Five years have passed since we fell in the underground cavern. My body is now that of a ten-year old boy, about five feet tall which is an above average height for a ten year old boy. My originally white skin became even paler as a result of being inside this dark cavern. Ever since that bastard god almost blasted us into oblivion, I always had a grudge that I want to settle with him but I put it away for now to concentrate on training and treating Kiralne's poison. Kiralne is still inflicted with the mana-binding viper poison but I already have a solution for that. Over the years, Kiralne has been... a pervert but she did become more responsible, so her position in my eyes has been promoted from perverted stranger to pitiful and troublesome onee-san. What can I say? Five years of being stuck together can raise the affection levels whether you like it or not.

Right now, me and Kiralne are about to have a duel. Of course, I am still a mage but I figured that being able to engage in close combat is substantial to me. Kiralne also approved of it and she taught me how to handle polearms. She may be a pervert but her battle experience and weapon handling skills are first-class.

By the way, my rank is now that of an Initial Stage Elder Magus. I can now use and , and other divine arts! Kufufufu... my arsenal has grown bigger. But enough about that.

I slightly bent my knees and leaned forward while facing Kiralne who was also doing the same as me. The glaive, which I aptly named Geheimnis Kaiser, is held in my right hand. Kiralne told me to give a name to my weapon and so I did. She was right. It really gives the feeling of being close to your weapon. I am wearing a simple hemp brown shirt and hemp brown pants. They fit loosely so it gives me free movement and it is refreshing.

Kiralne who was ten meters away from me had her shining blonde hair tied into a pony tail giving her an athletic look. Her smooth white skin also became paler but it only added a quality that make her seemed like a secluded fairy coming out of a forest, very enchanting. She is wearing a white dougi, though the material is not really better than what I'm wearing. It is also loosely fit for her but... her figure really shows through the fabric. Fortunately, I have a stronger mind than most people so I splendidly averted my eyes from such a dangerously distracting body.

Her sword, Natur Fron, is being held by her two hands while she took on a stance. Her pale white skin glistening from the spell, [Illuminating Sphere], which I casted so that the cavern would not be too dark. Although [Illuminating Sphere] is nothing more than a strong and effective light source, it is a spell. Different from the usual and that I like to use. It has a perk of being an undying light bulb. Very convenient~ Plus I can move it, so it can become a flashlight-ish lamp... I think.

In the thirty meter wide elevated square space of smooth rock, which I carved with the spell, [Hydro Blade], we faced each other ready to attack. Kiralne is being surrounded by a film of nature-type mana, a strengthening/buff spell I invoked on her. An enhanced version of [Body Burst], [Cloak of The Trees]. Its effects are the same as [Body Burst] but even more powerful along with other perks I randomly came up with.

The mana-binding viper poison is still suppressing her Mana Core so she is no different from a normal person. I cast [Cloak of the Trees] on her so that she would have the capability to be able to spar with me.

I on the other hand will only rely on {Telekinesis}, {Force Thrust] and {Mana Film} to enhance my body.

I slowly positioned my stance the way Kirale taught me and prepared for the go signal. Outside of the arena, a little girl, no more than six-year old, had her hand raised above her head and have a big smile on her face. She was a very, very cute girl. She had dark black hair, pristine golden eyes and a tender young face. 

Her hand which was raised abruptly fell as she shouted-

"And~~begin!!" (Little Girl)

-in an upbeat voice. Her voice is really cute~!

My face sprouted a genuine bright smile different from my usual carefree smile as I relish in the bliss of listening to the little girl. Kiralne on the other side is also smiling, albeit brighter than mine.

It was only for a second though, before I dashed towards Kiralne, Geheimnis Kaiser thrusting at her center. Kiralne, as a former Grand Soldier, easily reacts to my attack as her abnormal reflexes allowed her to parry my glaive away. Seizing the chance when my glaive was forced back, Kiralne slashed at my side but I don't back down and spun my glaive around so that the hard handle would collide with her blade.

The blade and handle collided, creating a small spark as metal clashed. Kiralne jumped back while I swung the glaive towards her right flank.

