"So, she's the one?" Kaelith asked as she leaned over Flavia. "She's cute…" She muttered and her eyes wandered. "Hm… other than the chest, I win everywhere else."
Rakna sent her a deadpan stare and she casually shrugged it off.
"And I see that you destroyed another one," she then said with a blank tone whilst looking at the crater where the Dungeon Tear previously was. "So, what did Draco do to her? There's some of his presence around her."
"He isolated a soul that was attempting a takeover."
Kaelith's eyes widened. "I see… she was lucky that someone like him was here. His kind is basically good at everything. He was taught a lot by his family and clan."
"What is he anyway?"
"What, he didn't tell you?" She replied and he shook his head. "Well… I guess I can start it by telling you why the elders suggested him as my suitor so much. There are a few clans on par with us the Nine-Tailed and among them, the strongest is the Dragon Clan."
"So, Tira is…?"
"A dragon, yes. One of the Dragon Kings, to be exact. Dragons have an evolution ladder similar to ours. However, with them; it's not tails but their wings. Two-winged dragons are called Elemental Dragons. The four-winged are Noble Dragons. The six-winged are Great Dragons. And finally, the eight-winged are Sovereign Dragons, but commonly called Kings."
"In other words, he's a big shot."
"Pretty much. But I still have a higher status," she said proudly. "I'm the Foxes' heiress, after all."
Rakna snorted. "Of course, you are. Why do you call him Draco by the way?"
"That's because his first name roughly translates to that in draconic tongue and I thought it was funny," she shrugged.
"I see. The poor man would have definitely gotten the short end of the stick if a marriage had been successfully arranged between you two," Rakna noted and a vein popped on the vixen's forehead.
"You…" Kaelith's expression twitched. She ultimately sighed and snapped her fingers. A stream of flames was conjured from under her feet and drew a magic circle all around them.
Rakna curiously watched as a whirlpool of blue fire began to block the view of his surroundings and even the ground he was standing on. Interestingly, there was no change in temperature. The therian hummed and pulled out a cigarette and lit it by putting it in the flames.
"No heat but there's still combustion?" He commented questioningly as he put the cigarette in his mouth under the incredulous eyes of Kaelith.
"Could you not use my magic as a lighter?" She retorted with a scowl. "And no, it's neither. The fire of this spell is telepathic, it burns if you want it to burn, it gets hot if you want it to be, and it spreads if you want it to. Since you're inside, it also listens to you."
"What does this spell even do?"
"This," she answered and snapped her fingers again. This time, the flames went away and they found themselves in front of Pavilion's entrance.
Rakna raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even notice we were moving."
"Duh, it's teleportation for a reason," Kaelith said matter-of-factly. "Come on; bring the lady inside to the infirmary. They have soul replenishment equipment and medicine. She's most likely tired from the takeover. There's a back entrance to it in the private section if you don't want to be stared at by everyone."
"Really? I never saw it," Rakna remarked as he picked up Flavia in a bridal carry. The second that they stepped inside the Pavilion, he flash-stepped upstairs and Kaelith followed with an equally fast movement. They went through the filter dimension together and the vixen led him to the very back.
They went past the door of the shop and reached a dead end. "Here, let me show you," Kaelith said smilingly and swiped her hand on the wall. Then, a string of holographic icons appeared.
"Each of these opens a way to different parts of the Pavilion. This cross here is the infirmary, this one is the lounge/casino, this one is the Meeting Rooms where Guilds can have meet-ups with others. They were used the day after the Initiation if you remember."
"I do," Rakna nodded as he took a look himself at the icons. "Why is this hidden like this though?"
"Well, it's not really hidden," Kaelith replied and pressed on the infirmary icon. The rest then went away and a ripple coursed throughout the wall before it created an automatic door.
"From what I know, the original design wasn't meant to be something so furtive, but it just became that way over time and now it's like a sort of half-secret tip that goes around veterans. Then again, the clown of your Guild probably just forgot to tell you about this."
"Sounds about right," Rakna readily agreed and Kaelith chuckled. She pressed the button and the metal doors slid inside the walls to reveal the reception of the Pavilion's med bay.
"All right, I'll leave here. Just ask for a soul operation room," Kaelith said. "Just be sure to come to my shop tomorrow."
"Why? Is there something important going on tomorrow?"
"My mom wants to meet you."
Rakna froze both physically and mentally. He almost dropped Flavia. "…why?"
"She personally wants to see how much of a cheeky brat you are."
"For some reason, I find myself doubting that."
"Just shut up and promise you'll be there."
Rakna dragged on the silence for a minute. "…let's hope your mother isn't like you then."
"See?! That's exactly what I'm talking about!"
⠀
* * *
⠀
Around ten minutes later, Rakna was back on his own and Flavia had already been laid down on a bed as a nurse was setting up a very sci-fi-looking instrument next to her. She first cleaned the blood then placed some scanner-like devices near her patient's midriff.
She looked at the numbers on the screen then turned toward Rakna. "Her condition is stable. You can leave with her as soon as she wakes up but I recommend a minimum of three hours here at least. Also, her soul will be a bit frail for a few days so I recommend she doesn't use too much mana during that time."
