"He hath the soul of a dragon," Divine Eruption said casually as he watched Lone fight his fellow students of The Academy. "Arrogance, might, flair, talent. It is a shame he waseth born as a child of the demis."

His daughter, Geruphanda, snorted. "He's posturing."

"Pardon? Do'est mine daughter hath something to say on this matter? It is not beneath me to recognise that you are wiser than I when it comes to matters of the soul and of one's true heart."

The lazy Red Dragon on the floor watched Lone handily defeat the fire mages of the first group as she answered, "He's been through a lot of pain, both recent and old. Only now that he's got real power and confidence from facing off against Ancient Darkness, Ythmagobla, does he feel he can pretend to be an all-power existence capable of provoking everything in his path. He's just scared of being hurt again. That's what I see, at least."

Divine Eruption narrowed his large beady eyes in mirth. "Perhaps. Be'eth that the case, mine daughter, then I cannot help but wonder who he truly is... Regardless, his power and sheer talent cannot be underestimated."

"Yeah. I don't really care though. I'm starting to get a bit homesick. I still don't understand why we came here," Geruphanda complained.

Divine Eruption laughed. "You soon shall, mine daughter, you soon shall."

In Leytograndia, the city of science and magic, a meeting was being held.

Deep beneath the underground city in a forgotten palace, members of what was publicly known as 'The Ancient Foundation' had gathered.

There were a total of nine people of various species all seated around a metallic copper table which had a clear top, revealing the gears that moved within it.

At the seat of honour could be found a small bipedal rat munching away on some nuts while the other members were all nervously awaiting the arrival of the final meeting's participant.

"Is Snow really coming?" Bradros Dulnhelas, a Grey Elf and a junior member of The Ancient Foundation asked.

Alcraz Brownpad, his partner, frowned. "Of course she is. Can't you be quiet for just 5-minutes for once in your life?"

"Hehe, c'mon, don't be such a hardass, Craz," Brad said, earning him the ire of the short bearkin.

"Do not call me by a nickname. We aren't friends. And show some respect would you? You're sat before many Divines and even an Ancient," Alcraz ordered very firmly.

At the other end of the table, an extremely pale young man giggled softly. "Come on, we all know that if money isn't involved then Brad gets very angsty. Pointing it out every single time it happens won't suddenly change that. Also, we're all used to his disrespectful attitude. I personally find it rather charming."

A High Elven woman sat next to the pale man nodded. "Dante is right. I'm more concerned about why we're putting so much stock into this Lone Immortus character. He isn't worthy of the test."

A dwarf of an unknown race who was arguable more steamforged than man nodded. "Even oor wee Snow couldnae make contact. How can we expect that whelp tae? Just because he's also a part of this era's great game? Load ah pish if ya ask me."

The bipedal rat laughed. "Good thing no one's asking you then, John."

A human elderly man in extremely fancy clothing glanced over at the rat in the seat of honour. "Are you going to elucidate the facts a bit more for us, then? That Lone boy has already been given an invitation to seek us out but thus far he's completely ignored the topic, even when Bradros went to scout that thought-to-be-extinct Lemurian."

A very soft-looking tabby cat that was coiled up on one of the table's chairs yawned before it spoke. "He's not interested in us, so why should we be interested in him?"

The final person in the meeting chamber, a blurry being that no one really knew what species it belonged to, spoke. "Silence. Ancient Crafter has made his decision. Wait for snow to arrive patiently."

The bipedal rat poked his ear and scrunched up his face. "As always, your voice is as hard to listen to as your body is to look at."

"My apologies, Ancient Crafter. You know of my situation," the blurry figure said.

"Yeah, I do. And you know that I hate being addressed by my official title," the rat complained. "Anyway, Pipa is right. Either eat your meals while you wait or sit or your hands or something. No amount of talking will dissuade me from my decision."

"You're the Ancient, not us," Bradros shrugged.

Most of the other members didn't really care and those with grievances knew they had no right to be an annoyance by continuing to complain, so they all simply waited for Snow to arrive.

Lone was getting a bit bored, in truth. He'd been collecting spell after spell, resistance after resistance, but his opponents were getting less and less enthusiastic.

As of now he'd defeated all of The Academy Student groups, included the team of seniors. Most of the adventurer groups except for one had been dealt with and the private army had been completely wiped out with a single skill.

All that remained was the aforementioned adventurer group, a small contingency of church members led by Seeker Johnathon Bright, Rangah and her father, then finally the Aqua Foxkin.

'How much MP do you have left?' Lone asked rhetorically as he used Clicker's power on his Eternal Mana Crystal.

[Unnamed] Eternal Mana Crystal Description

Created by Lone Immortus with unidentifiable magic. Normally, a godly-level of understanding in mana and an almost impossibly perfect raw Elphodicmalondal Stone would be required to create this item.

This Eternal Mana Crystal was designed with the purpose of being an endless and unbreakable storage bank for mana.

Rank Mythic Stats Durability: ∞ Weight: 1 Abilities Can store up to 200,000,000 MP. (Currently stored MP: 63,324,000). Anyone may deposit energy into it, but only those that the creator [Lone Immortus] personally allows may withdraw MP from it. Listed users: Lone Immortus, Soph/Sophie Immortus. Will automatically return to the owner's side if the owner (currently [Lone Immortus]) is more than 1-mile away from it. Will accept any type of energy, but all forms of energy inserted into it will be converted into MP and cannot be restored.

