“Alright, I’m ready,” Flavia announced, slamming her fists at one another.

“Ready,” Growly added.

“Can you remind me again why are we playing a game of tag with the two of you against one of me?” Narias wanted to know once again.

After the group left the cake shop, they went to ask Madam Froxen if she could mend Narias’s magic leather armor. Unfortunately, the white fox shop owner wasn’t available, but her daughter Roxyna was. She was really happy to see Narias again, making his other girlfriends puff her cheeks a little when Roxyna acted very friendly with Narias. Obviously, Roxyna was overly impressed by seeing Narias use the Dungeon Locker to take his damaged armor out of it. After a little back and forth, more so Roxyna could spend additional time with Narias, she promised it’ll be a piece of cake for her mother to mend the armor. The only thing was, Madam Froxen was extremely busy right now. With the Magic Power Games coming up, she had a lot of requests to craft new garments and not only for the students from the academy. It would take some time for the Whitemane Leather Armor to be fixed.

Once the group was done with the errand, they still had about one third of the day left, so instead of goofing around the city, they decided to go train at their student club for the rest of the evening. Narias had plans to train in the evening anyway, but for whatever reason Narias’s girlfriends insisted on doing some training together with him. Unfortunately, Narias’s wasn’t left to choose what kind of training he would be doing either. Flavia instantly declared she’d want to play a game of tag with him, with Ileena suggesting Growly should join them, receiving approval from Flamiris and Emilia too. Whether the visit and meeting Roxyna at Madam Froxen’s shop had anything to do with it wasn’t exactly clear.

“I’ve already told you. I want to show you how much I improved, partner,” Flavia stated confidently.

“Yes,” Growly added to her words.

“You won’t be joining our training tomorrow and we want to use the remaining time that we have today to train you to the fullest,” Ileena explained.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t slack off. Humph,” Flamiris declared, brushing her flaming hair away from her face.

“We also want to see how strong you are, Narias,” Emilia had a smile on her face, but her words sounded a little cold for some reason.

“Really? Are you sure that’s the real reason behind it?” Narias had his doubts about what the girls said.

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about, Narias,” Ileena said, adjusting her glasses while a mild blush jumped on her face.

“Of course… We… simply care about you, Narias,” Emilia added, some of the frost vanishing and becoming replaced by a soft redness on her cheeks.

“Hey, just start already!” Flamiris almost shouted before pulling the same hair she pushed back earlier to cover her flushed face now.

Oh, come on. It wasn’t my fault that Roxyna was hugging my arm the whole time we were at the shop. Sigh… Ok, whatever. It’ll be a good opportunity to see how strong I am right now. Narias finally gave in.

“Ok, I’m ready,” he said, lowering his head.

“Hah!” Flavia jumped at him the instant he said that.

“Ah, hmph,” Narias sidestepped to the left, shifting his body back a little to let Flavia dash past him without touching him.

“Hum,” Growly was coming next.

Growly was about to touch Narias from the front, but Narias made several quick steps back without turning before jumping to the left so Growly couldn’t reach him.

“Aha!” Flavia was upon Narias, convinced she was about to get him. “Huh? H… hey!”

But Narias ducked down, leaning with one hand at the ground before pushing Flavia forward and away from below. Well, he actually slapped her on her butt to push her over his legs, so she wouldn’t trip.

“N… Narias!” Flavia’s face and her ears were burning red.

“Sorry, I didn’t want you to trip,” he gave her a smile.

“Did Narias just… touched Flavia’s butt?” Emilia spoke, her eyes not leaving her boyfriend.

“That just proves he’s the best- I mean, the worst Mastermind Pervert,” Flamiris declared, but she didn’t sound like she was complaining.

“Just so you know, I’ll be next to play the game of tag with Narias,” Ileena told the other two girls, acting like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You can’t-“ Flamiris was about to object.

“First come, first serve, wasn’t it, Flamiris?” Ileena knew she had won this time.

