"The peak of Foundation cannot be achieved just through resources."

Isalyn stretched her hand, and a chunk of her forearm suddenly turned hazy, breaking down into golden-cyan particles and revealing her bone.

"Golden bones mark the peak of the Foundation stage. To achieve this, you need to refine your body through a specific method once all your stats reach SSS."

Rudrean and Aelira were stunned.

"Why did your flesh and blood transform like that?" Aelira asked curiously.

Isalyn smiled. In the next moment, her entire body dispersed into magical particles, transforming into cyan wind laced with golden hues and faint sparks.

Her voice still echoed in that form.

"Turning your body into an element. In my case, I became Heavenfall Wind, which is my elemental talent. This is something only Soul Tree experts can do."

She returned to her physical form and continued, "I’ll tell you the method for golden bones when you meet the requirements. It’s simple, but painful. However, it’s worth it. You will realize its true benefits in Core Genesis stage. Without Golden Bones, the true peak of Core Genesis cannot be reached."

"We’ll do it." Rudrean nodded, his eyes blazing with resolve. "I don’t want to spare any expense or make excuses when it comes to getting stronger. This new life I’ve been given... I want to live it fully and live long with you two. So let’s become strong enough that nothing can break us."

"Oww~ of course, darling." Aelira grinned.

Isalyn’s eyes twinkled. "I love hearing that. Because I want nothing less than supremacy when it comes to power. That’s the only way to survive in this world. Those who seek to rule and dominate are chasing power without restraint as well."

"Well then," Aelira smiled, "we’ve both reached average S-rank stats in everything thanks to you, but we’ll need more activities to reach SSS-rank."

Grrrr...

Rudrean’s stomach growled.

Then Isalyn’s stomach also followed up with a grumble.

Aelira chuckled. "Well, there are plenty of ingredients in the forest. Let’s gather some."

"You two collect the ingredients. I’ll prepare the kitchen, spices, and other essentials." Isalyn waved her hand, pulling out various items from her storage ring as she smiled. "Bringing sufficient food, seasoning, and tools when adventuring or escaping a death chase is Survival 101."

...

Two hours later, the trio sat around a feast.

There were no other living beings in this pocket dimension, but Isalyn had stored plenty of meat from previous hunts.

Rudrean and Aelira had gathered plants and fruits that Isalyn skillfully turned into spices, seasonings, and side dishes.

With her preserved ingredients and experience, the meal turned out absolutely delicious.

"Burp! I’m full." Aelira leaned back on her palms. "Your Heavenfall Wind is strange. What are its effects?"

"Two main effects: lightness and heaviness," Isalyn replied with a smile. "I can give weight to my wind or take it away."

She created a small spiral of wind that floated above Aelira. "Normally, wind pressure creates weight through force, right? My wind allows me to directly translate weight into its flow."

Aelira suddenly felt an immense pressure from the small spiral above her, as if an invisible mountain was pressing down.

Rudrean blinked. "This seems powerful."

"It’s terrifyingly powerful," Isalyn grinned. "If I want to destroy a planet without much effort, I can simply push it off its orbit with this wind... or collapse it inward by increasing its effective weight beyond structural limits."

Her eyes gleamed faintly.

"Heavenfall Wind doesn’t just move things... it decides how heavy existence itself feels."

"Damn. That’s why its name is Heavenfall Wind." Aelira clicked her tongue. "It’s more powerful than my Phoenix Flame."

"I wouldn’t say that." Isalyn chuckled as Phoenix Flame lit up on her fingertips. "Phoenix Flame has terrifying potential as well. It’s a balance of destruction and restoration. I would say it’s on the same potential rank as Heavenfall Wind."

Rudrean nodded. "Once we buy the 5-star spell, we will buy the Heavenfall talent as well."

When Isalyn was bound with Rudrean’s talent, she synced and automatically got what Rudrean and Aelira had, the Phoenix Flame and Compendium of Fire Spells. There was no need to buy it again for her specifically.

So if anything is bought once and enters the <Upgradable Arcane> tab, it is synced to all souls connected to the Love-Bound Arcane.

...

After eating, the trio walked around the forest and talked, mainly Isalyn telling them about the Riglight Galactic Alliance to increase their general knowledge.

But half an hour was enough to digest the food they ate, so without further ado, they began increasing their LP.

