Lone had realised his mistake fairly quickly when Sophie refused to stop hugging him. It took a lot of coaxing and a fair amount of bribing with his tails as the prize for her to accept that she couldn't live while literally attached to him.

Now slouching in the bathtub, Lone ran his fingers through his wet golden shoulder-length hair and took another look at his new skill.

Unique Subskill: Bone Armour

A subskill unique to the host, Lone Immortus.

Allows the host to use the unique skill [Basic Regeneration] to push the host's bones outside of their own body and use them as a weightless shield.

The strength of the bones will increase with mastery. The strength of the bones will also increase the more that they're broken and damaged.

The host can only create a set of gauntlets currently.

Cost: None to invoke (30-minute cooldown). Drains MP to recreate rapidly or to heal at varying levels depending on the speed of the recreation or the severity of the damage being healed. Mastery: Beginner Level 1

Lone tapped the side of the porcelain bathtub thoughtfully. "Subskills, huh? That opens a whole wealth of options... Do I have a limit of total subskills? Can all of my unique skills have subskills? Can Soph make subskills too, or am I special due to my Growth Accelerator?"

There was no answer. He would be alone in finding out these truths. Another thought was flooding Lone's mind. "Can I use my Creation Magic or maybe my Basic Regen to heal other people? I wonder... what colour are Soph's eyes?"

Recently, all he could think of when he wasn't messing around with his experiments or training his skills was the little girl. Mostly, images of her petite twenty-year-old figure clouded his thoughts. The mushy words she casually threw around, her love of skinship as well as holding onto his fluffy bits all day, sleeping with her every night, not to mention her drop-dead gorgeous looks. He found it hard to deny his attraction to the almost-one-thousand-year-old woman. "... Am I in love?"

Lone laughed a little bit. "I never even cared about girls back home... I guess living with one for seven months changes things, huh?"

Lone, or more accurately, Darren, was never popular with the fairer sex. Sure, he'd had a girlfriend or two before, but that was all during his pimpled and prone to nervous-breakdown years. If looking at your girlfriend and being too confused or afraid to even speak to them, almost as if out of shame or fear at the possibility of being made fun of counted as 'experience', then sure, he had plenty of experience with women.

Lone let his body sink further into the large tub. "Is this what it feels like to have confidence? Would Soph even accept me?" He found himself chuckling again. "Would she even consider rejecting me? I'm struggling to picture that... My tails hold too much power over her... Hahaha..."

Even if he hated his current circumstances and the gods for throwing him and Sophie into them, he'd be a liar if he didn't say that the new opportunities and the time he'd spent with Sophie might have been the best times of his life so far.

A rapidly beating heart just outside of the door to the bathroom was struggling immensely to keep its symphony of pounding to itself.

Sophie held the towel that she was returning to the bathroom closely to her chest. It had just finished drying, and since she and Lone had seen each naked plenty of times before, hell, they'd even bathed together, she thought it'd be fine to interrupt him and put the towel back. She was even considering asking him politely if she could join him.

"L-L-Love...?" Sophie whispered almost inaudibly to herself. She was rapidly telling her heart to stop beating so quickly for fear of it bursting!

She placed the towel on a nearby chair and carefully pattered off to the bedroom while making sure that she didn't make too much noise. Once her goal had been reached, she practically threw herself on the bed and grabbed a pillow before hugging it like it was a body.

"He loves me!" Sophie's joy-filled voice was muffled by the pillow, but it didn't stop her from squirming about wildly. 'He loves me! He loves me! He loves me! Now we can be together forever!'

Sophie's rapidly forming bubble of pinkness was ruthlessly popped by her other self. 'He doesn't know if he loves you. He is surely tricking himself. Any man who was left on an island alone with a girl as pretty and perfect as us would 'fall in love'! That isn't true love!'

Sophie's self-esteem was shattered almost instantly. Doubts began to rise. Her head was so muddled by her other self's words that she didn't even bother to block her out. The more violent-prone and paranoid Sophie saw this as a chance. 'Sleep... Let me take care of everything. I know you don't what him dead, so I'll just confirm his feelings, okay? Sleep...'

Sophie's eyes grew heavy. Her other self's words were almost like a lullaby. If she wasn't going to put his life in jeopardy, then what was the harm in letting her more confident self handle Lone? She was sure that if anyone could get the truth out of him, it would be her other self... Yes, that made sense... Her eyes finally closed before snapping wide open. A smile filled the girl's face.

