Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Things developed at an extremely quick rate.

From the moment the front row of Makary men engaged the imperials, the fate of the battle was pretty much decided.

With a single Maglev effectively holding back the princess, the other two could take their time and abuse the hell out of their sensors, quickly building up a complex and detailed picture of the ongoing events.

An advantage that Makary, and a few of his direct subordinates, exploited to its limits.

The first advance of the mercenaries cleared out most of the enemies within the circle of Fay's kin. And upon further push into the very gaps the imperials were pouring from, the whole situation changed.

According to Makary's orders, his men were to establish several reinforced firing nests, from where they could rain an even heavier fire upon the horde of the enemies. Yet, as soon as a series of few quick bursts dug massive holes in the enemy line before Makary's men could advance into the freed space and even start digging in…

The imperial advance collapsed.

The overcrowding of the battle right at the edge of the woods and a small clearing made it hard for most of either force to have any idea of what was happening elsewhere, beyond just their direct scope of view.

And yet, mere minutes after the first wave joined the battle, the imperials started to run.

Between the massive headcount and rapidly rising number of losses, the cohesion of the imperial front began to break. Accelerated by one of the soldiers suddenly screaming out, then by bloodied and clearly tired Etaria appearing only to call for a retreat herself…

In the end, before Makary's men could start to entrench their position for a prolonged fight, the battle seemingly came to an end.

***

"We should press them right now," Makary argued, slamming his hands into the table.

He was just a human. Solidly built and properly nurtured, but still a human.

Not an ascended being like me, boasting the strength massively boosted by my system.

And yet, when he slammed his hands into the holodesk, the entire commanding truck shook.

Still…

"Fuck, just give us a moment!" I whined out, reeling on my knees, holding my head upright only by the grace of resting against the edge of the same holotable.

Right now, I really needed a moment. And if it was just me, I could somehow grit my teeth and maybe just let things pass…

But for my own personal benefit, I simply couldn't allow the things to continue as they were.

[Battle Log:

- Average attribute level of the kill: 1.9 Participation: 10%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 3.7 Participation: 10%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 6.2 Participation: 10%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 5 Participation: 10%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 2.4 Participation: 10%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 2.2 Participation: 10%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 3 Participation: 10%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 11.2 Participation: 10%

- Average attribute level of the kill: 3.9 Participation: 10%

…

…

…

]

This wasn't the first time for me to see this screen today. But right now, the surge of energy that continued to feed into my soul's core was simply too massive to calmly take it all in.

Breathing heavily, I continued to ignore Makary's aggressive pleas.

'I need to calm down!'

Because the worst part of it all was that with our bond at all time highest and the sudden surge of power…

I wasn't the only one suffering from the effects of the rapid growth.

No longer able to stand, Fay rested her head on my shoulder, desperately clinging to my neck to keep herself up. Her heavy, strained breaths hit me squarely in the chest. The labored way in which Fay's body moved with each of her breaths was like the beats of a curse's heart, constantly reminding me of my failure to keep her safe and protected.

In my bid to grow stronger in the face of supremes starting to appear on the scene, I asked Makary for one, simple favor.

To speak on the open channel and give everyone a simple command to attack.

An order that changed absolutely nothing, for it didn't involve the designated time or target. A mere rabble that clotted the channel that should be used for other, much more urgent communication.

It was the very middle of a heated battle with massive numbers of actors, after all!

And now, even though my participation from each kill grew to the bare minimum, the flood of energy that rushed to reinforce my core as I grew…

It was simply too strong, and too diverse to fit in my system. And just like many times before, especially when combined with my level-up spoils from all the battling that happened thus far…

I've reached the limit of how much free world energy I could store at the periphery of my soul, keeping it for when I could make a better educated guess on which stats to maximize.

On its own, it was nothing new for me. An ordeal I was willing to face for my warped desire to protect Fay from everything in existence, no matter how far that would force me to go.

But, when Fay ended up ushering in the torturous cost of my growth, the equation of priorities flipped over.

Sadly, it was too late. And my best bet was to rein in the overwhelming sense of drowning in the suffocating field of aura and fucking do something about it!

'Come on!'

I internally screamed as I called my system forth. Losing the grip on the table's edge, I fell down on all fours, only reaching out to keep Fay from falling down to the ground at the very last moment.

"Wait, man, what's wrong?!"

Only now overcoming his commander's fervor, Makary rushed around the desk to our side.