Aelira suggested something called Wild Party, and things turned crazy.

Many trees and plants were destroyed while laughter, moans, and grunts rang unceasingly in the forest.

Love Points increased like never before.

Six hours later, Aelira was on her fours as she took in Rudrean’s dragon from behind. Isalyn was milking, so she was sitting on top of Aelira’s back with Rudrean drinking her milk.

Rudrean was getting stronger through Isalyn’s milk, and then Rudrean made Aelira stronger by giving her his yogurt.

After this long session that lasted for a total of eight hours, they collected a whopping 378k Love Points.

Rudrean and Aelira’s stats shot up to SS.

But after this arduous session, all three were spent and fell asleep.

Morning arrived after nine hours.

Aelira and Rudrean were soundly sleeping while Isalyn had woken up an hour ago and had been making food.

"Wake up, you two. Go dip in the pond and freshen up quickly. The food is almost ready."

...

On the other hand, the Headmaster of Asterisk Arcane Academy called an emergency meeting.

All the branch heads arrived except for Cloud Warrior Harga, who was on the 1-star planet to look for Rudrean and Aelira.

The Headmaster nodded at everyone. "I have taken a drastic decision for the sake of our future. I made a trip to a friend I had made and sealed a beneficial deal for us."

"Asterisk Arcane Academy is now a sub-academy of Rainstar Institute of Adventurers."

Everyone was taken aback.

The Headmaster continued, "Rainstar Institute of Adventurers is part of Rainstar Guild, which is one of the top ten guilds of the Riglight Galactic Alliance."

"For now, the friend I have in Rainstar Institute of Adventurers has agreed to accept twenty students from here. All seven branch heads will go there as students. For the remaining thirteen spots, you will choose ten graduates from our faction branches and three from here."

"We have five days before their pick-up arrives here." The Headmaster sighed and added, "Harga is looking for Rudrean and Aelira. If they are safe and he finds them before five days, two spots will go to them."

Everyone nodded.

The branch heads promptly left after that.

All six of them departed Earth, splitting into two groups as the academy had two faction branches, both on different planets.

...

Time passed as minutes turned into hours, and hours turned into a day.

It had been four days since Rudrean and Aelira met Isalyn.

The four days they spent in the pocket dimension of the artifact were spent not just in carnal pleasure, but in becoming stronger and laying a foundation.

Total LP collected: 2.3 million, or rather 2.3✢.

Now it was time to spend it, arm themselves properly, and initiate a perfect escape from the heavily barricaded 1-star planet.

They planned to return to Earth not via spaceships, but via Isalyn’s two talents, Heavenfall Wind and Bloodbound Armory.

"Alright, I am buying stuff now." Rudrean purchased the 5-star Mystic Spell: Astral Veil first.

1 million LP gone.

Rudrean and Aelira felt a jolt as they entered a dazed state, their eyes gleaming.

The knowledge of this complex spell began infusing into them.

*******

[Chapter Glossary]

-Heavenfall Wind: The wind that can increase or decreases its weight based on user’s magic stat and amount of Mana used.

[Love-Bound Arcane]

-<Love Points: 1.3✢>-

-<Love Bound Souls>-

—> Aelira.

—> Isalyn.

-<Acquirable Arcane>-

—> Talent: Heavenfall Wind 2-star | 100,000 LP.

—> Talent: Bloodbound Armory 3-star | 1,000,000 LP.

—> 1-star to 5-star Compendium of Wind Spells | 4.7✢ LP.

—> 4-star Mystic Spell: Overdrive Accelerate | 880,000 LP.

—> 3-star Mystic Spell: Energy Refining Pot | 530,000 LP.

—> 3-star Arcane Martial Art: Seven Swings of Raging Decimation | 692,000 LP.

—> 6-star Arcane Path: Nightshroud Grimfang | 2.1✢ LP.

-<Upgradable Arcane (Synced)>-

—> Talent: Phoenix Flame 1-star to 2-star | 100,000 LP.

—> 3-star Compendium of Fire Spells | 1✢ LP.

-<Arcane List>-

—> Talent: 1-star Phoenix Flame.

—> Compedium of Fire Spells D-rank to 3-star.

—> Spell: 5-star Astral Veil.

-<Love-Bound Gacha>-