Lone gave Breena a smile and said, "I'll be back when you next have an episode, 'kay? You'll get the skill under your control soon enough. You may claim to have no talent, but you're super hard working. Anyone with eyes can see that."
Breena nodded a little. "T-Thanks..."
"Well, I'm gonna summon Soph or Sophie now. I kinda hope for the former, but regardless, if you hear me begging for help, don't be afraid to come to my rescue," Lone joked.
That got a small smile out of the girl so he considered it a win on his part.
Lone left her tent and returned to his and Soph's after giving Hamish a polite nod which was returned in kind.
"Summon Kyuubi Immortus," Lone invoked.
His adoptive daughter who happened to be a fox appeared atop his outstretched hands, exactly where he had intended to summon her.
"Sorry to use you as a defensive measure, but Soph and Sophie both aren't very fond of Primals so I expect some backlash considering I have a new passenger who fits that bill in my soul," Lone explained.
"Kyuu..." the lazy fox answered as she yawned and closed her eyes, curling up a bit more as he held her.
"I swear, you're a magical Golden Fox, aren't you? There's no way you're ordinary. You can definitely understand me, can't you?" He asked as he squished her plump fur a bit.
All he got in response was some purring. He sighed and stopped delaying the inevitable. "Summon Sophie Vladimirovich."
Fully dressed in her armour and with crossed arms, the girl stared daggers at him through her helmet. "Reckless!"
That one word was enough to inform him of who was currently manning the wheel of the woman's body.
"Hi to you too, Sophie," Lone replied with a wry look on his face.
She stormed right up to him and began jabbing him in the cheek with her gauntletted hand, actually going so far as to draw blood.
He didn't react and just waited for her to say her piece, and say her piece she did.
"How dare you risk your own life to save that leech! She does nothing but sucks on your teet as you feed, clothe and shelter her! You even help her gain levels and facilitate her training with a powerful dwarven rogue!" Sophie yelled in fury.
'This is the issue of having a girlfriend who has two personalities. Especially when one half couldn't give a fuck about anything but herself and me,' Lone thought as he withstood her anger.
"That Djinn could have easily killed you! It would have been wiser to allow it to take control of Breena and then simply end her life! A Primal or not, with such a weak host you would have easily been able to deal with her!" Sophie screamed into his face.
Lone held up the sleeping Kyuubi to hide from her. Slowly, he peeked around the fluffy creature to ask, "Can we talk about this like mature adults, or are you not quite finished with raising your voice yet?"
"Finished?! We have barely begun! Does your simpleton mind not recall what happened when Void possessed you?! His actions were the primary reason you were imprisoned for months on end and forced to murder children while enduring torture. Every! Single! Day! Did you conveniently forget all of that?!" Sophie continued.
"What if Darkness had possessed you and managed to use some of its powers to go to any dwarven settlement it so wished and then run rampant, wantonly slaughtering, resulting in history repeating itself?! You would then be captured by the dwarves upon regaining your mind and end up imprisoned once more, or, even worse, executed! We fear for your safety, Lone. Do you not understand this?" Sophie demanded an answer.
She then ripped her helmet off and revealed to Lone that she was so upset, she was actually shedding tears of genuine anguish over the matter.
Lone lowered Kyuubi and wore a serious expression. "I get where you're coming from, I really do. But Sophie, regardless of your opinion of her, Breena did nothing wrong and I had a method to help her even if it had risks."
"More than dangerous risks, we might add. You may think yourself invincible, but you very much so are not," Sophie countered. "She is but a former slave we should have given some gold and a map to before sending her back to her clan, nothing more."
"Should I have given you some food and a map as well when we got off of Goblin Island?" Lone asked. "Just callously leave you to your own devices, a weak girl who has some powerful magic skills and not a drop of common sense inside of her?"
Sophie scowled. "That is not the same. We are tied to one another through the reason we were brought here."
"And she is tied to me since I saved her and promised to bring her back to her home," Lone countered, matching her scowl.
In truth, he wanted to wipe away her tears and embrace her, but he just couldn't allow her to besmirch his principles like this. Nor would he just let her be so cruel towards Breena, someone he considered to be a companion.
"Her corpse would have fulfilled that promise," Sophie said coldly.
Lone frowned. "Is compassion really that hard for you to comprehend? Look, I love you. Both you and Soph, but you're being a cunt. I am alive, I am in control. Breena is alive and not a puppet of a god. Why are we arguing over this?"
"We are being a cunt?" Sophie asked in a growl. "You are simply making us wonder why we care for you at all when you clearly do not care for yourself, and we are voicing this concern."
"Wow." Lone walked past Sophie and sat down on their laid out bedroll. "We've gone over this. I understand you don't like me gambling with my life so often. I understand this and am trying to take more calculated risks in light of your and Soph's views. I am trying to change for you. You trying to be less of a heartless bitch wouldn't kill you in exchange, would it?"
