Lone and his group had immediately left The Academy and had returned to Lone's Wondrous Emporium after Lone had paid out for Infa and Garadia's forfeiture.

They chose the shop over their hotel because that very hotel was now the home of many foreign diplomats, and honestly, while they could likely handle the fallout of an altercation, none of them were very keen on Lone getting pissed off at some stuck-up noble again.

That was a bit of a habit of his now, they'd learned. Push his buttons one too many times and whoosh, a noble is being thrown out of a building like they're a wet rag.

Swind and Rachel had gone back to The Glade since Rachel was tired. Soph was still with the girls in The Summoning Room, leaving Lipsilk, Eolande, and Breena, with Lone.

"Piece 762 out of a million," Lone muttered, though his usual joking tone was gone.

He had just finished steamforging a strange-looking gear. He'd never explained what it was he had slowly been building, but whatever it was, it usually gave him great joy upon completing one of its components.

Right now, every one of the present Wanderers could see the disappointment rolling off of Lone, even Lipsilk who had never seen him forging before.

Lipsilk shook his head and sighed. "Lone, you need to understand that it's amazing that you even got him to bleed a single drop of blood. You can't honestly tell me that you're disappointed you fought against the continent's most powerful Divine and lived after being cut in half like that."

Lone raised his welding goggles and rested them on his head before he took off his glasses and got to work wiping the steam from them.

He pondered over Lipsilk's words for a few moments. Unsure of how to respond, he instead looked at his notifications.

Lone had been in a bit of a daze after being sliced in two like that, so he'd ignored the messages until now.

Congratulations! The host's unique subskill [Bone Armour] has levelled up! It is now Master Level 9.

Congratulations! The host's unique [Regeneration] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Physical Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Master Level 6.

'A full set of single levels just like the first and second flick,' Lone thought a bit joyfully, though it was endlessly frustrating to not have gained that final level for Bone Armour.

Unfortunately, his Fledgling Battle Technique hadn't gained a single level. Lone guessed that this was because he didn't really understand the technique yet.

He did have to wonder how, exactly, he had injured Divine Bumblefuck, but he did gain something... odd other than his skill level-ups.

The host has developed the passive skill: Divine Essence Resistance.

It was a simple skill that made him 5% less susceptible to Divine Essence, as one would imagine.

After that, came his gains from his recent successful forging attempt.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Steamforging] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 6.

Lone leaned back in his stool and he ran his fingers through his hair. Unbeknownst to him, that action of his was rather... alluring.

Eolande's face turned red as she avoided looking at him while she muttered, "too sexy for his own good..."

Frangila - who was in charge of the shop today while Annie had a day off - also averted her eyes. It was no good for an employee to be smitten with their employer, after all.

"I know, Lipsilk. It's dumb of me to be upset... It's just... How weak was Ythmagobla? How powerful was he in his heyday? How did Garadia even manage to wound him so grievously that he could barely do anything for half a century when she was only a B-ranker?" All important questions, Lone felt.

Lipsilk gave Lone a judging look. "You do realise that Garadia was only able to do that because she is the pure child of a Primal. She wielded so much power that day that Radiance was weakened enough to be captured by the fool, Shan'len. Also, do not forget that she died that day to so grievously wound such a powerful being."

Eolande also chimed in. "Need we remind you that you held back? You held back a lot. You might not have been able to beat him in a fair fight, sure, but with a few well-timed Mental Destructions and perhaps employing Darkness or Radiance would have evened the playing field a lot. Instead, you let yourself get thrown around."

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The floating woman sighed. "You're an idiot, Lone. Brood when, and only when, you lose as you did while also at your full power."

Lone scratched his head as he smiled wryly. "Can't argue with that, really. Still, I want to not rely on my unique skills too much. It's kind of impossible with the passive ones like Regeneration - it evolved, by the way, but I dunno, they feel like cheating. I want to be strong. Me, not my unique skills."

Breena poked her head out of the shadows and nodded, making her red and purple ponytail and her foxy ears flop about. "I understand, Master. I agree. I, um, I'm trying my hardest to learn magic so I can rely less on my Darkness skill..."

With all eyes drawn to the head poking out of Lone's shadow, Breena felt her face flush before she quickly retreated back into her sanctuary of Darkness.

"See? Breena agrees with me. She's a smart girl," Lone said proudly.

At that moment, the doorbell chimed as a familiar figure entered Lone's Wondrous Emporium. "Ha-ah... It's ludicrous how much you've grown in only a little over 2-years, Son."

Lone grinned. "Jealous that I'm stronger than you now, Gilbert?"

The White Dragonkin frowned as he shook his head. "Jealous? More like I'm upset that you weren't this stupidly powerful back in Milindo. You could have saved me, Grimsley and little Shana a lot of trouble if you were strong enough to fight the dukes and royals. Life at sea was rough on these old bones of mine..."

Lone noticed the few wrinkles that had returned along with the grey hair that was intertwined with Gilbert's natural white locks.

This was a different grey to the grey that adorned the tips of his horns, polluted his eyes, and encapsulated the tip of his dragon's tail.

This was not the grey of the Primal, Death, but the grey of age.

Lone got up and put a hand on Gilbert's shoulder. A moment later, all signs of ageing had disappeared.

