Lone woke up to find a set of lifeless eyes only inches away from his own simply staring at him.

Grinning, the eyes’ owner rubbed her nose against his then gave him a soft peck. "Good morning."

"I almost thought you were Sophie for a second there. Is this the first time I’ve even woken up after you?" Lone asked as he yawned a bit and rubbed his eyes to wipe away the dreariness.

Soph nodded. “Yup. I actually didn’t go to sleep… I, uh, got kind of lost in trying to figure out another use for Body Manipulation.”

“Any luck?” Lone asked.

Soph smiled wryly and shook her head. “No, but I could see my magic moving weirdly when I tried. I think it’s possible I just need to keep trying.”

Lone nodded. “That’s the spirit. Even my Bone Armour was super hard to unlock despite it only taking one real attempt. Keep trying. It could take days, months, maybe years. You’ll get it.”

Soph nodded her head. "Mmm. I won’t give up."

Lone watched her get out of their bed and stretch. She then yawned even longer than he had.

"Want me to try refreshing your body with Creation Magic?" Lone suggested.

She or her other half going around without a good night’s sleep couldn’t be healthy, he thought. After all, he’d done the same many times before back on Earth and it was never a pleasant experience.

Soph smiled faintly. "I can manage. Please don't waste your MP on me. I’ll just go to bed early tonight."

Lone got up and hugged her. "Okay. By the way, are you getting more comfortable in your adult form?”

Soph smiled. “A bit. I just need to get used to being taller and bigger than usual. I really should have played around with my powers when I was in my and Sophie’s dimension. Oh well. Better late than never, right?

“Haha, yeah, right you are,” Lone replied. “Well, I’m gonna work on the cabin a bit. See if I can’t get this place looking a little bit like a fort. Take a nap for a couple of hours if you think you’ll be able to sleep this evening as well.”

“Ah, that’s helpful. Sure. I’ll do that!” Soph happily exclaimed.

Five days of travel, building, cooking, training and nightly activities passed by peacefully as they made their way up to the holy city of Ranton, Milindo’s capital.

During that time, they’d encountered three more travelling merchants and a handful of powerful patrol units.

None seemed to be out to start trouble and two of the merchants were similar to the first they had encountered in that they were happy to exchange knowledge for stories.

As far as the cabin-turning fort was concerned, Lone had gone all out this time.

Unlike with the one he had built on Goblin Island, he had less of a focus on raw utility and defences this time since Milindo was a pretty safe kingdom so long as one didn’t stray too close to a designated dungeon or monster nest.

In light of that, he had made more rooms, doubled the size of the courtyard, added a training area.

He was honestly very happy with how much more he could do since Illusionary Dome was intermediate rank, doubling the dome’s size to 20-metres. It afforded him a lot of wiggle room.

Of course, all of his hard work along with his usual activities while they travelled had resulted in many skills levelling up.

Lone called up his notification log to have a proper look at all of his recent gains and think on them all in a bit more depth than when they had actually levelled.

Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Masonry] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 9. Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Masonry] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 10. Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Masonry] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 1. Passive Skill: Masonry

A skill that allows the host to lay bricks and tiles 15% [+10%] more easily and 15% [+10%] more skilfully.

[New!] The host can now consume SP to trigger a mental state known as ‘Builder Mode’. Builder Mode allows the host to use their mind to perform masonry tasks.

Cost: 500 SP per hour of Builder Mode. Mastery: Advanced Level 1

‘Honestly, such a cool fuckin’ ability. I wasn’t expecting anything from ranking it up but it’s made building four or five times faster. It’s so cheap too,’ Lone thought joyfully.

It was extremely restrictive, sadly, but that made sense to him. He could only use the power to progress in the laying of bricks or the collection of raw stones. Still, it was magical and he loved every second of using it.

Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Woodworking] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 8. Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Woodworking] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 9.

Two levels in Woodworking was a nice surprise since he wasn’t using much wood in the construction of their fort. He had been carving furniture though, and quite a bit of it.

Speaking of which, the skill related to felling the trees with which he used to supply his woodworking hobby, Logging, had ranked up.

Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Logging] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 4. Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Logging] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 5.

It wasn’t a revolutionary change like with Masonry but Lone appreciated it nonetheless since tricky trees were now a lot easy to control when chopping them down.

His final improvement in regards to building was actually a new skill he had obtained.

Passive Skill: Architecture Mastery

A skill reserved for those who had seen and built some of the very best buildings known to sentient beings.

Allows the host to see a very basic grid layout when constructing a building.

Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1

An incredibly cool skill, Lone felt, but it wasn’t very useful sadly since he’d earned it after he was practically finished with the fort.

‘Maybe it’ll come in handy the next time Illusionary Dome ranks ups so I can hide a larger building,’ Lone thought with hope. ‘It did only gain one level in the past five days though despite me setting up the dome every night…’

Congratulations! The host’s active illusionary magic skill [Illusionary Dome] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 2.

‘Eventually you’ll reach advanced, I’m sure,’ Lone thought with a sigh as he kept looking through his log.

Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Cooking Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 5.

Lone didn’t really cook often, only when Soph and Sophie were too exhausted to do it themselves. The split-minded woman wanted to earn Cooking Mastery herself so he only became the fort’s chef when she asked him to.

