Chapter 722: Honeybun’s Awakening

"Yay!"

Nina nearly squealed, half-rising from her seat, before she caught sight of the other diners in the hall turning to look. She coughed, sat back down, and smoothed her expression into something composed and dignified. Externally, at least. Internally, she was still bouncing.

Moon watched her eyes go bright and slightly moist, the look of a child who’d just been granted a long-hoped-for wish, and a small smile crossed his face.

He had several reasons for accepting, and only one of them was that it would be nice to help an acquaintance.

First. Nina’s a valuable connection. Being selected twice for two of New Avalon’s most dangerous gates isn’t luck. She’s a real talent, and her family has deep roots in the Association. Getting closer to her isn’t just a favor, it’s an investment. When she grows stronger and secures a real foothold in her family’s influence, that relationship pays back many times over.

The political value alone made it worth the time.

Second. Her class is unique. The more I train with her, the more chances I have to study it, and to copy skills from it at a relaxed, unhurried pace. No pressure, where I can quietly expand my own arsenal.

Third. Nina hangs around other geniuses. Evolvers like Mara, the one I copied Minor Mend and Cleanse from during the S-Rank gate. Staying close to Nina means access to the people close to her, which means access to their classes too. Every connection she has becomes a potential source of skills for me.

Helping her train was, in truth, one of the most efficient uses of his time he could imagine. He’d sharpen a valuable ally, deepen a politically useful friendship, and quietly harvest skills from her and everyone in her orbit, all under the innocent cover of a sword lesson.

Moon did not let any of his thoughts show, simply smiling warmly and picking up his glass for a drink.

"We’ll work out a schedule. An hour or two whenever I’m back on Earth doesn’t seem bad. And forget the payment, consider it a favor between friends who survived two gates together. You can pay me back by being a good student."

Nina’s smile could have lit the entire floor.

"I will! I promise, I’ll practice everything, I won’t waste a single lesson." She leaned forward eagerly. "Thank you, Moon. Really. This means a lot."

"Don’t thank me yet. Wait until you’ve felt how brutal my training drills are. You might change your mind."

Nina laughed, and she looked completely at ease.

Their food arrived a moment later, and the two of them dug in, enjoying the comfortable dinner, the city lights of New Avalon glittering below, one of them thrilled at the mentor she’d just secured, the other quietly satisfied with an arrangement that served him in more ways than she could possibly guess.

Once the meal ended, Moon walked Nina to the orbital station and bid her farewell. The entire way there, she wore a massive smile that she made no attempt to hide, chattering happily.

After she boarded, Moon turned and made his way back home.

~Click~

The runes recognized his card, and the door opened. He stepped inside the quiet house, made his way to his room, and finally let himself sleep.

He’d been out for barely two hours when he woke up a little startled.

’Honeybun!’

He could feel the little turtle reaching for him, a faint pull from within his beast taming space, the first sign of contact since it had vanished into the River of Paths. He turned his attention internally immediately.

His eyes widened, and he hurriedly summoned the turtle. Honeybun materialized on the bed beside him.

"Honeybun. How are you? Is everything okay?"

<Yes,> Honeybun responded calmly through their connection.

Moon studied the little turtle, and immediately noticed the aura pouring off it, it was denser and heavier than before it had entered the River.

It’s at the peak of Four-Star. Already. It went into the River at Four-Star and it’s come out even stronger, just from the journey itself.

His heart hammered. The rate at which Honeybun grew was really terrifying.

<...Hungry,> Honeybun added.

"Hungry? I’ve got exactly what you need." Moon scooped the turtle up and carried it out to the courtyard, then opened his storage ring and produced one of the Surpasser-rank corpses he’d bought earlier from the Trading Center.

Honeybun didn’t stand on ceremony. It set upon the meal at once, and within ten minutes the entire Surpasser corpse was gone, devoured down to the bones. This time, the little turtle seemed extra ravenous, its jaws crunching through the bones themselves, breaking them down and swallowing them whole, leaving nothing behind at all.

"Still hungry?" Moon asked, half in awe.

<...Okay,> came the reply, which Moon took to mean yes.

He drew out the second Surpasser corpse and set it down. Honeybun worked through this one too, unhurried, though this time it left the bones untouched, apparently sated enough to be a little pickier.

Then Honeybun’s aura exploded.

Power surged out from the little turtle, its shell brightening, its presence swelling to a new height right there in the courtyard.

Moon watched, stunned, as the little turtle’s aura finally calmed down.

"You’ve already reached fifth-Star Evolver prowess." He breathed the words out. "...Just like that."

A newborn, less than a day old, born at Three-Star, and already standing at Five-Star Evolver after a single trip through the River and three Surpasser corpses, counting the Shadow Panther it devoured prior. The growth was beyond anything Moon had ever seen or imagined.

He knelt down beside the turtle, resting a hand on its warm golden shell, a wide, disbelieving grin spreading across his face.

"Honeybun," he murmured, "at this rate, you’re going to leave me behind before you’re a month old."

The little turtle simply nestled its head against his hand, content and quietly powerful, its eyes sparkling at the praise like a little puppy.

"Now, show me what you got from the river..." Moon said expectantly, rubbing his hands in excitement.