“In that case, I’m joining you too. It’ll help Narias train better,” Emilia added, making it sound she was making a fair argument.

“Say what? I’m joining you two as well then. Like Emilia said, it’s… for Narias’s sake,” Flamiris explained her motives, which Ileena and Emilia knew weren’t her real motives, but so none of theirs either.

“Huff,” – ‘Slam!’ – Growly slammed on the ground after jumping out of his ball.

Hey, aren’t you guys being a little too serious here? Narias thought after using his Wind Burst spell to get away.

“Hah! Woah! No, get back here!” Flavia complained after Narias evaded her touch again.

“But getting away from you is the purpose of the game, isn’t it?” Narias showed her a teasing smile.

“Aargh… Growly, go from the other side, so he can’t use his spells to get away!” Flavia instructed.

“On it,” Growly rushed to get behind Narias.

“You have nowhere to run now, partner,” Flavia was certain of their victory now. “Now, Growly!” She jumped at Narias from the front.

“Huff!” While Growly rushed him from behind.

“Wind Pressure Blast!” Narias used his spell to get away.

“Huuuh? Ah, Growly!” Flavia almost bumped at Growly when Narias used his Wind Pressure Blast in a different way. He cast his spell with both hands pointed down at the ground while holding them next to his hips, propelling him up in the air and avoiding being touched by both Flavia and Growly.

“Unexpected,” Growly huffed after seeing it happen.

“You can use your spell to jump up now? Hey, get him at the spot he lands, Growly!” Flavia dashed to where it looked like Narias would land.

“Wind Burst,” but Narias was smart enough to redirect his landing further away from Growly’s and Flavia’s reach.

“Why you… Hah, oof, ugh, h… hey, come… here, no, stop!” Flavia was jumping, reaching, turning, shifting and jumping again around Narias to try and tag him, but he always managed to evade or dodge, or push away her arms with his.

“Hop, hmph, huff,” Growly was joining in to help Flavia, but Narias would push himself away from both of them, so he wouldn’t get tagged.

“Huff, phew,” the chase lasted for another good fifteen minutes with all three of them finally becoming tired. However, from the looks of it, Growly and Flavia were more tired than Narias was.

“How are you so fast, partner?” Flavia was becoming annoyed she couldn’t catch him.

“Well timed dodges,” Growly commented.

“I know, from now on you’re not allowed to use your Boost spell to increase your speed!” Flavia demanded.

“But I haven’t been using it at all,” Narias countered.

“Huh? What?!” Flavia couldn’t believe. “In that case… Anima-Transformation!” Flavia finally decided to put everything on her trump card.

“Hey, that’s not fair. You just said I can’t use my… Ah! Boost!” Narias ignored Flavia’s demand and used his speed increasing spell, just barely flash-stepping his bunny girlfriend’s attempt to tag him.

“Grounding ROOOAAAR!” To Narias’s biggest surprise, Growly released a roar at him. Like a ferocious bear, Growly threw his hands back, stomping one leg to the front and roaring so fiercely, the sound and shaking suppressed Narias’s movements. Narias felt like his body was being pressed to the ground.

Wow, that’s so awesome. Instead of panicking, Narias was impressed with Growly’s new ability.

“Three Steps Dash!” Flavia used a new ability while transformed as well.

“Huh?” Narias gasped when three images of Flavia appeared in three different places surrounding him.

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“Huff!” Growly was already rolling towards Narias in the meantime.

“Got you!” Suddenly, Narias heard Flavia’s voice from behind him with the three afterimages of her disappearing from his eyes.

Dang it, my legs… Narias wanted to move, but his legs were still shaking from Growly’s earlier roar. No, I’ll be flattened by Growly! Narias mind panicked.

“Shield!” He cast his spell to block the incoming slap from Growly. “Huh?”

But instead of slapping Narias’s Wind Shield, Growly grabbed on to it and used it to swing himself towards Narias.

Nooo, I’m deaaad! Narias’s body froze while his face went pale.

- ‘Tap, Tap’ –

But instead of being blown away, Narias felt two gentle taps on his shoulders from both sides.

