She decided not to sleep, and instead sat up to cultivate her ability.
By the time she opened her eyes, the sky was already beginning to lighten.
After a night of cultivation, her ability had improved quite a bit. Before long, she'd be able to advance to Level 2.
Luna Sutton stretched lazily, feeling totally refreshed and clear-headed.
She ate all the grilled fish left over from yesterday.
But it only made her half full.
Her eyes fell on the piece of roasted meat Kian Sterling gave her last night, and she couldn't resist tearing off a small chunk to eat.
The roasted meat was tough and hard after a night, practically impossible to chew.
At least there was salt on it, which meant it actually had some taste.
She took two bites and gave up—the real issue was it was just too much work to chew.
She planned to head into the forest later to look for some fruit.
No matter how much fruit she ate, she wouldn't get fat—she'd just lose more weight.
And it would help her digestion, too.
She roasted the three pieces of raw meat from yesterday; if she procrastinated any more, they'd really spoil.
She thought about when she'd scavenge a stone pot. With a stone pot, eating would be way easier—not just roasting everything all the time.
The three pieces of raw meat were soon grilled, smelling delicious, the outside crisp and the inside juicy—much softer than last night's leftover meat.
Unfortunately, she had no salt in her cave, let alone any other kind of seasoning.
The other beast husbands did have some, but their supply was also limited.
Luna couldn't help but eat a small piece, but thinking about her diet, she didn't keep going.
The rest of the roasted meat was wrapped in broad leaves and set aside for lunch.
She had just stood up when the system's voice suddenly rang in her head:
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! Weight loss successful! You've dropped two pounds. Health +2, Appearance +1, Charisma +1, and Affection points have changed. Would you like to check?]
Luna's eyes sparkled with surprise—she'd starved all night, but lost two whole pounds!
Though, two pounds meant next to nothing considering all the fat she was carrying.
Progress was still progress.
She hurried to check the system data.
Host: Luna Sutton
Age: 16
Charisma: 11
Appearance: 21
Health: 62
Weight: Seriously overweight, mobility affected.
Skill: Wood Element Ability (Level 1)
Targets and Affection Score:
Corbin Crowley: -90 (Disgust)
Rhys Blackwood: -80 (Disgust)
Zeke Veridian: -85 (Disgust)
Kian Sterling: -75 (Disgust)
Malachi Arcanus: -60 (Disgust)
She quickly scanned the data above—only Malachi Arcanus' affection points had changed.
She remembered it was -80 last night; overnight it had turned to -60.
The score had increased by a full 20 points.
She couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile, her mood instantly improving.
Last night, Malachi Arcanus must have come to the cave and seen her and the changes she'd made inside.
Who would like a messy, dirty woman?
Clean and tidy always left a good impression.
She closed out the system panel and carried all the beast pelts she'd piled up by the cave entrance last night to wash by the river.
The sky was still early, but quite a few beastmen and females were already busy by the river.
Washing pelts, washing faces and hands, or fetching water.
Some females were even doing their hair by the river, fussing over their looks.
Now and then, someone would chat and laugh—the scene was lively.
When everyone spotted her, they all gave her strange looks and started whispering among themselves.
"Isn't that Luna Sutton? She's up this early?"
"Look at all those pelts she's carrying—she's actually going to wash them?"
"That lazy female? Washing pelts herself? She's probably just putting on a show."
"Heh, she's the laziest female in The Wolf Tribe. Relying on her to wash pelts is like waiting for the sun to rise in the west."
"Exactly! I'll bet she's going to toss them out and ask Corbin Crowley and the others for new ones."
...
Their voices were low, but every word drifted right into Luna's ears.
She rolled her eyes in secret and ignored the other females.
The original Luna had made her own bed—her reputation was already trashed. There was no way to fix it overnight.
She found a spot away from the crowd and began washing pelts.
These pelts had all been collected by the original Luna from five beast husbands and her father—they were top-notch quality.
But the original Luna had never washed them; if they got dirty, she just threw them aside.
She never aired them out either—some had even gotten moldy and infested with bugs. They were really unsightly.
Luna felt the original Luna had been a total waster; these pelts were her future clothes and blankets!
She could even use them to make shoes, so wasting them was not an option.
She'd wash what she could. Anything beyond saving, she could only throw out.
Luckily, most of them were still usable. She only tossed a few truly hopeless ones.
The females and beastmen by the river watched in surprise as Luna seriously washed all the pelts.
Soon enough, the gossip started up again.
"Oh my god, Luna Sutton is actually washing pelts? And a whole pile of them! Am I dreaming?"
"When did she get so diligent? Is the sun really rising in the west?"
"Did you notice she's changed? Doesn't look quite so ugly now."
"Something's different. She doesn't look as messy, and the pimples on her face have gone down a bit. Still ugly overall, though."
......
The chit-chat reached Luna, and she was inwardly exasperated.
The original Luna's image was really deeply ingrained. Changing everyone's minds definitely wouldn't be easy.
She ignored the gossip and focused on scrubbing pelts.
Without any soap or laundry detergent, she really couldn't get them clean—she could only scrub harder, until her palms were red.
The pelts were thick, filthy, and stank; they were a pain to wash.
By the time she'd washed them all, an entire hour had passed.
Her waist ached, her back hurt, her hands felt like jelly, and she'd worked up a real sweat.
She splashed water on her face, then stretched her arms and legs, finally feeling a bit better.
She was about to carry the clean pelts back.
When a female strolled over, her expression mocking, "Luna Sutton, have you turned over a new leaf? Actually doing some real work?"
Luna's gaze fell on the female—she had a pretty face, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old, with clear pride and disdain in her eyes.
Clearly, she looked down on her.
She searched the original's memories and found that this was Maya Miller, Mia's younger sister, who hated the original Luna about as much as her sister did.
The reason was obvious: Maya Miller liked Corbin Crowley too. She'd even confessed to him, but was flatly rejected.
Maya was wounded, very hurt, and held a grudge against the original Luna—after all, Luna was Corbin's female.
Even though she knew Corbin didn't like the original Luna and was really disgusted, Maya still couldn't stand her.
Now it was Luna she couldn't stand.
Case in point—her current glare was hostile, full of jealousy and resentment.
Luna withdrew her gaze and, face calm, replied, "None of your business."
With that, she carried the clean pelts and left.
Maya watched her retreating back, gritting her teeth and hissing, "Tch, what a piece of trash. Think you're something now?"
Her sister Mia was the tribe's most beautiful female, with seven beast husbands—all top-class beastmen in the tribe.
She herself had five beast husbands, but neither their strength nor looks compared to her sister's men.
There weren't as many as Mia's, either.
She liked to think she was pretty enough, and always wanted to outshine her sister.
Corbin Crowley was the strongest, most handsome male in the tribe—the heartthrob of all the females.
Maya figured, if she could land Corbin, her sister would be green with envy.
So she confessed to Corbin Crowley—only to be flatly rejected.