"You're still drinking this late?" Hazel asked as she yawned, ruffled her hair lightly, then sat down in between the passed-out Joseph and Lone who was peacefully sipping away at his mead.

"I am. And you slept for almost 12-hours, but you don't see me judging you, now do you?" he asked with exactly zero seriousness in his tone.

"I had nothing else better to do. As soon as I woke up, I just closed my eyes and went back to sleep," Hazel retorted.

Lone smiled. "And the alcohol, while not nearly strong enough to get me drunk, keeps me buzzed enough to not lose focus on stopping my Basic Regeneration."

"Thankfully, you don't have to stop it for much longer," Hazel said before she picked up a slice of toast that had been perfectly buttered and was still warm and fresh somehow.

Lone grinned. "Honestly, I'm itching to do something. Normally, in my free time, I just laze about with Soph or do some forging. Occasionally I'll get a crazy idea and self-experiment with skills, but this? This has been torture since the party died down and everyone started to get worried, tired or both."

Hazel nodded grimly. "The charm magic cast on them only had a 6-hour duration, so yeah, that makes sense."

"Makes it easier for us when the shit hits the fan," Lone casually responded as he placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, allowing the albino reptile peacefully resting around her bicep to slither on over to him.

"Which would be round about now," Hazel said as the door to the massive chamber opened. Victoria with her entourage of mages then promptly entered.

The woman looked exhausted, but otherwise, she seemed happy. "Everybody, I'm pleased to announce that our testing artefact is back in working order. I'm terribly sorry about the delay. You must all be a bit confused, am I right?"

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Charm Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 9.

At the same time, another screen filled Lone's vision.

The effects of [Wrath]'s racial skill [Spirit Fire Manipulation] have expired. The host's true strength shall now return to them.

Lone cracked his neck as his hair changed colour from bright yellow to a marvellous gold. His single tail was then enveloped in a blackness so deep it almost sucked you in like an abysmal pit of hell. Of course, that was because Lone's fifth and central tail was the tail which represented Void.

"What on Altros is going... on... N-Nine tails?" Victoria was beyond confused when Lone's hair and tail had changed colour, but the moment eight additional furry limbs had grown from his hips, her confusion had morphed into downright panic.

Not long after his clothing had changed to a magnificent set of ocendium-plated battlemage's robes and a strange-looking cube appeared in his left hand while a large grin painted itself on his face.

If that wasn't enough, Lone's strength had explosively risen from the feeble rank of H all the way up to the powerful and dangerous rank of SSS.

"H-How?" Victoria demanded answers. "Did you steal a vial of SC-92?! But that armour and the cube... Not to mention a nine-tailed Golden Foxkin..." When she took a second to think about it all, everything suddenly made a lot of sense even if there were parts that she still didn't understand.

"You... You're Lone Immortus, that infamous adventurer from a no-name group and the pet of Erion, are you not?!" Victoria shouted as she pulled out her wand and began chanted mentally. No ordinary spell would kill this man if the rumours surrounding him were true, so she wasn't going to take any chances.

Lone nodded. "I'm glad to get recognised. Honestly, it feels pretty good, ah, but I'm not Erion's 'pet'. He one-sidedly decided to make me his disciple. I've never even spoken to the guy face-to-face before."

Joseph had woken up due to all of the commotion and his eyebrows were creased in befuddlement.

Past the pain of his hangover, he had followed the conversation thus far. "Nine tails? Adventurer? That armour looks pretty expensive... The trinket too... Where'd Darren go though?" he asked as he looked around with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Wait," Victoria demanded. "You aren't his willing disciple?" She could work with this. She could most certainly work with this.

"Yup. I mean, the bastard hasn't even given me a lecture yet let alone personally teach me any magic," Lone complained. 'To be fair, he set up a good stage for me to beat up snobby kids and steal their skills. He also let it slide when I almost killed Professor Frodley, so while he hasn't taught me any magic, I certainly don't dislike him, though his unique Asian looks have me doubting his age and origins but that's a different matter.'

Victoria slowly lowered her wand-holding hand that was preparing to cast magic and then wore a coy smile. "I completely understand. It's such a mystery as to why he leads The Academy, now isn't it? I may have misjudged you, Mr- no, Lord Immortus. Perhaps we can discuss things like civil adults? You are obviously not nearly quite as barbarous as I assumed nor as unreasonable... but easily twice as handsome, if not more."

