Rainer walked around the area set up for the Fae Monarch Trial. Everyone else had gone off in their own groups so it was only him and his Dragon. It had been awhile since he was truly alone, or rather alone from the people he knew, so he decided to head off on his own. Mostly on his own. He held Tiamat in his arms as he fed her the different random Mana-type foods the Fae had prepared.

The colorful celebration seemed a bit off to him given what happened last Trial. But, with the usual goal of no one dying during the competition, a gathering like this made a bit of sense.

Tiamat suddenly jumped out of his arms, returning to her full size of roughly four feet in length, and flying straight up. Mid-air, she glanced back down at him, looking somewhere between asking for praise and asking for him to chase her. Her wings flapped gently, assisting her with the casting and efficiency of the spell. Even without her insane regeneration, Rainer knew she could likely cast the spell for countless years with her current Mana pool. An unfair innate talent even by his standards.

He smiled as he chased her through the sky. Going higher and higher, he nearly lost sight of her as she made an impossible turn while losing no speed. Curious, Rainer used [Arcane Revelation] as he tracked her movement.

He quickly realized as they twisted and turned in the air that the [Eldritch Flight] Tiamat was using was different than his own. Or rather it constantly changed depending on what Tiamat needed. Whether for sharp turns or straight bursts of speed, the little dragon seemed to automatically make adjustments to the formula.

Rainer tried to mimic her, only to nearly fall out of the sky and feel as if his stomach was about to burst. He had momentarily forgot that playing with magic like this could be fatal.

Continuing to be a chaser and observer, he found the constantly changing formula in her blood to be beautiful. In fact, he could even see how it was slightly altered for her current size, compared to the first original he saw months ago. There was less focus on dampening inertia. At least, he thought that’s what that rune did.

Rainer suddenly froze mid-air.

Was the answer to [Deliverance] so simple? Was this why no one, even after Amer tried for months in the [Sleep Learning] space, could learn [Void-walking]?

Every mind and Soul was unique, so what if the way he made [Void-walking] was so that only he himself could reasonably cast it? And if he could get into the mindset of the Nalmar Magus when he created [Deliverance], would he then be able to cast it? Or would he have to modify it for himself?

Rainer grinned before quickly catching Tiamat and wrapping her in a hug. The little Dragon was unhappy at being caught so soon, and made her displeasure known by chewing on his finger. Whether it was his Constitution or her not being serious, Rainer didn’t bleed. But he still made a fake yelping sound as he released Tiamat.

Watching the little Dragon scramble to rub her head against him and apologize drew a chuckle out of him. Despite her intelligence bordering further and further towards an older child, she still had her moments.

“You want to play again?”

Tiamat happily dashed off into the sky and, just like Rainer, ignored the stunned Fae beneath him who were more than capable of Apraising the two of them.

It was only when the sky was getting dark that the two of them finished playing. Rainer carried a sleeping Dragon in his arms as he headed over to where Kara and Luna were. Numerous Fae around him had a variety of stunned expressions as they stared at him, but with his Charisma, Rainer paid such looks no mind. He was far too used to it.

“Had enough fun scaring the village people?” Sarah said as she saw him Void-walk onto the balcony. They had a nice view of the festival and the later night time entertainment. Knowing a Prince paid off.

“Scaring?” Rainer asked, confused.

The rest of them look at him askance.

“You mean your ‘game’ wasn’t an intimidation?” his grandfather asked, confused.

“How could me playing tag with a little Dragon be an intimidation?”

“I hardly think approaching half the speed of sound is ‘playing’. And did you forget all Fae can use [Appraisal]? You basically showed off your new levels and that you have a Dragon to all of Fae-kind. To a long-lived race, a baby Dragon is a far more scary thing.”

Rainer rubbed the stubble growing on his face; that would explain the weird looks. His rate of leveling was certainly frightening. And many likely assumed that, given their lack of records for it, [Harbinger] might be a class similar to [Archon] in strength.

Suddenly frowning and then letting out a long sigh, he sat at the one-sided semi-circle long-table that included Sarah, Luna, Kara, Sophia, and an awkward-looking Aurora. His mother had insisted on bringing her for ‘bonding’ time given they’d be going to the dungeon together. Luna and Kara were watching one of the glamour-made light shows, with the Fairy resting her head on the Wolfkin’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong, not happy with how lesser beings see you?” Talvara asked, Aurora's original grey eyes now a swirling void.

“No. And please don’t call the owners of the city we are in ‘lesser beings’. Someone tried to… I wanna say kidnap, Elelaria. My Avatar has the unconscious [Magic Assassin]. Do you want his Mana, Sarah?”

“Yes I-”

“I would advise against that,” Talvara suddenly spoke up.

“Why?”

“Your Soul is dangerously ‘full’. I had been meaning to mention to you, Rainer, that unless you wish for one of your lovers to die, you should stifle her current quest to artificially increase her Mana.”

“But I feel perfectly fine. And wait, what do you mean ‘lovers’?”

Talvara looked confused.

“We’re brother and sister,” Rainer interjected.

“So?”

“Even if she were the most beautiful girl in three universes, I’d still be attracted to her the same amount I’d be attracted to a rock. Though I can’t say the same-” Rainer stopped mid-sentence as Sarah gave him a begging look. Perhaps sparing Sarah from their mother’s teasing was a good idea, he was in a great mood despite the kidnapping attempt. Especially since Frederick or Art could likely get into the assailant’s mind. Perhaps he should make a show of it and ‘accidently’ leak what happens to assailants they capture. Something to speak to Elelaria about.

“about Void Lords. Just a different culture I suppose,” he awkwardly filled in.

