Ch 365: Sobering power ranking.

"Master, please!" begged Akeno with needy eyes. "It's been twelve days already!"

She was naked save from her chastity belt and a wide black leather collar that completely covered her throat and limited her head movements.

Noah, wearing black leather pants, leather boots, and his torso naked, was sitting in front of Akeno, looking down at her with a teasing smile. She was kneeling at his feet, her hands clasped together behind her back.

"But you are so cute like this, Akeno." mused Noah as if he was considering it. "Looking denied and needy suits you well… And you do not dislike it."

He leaned forward and seized her ponytail, gently but firmly forcing her to look straight into his eyes.

"Or are you going to lie to your Owner?"

"But I need it, Master!" said Akeno with an expression that was both half panicked and half ecstatic at the idea that he might keep her denied for a few more days, or even longer.

"Then I will make you earn it." nodded Noah. His pants and boots disappeared, and he spread his legs.

"Come closer, Akeno, and use those nice breasts of yours to please me."

"Yes, Master!" exclaimed Akeno. Still kneeling, she shuffled forward to a comfortable distance, then sandwiched his cock between her breasts.

Akeno moved her waist to create an up and down movement while pressing each side of her breasts with her hands to add pressure.

"Is your slave going a good job, Master?" asked Akeno with a smile as she started alternating the up and down movement of her fleshy mounds.

"Yes, your breasts are so soft." sighed Noah.

Akeno lowered her head as much as the collar allowed and started teasing his glans whenever she was on the down part of her cycle. At times, she only kissed it. At other times, she sucked on it like it was a lollipop.

"Good Girl." smiled Noah as he put a hand on her head and gently rubbed her scalp with his thumb.

For several minutes, he let Akeno work diligently as she let out the occasional moan, then decided she had earned it.

"Alright, get on the bed, my cute Akeno, in your favorite position. I will finish inside you."

"Yes, Master!"

Akeno's favorite position, when she wasn't bound in one way or another, was the one called wrapped missionary. It was a simple and classic one, but it allowed Akeno and Noah to look et each other's expressions and kiss while they were doing it, and for her to wrap her legs around his hips.

Noah touched the front part of the belt, willing it to disappear, and the translucent amethyst belt turned into mist.

"Master, I love you so much!" cried Akeno as he leaned over her and entered her. He kissed her as he started thrusting, and she eagerly returned his kisses, moaning desperately as he drove her into a frenzy.

"I love you too, Akeno. And you're about to cum already." grinned Noah. "You weren't lying when you said you need this."

"Yes, I… Here it comes." exclaimed Akeno as Noah felt her squeeze his cock in the most pleasant way.

Akeno convulsed in his arms, her legs squeezing his hips with a strength that would have shattered bones had Noah been a normal man.

Noah let himself go and came as well.

"You'll need to pay attention to this, Akeno." pointed out Noah as they came down from their orgasms. "You could accidentally injure someone."

"Yes." nodded Akeno. "I'd heal them immediately, but they wouldn't trust me after this. I am careful usually. It's only with you that I didn't pay attention."

Noah nodded, laying on his side, and Akeno snuggled against him.

"Being able to meet like this makes me so happy." sighed Akeno. "I send a prayer of gratitude to Lilith-sama every day."

"I do not, and that is probably wrong of me." admitted Noah. "I'll try to make this a habit. How are things on your side, Akeno?"

"Those Legion units equipped with super-heavy railguns are a pain in the butt." sighed Akeno. "They used them five times against the Federacy, and we destroyed about 20 Morphos by now. We crush them with the battleships or artillery counter-fire every time, but that doesn't undo the damage, and they have learned to avoid our general area and target bases that are too far from our coverage."

"Which means the Federacy has been forced to establish a network of forward bases to stop the Legion's Morphos from getting near enough to shell the cities. But that forced us to spread out our forces, which delayed our offensive, and let the Legion pick and choose which forward base to shell."

"Da Vinci is working on a way to locate the Morphos despite the Einstagsfliege cloud cover. Some kind of autonomous, high-altitude drones with magnetometric sensors. They should be ready in a few days… Then we'll have a decision to make."