“TAAAAGGED!” Flavia shouted her lungs out. “Yahoo! We got you!” She cheered before falling on the ground on her back.

“Good job,” Growly spoke, falling on his butt on the ground as well before laying down. Both Flavia and Growly were too tired to move.

“Ah, phew,” Narias let out a sigh of relief. “Wow, that was impressive. You too are totally awesome.” Narias congratulated his friends.

“Hah, we surprised you, didn’t we, partner?” Flavia’s grin was the widest.

“Yeah, for sure,” Narias admitted. “That new ability you used was so cool, Flavia. I thought I was seeing things.”

“Heh. Pretty sweet, isn’t it? It’s called the Seven Steps Dash, but I can use only three steps out of the seven so far,” Flavia told him.

“Seven? Wow.” Narias gasped before turning to Growly. “That was quite an intimidating roar, Growly. My legs where shaking, not willing to move.”

“Cool. My dad trained me,” Growly was happy he could pull it off.

“I need rest, oof…” Flavia was gasping for air.

“Here, let me help you, Flavia,” Narias extended his hand to help his girlfriend up.

“Thanks,” she grinned at him.

“Are you ok, Growly?” Nicky was helping her boyfriend at the same time.

“Yes. We won,” Growly announced proudly.

“Yes, I saw,” Nicky smiled.

“It’s our turn now,” Ileena surprised Narias with her request suddenly.

“Huh?” Narias didn’t expect for her to say that.

“Yes, we will be playing game of tag with you now, Narias,” Emilia added.

“Wait, what?” Emilia joining Ileena was an even bigger surprise.

“Let’s see how you’ll escape all three of us, Mister Mastermind,” Flamiris declared, which just made Narias become confused too.

“Hold on, hold on. Are you saying it will be all three of you against one of me?” Narias couldn’t believe it.

“Yes, so?” Flamiris saw no problem with that.

“Eeh?” Narias exclaimed in shock. “But I’ll have no chance against the three of you.”

“You can use all the spells that you want, Narias,” Ileena told him, as if that made a bigger difference.

“Yeah and… you can use any dirty tricks you want too,” Flamiris added, averting her eyes away.

“Huh? What does that supposed to mean?” Narias was at a complete loss.

“Sorry, we’ll go watch from over there,” Nicky said, chuckling and pointing at the much further location than where the girls were standing previously when they were watching Narias, Growly and Flavia.

“Good luck, partner,” Flavia shot him a smile before following Nicky and Growly.

“Hey, wait…” Narias tried to stop them.

“Shall we start?” Ileena asked, purple lightning sparkling in her eyes.

“I’m ready,” Emilia announced, frost gathering around her.

“Me too,” Flamiris sounded like she’s about to have the time of her life.

“Huh?” Narias suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. What’s gotten into them?

{later with Narias and Growly soaking in the bath}

That was the most intense training I had ever had. Oh gosh… Ileena, Emilia and Flamiris were really trying to get me, but at the same time, the way they were positioning themselves when I was trying to push them away… Sigh… I better not think about it… Narias thought to himself before shifting his body to make himself more comfortable.

“Ouch… Tss… Ah, ta, ta, ta…” Which resulted in Narias squirm from pain due to how sore his muscles were, but he managed to relax in the end. “Whuaaah…”

“Good training,” Growly commented, probably feeling the same.

“Yeah, ah, haha,” Narias tried to laugh it off, but had to be careful about it.

“You’re really strong,” Growly complimented his best friend.

“Ah, thanks. You are too, Growly,” Narias returned the compliment.

“Still too weak,” Growly said, lowering his head. “You could train much longer with your girlfriends while I had to rest.” Growly was telling the truth. He and Flavia had to stay put to regain their strength while Narias was doing everything he could to not get shocked, frozen or burned as Ileena, Emilia and Flamiris were going after him.

“Yeah, well…” Narias didn’t know what to say to cheer up Growly.