Seeing this, Kiralne adjusted her posture and abruptly spun her body around to the left, the centrifugal force helping her parry Geheimnis Kaiser's blade away and she began dashing towards me. Natur Fron's sharp blade shined menacingly as it tried to pierce my center. I dodge it by moving to the side and I tripped Kiralne over. But she did not fall down and instead did a handstand with her left hand, while her blonde hair swayed with her motions.

Of course, I didn't just watch and tried to pierce her as she did that but she sensed my maneuver and parried it with Natur Fron, utilizing  the force of my blow to allow herself to be propelled up high about fifteen meters in mid-air.

I jumped in after her and swung my glaive diagonally, hoping that it will reach her. But as one would expect from a former Grand Soldier, even when she was upside down in mid-air, she was able to dodge it with graceful movements and swung her sword towards me which I blocked by using the long black handle of the glaive.

We pushed each other away while in mid-air and landed fifteen meters away from each other. And then both of us charged once again. Blow after blow, hit after hit, sparks flew as we continued our sortie.

Thirty minutes later...

Finally, the duel reached it limit as Kiralne slid down as I swung the glaive in a horizontal arc. She penetrated my guard, and kicked my legs and sweeping me off my feet. I landed hard on the ground with a *thud* and as she stood up, she positioned her sword on my neck. The flat of the blade shined brightly as if to mock my defeat, which was fine. Kiralne smiled dazzlingly and I returned it with my usual carefree smile. 

Kiralne held out her hand as the spell, [Cloak of the Trees} wore off and helped me to get on my feet. I asked her about her assessment of my skills in close combat. The little girl is happily watching us, not interfering.

"How'd I do? Was there any problems?" (Krey)

"No, not at all. If anything you are a fast learner. Your proficiency with the glaive can be considered more than satisfactory, and can even be considered advanced in some cases. Though..." (Kiralne)

When she was about to say something, her face distorted and she suddenly leaned back and almost fell down.

 Fortunately, I was able to adjust my stance and catch her before she hit the floor. I put Geheimnis Kaiser back in the storage ring in the meantime. Although she was tall, I was no midget either and I set her down on the ground. She is breathing heavily, her eyes tightly closed and expression twisted to show the feeling of unbearable pain. Large amounts of sweat begun forming all over her body, making her clothes soaked. She is a wreck. Unlike the magnificent performance she had earlier, this was a far-cry of of it and before.

I channeled the refined mana withing my mana core towards my arm and to my index finger. From my finger, mana itself manifested, becoming floating symbols in the air, a groundwork for a . I concentrated forming a in the air as the little girl ran towards us, her face showing worry and asked me-

"Krey onii-chan... is big sister Kira alright...?" (Little Girl)

"Yeah. She'll be fine Liz." (Krey)

Yes. The little girl, is actually Liz! Lisana the dragon! Ufufu her calling me 'onii-chan' in my mind was good enough, but when I really hear it outside... well let's just say that the would dissipate back into refined mana and wasting the time and effort of Kiralne to endure if I writhed in bliss.

It seems that it is also one of her abilities to change to human form. It started four years ago. Kiralne's dragon form is as big as a horse back then and her claws, teeth, spikes, and frills became bigger and sharper, but she still looked cute to me. When I and Kiralne saw her turn for the first time into human form and heard her say "Onii-chan~ look at me!" we had different reactions. When she first transformed, my first reaction was to search through my storage ring and found her a big, fluffy coat for her because... she was entirely naked. As the responsible big brother I was, this was my first reaction. Her turning to human form is not really surprising. I can always say 'it's a fantasy world after all' if something weird happens so I am lax towards those things. It was lucky that, I bought that coat five years ago when it caught my eyes back at the tailor shop on Arles City. She is now wearing the clothes that Kiralne gave to her. Kiralne's storage ring was handed to me since she can't used it with her mana core suppressed and... truthfully, I am really wondering if Kiralne has a habit of collecting random stuff. Its like a treasure trove of junk inside her storage ring. Of course, I didn't touch them without her permission. I'll steal only from a king or noble. There might be a better haul if I do so.