"A decision?"

"The Legion's normal units have almost disappeared from both the Republic's and Federacy's frontlines. The Legion may be saving them up for a big push, but that isn't likely. They are probably being sent against the United Kingdom of Roa Gracia beyond the Dragon Corpse mountain range in the north, or the Alliance of Wald in the south. We haven't been able to contact either so far."

"I guess we could just go and invade the Republic like we originally planned. They too are only facing sporadic shelling from isolated Morphos, so the time for it would be ideal. But by the time we're done, the Kingdom or the Alliance might be gone."

"Then it's not really a choice." nodded Noah. "Once the Federacy can detect the Morphos and intercept them with the new Juggernauts, you should send the Finality north and assign two Tempests to each of the other three nations."

"It is Roa Gracia who has the Sirens, right? and Zelene told you that they were the ones facing the largest attacks from the Legion. This suggests that they still have a good industrial capacity, so that will be where improving their technology will bring the greatest results."

Akeno grinned.

"And that's exactly the conclusion we reached when we discussed it with the generals and president Ernst. And mentioning him is making me think of Frederica. It seems you are getting along well with her."

"I don't think anyone could say the contrary. That girl may have more charisma than me." snorted Noah. "She was pretty scared of me at first, like I was going to tear her clothes off. But now we're mostly having movie sessions, board games, and video games. She's actually pretty good at Street Fighter 2, you know? I'm letting her win, but don't tell her that."

"You're not letting her see anything with mature content, right?"

"Nothing even remotely sexual or too bloody, yes. She rather likes the Adventures of Magical Girl Sera-Chan, although I didn't watch many episodes of those. I'm even considering asking one of the girls back home to buy all the seasons, then isolate myself in a Sanctuary for a day to binge-watch them. But I'm too busy with actually important things, so Frederica-chan will have to wait."

"I see. And on your side?"

"Things have been calm in my world. Imagine two consecutive days without anything happening. I except something huge to fall upon me soon to compensate."

"Eheh." chuckled Akeno. "So how did you spend your time? Do you laze around in bed?"

"If only." smiled Noah. "I made a few girls sign Soul Contracts and spent most of my time inside Mystic Moon. More interesting is what happened with Chisato's team. Things are progressing nicely over there."

Noah had told her previously about Rin's death and resurrection, but nothing more recent.

"That Epsilon girl?" asked Akeno.

"Yes, her too. I spend about ten days with her every time she falls asleep. That makes it close to a month now."

"How envious. Has she fallen for you already?"

"She won't admit it, but I can tell from her body language that she's now completely comfortable with sitting on my lap or me having an arm around her waist. She's still loyal to Shadow and all, but at the end of the day, she's a girl starving for affection, and I am giving her plenty of that."

"I am fairly confident that by now, if I kissed her, Epsilon would only protest for the sake of it before letting me do as I wish. But we aren't in too much of a hurry, and I am waiting for her to take the initiative."

"And once she gets to experience what sex with you is like, she will stop seeing Shadow as a romantic target." nodded Akeno.

"Hopefully. Then there's Demon Lord Diablos."

"Demon Lord Diablos?" blinked Akeno, picturing a huge, red-skinned, horned monster from a famous video game.

"Yes." chuckled Noah. "Or at least, that's how the Cult of Diablos painted her. Her name is Aurora, and she's very smart, and more than a bit mischievous. Very strong, too. I'm not sure Shuuko, for example, would manage to defeat her, and Aurora had yet to gain my perks."

"She was a bit miffed at first that Takina hadn't mentioned the Soul Shard thing prior to her agreeing to join us, but we get along well enough now. We're spending most of our time playing chess or discussing magic, and she already suggested a few improvements I could make on several of my spells. She reminds me of Himari's mother Fubuki. I'd describe our relationship as mutual respect and appreciation for now, but I get the feeling that she won't reject my advances once I ask to kiss her in a few days."

"Magic improvements? I will count on you to teach those to us, Noah." smiled Akeno.

"Actually, there will be a lot of that coming very soon." nodded Noah. "You know I'm training like a madman with Scathach and Luo Hao, right?"