“Thank you, Narias. I will train harder and become stronger, so we could win the Magic Power Games and then explore deeper into the Magic Dungeon.” Growly told him suddenly. From Growly’s words Narias could tell his friend wasn’t sad or upset at all. Quite the opposite, Growly felt motivated and inspired to work his hardest going forward.

“Yes, let’s do that,” Narias added with a smile.

Once the boys were done with their bath, they joined the girls in the kitchen. The girls washed themselves first and while the boys were washing themselves after them, all the girls worked to prepare dinner for everyone. The kitchen was filled with smells and aroma of roasted meat, fried vegetables and all the spices that were used, making the student mouths fill up with drool the moment the dishes were served. After a good training the delicious meal tasted so much better. The evening was filled with talks and laughter, with the main topic of the conversations being how Narias had become so strong.

“Good work today, Narias. I am happy I could train together with you,” Ileena said, giving him a kiss. It was time to go back to everyone’s respective dorms now and Narias’s girlfriends were in line to give him goodbye kisses.

“Me too, Ileena,” Narias smiled.

“That was a super awesome training today, partner. Let’s do it again sometime,” Flavia was next.

“Yeah, sure,” Narias said after receiving another kiss.

“You certainly surprised me with your moves today, Narias,” Emilia couldn’t help but blush when she said that.

“Eh? Well, that was… an accident…” Narias blushed too, whatever the accident he mentioned was.

“You owe me one for what happened today,” Flamiris stated in a threatening tone of her voice last.

“Huh? What? But… I don’t remember anything happening… of the sorts,” Narias tried to remember.

“Exactly,” Flamiris sounded upset. “Humph…”

“Mhm…” Narias wanted to respond but found himself being kissed again.

“You shouldn’t hesitate next time,” Flamiris mumbled after the kiss, feeling flustered and looking cute.

They were fighting to get my attention after all. Narias smiled, trying to keep a straight face.

“Good night. I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Nicky wished, but then remembered something. “Oh, except you, Narias. Have fun at Miss Alifur’s place tomorrow.”

No, why did you have to say the last part, Nicky? Narias squirmed, his hunch telling him that round two of the goodbye kisses was about to start.

{the next day}

Ok, I think it should be that house over there. Narias was looking for Estella’s Alifur house. Wow, all the houses are so big around here.

It was Sunday and Narias was on the other side of El’Roonst, at a very luxurious and upstart looking residential area. All the homes were two to three storey detached houses and had huge front yards in front of them. Many houses had flower gardens that looked to be really well taken care of too, adding that colorful charm to them.

Woah! Is that really where Miss Alifur lives? Narias stopped in front of what looked like a mansion. It was a three-storey house, built mainly out of wood and had something to it that resembled Narias’s previous world. Differently from many other houses, the one in front of Narias didn’t have flower beds in its front yard but had many trees growing instead. The trees were pruned and the yard was clean from any rubble. The area looked very calm and serene. It had a pond and a tiny waterfall in it too. If Narias had looked closer, he could’ve seen fishes swimming in the pond too. Is it me or does it have an old Japanese style vibe?

Narias was enjoying the scenery, but then remembered he shouldn’t just stay standing in the middle of the huge yard while holding flowers in one hand and a box of sweets in another. Coming to his teacher’s place empty handed felt really awkward for Narias, but now he started having the strangest déjà vu moment, memories of him visiting Belinda’s place flashing in his mind all of a sudden.

It will be just a friendly meal, nothing more. Narias inhaled and exhaled deeply before stepping to the front of the house.

- ‘Knock, Knock.’ – Narias knocked on the wide, two-sided wooden doors, hoping his awkwardness would disappear as soon as Miss Alifur opened the door.

“Finally, welcome, welcome.” To Narias’s biggest surprise, it wasn’t Miss Alifur who opened the door. An older looking spunky cat beast-woman was standing in front of him. She was a full beast-woman, had grey to blueish-black fur, green cat-like eyes, cat ears and a tail. The woman was wearing white and blue in color clothes that reminded Narias of a kimono and no shoes. The perky older cat-lady had a wide smile that wasn’t leaving her face. “You have no idea how I longed to finally meet you. Come in, come in.” The high-spirited cat-woman waved for Narias to come in.

