Chapter 527: End Of The Hunt [2]
Chapter 527: End Of The Hunt [2]
[Name: Moon]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Classless, Cryomancer]
[Level: 39] [6%]
[Lives: 128,993] [Super Lives: 0]
[Strength: 158] [Agility: 218] [Constitution: 180] [Mana: 260] (+20 to all stats)
[Attribute Points: 10]
During his hunting on the floating island, Moon had managed to level up once. The system rewarded him with the usual increase of one point across all attributes.
"I have ten attribute points for emergencies." Moon muttered to himself. "I need to put them into the right attribute when the moment requires it. No point committing them now when I don’t know what tomorrow demands."
His spiritual energy from the recent kills had also been slowly filling his tenth acupoint as he fought. The accumulated kills from the Three-Star beasts had pushed the new acupoint to roughly three quarters full, a big improvement for his hours of work.
His combat prowess had risen accordingly. From forty acupoints to forty-one. A comfortable pace, especially given how recently he had finished threading Cryomancy into the foundation.
"I’m still too weak to deal with Ascenders." Moon thought, his expression growing distant for a moment. "But time doesn’t allow me to do anything else right now. I should head back."
With his hunting time used up, Moon turned Mirage around and rode back to the renovated underground hideout. He dismissed his cursed beasts back into the wilderness to hunt as they pleased, gave the fox a final pat on the head, and approached the portal.
The portal surface swallowed him as he stepped through.
♢♢♢♢
He emerged back on Earth.
The two portal guards, Liam and Dean, were immediately visible standing exactly where he had left them. The relief on their faces was almost comical. Both men had clearly spent the past few hours in a state of mounting anxiety, their careers and possibly their lives resting on whether Moon would actually keep his word and return on schedule.
When they saw him step out of the portal, both visibly relaxed. Dean’s shoulders dropped at least three inches.
"Thank you for returning on time, sir." Liam said, bowing his head slightly. The relief in his voice was unmistakable.
Moon smiled at them. He understood the position he had put them in, and he respected the calm they had maintained throughout the night despite the obvious stress.
He pulled out the standard portal fee for entry and exit and handed it to each of them personally, a gesture of respect that went well beyond what the situation required.
"Thanks for not making this difficult." He said simply.
Then he left the facility and made his way home through the early morning streets.
♢♢♢♢
When he arrived back at the house, the warm smell of breakfast already filled the air.
Selene and Yara were seated at the dining table, plates already partly emptied in front of them. They looked up as he walked in. Yara’s face changed immediately, a wide, knowing grin that she made no effort to hide.
Selene’s face went red the moment she saw him.
She tried to look anywhere except at his face. The events of the previous night, the kiss, her panicked retreat, the burning embarrassment of running away like a startled chicken, all of it came rushing back. Her hand reached for her glass, then changed direction halfway and reached for her fork instead, then settled awkwardly back into her lap.
She took a slow breath, forcing her self to stay composed.
"Good morning." Selene’s voice came out almost normal. "I, um. I tried to wake you earlier. You didn’t answer. I went into your room to check on you and you weren’t there. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have just gone in without asking. I was worried."
Moon shook his head and walked over to the table. He pulled out a chair across from her, but before he sat down, he reached over and gently patted the top of her head.
"Good morning, you two. Also, don’t worry about it. You can just go in next time."
Selene froze under his touch. Her face turned a darker shade of red.
Yara had to actively bite her lip to keep from laughing.
Moon settled into his seat and reached for an empty plate.
"I was out training in the Second Sanctuary. Killed a few beasts. Picked up some lives and managed to level up once."
Selene’s eyes widened.
"You did that?" Her embarrassment was momentarily forgotten, replaced by surprise. "Why didn’t you tell me? I would have come with you. I should have done that too!"
Moon shook his head as he served himself.
"You don’t need to overwork yourself. It didn’t help much anyway. The spiritual energy I gained was minor, and the lives weren’t anything special until the last hour. Most of what I got was just material I can sell. You needed the sleep more than you needed the extra training."
Selene’s mouth opened to argue, then closed slowly.
He had a point. The area where she was placed, the benefits were diminishing returns at her current level. The risk of pushing too hard the night before a major tournament stage outweighed the small gains she would have made.
She picked up her fork again and resumed eating, though her eyes flicked to him occasionally with a softer expression than before.
Yara watched both of them with a patient, satisfied smile. Like she was excited to sit at the front-row seats to a slow-developing romance and intended to enjoy every minute of it.
After they finished eating, Yara once again offered to do the dishes. Before waiting for their approval she began to take them out with a soft grin on her face as if a masterful sneaky plan was brewing in her mind.
Moon stared at her with narrowed eyes, watching Yara round the corner and disappear from his view before returning his gaze to Selene.
"Today is an important day."
Selene nodded, "I know."
"You don’t know." Moon shook his head, "I need you to be very careful. Things will get rough."
"W-What do you mean?" Selene’s became as red as a tomato. Her mind going to places it had no business going to.