Lone left the bathroom in a good mood. His hair was dry and his body was clean. He was only dressed in a pair of casual and slightly baggy trousers since it was late and he wanted to sleep. He noticed the towel placed on the chair and thought nothing of it. He picked it up and returned it to the cabinet that it belonged to.

With that done, Lone yawned and scratched one of his fluffy fox ears before he casually made his way to the bedroom. "I'm kinda surprised Soph never just barged in. Weird for her to have manners," he muttered aloud. He really had to get out of the habit of talking to himself. It was something he'd picked up to keep himself entertained when he played video games and was at a grindy or particularly boring part. Such as reading dialogue out loud or muttering curses if he died by mistake. Nothing serious, but it was slowly becoming a more and more problematic habit of his as the days ticked by.

Lone saw the shape of a person hiding under the sheets and his ears were treated with the sound of soft breathing. "And she says she isn't lazy... I'm the one who used up all of my mana today, not her." He couldn't help but smile affectionately despite his words. "Still, I guess that's one of the better things about her, huh? Her relaxed nature reminds me of a cat... Is that why I always pet her?"

Lone blew out the candle that was keeping the room lit before he got into the king-sized bed. Two thin and delicate arms immediately wrapped around him and held his back tightly. He could feel Sophie's soft and youthful skin touching his exposed chest, and he sighed. Whispering, he said, "She's sleeping naked again? I swear, if this world has classes, I better not awaken as a monk just because I'm holding back so much."

Sophie's warm and calm breath tickled Lone's nape and her breasts rubbed gently against his torso, making his face turn a light shade of red. "Seriously..." He brushed the girl's hair behind her ear and smiled lovingly. "No self-awareness... Is she a bit bigger than normal?" he asked rhetorically. Normally, her legs only reached down to his thighs if her head was level with his, but tonight, he could feel her slender calfs coiling around his own.

As if to answer his mumblings, Sophie gently pushed Lone onto his back and affixed herself on top of him. With the sheets now moved out of the way, he was exposed to the sight of her twenty-year-old body.

Lone could almost feel his heart leaping out of his throat as he took in every curve, every line, every lock of hair, every bit of her glistening body. The moonlight peeking into the room from the window above the bed expertly accentuated her perfect body. Lone cursed at himself internally for liking smaller women. His body had an almost immediate reaction. It didn't help that he was now starting to realise his feelings for the girl straddling him.

Grinning coyly and a bit shyly, Sophie lowered her body until it was once again plastered to Lone's. She slowly took her tongue out and licked his neck, sending shivers up his spine. Seemingly enjoying his reaction, she twirled her fingers around his muscled chest playfully while her mouth moved upwards.

Lone was confused, in more ways than one. He didn't know what to do. As if on instinct, he put his arms around Sophie's lower back and pressed her closer to himself. He was going to say something but found his lips being blocked by hers. The kiss was wet, it was sloppy, and it was full of inexperience, however, Lone knew that it was overflowing with passion.

He almost lost himself in the sensation when she forced his mouth open carelessly with her tongue and began to explore a bit roughly, brushing her tongue past every tooth as if to create a mental map of the insides of his mouth for future use.

Several long seconds passed by before Sophie finally released Lone's mouth from her invasion. A silver string of saliva connected the both of them as they breathed heavily in unison. Things were being stirred deep inside of both of them.

Lone stared into those lifeless eyes of Sophie's and brought one of his hands up to her face. He caressed it affectionately before he suddenly flipped her over, putting her on the bottom and him on the top.

"Lone..." Sophie's bell-like voice rung in his mind, trying its best to seduce him and make him hers.

Lone wanted this moment to never end, but in the far reaches of his mind, something was screaming at him that this wasn't right. 'Why is she acting like this? Is she drunk?' Lone couldn't smell alcohol and he certainly hadn't created any, so that possibility was off the table.

As he was thinking, the little minx underneath him had grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down. Once again, she wormed her way into his mouth with her untrained and unskilled tongue. 

Lone struggled to think as he enjoyed the raw pleasure being afforded to him, but think he did. 'Is she ill? I don't know anything about an almost-one-thousand-year-old girl, so maybe she's just really horny or something?'

Sophie rolled over since Lone wasn't paying attention, putting her in the dominant position again. She brought one of her dainty hands down and let it slip into Lone's trousers. That was the final nail in the coffin for him. As much as he was enjoying himself, he wouldn't let this go any further without answers.

Lone almost shoved Sophie away. He was so confused by her shift from a cute little girl that warmed his heart to a seductive beast that wanted to bed him. He gasped for air as he sat cross-legged on the messy sheets. "Soph, what's wrong with you?"