"Yes, you told me. And my condolences." giggled Akeno.

"Thanks. But we're doing very little physical training right now, and a lot of Ki training. I will teach you how to use it once I get more confident with it."

"Ki? Is that better than Mana?"

"Not for general use. It is more niche, more specialized, but it does have its benefits. Ki is better for body strengthening. I guesstimate we gain maybe 30% more out of it, while reducing the energy expenditure by about 15-20%."

"Hard Light Arsenal is better when using mana. However, and I must thank Luo Hao for figuring this one out, if I create a physical flying sword, then infuse my Ki into it, it will be better overall than a Light Sword. At least at relatively close range. Controlling something will Ki is gradually more difficult when the distance between you and that something grows. Don't ask me why, that's how Ki works."

"And then, there is Shunpo. Or rather, the new technique that will replace it, and that I am in the process of polishing. It uses both Ki and the new Pulse Rune. The new technique is a bit faster, can cover more distance, but its largest improvement is that the power blooms at the start and end points is almost completely suppressed, because the vast majority of the Ki used remains inside your body."

"That sounds great." nodded Akeno. "Strong enemies will have a harder time reacting to our moves, and losing pursuers will become easier."

"Exactly." nodded Noah. "Too bad Rin didn't have this move at her disposal back then. But back to the new girls."

Noah used Light magic to display the picture of the Three Heroes.

"Olivier, Lily, and Freya. The three who, according to the Cult's propaganda, defeated Diablos. And in fairness, they did defeat Aurora once and later managed to trap her into a sealing formation. Olivier has a fairly typical protagonist personality, being honest and dutiful. Freya is cool-headed and analytical almost to a fault, and Lily has a very caring nature and tends to take the lead when it comes to the trio interacting with outsiders."

"How are you dealing with them?"

"With Freya, I follow the same playbook I use with Aurora. I start with exchanging information about the modern era, show interest and sympathy about her past and play games and watch movies. I think Freya will soon see me as some kind of mentor. She already respects me quite a bit because she knows I find her attractive, but I do not order her to offer her body."

"Lily is a glutton, and she loves most of the food I made for her. Half the time I spend with her is now in a kitchen as I teach her new recipes from other worlds. She's already allowing me to touch her ears, as long as I ask permission first and do it in moderation. And as a therianthrope, it is like she's hardwired to submit to the strong. I think it won't be long before she asks me to give her kids."

"With Olivier… it's a bit more complicated." mused Noah.

"How so?"

"We are gradually getting closer, but it looks to me like we're headed toward an adoptive father-daughter relationship rather than a romantic one. And I have no particular desire to change that. Even I am aware that I need more platonic and wholesome relationships in my life."

Akeno smiled with approval, then made hot eyes at him.

"You do, but not with me. I do not do wholesome. So can this slutty slave tempt her Master to grant her a few more orgasms before she is once again locked in chastity?"

"I think she could, yes." smiled Noah. "But this time, I bring out the ropes."

…

Noah suddenly jumped to the side as the snake lunged at him, its wide-open mouth exposing fangs dripping with venom. As it did, Noah's left sword flicked out, executing another Mirage Blade, and a deep red gouge appeared on the monster's neck.

The Lvl 58 monster, about the size of the ancient Titanoboas in Earth Paleocene era, was covered in dull gray scales and had a long reach. With the strong armor provided by its scales, quick movement speed, long reach, and poison, Noah didn't doubt for an instant that it represented a dangerous challenge for a party of six veterans players.

To Noah and Xi Ling, it was a fat pile of Exp and SP points.

Before the snake could use one of its special moves, jumping above Noah's head while coiling its long body to try to ensnare him, Xi Ling's Red Laser hit it.

-99 000.

The snake didn't just die. Its body was cut into several sections by the time it fell on the ground.

And Noah finally received the notifications he had been looking forward to.

“DING… You successfully killed 2-stars elite ‘Iron-scale Cobra’, Fame+290, SP+290.”

"DING… You have gained a level."

"DING… Your Phantasmal Bladedancer Class has evolved into Ghost Bladedancer. +1 to the maximum level of all class skills. Attribute gains are now +15 HP, +15 MP, +1 Agility, +1 Spirit, +5 Attribute Points per level."

