458 CH. 478: Preparing gifts

Ray had made a habit of waking up early when she lived in the Xenos Village. Although she went from the darkness of the dungeon to the rich atmosphere of the surface world, this habit remained the same.

Today she woke up and found out she wasn't alone in her bed. Asahi was sleeping beside her. The slightest of noise would have broken her sleep but Asahi snuggled into her wings without disturbing her sleep. It was a joint effort by Klyscha and Asahi. The goddess trapped Ray in a sweet dream while Asahi suppressed all the noise with his wind element.

The result astounded Ray.

"Ray," Asahi said as he stretched his arms. "Sleep more."

Ray's ears flapped in happiness. They had yet to mate together. Still, she felt content from sharing small intimate moments.

Her worried glance went toward the other bed in the room. Sleeping in the normal-sized bed was a golden-haired fox girl. Yesterday's monster slaying took a great toll on her body. She almost passed out during her last fight. The chances of Haruhime waking up were slim. Even if Haruhime woke up, Ray's priority was giving time to Asahi.

"Master..."

Ray laid on his stretched arm and placed her wing on his bare chest, unknowingly tickling him. Asahi pinched the tip of her flabby ear before gently rubbing it. She couldn't stop her moaning. Her wing wrapped around his chest as she pushed her face into his shoulder. It helped her in keeping the sound low and not disturb Haruhime.

Asahi really wanted to push down the cute Siren but she had taken a firm stance of doing it after his marriage with Astraea. She would obviously not turn him down if he insisted.

"How did Haruhime perform?"

"Better than I expected," Ray said softly. "She almost took down the infant dragon. Her stamina and her weapon can't keep up with her… resolution to grow."

Ray almost fumbled in her endeavor to sound more profound.

"That monster is a threat for Level 2 adventurers?"

"Yes, it was strong. Her daggers couldn't pierce into the dragon's thick skin. She stabbed its eyes… then ran for her life."

Ray smiled as she looked back at the incident. Haruhime certainly had the right idea but she didn't take the dragon's sharp nose into account.

Asahi glanced at his adopted daughter with a warm look. "I'll give her a new weapon."

He had the perfect daggers to take down thick scales—the first pair of daggers he bought in the undead-ridden world. He safely kept them as a memento of his first real fight. Now his daughter would use them to rampage in the Dungeon.

"Why are you here though?"

This was an inn room in Rivera, the 18th floor and the safe zone of the dungeon. Haruhime was supposed to train around the fifth to tenth floor. Asahi wondered how they ended up here.

"Haruhime made a request to see this floor," Ray said. "I used stealth to hide. Haruhime handled the negotiations."

A young girl of demihuman origins alone on the 18th floor gathered the attention of nearly everyone on this floor. But none tried to interfere with Haruhime or belittle her, on the surface at least. They could never afford the man behind Haruhime and the Astraea Familia lest the demon king murdered them in cold blood.

"You did good," Asahi said as he patted Ray's head. She could have ignored Haruhime's request and returned home, which would be the safest option. She went out of her way to fulfill Haruhime's wish even if it meant being around people.

"Master will save me if anything happens," Ray said, unwavering belief in her eyes. "Right?"

"Of course I will."

Asahi took out the Frost Bead Daggers. The medieval khanjar style daggers looked as crisp as day one.

'One enchantment to increase sharpness, one to improve the handling, one to switch between multiple elements—'

(Stop, my love! Haruhime is just Level 1! You will spoil her with these exotic high-class enchantments.)

Asahi realized he was giving a god-class weapon to someone who just started her adventure.

'I can't be blamed when my daughter is this cute.'

Asahi settled on adding a simple enchantment to increase sharpness. Haruhime will never struggle against high defense monsters.

[Frost bead daggers (Rank B)]

Effects: Strength+10, Dexterity+15

Skills:

—Frigid Flash (Active skill): Launches an equal of seven attacks within a second.

Condition: Has a cooldown of one minute.

—Glacial Blade (Active skill): Consumes mana to coat the edge of the blade in a thin layer of frost, which causes the enemy's blood to freeze.

Condition: Depletes 3 mana points for every minute the skill is active.

—Sharp Edge (Active skill): Consumes mana to improve the sharpness of the blades.

Condition: Depletes 1 mana points for every minute the skill is active.

One enchantment raised the weapon rank from C to B. Asahi looked at Haruhime's status to see if she could fulfill the mana consumption.

[Haruhime Sanjouno Lv. 4]

Designated Title: Fox Maid]

Race: Renard

Class: -

[Attributes]

Strength: 11

Dexterity: 16

Constitution: 15

Defense: 12

Charm: 26

Magic: 25

[Skills]

[—Uchide no Kozuchi (Unique): Haruhime can buff a target through mana consumption.]

Haruhime's unique magic was showing up in her status despite the fact she never used it. It confirmed that she was born with the magic rather than obtaining it through a level up.

'Two fifty mana points won't be enough. Klyscha, give me a gold bracelet.'

Klyscha directly transferred the bracelet to his hands. The bracelet was thick with a triangular shield at its front. A small white heart was beating at the center of this shield.

'Kinda cute. Not gonna lie.'

(The heart is synced to my love's heartbeat.)

'Wait, really?'

(Yes. Since my love has so much KP, I took some liberty to make it a good bracelet.)

'You are the best.'

Asahi added his strongest mana regeneration enchantment to the bracelet.

[Guardian Bracelet (Rank S)]

Effects: Constitution +10, Defense +10, Magic +10

Skills:

—Heart Protection (Passive skill): Provides a calming effect when the user panics.

—Blessing of the Demigod (Passive skill): Triples mana regeneration.

—Magic Locker (Active skill): The item absorbs mana from the world and stores a maximum of two charges, each worth five hundred mana points.

The bracelet was perfect for Haruhime to use in a pinch. It was an S-Rank item for any mage, even better for those with lesser magic reserves.

'It will be Haruhime's gift when she reaches Level 2.'

He didn't want to spoil her into relying on items and artifacts at this stage of her growth.

As if on a cue, Haruhime sat up and rubbed her eyes.