36 Decompress Part 1 (1/2)
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Passive Skill: Beast Master
Strengthen's beasts tamed by the user by 10%.
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The Bakunawa roared as the upper half of it's egg was shattered. It would have been quite grand if it weren't for the fact that it was only half of Maxene's size and it's ”roar” was more like a squeak. One noticeable trait was that it's maw was quite huge, it's cyan scales were quite a sight to behold. He couldn't wait for this serpent-like dragon to finally grow big enough to fit it's legendary description of ”Moon Eating Dragon.”
Just as it was beginning to ”roar” again, Maxene grabbed it with one hand, running towards the shore, while it tried to wriggle free.
”Father! Look, the little brat finally got out of his egg! He keeps roaring, like an angry baby. Ah! That's right, from now on, your name will be The Angry Bakunawa!” She declared, while petting the poor thing and rubbing it against her cheek. To be fair, the Bakunawa was most likely just trying to communicate, but it still hadn't learned how to word it's intentions despite having the capability of soul communication.
Just as Luna and Sura were exchanging looks of disbelief with their daughter's consistently horrible naming sense, he received a message from Boni.
”Bro, we've finally finished capturing most of the territories in the City, we've left the central area with the <Titan> in it for now.”
”God job, Boni. We've all earned some rest. I'm in the <Life Tree> area with Sura and Maxene, why don't you invite the rest over to the Capitol Lagoon, I heard Hana killed a Mutant Boar we could cook lechon* style.”
”You got it. Oh and Elise was wondering if Father-in... General Leman could come too.”
”Of course, have the others come if they don't have any other business to attend to.”
With that, their first ever chance to get a nice break. It was a good opportunity to decompress a bit, since everyone has been so hard at work. He also wanted to speak with General Leman whom he appointed to work with Boni to lead the troops. Not to mention, Luna himself learned much from him, he was a great teacher in the art of war indeed, incredibly skilled in defense, but can take the offensive once he saw an opportunity.
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”Spit-roasted Mutant Boar tastes so gooooood!” Boni couldn't help but enthusiastically yell. These mutant beasts were indeed more flavorful, with a lot more nourishment.
The air had a festive mood about it tonight, one of the few times thus far where people could relax a bit. While Luna was always focused on staying ahead, he knew that life needed a little bit more than just surviving. These last few weeks weren't without casualties. A few overconfident men perished when they underestimated a pack of EHZs after seeing their squad leader dispatch them so easily.
There were several bonfires with people gathered around each one. Some kids were feeding the overgrown Tilapias in the Lagoon. Fortunately, while these guys did indeed grow bigger, they didn't develop anything that would pose a threat.
As the night died down a bit, deeper conversations began setting in.
”Who would have guessed that we'd conquer the City, huh?” Yu-jin said as she took a sip of her tea.
”Some of us luckier than others, finding love in the apocalypse.” Maria and Clara, both commented while pretending to be envious of Luna and Boni.
”I think Luna one-upped us. He's a father now.” Elise couldn't help but snicker as she said that.
”Speaking of which, O' fearless leader. We've all been so busy securing our territory, we all don't know a lot about each other. So how about this, why don't we all play spin-the-bottle, and whoever gets chosen has to answer a question honestly and thoroughly. No vague answers! Of course someone has to start it off, so why don't we have Luna answer a question first?” So-hee and Seo-hyeon suggested while giving a meaningful glance towards Hana who could only blush.
Luna was quite surprised, So-hee and Seo-hyeon were both the shy types, so for them to suggest an activity was quite surprising. Little did he know that the two have always been secretly crushing on him the day he saved them, the same with Hana, but she felt respect more than anything towards Luna, but who could possibly fault a young maiden's heart for having some romantic thoughts?
The mood was quite right, the Capitol Lagoon was a popular spot for joggers and couples to go on dates prior to the new world, it also had speakers that used to play music at night. Boni and Elise made use of these speakers to play music beforehand as well. As the night got deeper they turned to more relaxing music to set the mood just right.
A song considered to be a classic, ”Huling Sayaw” was playing in the background.
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(Author's note: The song can be found here() if you're interested. The title literally means ”Last Dance.” Feel free to listen to it, if you're into having background music while you read.)
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