"DING… Your dual-wield class specialization bonus has been improved.

"DING… Your pet Little Grey has reached level 50."

"Ding… Your pet Xi Ling has reached level 50."

With a happy chirp, Xi Ling landed near him, and then her body shone with a bright red light.

Noah grinned as he saw her shape growing taller, changing into that of a human girl. When it dissipated, the black-haired girl dressed in a red dress he remembered laughed softly and hugged him.

"I did it, Big Brother Noah!"

"You did. I am happy for you, Xi Ling." smiled Noah as he hugged her back and patted her head.

*Ruff ruff* barked Little Grey as he ran circles around them, his tail wagging. Xi Ling bent down with a grin, picked him up in her arms, and chuckled when she got a lick on her face.

"Congratulations, everyone." smiled Qi Yue, appearing by their side.

"Thank you, Big Sister Qi Yue." exclaimed Xi Ling.

"Thank you, Qi Yue." nodded Noah before turning to Xi Ling. "If I understand correctly, the first rank of your shapeshifting you reached at Lvl 30 allowed you to control your size, and the second rank just now allowed you to recover your human form." nodded Noah. "Do you know what shapeshifting's final rank will give you?"

"I do, Big Brother." nodded Xi Ling. "It will let me increase my size a lot more than the first rank allows."

"I see." nodded Noah.

"I may become big enough to carry you, Big Brother!" grinned Xi Ling.

"…Let's keep that for emergencies." nodded Noah. "It would feel disrespectful to use you as a mount."

"I won't mind." nodded Xi Ling. "Don't you want to fly in the sky, Big Brother? It feels great."

"I know, I too can fly in my world." smiled Noah. He glanced at the pile of items near the snake's body. There were three Lvl 58 Iron-Grade items, but none of them would be an upgrade over the set of Lvl 45 Gold-ranked items he had equipped. The rest was a small pile of gold and a few potions.

Little Grey noticed his gaze and squirmed in Xi Ling's arms. She let him on the ground, and Little Grey trotted to the corpse, then swallowed it.

With his tail wagging, he returned to Noah and dropped a small grey scale in his hand.

"Thank you, Little Grey." smiled Noah as he rubbed between his ears and examined the scale.

[Iron Scale]: A scale from a snake species famous for its resistance. Consuming it will permanently increase HP by 20 points and Earth Resistance by 5%. The Earth resistance bonus cannot be increased by consuming more Iron Scales.

Noah smiled as ate the scale. It crunched under his teeth and tasted like… well, like iron.

After swallowing, he turned his attention to the notifications.

His class's name had changed from Phantasmal Bladedancer to Ghost Bladedancer. In Mystic Moon, Players chose one of the available classes at Lvl 10, and each of them evolved twice at Lvl 50 and Lvl 75. There were unconfirmed rumors of a third class evolution, and Noah remembered the '????' mentions he read when examining the secret classes back in Azure Dragon City, giving those rumors credence. But he had no idea about this last evolution's nature, or how to unlock it.

The class's Dual Wield damage bonus when using two identical swords had increased from 20 to 30%. His base attributes had been retroactively boosted by the new values, and Noah's pitiful Spirit value had increased from 15 to 65. With this, his ultimate skill Paragon gained some real teeth, adding 260 Ice damage to his attacks while it lasted.

Even if this 260 barely represented around 12% of his normal attack power.

But for more significant were the increased ceiling for all his class skills, and Little Grey's Holy Spirit Gift had gained yet another level when he too reached Lvl 50. Thanks to it, he now had a monstruous +4 to all of his skills.

His Mirage Blade now generated four echoes, each of them striking from 50% of the main strike.

His Heaven Wind Technique and Wind Step Technique, the passive skills increasing his damage with all weapons and his attack and movement speed, had not seen their maximum level increase since they were unrelated to his class. But they still benefited from Little Grey's boosts.

Noah accumulated a lot of SP over the last few days. He decided to invest most of it now to buy the ranks 5 and 6 of Wind Step Technique. With Little Grey's help, this allowed him to out the skill, giving him +50% attack speed and movement speed.

