Year 11 of the simulation, Luan now has 24 years old, and Catharina 21 years old.
A year and some months have passed since they bought a house.
In the beginning, Catharina didn't seem very satisfied with the fact of having her own room.
It was when she became bolder, invading his room at night with her pillow.
"Don't you think it's better to sleep in your own room?"
She responded immediately: "No, I don't think so."
"Ohh, all right then."
After that, she rarely slept in her own room.
Now, walking hand in hand has become something common between them, as well as sleeping embraced at night.
...
Of course, they never forgot to continue hunting, and it was on a Friday when a change happened.
"I reached Lv2..." Catharina murmured, feeling the change in her body.
Besides the increase in strength, she gained a new tail, now with three beautiful white-silver tails.
Luan was happy for her, hugging her: "What great news!"
The search to reach Lv2 seemed endless. Year after year, and they were still stuck at Lv1.
Honestly, by the amount of Brugnar they hunted, it was past time for them to level up.
He moved away from her, holding her shoulders.
"I'm very happy for you, Catharina." Luan said, looking directly at her.
After a pause, he continued: "Now that you are Lv2, you must have greater control of your transformation, right?"
"Yes." She nods in agreement, adding: "But not only that. I think I unlocked an ocular ability..."
To prove it, she found a group of three Brugnar.
Looking at them advancing toward her, Catharina didn't move.
Luan saw her eyes turn to an almost blood-red tone, and then the three Brugnar froze.
"Stay still and don't move." Catharina said coldly in a commanding tone.
The Brugnar did exactly that.
'Hypnosis?'
"Luan, kill two of them." Catharina asked.
"Right."
Quickly, Luan finished off two of them that, up to the moment of their deaths, didn't move.
The last one remained still.
He waved his hand in front of the Brugnar, but nothing happened.
"Step back a bit, Luan."
Looking at her, he nodded, stepping away.
Soon she appeared in front of the Brugnar, and with a left hook, hit the Brugnar's belly hard.
"Careful!" Luan shouted, knowing the nightmare that was the explosion of these creatures.
But, contrary to what he expected, even with that, the Brugnar that fell to the ground didn't start to swell and glow from the belly.
'Wow... Even with that, Catharina's hypnosis wasn't broken?'
She stepped away, pulling him: "Let's step back a bit more."
"Break." At her command, the Brugnar on the ground started to groan in pain, writhing like a child throwing a tantrum, but then the belly started to swell and glow, and soon it exploded.
*Boom!*
What exactly had he just seen?
Wasn't that practically a walking bomb, and Catharina had control of where it would go and when it would explode?
Looking at her, he was left speechless.
"Did I scare you?" She seemed worried upon feeling his gaze.
"No, not at all. Just surprised." He admits.
"Good." She places a hand on her chest and sighs.
The last thing she wanted was to make him afraid of her.
She added cheerfully: "With this ability, I can help you reach Lv2 faster!"
Her enthusiasm was contagious.
He smiled upon hearing her: "If it's not too much trouble."
"No trouble at all." She denied: "You always helped me, now it's my turn!" She seemed spirited while gesturing with her small fist.
Chuckling softly, he didn't go against it.
He would be lying if he said he didn't wish to reach Lv2 soon. After all, he had been stuck at Lv1 for years.
...
Just as promised, Catharina helped him kill the Brugnar.
If before he could kill them easily, now it became so easy that it's almost ridiculous.
The limit of hypnotized Brugnar was 6.
It was easy to find a group with 4 or 6 Brugnar.
They normally move in pairs.
Even in larger groups, Catharina only needed to hypnotize 6 of them and force them to approach, and then Luan would finish them off.
But, after doing this with a little more than 4 dozen, Catharina started to show mental wear, even physical.
Abusing this ability too much proved to be quite exhausting.
"Let's stop here." Luan said.
"I can continue..."
"No, I don't want you to end up getting hurt because of me." Luan said: "And, you already helped me a lot. Now, let's go back and celebrate your advancement, okay?"
"... Right." She gave in.
...
After they left the dungeon, the first thing they did was go to the commercial center in the city to buy mainly fresh strawberries to make the celebration cake.
There were no eggs either, he bought some, as well as fresh milk.
After finishing the shopping, they returned.
At home, Luan said: "Take a shower first. I'll go after making the cake batter."
"Thank you." She kissed his cheek, and ran off.
A smile adorned his lips, shaking his head, he went to occupy himself.
...
Later, after taking a shower, he opened the oven.
The cake was already baked, and partially ready, only missing the decoration.
Making the filling. He hummed softly.
Not far away, in the living room that was shared with the kitchen, with only a 1m high counter as a divider, Catharina was sitting on the chair, resting her elbows on the table and the palms of her hands on her face, looking at him with an indescribable shine in her golden eyes.
'He is so charming when he is focused on something...' Catharina thought dreamily.
Involuntarily, a smile adorned her pink lips.
...
It didn't take long for the cake to be ready.
Catharina's favorite cake was chocolate with strawberry.
Luan used a wool thread to cut the cake in half and fill it with brigadeiro and strawberry, as well as he did later on the outside.
Tasting it, Catharina exclaimed: "This is living~!"
"Haha, you didn't say that." Luan laughed heartily.
"But it's true!" She emphasized.
"Yes, yes~" Luan let her be happy.
Catharina went back to eating the slice of cake with gusto.