“A shame. It would be interesting to see what could arise from that. Would the child implode in her womb or become the strongest Lord of Void, Arcane, and Mana these ‘three universes’ have ever seen?”

“Yes… interesting. So what was that about me not taking in anymore Mana?”

“I’d trust her on this. If there was an expert in non-system artificial energy pool increasing, it would be her.”

“Yes,” Talvara nodded, oddly proud, “It would not be strange if you imploded by adding another 50 or more points of Mana to your Mana Pool.”

“Do class attributes count as artificial?”

Rainer barely kept from laughing as Talvara gave Sarah a look that asked if she was an idiot. It was easy to forget that to most, there was nothing ‘artificial’ about the system.

“Alright, dumb question. Looks like I’ll have to reach the 2nd Tier for more Mana,” Sarah said, annoyed. Why couldn’t she get the last level of [Enchantment Manipulation]?

“We’ll figure something out,” Rainer comforted but wasn’t confident in the slightest. “Have you thought of letting another class be your first Tier 2?” he suddenly asked, “You’ll need two anyways.”

Sarah groaned as she let her head hit the table.

She clearly hadn’t thought of that.

“I won’t become King, Mira,” Laneth complained as Rainer heard the Fae Prince floating up to the balcony.

“Don’t look at me, if you want one of us to become the ruler so bad, why don’t you do it?” Elru then complained. Clearly, this conversation had been going on for quite some time. He wondered where Gunthar and Theodore had gone, given that they had been with the Spear-wielding Fairy.

“I’m too old and weak, don’t be silly.”

Rainer could almost hear the eye rolls. Mira may be ‘old’ by most standards, but she only looked on the higher side of middle-aged as a Fae. Not to mention her strength had skyrocketed after she had access to both [Sleep Learning] and all the extra Body Enchantments Rainer didn’t share out in public. The Void-step enchantment alone made her a fearsome warrior.

Given that she didn’t use Mana, yet as a Fae had quite a bit along with being old enough to have dabbled in Magic, the passive spells she learned certainly made her even stronger. He doubted any of the current Fae could match her at this point. If you ignored Luna’s Faerie Fire’s natural ability to burn up anything magical, Fae included.

“What about you Luna, want to be Queen?”

“Sure!” she responded excitedly, only to have her cheek pinched by Kara.

“Luna, you know neither Rainer or I can hang out in a throne room with you all day? Nor will they likely want a Queen whose skill set includes burning things and sleeping.”

Luna glared at Kara for a bit.

“And looking cute,” the Wolfkin eventually added, ignoring that Luna also had an impressive healing ability.

“Why ‘ot?” Luna asked, cheek still stretched.

“Actually that would make her perfect,” Mira started, “With Yulia as Queen, the Courts had gotten used to managing without a Ruler. Many of them are currently supporting candidates that would be more the hands-off type. There’s even a six-year-old Fairy up for it, that may as well be a baby by your standards.

"You wouldn’t have any responsibilities, and would get a small cut of a [Fruit of the World Tree] without having to piss anyone off. Well you could technically have the whole cut… but that wouldn’t be wise. They’ve already agreed whoever is the Ruler gets 5 Fruit for personal use and the rest will be divided 34% to the winning court, and 22% per court to the rest. Yulia sneaking in has made them rethink their over-competitive nature regarding Trials.”

“And why do you want someone you know to be the Queen?”

“I need a Fruit,” Mira said, having no intention of hiding that, “But I can’t be Queen because of... reasons.”

He was curious as to just what those reasons were, but had no reason to distrust her. [Mana Reading] helped with that.

“Do you really want to be Queen?” Rainer asked Luna, rubbing his forehead. He had already checked the Trial area. It had a Divine barrier rather than the system-type one actual Trials had. He could force his way in if need be.

“Yep. Then everyone will have to call me Queen Luna and won’t be able to wake Luna up whenever they feel like it.”

“No, I’ll still wake you up whenever I feel like it,” Rainer corrected.

Luna pouted but didn’t change her mind.

“That settles it,” Mira said, excitedly grabbing Luna’s hand, “I’ll go show off my strength tomorrow and they should give up their attempts. Then we can just walk through the Trial.”

“Ah Luna, how would you like to be a well-beloved Queen?” Rainer asked.

Luna nodded, quite excited at the prospect of being a Queen now.

Rainer had already decided to give some passive spells to the Fae; they were uniquely suited to them. While not everyone welcomed him, both their version of a Mage Guild and their Body Enchanters treated him extremely well. In fact, he was planning on browsing their spells for an idea he had.

“Wait, what about the [Chosen] title?” Rainer asked, deeply frowning.

Mira just looked at him confusedly, but Talvara spoke up before she could ask for an explanation.

“The World Tree is an ancient aspect that barely borders on conscious, it might be where these Fae get their love of sleeping,” she joked but frowned when it seemed people took her last comment seriously.

“Its [Chosen] are, for better or worse, more likely unattended. If it becomes a problem, it’ll only benefit her. When I first altered my followers, one Divinity tried to forcibly make one her chosen. I consumed the Divine Power inside that [Chosen], and the Void Lord was left stronger for it. It was then I learned how I could benefit from eating Divinities.”

Rainer glanced around, and noted those unaware of what Talvara really was had extremely entertaining faces.

“Looks like it’s decided. Tomorrow morning, Luna and Mira will join the Trial,” Rainer said, ignoring Mira who was now looking like she might have second thoughts. They revered the World Tree as a Divinity after all.

“Y-yeah, let’s do that,” Mira agreed; the short Fae was far less passionate than before.

“Queen Luna,” the silver-haired Fairy corrected.

“Certainly, your majesty,” Sarah, oddly enough agreed to the correction.

“No using flattery for Fae gold,” Rainer interjected.

“Aww.”