Status Name: Lone Immortus Sex: Male Age: 25 Level: 399 [+57] Species Foxkin Rank: C Race: Golden Foxkin HP: 102,150/102,150 [+3,420] SP: 40,457/98,280 [+3,540] MP: 167,070/167,070 [+113,040] WF: 1,300/1,300 Basic Stats Strength: 5,539 [+300] Vigour: 9,828 [+354] Dexterity: 5,024 [+215] Agility: 5,957 [+210] Vitality: 10,215 [+342] Luck: 1,326 [+19] Secret Stats Charm: 166 [+24] Charisma: 167 [+24] Magic Power: 16,707 [+11,304]

'I already knew I didn't rank up since I would have felt that, but what a shame. I was hoping the experience with Darkness counted for one round of enlightenment and then my demonstration with Xer'rava would count as another,' Lone sighed mentally. 'Hell, I was even hoping for this encounter to help me get whatever enlightenment I needed for B-rank. Now I'm stuck at yet another level limit for the foreseeable future.'

Still, it wasn't all bad news. 'Soph, how much MP do you think the blood mage had in relation to you?'

'Compared to me? Oh, I don't know. I, uh, I wasn't really thinking about that I just knew she had way less than me- Sophie says about a tenth? Maybe a bit more, like a ninth or eighth?' Soph answered. 'Why?'

'Because MP is now my highest resource out of the four I possess. I gained 11,000 Magic Power, so 110,000 MP. If she had a tenth of your reserves, that means I absorbed about a third of her stats. In the future, try to gauge exactly what percent of MP our enemies have when compared to you, please? I'd like to know if I'm stealing the same percentage of stats from everything I kill or if it's different per kill,' Lone requested.

'Oh, uh, okay. That makes sense. I'll try. Hey! Maybe I'll get an additional effect on Mana Sensing that'll tell me the exact MP numbers of people and monsters. Wouldn't that be awesome?' Soph telepathically sent with enthusiasm.

Lone smiled as he got up and stretched his back. 'That's the spirit. Now, could you please point me in Breena's direction? I wanna make sure there are no misunderstandings between us.'

'Sure! I can just teleport you to her if you'd prefer though. Or her to you?' Soph offered.

Lone shook his head. 'Nah, I'll walk. Don't wanna take you away from your treasure hunting, now do I?'

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A few minutes later, Lone was now in a different part of the fallen city.

He was following Soph's directions as his mind wandered. 'If I'm getting roughly a tenth of the stats of whoever or whatever I kill, that means Rosanne Daybringer had about 3,000 Strength, Vitality, and Vigour. That's a lot for a mage.'

Considering that, he was actually rather lucky he was able to snap her neck. If she had learned how to apply her Vitality, Lone wondered if he'd have been able to kill her that way with his roughly 5,000 Strength.

'Do all triple-S-rankers have that much in regards to physical stats or was it because of some sort of passive blood-strengthening skill or something? Ah, fuck. I wish I could have interrogated her,' Lone lamented.

He was taken out of his ruminations when he saw Breena crouching over some rubble, moving rocks.

When he approached her she turned her head to look at him before faintly smiling. Her dirt-smeared expression was endearing.

Breena lifted her hands up to show a small doll of a dwarf in armour. "It's one of the items we were sent here to find. The, uh, the address was a bit tricky to locate since the whole street has been levelled. There's another doll in here somewhere. I'm, uh, trying to find it."

Lone nodded in appreciation. "How'd you find it so fast? Did Soph tell you exactly where it was?"

Breena's smile cracked a little bit before she said, "N-No. I used Shadow Walker. I... I only have enough SP to use it for one second right now, but I was able to use it to find a house number down there."

She pointed three houses away from where they currently were. "I then counted up to the address from the quest and started digging."

Lone furrowed his brow in confusion. "Remind me how much Vigour you have."

Breena looked away from him and mumbled in shame, "142."

"So 1,420 SP. How'd you recover back up to 1,000 since you used Shadow Walker earlier to escape the mage?" Lone asked curiously.

Breena shied into herself as if she didn't want to answer him but she ultimately said, "I used a potion."

Again, Lone was confused. "You buy potions? I just assumed you were saving up your quest earnings... And you used up a pot for this? Soph would have been happy to find the requested item later, y'know."

Breena mumbled something so softly that Lone's sensitive ears didn't pick up on it so he asked, "What was that?"

The teen remained silent despite his pressing. Lone could tell she was on the verge of crying so he sighed and crouched down next to her.

"Y'know, I didn't mean what I said to the blood mage back there," he said, changing the subject for now.

Breena slowly glanced at him. "I... I know. I only pretended to look hurt. I... I trust you, you and Mi-..." Her eyes fell down as she cut herself off.