Usually, his only involvement when it came to meals was eating them and making ingredients for her to cook with via his Creation Magic.

Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Sex Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3. Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Sex Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4. Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Sex Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.

‘Y’know, as happy as I am to see this skill improve, I kinda wish Soph wouldn’t always refuse me when I offer a massage. How is that any more embarrassing than sex is?’ he shook his head.

‘Perhaps it’ll receive some attention when Soph’s ready to accept that her fate is to be turned into a pile of jelly by my godly fingers,’ he thought with a chuckle.

His last few notifications were from two of his more useful but less used skills.

Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Cartography] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6. Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Cartography] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 7. Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.

The former had improved because, while they were just walking down a road, Lone figured it’d be wise to make a map of wherever they travelled. It was a useful item to have and it helped level an equally useful skill. Win-win.

As for Teaching Mastery, that was unintentional. He’d received the level up when trying to help Soph figure out how to use her Body Manipulation in a new way.

She hadn’t managed yet but apparently, his efforts had been worthy of a level up. Lone wasn’t exactly going to complain.

Regardless, with his recap done, Lone picked up the books he’d bought in Ros. They were currently sitting on his desk in his new study room.

He was missing Soph’s company a bit so he’d decided to read the tomes in their new, far larger, bedroom instead of in this lonely room. It was nice to look at but it was a bit too stuffy for his liking.

‘Reminds me too much of my gaming set-up back in my apartment but just more refined. I wonder what Soph’s doing anyway? Probably sleeping, haha,’ Lone cheerfully though.

The light sound of gentle breathing could be heard as Lone muttered to himself while he worked his way through the books.

“Definitely feels better in here,” he said as he glanced at the woman sleeping in their bed with her limbs every which way.

He chuckled a bit then returned his attention to the books.

Thankfully, most of them were rather short, only clocking in at 100 or 200 pages each. A single book was particularly thick, hosting a respectable 749 pages.

The first books that Lone read were storybooks. They seemed quite mature in all honesty, however, they were poorly written by his standards. He did learn some legends regarding a few of the monster species from them though, which was certainly helpful.

The next three books were questionably useless. The first detailed how best to plough a field and harvest your crops' yield.

The second was all about fishes and their types, which made sense considering that Ros was a harbour city.

The last was a very informative novel on how best to treat your slave for maximum work efficiency.

Each of them wasn't entirely useless, but Lone had to wonder if he'd ever get the chance to apply the knowledge in them.

Coincidentally enough, the second to last book was all about sex and how best to, well, do it. Lone made sure to burn the information into his mind as he tossed the novel back into his Dimensional Storage. 'I wonder if this knowledge will help me level up that skill more?'

On the topic of skills, he’d actually gained one while reading. It was, fitting enough, called Reading Mastery.

The host has developed the passive skill [Reading Mastery]. Passive Skill: Reading Mastery Naturally makes reading 5% easier for the host and increases the host's reading speed by 5%. Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1

‘There really is a skill for fuckin’ everything, isn’t there?’ he laughed mentally.

Regardless, Lone had just started digging into the large 749-page-long book, the final of the seven he had purchased.

This novel - very luckily - was all about the history of Milindo and about its current ruling caste and the royal family.

"King Ralph Heidron, is it? This book doesn't paint him as a racist, so why isn't he working to fix his fucked-up country? Hmm… More PRC vibes. Or, well, CCP to be more specific. I mean it says here the guy’s over a hundred even though the portrait makes him like he’s still in his early thirties. I mean, this book was published only four years ago. That’s just like China or North Korea with their governments’ brainwashing. Bet the guy’s a massive racist and supports that shit secretly," Lone conspired.

"'The Adventurer's Guild is a continent-spanning organisation and is one of the few companies not under the wise leadership of the crown’, huh? Definitely sounds like a good place to go," Lone said as he continued to read.

Before long, dusk had ended entirely and everything was rapidly darkening. Thankfully Lone had no shortage of candles.

"'Due to the wishes of the tenth king of Milindo, no other guild has been allowed to set up a branch within the kingdom's borders. Many debates have been held to determine if this rule should be forsaken, but the crown assures its people of the need to be cautious with allowing outsiders to establish themselves within Milindo’s glorious borders...'. Hmm... A good chunk of this book is dedicated to this topic, isn't it? Still, other guilds? What other guilds? And it says ‘set up’, nothing else. Can they still work and trade here?" Lone asked himself.

He suddenly felt a set of arms coiling around his neck as a lazy head dropped onto his shoulder.

Soph smiled at him warmly. "Hi… I heard you talking to yourself and I wondered if you wanted to come to bed?"

Lone closed the big book on Milindo's history after bending the page's corner that he was on and he then stored it away.

Normally he’d never disgrace a book by bending a corner but he had no bookmarks and he didn’t want to waste any MP on creating one.

Lone replied to her with, "Maybe? I dunno though… This study chair is pretty comfy…"

“The bed’s comfier… and you get to… how did you say it? Spoon? You get to spoon with me,” Soph countered.

Lone sighed as he leaned further into her embrace. “Well, just go and tie my hands, why don’t you? Fine, to the bed.”

Soph grinned. “Yay!”