Chapter 51 - 52- Don’t wake her

Chapter 51: Chapter 52- Don’t wake her They left the same way they came; the force pulled them up—reaching the very end, they passed through a bright light, appearing in the dungeon. Eva’s eyelids grew heavy, Ethan’s body warmth was too comforting, and the events of today wore her out. A yawn escaped her lips, and she settled comfortably and fell asleep. Ethan felt her shallow breaths and held her close, slowing his pace to avoid waking her. Julian looked at Eva with longing, ’I’ll steal her away from her bed tonight.’ He made plans, after going through that scare, he knew Eva was very important to him—he needed to feel her breathing close to him. He wondered how he had come to this in mere days of meeting her—how did she warm her way into their suspicious hearts? He’s confident Ethan feels the same way even if he doesn’t show it. A smile crossed his lips; he didn’t regret it—this petite, naïve, meat-loving, dramatic greenhead was his. Now she had entered his heart; he wouldn’t let her go. His heart lightened as he accepted his emotions. Waiting for the space user to open the space, his fingers caught a few strands of her hair, rubbing them between his fingertips before letting go. Stone created a sign on the wall, before rushing through the warp gate. They walked out of the dungeon, and Stone couldn’t wait but moved closer to them; his expression was practically screaming for them to start talking. ’’Don’t wake her.’’ Ethan mouthed softly, and Stone nearly cried in frustration; his eyes zeroed on Julian. ’’boy, there is no use running. Have some respect for your elders. Start talking.’’ He dragged Julian towards the driver seat; Julian knew Stone couldn’t endure anymore and was about to explode. He opened the driver seat and Stone sat quickly in the passenger seat, his blue eyes boring into Julian as he buckled his seatbelt. Julian took his time starting the car, enjoying Stone’s annoyed urgency. ’’Boy, I’ll give you some of my wine stash.’’ Stone’s tone was pleading, as he readied to part with his beloved wine. Julian thought of the stolen object in his space bag and, feeling a pang of conscience, began talking. Julian started by explaining the challenges to Stone. His voice echoed in the car, drawing everyone’s attention. Julian had this feeling that the test was training him for something more than killing dungeon monsters. Stone’s expression softened as he listened to the details of their deadly test, hugging himself in relief. He was grateful to Ethan for stopping him in time—otherwise, he wouldn’t have known how he’d die. Their bus drove through the dark, quiet road, while Eva, still asleep, smacked her lips as if eating in her dreams and nuzzled Ethan’s chest. Ethan held her, using his free hands to sort out plants into his space bag. Julian reached the egg part. ’’From the guardian’s words, the egg is a contract beast in a dormant state, bounded by blood.’’ Julian frowned still baffled at the voice words. ’’What’s the contract beast for?’’ Stone urged him to continue, his body leaning forward. Julian pushed him back into his seat with his left hand. ’’I’m getting there.’’ Stone coughed into his hands, regaining his composure. He had nearly lost face being scolded by a junior. ’’The beast is the contractor’s companion to fight against behemoths. They level up as their owner level up and share their lifespan with their owners as well. That’s what the voice said but I find it puzzling.’’ He looked out in the road, ’’The monsters in the dungeon can be classified as huge but not to the extent we need a beast’s help in killing it. Or do you think the dungeon monsters had upgraded as well?’’ Julian’s words dampened everyone’s mood, except for Stone, whose eyes widened as a thought struck him. ’’Did you say behemoths?’’ his tone held urgency—Julian nodded, noticing Stone’s hand trembled from the corner of his eye. ’’This is big news, I need to report this,’’ Stone muttered. Julian wanted to ask, but Stone shook his head, mouthing ’later’, and Julian swallowed his words and sped up under Stone’s urging. In Eva’s dream, she stood in front of a huge boiling egg, she added more fire for it to boil faster as she swallowed her drool ( ̄『 ̄ ). They dropped in front of the scientist building, Stone was about to open the door but was called back by Ethan. "Inside the space bag are some rare unknown medical plants." Ethan passed the space bag to Stone for experiments. "We’ll send the bus over tomorrow," Julian said as he waved Stone bye. Reversing, they headed to the mansion. When they got back to the mansion, Julian pressed the car horn, alerting Blaine. Inside, Blaine heard the horn and used a glowing crystal to check who the visitor was. He hoped his masters were safe, he hadn’t heard from them in six days. The power failure took them by surprise; it seemed like any other day until the lights went out and technologies stopped working. He opened the gate, approached the driver, and, aided by the light, he recognized his master. He moved quickly and opened up the gates for the car to drive in. "Masters, you’re back." Blaine’s voice was filled with relief at seeing them safe. "Yes. Blaine, prepare a bath for us." Ethan instructed as he went into the mansion with Eva in his hands. Julian patted Blaine’s shoulders in greeting and walked into the mansion. Eva’s eyes fluttered open, and she blinked, yawning. "Are we back?" Her voice was thick with sleep as she asked. "Mm. Do you want to have a bath or do you want to eat first?" Ethan asked softly as he placed her down on his couch. Eva leaned weakly against the chair having no strength to move. "What’s the time?" She asked, confused by the darkness outside. Ethan’s motion of pulling off his clothes stopped. "I’ve to ask Julian for time." Julian walked in as if he summoned. He didn’t bother knocking on Ethan’s door, his goal was to carry Eva to his room. "I heard my name." Julian noticed Eva was awake and his eyes brightened. "The time," Ethan asked as he continued pulling off his clothes. Julian moved towards Eva and checked his hazy clock. "9.am." "Huh? It’s morning." Eva sat up, then remembering something, a huge golden grey clouted egg appeared in the room. "Can you help me take it to the chef to cook? I’m sharing it with both of you." Eva said generously under her speechless expression. They recognized the familiar egg. It was her contract beast.