'Huh. I've only used up a third of what I had saved up so far? Really? Feels like I've been using a lot more magic than that... Guess when it comes to the millions I really haven't been using too much,' Lone thought. 'My lexicon tripling my power helps too. Triple the output means I need 3-times less the spells to defeat folk if my maths checks out.'

His thoughts were interrupted by the loud voice of Muradon the All-Mage. "Divines, ladies, gentlemen, everyone! The next group of challengers, or should I say 'challenger', is very special!"

'The adventurers, huh? They're certainly strong. there's six of them and the weakest is an X-ranker... I can't take them lightly or go easy on them, but I also can't kill them... This'll be tough,' Lone thought very seriously.

"What makes them special, you ask? They are the famous ruby-plate adventurer group, Red Spear! Their leader, Hubert gor Michand, a nobleman from the northern kingdom of Trentor is a sapphire-plate adventurer himself, only one rank shy of the fabled diamond-rank!"

'Damn, he was that strong? I wonder what kind of enemy they faced in that X-ranked quest for one of their members to die with him around...' Lone's respect grew for the handsome yet plain-looking man wielding a long red spear.

"Now, I know. Some of you may be bored of watching Lone here massacre his opponents - figuratively, of course. There has yet to a casualty," Muradon teased. "In light of this, Headmaster Erion has allowed a request from Hubert gor Michand! The leader of Red Spear has specifically asked for permission to duel Lone in a one-on-one battle with only their spears!"

"Okay, that sounds fuckin' cool," Lone muttered. He then raised his voice and yelled, "I don't have Saturn with me right now. That's my swordspear. Is it okay if I quickly go get it?"

Erion's voice flowed through the air and the Divine said, "I have already moved it to your group. Turn around, Disciple Lone. It's flying right towards you."

"What?" Lone was shocked. He spun around, and, indeed, the small ball with a ring floating around it was shooting through the air towards him. Not a moment later it was upon him and rubbing its spherical body against his face.

'How the hell did Erion move it? I had it set to attack anything that touched it, though not lethally... Is he also an expert on space magic or something? How could time magic convince Saturn to go against my orders?... Did he enlist Archon Milos for help? Well, whatever. I'll ask him about it later,' Lone decided.

He nodded his head as he gently cupped the ball in his hand and lowered it to his side while he stored his lexicon and put his Eternal Mana Crystal back on his belt. "I'm ready now, and I know my consent doesn't really matter since it already seems decided, but I accept the duel request."

Hubert stepped forwards and approached Lone very calmly. He then offered him his hand. "I'm glad to finally have a chance to meet you."

Lone was momentarily confused before he recalled his connection to the man. He grabbed the offered hand and shook it then asked, "The money?"

Hubert nodded. "Daniella was never very good with her gold even though she had two kids waiting for her back home... The foolish woman. The money you gave us, we used some of it for her funeral then entrusted the rest of it to her kids' local Adventurer's Guild. They won't ever want for anything. I wanted to thank you. I don't know why you did that, but regardless, each of us from Red Spear truly appreciates your kindness from the bottom of our hearts."

Lone pulled back his hand and used it to scratch his head. "Money really doesn't mean anything to me, and besides, we're both gem-plates, so that means you've gotta have some good in you, right? Sow the seeds of karma and all of that shit."

"Haha, you are very informal as the rumours said, even to a powerful noble such as myself. I do not mean to look down on you, but I am one of the most talented spear-wielders on the entire continent. I will go easy on you and try my best to give you pointers as we fight. I understand that artefact of yours can move on its own. Please, refrain for allowing it to do so. I wish to teach you how to properly use it as thanks for what you did for us. I know my advice isn't of equal value to so much gold, but it is a start," Hubert said with a warm and friendly smile on his handsome face.

'What a surprise,' Lone thought. "I'd love that. A lot of people know me for my arrogance but my main defining trait is actually how much of a glutton I am for skills and proper fighting abilities. I'll be in your care."

"Haha, likewise, I'll be in your care," Hubert said before he took a few steps back, unstrapped his spear from his back and then took a stance.

Immediately Lone felt a sense of pressure. His skin itched and sweat started to drip down his face. 'Spear Intent and it's easily te- no, a hundred times thicker and stronger than Sophie's Sword intent... I might actually lose this if I don't seriously try to kill him...'

Divine Oracle's expression was painted with annoyance. "So that is the holy artefact which Seeker Bright mentioned in his report... It's even more dazzling and shocking than the seemingly infinite mana storage container..."

She tapped her throne's armrest impatiently at the thought of such a powerful tool being in the hands of a demi, of all things. "We must acquire such an artefact for the church... How to obtain it, though... That is a difficult question... I may need to put some effort into tracking down that fool Sigmund..."

She nodded slowly. "Even with all of the demi's peculiarities, if he and I work together and properly prepare, then a single SSS-ranked summoned hero should be well within our ability to subdue. Those artefacts are too precious and Her Holiness' mission too important..."