Chefluencer by Day, Demon Hunter by Night-Chapter 31: After The Kiss, Ah, The Aura Lending

Dravin froze.

He couldn’t remember how to kiss. His eyes were still wide open, fixed on the delicate, smooth paleness of Freya’s skin.

Her lashes brushed his cheekbone. He should close his eyes too, right?

No!

This wasn’t a kiss. Freya had only... gently placed her lips against his.

He could only stand stiffly, holding his breath. Five seconds, seven—it stretched into an eternity.

Then she pulled back, opened her eyes, and smiled.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice the softest Dravin had ever heard it.

Dravin gulped and blinked. He couldn’t answer, the timer on the translucent screen showed barely a minute remaining.

"Rubby, can I chew the gum now to prolong the bubble?" he asked, his voice strained.

[You can chew it, Chef, but for blowing the bubble, you need to wait until the previous one bursts.]

"Frey—"

"You can go back first. I’ll finish this demon here."

With that, Freya instantly yanked the net she now held, leaping to stand firmly on top of it.

She then sprinted across the net at full stamina, as if her previous weakness had never existed.

Dravin couldn’t wait any longer. He ran toward the lakeshore, his foot hitting solid ground five seconds before the bubble burst.

He panted hard, leaning over with his hands on his knees.

He then turned to see Freya already perched on the hippo’s forehead, looking like she needed to hook the nets onto the demon hippo’s three horns.

Would she be okay? he murmured internally.

[Don’t worry, Chef! She looks to be in excellent condition. That net needs to encompass all three horns to pull it into the demon capsule.]

"Do you also know about her borrowing my aura using a..." Dravin’s voice trailed off.

He pressed his lips together, the memory of Freya’s soft lips meeting his replaying immediately.

[I don’t know about that. It might be a special ability stemming from the angel’s rule set itself. I haven’t found it in my database yet.]

Dravin squinted as he watched Freya still balanced on the momentarily subdued demon hippo.

His jaw dropped when a burst of blue light enveloped Freya, lifting her into the air.

The demon hippo roared, a sound of agony, before its red eyes dimmed and turned pitch black.

A small, grayish-blue capsule in Freya’s hand then seemed to suck the net, along with the collapsing demon hippo, inward.

The ten-times-larger-than-an-elephant beast shrank rapidly, vanishing into the palm-sized capsule.

Dravin scoffed. "Is that even real? A demon ten times bigger than ten elephants fits into a capsule the size of a fist?"

[Are you fascinated, Chef? That was nothing.]

"From now on, I’ve decided not to get more fascinated than this," Dravin resolved.

Freya drifted down from the air, landing elegantly beside Dravin.

Her silver ponytail swayed gently.

Sweat beaded on her temple, tracing a path down her sharp jawline before she wiped it away with the back of her hand.

Her lips pressed together as she gulped, looking utterly parched.

Wait... Stop! Why the hell am I mesmerized by her presence?

Her gaze met his. Dravin reflexively looked away, clearing his throat awkwardly despite it not being hoarse.

Seconds passed, but she kept staring at Dravin’s face, forcing him to maintain a cool façade even though his heartbeat was hammering for a reason he couldn’t name.

"What? Why are you still looking at me like that?" he finally asked.

Freya smiled. "Thank you. You were so brave. Thank you for saving me."

Dravin rubbed the back of his neck in awkward silence. "It’s fine. It’s not like you even know how I saved you, anyway."

"I know." Her voice was bright with surprise.

"How?"

"My dormant state might make me look unconscious, but my capsule records everything that happens around me. Once I regained consciousness, it flashed before me like a memory," she said with enthusiasm.

"Ah, so that’s how it works."

"I think you’re not a prick at all. How did you even use the bubble to knock down the Hippotimere? You looked so cool when you slid under it."

"Haha... Yeah... I just speculated with calculations. It wasn’t really intentional to look cool."

"I know. That’s why you looked cool." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Freya continued to smile gently, slowly making Dravin uncomfortable.

Not because it was annoying, but because it felt strange to see her act so sweet.

It stirred something unfamiliar inside him.

Did I win her heart? But why does this feel overwhelming?

In his past life, Dravin was used to socializing with many women.

Not because he was a playboy, but his job and fans often required it.

He rarely felt easily fluttered by a woman’s kindness.

Why is this different wiht her? Was it because she was so difficult to approach? So Dravin felt a sense of pride?

"By the way, are you really that weak around water?" Dravin asked, changing the subject.

The smile faded from Freya’s face. "Yeah. It’s because of my fire element. It contradicts the nature of water."

"Is that so? So you can’t be touched by water at all?"

"It’s not that I can’t. It only applies to water of this size and scale."

"So, is it just a psychological barrier?"

Silence fell. Freya’s expression was strained, as if the question made her deeply uncomfortable.

"No need to tell me more if you don’t want to," he said, trying to soothe her. "I just wanted to know for a precaution, in case we get a mission near water again."

Freya smiled. "I think it’s fine now, because I found a way to boost my power when weakened."

Dravin turned to look at her, and the image of them kissing—no, the moment their lips touched—flashed back again.

"You... you can’t just touch someone’s lips like that," he asked, his voice low. "Is there really no other way to borrow my aura besides lip contact?"

Freya fell silent, pouting and blinking as she tried to think or recall something. Her contemplative expression was so endearing that Dravin let out a small chuckle.

"To be honest, I’m not sure either. It was a spontaneous action. I just knew the fact that I could borrow your aura. But the how... that was my own improvisation."

Dravin’s face stiffened. "Are you saying you kissed me without thinking, just on instinct?"

[Ding!]

<Notification-Wealth +200,000 from completing Task #C004>

<Notification-System Progress +0.05% from completing Task #C004>