After a short while of rest, Modret woke up very early in the morning. With a faint smile tugging at his lips, he studied his body.
He had gotten far stronger than before, with slight muscles now lining his thin frame.
At the same time, he had grown more handsome, his skin becoming fairer as though impurities had been expelled from his soft, tender flesh.
Modret subconsciously glanced at the windows not too far away, 'dawn hasn't broken?' he couldn't help but mutter.
Pondering on it a little more, he nodded in understanding, 'it should be because my strength has increased and the mana in my body has subtly raised my endurance. Hence, the little sleep I have is more than enough to be convenient.'
'This should also be the reason I've seen Mother deprived of sleep for days and still not seem affected,' Modret guessed silently in his heart, then tried to cultivate with the time he had till morning.
Gradually, time passed, and soon morning arrived. Modret quickly prepared for classes. Later in the day, he made quick work of the animals, this time using the blade since he didn't want to destroy the cage like last time.
Like this, a few days passed in a flash. Inside the stead, Modret finished making quick work of the animals Xara had hunted. After he was done, he glanced at the system panel hovering in front of his eyes.
[Gained 260 Shadow Fragments.]
[Shadow Fragments 200/1000]
[Shadow Roulette: 2]
Modret glanced through the line of words, his excitement hardly suppressible. Over time, with Xara constantly hunting rabbits, squirrels, and all sorts of little creatures, he had gradually become adept at it, with the number he captured far more than before.
Of course, Modret was overjoyed by this result, which was why his shadow fragments had increased so drastically.
Modret noticed the shadow roulette section and, just as he had guessed, it was stackable. 'This way I don't have much to worry about in the future…' Modret thought, a smile blooming on his face.
After that, he quickly gave the order, and his consciousness disappeared and appeared in the massive roulette void. Modret glanced at the spinning roulette and prayed silently in his heart, 'a good ability this time, please. There's a fifty percent chance I'll get something good, right?'
Modret couldn't help the nervousness blossoming in his heart. He waited in tense silence as the whistling sound of the rotating machine echoed in the void space.
Gradually, it came to a stop, slowly skipping over red, purple, and green. Just when Modret's heart dropped, thinking it would land on white, it tilted slightly, landing on blue.
'This thing can really give one a heart attack. Talk about drama,' Modret complained in his heart, then turned his rapt attention back to the spin, the words on the blue color gradually clearing.
'D-grade?' Modret was disappointed. 'Not much different from F-grade,' he thought internally, condemning the ability wholly. However, the system didn't care, instead displaying a line of words.
[Congratulations on receiving a D-grade ability, enhanced hearing.]
Modret subconsciously glanced at the line of words from the system. Even though he had condemned the ability, he was still curious if it could be useful.
'With this, I should be able to enhance my hearing distance,' Modret felt his mood lift slightly. It seemed the ability wasn't as useless as he expected. 'However, an S-level ability and above would have still been better.'
According to his guesses, only abilities at S-grade would the system care to give a detailed explanation on their effects, just like with his Null Fire.
'There's also the fact that they possess more than one effect… how truly useful. Please, luck, get fuckign better!' Modret thought internally, then gave the command.
"Spin!"
Immediately his voice faded, the spinning wheel, which had come to rest on the blue light, quickly picked up speed and began spinning once more, rotating for a few seconds before gradually coming to a stop.
Just like before, the wheel toyed with Modret's emotions before once again resting on the white light.
'Fuck!' Modret cursed and retreated from the mysterious space, his mood instantly turning sour. However, he tried his best not to let it show on his face.
"Go and capture more creatures tonight." Modret didn't spare Xara a glance, quickly giving the order, then turning around and walking away.
Xara was stunned, 'the lord's mood just worsened once again. Could he have a mental problem?' Xara couldn't understand how Modret's mind worked. One moment he would seem happy, the next he would become extremely irritated. He was exasperated.
However, unable to disobey Modret's orders, he could only turn around, clear the corpses of the animals not too far away, and quickly deal with them before rushing into the forest.
…
Modret arrived home and noticed his mother standing on the balcony, humming a happy tune. For a moment, the song made his dampened mood lighten slightly.
He noticed that his mother's previously worried face now held a look of joy — the same joy he had grown up with and seen all these years. At this, he couldn't help but be curious.
"Mother, did something good happen?"
Interrupted from her thoughts by her son's words, Anna raised her eyes to catch Modret staring at her with his wide, curious gaze. His blue-silver hair had loose strands trailing down his face.
She smiled sweetly and said in a low voice, "I just received good news. Go and freshen up, then we'll have a wonderful chat during dinner."
Modret glanced around and noticed a letter not too far away. He smiled faintly, guessing what the occasion might be about. Then he nodded at his mother's words and rushed inside to take his bath…
…
Time passed gradually, and seated in the dining room were Modret and his parents. This time the meal felt harmonious — the best in a while since the whole gloomy ordeal from before.
While eating, Modret couldn't suppress his excitement and asked, "Mother, what exactly is the occasion we are celebrating?"
Around him was a variety of dishes, the kind his mother only prepared on special occasions or during his birthday, which was around winter.
His mother smiled slightly, her lips curving up before she finally let the cat out of the bag.