CH446

Waking up the next day, he was tight in Thera’s grasp as he let himself enjoy the feeling of a lazy morning for the first time in a week. He still had a couple of days until it was time for his test at the library and he was content to take things a bit easier until then given all he’d done, both with helping so many awaken or level their magics, as well as with the after party only the night before.

Speaking with John had done wonders for his mood, along with after when he’d spent time with the other humans he was genuinely close to in the world, talking a bit with Will and Steph and getting a laugh from watching others react to the relationship that Amy shared with Jake and Yuzu. Even if plenty had been a pain, there’d been enough fun to be had that made it worthwhile and he was content to reminisce on it as he gently stroked Thera’s head, waiting for her to get up.

“Hmm, hey,” She said, obviously groggy as she nestled in closer. “You should have woken me if you were up.”

“There’s no rush. Besides, I don’t get to see you sleep too often, gotta enjoy it while I can.”

Which reminds me, I wonder if Sonya awakening her life magic was enough to make Thera comfortable with discussing us sharing a room with her aunt. Eh, I guess I’ll mention it whenever we get back.

<You are way too passive about these things. Tell her you want to. Push. Come on, the worst she’ll need to deal with is some teasing from her aunt, it will be fine.>

I’ve already let her know I’d like to, there’s no rush. Much better to enjoy things as they are.

“Mmh, don’t say that or I’ll go back for more,” She told him, eyes still closed and making no effort to start the day. “Were you going to do more studying at the library today?”

“I’m honestly not super worried about that, there’s a chance I don’t pass for the fifth floor this time but there’s no way I don’t get the fourth. I was actually thinking we could maybe have a date day if you’d be up for it?”

That was enough to get her to open her eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

“I overheard about something that sounded pretty fun in the area and maybe we could get a meal someone else cooks for a change too?”

“Ha, tired of it after yesterday?”

“More like in need of a small break. I’ll be back to wearing myself down into a fine paste before you know it, just you wait.”

“Then I better take advantage of you while I can,” She laughed, finally starting to get up as she did. “What did you have in mind?”

“Something a little different. It should be fun, you’ll see.”

After they both got up and dressed they went off, going through the streets of the magic towers in search of a certain sight, something he’d only heard about thanks to some of his spare minds eavesdropping on the people around him as he did his reading in the library. They were going to a zoo.

“Haven’t gotten your fill of seeing dangerous, exotic animals in person?” Thera laughed. “Something’s going to escape and maul you.”

“We are absolutely not being so negative about my chances of surviving a romantic day out. Everything should be caged, there’s no way anything goes that catastrophically wrong.”

<Saying that is tempting fate.>

Not you too. You’re both going to have me jumping at shadows if you guys keep talking like that.

Of course, Thera was partially right. He’d gotten to see plenty of creatures on the world who would be more than happy to treat him as a snack, but it had always been in the context of him either hunting or being hunted, the idea of seeing some new ones in a peaceful context was exciting. He hadn’t been to a zoo since he was a kid, and the things he was going to encounter were sure to be a lot more interesting for a couple different reasons. The alien world he found himself living on for one, and the city it was located in for another. They were still in the magic towers after all, and the zoo was primarily a research area for creatures that had any form of innate ability to wield their mana.

He paid their entrance fees as they went in, arm in arm and already looking around as they spotted different enclosures, signs up front and diagrams of animals since anything in there could be a little dangerous to get too close to, even with the distance. There was always the chance of something being out of view, but that still created the opportunity to learn.

The list of exhibits seemed extensive too. Sure, there were some the two were already familiar with, like the pixy dragons and stone apes, but there were plenty they hadn’t seen before. Giant slug-like things that’s bodies would exude flames in a rocky area, leaving patches of the ground glowing as they slowly moved over them, something that looked like a small, scaled disk floating above the ground and clearly in the air affinity, and small rodents running over the surface of deep ponds, walking on the very water as they played.

This narrative has been purloined without the author’s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Not seeing any time ferrets thought,” He muttered as he looked around while Thera giggled.

“Can you imagine how much of a pain it would be to capture any of them to put on display? It looks like they don’t have anything out with a magic that could cause too much harm. Lucky you.”

“You really do believe way too strongly that I have bad luck. I think life’s been going pretty well recently if I do say so myself.”

“I literally just watched you be taken apart in a way that’s going to give me nightmares forever.”

“Ignore everything that happened in the tower, it’s not good to dwell on the past.”