On paper, he was wasting a lot of SP, since he could have simply waited to reach Lvl 60, and Little Gray's Holy Spirit gift would have increased another rank.

However, the duel with Eve was fast approaching, and Noah decided that wasting some SP was worth it to reduce the chances of her winning and him losing all of his levels.

"Alright, let's keep going." smiled Noah.

For several hours now, Noah was traveling toward the East, with the large mountain range separating the human Forgotten Continent from the Beast People's land. He supposed that Black Tortoise City, the northern one of the five great cities, was somewhere south of him, but he hadn't visited it yet.

She was searching for a mountain pass or something that wouldn't likely end up with him falling off a snowy cliff.

After a while, Xi Ling, who had gone ahead to provide him with aerial reconnaissance, returned and transformed back into a girl, excitement visible on her face.

"Big Brother, I found something!"

"Oh? What is it?" asked Noah.

"About five hundred meters ahead, there is a narrow goat path, half dissimulated by the surrounding rocks. The path leads to a cave up in the mountains. And I flew over the mountain peak and found another cave entrance on the other side. Maybe, the two are connected?"

"That is certainly worth checking, Xi Ling." nodded Noah. "Let's go explore that cave."

Noah summoned his horse and mounted it, and picked up Xi Ling, sitting her in front of him.

"Hehe." giggled Xi Ling as she leaned against him.

"This Big Sister is feeling left out!" smiled Qi Yue.

"Unfortunately, This horse cannot carry three people." shrugged Noah. "But if you want me to touch you, you only need to ask, Qi Yue."

"My little master can do as he wishes with his slave's body." chuckled Qi Yue.

Noah stared at her for a few seconds, before sighing.

"…One day, after I find out what you're hiding from me."

"Do you still believe this Big Sister is plotting against you?" asked Qi Yue, her smile fading a little.

"I do not think you are malicious, Qi Yue." nodded Noah. "And my goddess asked me to complete the Lunar Scourge. That is why I am going along with your wishes. But I am not a fool. I have already guessed you are involved somehow with the crisis I have been tasked to solve."

"…"

"…Fine, keep your secrets." nodded Noah. "I will eventually find out anyway... But I warn you, if your secrecy leads to meaningless deaths, there will be a reckoning."

Qi Yue seemed to hesitate for an instant, and Noah wondered if she would actually confess. But the moment passed, and she only sighed before disappearing.

"I understand, my little master." said Qi Yue in a mental message. Her voice sounded softer, without any of her usual teasing. "But Fate is sometimes cruel, and I have to do as I must, no matter how painful… When you gather all the pieces of the Lunar Scourge… You will know the full truth."

Noah nodded and ordered the horse to move forward. Those missing fragments of the Lunar Scourge wouldn't be found with him sitting around.

Which was why his jaw went slack when Shuiruo sent him a message.

"Sir! I found another of those twelve things you are looking for! But I need you to do something for me."

"…Let's discuss this offline." wrote back Noah as he stopped the horse.

"Big Brother?" asked Xi Ling.

"I just received a message from Ruo Ruo. You remember her, right?"

"Yes, she's one of your friends we met in Azure Dragon City." nodded Xi Ling.

"She found something I need, and as soon as possible. So I am marking this location on my map, and we will explore that cave later."

"Something you need?" asked Qi Yue as she reappeared.

"Another Orb." nodded Noah, and Qi Yue gasped in surprise. "I will return to my world for a few minutes to know more, then return."

"Alright." nodded Xi Ling with a smile.

*Ruff*

"See you soon." smiled Noah before disconnecting.

Noah opened his eyes. He was in the gaming room of the Cassell's dorm. Many of his girls were currently connected to Mystic Moon, but Shuiruo was already standing, grinning at him.

"Eheh, that certainly got your attention, Master."

"It sure did." nodded Noah. You need my help? And how did you get your hands on one of those?"

"That is mostly thanks to my class. You know I'm a Fairy Priest, right?" nodded Shuiruo.

"Yes?"

