Sophie peeled her eyes open and she yawned softly. She was laying on Lone's chest and it would seem that he was already awake, well, that was unless he was playing with her hair in his sleep.

"We are sweaty," the girl complained softly.

Lone - still with his eyes closed - chuckled faintly. "That tends to happen both during and after a night of passionate sex in a hot room."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Suite Spirit, turn on the air conditioning. It is far too stuffy in here."

"Yes, Master," a soft and genderless voice answered before the temperature in the room dipped.

Lone frowned. He leaned up and kissed the top of Sophie's head. "This may sound weird, but I find your sweat very sexy, so you didn't need to do that."

Sophie smiled coyly. "We know you do. We do not dislike your sweat either, however, we have a headache. Some cold air will help sooth it, no doubt."

Lone's frown took on a concerned look. "It's not just a headache, is it?"

Sophie nodded. "Of course it isn't just a headache. We feel like our entire being is getting torn in two."

"I guess I need to step up my game then with creating a body for you and figuring out how to get you into it without damaging your new soul," Lone said very seriously.

"That would be nice, yes," Sophie said sarcastically.

Lone frowned. "What'll happen with your unique skills, by the way? Will you both still keep them, will only you have them, or will only Soph have them?"

A concerned look entered Sophie's eyes as she lay there on Lone's chest. "We... We do not know. We do not wish to think about it, doing so upsets us. If we steal Soph's abilities from her... We fear for her self-confidence should that happen."

Lone smiled. "Hey, c'mon. Now, as much as I fuckin' love seeing you sulk and pout, you're being a real idiot."

Sophie's brows rose in anger as she looked up at Lone. "We are being serious, you fool."

"So am I," Lone answered before he kissed her forehead. "Don't you remember how high your and Soph's luck is? Hell, maybe you'll even get some new powers, haha."

"Trust you to think of the impossible," Sophie replied as she rolled her eyes. "Thank you..." she whispered under her breath.

"You are very welcome," Lone said with a grin, embarrassing Sophie. "Did you forget that I have good ears?"

"No, we hoped that you would develop some tact and ignore our sincerity," Sophie snapped back unhappily as she buried her face in Lone's muscled chest.

"Hahaha, sorry. Anyway, bath then breakfast?" Lone asked.

Sophie nodded. "Then we take out our frustrations at you on the foolish humans and demis that wish to challenge you and us."

Lone smirked. "You could always take out that frustration in the tub, y'know, with me," Lone said with a charming wink.

"... Did you just wink?" Sophie looked up from his chest then kissed his nose. "How cute. We also have good ears. So you wink even when we are not looking at you? Adorable."

"Bullshit you have good ears. I didn't forget that you have Mana Sensing, you spoon," Lone quipped back before he quickly got up and held Sophie in a princess carry. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure that sex helps reduce headache pain, so..."

"Is that factual?" Sophie asked with a frown as she wrapped her arms around Lone's neck.

Lone smiled. "Wanna find out?"

After a lovely bath, Sophie swapped out for Soph who was much better at dealing with mental pains than she was.

"Any level ups?" Lone asked as the two of them walked across the bridge to The Academy - which was packed with people, presumably there to watch the upcoming fights.

"Uh, right now? No, but over the past few days Mental Pain Resistance has slowly reached intermediate rank," Soph timidly said as she hugged his arm and a tail. A crowd this large was bad for her heart.

Lone frowned. "Wanna sit out the fight?"

"B-But then I'll be a burden..." Soph protested softly.

Lone smiled and rubbed her head with his free hand. "It's fine. I'm more than strong enough to take on your challengers. If your headache lets up a bit, then feel free to join in, 'kay?"

Soph had a sorry expression on her face, but she nodded all the same. She wasn't a stubborn girl. "T-Thanks..."

"Thank me when I find a way to remove Sophie safely, you silly sausage," Lone said with a short laugh.

"Massive arena, huh?" Lone commented.

Breena slinked out of his shadow and nodded. "Very, Master."

