inhibitor: A rare medical grade serum that prevents energy overflow during the Awakening process.

Leo felt a sudden, subtle warmth spreading through his limbs. It wasn't a painful transformation, but rather a feeling of "completeness," as if his body had been a poorly tuned instrument that was finally brought into perfect pitch. He shifted his weight, and the floorboards beneath his boots creaked slightly more than usual. He felt heavier, more solid—like he was carved out of granite rather than flesh.

Standing at the back of the room, he looked at his hands. They looked the same, but he could feel the potential energy coiled in his forearms like a spring-loaded trap.

"Now then," May Lewis’s voice broke through his internal celebration. She had moved away from the screen and was now pacing the front of the classroom, her heels clicking sharply against the tile. "As you all know, the Awakening Ceremony for Class 2-Spirit is scheduled for next month. This is the moment where your Metahuman Potential will be measured. Some of you will walk out of that hall as future protectors of The Grand Dominion. Others will... find different paths."

She stopped pacing and turned her gaze toward the back of the room, locking eyes with Leo. There was a flicker of something in her expression—not just anger, but perhaps a touch of disappointment. "The world outside these walls is not kind to those who sleep through life. The Mutant Beasts do not care about your excuses. They do not care if you stayed up late. They only care about the taste of your blood."

The bell rang, a sharp, synthesized chime that signaled the end of the period. The tension in the room evaporated instantly as students began packing their bags, the air filling with the chatter of teenagers eager to escape the weight of the lecture.

"Class dismissed," May Lewis announced, her voice regaining its icy neutrality. "Except for Mr. Shaw. Leo, my office. Now."

Leo watched his classmates file out. Some gave him pitying looks; others, like the local Rich Kid Jack Lewis, just smirked as they walked past. Yuna Lynch lingered for a moment at the door, glancing back at him with a worried frown before she, too, was swept away by the crowd.

Leo took a deep breath, adjusting the strap of his bag. He had a system now. He had the Spirit-Forged Body. He was no longer the same "playboy" who had died under the wheels of a truck. But as he walked toward the front of the room to follow May Lewis, he couldn't help but feel that his new life was about to get significantly more complicated.

"You're coming, aren't you?" May Lewis called from the hallway, her silhouette framed by the harsh fluorescent lights of the corridor.

"Right behind you, Professor," Leo replied, a smirk playing on his lips that he couldn't quite suppress.

Inside his head, the Loli Voice giggled.

[New Mission Triggered: "Softening the Ice Queen"! Goal: Increase May Lewis's affection by 10%. Reward: 500 Goddess Affection Points and a random Secret Technique! Good luck, Host!]

Leo's smirk widened. Maybe this "Goddess System" wasn't so bad after all. Dealing with an angry, beautiful teacher? That was exactly the kind of game he knew how to play.