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Charm Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 10.

Lone was very close to nodding his head and going along with her words since his skill was still only beginner rank, but the 5% resistance it granted allowed him to remember what he knew about this place from his sister. 'Damn, that was dangerous. Remember, you idiot, drugs and live-human experimentation. At least when I experimented on people back in Milindo they were dead first. Well, that and criminals that attacked me, so yeah, keep your head straight.'

He kept his smile on his face and asked, "Is that so? I'm glad you noticed, but you see, I came here to do some very specific things."

"Those things wouldn't happen to involve rough breathing and a little bit of... sweat, now would they?" Seduction almost always worked, so Victoria figured she'd add that on top of her charm magic to add a bit of... spice to her attempted persuasion here.

Besides, she was being honest when she had complimented Lone's look. She didn't have a thing for beastkin, but if need be, she'd be more than willing to work around all of his fluffiness if she needed to.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Charm Magic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1.

Lone didn't even need to try to resist that push of charm magic. It was a well-known fact which had devolved into a myth due to how rarely it was seen that if a person was entirely in love with another person that no form of seduction magic would work on them, and that included charm magic with the intent of seduction behind it.

Lone quickly looked at the skill's info out of habit since it had ranked up.

Passive Magic Skill: Charm Magic Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist all forms of Charm Magic.

Charm Magic used on the host will be weakened by 15% [+10%].

Cost: N/A Mastery: Intermediate Level 1

'As expected, nothing new,' he thought. "Well, perhaps, but for who, I don't really know," Lone responded to Victoria with a shrug. "I'll tell you one of my goals though if you'd like?"

"Oh, please, I'd love that," Victoria replied flirtatiously.

"To kill the only person in this tower that can teleport," Lone said as a deep coldness entered his eyes.

"Wh-"

"Mental Destruction," Lone said.

Despite her status as an XX-ranker, blood escaped every one of her facial orifices before her body collapsed like a ragdoll. She was unequivocally dead.

Lone didn't give anyone the time to react before he used Ascending Aura on the 50 or so robed mages. They all collapsed onto their knees and began worshipping him like a god who had descended in the flesh.

Joseph and all of the rest of the kidnapping victims were scared and confused. They were worried about what was going to happen to them but they were all impoverished people who had some street smarts to them, so they didn't speak up and simple watched Lone act from the other side of the room as they all tried their best to stay silent and avoid his notice.

Hazel approached Lone's side and said, "Well, that went well. By the way, I can feel it now that my power's back, but someone's watching us with magic."

"Hiss!" Greed cried menacingly.

Lone placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, and, like with his own attire, he used his Creation Magic to change her out of her rags and into her academy uniform. "Yeah, I can feel it too. No time to waste then, huh?"

He reached under his shirt by his neck to pull out the forge and anvil amulet that served as the key to The Glade. He'd kept in tucked under his shirt this entire time just in case an emergency happened so he could flee and contact Soph safely. Thankfully, that never happened.

Lone opened the pocket dimension and said, "See you later, Sis."

"Right... Bro," Hazel answered before she stepped through the magical portal.

The two of them had agreed that she wouldn't be participating in the takeover of the tower shortly after they had arrived here. Lone didn't want her to kill innocent people which she might have to do if there were brainwashed individuals who were violent and beyond saving.

There was also the danger aspect. For all intents and purposes, ignoring her ability to read minds, Hazel was a perfectly normal B-ranker who happened to know holy magic. Lone wasn't willing to risk his only blood-related sister's life when he didn't need to.

She didn't agree with this and thought that she was ready, but naturally, with her unique skill, she was more than aware of how impossible it would be to change Lone's mind on this.

Not long after her departure, the gate to The Glade flickered and Eolande, Breena, and Infa all walked out of it.

Eolande wanted to hug Lone. Not seeing him for over 24-hours had been surprisingly tough, but she knew that being affectionate with him right now would earn her no points when it came to Soph. "Had fun, did you, Lone?"

He shrugged. "The food's good, so I can't complain. Mind doing me a favour would you?"

"Anything for you," she replied with a smile.

