Chapter 113: Divine-Grade Beast Gene

Shani was dumbfounded. ’Jeryon’s New Path is the Main Mission? So I can only upgrade my beast gene after Jeryon successfully becomes Nova City’s overlord?!’

Shani could only laugh bitterly to herself.

Jeryon had barely managed to complete his very first milestone, while the second milestone wasn’t even set to take place until next semester, and his success was far from guaranteed.

Even after clearing the second milestone, who knew how many more milestones lay ahead after that?

Aster, having finished cleaning up the kitchen, noticed how Shani’s bright expression gradually darkened.

"What happened, Shan?" he asked with concern.

Shani seemed jolted out of her thoughts. She turned to Aster and shook her head. "My resting face is just a little terrifying."

Though Aster knew she wasn’t being truthful, he didn’t press the matter. He sat down on the sofa, preparing to resume their resonance session.

Shani, meanwhile, drifted back into her own thoughts as she looked at him.

’Could Aster trigger a Main Mission for me that can be completed faster?’ Shani wondered in wishful thinking.

’Missions triggered by Jeryon are already so scarce and unpredictable as it is. Whatever, I should just focus on what I have right now.’

Her gaze shifted back to Aster, who was staring at her expectantly, making Shani feel a wave of guilt for ignoring the eager young man.

"Aster, have you ever checked your beast gene?" Shani asked, shifting into a comfortable sitting position in front of the egg.

Aster shook his head. "Not really, but it’s probably just a sparrow gene. My grandfather on my father’s side was an Ash Sparrow beastman."

"Your grandfather? Did your late parents never test their genes?" Shani knew this was common practice among ordinary folks, yet she was still surprised.

Aster nodded. "My parents, my brother, my sister-in-law, my niece and nephew... none of them have ever tested their genes."

Shani nodded along thoughtfully. ’No wonder Aster has no idea that his original gene is the Ironclaw Bear, which means one of his parents wasn’t even a native of Zephyria’

’It also makes sense why nobody in his family ever realized they were carrying a Divine-Grade gene. They literally never tested for it.’

But this was actually great news for Shani. If anyone grew suspicious of Aster’s beast gene down the line, the excuse was simple: ’They never knew what his true gene was to begin with.’

"Then you should definitely get your beast gene tested. You’ll need it for your graduation certificate from Vipera anyway, won’t you?" Shani said quickly.

If their future baby beast ended up inheriting Aster’s beast gene, Aster wouldn’t be completely blindsided by an unfamiliar gene.

"Graduation is still a long way off, Shan," Aster demurred.

In truth, he felt insecure, assuming he was merely a common-grade beastman, a stark contrast to Shani’s previous partner, who was an emperor-grade beastman.

"What if you get busy later? You should take care of things you can handle right now," Shani replied firmly.

Aster bit his lower lip, a bit anxious. But seeing Shani’s uncompromising stare, he finally nodded. "I’ll go get it checked on Monday."

They then began their morning resonance session. Shani did her best to guide Aster to stay relaxed.

She could feel that the egg’s progress this time was significantly slower than during her resonance sessions with Jeryon.

And sure enough, an hour later, Shani could only force a strained smile upon seeing the hatching speed reported by the System.

[Baby Beast Progress: 1.5% (Egg Phase). Progress Speed: 1.5%/hour. Baby Beast Gene: Unidentified. Regulation Process: Stable.]

With a progress speed that slow, even tripling it couldn’t match Nyx’s hatching pace back then.

It would likely take well over two weeks for the egg to hatch. At least their regulation process was still considered stable, despite Aster being a complete beginner.

Shani refocused on the resonance session until two hours later, at ten in the morning, when they stopped because Aster had a two-hour class to attend.

Aster still had classes on Saturdays because their weekday schedule wasn’t as packed as other campuses.

While Aster attended his online lecture in his bedroom, Shani retreated to her own room to call Jeryon, wanting to check in on her little panther.

But instead, what she found were several missed calls from Elias.

"Why is that old man calling me?" she muttered to herself before dialing the instructor back.

