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You have completed your Quest! The rewards have been automatically deposited and the Quest giver has been notified of your success.

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You have leveled up!

+1 Free Point

+0.1 Strength, Speed, Intelligence

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After evaluation of your performance in a disadvantageous condition, the System offers you an additional attribute point and three thousand Talys.

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Rakna dismissed the window as he stepped into the back garden of the mansion. To give Evelyn a bit more time for herself, he had gone to look for the bodies of the original owners of this place after asking her. He found exactly four mounds on the ground, indicating the locations of where she had buried them.

“Alexa, call the local authorities and explain to them the situation,” Rakna instructed.

[Understood,] she said and established a call from his HL’s background processing framework. As she did that, he went back inside the house and leaned against the wall next to the front door, waiting.

A minute later, he saw Evelyn come up from the stairs leading to the basement. She seemed to have recovered nicely based on her relatively serene expression.

“Ready?” He asked and she nodded. “Then let’s go. We’ll go to the Pavilion to awaken your magic again and meet up with my friends,” he stated as he opened the door. Just earlier, he had received a message from Allan saying that they were waiting for him there.

“Wait,” she raised her voice timidly and he turned around with an inquisitive look. “Um, I need to bind myself to you if I want to leave this place…”

“Ah… yes, your status did say that,” he muttered as he remembered her trait. “That means you’re currently bound to this house, huh? Not an object?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “I used this house as the anchor to sustain myself.”

“How would you bind yourself to me then? Is there a specific method?”

“Well…” She squirmed and joined her hands while looking away. “It’s a bit intimate…”

Rakna scowled at her blushing appearance. ‘Seriously?’ He deadpanned internally. “Please don’t tell me it’s with a kiss or something.”

“Eh?! How did you know?!” She sounded genuinely shocked.

“…can you use this instead?” He inquired while showing her his scarf.

She calmed down a bit and took a look at the object before remembering something, “This… are your daggers capable of transforming?”

“Close. It’s the other way around. My scarf can transform into daggers. So? How is it?”

Evelyn took the scarf that he was handing her and instantly felt the energy coursing through its material. It was nothing like she had ever felt before. “Incredible… such a masterwork. Not only the seemingly boundless energy but also the craftsmanship. Who made this?”

Rakna snorted. “My uncle. The old man learned how to make weapons from his adoptive mother and he was without peer from where I come from,” he said, now wondering how high would the old man’s proficiency be if he used Appraisal on him.

“Did you learn from him?” The succubus asked in curiosity as she continued to inspect the scarf in admiration.

“Not really. I just heard scraps on the basics, never dwelled on it. Though, it might not be a bad idea to learn a bit more for my Star Make…” He inaudibly droned the last part.

In fact, the weapons he had already made a spell of, Dáinsleif and Neptunia, were both something his uncle had forged at some point. The latter’s hobby was to forge mythological weapons with his own designs added to it. That’s why it had been so easy for him to picture them when he made the spells; because he already had seen them.

‘Maybe adding the concept of forging to them will make them stronger,’ he thought then focused back on the matter at hands. “In any case, is it good enough for you?”

“Yes, definitely!” She affirmed. “To be honest, I don’t think I will ever be able to find a better anchor than this. It’s such a good artifact for someone like me for its seemingly endless supply,” she stated enthusiastically.

“Well, at least you don’t need a kiss now.”

“Ah… yes,” she whispered, secretly a bit disappointed for reasons that she herself didn’t fully understand. She cleared her throat, “A-anyway, I will now redo my binding.”

She closed her eyes and covered Sonata with her demonic energy. Rakna watched curiously as her body glowed, releasing thread-like strands of energy. They first appeared connected to the walls and floor of the mansion before gathering together and connecting to the scarf instead.

The process took about twenty seconds and when she was done, she opened her eyes with a sigh as she felt her new connection. It was as if her vitality had increased by leaps and bounds by just being close to the scarf. “It’s done. I’m bound,” she smiled and handed the scarf back.

“That easy?” Rakna grabbed it with a raised eyebrow and checked its description.

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Designation: Cloth/Scarf

Name: Azure Sonata

Rarity: Orange

Durability: 100%

Perks:

- Intertwined Miniature Eion Systems: The item possesses memory of form and is able to switch from one form to another with an Eion energy influx as the trigger.

Currently available: Scarf, Guandao, Bow, Kusarigama, Twin Daggers.

- Gale Outbreak (Applied to all forms): A perk synthesized from absorbing Praying Vehemence’s parameters. When wielding Sonata in a Blade-Type form, the user will have their agility and swiftness increase by 5% without cost or cooldown.

- Demonic Spiritual Anchor: This item is bound to the Cambion Phantom Evelyn J. Malcanthet who can now sustain her for form for as long as she stays within a range radius of a kilometer.

Additionally, the Phantom bound to this item will forever be able to locate it no matter what. They will also be granted a 10% boost in both DP and MP thanks to the leaking Eion.

Lastly, thanks to the spiritual will infused inside the weapon, the registered wielders (Rakna Xiorra, Evelyn Malcanthet) can now control it mentally. Form changes do not require Eion charges anymore and it is possible to recall Sonata from a distance, even very long ones, with a simple pulse of mana.

