Meanwhile, Helen was already in the kitchen.
She was currently kneading dough but the moment she heard footsteps descending the stairs, Helen looked up and smiled with a knowing smile on her face.
"Is Mira still asleep?" Helen asked and Ray replied honestly.
"Yeah, she is. It was difficult to leave the room without waking her up but I'm glad I...." Ray suddenly paused mid-sentence when he realized what his mother had asked and the mistake he had made with his response.
His response had clearly admitted that he and Mira had spent the night together, which meant that there was nothing he could say now that could mean otherwise.
Still, Ray tried to clear the misunderstanding as soon as possible, before his mother believed that he and Mira had already began practicing how to become mommy and daddy.
"Mom, wait. Yes, she was in my room last night, but we didn't....."
Helen laughed softly as she noticed the worried look on her son's face. It was priceless and it was certainly an expression she wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.
"Ufufufu~ I know, honey. I'm not blind you know, but I did saw how you two were looking at each other during dinner so I expected you two to spend the night together. Anyways, I'm just glad to see you two are finally being honest with your feelings for one another." Helen winked as she continued what she was doing.
Ray smiled before sitting on the table, then his expression turned serious as he said. "Mom, I need to leave for a few days."
"What? Leave? Why?" Helen's smile faded as she turned toward her son. "Why would you want to leave the village now? You just awakened your abilities, yesterday."
"Yes, I know mom but I heard there's a dungeon north of here, about fifty kilometers away from here. It's a small dungeon but I believe it should have gold and treasure."
Hearing this, Helen set down her dough before approaching her son with a worried look on her face. "Ray, dungeons are dangerous and you said you're still at level 3 right? Don't you think..."
"I'll be fine Mom, I know what I'm doing."
Ray had told them during dinner of how he was already a level 3 awakened fighter, but Helen knew that such level was still too low for anyone to venture out into dungeons alone, hence why she was worried right now.
"How could you possibly know what you're...?"
"Mom. Trust me, please." Ray looked at her directly and Helen studied his face.
She had always reminded herself never to stand between her children and their goals but hearing that Ray wanted to leave the village to get stronger, it just doesn't make sense to her.
If he simply wanted strength, couldn't he had just venture into the nearby forest, just like he did yesterday?
'Oh wait, Ray said he wants to find gold and treasure in a dungeon.' Helen uttered in her thoughts
'But why?'
Helen couldn't understand why.
Yes, she knew they weren't rich per say but they've always been happy as a family together, so wasn't that more important than anything else?
Helen thought to herself but since she was still puzzled by all these, Helen turned toward her son and asked. "Why do you need gold so badly?"
"I'm sure you know the Baron would be coming here soon for taxes."
"Yeah, but he always asks for grain and food."
"True, but what if those things are not enough? And even if they are, there are still a lot of things in our lives that needs changing, like our clothes and in this house as well." Ray gestured at all the old furniture and utensils in the kitchen and house in general.
Listening to what her son had just said, Helen was now certain that Ray wanted to venture out of the village with the mindset of improving their standard of living.
Since Ray was a young man who had recently confessed his feelings to the woman he loved, it wouldn't be surprising to see him, trying to do anything to ensure a happy and better future for the two of them and his family in general.
In other words, it was a common objective for awakened individuals like Ray, to have.
In more simpler terms, it was more like a phase so many awakened individuals had gone through in their lives, and Ray just happened to be one of them right now.
Acknowledging this fact, Helen sighed softly before crossing the room to hug her son. "It's alright honey. I understand now."
"Thank you mom."
"You're welcome dear, but please, be careful. I already lost your father a year ago. I can't lose you too."
Ray hugged her tightly in return. "You won't. I promise."
Helen smiled and the two remained like that before sitting down to have breakfast together.
After breakfast, Ray headed straight to the village center.
Thornsville was a small village but it had a general store run by an old man named Marcus.
Marcus sells supplies such as ropes, torches, dried meat and simple tools.
He was also a really good friend of Ray's late father and Marcus was the one who had informed Ray of the death of his family during his first timeline.
Ray waved the unpleasant memories away before pushing the store door open.
A bell chimed and Marcus looked up from behind his counter to see Ray walking into his store.
Marcus was currently in his sixties, so he had a bald head and a thick gray colored beard. "Ray! Hey! Welcome. Words spreading across the village of how you had awakened yesterday. Congratulations lad."
"Thanks Marcus."
"So, what do you need?"
"I need supplies."
"You going hunting?"
"Something like that." Ray replied before purchasing a rope, ten torches, a week's worth of dried meat and bread, along with a waterskin and a small salve.
Everything cost him about two silver coins but luckily for him he was able to have such amount with him, thanks to the goblin parts he had sold yesterday.
Marcus wrapped everything in a worn leather pack before asking. "So, how long do you plan to be gone?"
"Just a few days."
"Alright kid." Marcus nodded understandably. "But be careful out there cause there's been rumors that the Forest's been dangerous in recent days."
"Dangerous? Dangerous how?"
"Farmers have been spotting more monsters than usual. So you better watch your six whenever you are out adventuring on your own."
"Thank you Marcus, I will." Ray thanked him before stepping out of the store.