"What incredible magic!"

"I've never seen a barrier act like that before!"

"It's possible for barriers to not be physically connected to something? Doesn't that mean that she can fly with that?"

"No, no, no. We don't know if the barrier itself can move just yet."

"Ah, right. Still, this is incredible! That must be a fusion skill between the air magic and enchanting magic schools, no?"

"Or the gravity magic school and enchantment magic school. There are a few possibilities and even more theories, but to actually see it in the flesh... This is history in the making!"

"I forgot to bring my notebook! I must trouble you all, does anyone have a spare thing that I could write on? I simply must jot down my thoughts right this moment!"

"I have a few parchments on hand, please, you're all welcome to one if you also didn't bring a notebook or scroll with you."

Suffice to say, the teachers and professors were going mad at the sight of Soph's Barrier Bubble. They might have been disappointed had they learned the truth that the skill was a subskill of a unique skill, but regardless, they all seemed to be very excited and their opinions of Soph were rising by the second, so Lone saw no reason to stop his chanting to correct their misunderstandings.

Seeing that no-one was moving to attack her immediately, Soph made the decision to go on the offensive herself.

"Um, I don't know how to control myself really with my attack skills, so, uh, I'm going to try to hit you with flat barriers. Don't die, please," she politely requested.

The very next moment, a barrier appeared both in front of and behind everyone. Soph's outstretched hand clenched, resulting in each of the barrier pairs squishing every single beastkin.

The sound of bones snapping and screams filled the arena. "Uh, please surrender? I don't want to h-hit any of your heads to knock you out, and, em, I'm sorry for hurting you..."

"I surrender!"

"Me too!"

"It hurts so much! I surrender!"

"I give up! Please, stop!"

"I'm going to pop!"

Every person that declared their defeat, Soph released. They all hobbled over to the teachers who began healing them. Luckily, there were two professors that knew some of the nature magic school's healing spells while there was also one that knew raw healing magic, so it wasn't long until the students had their bones fixed and the immediate bruising of their skin healed.

A few minutes passed like that as Soph slowly closed her fist more and more, resulting in the stronger-willed demis giving up one by one. Eventually, only Barry was left.

"P-Please give up. I d-don't want to hurt you any more than this," Soph said as tears threatened to leak of her eyes.

'S-She's so powerful...' Barry grit his teeth and with his squished face he forced out the word, "Never!"

Soph frowned as her worry only doubled. 'He's a tough one, huh? We suggest smacking his head with a barrier. Lone can heal him should he sustain any permanent damage... I guess that's my only option. I don't want to lose while Lone's watching me... We agree.'

With her mind made up, using her free hand, she created another barrier which appeared a foot above Barry Brownpad's head. "T-This might hurt a bit, b-but I'm going to knock you out now."

Some of the human students that were watching began shouting at Soph to kill Barry or seriously injure him, but this only sickened her so she tried her best to tune them out and to only focus on Lone's supportive chants.

Of course, several teachers were quick to stop the human students and reprimand them for trying to encourage such things.

Soph raised her hand and the new barrier followed. Now 5-feet above Barry's head, Soph said, "I'm sorry," then slammed her hand down as quickly as she physically could.

The next thing that everyone heard was the loud sound of a barrier shattering. Looking at Barry, a tall man with similar bear ears and a small fuzzy bear tail poking out above his trousers and below his coattail could be seen.

He was very slim but also muscular and grizzled-looking. His hair and fur were pure-white and sat atop his nose could be seen a charming pair of glasses.

"Student Sophie? Could you please remove the barriers that are crushing Student Barry? I'm afraid that if I destroy them then I will injure Student Barry as well," the man asked as he smiled politely towards Soph.

"Uh, but the duel..." Soph said in a very unsure manner.

"Student Barry forfeits, now don't you?" the man asked the young bearkin very coldly.

"U-Uncle..." Barry wore an ashamed expression on his face.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

'Uncle?' Lone thought as he stopped his chanting for Soph. 'Barry's from the Brown Bearkin Clan though and whoever that guy is, he's from the Snow Bearkin Clan... I guess he helped raise Barry or something hence gets called uncle? Interesting... Snow Bearkin are almost as rare as Golden Foxkin were 100-years-ago supposedly. Who knew I'd ever get to see one in the flesh... This place is just full of rare species and races, huh?'

Seeing the look of utter disapproval on his uncle's face, Barry lowered his face as much as he could while being sandwiched between barriers and then said, "I... I forfeit."

The next second, Soph dispelled her barriers and her Barrier Bubble then pitter-pattered her way over to Lone.

The Snow Bearkin approached Lone and Soph while he dragged Barry behind him. "Lord Ninetails, I cannot apologise enough for allowed my foolish nephew to show you such an unsightly side of him."

Lone raised an eyebrow as he wrapped Soph in his tails. "You don't think I'm charmed as well, do you? I mean, I am, just the natural way."

"Haha, no. Well, not unless you willingly allowed yourself to fall under an illusion or a charm, but no, I know true love when I see it, and I am genuinely pleased to see such a legendary existence amongst our people opening his heart to a human. That is nothing if not inspirational," the white-furred bearkin said.

Lone was surprised by such a progressive attitude. It was rare to find someone like this both amongst the humans and the demis, so Lone felt refreshed by this. "Under our species, race, gender, hell, even under our souls, we're all just people at the end of the day, right? Only the weak and scared will come to distrust others based on their physical attributes, gender, age, experiences, talents, or the colour of their skin."

