Morning light filtered gently through the room as Nova slowly opened his eyes. Rieka was still sleeping peacefully on his chest, her soft silver hair spread across his skin and her face nuzzled comfortably against him.

After last night’s intense workout, she was completely worn out, breathing slow and steady. A familiar teasing voice echoed in his head.

{You two really went wild this time. Were you purposely trying to make me jealous~?}

A warm smile bloomed on Nova’s face. "Hmm... if this already made you jealous, I don’t know what will happen in the future."

{Oh... that’s rich coming from someone who stayed a virgin his whole life in his last one.}

Nova didn’t comment on Liya’s words any further. Instead, he gently rubbed Rieka’s beautiful silver hair as she rested peacefully against him. A soft, adorable sound escaped her lips in her sleep.

"Hmm... hmm..."

A faint smile appeared on Nova’s face before his thoughts shifted elsewhere.

"I was thinking of going to the market to sell all the loot and weapons I got from the dungeon, but now I don’t know if I should. I could always fuse them and try to make a decent weapon instead."

He fell into deep thought. At the moment, he didn’t possess a proper weapon. Although it didn’t matter much since he was more than capable of fighting barehanded, he still preferred using one.

Lately, he had grown accustomed to swords, especially longer and heavier ones like greatswords.

He also considered trying different kinds of weapons. After all, his skill, Eternal Weapon Sovereign, allowed him to master virtually any weapon in existence within an incredibly short time.

{I... was actually going to tell you this. Even if you fused those weapons, you still wouldn’t get anything particularly good. The weapons in your inventory are simply too weak, and you’d only end up wasting your single weapon fusion attempt for the day.}

{It would be much better to try your luck with the Gacha. You have a huge amount of Evolution Points now, enough to buy a large number of Gacha Keys.}

Nova considered Liya’s words and realized she was right. Wasting his precious Weapon Fusion attempt on a collection of mediocre weapons would only leave him with another mediocre weapon even if it would be a high grade one .

Therefore, he couldn’t help feeling frustrated. Such an incredible skill having a full twenty-four-hour cooldown was honestly annoying.

"Isn’t there any way to bypass the cooldown other than spending Evolution Points?" Nova asked.

{Like I said before, there isn’t any systematic way to avoid it. But... you can always try your luck with the Gacha. When I say you can get anything from it... I really mean anything.}

"Hmm..."

This time, Nova actually liked Liya’s answer. As long as there was a chance to obtain an item that could ignore cooldowns, there was still hope.

"I’ll spin the Gacha later. I still have a few things to do first. I need to return home and convince my parents to move to Frostholme.

Hopefully Father has already gone back home. And there are also those people from the capital... I still don’t know how powerful they really are."

As he finished speaking, he heard footsteps outside the room. The Beastfolk had already begun their daily routines, and the once-quiet tribe was gradually coming to life.

"Wake up. It’s morning."

Rieka slowly opened her eyes before a bright smile appeared on her face the moment she saw Nova , she got up and gave him a deep kiss on the lips.

"Get ready. We’ll be going to meet my parents today. I have something important I need to discuss with them and aslo introduce you to them.

The two of them got ready for the journey. Rieka changed into a fresh set of clothes, while Nova used a small amount of Evolution Points to purchase a new outfit from the System Store since he didn’t have any new ones.

He chose a black high-collared long coat with silver embroidery along the edges, worn over a fitted dark tunic and sturdy leather trousers.

A pair of reinforced black boots completed the outfit, giving him a simple, clean yet noble appearance that suited his personality and and made him look even more handsome.

After getting ready, Nova and Rieka headed to meet Tharuk. When they arrived at his office, they found him busy handling the countless post-battle affairs. Reports were piled across his desk as tribe warriors continuously came and went, updating him on the situation.

After a brief meeting and exchanging a few words with him, Nova and Rieka took their leave.

Now that Tharuk had officially entrusted his granddaughter to Nova, he no longer objected to Rieka leaving with him. The same, however, couldn’t be said for every Beastfolk in the tribe.

Quite a few of them still disliked the idea of Rieka traveling with a human, especially considering the history between their races.

Rieka paid them no attention.

As long as her grandfather had accepted Nova, no one else’s opinion mattered to her. Besides, she had already told Tharuk that they wouldn’t be leaving on their journey anytime soon. They would remain here for another three years before setting out to travel the world together.

Soon, Nova and Rieka arrived at the city square. Although Frostholme had just survived a devastating beast tide, the city itself had suffered almost no structural damage.

Neither the inner city nor the towering walls had been breached, making it seem as though the disaster had never happened.

However, the atmosphere was noticeably quieter than usual. Many soldiers had lost their lives during the battle, and the grief lingering in the hearts of the citizens made the bustling city feel somewhat subdued.

Walking side by side, Nova and Rieka made their way toward Frostholme’s eastern gate to hire a carriage. This time, Nova wasn’t in any hurry. Everything that needed to be done had already been completed, so he decided to travel at a normal pace.

As they passed through one of the streets, Nova’s attention was suddenly drawn to an old woman sitting quietly beside the road. She had set up a small, unusual stall and wore an oversized pointed hat along with a long black robe.

Her wrinkled face and mysterious appearance made her resemble nothing less than a fortune teller.

Curious, Nova and Rieka walked closer to take a look.

Nova secretly activated his appraisal skill, intending to see whether she was a genuine fortune teller or merely someone making a living by deceiving people.

To his surprise...She was unawakened.

Just like he had been before his own awakening, she possessed no mana whatsoever. In this world, there were indeed people who deliberately chose to remain unawakened even after reaching the age at which they could awaken.

The reasons varied from person to person.

The life of an Awakened was filled with danger. Once someone stepped onto the path of cultivation, they had to continue moving forward if they wished to surpass mortality.

It was a road paved with constant battles, life-and-death struggles, and countless hardships. Because of that, many people willingly chose to remain ordinary mortals and live peaceful lives instead.

Of course, not everyone had that choice.

There were also unfortunate people whose bodies simply weren’t compatible with mana. No matter how desperately they wished to awaken, they never could.

Coming back to the old woman sitting before her strange little stall, she noticed Nova and Rieka approaching. A warm, mysterious smile spread across her wrinkled face beneath the shadow of her oversized hat.

"Come hither, young hearts bound by fate," the old woman said in a gentle, almost enchanting voice. "Allow this humble old soul to glimpse the threads of thy destiny and unveil what the future hath woven for thee."

She let out a soft chuckle.

"Fear not... this old crone seeketh no coin. The heavens have already paid my price."

Nova found the old woman’s way of speaking rather amusing. In his previous life, he had never really enjoyed ordinary experiences like this, nor had he ever met one of those mysterious fortune tellers people often talked about.

Since the old woman wasn’t asking for any money, he didn’t see any harm in trying it.

He turned toward Rieka, she happily nodded with an excited smile, clearly interested in hearing what the old woman had to say.

"Alright then," Nova said as the two of them walked toward the small stall.

Thanks for reading...