"Put these guys under an illusion," he said as he gestured to the prostrating mages, "and then go around the tower and look for any more people like them and do the same. They're victims in this too I think," he added.

"Is that so? Very well," Eolande happily replied and got to work immediately.

Lone turned to the baby Rock Dragon, Infa, and his sister not related by blood but by spirit, Breena. "Can you guys protect these people, please? They were kidnapped along with Greed, myself and Hazel."

"I do not mind, Foxkin Lone," Infa stoically said as he laid his massive body down and got comfortable.

Breena nodded silently and merged with the surrounding shadows.

Seeing that and nodding, Lone reached out telepathically to Soph and said, 'Soph, can you teleport to me with Wrath please?'

Not a second later the boy with flames for hair appeared in front of Lone. For a moment, the foxkin was wondering where his lover was before he felt a very tight sensation from his tails.

"I'll never let him hurt you again, I promise," Soph cooed to the fluffy limbs.

'She's definitely still angry...' Lone smiled wryly. "I, uh, I missed you, Soph..."

She pouted as her face was covered in some of the softest fur on the planet. "I missed you too, you big idiot."

"Ha... ha..." Lone really didn't know what to feel but guilt.

He wasn't aware of how poorly his lover would react to him cutting his tails off for the sake of practicality, but at least now he knew that it'd be wiser to find another method to disguise himself in the future if the need ever arose.

"Well, uh, do you mind teleporting us to the strongest foreign mana source in the building? Ah, first, take us to the open room that's about 300-meters that way," he requested as he pointed towards the chamber that held the testing artefact.

Soph nodded with puffed up cheeks. Wrath watched the two with crossed arms as they all disappeared from the feasting hall. Not a moment later and they in the room where Lone had got Greed to sabotage the drug-inducing steamforged masterpiece.

Lone marvelled at the fascinated device that had doubtlessly been used to forcefully awaken hundreds, if not thousands of people in the past.

"I'm gonna enjoy reverse-engineering you," Lone mumbled affectionately as he stored the thing.

He then spun around and scooped Soph up before kissing her on the nose. "Again, I'm really sorry for what I did, and, uh, thanks."

Soph squirmed out of his arms and returned to his tails. "I still don't forgive you."

Wrath finally couldn't hold it in any longer when he saw how apologetic Lone looked. "This is why I've yet to settle down."

Lone chuckled faintly. "She's an amazing person though. She's just an addict of fluff."

"Floof," Soph corrected.

"Right, of floof. You're really missing out, Wrath. Kissing, cuddling, and, of course, sex. Trust me, they are all that they are cracked up to be and even more," Lone confidently said, forcing a blush to emerge on the cheeks of both Soph and Wrath.

"I'm far too young for that!" the Archfire Spirit protested before he grabbed Lone's shoulder and then looked down at the tail-immersed Soph and said, "Well? Teleport us to the person running this place! I'm done hanging out with you people and I wanna go home!"

Soph was still a bit flustered by Lone's somewhat awkward praise and commentary of their relationship, but she still nodded her head, and, like a fart in the wind, the four of them disappeared.

The gathered kidnapping victims began mumbling to themselves and panicking from the presence of a dragon in the room.

Joseph wasn't a genius, no, but he wasn't stupid. He was a village chieftain after all. "Everyone, I think that foxkin was actually Darren, the Amber Foxkin who's been keeping us calm and relaxed this whole time! When he killed that mage woman I got a skill called Charm Resistance, so I think the vixen was trying to warp out minds!"

"I got it too..."

"Me too..."

"I guess we're not gonna become mages..."

"The gold fer failin' the test was probably a lie too, wun't it?"

Joseph more than understood everyone's sentiments, but right now, what was important was not making a life-threatening mistake, not regretting lost opportunities.

"Let's trust this dragon and the girl in the shadows to keep us safe, okay? Before she died, that mage lady said that Darren was a bigshot adventurer, right? That means he's got to be a good enough person. We all know The Adventurer's Guild only promotes kind folk past silver-plate. He's probably here to save us and stop any more kidnappings from ever happening again, so let's put our trust in him and wait here peacefully, yeah?" Joseph suggested.

No one was opposed to such words. They all made sense and, well, honestly, they stood no chance against a dragon and probably just as much of a chance against a person that could become a shadow, so being compliant and silent was probably their best chance at survival.