"Well, I and some of the girls were exploring a forest far south of Azure-Dragon city, several hours for the smallest human village. If is an area called the Fairy Forest, and we wanted to see if we could glimpse Fairies, even through the NPCs in Azure Dragon City told us they were gone."

"It was getting late and the girls aside from Bing Yao were getting tired, so they logged out, and it was just the two of us. We explored deeper into the forest, and suddenly we realized that we were repelled by some kind of illusory maze. We were somehow turning away from an area of the forest even when we tried to go straight."

"We persisted, and then, we found an area where the air was shimmering, I managed to get through and reach the other side, but Bing Yao couldn't. It seems that it is because of my class. And there really are Fairies! They have a village hidden beyond the illusory barrier!"

"That's great." nodded Noah. "Are they hostile?"

"No, they are very friendly. They like me a lot already because my class sort of makes me a big shot among the fairies, almost like I'm a saint! It seems they haven't had a Priest in a thousand years, and they didn't have anyone able to use magic to heal their injured. Although they're very good at making healing potions, so it wasn't really a big deal."

"What do they look like?" asked Noah.

"They're about human-sized, have pointy ears, and two pairs of translucent wings like dragonflies they can use to fly short distances. They're all beautiful, too! But they have a huge problem. The barrier that protects their village was created by their last Queen a thousand years ago, and it served its purpose well. Back then, Fairies were often kidnapped and enslaved by humans because they can create valuable potions and other things no one else can. But that protection is also a prison. The Fairies have been confined inside the barrier all this time, unable to get out."

"I see." frowned Noah. "But I am not sure I can help. And did you find one of the Lunar Scourge's Orbs in this village?"

"They had been entrusted with it before the humans turned on them, and they agreed to give it to you if you manage to break the barrier. As for why I said I need your help, Master, it is because I tried to destroy it myself, and Bing Yao tried from the other side too. But we only do 1 damage no matter how hard we strike, and the barrier regenerates far faster than we can damage it."

"But you have this ability to ignore all damage reductions, right, Master?" smiled Shuiruo. "I think it is worth trying, at least."

"Yes, we agree on that." nodded Noah.

"And then there is the minor matter of me being stuck with them, too." said Shuiruo with a helpless shrug. "My class let me in, but it doesn't let me out."

"Well, we can't let that stand." agreed Noah. "I am going to use a rare teleportation scroll to return to Azure Dragon City, then head to the Fairy Forest. I have a map indicating its approximate location. Then I will rely on you and Bing Yao to guide me to your location. That will still take me most of one day to get there."

"Yes, thank you." nodded Shuiruo. "I am going to log back and warn Bing Yao and my new friends."

"Wait, before you do, have you seen the Orb? What does it do?" asked Noah.

"Oh yes. It is the Pisces Orb. And what it does is even more ridiculous than the Virgo Orb!"

Noah eagerly leaned forward. The Virgo Orb had increased his MP and HP by +150%. That was already huge.

"The Pisces Orb, Master, will allow you to have not one, not two, but THREE classes at the same time!" declared Shuiruo with a chuckle as his eyes widened in shock.

"Three classes?!" exclaimed Noah as he started considering the implications. Two more classes would mean a massive boost of his attributes, and surely a few more passive skills. Even if he stuck to his Mirage Blade and Little Crescent Slash as his default attacks, their efficiency would skyrocket!

"This one is even more stupidly overpowered than the Gemini Orb allowing me to strike with the cumulative power of two two-handed swords." realized Noah. "And that means potentially new passive skills, so my power in the real world will surely increase as well."

For a moment, he felt tempted to visit Azure- Dragon City's Training Hall again to see if he could get one or two more of the Secret Classes that had already accepted him as a potential successor, assuming they hadn't already been taken. That Red Lotus Warrior class in particular, with its specialization in greatswords and fire damage, would likely be a great addition.

But after thinking about it, he rejected it. The instructors would likely raise a fuss, and he didn't know if there existed any way aside from the Lunar Scourge for a player to get a second class, and telling the NPCs he might soon be able to would be a very bad idea.

If he wanted to maintain secrecy, he would have to rely on class scrolls that could be dropped by monsters or found as treasures. Those were excessively rare, but he didn't doubt that Lilith would give him opportunities to find them.