"Thanks, Son. I honestly wouldn't mind getting old and dying, but at my power level and with my injured mana organs, I've only got 5-10-years left. With Shana to teach, Milindo to manage, well, suffice to say, I can't pass on too soon, haha," Gilbert chuckled.

"Injured mana organs?" Eolande asked.

Gilbert nodded. "In my youth, I was a little bit reckless to prove myself and show how much of a magical genius I was. While I did successfully lift the entire White Dragonkin Clan's compound and turned it into a semi-permanent floating island, doing so resulted in my mana organs almost exploding."

He laughed as the memory filled his mind. "Needless to say, the family was not best pleased. Now my Magic Power growth is stunted severely and I can never allow my MP reserves to go under half or I risk more permanent damage as I did when I fled Milindo."

Gilbert had expected expressions of pity to fill everyone's faces, but he was only met with looks of interest.

Well, apart from Frangila. She wasn't very well-versed in magic and fleeing for one's life. Instead, she was just cleaning up the forge since her employer had stopped using it and was busy with his guest.

"Uh... This is where you either laugh at my youthful idiocy or pity me for crippling my future," Gilbert chuckled.

Lone, likewise, chuckled, though for a different reason. "Y'know, ever since I learned about your injury, I've wanted to fix it. Back then, recreating Soph's eyes sealed my MP for what was meant to be a year, but now... If you want a fully functioning set of mana organs again, let me know."

"Come on, there's no need to jo-" Gilbert quickly remembered Lone's absurd Creation Magic skill.

Indeed, almost three years ago he had been there when a panicked Soph had teleported into his office crying over Lone's condition.

He was there during the auction when Lone had shown him more than a handful of ruby-gold coins which he later explained he'd created, perfectly matching the guild's authenticity seal such coins held.

"... Can you actually heal me, Son?" Gilbert asked as he inadvertently gulped.

"You can bet your bottom dollar I can. It's the least I can do for you after all the help you selflessly gave Soph and I. Kyuubi too. Grimsley and Shana as well, come to think of it," Lone answered.

He cracked his neck and spun on his heels. "Well, come to the backroom, yeah? I've got a lab there. Want any body modifications, by the way?"

Gilbert clasped his hands behind his back and wore an excited expression as he asked, "What kind of modifications?"

"Longer legs, a sharper nose, maybe more toned abs? I can do a lot. Hell, I could even make you a human if I had enough weeks to tirelessly work on you," Lone said.

"... Well, I do have this mole on the back of my neck that I usually hide with my hair..." Gilbert confessed.

"Easily removed. Now, why don't you tell me why you chose to be Milindo's nation guildmaster, of all places?" Lone asked as the two of them entered the backroom.

Eolande sighed as she and Lipsilk were left on their own. "When it comes to magic and experimenting with or showing off his skills that boy gets lost in his own little world..."

"I find it rather charming. That Gilbert man, have you ever met him before? I had no idea Lone had connections with the White Dragonkin Clan. They are a very strong faction among the beastkin clans," Lipsilk said.

"How strong?" Eolande asked.

"Their patriarch is a Divine," Lipsilk answered simply.

"Huh. Yeah, that's pretty strong. Lone used to talk to him once or twice a week with those glasses of his like he usually does with you. I wasn't there, but apparently he really helped Lone and Soph out when they first came to the continent," Eolande said.

"Oh? He's only a double-S-ranker though. How could he have helped the man who shortly went on to be instrumental in defeating a weakened Ancient?" Lipsilk asked.

Eolande shook her head. "I have no idea. I do have more stories that Lone's told me though. Life on a goblin-riddled island, a mysterious meeting at sea, battles against Blue Orcs and Manasilk Spiders, his conflict with the human summoned hero, Daisuke. Want to talk about it over some tea?"

Lipsilk nodded with a warm smile on his face. "I'd love to. The boy's as much a close friend to me as he is an absolute mystery. I'd be delighted to learn more."

"You and me both, Gramps," Eolande sighed.

"Gramps?" the fairy mimicked. He was caught off guard by the term.

Eolande laughed. "I'm only a little older than 200,000. You're over a million-years-old, aren't you? Would you prefer Great Gramps? Great Great Gramps? Great Great Great Gramps? Gr-"

"Gramps is fine!" Lipsilk shouted before he sulked and hovered out of the shop.

Eolande laughed and followed him out, leaving only Frangila in the storefront.

----------------------------------------

"To what do I owe the pleasure of the famed Divine soul oracle brothers paying me an extended visit?" Erion asked.

He had been sitting in his office in his personal magic tower at The Academy just doing some menial paperwork when a light knock had issued out from his door.

His mortified assistant, Alice Fairwaye, had opened the door only to lead in Divine Rend, Divine Spirit, and Divine Weeping - all of whom had to crouch to fit through the doorframe, tall as they were.

"You know the answer to that probably better than even we do, Divine Time," the middle brother - Divine Spirit - answered.

"Indeed. Alice, would you mind brewing me some coffee? I could use a pick-me-up," Erion said with that usual carefree smile on his face.

The girl felt relieved seeing no sense of urgency coming from her headmaster. 'If he's calm, that means they aren't here out of malice... Thank the Primals... One glance from them sent shivers down my spine...'

"Uh, of course, Headmaster. I'll, uh, be right back," she replied.

"Please, there's no particular hurry." With that, the leader of The Sentinals departed the room, leaving the four Divines on their own.