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Sophie didn't respond to him. Instead, she just stripped herself of the rest of her armour and then gave up control of her body, as made evident by the awkward look on her beautiful face.
"Um... I-I think what you did was right," Soph said meekly. "S-Saving Breena... I don't agree with her..."
Lone smiled a little. "I knew you wouldn't." He held up Kyuubi and moved a few of his tails. "Cuddles? I could use some cuddles right now."
"Y-Yeah, that sounds nice..." Soph answered before she approached him and then wrapped both Kyuubi and him in a loving embrace.
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Since Sophie refused to take control of her and Soph's body, or even talk through Soph to him for that matter, Lone was stuck when it came to levelling up his Massage Mastery that night.
A shame, but he understood that it took time to cool down after a big argument like that. He was willing to talk it out at any moment. It was her he was waiting on.
All through the night Lone and Soph took turns checking up on Breena every 30 minutes to ensure she was fine.
At some point, Lone told Soph to go to sleep and leave it to him. After all, he wasn't exactly new to sleepless nights.
He felt it was wiser to work on some of his skills while he kept the young foxkin company during the scary process of one, coming to terms with her very possible mortality; and two, learning how to control her new skill.
On Breena's front, her episodes did slow to only happening once every hour or so and she'd even gained a level of mastery in her new skill, Shadow Walker.
It was similar to Lone's own oddly named Darkness Primal skill, You. The only exception being that it allowed access into shadows and nothing more, turning them into murky puddles which Breena could traverse.
She could do this an unlimited amount of times per day though it cost her 1,000 SP per second, similar to Lone's Ungrounded skill.
It was also difficult to control due to no fault of her own. According to its skill description, Shadow Walker was 78% unstable due to Darkness's influence being ripped away from the skill by the Djinn.
Apparently, it had started with a rating of 85% unstability, so progress was being made.
A good thing, in Lone's mind. It was something for her to train, not a permanent disability. A price worth paying to be free of such a malicious entity like Darkness.
On his own front, a few of Lone's skills had gained some levels thanks to his concentrated efforts during the long night.
Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6.
Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 7.
Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8.
A happy and welcome outcome from trying his best to teach his meditation method to Breena. Even if she didn't earn a skill out of it as he had, it was able to calm her down to the point that her trembling all but stopped.
Then again, just his presence may have been enough for that. Lone was no psychologist so he could only go off of the system messages.
Congratulations! the host's active skill [Meditation] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.
Nothing unexpected since he had been using the skill during his teaching efforts.
Congratulations! the host's world skill [Full Body Diagnostics] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.
This was a bit shocking, honestly. He'd used the skill on Breena to see if perhaps there were any lingering or underlying issues, of which, there were none.
Lone was under the impression the skill would only level up if used on someone or something entirely new since from them, he could potentially gain some genuinely new understanding.
World skills were weird. He could only assume it had improved because Breena had been changed so vastly from how she was only yesterday.
She did have a new tail and had awakened but retained no adverse effects besides the possibility of losing her ageing immunity, after all.
The last skill he had tried levelling was one of the few he had neglected severely; Throwing Mastery. Lone had thrown rocks across the camp, trying to hit very specific points in the walls or down the tunnel.
He hadn't gained dozens of levels but progress had been made and he felt his aim was slightly better if nothing else.
Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Throwing Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.
Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Throwing Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.
Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Throwing Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.
Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Throwing Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6.
Lone looked up from the firepit at his tent as the fabric door opened. Soph, holding Kyuubi, stumbled towards him as she yawned.
"Morning," she greeted.
Lone smiled. "Good morning."
She slumped down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "How's Breena?"
"Better. She's still shaken up over the whole ordeal, but that makes sense. She's a strong girl, of that, I have no doubts. Still, it'd be weirder to not be freaked out considering what she went through," Lone replied.
Soph smiled a bit. "Mmm... Sorry about Sophie. She... She cares about you, which is why she got so mad."
Lone nodded. "I understand, I just wish she'd show a bit of compassion for Breena."
"Mmm, me too," Soph answered as she closed her eyes and yawned once more. "Plans for today?"
"Search for the dwarves Darkness claims to have held captive under the urd. If we can't find a way down, we'll make one," Lone explained.
"Okay. I can help with my Mana Sensing," Soph offered.
"I was counting on it... I guess Sophie won't be coming out any time soon?" Lone asked with a wry smile.
Soph shook her head sadly. "She's really angry. I can maybe force her into control if I really try. Want me to give it a go?"
"No," Lone rejected. "I'm happy giving her time to try to understand my viewpoint. I understand hers, so it's the least I should do before talking to her again."
"... Mmm," Soph answered a bit hesitantly.
Lone sighed. 'First big fight with my girlfriend and its with her murderhobo detached-from-her-humanity second personality. Or, well, first personality, technically. I sure know how to choose 'em...'