Decompress (Part 1)
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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 its 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 its 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 its 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 its 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
"Good job, Boni. We've all earned some rest. I'm in the
"You got it. Oh, 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.
***
"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" which translated to "Last Dance," was playing the acoustic version in the background.
"Uh, I guess. Who's gonna ask first?" Luna decided to go along with it after seeing how eager everyone was. Besides, this was also a good opportunity to get to know everybody on a much deeper level.
Maxene seemed curious as well, so she listened in while laying her head on World Destroyer. Spot snuggled beside her, while Emergency Food was staring at the roasted Mutant Boar as if he was foreshadowing his own demise before Sura beckoned him to come over as she pets his head to relax him a bit. Emergency Food gave her a look of gratitude as he nuzzled her hand. Angry Bakunawa was off to the side, taunting the Tilapias, right below him, there were empty bottles of booze.
"If I may." Hana raised her hand before continuing. "Luna-sama, how were you prior to the apocalypse? How did it influence you in being the one to achieve all these firsts during the new world? I remember when everything started, we were so scared to even peek outside at first, but you actually went outside to start grinding mobs, it's hard to believe and yet, what the
Luna took a moment to collect his thought before responding.
"Having Sura definitely made it easier. As a matter of fact, Boni and I might have died that same night when we had what would be considered an extremely rare encounter at that time with a regular evolved zombie that same night." Luna shot an appreciative look towards Sura who was still petting Emergency Food's head.
"I highly doubt that. You were calm regardless."
Luna smiled before he continued. "Maybe it was the fact that the spawned zombies dispersed after death, which made it easier to accept for me. What lead me to go out and hunt that night, was my experience with MMORPGs, to be honest, I wasn't sure if I was just dreaming, but I went with it. In any new MMORPG launch, hardcore guilds would usually reserve a week or a month to play the game. The most hardcore of people would play the first 24 hours straight, to get way ahead. But one person alone can only do so much, which is why prior to a game starting, they would recruit like-minded people. As long as they stay ahead and monopolize important resources, in our case being the first territory conquering rewards, there won't be that many that are able to take us on, unless we're severely outnumbered. I rushed to become strong, because unlike Hana, Maria, Clara, Sura, I have no extensive battle experience. I dabbled with the Guandao the most, dabbled a bit with dual-wielding a Katana and a Wakizashi and some Kali, but that's about it, I had to make up for that gap somehow. Mastering a weapon takes time, but it can be done slowly while leveling fast by killing zombies. Once I found out about the
Luna took a sip of Life Tree water before continuing.
"As to why I could adapt so fast, it is because I've been adapting all my life to sudden situations. Adapting when my parents died in an accident when I was young, adapting when my relatives who were once so friendly towards my family suddenly turned on me, adapting when they schemed to take my inheritance from me, even adapting by taking even more precautions when they tried to have me killed."
"Yet you trusted us?" Elise asked as a follow-up question.
"You have that man beside you to thank." Luna smiled.
"This fatty?" Elise asked as she pointed towards Boni.
"Hey hey hey, I'm skibby. Or was, anyway." Boni defended himself.
"Skibby?" Hana asked, confused.
"Yeah, the middle ground between skinny and chubby. Although I am light-years more fit than before, want me to take my armor off?"
"We should let Luna finish his story," Elise said as she kneaded her temples as if suffering from a headache.
"Yes, I'd like to preserve my virgin eyes," Apple said, as Mabini beside her couldn't help but guffaw.
Luna laughed along with them before continuing. "Well, as one might guess, the deception didn't end with my relatives. When people know you have money, they pretend to be your friend to take advantage of you. One day, while I was hanging out with said fake friends, I pretended to confess that I was going to lose everything even asked for money to rent an apartment to make it convincing. At first, they were all concerned, telling me that they'll always be there for me, but gradually, pretending to be friends without anything to gain from me became too much for them to keep up, so they chose to gradually ignore me. Even the women who showed interest in and almost started to fall for, ignored me. Except for the Bonmeister, of course, he called them out on being hypocrites in front of the whole College. Hahahaha! It was a glorious day."
"Ah... yes, that was one of my most embarrassing moments. They were furious too, being called out as fakes like that. People who know they're fake convince themselves that they aren't, so when you call them out on it, they become even more defensive and offended. But hey! Now you have Sura! Speaking of which, are you two... official?" Boni recounted his experience with a red face. Elise held on to his arm even tighter, appreciating this straightforward man even more.
"One question at a time, cheater. At least now I have all of you, life and death brothers and sisters as well." Luna vaguely answered Boni's question and ended his answer on that note.
"Thank you for answering honestly and thoroughly, Luna-sama." Hana smiled in a way that captivated all the other soldiers who were listening in.
Luna then spun the bottle as it landed on Hana.
One of the soldiers in Boni's regiment couldn't help it as he stood up, bowed, and said "Hana-chan! Are you single? Please answer thoroughly!"
Boni suddenly appeared beside him and smacked him back down. "CHAN my glorious rear end! Don't get too familiar! It's Luna bro's turn to ask!"
"Sorry!" The poor soldier was embarrassed while his squad mates couldn't help but laugh.
Luna thought for a second and couldn't think of a good question, so he asked something more open-ended. "I'd like to know everything you're willing to tell us. Your life before the new world your goals, hopes, and dreams."
Hana was quite surprised at the question, as she thought deeply. Truth be told, not even Yu-jin and the rest knew all that much about her, but with how honest Luna had been with her question, she knew she had to do the same.