In pairs of two, the class walked through the whistling marble brick-walled halls of the labyrinth within Nebulous Stars Ruins. Alovain walked at a leisurely pace while Lyiana constantly increased her speed for short bursts to overtake him only to be swiftly overtaken again without any effort on Alovain's part.

"Is whatever you're doing fun?" Alovain asked with a passionless tone. Lyiana shrugged as she continued doing it.

"It beats walking normally," Lyiana stated amusedly, "Say, who do you think your starveilua's going to be along with their ability?". Alovain shrugged, causing Lyiana to sigh.

"As long as they share my aspirations then it doesn't matter," Alovain stated.

"Oh... I just wanted the one I end up with to be cute," Lyiana remarked sheepishly.

"Respectable," Alovain stated. Lyiana tilted her head at Alovain's words.

"Oh, so you really want a cute starveillua as well, do you?" Lyiana said coyly and smugly.

"Just because one thing is true doesn't mean the other is inherently false," Alovain said.

"I know that I was just teasing, but on that note, I'm kinda curious as to what you meant by aspiration," Lyiana remarked.

"Opening my own book cafe," Alovain stated boldly despite his voice remaining completely monotone.

"Now, a cafe of any kind is something I can respect," Lyiana remarked. As the duo continued to walk, Zaizuro continued to glare at Alovain from the back of the class.

A little bit later, the class arrived at the bottom of the ruins, the class entered into a massive cavern filled with large crystals. The group walked along the silver-coloured marble path until they reached the large cylinder platform at the end of it. The marble platform has multiple chiselled pillars along its perimeter, and at the centre of the platform is a large intricate magic circle carved into the platform.

"Alright, we made...it!" Lyiana proclaimed cheerfully causing the majority of her classmates to cheer as well. As their cheers died down, the class eventually looked around lostly.

"So... now what?" one of the classmates said.

"I'm fairly sure Lady Mornigrail said it would happen automatically after a little bit of time," another classmate said. Lyiana reached into her pocket but paused as she noticed Alovain somehow walked over to the magic circle etching without anyone noticing. Alovain crouched down to the ground and looked at the inscriptions written in ancient-looking text.

"For two to truly be one, the two must become one and the same," Alovain said as Lyiana strolled over.

"What does that mean?".

"It's possibly referring to the exchanging part of the bonding ritual," Alovain stated.

"You sure? It doesn't sound entirely right," Lyiana said.

"That's a fair statement, but I said possibly since this passage here is more accurate to exchange part," Alovain stated as he pointed to another inscription. Lyiana stared at the inscription before unamusedly glancing at Alovain.

"Can't read it.".

"Right.... It says; when the exchange of the self commences, the loss is replaced with another's loss.". Lyiana nodded as glanced back at the original inscription.

"Yeah, that sounds more like the ritual... but what could the other one be on about?" Lyiana remarked. Alovain shrugged as he rose to his feet.

"I've read this monument is a multi-dimensional construct; in the sense, there are multiple of them in multiple universes; so, perhaps it's referring to another world's counterpart to our world's Stella Bond system," Alovain suggested.

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"But that just sounds like who-whatever... huh?" Lyiana said. Lyiana abruptly placed her hand on her mouth.

"Something wrong?".

"I dunno, when I said who, I felt a sudden compulsion to correct myself with the word what," Lyiana remarked.

"Peculiar-". Alovain was interrupted mid-sentence as the magic circle lit up along with the pillars around the platform. The shine of the platform blinded and obscured everything within view. Alovain covered his eyes with his arm.

"Hmph! You've got some nerves obscuring your eyes from my greatness," a cocky-sounding little girl remarked with a hint of shakiness in her voice. Alovain lowered his arm and noticed the naked twelve-year-old girl, whose for both of their sakes body was covered by a veil of opaque light.

(the girl is a kid-sized and physically aged vampire with almost snow-white skin; she has knee-low fluffy pure white to bright nebula gradient [70% white, 30% nebula] hair with small solid gold snakes in her hair, she has pupilless eyes with a blood red right eye and an ocean blue left eye, rounded pointed ears, and small vampire fangs)

"Although I appreciate you being a gentleman by trying not to a prev, it would be hard to do things if you're not looking.".

"Very well, so what shall we exchange?" Alovain asked. The girl flinched at Alovain's forwardness and pouted a little.

"But you're supposed to give me a name first, doofus," the girl said as she pouted.

"However, it is better to get the heavy stuff out of the way so it doesn't weigh down the mood when we get to deciding a name," Alovain explained.

"I-I see... how considerate... I think?". The girl shook her head and fist-pumped to psych herself up. The girl slowly stood up straight and cleared her throat.

"Alright, I offer you the Creation Control ability... which comes with the sub-abilities Metamorphosis, Transmutation... and... Alchemy," the girl said as her voice started to buckle a little at the end, and she even lowered her head. The girl slowly raised her head and snuck a peak at Alovain's face to see his reaction to her offered abilities. Alovain's expression remained neutral, but it eventually turned to a smug grin.

"So, my preparation paid off," Alovain remarked contently. The girl's ears wobbled at hearing a non-negative response.

"Paid off?". Alovain nodded.

"Indeed, didn't you notice in my memories how much high-level academic material I've learned over my life and that I was reading the same book about the periodic elements for the last month?" Alovain explained.

"Wait... are you saying you were intentionally trying to get someone with... the abilities I have... even though you're a student of that academy?" the girl asked.

"Indeed. So, what would you like for me to give you?".

"Huh? You're letting me choose?" the girl asked in surprise.

"Seeing as I basically chose the ability part it, only seems fair.". The girl itched her cheek and amusedly sighed.

"Fair point... but the only thing I'd be able to think of is asking for sweets and pastries and stuff," the girl cheekily remarked.

"As much as I'd agree to having you be my personal taste tester, the ritual only allows for the taking of something from me myself," Alovain stated.

"I know...," the girl uttered poutfully. Alovain placed a hand on his chin as a thought occurred to him.

"Do you like blood?".

"I'm a bampire.".

"Bampire?" Alovain asked perplexedly. The girl's face turned red, and she averted her face.

"I meant vampire," the girl stated adamantly as the snakes in her hair faintly hissed.

"Right, so how about I offer my blood.". The girl swung her head back at Alovain, her face still as red as ever.

"Huh?".

"That way, we could mix it in with food so it aligns with the bonding ritual's conditions," Alovain explained. The girl quietly mumbled and tapped her fingers together as her face's complexion returned to normal.

"I mean... isn't that embarrassing? It's basically like hiding medicine in sweets," the girl mumbled sheepishly.

"You can eat them separately if you'd like," Alovain remarked nonchalantly, "besides, blood is the most common thing to be exchanged when the starveillua is part vampire.". The girl considered Alovain's offer before she sheepishly raised her hand.

"Ok, I get it. I accept the terms," the girl murmured shyly. Alovain amusedly smirked as he shook the girl's hand.

"Appreciate it, and how does the name Lumi sound?". Lumi was slightly surprised at how fast Alovain thought of a name for her but couldn't say she hated his divisiveness or the name itself.

"It's cute, although...," Lumi mumbled meekly.

"Although?".

"I'm really surprised you didn't freak out when you saw I was a human-type starveillua," Lumi explained. Alovain perplexedly tilted his head which made Lumi do the same in the opposite direction.

"Why would I be surprised?". Lumi blankly blinked before amusedly giggling at Alovain's weird sense of value; however, once again, she couldn't say she hated that about him either as the blinding lights began to fade.