Stepping through a portal and into the waiting room that Lone, Soph, and Breena were all in, Archon Milos stroked his beard proudly. "It took me only 2-days to rework the space magic interwoven into the enchantment arrays here. I must say, I'm rather chuffed with the result. This one training room alone could easily host a million people if it needed to with nary a sign of strain whatsoever."

His eyes drifted to Soph who was laying down on a bench with her head in Lone's lap. "Is she okay, Young Mageling?"

Lone shook his head. "Not really, but what she has isn't curable, so there's nothing we can do about it, really. She'll be fine though. She's a tough cookie."

"Tough cookie? Best keep her away from a glass of milk then lest she crumbles," Archon Milos teased.

"Heh, I'll try. Anyway, are the fights gonna start now or did you just come by to say hi?" Lone asked the triple-X-ranker.

"In all honesty, I wanted to meet the other wanderers. It's a pleasure to meet you, Young Foxkin," he said to Breena. "Where are your other group members, Young Mageling?"

"In a pocket dimension," Lone honestly answered.

"Oho?" Archon Milos' eyebrows perked up. "You have access to such a thing?"

"Yup. It's our home away from home," Lone replied with a smile. "By the way, did you and Erion agree to my extra conditions?"

Nodding, the elderly man answered, "Indeed. Young Mystery will be allowed to use his sword, but only on mages that also wish to use physical attacks like The Academy's spellsword department. Young Foxkin shall be allowed to use her Primal magic since she isn't very skilled with conventional magics."

'Young Mystery is such a weird and oddly cool nickname for Swind,' Lone noted. He didn't hate how the old man went about giving people very fitting and descriptive labels, even if Soph's 'Second Young Mageling' was lacking in creativity.

After hearing the archons words, Breena hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry that I'm so untalented, Master."

Lone scoffed. "Talent means fuckin' jackshit. Hard work and time can cross all bridges people think are exclusive to the talented. Don't get upset. You losing confidence over not being able to use any magic yet is exactly why you can't use any magic yet."

"Y-Yes, Master..." Breena wasn't used to being scolded by Lone, so this took her by surprise a bit.

"Very wise, Young Mageling. And you sure you are only 27-years-old? Considering your incredible levels of talent and genius, I wouldn't expect you to also be able to accurately see the value in being studious and in believing in yourself," Archon Milos noted.

Lone shrugged. "I wasn't always talented, hell, technically I'm still not," he said. 'If I didn't have Growth Accelerator, then I wonder how talented I'd actually be? Probably somewhere around Swind's level before I remade his body, I bet.'

"Hmm... " Archon Milos found that statement to be interesting, to say the least. "In regards to Second Young Foxkin, Young Mageling, Erion has agreed to allow all willing fire mages to attack her with their magic. I shall personally be watching over her to ensure there is no foul play involved as well. A surprising amount of people have signed up to attack her."

"Well, it's not every day a Crimson Foxkin is born who is entirely immune to fire magic of any kind," Lone noted. 'And who's able to learn all fire magic used on them, but yeah, it'd be dumb to reveal that. Hopefully, being hit by fire magic will maybe trigger some muscle memory or actual memories in her... Wouldn't that be ideal, huh?'

This idea was actually birthed by Swind. Rachel still couldn't really speak yet beyond simple one-word sentences and she had the mental age that matched her body-size, but still, the Lemurian was filled with hope for the future seeing how far she had recovered already from her fight with the Emperor Corrosion Slime.

"Indeed. If you and your friends are ready, Young Mageling, we're prepared to start the event immediately. Every important guest has already arrived and has been seated, so we're all waiting for you and your companions," Archon Milos explained.

"How kind. Well, best to not leave the bloodthirsty racists waiting much longer, huh?" Lone said with a vicious grin spread widely across his handsome face.

"This is really, really, really, really cool!" Emma said as she, Hazel, Alisa, George and Scott found their seats in the magical arena.

"Tell me about it," Scott said in awe. "I never thought me and George would ever get to set foot in this fancy place."

"Yeah... There're a lot of people here aren't there?" George seemed a bit nervous in such a large crowd.

