Lone took out the divine starlite longsword that he'd purchased from the 'willing' Consul Peitmond and he spun it around dexterously in his right hand.

"I'm definitely gonna have to melt this shit down to learn more about it, that is, assuming it can even be melted. What's the melting temp of divine starlite anyway?" Lone asked himself as he continued to study the weapon.

He sighed softly then returned the weapon to his Dimensional Storage. "Well, I know how heavy it is, how dense it is roughly, what it looks like, what it smells like... Hmm, I should be able to make a glasses frame with that much info, right?"

Lone closed his eyes and began imagining the steamforged glasses in his hands owning a frame made of pure divine starlite.

Item does not exist on Altros, however, there are a few like it. 1,000,000 MP has been consumed to compensate for the difference.

The host has some understanding of the item but does not know anything regarding its construction nor its origin. 500,000 base MP cost. 4,000,000 additional MP has been consumed to compensate for the lack of knowledge.

The host possesses insufficient MP. The stored MP from 15 of the host's [Mana Orbs] has been consumed and the host's MP will be sealed for [2 hours] to create the item: Divine Starlite Framed Steamforged Glasses.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Master Level 4.

Lone grit his teeth as he felt his mana organs shatter and become limp and useless. "Well, it's only two hours, but boy does this headache fuckin' suck... I should honestly make something outta divine starlite once a day until Mental Pain Resistance evolves... But, yeah. Maybe another time."

His vision was a bit blurry due to the intense migraine, but he still raised his newly improved glasses to get a good look at them.

The previously bronze frames were now a dazzling gold, unlike the somewhat murky gold of Consul Peitmond's sword. He creased his brows as he muttered, "Does the gold lose its shine and become browner the more impure it gets? Maybe I should have imagined impure divine starlite then..."

Regardless of that thought, he used Clicker's power to inspect the glasses.

Divine Starlite Framed Steamforged Glasses [Unnamed] Description

Created by the infamous foxkin, Lone Immortus, using a unique magical skill.

These glasses are a one-of-a-kind set made from divine starlite. Their only weak point is their somewhat flimsy lenses.

Rank Epic [Up from Rare] Stats Durability: 100,000/100,000 [+99,990] Perception: 20 Abilities Allows the user to use a second lens to magnify their vision by up to 16 times magnification. Allows the host to telepathically use any communication orbs links to the communication orbs on the glasses' legs 10 times a day for free. Any uses after 10 will require 1,000 MP each.

"Good," Lone said. "With this, they shouldn't break unless, like, a meteor lands on them. I still need to find a stupidly powerful form of glass to replace the lenses, but this'll do for now."

After saying that, he stood up, stored the glasses in his Dimensional Storage, then hobbled towards the bathroom.

The room's spirit assisted him by opening the door, rinsing the bath and refilling it, then it offered him a massage, but he refused since he could do that himself with his Basic Massage Technique.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Basic Massage Technique] has levelled up! It is now Master Level 2.

Ignoring that level-up, Lone finished washing himself and then used a towel to dry his body. "I wonder if The Academy teaches utility magic like drying? It should do, shouldn't it? I don't really need a body cleaning magic since I can have a bath whenever I want and baths are relaxing, but drying my tails is one hell of a fuckin' chore without Soph's help..."

Once he was finished, he made his way to the master bedroom and curled up next to Soph and Breena before summoning Kyuubi and Garadia.

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About seven hours later, Lone was now in Rachel's bedroom in The Glade with Swind.

"You're sure this will help, Mr Immortus?" Swind asked.

"Yeah. It won't cure her, but it'll stabilise her a tiny bit more," Lone answered before he frowned. "And call me 'Lone'. We've been through a lot together, Swind, so I would honestly like it if you stopped addressing me like I'm your teacher or something."

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Swind smiled weakly, highlighting the bags under his eyes which were from a clear lack of sleep. "I shall do so when you stop teaching me and guiding me through life, Mr Immortus."

Lone could only shake his head at that. "I'll restore your body before doing anything else," he said before he put a hand on Swind's shoulder. The next second, the Ascending Lemurian looked like he'd just woken up after a ten-month-long hibernation.

"Thank you, Mr Immortus... I know it is irresponsible of me to ignore my body, but with Rachel like this... It is a challenge to think of anything beyond helping her and being by her side," Swind said in perhaps the saddest tone that Lone had ever heard in his life.

"Uh... Guu... Maa..." Rachel, as ever, made indecipherable noises.

Lone couldn't chastise Swind for his attitude towards his own health. If anything, he could only praise the man. Swind was almost half Lone's age but were their roles reversed, no doubt, Lone would have killed Elestia and all of the elves atop of her to gain the needed power to heal Soph and Sophie, regardless of if anyone had tried to stop him like how he had stopped Swind.

Even had someone the ability to prevent him from going mad, by now, all of the soul oracles in Mystopolis would have been forced to sign contracts that would kill them if they didn't restore Soph and Sophie's soul.

Thankfully for Mystopolis' Soul Hall, Rachel was the one with a corroded soul, not Soph and Sophie.

Putting a hand on Rachel's forehead, Lone closed his eyes then said, "Soul Rooting."

A tiny stem that Swind could barely see sprouted out from the floor but it caused no damage to the room, in fact, the root seemed almost incorporeal. 'Strange... I feel no magic... So this is what a soul skill with a visual form looks like?' the Lemurian thought silently as he watched.

