True to his guess, Aster didn't get a wink of sleep. He simply closed his eyes, pretending to sleep, while letting the two girls snooze beside him.
During this, he learned three new things.
First, no matter how they were stuck close and tight together, thanks to his Carved Seal, they didn't feel too hot or stuffy at all.
The second is that when sleeping, Kali would curl up and grab the closest thing to her, using it like a hug pillow. Of course, that "thing" ended up becoming Aster, who was sleeping right beside her.
And third, Cassy was a restless sleeper. There were a lot of instances when her leg went over to Aster's waist, stimulating his little Johnny, giving him a time of pure agony, and presenting good training for his self-restraint.
This situation lasted for the entire night until it was around 4 a.m. when Kali stirred and woke up. As her breathing changed, Aster pretended to be asleep, closing his eyes and emulating slow, gentle breathing.
"Hmm..."
Kali didn't do much after waking up, only silently going out of bed and heading for the bathroom to wash her face.
About half an hour later, noticing that she didn't return, Aster started to move, pretending to wake up. Of course, Cassy was still fast asleep. She wasn't one to wake up too early, after all, and would naturally wake up at about five to five-thirty.
"Hnnnngh!"
Aster stretched a little before adjusting his thing, fixing its position, and walking out of the bedroom. As soon as he got out, he found Kali using the few pieces of exercise equipment he had borrowed, particularly the dumbbells, and doing a few sets with sweat covering her body.
"Oh, good morning." Aster greeted lightly, keeping his voice not too loud.
"Morning, weakling." Kali greeted him back with a frown. "I'll be playing loud music on my earbuds, so you can use the bathroom as you please. It's a natural thing, so I understand it. I won't say a thing."
"...?"
Aster was puzzled about the meaning of her words but then realized that, as a beastwoman, her senses were higher than those of a normal human like him. The same goes for her sense of smell.
Cold sweat covered his back before walking awkwardly back to the bedroom, picking a new set of clothes, and heading to the bathroom just as Kali offered. There, he finished his "job" first before taking a short shower and refreshed himself.
The morning started quite awkwardly for Aster.
---
May 11, 5:45 a.m. Sunny.
After the three finished their breakfast, they went straight to the Adventurer's Guild.
Martial Arts: Straight Punch, Side Kick
Arcane Arts: Active Temperature Control
*Passive Skills
Mana Control (low), Mana Detection (low), Mana Regeneration (low), Temperature Standardizer (EX)
* Daily Life Skills
Cooking Skill: Lv 99
Breathing Control Skill: Lv 99
Alchemy Skill: Lv 51
Gathering Skill: Lv 3
Stealth Skill: Lv 1
]
"That's... a lot."
"..."
The two, who were peeking over Aster's shoulder and seeing the displayed values on the board, were shocked. But what shocked them more was the Cooking Skill and Breathing Control Skill reaching counter stop! They were both at the maximum, Level 99!
"No wonder your cooking tasted that good," Kali muttered after returning to her senses. "Your level is at the top already."
Just as Aster guessed, a correction out of mana was applied whenever one who had the Cooking Skill completed a dish. This was the reason why his cooking suddenly got upgraded after he served them.
And with a Lv 99 correction, it was at the level where even burnt cooking would remain edible!
Aster, however, was curious about the Alchemy skill. He couldn't recall any experience with the ancient method called Alchemy, after all. 'Wait, is it related to me helping out at the lab at times?'
But that was more chemistry than alchemy, which further confused him.
Anyway, Aster took a picture of his skills using his Holo Tablet and saved it to view later. After that, they returned the Skill Tablet to Zena before heading out.
Of course, along the way, their topic didn't move from Aster's maxed-out cooking skill.