As for Kiralne that time, her eyes opened widely and her lower jaw gaped in surprise and astonishment but most of all her eyes gleamed with excitement. She asked me a lot of questions after that about Liz and I only answered them vaguely. Its troublesome after all. But she was satisfied nonetheless and then she dragged Liz away without my consent to a corner of the cavern. Five minutes later, the became close like sisters... they were already quite close five years ago when Kiralne played with Liz while I was meditating but this time its on a whole new level.

I don't know what Kiralne used to bribe Liz but it works fast.

Thinking about that random memory, I shook my head eliciting a puzzled look from Liz.

After a space of two breaths, I finished forming the and willed it to descend upon Kiralne's chest. It emitted a faint glow before being completely absorbed into her body. Using my augmented eyes, I can see that her mana core, a simple light green globe with figures and patterns etched beautifully into it, still has the dark yellow film surrounding it.

But as the descended upon the core, the dark yellow film became thinner and the color turned lighter, becoming light yellow. As that happened, Kiralne who was suffering earlier calmed down and settled peacefully on the floor.

Liz breathed a sigh of relief while I just stared calmly at Kiralne, observing her mana core and the state of her body. It seems she had another attack. When we fell down here five years ago, I raised my rank to an initial-staged magus and made a prototype version of the to suppress the mana-binding viper poison.

Throughout the years, as I raised my rank, I also practiced on developing more to increase my arsenal as well as to help Kiralne recover. Unfortunately, are not omnipotent so I can only suppress the effects of the poison and prescribed a method for Kiralne to recover. And the can wear down over time and I am not able to predict when it will happen so she would have an attack every now and then. During which, I'll recreate the Even now she is using it but as she is under the effect of the mana-binding viper poison, her strength can only be equivalent to that of a normal girl who doesn't practice mana manipulation.

As Liz settled down, I willed {Telekinesis} to coat my body as well as Kiralne and then I knelt down and princess-carried Kiralne over to the direction where the house I made with [Stone Wall Array] is. Liz followed me closely, skipping happily.

"...*sniff**sniff*..." (Kiralne)

Of course, the actions of Kiralne who was smelling me as her head is nuzzled into my chest is ignored. I've had quite a good growth and the daily practice of handling my glaive built up a good body for me so my size is above average from the usual ten-year old kid. But it only made it easier for her to take advantage of it. I've gotten used to her being like that and its better to ignore it. Or else my head will explode out of anger right now.

"...*sniff* fufufufu... *sniff sniff* guehehehe..." (Kiralne)

"Hmmm~? Big sister Kira, you're awake! Why are you smelling Krey onii-chan? Does he smell good~?" (Lisana)

"Eehh-!? U-um this-this is..." (Kiralne)

Lisana who noticed that Kiralne was awake, ran to my side and her eyes flashed with glee as she asked Kiralne that question that may very well change her opinion of her. Kiralne is panicking, her eyes going in circles until it settled on me. She flashed me a look, pleading for my assistance... Of course I'm not going to do anything. She dug her own grave when her perversion took over. Of course, Lisana still has a mind-set of a child but she is thoroughly becoming more mature. 

Seeing that I won't help her, Kiralne lost almost all hope but suddenly her eyes shined brightly, as if she came to a conclusion and explained to Liz with a serious expression-

"Liz, you'll understand it when your older." (Kiralne)

"Ehh~~~!" (Lisana)

...Nice save. A common excuse to use when confronting a child. But, what's really amazing is that Kiralne can keep a straight face while saying that lie. She didn't twitch at all and she had on a serious and deep expression, as if she was sincere about her answer.

"B-but I really want to know..." (Lisana)

"Ahaha... please don't ask anymore...okay? Please...?" (Kiralne)

As Liz is desperately inquiring about Kiralne's actions with teary eyes and trembling lips, Kiralne is also begging for her to stop probing with an equally mortified expression... It looks like she doesn't want Liz to know that she's a pervert. Well, whatever. Its her problem not mine.The three-err two of us, since I'm carrying Kiralne, soon stepped out of the large stage and walked to the stone building. Its the house I made with the new spell [Stone Wall Array]. The spell is actually just forming walls of hard and compressed earth and moving it to attack or defend. In my case, I used it build the house. It was tricky to pull off but I did it.

