The birds chirped once again as Mio slept atop her dust-covered/surrounded bed. The attic trap door to her room swung open and slammed against the attic floor; the loud bang of the trap door slamming against the floor snapped Mio awake, and she jolted her body to an upright position and flung the dust on her body across the room while having a neutral expression on her face.

"Wake up, dustarella; your boyfriend's here to pick you up for school," Maxikrose remarked as he climbed into Mio's room with his eyes closed and covered with one of his hands. Mio retained her neutral expression as her cheek slowly shifted to a pink hue.

"So... you want me to tell him you'll be out in a sec or a minute?" Maxikrose asked.

"Min," Mio uttered.

"Alright then. Oh, and before I forget, Mum couldn't bring our stuff yesterday because of complications, so you'll have to go without your dusting-proof onesies for a little longer. Unless you want me to get them for you?" Maxikrose said, causing Mio to raise her head to look at Maxikrose.

"Is it... your day off or something?" Mio asked, to which Maxikrose laughed at.

"As if I just have more free time today, given me and cous have to help you explore that nearby dungeon thing today," Maxikrose remarked before turning around. Maxikrose uncovered his eyes and walked downstairs. Mio sighed as she led back down and rolled out of bed.

"Oi, Maxi! Did you wake her up yet?" a callous and bombastic feminine voice shouted from downstairs.

"There's no need to shout, Zinvalia," Grandma Maouhideo said calmly.

"Sorry, Gran-gran," Zinvalia muttered meekly.

A few minutes later, Reku soared over the road as he carried Mio in his arms. Mio sheepishly held her arms close to her chest and tightly clenched them together.

"You alright, Mio?" Reku asked. Mio tilted her head and neutrally stared at Reku.

"Yeah... why... do you ask?" Mio muttered meekly.

"I don't mean to sound insensitive, but you've been... quieter than usual.".

"Oh...," Mio uttered as she lightly squeezed her spandex-covered fingers.

"Don't feel bad if you don't feel comfortable telling me, but... how can I say this without sounding cheesy?" Reku said, but his attempt to comfort Mio gradually morphed into incoherent rambling about how he didn't want to be corny or cheesy. Mio stared at Reku's worried expression and couldn't help faintly smiling before Reku's attention was diverted to focusing on flying as he neared the outskirts of Lumios City.

"It sure is convenient for travelling when you have wings... but bikes are certainly cooler in my opinion," Tanya remarked while she flew through the air on her back with her super pale yellow feathery angel wings spread out like a glider.

"Don't forget we've got that assignment for the headmaster, Tanya," Mercury stated as he flew beside Tanya using his super pale yellow feathery angel wings. Tanya nonchalantly waved her hand at Mercury in a dismissive manner. Mercury rolled his eyes and looked over at Reku and Mio.

"Alright, you two follow me," Mercury stated before he dived downwards to a section of the forest below with a clearing, with Reku and Tanya following behind him.

The group landed on the grassy ground and retracted their wings. Reku gently placed Mio on her feet, and Mio quietly thanked Reku for carrying her. Mercury checked the image of the old map next to an interactive map on his orange fuzzy phone case-covered smartphone.

"Now, the Magic Dungeon is four minutes this way," Mercury stated as he put his phone in his pocket. Mio, Reku, and Tanya nodded before they followed Mercury through the forest. The group traversed through the unnaturally dense forest with each tree so close they barely had enough space for the group to squeeze through. Tanya groaned and punched one of the trees, followed by a coconut falling past her and narrowly missing her head.

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"You said it would only take four minutes, Kinko!" Tanya whined as she squeezed between two trees.

"Well, it would've if you weren't stopping every five seconds to complain about having to walk," Mercury stated boldly while staring down Tanya. Tanya quietly grumbled under her breath as the group continued on their way through the forest until they arrived at a shaded clearing.

Obelisk (with Risu lying in Obelisk's fur hood) and Mr Sakamoto (with Nebula underneath Mr Sakamoto's yellow sleeveless trench coat and clinging to his back while resting her head on his shoulder) stood before the slightly larger tree at the centre of the shaded clearing as they looked at the large hole in the tree filled with sap and syrup-coloured viscous mana swirling inside the tree.

