The main floor of the courtroom was cleared of stands, seats and other such equipment while Lone and the Taker's protector moved to the centre of the room.

All spectators were removed from the hall except for a select handful, namely Sophie, Breena, Hamish - who was present Lone just learned - and a handful of dwarves he didn't recognise.

More wished to stay but anyone at I-rank wasn't given permission because there were simply too many people for the guards to reasonably protect should something go wrong during the demonstration.

"Xer'rava's your name, right? I heard her say it when she was talkin' to the big guy in the judge's seat," Lone said to the stocky dwarf standing passively in front of him.

"That is correct," the man answered plainly.

"That's not a dwarven name. Hell, sounds kinda elven. Bet there's a story there," Lone said with a smile as he unwrapped his eye coverings and shoved them in his pockets then put them straight into his Dimensional Storage.

"There is," the dwarf replied as he stretched lightly then removed his chest armour and his shirt.

"Smart, don't want me damaging that shit, right? Anyway, wanna tell me that story?" Lone asked, the hunger for knowledge evident in his tone.

"I do not," Xer'rava responded before glancing around. "Everything looks ready. You may attack me now."

"Fuckin' sheesh, you must be a riot at parties. By the way, do me a favour? Blast me with your aura. I have a skill that makes me hit harder when under pressure. Aura pressure is the perfect thing to trigger it," Lone lied.

He'd happily tell a fib or two to power level some of his skills, in this case, his Aura Pressure Resistance.

How often would he get the chance to meet an X-ranker who wasn't out to kill him or who just outright ignored him? Not often, Lone suspected.

The X-ranker looked at his charge for guidance. The Taker nodded. "You have my permission to do as he requested."

Immediately and with no warning the feeling of death consumed Lone.

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

A skill that allows the host to resist the pressure of auras generated by a person's rank at varying levels based on mastery.

All aura pressure applied to the host shall be weakened by 30% [+15%].

Cost: N/A Mastery: Advanced Level 1

Lone collapsed to the floor. His lungs compressed and he felt his entire body constrict while it attempted to fold into itself.

'Don't do anything!' Lone begged Sophie mentally. 'I'm in no danger.'

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 2.

'... Tell that to the magic within you being obliterated repeatedly by that terrifying aura. Even if he is singling you out and not exuding it to the entire courtroom, we can still see the magic it is made up of. We can feel it... Don't provoke this person to seriously fight you. You will die and we do not know if we are fast enough to save you,' Sophie answered.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 3. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 4.

'I didn't plan to. I'm seriously trying to take your opinion on board. Seriously fighting an X-ranker sounds like assisted suicide to me. Fuck. I can't even see what his aura looks like since I can't raise my head,' Lone complained.

'We will describe it. It is a wall. A wall of skulls, bones, faces both familiar and unfamiliar to him. Death had moulded this man's spirit. It defines him but he tries to hide it as he performs his duties. That is his aura,' Sophie replied.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 5. Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 6.

Lone would have grinned were he able. 'That's pretty fuckin' metal.'

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] Has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 7.

'No, it is bones. We already told you this. By the way, how long will you be glued to the floor? Your arbiter is yelling her lungs out while the head prosecutor is matching her word for word with his own screaming. The Taker seems amused but the judge is very much not so,' she explained.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] Has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 8.

'Ah, figured out I can't hear jack right now?' Lone asked. 'Won't be long. I could probably get up right now if I really tried but I'm focusing on mentally resisting the aura so the relevant skill levels faster.'

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] Has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 9.

'I can see the magic in sounds and what they touch and do not, as well as what actually hears them. It is annoying and overbearing if I try to do it, passively though it is ignorable except when it is clear someone cannot hear something when they should be able to. Like you. Anyway, We are going to stop this racket right now,' Sophie claimed.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] Has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 10.

Lone barely managed to roll his head over in time to witness the fully armoured love of his life take off her helmet before screaming three words so loudly he could almost hear them over his condition.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] Has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 1. Passive Skill: Aura Pressure Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist the pressure of auras generated by a person's rank at varying levels based on mastery.

All aura pressure applied to the host shall be weakened by 60% [+30%].

[New!] When suffering under the effects of an aura that exceeds the host's rank, the host's stats shall temporarily be increased based on the difference of ranks. Multiply stats by [x] where [x] is the number of ranks between the host and the aura owner. This effect does not stack. [x]'s minimum is 2.

Cost: N/A Mastery: Expert Level 1

He was able to lipread the words Sophie had boomed and he smirked immediately afterwards as he slowly stood up.

'Shut up, peasants!' was what she had demanded of both Sonya and Mister Chillforge.

Lone chuckled as he pushed against Xer'rava's aura. The difference in difficulty was shocking. Going from intermediate to advanced had only made a ton feel like 900-kilos, but now that same ton was as bearable as 200 or 300-kilos pressing down on his shoulders.

As he cracked his neck and stretched his limbs, Lone quickly opened up his status.

Status Name: Lone Immortus Sex: Male Age: 25 Level: 238 Species Foxkin Rank: D Race: Golden Foxkin HP: 60,930/60,930 (Temporary: 426,510/426,510) SP: 62,150/62,150 (Temporary: 435,050/435,050) MP: 52,520/52,520 (Temporary: 367,640/367,640) WF: 1,200/1,200 Basic Stats Strength: 3,106 (Temporary: 21,742) Vigour: 6,093 (Temporary: 42,651) Dexterity: 2,184 (Temporary: 15,288) Agility: 3,615 (Temporary: 25,305) Vitality: 6,215 (Temporary: 43,505) Luck: 193 (Temporary: 1351) Secret Stats Charm: 127 (Temporary: 889) Charisma: 132 (Temporary: 924) Magic Power: 5,252 (Temporary: 36,764)

"Holy sweet mother of baby Jesus," were the words that rolled out of Lone's mouth as he gaped in delightful shock.