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I figured that it would be lighter on the mind if I built a house or room to sleep in rather than just staying out in the open.The house is basically a large rectangular box with a door also made out of stone. Its twenty meters long and fifteen meters wide. A bit cramp but its just a temporary house anyway. Its plain in appearance since I am not an architect and I opted for practicality and forgone the aesthetics. The house only has one floor and has four rooms divided by a hallway. The hallway is illuminated by, yes, miniature versions of [Illuminating Sphere], as all the rooms are. There is a meditation room, bedroom, dining room and kitchen.

By the way the furniture are all made by me, still using the [Stone Wall Array] and with help from [Hydro Blade]. The meditation room has two blocks where I and Kiralne sit down and meditate. The bedroom has also two rectangular blocks that serve as our beds. Like I said, Kiralne has random stuff in her storage ring and she has some large monster pelts that are soft and fluffy, making it a good mattress. There is one block larger than the other because that's where Kiralne and Liz sleep in human form. *sigh* She always sleeps with her...

The dining room and the kitchen are connected by a doorway unlike the meditation room and bed room which are solely enclosed. Like the other two rooms, we have a rectangular stone block in the center as a table and two smaller blocks as chairs.

Liz does not eat and merely absorbs mana but when she does ingest something, she turns back into her dragon form. She says it taste better that way. Thankfully, she can also turn back to her miniature dragon form so its really convenient for me. I don't need to enlarge the house if she ever wants come in.

The kitchen is... special. We have a pseudo-stove, pseudo-sink and a pseudo-fridge. All of this is thanks to and yes all of them are stone blocks. I have no regards for the design. In a large rectangular block where one parts is caved in which serves as the sink, at the side there's a small stone pillar with a hole in the side which is a pseudo-faucet. Engraved at the side are runes which I configured. You see is the method to use runes, a magical language to enchant certain objects. Also the effects of the rune are permanent unless you put in another rune which acts as a stopping mechanism or on/off option. It really gives off a fantasy feel.

Of course, like runes are also not omnipotent and there are a lot of restrictions but making a pseudo-faucet is not hard for me. I just needed to use the elements of water and wind to make it work. The wind element rune acts as the on/off option. By the way, there is a hole in the sink where the water goes through but I also put a special type of rune there. It is a disintegration rune. A simple rune made out of the destruction element. 

Though its structure is simple, making it is risky if you do not understand the profound mysteries of destruction like me. It literally makes the water non-existent. Really scary if it was used to enchant a weapon. The pseudo-stove is just a flat block enchanted with a heating rune. I didn't bother placing an on/off rune over there. Its too troublesome. It is placed atop the rectangular block where the sink is. The fridge is also a stone block that I carved out using [Hydro Blade] and enchanted with a freezing rune. The cover is a relatively thin stone block. And its also placed in the rectangular block. The kitchenware such as earthen pots and wooden ladles as well as wooden spoon, fork, bowl and plate are placed in the carved out space below the rectangular stone block. The kitchenware came from Kiralne's storage ring as well. Seriously, random junk are scattered here and there in her storage ring. 

Anyway, the runes are a really big help. It might seem simple but the things I have done are really hard to do. There are so many complicated stuff that even if I studied runes for a century without All-Magic Awakening, I won't be able to reach my current understanding of runes at all! I can do this stuff thanks to All-Magic Awakening so I'm really thankful to Frelinia for it. 

As I was thinking of the many things can do, we finally arrived at the door. I used {Telekinesis} to open the door while Lisana who was still inquisitive towards Kiralne, ceased her questions and said-

"Okay big sister Kira. I won't ask for now but I'll definitely get the answer from you later at the bath~!" (Lisana)

While saying that, she closed her eyes and from her body, seethed out a unique type of mana. Mana that belongs solely to dragon-folk. Dragonic mana.  I tried to control it with Divine Art: Mana Force Manipulation but I had the feeling that it isn't as easy to control than the raw and refined mana. Furthermore, it has a certain quality to it that doesn't seem to go well with my divine art. It was unruly.

Liz coated herself with it and with a flash of black and golden light, what appeared before me was the small-sized dragon form Liz. She flapped her now-strong wings and settled... on my back. No matter what, she still likes to hang on to my back. I don't now why but I simply let her. She has a habit of shifting from human form to dragon form. That too, I didn't know why.