The call was answered on the very first ring. From the other end came a barrage of furious shouting.

"Where are you?! Why are you skipping practice?!"

Shani rubbed her temples, feeling an instant headache coming on at the sound of Elias’s booming voice.

"Sir, I already asked for your permission yesterday," Shani replied, trying her best to keep her tone polite.

"Yesterday? That was leave for yesterday! Get back here right now! Stop making excuses!" Elias barked, leaving no room for argument.

He was even already preparing to hang up, still muttering complaints under his breath.

"Sir, I’m currently regulating my egg with my partner. I can’t come back this weekend," Shani blurted out before he could cut the line.

"Jeryon hasn’t gone anywhere—" Elias snapped, before catching himself as he realized the partner Shani was talking about was someone else entirely.

Shani had already informed Rowena about Aster. At the time, Rowena had stated that, as her instructor, she disapproved.

However, she was willing to allow Shani to use one of her baby beast slots for a partner she didn’t approve of, provided Shani obtained her permission for any remaining slots.

Rowena’s disapproval came down to Aster’s low rank and gene grade.

She urged Shani to consider whether she might meet someone else down the road with a similar rank whom she would prefer as a partner, because, as her instructor, Rowena was granting her only this single exception.

Of course, Shani had no intention of choosing low-ranked partners on a whim. Aster was the sole exception, now and forever.

Shani wanted her egg with Aster to hatch as quickly as possible, which was why she had no intention of returning to the academy just yet.

"Sir, I brought the suit’s gloves with me. I’ll practice during breaks, while eating, right after I wake up, and before I go to sleep. I’ll train seriously!" Shani promised earnestly.

Elias scoffed and grumbled something Shani couldn’t quite catch. But from his reaction, she realized Rowena hadn’t told Elias about her resonance with Aster.

Truthfully, Shani felt a wave of gratitude toward Rowena, her instructor never overstepped or acted without asking for her consent first, even when she had every justification to do so.

From the other end, Elias’s reluctant voice came through. "You better be training seriously. I’ll be checking your progress this Monday!"

Shani could hear the clear threat in his voice. If she made even a single mistake, Elias would berate her to pieces come Monday.

She could only force a polite smile and bid him farewell to end the call.

Just before the line went dead, she caught Elias’s voice speaking to someone in the room with him: "You’ve been betrayed, Jeryon."

Thump! An instant wave of guilt flooded Shani’s heart.

’Is Jeryon with Instructor Theron right now?’ Shani wondered, though no one was in the empty room to answer her.

She had intended to tell Jeryon yesterday, but unexpectedly lost her temper with him and forgot.

She felt uncomfortable breaking the news over a text or phone call, so she had planned to tell him in person on Monday morning when she returned to the academy.

She never expected Jeryon to find out in the absolute worst way possible.

Shani took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. ’I’ll face it when the time comes.’

She turned her focus back to finding a way to accelerate her essence training.

’If there aren’t any potions that can help me, at least there must be a book, right?’ she asked the System hopefully.

Fortunately, the System confirmed there was. After purchasing the book, Shani dove into reading while practicing with complete devotion.

At noon, when Aster’s class ended, the young man didn’t disturb Shani while she was deep in focus.

He went straight to the kitchen to boil the noodles he had made yesterday afternoon before storing them in the fridge.

He wasn’t a stranger to cooking, though he didn’t know many recipes.

Since moving into the apartment with a fully equipped kitchen, and driven by a desire to save money, he had begun looking up recipes online and cooking for himself.

Shani stepped out of her room when the savory aroma of soup caught her attention, causing her stomach to rumble.

As she walked into the living area, she was greeted by a rather amusing sight. The apron Aster was wearing didn’t make him look like a chef, it made him look more like a handyman.

His bulging muscles and dead-serious expression made it seem like he was lifting heavy barbells rather than holding a pot of hot soup.

"Smells amazing! It looks like it’s going to taste great," Shani commented, walking over to the kitchen rack to grab utensils for both of them.

Standing just a short distance from Aster, her eyes landed directly on his defined arms.

The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself, "I never knew muscles could make a man look so handsome."

...