“Ah, sorry. Is this where Miss Alifur lives?” Narias was a little confused.

“Yes, yes. That’s the place. So sorry, I totally forgot my manners when I saw you. My name is Fuuki. I am Estella’s grandmother,” the older lady finally introduced herself.

“Right. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Narias Talrone,” Narias introduced himself with a bow of his head.

“So polite. Wonderful, wonderful,” Grandma Fuuki said before turning around. “Where is that old coot gone now? Hey, Yojee, get your scrawny tail over here! Our grandson-in-law is here.”

Huh? What? Narias almost jumped after hearing Miss Alifur’s grandmother call him that.

“Stop yelling into my ear, will ya?” An older cat beast-man said after appearing right next to Narias without him noticing it.

Eh! Where did he come from? Narias was startled by Mr. Yojee’s appearance.

“Hey, stop scaring our grandson-in-law or I’ll pull your remaining whiskers out,” Grandma Fuuki lashed out at him.

“And you treating me like some stray cat will not scare him away, eh?” Grandpa Yojee retorted before turning to Narias. “Now, let me take a good look at you.”

“Huh?” Narias gasped when the older gentleman started checking him out, touching his shoulders, arms and back.

“Strong shoulders and back, good posture too. Very nice. How about-“ – ‘Smack!’ – “Ouch! What was that for?” Yojee exclaimed after got smacked on the head by Fuuki.

“Keep your hands to yourself or he’ll get the wrong idea here,” Fuuki wanted to smack him again, but Yojee was too fast for her to reach him.

“Yes, yes, I know. Apologies, young man. My name is Yojee. I’m Estella’s grandfather,” Yojee introduced himself. He was only a tiny bit bigger than his wife and was wearing similar clothes too. The only difference was, his clothes were green and blue in color instead of white.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Yojee. My name is Narias Talrone,” Narias greeted him with another bow.

“You sure know your manners, hah. But you shouldn’t worry about it too much. Feel free to call me Grandpa Yojee. You’re my grandson-in-law, after all,” Grandpa Yojee told Narias, placing his hands behind his back.

What? What is going on here? Narias was at a complete loss.

“Ah, I… I think there’s some sort of misunderstanding here. Miss Alifur is my teacher at the academy,” Narias tried to clear it up.

“Yes, we know. Estella talks about you all the time,” Grandma Fuuki said, giving him the sweetest smile.

“She… does?” Narias couldn’t believe it, but then remembered his teacher wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “Ah, excuse me, where is Miss Alifur?”

“Oh, she’s a little busy… in the backyard,” Grandpa Yojee said, omitting the details and averting his eyes away.

“Grandpa! The training equipment was all in place. Why did you say it needed putting away? Grandpa! Where are you?” Suddenly, Estella’s voice was heard from one of the rooms at the other side of the corridor.

“Training equipment? Aha, I see... I suppose I’ll go out of my way to brush your fur tonight, you, old rascal,” Grandma Fuuji smirked at her husband.

“You’re too kind my sweet kitty,” Grandpa Yojee grinned with a lewd expression on his face. He quickly turned towards where Estella’s voice came a second ago. “Over here, sweetheart!”

“Grandpa, the training equipment was… huh?” Estella spoke before freezing in a spot when she saw Narias standing there.

“Since you were busy, dear, we let our grandson-in-law in ourselves,” Grandma Fuuji had the kindest smile on her face.

“Aah...” Narias decided the best thing to do was to stand still and smile

“Don’t just stand there. Come greet him. Look, he brought you flowers too,” Grandma Fuuji insisted when Estella wasn’t moving from her spot. She looked rather pale too.

“Wha... No...” Estella covered her face with one hand. She looked like she wanted to hide instead of coming to greet Narias.