Kiralne smiled wryly, relieved that Lisana stopped asking her about the earlier matter and said to me-

"Okay, Krey... I'm fine, I can walk by myself-" (Kiralne)

"No, you cannot. Remember this is the final stage of assimilation. You need to rest up and prepare. I'll carry you to the bedroom. I'll make my own food so you don't have to worry." (Krey)

"But...! *sigh* Alright...fine." (Kiralne)

Kiralne had a look of defiance at first but she sighed in resignation and let me carry her to her bed. I can understand her feelings. Besides it isn't pleasant to know that your crippled. She doesn't like to rely on anyone, the same as me. In fact, if Kiralne wasn't meant to be my protector and if I wasn't wary of this world, I would be working alone right now. Its not that I don't like company, I'm just used to solitude. 

I went to the bedroom and placed Kiralne on her bed. Liz jumped off my back and flew towards Kiralne, nestling on her chest. Kiralne smiled and covered herself and Liz with the pelt blanket. As I was about to leave Kiralne opened her eyes widely, as if realizing something and said-

"Ah! That's right! Krey, before you meditate, make sure to take care of the crops! And please wash the sink as well as the bathhouse! Also, don't forget to take a bath right after! Hey wait! Where are you going?! I'm not finished yet!" (Kiralne)

"Kyua kyuui~" (Lisana)

|See you later, Krey nii-chan~|

Before she finished, I already left the room. Sheesh. I don't know what's worse, her being a pervert or her being a nagging mother/big sister. After resting for a while, the would take effect and she will be able to move again so I better hurry. I ran towards the exit and went to the garden. The garden is where we raised our crops to eat since we are trapped here, with no food source. The seeds all came from Kiralne though. I don't know how or why she had seeds in her storage ring, but she said that, in her free time she likes to collect rare plants and therefore seeds.

Its luxurious that we've been using them as our staple food for the past five years. I saw Kiralne crying a little when we first ate it. The seeds are actually very special. All of them are packed with mana. Refined mana to be exact. If it was sold to the market, we can get a very good price. And the plants produce more seeds after growing. Meaning more money. And the vegetable are really delicious. Even Liz, who loves meat too much as she emptied out my and Kiralne's dried meat supply in our storage rings, occasionally nibbles it while in her dragon form despite saying that she dislikes eating vegetables.

The garden took up ten acres of cavern space, almost a quarter of the entire underground cavern. There are a variety of vegetables here, almost ready for harvesting. I think it would be more appropriate to call it a farm field and not a garden if not for the fact that the living conditions here are unbearable. No water, no soil, no sunlight. Just damp mossy rocks everywhere. Not even a bug. If I hadn't created a new complicated spell [Earth Blessing] of the earth element to at least be able to alter the structure of the stones here into fertile earth and another spell [Life Advancement] of the nature element to hasten and improve the growth of the magic vegetables we would be starving right now... unless we resorted to eating rocks.

As I had that weird thought in mind, I invoked a water element spell [Water Spray Mk. II]. Its in actuality the same as the original [Water Spray] just with a wider range and more water being spouted out of my left hand. 

The downside towards these things is that they need daily supply of water to grow properly. So its a chore to always water them, especially since the expanse of land is more than thirty kilometers in size.

While watering the enormous garden, I held Frelinia's Band in my right hand while thinking of the event back then, five years ago. It was this thing that saved us and allowed me to create my own divine art. 

Divine Arts are divided into two categories: common divine arts; and true divine arts.

Common divine arts are naturally received as one increases their rank as mana manipulators. Whether a mage or a warrior, they all receive the same divine arts as they increase their rank. This divine arts only requires you to use refined mana to activate. It is said that the ones who built this system are Norvalia, the Goddess of War and Azeroth, the God of Magic and Change.

True divine arts on the other hand... are created using divine mana. Divine mana can only be bestowed upon you by a divine entity, like a god or spiritual beast, but that rarely happens. True divine arts are risky to create as you have to handle divine mana, which is different from raw or refined mana. It is absolutely the pinnacle and only a few individuals can use it. And each individual's souls can only handle creating one divine art as divine mana puts stress on a normal mortal soul... unless the soul has undergone Soul Revolution or any other special method.