Hazel frowned. "If you're going to tell me you're uncomfortable, I'll punch you in the face. You don't have to listen to them all."

"Haha," George scratched his cheek awkwardly. "R-Right..."

"Are there really a dozen Divines in those suites?" Emma asked.

Hazel nodded. "Yup. Some of them are... weird. One's a cloud that's really interested in Lone, for example. Also, no, not a dozen. There are eight from what I can tell including the headmaster and the grand guildmaster, though Lone said there was another one but they're making themselves undetectable."

"Even you can't notice them?" Alisa asked from under her large witch's hat.

Again, Hazel stoically nodded. "Yup. I don't think they're real, honestly, but Lone seems to believe that he felt their soul and Divine power before they hid those things too along with their thoughts."

"We're such fishes in this massive ocean, huh, George?" Emma asked as she held the rear of her head and tilted it back to look up her fellow duke's child.

"Ah, uh, yeah? I mean, if you're talking about our power, we're outclassed pretty much on all fronts, even status-wise. I can see a lot of foreign royalty. Felron's king, queen, second prince and three princesses are here too... When compared to us - two absconded children of a backwater country's nobility... Well, we may as well be commoners," George answered.

"Wow. It's rare to see you say so many words," Scott laughed as he slapped his fellow adventurer's back.

Emma's cheeks flushed. 'Why is he cool only when he acts confidently? Idiot...'

Alisa stood up and her eyes started to sparkle. "That's Archon Milos!"

"He someone special?" Scott asked in confusion as he held his chin and eyed the decrepit-looking man who was walking alongside Lone, Soph - who looked a bit worse for wear - and Breena.

Alisa furrowed her brows in disappointment at her boyfriend. "He's one of the best space mages on the entire continent."

"Eh... Is that so, Alisia?" Scott asking with his disinterest clear to see.

"My name's Alisa!" The small girl protested as she puffed up her cheeks cutely.

Scott grinned. "I know it is." He leaned over and kissed the top of her witches hat, resulting in her face turning beat-red.

She quickly spun around and avoided looking at the burly young man that she loved. "That's so unfair..."

"It's starting," Hazel said rather happily. She was more than willing to move past the pink atmosphere and rather erotic thoughts that were sprouting between her two old schoolmates. 'I'm glad they took Lone's advice and started using protection, but sheesh, can you not think about sex the second things get romantic between you two? You're worse than Big Bro and Soph and Sophie...'

As Hazel had stated, the army of humans and demis had made their way onto the arena's battleground and were preparing for combat. Not long after, an energetic voice filled everyone's ears.

"Hello! I'm your host today, Muradon the All-mage!" A powerfully magnetic voice announced as the ginormous face of a human showed up in the middle of the arena.

He had a big curly moustache and wore a dashing top hat. One of his eyes had a triangular runic pattern on it while the other was seemingly made entirely out of gold.

People in the stands immediately started going wild. Muradon the All-mage was beyond famous, after all.

Lone - who was down next to Archon Milos, Soph, and Breena - chuckled dryly. "You have got to be fuckin' kidding me."

"Hmm?" Archon Milos was intrigued by Lone's seemingly random outburst.

"How on Earth did that jester land the host role of such an important event? Is Erion pulling a prank on me or something?" Lone asked himself as he shook his head.

"Potty mouth..." Soph mumbled then tilted her head to the side in confusion. She stared at the enormous magically projected head with a scrutinising gaze before she exclaimed in shock. "It's him..."

Indeed. This was the very same Muradon the All-mage that Lone and Soph had encountered in the streets of Ranton - Milindo's capital, and then later fought in the tournament that had ended with Void and Sky's invasion of Lone's soul.

"Is he a genius or something?" Lone didn't know if he should laugh or cry. "The guy sure knows how to spin a tale regardless, so maybe he was actually the perfect choice for today's host?"

Ironically, Lone wasn't the only one who was having a bit of an internal crisis. Muradon himself was feeling very differently from what his external appearance would suggest.