"If it makes you feel more comfortable, you can call me master and Soph and Sophie mistress, y'know? I don't give a fuck either way," Lone said, finally addressing that elephant. "However, only as a form of address. There's no magic binding you to our wills, which is how it always will be. Well, unless I need you to keep a secret or something that I can't allow getting coerced out of you by skills, but no master-slave contracts. Ever."

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Breena's smile returned, even if it was very faint. "I trust you both. I-I want to believe in Mistress Sophie too but..."

"But she wants to kill you," Lone finished. "Well, more get rid of you. Her mind can be rather simple at times."

'Speak ill of our intelligence again and we will stop your Sex Mastery training for quite some time- Hey! Don't just assume control without asking me first! Sorry Lone, I didn't mean to use Mana Sensing to eavesdrop,' Sophie and then Soph communicated telepathically.

Lone chuckled. He put a palm atop Breena's head to which she didn't flinch for the first time. That filled him with pride.

"I care a lot about you, Breena.," Lone stated. "You're like a little sister to me - which is weird to say considering my real little sister is only a few minutes of teleporting away. I'd never actually let you die or just abandon you. I just wanted to make that clear."

"T-Thanks..." Breena replied as she relaxed a bit.

"Now!" Lone suddenly exclaimed, eliciting a slight jump from the young teen. "Did you get any level-ups to your skills or anything like that when you were held hostage? That was a high-intensity situation."

Breena slowly nodded as if hesitant to talk on the subject. "Shadow Walker got two levels... It's beginner-level-three now. I, uh, also got the Acting skill."

Lone beamed a massive smile her way. "That's amazing! Why would you hesitate to tell me that?"

"... How about you, Master Lone?" Breena asked instead of answering. "How, uh, how many skills and levels did you get?"

"Ah, that makes sense," Lone nodded to himself. "Y'know, it's not healthy to compare yourself to me at all when it comes to system stuff, but I won't lie and I won't just not tell you. I got four new skills, two new magical affinities, and a total of 13 skill level-ups - all in the new resistances."

Breena fixed her eyes on the rubble at her feet. "See? It's... It's embarrassing. How can I be proud of two levels and one skill when I'm just falling more and more behind..."

Lone pursed his lips. "I won't stop you if you're making me your benchmark, but it ain't healthy. I mean, Hamish gained nothing from the encounter and Soph only levelled Barrier Prison once. Ignoring me, that means you gained the most out of everyone."

Breena looked surprised. "But... but they're more talented than me..."

Lone smirked. "I've told you before, your talent is hard work. However, in this case, it was the law of stress equals skills. Hamish was genuinely ready to die so he didn't feel any stress whatsoever - I need to talk to him about that. Meanwhile, Soph was in no danger since she was always at the far end of the range of her Mana Sensing, so the only stress she was under was worrying about my life."

"So... I just need to risk myself more to get skills and levels faster?" Breena inquired.

Lone wore a wry expression on his face. "From what I've tested and learned so far, that's exactly right, but don't go becoming me and throwing yourself at death's door, 'kay? Not until you get something like Basic Regeneration."

Breena laughed very softly at the notion of that being possible. "T-Thanks, Mas-... Master Lone."

"That's gonna take some getting used to. Well, I'll leave you to it. I've said what I wanted to say. Later," Lone said before he patted her head in a friendly manner again before walking away.

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Two days later, in a place one could not enter unless they were invited, Sheelda McStuderson drank her 57th cup of tea.

She'd been stuck in this infernal waiting room for four days now hoping, praying, that she'd be able to successfully cash in a very valuable inherited favour.

Finally, the single door to the waiting room swung open before a young man who looked like a human by all accounts if you could ignore his blue skin approached Sheelda.

He was wearing a fancy tailored suit that would only be fitting for those of the highest nobility, although he was only a servant here.

"My lord will see you now, Descendant of the Namebearer," the servant claimed with a very formal bow, much to Sheelda's dismay.

The scripture magic had calmed considerably since she'd come up with a new plan of action to avenge her nephew but every moment waiting without doing anything that actively worked towards Lone Immortus's death resulted in the unignorable itching of her soul returning.

Sheelda stayed quiet as she followed the blue-skinned servant, being extra careful to not look at anything for more than a second or two at most.

Focusing on anything outside of the waiting room was a good way to get her soul ensnared which was quite honestly the last thing she wanted. The only reason she was even here in the first place was to remove her soul's hostage status from the scripture magic binding her.

Were it up to her, she'd have never come here only to take unnecessary risks. The thousands of years old favour could have died with her for all she cared.

However, she was left with no choice since she had been effectively blacklisted from the assassin organisation of the Farwinds and even some of the topsider ones despite her best efforts.

She'd made some attempts to abuse her position as a High Chancellor of the Greater Council but progress on that front was slow. Every hour before she had made contact with this place's owner was a struggle.

The scripture magic wanted Lone Immortus dead weeks ago. If she had tried to play it subtly and risk-free any longer, Sheelda was certain the magic would have killed her within three days or less.

