A few days later.

Anaheim stared at the elven woman wearing a winter jacket along with ski pants. A white woolen hat covered her head, but large earmuffs covered the hat. A scarf blocked the elf’s nose, mouth, and neck, leaving only the skin around her eyes showing. Gloves guarded her fingers. Anaheim scratched her head. “You, uh, aren’t hot?”

Mr. Bubbles shook her head. She was sitting next to a radiator in the corner of Anaheim’s living room where the cows had slept when they were still alive. She wrapped her arms around her legs, bringing her knees to her chest. Her furry boots brushed against the floor. “If anything, it’s too cold. I usually sit on thermal vents and bury my tentacles in the earth’s mantle.”

“Right,” Anaheim said, nodding her head once. She glanced at Khrx who was strapping his VR drive to his head. It had been sent in for repairs after the cows had broken it. He was using hers before. “So why aren’t you at the bottom of the ocean sitting on those vents?”

“It’s a hassle to breathe underwater in this form,” Mr. Bubbles said. “Don’t mind me. I’ll just sit here for three hundred years until I can turn back into a kraken. I don’t have to eat either as long as I’m warm enough.” She scooted closer to the radiator, leaning her head against it. “Do you have any spare blankets?”

Anaheim clicked her tongue as she rummaged through a closet, pulling out her winter blankets. “Three hundred years is a bit long, don’t you think?” she asked as she bundled up the kraken-turned-elf, making sure to wrap up the radiator too.

“No? It’s a little long compared to Khrx’s one hundred years, but I have one of the faster transformation times. Luke can only change his form every thousand years.”

“…Luke?” Anaheim asked, shooting another glance at Khrx. He was already fully immersed in his VR drive. “Do you mean Lukroix Adveign Desrigard?”

“The demon lord, yeah,” Mr. Bubbles said with a nod. She burrowed deeper into the blanket, covering her eyes and forehead as well. Only a few strands of blonde hair could be seen of the elf, the rest completely hidden in the cocoon of blankets.

“Lukroix Adveign Desrigard is the demon lord?” Anaheim asked, a faint smile appearing on her lips.

“Do I have an accent? I’m pretty sure I’m speaking clearly.”

“Well, your voice is a bit muffled because of all your layers,” Anaheim said. “Just making sure, we’re talking about the same Luke, right?”

“Lukroix is very prideful. If anyone tries to use his name, he’ll personally dispose of that person. If you know a Lukroix Adveign Desrigard, then that’s the one I’m talking about.” Mr. Bubbles’ green eyes appeared as she tilted her head up. “Aren’t you the hero’s descendant? Shouldn’t you already know?” Her eyes shifted towards the humanoid shell that Lorin had occupied which was sitting beside Khrx on the couch. “Or was that lady the hero’s descendant?” She sighed as her eyes disappeared again. “All surface dwellers look alike.”

“I see,” Anaheim said. “Thanks.” She walked over to Lorin’s empty shell and lifted it off the couch, putting it off to the side. She plopped down beside Khrx and strapped on her VR drive, closing the pod. When she entered Khrx’s virtual room, she saw him chewing on a string of virtual numbers clustered together.

“You still dare to insult me?” Khrx growled through clenched teeth while attempting to tear some numbers off the floating mass like a dog pulling on a blanket.

“I did not insult you,” Boba said, her voice strangled. “You merely construed my innocuous statement as verbal abuse. If any of my statements cause you to feel inadequate, perhaps you should look deep within yourself and question why you are so insecure.”

“Gah! I’ll tear you to shreds, you stupid number ghost!” Khrx stopped pulling and raised his head when he saw Anaheim. “Perfect timing. Help me pin this stupid thing down.”

“What exactly are you doing?” Anaheim asked as she walked over. She grabbed onto Boba’s edges, or what she thought were Boba’s edges, and pressed them to the ground.

“I was consulting Bongle about finding a tracking skill to hunt down Luke, but then Boba called me an idiot. So obviously I have to teach her a lesson.” Khrx snorted as he dug into Boba’s body, pulling out a string of ones and zeros.

“I merely pointed out the fact his negative intelligence would prevent him from learning anything and that his time would be better spent on practicing cute faces in the mirror,” Boba said as a pair of eyes formed out of zeros to stare at Anaheim. Khrx leaned forward and yanked them out, tossing them into his mouth before chewing a few times.

“A tracking skill to find Luke?” Anaheim asked.

“Right,” Khrx said. “I have a handwritten letter by him back at home. If I can learn a skill to track it back to him, then I can find where he lives and free Fufu!”

“Great!” Anaheim said, her eyes lighting up. “And what did Bongle say? Did you find the skill?”

“Yeah,” Khrx said. “There’s a labyrinth that teaches you the Trace Origin spell. You have to use the spell to get further inside to solve the dungeon and reach the raid boss, but I don’t care about that. I just want the spell.”

“And as I said, you cannot learn the spell with negative intelligence.”

Khrx pulled more numbers out of Boba’s body. “I’m not alone, dummy. I have Lorin! She’ll learn it. Right, Lorin?” He raised his head and glanced around. “Lorin? Huh, where’d she go?”

“She entered [Resolution] while you were conversing with Bongle. Did you do something to upset her? She seemed upset,” Boba said. “You didn’t touch her inappropriately in reality, did you?”

More numbers flew out of Boba’s body. Khrx nodded at Anaheim. “Then you can learn it.”

“She does seem smart enough. Smarter than you, at least,” Boba said. “What is your intelligence, Ms. Miehana?”

“Two.”

Boba sighed. “I did not think there could be anything worse than being pinned down and violated by a child dressed in a onesie. Little did I know, there was. I am being pinned down and violated by two imbeciles, one of which is a child dressed in a onesie.”

“Let me help you rip some of her numbers out,” Anaheim said, replacing her hands with her feet to pin Boba down. Then she dug through the A.I.’s guts, scattering twos and threes around Khrx’s personal room. “I know this relieves stress, but aren’t you wasting time?”

“Nah,” Khrx said. “There’s still an hour before I can reenter the game.”