It took Nick a long while to console Luna, alongside having to hide his pain from his lungs.
He explained things as simply to Luna as he could, for her own sake. He left out all the things like the level of beast he went out to hunt, or how much danger he was in.
He kept the details vague, for both her sake and his own. He didn't mention the Radiant Beast. Didn't mention how close he'd come to death. Didn't mention his gains, or basically anything that had happened during the fight. Only that he joined an expedition headed by the strongest force in the Sanctuary, which should have given her some comfort knowing he was with quite literally the strongest people.
Instead, he said he'd ventured out far beyond the Sanctuary, which was the reason for him taking so long to return.
And Luna, perhaps because she didn't want to know the full truth — or perhaps some small part of her already knew — didn't ask further.
Still, the fear in her eyes hadn't gone unnoticed.
After hours of tense silence and cooled emotion, the two of them reached an unspoken understanding.
Luna, though still young, was nearing the age where independence would stop being a dream and start becoming a necessity, especially now that Nick would spend more and more time in the Beast Domain.
Less than four years remained before she turned sixteen and became an adult. School was already ramping up in preparation. Training exercises, survival camps. Observation trips visiting facilities studying beasts and beast corpses, etc.
It was only going to get worse from here.
Nick knew it. So did she.
So they agreed.
No more daily check ins — it was simply unsustainable for Nick, as sometimes it was a necessity for him to spend more than 24 hours in the Beast Domain.
No more waiting around in the apartment for each other every night. From now on, they'd check in once a week.
Maybe through simply seeing each other at home, or through messaging each other.
The days of seeing each other every morning, every evening — ever since their parents died — was over, and it needed to be over for both their sake.
It was time for Luna to grow up — mentally.
And Nick had to let her.
He couldn't keep watching over her anymore — it was just unsustainable.
There was a quiet moment after the agreement was settled.
The air between them felt… still, bittersweet.
Like they had just lost something that had always been there.
But Luna, practical as she ever was, quickly brought up one obvious problem that bothered her now that she had calmed down.
How exactly were they supposed to message each other when they couldn't meet? Nick was the only one with a comlink. And a proper, secure model like his for Luna — one that wasn't some knockoff with a half life of a week — would cost far more than their finances could afford.
Nick didn't respond at first.
He simply grinned — that irritating, smug grin older brothers always wore, when he knew something she didn't — and flicked his fingers towards the comlink on his wrist.
A screen shimmered into existence.
And there it was.
100,000 credits, on top of what he had earned from selling the Awakened White Ox and whatever else was leftover from his previous pitiful finances.
Already transferred over from Dido. Clean. Tax free, and immediately available.
The deal with Dido and her War Beasts' reward.
Nick hadn't even checked it in his haste to return home, but now that he did, the figure made him practically quiver in excitement.
And seeing Luna's gobsmacked, chin on the floor shock left him even more satisfied.
It wouldn't make him rich — not for a long shot — especially not in a world where Beast Armaments cost a fortune — but it was the kind of number that could make their living situation comfortable for a while.
And now, that meant one thing.
He'd get Luna her own comlink. A proper one. No compromises.
She'd have a way to contact him. To call for help in emergencies. To keep her independence without losing the safety that came with staying connected.
And for once… they had the money to make that choice without sacrificing something else.
'Well, that solves that problem.'
Nick leaned back into his couch, lungs still aching.
He didn't want it to bother him, since he was too busy with trying to barely make a living in the Beast Domain, but Luna's dependence on him had started to become a real problem for him.
He couldn't properly explore the Beast Domain when he was constrained for time, but now that issue was brought up and resolved, he felt much more relieved.
Now, all he had to do was just rest and relax for a bit while waiting for his lungs to fully heal.
***
It took Nick another three days before he was fully healed, back in his normal state.
Even after absorbing the life force of the Radiant Whiteclaw Snake King, his lungs were still in quite a bad state.
It could almost be said for certain that he most definitely would have been dead if he hadn't miraculously stolen the last hit on the huge Radiant beast…
Even if they had saved him and ripped him out of the huge beast's stomach before he suffocated or dissolved, he'd definitely have died from his injuries.
It was safe to say that his soul ability had once again saved him from certain death.
'How much longer do I have to keep going through this before I don't have to rely on pure luck to survive?'
He was getting rather frustrated with how he always ended up in such unfavourable situations, but there was fuck all he could do about it but accept it for what it was.
'Whatever, that's for future me to worry about. Right now I think its about time I put this new Radiant Beast Armament to the test!'
His eyes were practically shining like golden orbs when he thought about his new Beast Armament.