Chapter 222:Small talk.
Silver woke to the feeling of warmth, more specifically, the warmth of another person pressed against his side.
For several seconds, he remained completely still, Ravenna was asleep beside him. At some point during the night, she had moved closer.
Her head rested against his shoulder, while one of her hands had somehow ended up resting against his chest.
Silver looked down at her. Her white hair was spread across the pillow, with a few strands resting against his arm. She looked peaceful, it was a strange sight considering how dangerous their journey had been.
Silver smiled. He carefully shifted his arm but Ravenna stirred.
"Mm..."
Her eyes opened slightly and met his gaze before she closed her eyes again.
"Morning."
"Morning."
Her voice was sleepy. Silver smiled.
"How was your sleep?"
"Better than expected, you’re a natural heater."
"I could warm up every time if you want."
Ravenna opened one eye.
"Really? Don’t mind the offer."
"I’ll be opened to that."
"You don’t have to sound so eager."
She closed her eye again. Silver laughed quietly.
"I suppose I was, who wouldn’t?"
"I like this, when we talk like this," she quietly said.
Silver looked down at her.
"Should I do it more often, I mean just talk, I’d like both of us to be more proactive. It feels as though we’re sort of friends but also not friends, not two people aspiring to be a couple."
"You’re right, I don’t know how to do any of this. This will be my first relationship, I don’t how to navigate anything."
"This Isn’t my first, I had a few relationships and most of them ended, early. Some were mutual while others were not. I can say most were my fault since I was too much of a workoholic and I didn’t spare much time in those relationship. I think that might be one of the reasons I’m bad at this... And I was too nonchalant about the relationships. I actuallu don’t want that, I don’t need to, I want to take our relationship, if we have any, seriously."
"Me too... okay, let’s try our best and learn each other’s interests."
Silver’s smile became wider.
"Then let’s do our best."
"Okay"
"Still angry at me?"
She pushed his shoulder lightly.
"Annoying."
He laughed.
Ravenna finally sat up, her hair slightly messy which she tried to fix with her fingers.
Silver watched her for a moment.
"You look cute."
She stopped, then narrowed her eyes.
"Don’t start."
"I’m just stating a fact."
"You’ve become more shameless."
"Maybe, but only for you."
Ravenna shook her head, but she was smiling. The tension that had existed between them when they first entered the room the previous night had noticeably faded.
There were still more things they needed to talk about and learn about each other, also things Ravenna hadn’t completely processed.
But they were no longer acting like two strangers sharing a room. They were becoming what they had been avoiding admitting.
A functioning couple.
Silver stretched before getting out of bed.
"How do you feel?"
Ravenna looked at him.
"Better."
"Emotionally?"
She nodded.
"Still confused but the talk was more helpful than I expected."
Silver looked at her. Ravenna smiled.
"Don’t make that face."
"What face?"
"That stupidly happy face."
"I can’t help it, I am happy."
She laughed.
"You’re ridiculous."
"I’ll accept that."
Ravenna climbed out of bed.
"Let’s absorb the cores before breakfast, it’s been a while."
Silver nodded.
They had several beast cores accumulated from their journey. Most were Tier Two and Tier Three cores. They had no reason to keep carrying all of them when they could strengthen themselves.
Silver took out the cores and placed them on the table. Ravenna sat opposite him. He also placed the soul Harmonization Crystal beside them, it’s glow immediately spreading around them.
"How many?"
"Enough for both of us."
He looked at the pile.
"Most of these are Tier Two."
"Then we’ll use those first."
Silver nodded.
A notification appeared.
[Shared Beast Absorption Lv1 Activated]
The moment the skill activated, Silver felt the familiar energy within the cores begin to respond.
Ravenna closed her eyes. The first core dissolved into energy and entered her body. Her breathing deepened.
Silver watched carefully.
The process was smoother. The shared skill allowed their absorption to occur with less waste. The energy flowed through their bodies.
With each absorption, their attributes gradually increased. Silver could feel his body becoming stronger. His muscles felt denser, his senses sharpened, and his soul synchronization increased.
Ravenna experienced something similar. Her breathing became slightly heavier as the accumulated energy passed through her soul.
She clenched her hands.
Silver watched.
"You okay?"
"I’m fine."
"Tell me if it hurts or becomed too much. We’ve just entered rank two, I don’t want us to hurry through it just because..."
"I will." She smiled. "You worry too much."
"That’s my job."
"Since when?"
"Since apparently tying myself to you."
Ravenna laughed.
"Now you’re joking about this."
"Better than making it more awkward than it is."
They continued.
The Tier Two cores disappeared first, then they moved to the Tier Three cores. The difference was immediate; the energy was much denser.
Silver’s body absorbed it rapidly, his soul reacting strongly and attributes climbing. The process took several minutes. Finally, the last core dissolved.
Silver exhaled.
Ravenna opened her eyes.
"Finished?"
"Yeah."
She looked at her hands.
"I feel stronger."
"You should."
Silver checked his own condition. The improvement was obvious.
The System responded.
[Shared Beast Absorption Lv1 — Complete]
[Absorption Efficiency Increased]
[Attribute Growth Detected]
Silver smiled.
Then another notification appeared. He expected a simple absorption reward; instead...
[Relationship Development Detected]
{Target Emotional State: Happiness
Target Trust: Increasing
Target Affection: Increasing
Host has successfully reassured the Target without coercion.
Relationship Synchronization has improved.}
Silver’s expression changed.
Another notification appeared.
[Reward Generated]
Skill Acquired: Soul Insight Lv1
Silver blinked.
[Soul Insight Lv1]
{Classification: Information Skill
Description: Allows the Host to perceive the basic status information of another individual.
Current Information Accessible:
Name
Rank
Soul Capacity
Soul Stability
Basic Attributes
Integrated Beasts
Basic Skills
Restrictions:
Information accuracy depends on the difference between the Host’s perception and the Target’s strength.
Powerful individuals may resist or obscure information.}
Silver stared at the notification.
"...Finally."
Ravenna looked at him.
"What?"
"Nothing," he answered automatically before he remembered to be honest.
He smiled.
"I got something useful."
She tilted her head.
"Another System reward?"
"Yes."
"Can you tell me?"
Silver hesitated. Although he had promised to be honest, his body shut down and he was unable to answer immediately.
"Later."
Ravenna gave him a suspicious look.
"Are you going back to hiding things from me."
"I apologize, I’ll tell you, most probably show you to make things easier to understand."
She sighed then stood.
"Come on."
"Breakfast?"
"Breakfast."
They packed the remaining equipment. Silver looked at the table, almost all the cores were gone, their bodies felt noticeably stronger.