Ashton rubbed his eyes for a bit before opening them.
He stared at the ceiling for a bit, still feeling quite drowsy. He then felt a weight pressing down on his chest and was greeted by an auburn mop of hair.
A smile wormed its way on his face as he raised his arms to wrap them around Aria, feeling snuggling closer to him as if seeking his warmth. They're wearing nothing under the sheets, limbs tangled together due to last night's passionate activities.
Ashton didn't move much because he didn't want to disturb her rest, additionally, he's feeling a bit lazy today so it wouldn't be too bad to spend some more time in bed with her.
He then heard a whirring sound coming from outside the door. He watched as the door opened slowly and quietly, Jerry's head poking in to see if anyone was awake.
Ashton let out a silent chuckle at the bot's antics. He gestured for Jerry to come in silently. The bot waddled inside, trying his best to not make as many sounds as he does.
Instead of speaking, Jerry displayed words on his monitor face, asking: 'Good Morning Master, would you like me to prepare breakfast in bed for you and Mistress?'
Ashton used sign language to reply, saying: 'That would be wonderful, Jerry. Please do. You may also proceed with your regular tasks after that, I'll take care of the rest.'
'As you wish, Master.' Jerry replied as he waddled away silently out of their room.
Once Jerry closed the door behind him, Ashton closed his eyes briefly and enjoyed the warmth he was experiencing.
'Yep, let's be idle today. I've worked hard these past couple of months, I deserve a short vacation.'
Aria shifted in his embrace, climbing a bit higher to nuzzle on the crook of his neck. Ashton smiled, he turned sideways and pulled her closer, noticing the unconscious hum of satisfaction she lets out when he did.
Ashton started showering her with kisses until she woke up. At first, Aria frowned in confusion but as her consciousness was gradually roused, she opened her eyes only to be greeted by a blinding smile from him before he proceeded with his ministrations.
Aria groaned softly but made no effort to stop him. She even found herself smiling.
"Good Morning. Jerry's preparing breakfast for us." Ashton said before kissing her again.
"'M up..." she yawned and stretched for a bit before subconsciously seeking his warmth again.
"I feel sticky..." she groused when she scanned her body. She then saw that mischievous smile on Ashton's face, causing her to immediately blush. "Don't you rogue!!"
"What!?" Ashton raised a brow, still smiling knowingly. "I didn't say anything."
"But you were thinking about it, pervert!" Aria huffed as she gently pinched him.
"Ow, Babe. Not my nipples..."
"Shut-up! I didn't pinch you there!! Oh my god!"
Ashton laughed and snuggled with her a bit. After that, he said: "Go take a bath then, I'll wait for Jerry here."
"M'kay..." Aria then slipped out of his embrace and walked toward the bathroom. She didn't even bother covering herself up.
Well, it's not like Ashton hasn't seen all of her already, what's the point of covering up now? Plus, this isn't something for her to be embarrassed about.
If she took the things Ashton tells her in bed and regularly to heart, then there's no reason for her to be ashamed of her body.
As Ashton would say; 'Your ass is so big that it's enough to feed three families. Don't be shy about it.'
And really, she quite liked the scorching gaze locked onto her body as she strutted her stuff to the bathroom. It really makes her feel appreciated.
As for Ashton himself, well...he could only smile wryly and looked down between his legs. Sensing the familiar stiffness down there, he muttered: "Oh well, good morning to you too I guess..."
Shaking his head, he sighed and unmuted the System's notifications. He remembered muting this as soon as battle yesterday was done.
He didn't feel like checking any of that yesterday since he's exhausted, but now that he's well rested, he might as well see what he got.
[Notice! Demon Prince, slain! Cleptomancy took effect! You received: Experience Ticket (10 years) x1, Blossoming Blood Origin Fruit x5, Fragments of Divine Gunslinger Soul Card x6, Demonic Crown (Prince) x1, Noble Demon Remains x10]
'Ooh, jackpot.' Ashton whistled to himself. But that wasn't the end of it.
[Strategic Demon Base; Demonic City - neutralized. Rewards: System Skill - Omnilingual. 100 years Resource Ticket (City) x1]
[Today marks the anniversary of your crusade back home. Quest Updated! Reward: Randomized Trait x1, ready to use. Do you want to spin the Trait Wheel now?]
"Oh..." Ashton blinked in surprise.
Time was starting to elude him. Due to his busy schedule, he wasn't even aware that today was the first anniversary of his being thrown out into this dangerous world.