Frelinia's Band had divine mana flowing out of it that day, and using Mana Force Manipulation, I dragged the excess divine mana closer to me with much difficulty before we fell into the abyss.

In the knowledge that came from All Magic Awakening, a method to create a divine art also existed but I didn't dare to hope for too much of a cheat and made a simple yet true divine art. Divine Art: Parallel Thought

A true divine art, not like the common divine arts like Aura Domain, Aura Cloak, and Aura Wing Technique. A true divine art the is the same as Magic Creation Array and Mana Force Manipulation, all made with divine mana. Its power might be weak compared to the other two but I have a lot of uses for this thing. Divine Art: Parallel Thought. Like it says in the name, it allows me to have multiple thoughts with no repercussion. Its like having a lot of minds in one body. For now, I only had the equivalent of four minds. 

Without this, I would not be able to contend with Kiralne who has reflexes suitable as a grand soldier. One mind focused on reading her movements, the second is focused on controlling my movements, the third is focused on planning my next moves and the fourth is utilizing {Telekinesis}, {Force Thrust} and {Mana Film} to aid my attacks. This divine art will grow stronger in correlation to the rise of my rank. What's more is that, those 'minds' are also affected by the increase in thought processing speed after each breakthrough.

Warriors strengthen their bodies while Mages strengthen their minds. My true divine art, Parallel Thought is a good gain for me. If I breakthrough the initial elder magus level, my thought processing will once again increase. The reason why I lost to Kiralne is that she is that good. And that I haven't used any new buff spells like [Cloak of the Trees], [Cloak of the Wind], [Robe of the Eruption] or [Robe of the Deluge]. In fact I already have a lot lot of spells in my arsenal. I just let it pile up somewhere in the corner of my brain. Also, my third and fourth mind is always making new spells, seals, rune enchantments and sigil formations. My first mind is reminiscing and the second mind is controlling my body and the spell [Water Spray Mk. II].

"...Whew~! Finally done..." (Krey)

An hour passed as the last expanse of vegetables have been watered down. I wiped the small bead of perspiration off my forehead and ran back to the house to get something to eat. But when I arrived at the kitchen, Kiralne was already there, cooking something along with Liz in human form. Kiralne is still wearing that dougi but she untied her hair, letting it flow freely down her back. Liz is watching with curiosity as Kira stirs the ladle in the pot while humming a tune. She noticed me and flashed a small smile and said-

"Krey, you're back! The soup will be done any minute now so go wait with Liz in the dining room okay~?" (Kiralne)

"R-right..." (Krey)

This is what I meant by responsible. Ever since we were trapped and began living here Kiralne slowly began to change. When I built the house, the bathhouse, the garden and the arena, I noticed this change. Kiralne's bearing became totally different. She did almost all of the housework, from cleaning, cooking, and gardening/farming. No matter how I see it, she became something like a mother/big sister... albeit a perverted one. Still, I expected her to rest some more but she is already up and about. Jeez... what about those chores you asked me to do? Was that a joke?

"Come on Krey nii-chan~!" (Lisana)

Liz dragged me to the dining room where I sat on one of the chairs/blocks while Liz went back to her dragon form, once again firmly settling herself on my back. After a few minutes, Kiralne came out of the kitchen, a motherly smile plastered upon her face as she carried the pot with her hands protected by a fur pelt and placed it at the rectangular/block.

"I'll just get the spoons and bowls from the kitchen. Just wait over there." (Kiralne)

"Wait!" (Krey)

Kiralne turned around and sported a questioning look and asked me-

"What's wrong?" (Kiralne)

"Kyuu~?" (Lisana)

|What is it?|

Kiralne and Lisana noticed the seriousness in my voice as they both asked me with a concerned tone. I sighed and asked Kiralne the question that's been nagging me for a while now.

"What do you think about the war between Tolkium Kingdom and Lumen Isles Union?" (Krey)

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Authors Note: Yay! I found the time to write this part! You guys might have noticed that I usually post a chapter once a week. Well, its because I'm busy~. But today is a holiday so I finished this one as fast as possible. This is the 19th chapter. Hope you enjoyed it :)