The small stem slowly grew and coiled around the bed and then Rachel's body. A few seconds later, it seeped into her flesh then disappeared from sight.

Lone opened his eyes and nodded. "I think I can do that without concentrating. It's a shame that I need to touch a person for it to work, but I'll manage."

Congratulations! the host's soul skill [Soul Rooting] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.

Rachel's half-open eyes blinked in confusion a bit. Her lips stopped moving for a second before she said, "Bwele?"

Swind's face livened up as he squeezed the little hand that he was holding. "That wasn't a word, but it was a lot better than the other noises she makes." Tears threatened to leak out of his eyes as he glanced up at Lone. "Mr Immortus... I can't thank you enough..."

"We're not out of the woods yet, buddy, but yeah, this skill could be the one that saves her. I need to go farm it and rank it up. Maybe we can have her saying real words in a couple of weeks." Lone stretched his back then added, "This skill's only a temporary solution, but it's a solution nonetheless. I'm off to get Master Dilroy's soul skills and maybe Master Rangah's too. Wanna come with, or are you fine here?"

Swind smiled fainted as he held Rachel's hand up to his face and rubbed it against his cheek. "I wish to stay here, Mr Immortus. Perhaps I can get her to say a real word?"

Lone had a conflicted look on his face. "Don't get hopeful just yet. She only has a 5% soul strength and stability buff on her, and it'll only apply so long as she stays near the root's origin. If she leaves the bed, she'll be back to just sounds, not nonsensical words."

Rachel stared up at the ceiling as she said, "Wheeert..."

Swind nodded. "I know. Thank you for worrying about me."

"Okay, well then, I'll be off for now," Lone said.

"Ah, Mr Immortus! Make sure to bring Miss Breena with you. She's with Miss Sophie right now, is she not? She'll be helpful to you with persuading Master Dilroy," Swind suddenly said.

"Your sixth sense?" Lone asked.

"Yes," Swind answered. "You won't succeed without Breena, well, not unless you resort to violence."

Lone stroked his chin. "Huh. Thanks."

"It's nothing," the Lemurian replied before he turned and faced his lover once again.

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

Lone did as advised and interrupted Sophie's torture session with their triple-X-ranked captive to collect Breena.

As the two of them made their way over to the Soul Hall, Lone intentionally bumped into people and used Soul Rooting on them. Apparently, there was a notification that followed a successful rooting, but Lone hardly cared.

Some people were a bit annoyed, but seeing that there were no adverse effects from the rooting, as well as considering Lone's rather violent reputation, no one openly confronted him for his actions.

Congratulations! the host's soul skill [Soul Rooting] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1.

Just before they entered the Soul Hall, Lone checked the skill's updated information.

Soul Skill: Soul Rooting

A soul skill that roots souls in place. While physically unbound, when near the designated area, a rooted soul shall become stronger and more stable.

Strengthens and stabilises rooted souls by 15% [+10%] when in the designated area (limited range of 5-meters-squared [up from 1-meter-squared]).

Cost: 17,500 MP or SP [-1,750 MP or SP] (27,500 MP or SP [-2,500 MP or SP] to reroot a previously rooted soul) Mastery: Intermediate Level 1

"Oh, wow," Lone exclaimed. 'I didn't expect that many changes from the first rank-up. If the size keeps going up, and if that percentage mirrors the percentage increase of resistance skills, at master-rank, won't Rachel's soul stabilise by 95% and the effective range of the rooting should easily be able to cover all of Mystopolis, right?'

He held his chin in thought as he and Breena greeted the front door guard and walked right into the Soul Hall. "Hmm, it's great, but it won't reverse the corrosion. I really need a skill that can heal souls, not just stabilise and strengthen them. A weak soul is easily fixed with enough power and time, but a soul with parts literally gone from it after being corroded?"

"An interesting problem, Master Lone," a familiar feminine voice said.

Refocusing himself and looking at the voice's owner, Lone smiled. "It is, isn't it, Master Millisa?"

Cupping her hands in front of her, the woman narrowed her eyes as she smiled. "Indeed. It's always a pleasure to see you. Might I be so bold as to presume that this young lady over here is the soul that is usually hidden within your shadows?"

Breena calmly stood there with an emotionless expression under her facemask. Lone nodded in her place since Breena obviously wasn't going to talk. "I'm forcing her to stay out of the shadows for now since she'll be studying at The Academy with me and our companions. I want her to get used to interacting with other people. She's not a soul oracle, but she's basically my little sister, so I'd like it if you treated her as an equal."

Master Millisa opened her eyes in surprise. "The Academy? Is she skilled with magic?"

Lone shrugged. "I don't give a fuck if she is or if she isn't. If Headmaster Erion wants me and Soph to be his disciples, then he's gonna let all of my friends study there, but yeah, she got a score of 48 out of 100 during the eastern world tree's keeper test for her magic potential, so she should do just fine. Mind you, the only magic she knows right now is some simple Crimson Foxkin racial magic."

One of Master Millisa's eyebrows shot up. "Her ability to enter shadows is not magical?"

Lone shook his head. "That's a Primal thing. It was the skill she got when she awakened to Darkness." He reached over and gently rubbed the three-tailed girl's head. "Anyway, I came here to talk to master Dilroy and Master Rangah, if possible."

"Ah, of course," Master Millisa's face returned to being impassive and a little bit mysterious before she said, "Master Dilroy is teaching a batch of apprentice soul oracles right now, however, in regards to Master Rangah, I have a little bit of bad news."