Lone, Soph, and Breena, were having a distinctly normal set of drinks in a café they had found in the residential district near Hazel and her friends' home.
Lone was drinking his grape-flavoured milkshake, finding the taste to be not as awful as he had expected, though ultimately bland when compared the meal they had shared less than an hour ago - which had temporarily increased all of his stats by 50 for the next 30 days.
That was such a small number for him but for Sofia and Breena it was monumental. Breena and Sofia both could take advantage of the increased stats to get much more out of their training than they normally would.
Lone's thoughts on the subject were interrupted when a set of notifications filled his vision.
Congratulations! The host has successfully digested a shot glass of Thrice Refined Demonic Lava.
The host has developed the passive skill: Fire Resistance.
Passive Skill: Fire Resistance
A skill that allows the host to resist harmful flames.
The host is 5% more resistant to fire of all types.
Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1
The host has developed the passive skill: Lava Resistance.
Passive Skill: Lava Resistance
A skill that allows the host to resist the negative effects of lava.
Lava of any type will be 5% weaker when making contact with the host's body.
Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1
The host has developed the passive skill: Heat Resistance.
Passive Skill: Heat Resistance
A skill that helps protect the host from heat.
Reduces the negative effects of hot temperatures that the host experiences by 5%.
Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1
The host has developed the passive skill: Demonic Influence Resistance.
Passive Skill: Demonic Influence Resistance
A skill that allows the host to resist all forms of demonic influence.
Demonic influence used on the host will be weakened by 5%.
Demonic influence that is actively used on the host will have a 5% chance of backfiring.
Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1
'Oh, wow. Four fuckin' skills? And they all sound amazing? I didn't get Fire or Heat Resistance from saving Grimsley and Shana when their smithy in Milindo burned down, or when I practised fire magic on myself, so they must be pretty hard to earn. It's fuckin' awesome I have 'em now though. Should be easy to level with the door metaphorically unlocked,' Lone thought.
He stroked his chin in contemplation. 'Demonic influence that is actively used can backfire. The distinction means passive usage can't? But the lack of distinction for the weakening means both passive and active are affected by that. Powerful skill to have a second effect like that from the get go. Really makes me wonder what I'll get from the five other shot glasses' worth. Maybe some special additional effects?'
Regardless, the implication of these skills told Lone that Peter - and by extension the Deposit Conglomerate - was more than aware of his coming troubles with Arch Devil Zel.
The question was, is that as far as their support would extend for this matter, or could he reach out and ask for more? Could he hire them to help him fight off whatever help the flaming devil would call upon to kill him? That was an interesting matter to ponder over. It was also interesting to consider how they knew.
He doubted Prince Keining had spilled the hypothetical beans Lone had given him, but still, it wasn't impossible. He hardly knew the guy, after all.
Lone was jolted out of his thoughts when Soph had jumped out of her seat and into his arms, her own arms wrapped around his neck. "No more hot mana coming out of you, thus, hug time!"
That got a few stares from the other customers in the café but neither of them cared. Soph because she was happy he was no longer suffering, and Lone because he was disguised. It not being his body people were seeing made it all that much harder to get embarrassed, not that he was particularly prone to that feeling normally anyway.
"Hug time indeed," he laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist. "We've got a few hours until we need to set out for our lovely daughter's quest, so my darling wife, what would you like to do?"
Soph stared into his eyes, seeing past his disguise to look at the real Lone. "Wife... marriage sounds fun. Can we...?"
Lone smiled warmly. He kissed her and said, "Eventually, but not now. Immediate issues first, right? How about we spend the rest of the afternoon with the kids?"
"We'll both hold you to that 'eventually', you know?" Soph beamed at him and kissed him back before adding, "Sure! They're all at their home right now so why not?"
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'It costs so much money to hire a private mind magic tutor and the only one even close to the principality has a years-long waiting list. Ha-ah... Contract magic isn't much better. Why doesn't the guild have a tutor for that? Why is it all governed by seven private institutes? I can't really up and leave to go to a magic school since George has no affinities and Scott hasn't awakened his mana brain yet,' Hazel thought.