The bearkin's eyes opened wide. "I now understand why you are a master soul oracle at such a young age. Truly wise words."

"Thanks. By the way, who're you?" Lone asked.

"Ah, I never introduced myself. I am Luff Whitepad, former patriarch of the Snow Bearkin Clan. Now I am a professor of both healing magic and snow magic. As it just so happens, I am the professor in charge of your class tomorrow morning for healing magic," Luff claimed.

With a short cough, an old woman with a long pointy hat on, loosely hanging robes, and wrinkles under her eyes, stepped forward with confidence though her eyes displayed some sort of internal conflict.

"I happen to be your teacher for enchanting magic. Both of you. I am incredibly excited to learn more about those barriers of yours, Student Sophie. You may both call me Auntie Analise," she said as she leaned her head back and stared up at the ceiling. 'There's no way that I can bully Lone now after seeing how talented she is and how earnestly in love with her he is. It would be a betrayal of my inner-enchanter and my inner-romantic to treat the boy poorly.'

Once again, Soph's luck had hit a vein of gold and simply refused to stop mining it out. "Um, my name is Soph. My other personality is Sophie..."

"Oh? There are two of you? Why don't we discuss this in a more comfortable area?" Professor Analise asked.

Lone nodded. "That'd be nice. Come on, Soph, let's go."

Luff Whitepad bowed his head and forcefully pushed Barry's head down to match his own. "I must thank you again for forgiving this foolish boy."

"It's fine. Kids'll be kids," Lone said then started walked away, but at that second, Soph turned around and looked right at Luu Bluetail, resulting in the girl getting the chills.

"Lone, uh... can we invite her too? Please?" Soph requested with upturned eyes as she squeezed one of Lone's tails lovingly.

"I tried to rush out of here... I'm sorry, Luu," Lone whispered before he relented. There was no way that he could refuse an adorably earnest Soph, after all.

While Lone, Soph, Luu, and Professors Dana and Analise were leaving the arena with the other teachers, demi students and human students, Barry quietly said, "But I'm 56... I'm older than him... How am I a kid?"

Luff laughed softly. "Sometimes, Barry, people never grow out of being children. Try your best to make sure that you grow up soon, okay? I would hate to see you awaken due to your immaturity."

A sadness overtook the boy's eyes. "Yes, Uncle."

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"T-This is inappropriate..." Luu muttered with a fully flushed face.

Soph was laying down on the bench that the two girls were sharing while her head was resting on Luu's lap and both of the girl's tails were firmly being held by her as she carefully and delicately brushed them with her fingers.

Lone was on the other side of the table with Professor Dana and Professor Analise. He smiled wryly then consoled the poor girl. "She was far rougher a few years ago. It's taken a lot of time for her to learn not to be careless with fluffy things."

"Ah, um, it's not the feeling... It's just... It's very lewd..." Luu was struggling to speak.

Soph shook her head and said, "It's not lewd, it's wholesome and good for the soul. It's very healthy," in protest.

Everyone chuckled at that or just sighed. Sometimes, there was simply no reasoning with an addict.

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Grand Templar Sigmund scratched his head with his gauntleted hand as a confused look spread across his face.

"Am I really going east?" he asked himself as he looked at the ocean that lay in front of him. "If I am, then why the hell is that there?"

He pulled out his map again then mumbled, "If this is the ocean - which it is I'm pretty sure - then the real question is which ocean is it? Please don't tell me I accidentally went west by mistake... Archpope Mariel won't be happy if that's the case..."

He peeled his eyes away from his map and focused his eyes on the small harbour town he could see down the coastline.

With a sigh, he packed up his map then said, "Well, I guess I should go ask for directions, right?"

He laughed faintly. "This is almost like the good old days when me and my buddies would get lost exploring the woods by the park... Well, but on a far grander scale..."

He stretched his back and a lonely look entered his eyes. "I miss them."

After saying that, he slung his backpack over his shoulders then got moving. It wasn't long before he was standing on one of the harbour town's piers. In front of him stood a burly human who was roughly 50 or 60-years-old.

"Ya dun't know where ya 're, Sonny?" the man said as he scanned Sigmund's fancy armour sceptically.

Smiling wryly, the grand templar replied, "So it would seem. I've never been very good with directions. You wouldn't happen to know where the Kingdom of Falron is, would you?"

"Falwhere?" the old fisherman asked. "Nah. Never 'eard ah it. We done 'ere? If you's is lost, ya could always 'elp me catch the fish while it's still bright out. Ya look brawny enough. Take off the armour though, Sonny. That'll capsize ma ship, no doubt."

"Um, one second. What country are we in right now?" Sigmund asked politely.

"'Ere? This is Nonya," the man claimed.

"Nonya? What or where is Nonya?" Sigmund asked in confusion.

"Nonya-business, Sonny! Now dun't go askin' me any more questions! I'm ah busy man. Ya helpin' or not, Sonny?" The elderly man questioned as he held his fishing rod impatiently.

"Er... Well, I don't really have anything better to do right now. Sure, I'll help, but can you tell me where you local lord lives when we're done?" Sigmund asked.

A bright smile could be seen on the fisherman's face. "The morrow, Sonny. If ye'r helpin', least ah can do is feed ya and house ya tonight. Relax. Ya look road-tired."

"Road-tired?" That was a term that Sigmund had never heard before.

"'At's right. Means ya've been travelling too long and need to kick ye'r feet up and relax, now stop yammering and strip off that armour!" It would seem that it would be quite some time before he would encounter Lone, Sigmund thought.