Note: Evolvable.

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Rakna’s eyes widened at the new perk. He eagerly tried it out, mentally willing it to change form, just like he would manipulate the System prompts, and before he knew, he was holding the two familiar daggers again.

“I couldn’t have hoped for better…” He muttered in amazement then flipped one of the daggers to hold it by the blade. Under the snooping stare of Evelyn, he walked out of the house and flung it to the sky.

Then, the purple of his eyes mixed with blue for a second and he saw the dagger stop mid-air and backtrack toward him at high speed. It made several turns as it left a green and azure trail behind it and Rakna caught it as it almost whizzed past his shoulder.

Evelyn clapped lightly at the demonstration and he snorted before mentally ordering his daggers to fuse back into his scarf. He wrapped it around his neck and started walking away.

“Let’s move. I don’t want to deal with whatever police Black Steel has,” he said and Evelyn merrily followed him. He looked over his shoulder and frowned before looking down. She was moving, but her feet weren’t touching the ground.

“…you’re floating.”

“Hm? Well, yes. I’m technically a ghost, after all,” she replied as if it was obvious.

“What about those?” He said as he pointed at her wings.

“It’s mainly to fly faster. They also can channel demonic energy so that I can release magic more easily. And while as a Cambion, I do not have the natural pheromones to attract the opposite sex, I can still produce something similar with them to charm targets.”

‘I guess Appraisal doesn’t show everything to the last detail. But maybe I could try to push it by using it on every element or term in someone’s status. Hm, note for later,’ he thought and faced forward again.

“At least hide them until we get to the Pavilion. You’re already attracting attention,” he said whilst waving his hand at a random man staring at her.

“That’s not a problem,” she nodded and retracted her bat wings in the blink of an eye. She also stopped floating and started walking next to him. “But why don’t we just fly over to the Pavilion?”

“Crippled state, remember?” Rakna deadpanned. “While you did give me enough internal force and mana to get by, I don’t want to overexert myself.”

“Oh, yes. It’s honestly hard to believe after I saw how you fight,” she admitted and he shrugged as they arrived at a bus stop.

Rakna groaned as he looked at the time on his HL. “I think I’ll buy a car or something after this. I could definitely use one when something like this happens”

Evelyn giggled and allowed herself to smirk a little. “So? How do you feel having a lovely succubus like me stuck around you?”

He blinked then turned toward her with a sharp look. Despite herself, she felt her face heat up and she almost looked away when their eyes crossed.

“…I feel like I got myself a new mischievous pet.”

“Eh?” Her mind froze for a second. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She hadn’t expected that sort of answer at all. She certainly didn’t think he would be embarrassed based on what she understood of his personality but this was an entirely new experience for her.

“But, well, I guess more company isn’t that bad,” he added afterward. “You could also be a good backup along with Pronos.”

“Pronos?” She tilted her head.

“My actual pet. He’s what we call an Eion snake back on my planet. You’ll probably see him soon enough. I let him go wherever he wanted earlier. He’s probably leveling up in the Fifth Plateau as we speak.”

“A snake, huh?” Evelyn mumbled and smiled. “I remember we had a pet snake before… that happened. Lyne and I were very attached to it,” she said and her smile became a bit sad.

A comfortable but heavy silence settled between the two afterward and Evelyn sighed. She really didn’t want to linger too much on what happened but it was probably going to be a long process.

“…I was curious about something,” she suddenly said and Rakna glanced at her, showing that she had his attention. “The spell you used to clear my brother’s mind; what was it? I’ve never seen anything like it. Of course, only if that’s all right with you.”

Rakna hummed and shrugged. “I don’t see why not. If we’re going to work together, it’s not a bad idea to establish a minimum of trust,” he said and opened one System window with a thought. He then shared it with her.

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Lyra (T.8-9): The constellation embodying the legend of Orpheus and his magical ability to even soothe the world with his music. If used correctly, this spell could even make the fiercest of tigers act like a kitten. The higher variations of this spell might allow a relatively significant manipulation of the weather.

Five Star Variation Cost: 20 to 200 MP per minute. (Soul Core Correction: 15.2 – 152)

Note: The constellation of Lyra possesses 30 focal stars. The more mana used, the stronger the melody of the lyre will be. Furthermore, the user’s compatibility with eagles passively increases the effectiveness of the spell.

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“This…” Evelyn’s eyes widened in shock. “I have never seen such magic. What is your element?”

“Cold Star.”

The succubus became even more stunned at the revelation. While it wasn’t a popular topic, star magic has always been a fascinating interest for any mage that respects themselves. But most of the discussions about it were theories at best, and mostly imagination. She never thought that she would actually meet someone who had that affinity one day.

While she was lost in her thoughts, the bus arrived and when she finally woke up from her musing, Rakna was already inside the transport. “Ah! W-wait for me!” She exclaimed and hurried inside.

* * *

Meanwhile, Pronos was having a staring contest with a chicken-like monster he had encountered in the swamp. The two stayed in a stalemate for about three minutes when a small breeze made the little snake involuntarily blink.

The chicken let out a snicker-like sound and adopted a smug look. Pronos’ face twitched and ten seconds later, he was slithering away with a huff as he spat out the feathers in his mouth.