Suddenly, a knock came from the front door.
"Can you get that, Hazel? I'm busy cooking," George yelled down the hall, his head poking out of the kitchen to look down the hallway at her as she slouched on a sofa in the living room.
Scott was busy training with Emma while Alisa was having a nap, so Hazel supposed that left her as the only option. "Sure!" she yelled back at him before getting up.
'We don't get many visitors. I wonder what the occasion is? Did Alisa order another obscure tome about space? I hope not. That's a waste of money. She should just wait for Darren to learn space magic himself so he can teach her,' Hazel thought.
She considered dropping her suppression of Mind Reading but she didn't care that much about whoever was behind the door. She approached the front door and opened it as much as the chain latch would allow.
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"Hello. Can I help you?" Hazel said as she eyed her three guests, all Crimson Foxkin.
'Something feels off about them. Something magical. That's... That's not their real appearance? How do I know that? Do they know that I know that? I should be scared, shouldn't I? Three strangers hiding what they look like knock on the door of the home of three summoned heroes. This screams fishy.' Dropping all of her prior relaxation, she unbound her Mind Reading in an attempt to get a read on these likely dangerous individuals.
Her brother had warned her against doing that since it could be detected by certain people, but these three clearly had bad intentions since they were hiding what they looked like, so if they already meant harm, wouldn't it make less sense to not read their thoughts to get at least some insight into their 'visit'?
'That's cute. I can only see half of her face like this! Only if you look with your eyes.'
'I could beat her, I think. She's his sister and a hero but I think I could beat her. Is she just weak? Was... he... this weak? No. Not all heroes are the same.'
After those two very different lines of thought, a wall crashed down on Hazel's psyche and it almost made her faint. The only reason she hadn't was that the wall was only warding off her invasion, not actively attacking her mind.
"L-Lone?" She stammered.
This wall was not unfamiliar but this was her first time feeling it so up close. The only other time was over half a month ago when he had first arrived at the city with Princelings Keith and Andrew.
"'Sup, sis. Gonna let us in?" The overweight and jolly-looking Crimson Foxkin asked.
Hazel's hands were shaking. This was definitely her brother and his mind was terrifyingly well guarded. "S-Sure."
She closed the door, undid the chain latch, then opened it again.
The family of foxkin entered her and her friends' home, and just as she was about to suppress her unique skill again, her brother stopped her.
His body shimmered before revealing his regular appearance that she had almost become accustomed to now. Handsome face, long hair, slight stubble, ordinary but high quality clothes, an adventurer's pouch at his waist, and nine tails at his back, though they now sported a fresh lick of grey at their ends.
His similarly grey-tinted multi-coloured eyes narrowed at her in kindness as a smile formed on his face. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it with a gentle sort of awkward love that was foreign to her.
"Don't waste effort on restricting it right now. I can feel you trying to pull your skill away. Instead, try to break through my locks. I no longer have contact with the guy who was levelling the skill before, and you need to level your own skill and get used to the pressure of a defended mind just in case regardless, so put up with the discomfort. I won't hurt you, so do your darndest to break in, 'kay?" he requested.
And it was a request. He wasn't ordering her like her brother from the dwarven town occupied by corpses with black-blood, tainted by the forbidden. No, this version of her sibling wanted her to better her skill and to help him better his own at the same time, for both her and his own good.
She returned his smile and put a hand on top of his, holding it softly. "Mmm, I'll, uh, I'll try. You're pretty scary though, you're uh, y'know."
"Still haven't told your friends yet, huh?" Lone asked as Breena and who Hazel thought was Soph returned to their own original appearances.
"N-No. I, uh, I will eventually it's ju-"
"Hey, no pressure from us. It ain't our business. Breena's great at keeping secrets, Soph doesn't care, Sophie really doesn't care, and I respect you enough to let the decision to 'come out', so to speak, be yours," her brother said the perfect words in the most imperfect way.