Rakna nodded and the nurse excused herself with a bow. When she was gone, he pulled out the journal and sat down on a chair. "You heard?" He asked to seemingly no one as he turned the pages and Tyran looked at him in confusion.
"I did…" A weary voice responded and the little T. Rex cried out happily and jumped on the bed where Flavia slowly opened her eyes. She smiled and patted him. "Thank you, Tyran," she said and looked at Rakna who was quietly reading his book. "Since when did you notice?"
"I knew all along. You did a good job steadying your breathing, but it gets hard when you also have to fool my nose and the burst of emotions that comes along when you wake up."
Flavia chuckled wryly. "How unfair is that?"
"You tell me," Rakna shrugged. "It has only been useful to me until now."
She giggled then sighed. "So… that woman was your shopkeeper?" She asked rather tamely. "I did not see what she looked like but she sounded… nice?"
The therian snorted. "Right. I'll have to make you remake that opinion when you meet again."
"You two sound close... I heard you were going to meet her mother?"
"Oh, that? You don't know yet, but I did something kind of…"
"{Dumb?}
"{Inane?}"
[Senseless?]
Rakna blanked as even Alexa joined in. "I did something risky. Long story short, I faked my identity in a System-wide broadcast. It involved the Nine-Tailed Clan, which fox- I mean Kaelith is from and now her mother, i.e super high-ranked nobility, wants to see me. I really don't think it's a good situation overall."
Flavia turned her head to stare at him. "You are a walking disaster," she uttered and he didn't have anything to riposte with. She sighed again. "Is there something I should know?"
"You mean about your condition?"
She nodded.
"Whoever you were fighting tried to take over your soul. If I had been too late, you would have been killed and your body stolen. Thankfully, a guildmate of mine was passing by, the same person that sold you the location of the Dungeon, and saved you from imminent risk."
"I see… I guess my last spell couldn't stop her from using a last-resort counter," Flavia whispered and pursed her lips. "You said 'imminent risk', right?"
"Mhm… The takeover has been stopped but not erased. You will have to be careful in the future, if you lower your guard, you might get possessed for good," Rakna said and lifted his eyes from the journal. "I'll start teaching you how to control your soul from now on. You need to learn it in order to fend off the takeover as much as possible."
Flavia slowly sat up and leaned against the headboard. The machine seemed to be able to connect to her soul as long as she was close to it. "Then I guess you will be able to start tonight," she said with a playful smile and Rakna looked at her in confusion before remembering.
"Ah… I did agree to that sleeping together nonsense, didn't I?"
"Yup!" She nodded happily.
"Keep your enthusiasm. You're stuck here for three hours before that."
Flavia pouted. "Can't you heal my soul yourself? Faster than this machine?"
"I asked the staff and they told me that this thing, while slower, is a lot safer since it is a sequential process with next to zero mistakes. And if there is one, it still wouldn't harm you."
"…so, I have to wait three hours here?"
"Yes."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…want me to read this to you while we wait?"
"…I would like that."
Rakna cleared his throat began to read, "'I had reached the peak stage of the Nirvana Realm. The energies of Heaven and Earth had become too weak for me so I was compelled to go into solitary cultivation where I would spend a hundred years finding myself, fighting my demons, and seek for an enlightenment that would allow me to ascend to the state of immortal-'"
"I'm good! You can stop there."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"Your call."
"…"
"…"
"{What am I watching?}" Higure couldn't help but utter.
⠀
* * *
⠀
"Finally out of there!" Flavia stretched her arms out as she breathed in the air of Black Steel which was surprisingly clean for a massive advanced city. Some passersby almost tripped when they saw that and hurriedly hid their faces whilst covering their noses.
Rakna watched that happening amusingly then looked somewhere where he saw a blue flash and a little snake jumping away from the crowd to land on his shoulder. "Hey, little guy. Sorry, I should have warned you before making you wait like this," he said and Pronos hissed softly.
The snake then extended his tail to Rakna's eyes where a ring was tightly secured.
"Ah, yes. I almost forgot about that," the therian said and grabbed the ring before wearing it. It was actually a low-tier ring that Gray had given him specifically for Fray to receive the rewards.
"Um, Rakna…" Flavia spoke up uneasily. "People are staring at us…"
"Well, next time you'll pay attention to your surroundings when you decide to stretch."
She blushed. "Right, but it's not that… most of them are looking at you."
Rakna raised his head at that and looked around him as well. He quickly realized that there were indeed a lot of people gazing at him as if he was an exotic sight. 'Oh…' He instantly understood. 'I'll have to get used to the attention. By now, 'Obsidian and I' must be the talk of a lot of people...'
"Don't pay attention to them," he ultimately said. "Where are you staying?"
"At a hotel, ten minutes away from here by foot," Flavia answered. "The others should already be there by now."
Rakna blinked. "Did you just say… the others?"
"Well, of course. Nyx, Evelyn, and I share a room."
"…that's why you said 'us' this morning…"
"Yep."
Rakna didn't reply. He even had started sweating ever so slightly. Things had gotten a lot harder for him. Forget sleeping normally, it wasn't the problem anymore. He probably wouldn't even be able to get a shut-eye.
'…shit.'