Sighing in melancholy, he was lost in his thoughts for a bit before he eventually shook his head and gave out the order:
'Spin the Trait Wheel.'
[Spinning...]
Ashton watched as the System displayed a color-coded wheel in front of him, spinning and spinning...he waited for a bit since he was unsure if he had to give out an order for it to stop or if he could just let it do its thing.
The latter turns out to be the case. The wheel gradually spun slower until it landed in the 'Gold' section of the wheel. He was startled when he saw some confetti out of nowhere before he got the new notification...
[Congratulations! You received the 'Purity' Trait.]
Ashton frowned upon seeing that. But before he could say anything, the System flooded his vision with new notifications.
[Notice! Synergy Detected...]
[The 'Purity' Trait is resonating with your 'Right Eye of Purity'!]
'Yep, it does. I can sense it.' Ashton winced as he felt his right eye hurting, 'What does this resonance bring then?'
[A mutation occurred! 'Purity' Trait ascended! It has now become your Second Virtue!]
'What!?' Ashton was gobsmacked.
This was totally unexpected. It hasn't been long since he broke through to Warlock Rank and condensed his first Virtue which is the Virtue of Mana. He hasn't even refined that once, yet there's already a second virtue coming in? How can he not be shocked?
[Due to the Host's unique circumstances, the Virtue of Purity would be locked for now. It will be unlocked after you finished refining the Virtue of Mana 9 times.]
'I didn't even get to see what the Purity Trait could do before it was gone.' Ashton complained.
[Don't worry Host, your Right Eye of Purity remains functional. As for the synergy caused by the trait, since it has been upgraded, it'll naturally bring you more surprises. You'll eventually unlock it anyway, do your best, Host.]
Ashton sighed and made peace with that for now. Well, complaining won't really get him anywhere right now so he might as well not trouble himself with it.
After that small fiasco, the notifications gradually calmed down. Since there's no new one anymore, Ashton decided to check the harvest he got so far...
[Experience Ticket (10 years)]
Gain enlightenment for anything you have in mind. Can be used sparingly.
While in use, the perception of Time is warped. A total of ten years will pass in enlightenment while in reality, only a day passed.
'Oh damn...this will be very useful. The problem is that I have way too many things to use this item for. Which one should I choose?' Ashton mused, but he decided to not think about this for now.
[Blossoming Blood Origin Fruit]
A Nature's Heavenly Treasure that can be used to refine one's Bloodline to a higher degree.
Raises Bloodline Purity by 10%.
No consumption limitation.
'Ooh!' Ashton's eye shone. 'My Fae Bloodline's around 45% right now. I have of these so consuming all will take me to 95%? Damn! A good drop! I just need a small push before I transform into a true Fae! How exciting!'
[Divine Gunslinger Soul Card]
Use to change one's Specialization to Divine Gunslinger.
Requirements: Gunslinger Specialization and Sorcerer Rank.
'Alright! Finally got all the fragments needed to condense this thing. Sorcerer Rank huh? Well, at least I have Soul Card prepared for myself already. This saves me time.'
[Demonic Crown]
A powerful Demonic Trinket. Its uses are unknown.
'That's not helpful at all...' Ashton frowned. 'Oh well, I'll discover it eventually.'
[Noble Demon Remains]
A set of demonic trinkets that are leagues above the regular ones.
Has many uses.
Ashton just sighed upon reading this. He guessed that both he and Aria would have to explore those uses themselves instead.
[System Skill - Omnilingual]
You can understand all known languages of the Blue Planet.
Passive Skill
'I can finally understand the language used by the 'ARC's creator. Mn! This will be very useful.'
[100 years Resource Ticket (City)]
Use to receive hefty amounts of resources enough to last an entire city's consumption for 100 years.
'Ooh! Damn, okay. My pockets just got immensely fatter with this. I'll keep this one for now.'
Ashton couldn't help but feel jubilant with everything he has gotten. He never expected that he'd be rewarded this much when he decided to kill that Demon Prince and destroy the city.
All of his efforts were worth it.
"Babe..." Ashton raised a brow when he heard Aria calling for him.
"Yes, Babe?" He replied.
"Uh...I can't reach my back...can you help me?"
Ashton blinked upon hearing that. And if that familiar stiffness in between his legs returned when he realized what Aria was insinuating, then that was nobody else's business.
He closed all the notifications and walked toward the bathroom with a mischievous smile on his face.
