There are a few landing platforms around us, and an array of walkways connect them all to a stairway that leads up to an opening in the underside of the metal dome.

We use all our senses, but we can't find a single living thing, not even a trace of Life, so we have to assume that we're completely alone. We all take off our armor and relax. Though, if we were in the wild, we wouldn't get so comfortable.

We eat a light snack to stave off hunger, then we take a bath in the open.

As soon as we're washed and rinsed, Roxanne glues herself to me, begging for some attention.

-

"[Mana Genitals] makes it taste better, too," Aoi says, and Alissa and Hana nod in agreement.

"Hm… I wonder what else I can do with this skill. It's been at level one for a while, now," I wonder, then my mouth is sealed by Roxanne's lips.

-

- Ciel meets a tentacle monster for the first time -

- Alissa sighs in satisfaction and melts in my dragonkin's arms. "I love these scenarios."

-

I look at Roxanne and smirk. "You'll be next, sometime soon," I say.

"D-don't tease me before it's time," Roxanne says and fidgets nervously.

- Wolf talks about a new way to use [Mana Genitals] -

- I continue, "Alissa's [Fox Transformation] is what gave me that idea. 'Willpower' is used for magic that doesn't follow the laws of physics. 'Intelligence' is used for spells that copy physical phenomena. Alissa transforms by covering her body with her mana organ, then she 'forces' it to change to her will. So, since my - is already made of mana, I thought that I could make it transform in any way that I wanted if I wished hard enough."

"Your 'Willpower' is pretty high, so something like that should be simple for you," Yunia says.

"Can you try to transform into something else, now?" Alissa eagerly asks.

"Not yet. I'm still not sure how your physical body is preserved within the magical one," I respond.

"I bet it's going to be soon," Hana says with a smirk, and I respond with a smile.

"Once you do it, could you transform into anything?" Lina asks as she nurses Ciel back to life.

"Possibly. But just changing into a dragon is taking quite a lot of effort, so trying to transform into something else would likely take just as much effort."

"You have anything in mind, little Lina?" Hana asks teasingly.

She shakes her head twice. "N-no… just thought it would be nice to be able to take any form you want."

"It would…" I say, gently.

I finally relax in the bath and enjoy the view. The tornado has disappeared, so only the dome above us blocks part of our view, but there's still plenty of sky to look at. Staring into the infinite blue is so calming that even Lina feels at ease here.

With our "recreation" time over, we prepare tonight's dinner: shredded dry meat with not-onions, not-corn, mashed not-potatoes, and mild spices. With Ted, Suzy, and Jarn starting to help out, our workload is very low, allowing us to relax while the meal is made.

The low rumble of the tornado above the metal dome and the perpetually spinning four metal arms make for quite the novel background for our meal.

"I feel like this day was so short," Yunia comments wistfully.

"Maybe the lack of a sunset is affecting us," I say.

"Maybe, but it really felt like the day went by so quickly," Lina says.

"Is every day going to be like this?" Yunia asks.

"While we stay inside the dungeon, probably. Our lives were much calmer before," I answer.

"But we are still way more active than the average adventurer," Alissa says.

"I'm fine with it," Ciel says wistfully while staring out to the infinite blue.

Out of all of us, she's the one who should be the happiest right now.

I send Lina back to our mansion in Goloria to retrieve the dessert that the servants left for us: a not-blueberry cheesecake. If there's just one thing that the elves do right, it's desserts. I can only imagine the sweets that they'll come up with once they start to import chocolate.

We have a little time before we have to sleep, so I spend it massaging everyone's feet. This time, I apply some not-vanilla lotion that should keep their skin from cracking under the stress of walking and fighting all day.

"Thank you…" Yunia shyly says after I'm done with her.

"No, thank you for having such delicious feet," I say with a smirk.

"I'm not sure how to take that…" She smiles wryly.

With her hair straight, she does resemble her mother's portrait quite a bit. She just needs some small glasses, a cigarette skirt, and a jockey whip to look like a strict teacher who "rewards" good students.