Shuiruo nodded, then stepped closer and kissed him.

"I expect a reward tonight, my dear Master." chuckled Shuiruo

"Of course." smiled Noah. "You did a great job. Ruo Ruo."

"Do I have your permission to return to my armchair, then?" asked Shuiruo.

One of her rules stated that she couldn't use furniture aside from her bed, unless Noah allowed it.

"Yes." nodded Noah with a smiled before going back in his own chair.

He logged back into Mystic Moon, unequipped one of his two greatswords, put on a standard white mask, and took from his inventory a teleportation scroll. Seconds later, he appeared in the central plaza.

In the eyes of those who noticed him suddenly appearing, he was an elite warrior, fully clad in gold-grade gear, or a very wealthy individual on Earth, but there were hundreds of those out there.

Noah decided to visit the auction house while he was here. As his name was on the building's whitelist, he had no problem entering the private areas and quickly found Yun Meng Xin, hunched over a bunch of parchments spread on a desk.

Noah knew that those parchments were magical in nature, as what was written on them changed in near real time. They described things like the auction house's inventory, transactions, and other market data.

"Hey, Meng Xin." nodded Noah as he walked closer. "Shouldn't you be asleep? It’s the middle of the night."

"Ah, Noah." replied Meng Xin with a tired smile. "I had trouble sleeping, and some moves are better made when everyone else is. It goes for schemes just as well as market moves."

"Yes. If we were in the real world, I would have brought you coffee or tea. But this is Mystic Moon, so I hope you'll accept this as a substitute." smiled Noah before dumping two thirds of his inventory on a nearby desk.

"Many thanks as always." smiled Yun Meng Xin.

Noah nodded and let Little Grey and Xi Ling out. Meng Xin blinked in surprise at the cute girl suddenly appearing.

"Meng Xing, this is Xi Ling. She can now transform back into a human."

"Yes. I am glad to see you again, Big Sister Men Xin." smiled XI Ling.

"I am glad for you. It is nice to be able to speak together." smiled Meng Xin, already bending to scratch behind Little Grey's ears.

"I can't stay long." sighed Noah. "Shuiruo found another of those orbs in the Fairy Forest, but she's stuck behind some kind of barrier."

"I see…" nodded Meng Xin before looking at him with utter seriousness. "I have a favor to ask you, Noah."

"What is it?"

"I would like you to save Qi Qi, if you can."

"Is she in danger? Where is she?"

"She's resting right now, at least I think. But all the women in her family die young. I believe the oldest reached the age of twenty-four."

"Do you know why?" frowned Noah.

"I don't. Many doctors who have examined Qi Qi, her mother, and the previous generations, but they do not have any idea. All they could tell was that they all died with severe burns on their internal organs… And Qi Qi has been having episodes where her body suddenly heats up. It's very painful for her, but she usually manages to calm it down after a few hours by taking ice baths."

"And those episodes are starting to happen more often." sighed Meng Xin.

"Ask her to call me once she wakes up." nodded Noah. "I will visit her and find out what is happening."

"Thank you, Noah."

"I'm only saving one of my future girlfriends." smiled Noah. "And now I need to go. See you later, Meng Xin."

"Later." smiled Yun Meng Xin.

Noah nodded to her, and retrieved Little Grey and Xi Ling. He waved to Yun Meng Xin once then left.

Horses couldn't be used within the city, so he walked toward the southern gate.

"What Yun Meng Xin described about Xiao Qi… This sounds like a bloodline issue." said Qi Yue.

"A bloodline issue?"

"If it is hereditary but only affects women in her family, and with those symptoms… You should bring her to Vermilion Bird city in the south. The Vermilion Bird might be able to help her stabilize her bloodline, assuming my hunch is correct."

"…I am not sure how that would work, since we travelers are not using our real bodies to come here, but if I can't fix her myself, I will follow your advice. Thank you." nodded Noah.

He kept walking, trying to keep his face under the mask neutral, but most of his attention was focused on replaying his memories of all his interactions with Yun Meng Xin and her friends.