The protector looked confused. "You feel like an SS-ranker now. Why?"

Meanwhile, Sophie folded her arms over her chest. "See? He is fine. The man whom our heart belongs to is not such a weakling that something as insignificant as a mere aura could endanger him, regardless of how powerful the being that is projecting it is."

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] Has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 2.

'It's still levelling? Awesome,' Lone thought as he wore an awkward smile before he responded to the X-ranker's inquiry. "Aura Pressure Resistance expert rank. Thanks for the help power-levelling it. I'm ready to hit you now."

'I was honestly only waiting for it to hit expert rank so I could stand then I'd wriggle out of having you use your aura at all, but this extra effect is something I really wanna test now. If I could apply my Strength, I bet I'd be able to pierce a hole right through him even with Tail Spear's relatively low rank,' Lone thought as he licked his lips.

Xer'rava looked to the Taker for guidance.

She nodded. "Nothing has changed. We are here to witness his combat potential to see if militaristic enlistment is a viable punishment. He seems to have gained a rare and perhaps even undocumented additional effect for reaching expert rank with his Aura Pressure Resistance skill. From the looks of things, he gains temporary strength based on the strength difference between himself and you."

'Wait, bonus effects aren't fixed? Fuck. The books I've read on skills never mentioned that. Does that mean I've gotten bad extra effects too? Were there better possibilities? How do I go about guaranteeing they show up on a skill rank up?' Lone frowned. 'I bet the guild has info on this. Likely locked behind the silver plate. Speaking of the guild, I still need to turn in the quest for clearing out Urd Grun. Oh well. probably won't get a chance to do that here.'

The head prosecutor scowled then smiled. "A powerful ability if that is so, but useless for reclaiming kriegs and urds as very few beings occupying the kingdom's lost territories are intelligent enough to use aura."

Lone heard Sonya speak up as he kept his focus on the X-ranker. "Collectively very few, yes, but still hundred of urds and dozens of kriegs lay in the hands of the exiled casteless who have powerful leaders. Krieg Stunfurn is a good example of such. Is it not perfectly reasonable to see if he has the power to handle such people?"

The Taker nodded. "Exactly so. Continue with your aura, Xer'rava. I assume you are ready, Mister Immortus?"

Lone, out of the corner of his eyes, saw the judge give the Taker a look that screamed 'Is this my courtroom or yours?' Still, the man didn't speak up to interrupt her.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] Has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 3.

'I doubt they'll let me sit here and see if an X-ranker can push this skill to master-rank, right?' Another glance at the judge who was frowning even more deeply upon noticing his gaze gave him his answer. 'To levelling Tail Spear we go, I guess.'

"If you have any defensive skills, please use them. I want this to be as difficult as possible," Lone asked.

The X-ranker didn't respond in any way whatsoever and simply kept his posture, ready to receive Lone's attack.

Lone shrugged, cracked his neck, then said, "Tail Spear."

He could feel the difference his temporary stats afforded him immediately. The skill was unchanged, of course. It still gave his usually fluffy limbs the penetrative power to cut through Rare items or A-ranked beings with ease.

However, Lone could sense something different. The way his muscles moved, the sharpness of his fur, the elasticity and hardness of his tail bones. It was all so much clearer to him right in this moment.

Without hesitation, he used Ungrounded to jump a metre into the air before he manoeuvred himself into a prone position midair.

Lone then kicked the space where his torso was only moments ago with enough force to send shockwaves through the room. Luckily for them, a certain barrier mage was present to keep anything tragic from happening.

While the guards had protected most people, the few semi-transparent green barriers surrounding Sophie and Breena didn't escape Lone's notice.

That made him smile. To see her taking advantage of his actions to train one of her skills made him feel oddly proud.

Regardless, within a fraction of a second Lone had rocketed straight towards Xer'rava and was now mere inches away from the dwarf.

His temporary Dexterity allowed him to perceive time so much more acutely than usual and his boosted Agility made it an easy task to channel his momentum into a frontflip mid-air.

During said somersault, Lone repeated stabbed into the dwarf's exposed chest so quickly and with such ferocity that each of his attacks created a small sonic boom.

He had said he would only attack once but Lone would be a fool to not try to get away with a combo since more attacks equated to more skill usage. After all, Tail Spear would be active for another nine minutes and change.

He wouldn't be Lone if he didn't take up such a perfect opportunity to level up one of his most powerful skills as much as humanely possible.

He was stopped, however, after his 576th attack. 'Amazing that I could keep track of that, really. I wonder what stat does that? Dexterity as well? Hmm... Maybe Endurance because, y'know, mental endurance and whatnot...'

"Hey, uh, I have nothing against Australia or anything but could you please stop holding me up by my foot? My head's almost scraping the floor thanks to the height difference," Lone pleaded with a grin on his face.

Why was he smirking? Well, for a start, his vision was almost entirely blocked by system notifications. The other reason was that he could see a small crevice in the X-ranker's chest that was spewing blood.

He, a D-ranker, had managed to injure an X-ranked dwarf who clearly specialised in melee combat without having to rely on his Mental Destruction.

If that wouldn't make him the proudest fox in the world, well, then whatever would?

"Ow!" Lone yelped as he was unceremoniously dropped on his head.

He rolled over and then jumped up onto his feet. Rubbing his head but still smiling, he said, "Well, with that out of the way, shall we proceed with the rest of the trial?"