"Master, it is not easy to buy a teleportation scroll at all especially for people like us as they are very hard to come by. The reason is that these scrolls are untradeable items that can't be bought by normal families. Such items can only be seen in some big auction houses or black markets and even then they usually end up in the hands of big and powerful families."
His hopes of buying some teleportation scrolls for himself got crushed in an instant and his face revealed his disappointment clearly.
"Looks like that mage wasn't all talk. To have something like a teleportation scroll as a life saving item, he must have some powerful backing. No wonder he was such a show-off."
Zach had to acknowledge Braxton's background that he had mocked before. He had been thinking that Braxton was some little minion of some powerful force; after all, even dogs of powerful families pretended to be noble in front of normal folk in their delusions of grandeur.
"I have something to tell you as well."
Luna tried to change the topic when she sensed the gloomy atmosphere surrounding Zach.
"What is it?" Zach asked her while hungrily chewing his meat.
"I got stronger." chimed Luna excitedly.
"You did?"
"After we did 'that'…I mean…after the awakening, my power suddenly shot up without stopping. I was so surprised because the boost wasn't insignificant at all. I jumped straight from E rank to D rank."
"Is the difference between the two big?" asked Zach so he could get a grasp of the power levels of this world. This information was crucial since his survival depended on it. He had to understand the power rank to determine when to fight and when to run.
"Of course the difference is big. Even though I am an E rank mage, I could not be sure of taking on that D rank Earth Bear even if I was at my peak. Even if by some miracle, I could fight it off, it would have been because of the difference in intelligence."
Zach nodded as he burnt the information into his memory and urged her to continue.
"Even the wounds on my body all healed while I was asleep. My physical body feels stronger compared to before. My body is full of energy even though I was close to passing out from hunger before. I wonder if it is the result of the awakening or something else I did."
Luna ranted on about her newfound power as she found Zach smiling at her eyes full of pride and appreciation.
"I can reveal the answer to that mystery at least. I might not know about anything else in this world but I have an understanding as to why that happened since it has something to do with my ability." said Zach mysteriously.
Luna urged him with his eyes waiting for him to reveal the mystery of her new found strength. Her big and beautiful eyes sucked all his strength and mystique and forced him to confess the truth to her.
"You see, I have an annoying ability that makes my semen a kind of elixir to women who copulate with me or partake in my semen like you did earlier. It can enhance and upgrade the abilities and strength of those women." Zach tried to downplay his ability with his words and casual tone but Luna could barely close her mouth in astonishment.
"That is SO amazing. Wouldn't I become even stronger if I did it with you more then?" Luna looked genuinely excited as she waved her two little fists in front of her chest.
But before she could jump around in excitement, her facial expressions froze and her excitement vanished as if it had never been there in the first place. The only thing left on her now pale face was shock at what she had just said to her master.
As if she had just noticed the kind of words that had escaped her mouth, her hands shot out to cover her mouth which had widened to its extremities in surprise, and the embarrassment that followed after it.
A blood red blush crept over her face. She tried to hide her embarrassment behind her hands but the blush managed to escape the confines of her hands and crept down to her neck and revealed her deepest feelings to the world.
Fortunately, only Zach was there to witness the whole scene or there could have been a crowd of people who would have been victimized by her charm.
Zach acted as if he had not seen anything but the slight twitching of his lips indicated how hard he had been trying to hold back his laugh.
By this point Zach had completely dropped his guard in front of Luna. She had already become his slave and called him master obediently without any malice or anger towards him for forcing her into such a situation.
Anyone in her situation would have been angry or at the very least bitter for being subjected to such an injustice, but she had been nothing but obedient and affectionate towards him.
Her eyes didn't betray the slightest of malicious intent towards him and Zach had noticed it too. Her sincerity and her honesty were not hidden from him.
Therefore, despite finding the situation a bit beyond belief, Zach felt that he could trust Luna with his deepest secrets. Based on how devoted she was, she would rather die than reveal any of his secrets to outsiders.
However, Zach was not naïve enough to believe that the same condition would persist in the future. After pondering over it, he had come to a conclusion that even if Luna wanted to betray him, she couldn't. Her survival itself depended on Zach so her loyalty to him was basically guaranteed until she found an alternate means of survival.
On the other hand Luna was overwhelmed with joy because Zach had trusted her enough to tell her such a secret. If his ability were to be somehow revealed to the public, she could only imagine the consequences of such an action. Just her race alone would kill to get their hands on Zach let alone the others. The fact that Zach had entrusted her with this information made her want to jump around in jubilation.
At the same time she made a solemn vow in her heart; to live up to the trust placed in her by Zach and to be faithful to him till the end of her life.
Her resolve to take all of his secrets to her grave was strong enough that she was willing to do that even at the expense of her life.
For the time following that, Luna was lost in thought. Her eyes remained fixed at a point in space exactly in front of her and didn't waver but her expressions changed from time to time. Excitement, shock, joy and resolution all flickered on her face at one point or the other. It was as if she was debating something with herself on the inside.
Since she appeared to be deep in thought, Zach didn't disturb her and let her be alone for a while.
The rest of his meal was eaten in complete silence. The only sound around them was the crackling of the firewood and the sound of his chewing.
Once he was done with his meal, Zach put some sand into the fire pit and covered it completely to cut off the oxygen supply to the fire in order to put it out.
"I would love nothing more than to sit here and rest for a while but I have been feeling kind of uneasy since that mage escaped. There is a chance that he might bring company to get revenge. I want to be on the move before that happens. What about you? Will you be okay?" Zach was worried about her injuries from before. He was determined to carry her on his back if he had to just to leave this feeling of unease behind.
"As I told you earlier, all my wounds have healed completely after my power increased to D rank. I will do what you say, Master." Luna was still as obedient as ever and went to the cave to gather her things.
Soon the both of them were standing at the entrance of the cave along with all their packed belongings ready to go on another journey.