Chapter 1 The Next Day

A gentle breeze stirred beneath the boundless, clear blue sky of Ithryte.

The sun was dazzling, the clouds were white, and the air was filled with the delightful essence of midsummer.

The wooded path leading from the Sage Institute to the Artificer Institute was particularly quiet on this weekend.

It was Sunday, and compared to weekdays, there weren't as many students strolling around the campus early in the morning.

Except for Lan Qi and Hyperia.

They often took this path together to the old Liberal Arts Building student council room at the Artificer Institute whenever they had free time.

"Lan Qi, don't you dare take that thing out!"

Hyperia warned in a hushed, cautious voice.

She was wearing her usual innocent white summer dress, and perhaps because it was already a bit stuffy, beads of sweat dotted her neck.

"I know, I hid it in the dorm, there's no way she'll find it."

Lan Qi nodded confidently in response.

The Alchemy Institute's botanical garden beside the path was lush and vibrant, and birds hopped from branch to branch, chirping merrily, as if welcoming the two humans who often passed by.

The story went like this.

Hyperia had gone downstairs for breakfast this morning and, upon reaching the landing, discovered Lan Qi chatting with Pranai in front of the Cat Butler restaurant, holding a box marked with flammable symbols.

Pranai was practically scrubbing through the glass of her cup.

Hyperia immediately guessed what was inside, turned around, pushed Tata back upstairs, and then ran downstairs to stop Lan Qi, saving his life.

"Seriously, who buys eight hundred candles for a girl's birthday?"

Hyperia still looked at Lan Qi, utterly perplexed.

"But, eight hundred lit candles would look really cool."

Lan Qi couldn't answer.

Besides being factual, could birthday candles be discounted in number?

"...Lan Qi, while it is indeed cool, Tata might act faster than she thinks. Before you even light them, she might already be on top of you, cracking your bones back into place. Sometimes, I'm not sure I can save you."

Hyperia sighed, shaking her head, while demonstrating the bone-cracking gesture with her hand.

"!"

Lan Qi felt a chill run down his spine and quickly spoke up.

"N-n-no, I won't do it again."

Lan Qi returned the large box of high-end candles he bought from the Church of the Goddess of Fate to the storage room in his dorm workshop.

These candles were enough for him to celebrate dozens of birthdays; it would be too wasteful to throw them away.

"Next week, when you and Tata go to the Borson Kingdom, don't tease her too much, or no one will be able to save you, no matter how much you scream."

Hyperia was still a bit worried and continued to advise him.

"You can rest assured about that. I've never been a comedian."

Lan Qi confidently guaranteed.

"..."

Hyperia thought for a moment and realized that it was already quite impressive that Lan Qi had survived until now.

In that case, she would trust him.

Their pace was light and relaxed, and they paused briefly to buy two drinks when they passed a bustling beverage shop.

This was a cold-pressed juice shop they often frequented, as it was conveniently located on their way to the student council room.

They had already tried all thirty-plus varieties of pure juice, mixed juice, and vegetable juice.

But in this midsummer heat, the cool sweetness never seemed to get old. If they could enjoy Ithryte's life without worries and pressure, it would indeed be very blissful.

Question Tata, understand Tata, become Tata.

These were the three inevitable steps to living in Ithryte.

"By the way, did you give Tata her gift?"

Lan Qi asked Hyperia, holding his juice cup.

He remembered that Hyperia had decided on Tata's gift a long time ago.

The two continued walking towards the old Liberal Arts Building, the quiet wooded path like a brilliant emerald, with beams of light crisscrossing beneath the trees, painting colorful patterns on the bluestone pavement.

"Mm."

Hyperia nodded, taking a small sip of her juice.

In Talia's opinion, there was nothing special to celebrate about birthdays, or rather, the demon race was already used to celebrating them.

If every birthday had to be celebrated, it would become a burden.

"But that piece of equipment, although useful for Tata, doesn't seem to be that effective."

She added.

This morning, Talia received the gift from Hyperia. Although Talia accepted it with considerable emotion, after trying it out briefly, it wasn't as useful as she had imagined.

This epic equipment, called [Demon Fusion], allowed the wearer to fuse with another demon of the same gender, with themselves as the main body, gaining all of the other's magic, with a thirty-day cooldown. It would require the other half of the earring to be given to the other demon to activate.

And if they merely gave it to the other person without wearing it, they could test the compatibility, or fusion degree, of the two parties beforehand.

The magical compatibility and bloodline compatibility of both parties would affect the fusion degree.

The basic attributes after fusion would be the sum of both parties' attributes, multiplied by the fusion degree.

"If she fused with me, because the bloodline compatibility is too low, she would drop to below seventh-tier."

Hyperia shook her head.

Because she was a half-demon, her fusion degree with Talia was only about ten percent. If they used [Demon Fusion], it would be equivalent to Talia's original eighth-tier attributes, plus Hyperia's relatively insignificant sixth-tier attributes, then multiplied by ten percent, Talia would drop more than one major realm.

In addition, she had also asked Antanas and Sinora to test it out.

The compatibility between Talia and Sinora was average, about fifty percent, and after fusion, their attributes could still be maintained at the eighth-tier level, but they would become more focused on magic power and strength attributes. With the addition of Sinora's spell-breaking and cutting magic, Talia's attack power would become very strong.

The highest compatibility was currently with Antanas, close to seventy percent. If they fused, their attributes could even be improved quite a bit, especially mental strength and physical strength. However, because Antanas's talents and magic were both defensive, Talia would become a defensive specialist.

"In other words, Talia now has three forms: attack form, defense form, and escape form."

After listening to Hyperia's explanation, Lan Qi analyzed, holding his chin.

"Yes... Wait, what's the escape form?"

Hyperia nodded, then suddenly realized that a strange form had been mixed in.

"Haha."

Lan Qi lowered his head, drank his juice, and quickened his pace a bit.

"Lan Qi, wait for me, explain what you mean by escape form."

Hyperia followed beside him like a little bird, her delicate footsteps quick, her brows furrowed in grievance as she kept asking.

"Your talent magic is the most useful. You are truly invincible among your peers, okay?"

Lan Qi finally couldn't hold back his laughter and told her.

During that time in the Northern Continent, Hyperia had stayed in the Church of the Goddess of Fate's temple in the Kingdom of Estheria for nearly two months. After special training from the Ice Witch, a fifth-tier Hyperia could hide her aura from an eighth-tier expert. As long as Hyperia wanted to hide herself, even Talia couldn't detect Hyperia's approach.

Later, the Fallen Lord Kaliella gave Hyperia a set of enhanced training.

Once Hyperia reached the eighth-tier, no one could threaten her.

"Lan Qi, you've become bad. You never used to joke about me!"

Hyperia looked angry, but she didn't have any imposing presence.

The two laughed and joked, and arrived at the bottom of the old Liberal Arts Building.

(End of Chapter)