After having my fill of their feet and legs, it's time for the most important event of the night.

"Lina, I'm ready," I say and grin at her.

"Oh…? Okay," she answers in a low voice and gets on all fours -.

"Hah, no, not that." I chuckle, but I don't stop her. She sits down, then tilts her head in confusion. "[Bind], I'm ready for one more."

"O~h…!"

She scurries over to me and sits in seiza, her gloomy eyes locked with mine, brimming with expectation.

"Alright, here it goes," I say and cast [Bind].

I pull her soul into mine and release it there, then her "string" appears. I pull on it, and her "blanket" comes out, then I immediately start to feel anxious and fidgety.

"Uh… you have to calm your heart, Lina, you're too anxious," I say.

"Sorry…" She answers and closes her eyes to meditate.

As if a soothing breeze is washing over me, her blanket slowly stops transmitting her anxiety.

"That's better now," I say, and she sighs in relief, then I wrap myself around her blanket and dive into her mind.

I see memories of her childhood. Her brother, her father, and her mother are all cute-looking children like her. It's actually hard to tell who is the oldest of them all.

But her memories are… fuzzy, blurry. They seem like they've lost some of the color, details, and emotions that were attached to them.

Then Hildegard, her former master, appears in her memories. These are all black and white, but at least they're crisp and clear. Her memories of Helganst, Hilde's mother, are especially darker. I don't see straight-up abuse, it's just that Helganst is an unpleasant woman.

Then we appear in her memories, and they regain all of their color and vibrancy. While Hana's memories focus on my -, Lina's focus on my face. She stares at me more often than I'd realized.

After a while, I finally reach the area where she "speaks." She nervously hums a song, trying to calm herself.

I pick up a string and return to my soul space with it.

"Hello, Lina. It's me," I say through [Bind].

Her eyes lose all gloominess as she opens them wide in excitement. "OH! W-WOW! This is so simple, it's incredible! I-it's actually so much easier to talk this way!"

"Calm down a little, Lina. You can't go crowding my mind space so much with your enthusiasm," I say as I smile wryly.

"Okay," she responds with a nod.

"You stole her spirit?" Yunia asks. She seems to be using [Spirit Eyes].

"I think I just took a small part of it, somehow. It creates a sort of 'bridge' between us," I answer.

"Without rupturing her spirit? This spell is incredible, but I'm also worried about how it might've been created…"

I nod in agreement. "[Summoning Magic] is very useful, but imagining how someone came up with these spells is… frightening."

"So, you can 'summon' her now?" She asks.

There are two ways to control the "string" that appears in my soul space. One is to tug at it gently, which would pull Lina's "blankets" into my soul space and allow me to control her; while the other is to grab the string and pull with all of my strength while allowing my mana to escape through it, which would 'summon' her to me.

I do the latter with Lina's string and wish her to appear beside me.

"I'm coming…" she mutters. Then she glows and disappears, immediately reappearing beside me.

I pull her into a hug -. Lina lays her head against my chest and almost sighs, feeling a supreme sense of comfort.

"Impressive," Yunia mutters. "How long until you can do this to me?"

"Maybe a day-cycle. It's been getting easier to manage the multiple [Bind]s, and it's not as distressing anymore when the girls' emotions seep into me."

"Even I'm starting to feel like I'm missing out," Ciel says with a wry smile.

Lina's soft little hands start to run along my chest-. I look down, and she smiles up at me like an imp.

"I wanna make Ciel jealous," she says through [Bind].

All aboa~rd! The Train of Pleasure is about to depart! Destination: Lina!

Today is the 10th.

-

Even though I wake up fulfilled, I don't really want to leave the bed today. This place is just so calming, and the fact that we're about to start another hectic day is already making me feel tired.

I slap my cheeks to drive the laziness away. No rest for the wicked, so we can't rest, either, lest they manage to find a way to overpower us.

Lina increased her level to 27. Her [Hammer Use], [Parry], [Earth Magic], and "Sanity" increased by 1 (now 13, 1+8, 5+6, and 14).