He then patted her shoulder before letting go, carefully slipping his hand out from under her own. With that done, he placed himself on one of the two sofas in the living room. Then suddenly, a clearly overweight and extremely fluffy looking fox about the size of a Golden Retriever appeared on his lap, fully unconscious.
Soph sat next to him while the girl a couple of years her junior, Breena, stuck to a wall near them.
"Hey, Hazel! Who was it- Oh! Lone, Sofia, and Breena! What a welcome surprise," George called before he added, "Give me five minutes, please? I really don't want to mess up this cake."
Lone raised an eyebrow as he watched the teenaged former-noble disappear back into the kitchen. "Wasn't he more skittish before? That was very... confident? I approve, but it's only been just under three weeks."
Hazel sat next to him and nodded, "He has a huge crush on Emma. Or, had? Even since I met him he's been head over heels for her. I try not to listen to my friend's... emotions, but he, uh, realised he was someone she would never like in that way. She only shows interest in handsome, strong, cool people."
Lone nodded as he stroked his chin. "I am, indeed, those things."
Soph nodded and said, "And more, but you're mine! Well, mine and Sophie's, but no one else's!"
Hazel rolled her eyes. "He didn't try to change for her or anything, but ten days ago he decided he'd work on himself. I think it really bothered him too when we went over our magic affinities with you but he was the only one with none. I've checked and it doesn't upset him as much anymore."
"The guy go to therapy or something? See someone with a skill to help with mental health?" her brother asked.
Hazel shook her head. "No. He just decided. I honestly think it's pretty admirable. He's been a lot more helpful during the four quests we've done since this change of his."
"Big props to the kid. Takes some real big balls to dig deep and not come out covered in even more shit," Lone nodded, acting like he was some sort of sage.
"Gross. Anyway, what's the occasion? Just sticking to your promise to visit more often? Em, not that that's bad! I'm, eh, I'm happy to see you so soon. It's just... you're usually super busy, right?" Hazel asked, failing to hide the sadness that had welled up inside of her at the thought of just how busy her brother was and what that meant for him, his friends, and her and her friends.
"Gonna push this one to her limit," he replied as he pointed a casual thumb towards Breena. "She's been at her level cap for far too long. Quest we took doesn't start until this evening, so figured we'd hang out, maybe train a bit with you guys. I might have found a magic teacher for Scott, by the way. Guy's a big old well-dressed Komodo dragon. An X-ranker mage specialising in earth and body fortification magic. He owes me a favour and seemed the honourable type, so expect a visit at the very least."
"What? X-ranked? Favour? Seemed?" Hazel was, understandably, confused.
'She so... questions...'
'Kyuubi... ride... soon.'
Her brother's intimidatingly well-defended mind made it quite difficult to hear the thoughts of the foxkin girl and crazy woman. If only she could control her unique skill to only target some minds... Sadly, it was all or none currently. It was lucky she'd even heard their initial thoughts outside of the door.
"Well, I only met him today, but he sponged off of some good will I've somehow earned. It is what it is. Where are the others, by the way?" Lone asked.
Hazel was about to answer when an excited Emma and a sweat-covered Scott entered the living room. "I knew I recognised that voice! See, Scott? I wasn't hearing things. Hi! It's been ages!"
Scott shrugged. "It's been just over a fortnight, stop exaggerating. Hey Mis- Right. It's Lone now. Hey Lone, Hey Sophie? Ah, no. Soph? You're so hard to tell apart. And hi Breena. What's with the furball?"
Hazel shivered as she felt a powerful desire to murder completely enshroud Soph's thoughts before it disappeared just as fast.
"She's our daughter, not a 'furball'," Soph said sweetly with a less than sweet smile on her face.
Hazel, Emma, and Scott, all shared a look.
"Daughter?"
"As in you two...?"
"But humans and demis aren't compatible..."
Lone burst out laughing. He stroked Kyuubi's big sleepy head and said, "She's adopted."
"Oh, that makes a lot more sense," Scott nodded. "Is she a person? Like, can she transform or something?"