[Level 142] > [Level 154]

[Total Experience: 192]

[Level: 154] > [Level 250]

[Usable points: 0] > [Usable points: 56]

[Aura: 136] > [Aura: 246]

The first twelve levels came from all the blood I've spilled myself ever since the last time I took a serious look at my system. The latter came from all the experience I've gained from giving out just a single command before a bloody carnage followed.

And with how I would only gain a single attribute point every two levels, solely thanks to multikill achievement, that should be the end of it.

But as things turned out, my system ended up being a bit more complex than I gave it credit for.

[Achievement!

- To battle!

- Have those whom you've ordered bring down at least a hundred foes in the next five minutes

- Commanding Proficiency Unlocked]

[Achievement!

- To war!

- Have those whom you've ordered bring down at least four hundred foes in the next five minutes

- Commanding Proficiency: Advanced]

[Commanding Proficiency: 0] > [Commanding proficiency: 523]

[Advancing Commanding Proficiency]

[Abbreviating the skill]

[Advanced Commanding Proficiency: 523] > [ACP: 52.3]

[Granting bonus attribute points: 52]

[Usable points: 56] > [Usable points 112]

It took me a moment to grasp the meaning of all the changes.

There existed a logic behind all of those numbers, even if I could only try to guess or feel it. But I really wasn't in a state to think all of that through. What was important right now, was to distribute all this free world's aura before it would drown the two of us!

'No time for caution, huh?' I thought, before taking a deep breath…

And willing to a simple set of changes.

[Level: 250]

[Strength: 20] > [Strength: 40]

[Agility: 20] > [Agility: 40]

[Wisdom: 20] > [Wisdom: 40]

[Intelligence: 20] > [Intelligence: 40]

[Endurance: 20] > [Endurance: 40]

[Aura: 246] > [Aura 258]

[Usable points: 112] > [Usable points: 0]

All at once, the world's energy swarming every nook and cranny of the space around me… vanished.

As if it instantly seeped out through the gaps in the fabric of space, the overwhelming pressure simply vanished.

From keeling over and feeling as if I was about to vomit my lungs and heart out, I suddenly felt an entirely new world of vitality explode in every fiber of my being.

Fay's body all tensed up, making her climb up on my chest a tiny bit. She pushed her hips forward, sliding them up my thigh, before arching her back and shooting her head to the back.

Fay's fingers dug into the flesh of my back, tearing the cloth of my shirt as if it were a soap bubble.

But her breathing… relaxed.

It grew warmer, softer, and longer… As Fay breathed out, all the tension from before vanished without a trace as she powerlessly left herself in the hold of my arms.

"Haaa…."

Blinking my eyes, I chased away the darkness that covered my vision, finally able to steady my breathing and calm down a bit.

"Man, are you okay?!" Makary cried out, reaching out for my shoulders… only to hold his arms just an inch away with a look of extreme concern on his face.

Suddenly fished out of my dreamy, relaxed state, I plunged out of the lazy world of calming down the extreme side-effect of rapid leveling up… and right back into the extremely bad timing for when it happened.

"Cease all fighting, right now," I spoke out on a half breath, overwhelmed by yet another wave, this time of an existential dread.

I've just overcome a damn stressful and draining experience. And from what I could tell, Fay somehow had it even worse. Maybe it was due to this tribulation being her first? Or maybe she was more delicate than me in general?

Whatever the case and reason, I couldn't care less.

But what I knew for sure, was that I had no intention of subjecting her to the horror of yet another rebirth. And now that my attributes pretty much filled up the new limits I've gained since my last rebirth…

Its next, third instance loomed like a sword of Damocles over my head.

But as much as I hated the idea of going through it with Fay… Given my current state and the risk of growing any stronger, could I ever make Makary follow my orders if he decided not to?

"Who do you think will build up all the wealth and power we will gain in this world?!"

Desperate to stop any further killing from happening, I somehow managed to iron out an idea in the single instant of the heated moment.

'The influence of my increased wisdom?' I thought with an honest dose of irony while staring back into Makary's eyes.

"What?" Taken aback by the sudden switch of the topic, Makary physically backed out, giving me some more room to cradle Fay up my chest and stand up.

"The moment we start bringing more and more people over, everything will go belly up. We need locals to build our power in this world. And where else do you want to get the manpower to build anything here if not by making them surrender rather than killing them all?"

I gritted my teeth while using the holotable's edge to raise up properly while making sure Fay stayed securely within the hold of my arm.

"Every imperial we kill here is one less free pair of war captive hands for us to make use of!"