I also increased my level to 27. My [Sword Use], [Dodge], [Battlefield Perception], [Mana Genitals], and "Speed" increased by 1 (now 12+10, 4+6, 1+2, 2, and 14), and I learned [Acrobatics] with 1 point (now 5+1).

Alissa leveled up to 32. Her [Hawk Eyes], [Enhanced Reflexes], and [Mana Control] increased by 1 (now 5, 4+2, and 4).

Breakfast is enhanced by Alissa brewing some Tonique tea. Its taste is very strong, but it goes perfectly with mild fruity sweets. It really does help us wake up and wash away the laziness growing within me.

First, we start the repairs of the ship. It's better to have it ready for an escape, just in case.

The golems lift up the broken wing, then I summon an earth elemental that holds it in place for us while Lina, Yunia, and I take a closer look at the damage.

The beams are made up of smaller beams that were glued together with [Grow], so Yunia and I undo the "gluing," allowing Lina to weld the tubes of gold together. Then we [Grow] the beams back into their original position until they are firmly glued together.

Istante, the Assistant Quartermaster, gave us a book that fully explains how to repair any sort of wood with magic. It even seems to have more information than we previously knew about this subject, so it's very useful for us right now.

During repairs, we have to supply the wood with nutrient-rich soil, water, and light. We use Ciel's [Spirit Light] as a light source, and it helps speed up the repairs by quite a lot.

Yunia has more experience with using [Grow] in non-standard ways, so she takes charge of the repair while I'm just the support.

The other wing of the ship isn't broken, but there are visible cracks, so we repeat the process. We split the beams open, and Lina takes a look at the enchantment lines, then she does some simple repairs to them.

"I think we overdid it. The wood seems stronger than before," Yunia comments as she taps the repaired beams.

"Alright, we'll be more careful next time. This 'repair soil' is rather valuable, so I don't want to waste it," I say, and she nods in agreement.

Repairs are completed after about half an hour. After that, we test the airship a little to see if our repair job holds. Then we put on our armor and do a warm-up, getting ready for another day full of challenges.

We walk up the stairs leading into the underside of the metal dome and cast [Spirit Light]s since there's a complete lack of any sort of lighting around. There are crystal lights, but they're all turned off.

We enter the dome and see a very long, dark corridor that leads to a double door. The floor is composed of white tiles while the walls are made of peach-colored concrete, giving it a very "sterile" feel. The only source of light besides our own is an ominous glow escaping from the edges of the door at the end of the corridor.

I summon Shads, Hollys, and a spirit elemental, then I spread them out to map the area. I put on [Reo Language], and the information plaques become readable.

There are many rooms and facilities that seem to have been designed to sustain a sizable colony. I see barracks, mess halls, storage rooms, an armory, an entertainment area with shops and sports fields, a greenhouse, and a residential area. Some areas are open to the sky, but I couldn't see them from above because there seems to be an enchantment that's cloaking them.

Then the spirit elemental dies as it crosses through the wall into an area called "engineering."

"So, the spirit elemental just died when it tried to enter 'engineering.' Apparently, there are areas that we don't have access to," I say.

"A point of interest for us," Roxanne says.

"The closest point of interest is still down the hall," I say and point to the glowing door.

"Let's continue, then," Alissa says.

I stop at a plaque that's pointing to the door at the end of the corridor. "Looping Winds Control Station," I say.

"Oh, I see. The Looping Winds are the Chimeric equivalent to rivers or roads," Lina says.

"So, someone was controlling that tornado?" Alissa asks.

"Or something," I say.

We approach the door, and beside it, I see a small glass panel protecting a small gem.

I summon a spirit elemental, and when it tries to pass through the door, it gets destroyed instantly.

"Well, that's warded against spirits, alright," Yunia says.

"Just in case, I'm going to do this," I say and summon a goblin. "Open the door," I order it.

The ugly green thing grabs the door handle and turns it, then a buzzer plays, and a female voice says, "Access denied. Repeated attempts will trigger the alarm. Please use a blue keycard for access, thank you for your understanding."

I grin and say, "This will be interesting…"