Qi Yue had just made a major admission, and she didn't seem to realize it.

If his memories were accurate, and he was pretty sure they were, at no point in his presence had anyone referred to Xiao Qi as anything other than her pet name Qi Qi inside Mystic Moon.

So how did Qi Yue know that Qi Qi's real name was Xiao Qi?

As far as he could tell, there were three possibilities.

Qi Yue had access to customer information stored on Universe Corporation's servers. That wasn't an unreasonable assumption to make, especially if she was involved in the crisis.

Or she could be monitoring his actions constantly through the bangle on his wrist. Also not an unreasonable assumption if Qi Yue was a real person with access to UC's infrastructure.

Last possibility, Qi Yue was actually Lilith or another Goddess doing a cameo. That wasn't that uncommon in human-made movies. But when Noah remembered how Qi Yue had gotten naked in front of him during their first meeting and made him grab her breast… He didn't think any Goddess would willingly do something like this even under a fake identity.

Unless, maybe, a bet was involved.

[Lilith-sama, is Qi Yue an actual Goddess doing a cameo?] mentally asked Noah.

[…What an entertaining line of thought. Wouldn't that be a delicious possibility?] replied Lilith with a chuckle. [No, she isn't one of us.]

[Just what kind of existence is she, then?]

[Don't ask me a question you aren't even expecting me to answer, my Champion. But since this world isn't part of the Great Game and I am not bound by the usual rules about not interfering, I will give you a few hints as a reward for noticing her mistake.]

[Qi Yue is not a Lesser Goddess like me, and she is not a NPC either. She is a real person, and she doesn't need that bangle on your wrist to keep tabs on what you are doing outside of Mystic Moon. If there was such a thing as a power ranking in this world I created, Qi Yue would place fourth, and the Mad Scientist would be fifth. And yet, Qi Yue can't solve that crisis alone.]

[Which is where I come in.] nodded Noah, wondering if Lilith included him in the top three spots, or if she was talking about the ranking before his arrival.

[And you, my Champion, might not make it to the top fifty.] chuckled Lilith. [You still need to grow quite a bit more before you can tackle those who are behind the crisis. In the original fiction, the ultimate villain turned the moon into rubble. I have toned them down quite a bit, but in your current state, even if you have a small advantage in speed, your strongest attack, that Destruction-laced beam you used to kill that Dragon Servant, would only give them a sunburn.]

[…That is sobering.] sighed Noah. [I really became complacent, didn't I? Just because I had no real life-threatening challenge recently, I figured that I was already this world's strongest and was only keeping up my daily training because of the upcoming world cluster...]

[That is the case, my Champion. You are training diligently, but you did become a little arrogant. You should learn from your girls' mistake, leading to Rin's death. Just because you work hard doesn't mean that everything will go your way. Fate doesn't work like that.]

Noah felt Lilith leave, and he pondered in silence as he kept walking.

It was sobering indeed. Would he even be able to fend off the Black Dragon Nidhogg if he came knocking at the doors of Cassell College? He had been confident in front of the Principal, but it sounded like he had severely underestimated the upper limits of this world.

Still, Lilith had said that Qi Yue couldn't solve the crisis alone. Noah considered this as evidence that Qi Yue was trustworthy, and he felt some relief from it.

"Qi Yue, what can you tell me about the Fairies?" asked Noah after a while.

"…It has been a long time since I saw any of them. They may have changed since, but they were honest, pacifist people. They do not despise warriors since they understand that violence is often necessary for survival."

"Fairies are uniquely attuned to nature, and wherever they live for a long time, a forest will grow around them. Water from a Fairy Pond is famous for its purity and medicinal properties, but they will not let outsiders drink any in most circumstances. It is borderline blasphemous for them. Fairies have a longer lifespan than humans, living about a thousand years on average. But they do not craft weapons or armor that would interest you. For those, you would have to find the Dwarves, assuming they are still alive somewhere. That is about all I can remember about Fairies."

"Thank you." nodded Noah.

He reached the south gate, then summoned his horse. once he got some distance from the city and reached areas most players hadn't reached yet, he would let Little Grey and Xi Ling out as well.