"It's just through here," the servant said as he gestured to a door Sheelda didn't have the courage to look at. "I trust you will come to a magnificent arrangement with my lord, Descendant of the Namebearer."

And with that, he opened the door and then closed it behind her as soon as she had crossed its threshold.

"Well," a deep and silky smooth voice said, the tone in its voice similar to that of someone meeting an old friend for the first time in decades, "I must say, I'm very surprised. I do apologise for the delay, but surely you understand, I'm very busy even if talking to you about... that... was all I could think of ever since your arrival."

Sheelda stayed silent, not wanting to speak out of line and get herself killed.

"Please, none of that. I see no eggshells here, do you?" the lord of this place asked of her.

Sheelda glanced up for the first time and drank in the full visage of the being before her. His skin was as black as a starless night and his eyes glowed brighter than the sun despite them being blood red.

His head was adorned with seven sets of horns, each more intimidating than the last. He was wearing an unbuttoned white doublet that exposed his muscled torso and his legs were covered by a skin-tight hose.

The being wasn't wearing any foot coverings, likely on account of his claw-like toenails that Sheelda didn't doubt could cut through even the hardest of metals with ease.

Unlike most of his kind, he had chosen to grow a sharp beard and even a set of eyebrows, both of which were made entirely from the hottest of hell's flames.

Just so much as peering at the being's facial hair was leaving Sheelda sweating so she very slowly shook her head.

"Then don't act as if you are walking on them," the Seventh King of all Demonkin, Zel, ordered in a jovial tone. "Now, a drink, perhaps a snack first?"

Sheelda swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "I... I had plenty of tea in t-the waiting room, Your Maj-"

The demon closed his eyes, shook his head, and waved his hand dismissively. "Please, no titles here. I won't be calling you High Chancellor, so no 'Your Majesty' for me either. Zel will do. We both know it isn't my true name, now don't we, Descendant of the Namebearer?"

She didn't dare speak the creature's actual name, even if it held power over him. Death would be the best outcome for her if she antagonised him, so she stayed her tongue.

The Seventh King of all Demonkin exhaled a disappointed sigh. "Fine. Always all business. You come here as the daughter of the son of the daughter of the daughter of the woman who saved my life when I was but a lowly Enganar Imp of the 14th Blasphemous Hell. It was an accident and she would have killed me were the circumstances different, and I her, but a demon never leaves a debt of life unpaid. Now, it is time. Ask of me what you will and have the knowledge of my true name erased from your bloodline, but know that I will do whatever you ask of me my way."

Sheelda gathered all of the courage she could manage as she replied, "I want you to kill a Golden Foxkin known as Lone Immortus."

Zel raised an interested eyebrow. "You don't wish for me to remove the scripture magic binding your soul? It seems to be a rather pressing issue for you, no?"

"Y-You can?! Then yes! Please!" Sheelda pleaded.

The demon king chuckled. "When did I claim I could tamper with such an intrinsic magical force such as scripture magic?"

He casually sauntered over to a bookshelf Sheelda hadn't even noticed was there. From it, he picked up a book titled 'Aether's Laws'.

Just looking at the tome spawned a violent throbbing pain in Sheelda's mind so she quickly averted her eyes.

"Yes, quite impossible for me, sadly. It's a different grouping, shall we say?" Zel said. "Djinns, Harfolk, certain unique skills... The list is extensive for those who could remove your bindings, but not I. Groupings, yes? Such a bother. Although... If you aren't averse to dying, that would make the magic just disappear with little to no effort."

"I'm here because I don't want to die," Sheelda responded.

The black-skinned and well-dressed demon chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure, but it never hurts to know all of your options. I was just curious why you didn't request that of me first. However, if you do ever come across a simple mortal or demon who can bend or break the Laws of Aether, do get in touch after all of this is over, won't you? I'd very much so like to pick apart the brains of such a person."

Sheelda felt like such a fool. She was being played by him. "T-Then my request to kill Lone Immortus?"

"I confess, it wasn't what I expected. A C-ranker who - if the walls speak true and the walls have very talented ears - was able to almost effortlessly snap the neck of a triple-S-ranked multi-affinity mage... Well, suffice it to say perhaps this might prove to be an entertaining distraction after all. I also get to remove one of the few annoyances tied to my existence - the string connecting the two of us together. Now tell me who isn't a fan of two birds and one stone?" Zel asked, seemingly himself.

"Well, Sheelda, I don't usually mix business with pleasure but I'm nothing if not one who's willing to try new things. Consider the matter already over." The smile the creature gave Sheelda would haunt her for the rest of her life, of that, she had no doubts.

However, it had been a worthwhile trip. The word of a king of all demonkin was a powerful thing indeed. Already, the scripture magic tightening its grip on Sheelda's soul had loosened considerably as if it knew of Zel's inevitable success.

She would be free from her past mistakes, she just knew it.