"Dunno," Lone answered honestly. "She's way too intelligent and docile for a normal Golden Fox, needless to mention the circumstances in which we obtained her. She's growing too fast as well. It would take centuries upon centuries and exposure to spiritual elements for her to get this big normally. Though I think I have an answer to that already."
Soph looked up at him. "You think she's had the milk before?"
"She does sleep all the fuckin' time," Lone replied before he leaned down and rubbed his face into Kyuubi's fur, "Ain't that right, ya lazy blob?"
"Kyuuu..." Kyuubi purred peacefully before yawning and immediately falling asleep once more.
Alisa had just entered the room while rubbing her eyes before she said, "Oh my god. That was the cutest thing I've ever seen..."
"Did we wake you up?" Hazel asked. "Sorry, you exhausted yourself while training and here we are being inconsiderate."
Alisa ran a hand through her long and straight blonde hair before she shook her head and yawned. "It's fine. Have you learned any space magic since you were last here?"
Lone replied, "Nope. Have you?"
"Nope," she replied sadly.
"Figures. Well, I might have an X-ranked magic master lined up for Scott who shares the same magical affinities, and I think I might know a way to, if not get you a teacher, Alisa, at least encounter a space magic practitioner who can use a skill on me that I will then in turn teach you," he said.
'What?' Hazel thought before she voiced her confusion, "How are you so well connected to powerful people? You're, uh, how to put it..."
"An asshole?" Scott chimed in as he sat down. "Don't gemme wrong, I prefer the new you. Mister McCullen was a pushover on the best of days. Felt sorry whenever I looked at you back then. Now you scare the shit out of me and inspire me. Big change."
Before Lone could respond, Soph spoke up changing the subject, completely blindsiding Hazel. "I just noticed! You awakened both of your mana organs! Congratulations. Are you gonna try to find a teacher too?"
"Uh, I, yes? I've been trying. There's no mind magic teacher's to be found in the city that I could possibly afford, or who would even bother given my affinity is quite low. They all require at least 50% affinity, the few that live here, anyway. Dunno about outside the principality. As for contract mag-"
"I can try to teach you that," her brother interrupted. "I have True Contract Magic and I have some info on a couple of contract magic skills I got from a woman who tried to get me assassinated a while ago. Traded the info of every skill she knew existed in exchange for her life. Good deal if you ask me. But yeah, I can just divert attention to self-learn one or two of those and then teach 'em to ya. I am quite busy so give me half a year or so. I don't need contract magic skills right this moment."
"How do you always say the most insane things so casually?" Hazel sighed before she blushed. "I was supposed to think that, not say it."
"Hahaha!" Lone laughed. "Believe it or not, I'm toning myself down quite a bit for all of your sakes."
"How did you awaken your mana organs?" Soph asked Hazel, once again changing topics.
Emma smiled. "That's a fun story. Fresh too since it only happened five days ago. We can listen to that, eat George's cake, then you can train me in lightning magic! I want to learn Amplified Current."
George yelled from the kitchen, "Unless you want to eat it raw, you won't be eating my cake for a few more hours! I'm finishing up preparing it, not finishing up cooking it!"
Emma scrunched up her face in anger. "Damn it. I'm craving cake and only now I learn it's not close to done?"
"Ask Lone. He can magic one up for ya," Scott suggested.
"Nope. I would get much more enjoyment watching you suffer, and I don't want to take from George's efforts by indulging you now. Anyway, yeah, I'd love to hear how my lil sis awakened her mana organs. I also want Breena to spar with you all to warm her up before our quest later tonight. So, with that all planned, spill the tea, Hazel," Lone said.
Emma mumbled, "Sparring will only make me even more hungry..."
Hazel smiled. She much preferred this side of her brother when compared to the murderous and paranoid warlord of the Farwinds who had kidnapped them and almost snapped her neck on their first meeting.
"We chose to do our first combat mission last week and it was to clear a subsection of the sewers from the build up of the local slime variants..." she started.