"I wonder when the supreme guild master will arrive; do you think she forgot, Solus?" Risu asked, causing Mr Sakamoto to sombrely sigh as he was looking at his dark royal blue phone.

"Nola told me she wouldn't be able to attend since she had to hold an emergency meeting with the guild masters due to multiple outbreaks of... of...," Solus explained as he slowly itched his head from struggling to remember what the outbreaks were of.

"Dang... and I was hoping to get an autograph...," Tanya complained as Mio and co walked over.

"I figured you weren't doing this for an honourable reason," Mercury said snarkily, making Tanya glare at him.

"Don't act like you weren't thinking the same, Kinko," Tanya quipped back with an equal amount of snark. Mercury rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in the process as he stopped walking.

"I won't deny I thought about it.".

"Hah, I know it!" Tanya exclaimed as she pointed at Mercury. Solus smirked as Tanya's outburst reminded him of his sister when he and her were kids.

"As I was saying, Nola told me she arranged for some high-ranking adventurers to assist in her stead," Solus added.

"My if I didn't know any better I think this would be the first time you've spoken about me without adding a snide comment," Zinvalia said jestfully. Solus groaned while rubbing his eyes as Maxikrose and Zinvalia dropped down from the sky and landed near the group. (Zinvalia is a busty and slightly tall young-looking adult female half-human/half-demon; she has spiky snow white hair with glowing dark purple tips and a sharp fringe covering her left eye, pure black dots, with glowing dark purple five-pointed wind spinner in them, super pale skin, and glowing dark purple mark covering the entirety of her middle and index fingers that then runs down her hands and up her arms)(She's wearing a large black hooded fur coat which she wears like a cape, a skintight black and white vertically-striped sleeveless shirt, knee-low black fur shorts, and black fur boots)

"Mr Sakamoto, you know Mio's cousin?" Mercury asked suprisedly as Tanya joyfully skipped over to Maxikrose. Solus rubbed the back of his head as he adverted his eyes and pessimistically sighed.

"You could say that...," Solus uttered. Zinvalia smugly crossed her arms and grinned at Solus' annoyance.

"We're acquaintances at best, given our only positive interactions were in my last year of college, and the rest of our encounters would be considered rocky at best." Zinvalia smugly remarked as she rubbed the back of her left hand.

"I dread to ask what you mean by rocky, so I shall reframe from asking," Mercury uttered with Solus nodding.

"That's for the best," Solus murmured. Zinvalia raised an eyebrow and frowned at Solus for his comment while Tanya asked Maxikrose if he enjoyed the anime she recommended to him. Zinvalia sighed as she swerved her vision over to Reku, making him flinch from her abrupt switch in attention.

"Y-yes...?" Reku said nervously as he tried to cross his arms but failed multiple times before eventually succeeding in crossing his arms.

"Seems you haven't changed a bit, Reku; anyway is it true your niece is going to this cat lover's academy?" Zinvalia asked as she pointed at thumb Obelisk. Risu sat up in the hood of Obelisk's fluffy coat and scowled at Zinvalia.

"Youngsters these days have no sense of shame," Risu uttered as she licked the back of her paw and used said paw to rub her face.

"Don't hold it against her, I mean even I would be considered young when compared to you," Obelisk remarked jokingly. Risu snootily huffed and led back down in the hood of Obelisk's coat.

"I'll pretend you didn't just insinuate I'm old with your comment, mister," Risu grumbled as she curled up into a sleeping position and went to sleep. Riku mindlessly blinked while staring at Zinvalia like a deer in headlights.

"My sister has a daughter?" Reku mumured in complete bewilderment.

"Didn't she... tell you... or anyone?" Zinvalia asked as she tilted her head. Reku shook his head, and Zinvalia covered her eyes.

"And I thought I had bad communications with my family," Zinvalia muttered as she lightly tapped her forehead.