"It's been a long time since you pointed that at me." Noah cracked a joke when he saw June's familiar battle stance.

However, June wasn't in the mood for their usual routine of light bickering and dropped the spear as she threw herself at her lover.

"You kept me waiting," June said before diving into Noah's lips.

The two of them exchanged a long kiss, and Noah couldn't help but lift her from the floor as they continued to embrace. Noah felt her smile at that gesture. He knew that she liked it when he expressed his desire for her so openly.

June eventually tilted her head to break their kiss and pointed toward a bed in the corner of her quarters.

The two of them took their time to satisfy the emotions and urges acc.u.mulated in the past years. Then, they lay in the now messy bed in silence for a while before June left his arms and sat behind him.

Noah casually rested on her lap and let her mess with his hair. June just wanted to comb it to make fun of him at the beginning, but its metallic properties didn't make her task easy.

"I've always been meaning to ask," June said as she tried to pull one strand of hair, "Is this a rank 5 material now? I might test it in some formations. Let me get my spear real quick."

"Don't spear my hair," Noah said, turning and pulling her by her leg so that she would slide right under him.

June released a cute laugh as she let her lover pull her, but her mood changed when their eyes met, and she wrapped her arms around Noah's neck almost instinctively.

They could do that for days, just lying in bed or on a couch, exchanging a few jokes before falling prey to their desires once again. However, they both knew that they had to set a few things before relaxing and resuming their cohabitation.

"You can use that formation to escape and come to the Hive if something happens," Noah said, without moving his eyes from hers. "We can stop holding back a bit now that we are stronger."

The limits that they had decided to place on themselves to protect each other were slowly becoming pointless as their power increased.

As a rank 5 cultivator, even if Noah created a political issue, the repercussions would be different since there weren't many existences able to affect his position. Also, his figure was more than revered since he was the only real expert in the hybrids' field.

As for June, she had managed to reach the solid stage in those years, confirming her status as a genius. Reaching the last stage of the fourth rank in around fifty years was a fantastic achievement, and she had spent a long time developing her formations too.

June nodded, and the two of them sat on the bed to discuss a few essential matters before deciding how they would live from now on.

June kept her arms around Noah's neck as she questioned him about the formation, and Noah explained some of the basics behind the separate dimension. Then, he began to ask her about the strange behavior of the Elbas family.

"It should be connected to the pool retrieved from the Royal Inheritance." June said, "I can't be completely sure though. The Royals have taken it away as soon as we cleared the tower."

The truth was that Noah had partially given up on the Royal Inheritance by then. After all, it was impossible to s.n.a.t.c.h it from such a powerful organization even with the help of the separate dimension since he didn't know its exact location.

Also, the inheritance would have been under the Royals' control for more than seventy years by then. Noah would be surprised if they didn't manage to conquer it in all that time.

They focused on other topics too, and they eventually started to discuss their cultivation techniques when June questioned him about the black drawings on his waist.

"It's part of the system that I created to cultivate," Noah explained as he called the Demonic Sword that had kept itself busy as the couple enjoyed their reunion.

The sword cheered and reached for Noah, who inserted the opaque ring in its hilt and laid its base over the rune. "Breath" suddenly started to gather on his position and flow inside his dantian after the various transformations and reconstructions.

Noah was openly showing his cultivation method because there was a chance that June might gain some kind of inspiration from watching it up close.

She did understand something, but her judgment concerned the technical aspect of the technique. "You have managed to add the features of the magical beasts' world to a technique that involves the dantian. You aren't limited by your apt.i.tude anymore, and even your energy seems different."

Noah nodded at her words. He was actually surprised that she had been able to understand so much with just a quick look.

'I guess she knows me so well that she notices even the slightest change.' Noah thought, but she interrupted his reasoning with a joke.

"You need to cultivate like the rest of us now," June said as she placed her hand over the rune when Noah interrupted the cultivation technique.

"Yes. The sword must remain in this form since my individuality has created it in this way." Noah explained. "Changing it while I cultivate would just taint the resulting energy. Also, I don't see it standing there all the time."

The Demonic Sword growled as if to agree with Noah's words. It liked it when he wielded it, but being unable to fly on its own for days was still dull. Also, the pressure that it had to endure during the process wasn't negligible.

June then explained a few details behind her cultivation technique and her plans for her next breakthrough. She already had something in mind, even if the fifth rank was still at quite some distance.

The two of them then began to discuss how they would manage to live together, and the safest option was to build something in the separate dimension so that June could just use the door without risking exposing Noah.

The couple eventually went through the door, and Noah formally introduced June to the two Demons that had waited for his return next to the formation. As Flying Demon sized her up though, Noah spoke to the automaton that was in a corner with his eyes closed. "I need your help in setting a few devices so that we can know from here if June's presence is requested."

"Forget it," Thirty-seven said. "I'm too busy teaching those ignorant fools."

Noah had expected his unwillingness and took a bucket from his s.p.a.ce-ring. As he opened it, he wore a canny smile and tried to persuade him. "This is a rank 6 hybrid that has lost all its energy. This dust is useless for most experts. Yet, you might be the only one able to find a way to use it."