‘Ya really don’t need to do that,’ Rave commented telepathically as she watched from her vantage point. Sitting on top of a rock in the earth segment, she followed Copernicus’ movements as he jumped around their opponent. It was a pretty one-sided fight, almost exactly like a cat playing with a mouse.

They were still massively stronger than almost anyone attending the tournament. In fact, the only people Rave knew for sure were a challenge and likely to win against her were John and the Art Eater. A few others had shown to be pretty capable over the day, with a surprise candidate from the Amacat also blasting her way upwards through the bracket. Rave would probably meet her in the half finale if everything went on.

She could have asked John for the girl’s level, but she preferred to do these things on the fly. Especially in a tournament setting where she wasn’t really in any danger.

‘I’m not just a glorified mana refinery!’ Copernicus hissed back way more intensely than Rave had anticipated any answer to be. At the same time, he seemingly decided to end the fight, his golden fur glowing and transforming him into a streak of light as he pounced with more force than his small body indicated, ripping the enemy to the floor.

The floor, in this case, being the artificial pond in the water section of the arena. While Copernicus jumped off his opponent’s back, securing himself from the wet fate, the opponent dropped in like a boulder. Copernicus hadn’t harmed him in any meaningful way, at least Rave didn’t see any blood in the water that would be evident of claws getting used, but the person gave up anyway. Likely out of a sense of futility.

“Ya wanna talk about that?” Rave asked once Copernicus strutted over to her, the suncat walking with his tail raised high. “‘Cause I get the feeling we should kinda talk about that.”

“For all I care, shortly,” the light elemental meowed back as they walked off. “I just don’t like being the weakest around,” the solar feline opened up surprisingly easy. For all of his cattish mood swings and indecisiveness, Copernicus was committed when he actually did make a decision. “I’m going to manage, just irks me sometime.”

“Well, I still need ya in an advisory role,” Rave reminded him. Denying the reality of their power situation wouldn’t do them any good and Copernicus was the one responsible for much of her growth. On her own, Rave liked to laze around and only do the minimum training. Wanting to keep up with her boyfriend in some fashion had solved the motivation issue. She still sucked at deciding what she should train though, which was where the solar feline was the most important.

Sure, he was weaker than her, but being a light elemental, he had a lot more insight into a lot of the magical aspects of her toolkit. At the same time, he was the one to create the training regimen.

“I know, you’re awful at organizing,” Copernicus purred back in a friendly, mocking fashion as they tapped out of the arena. “And my original intention in serving you was to only give you the tools to fend for yourself. Which I am doing a splendid job at.”

“Eh, 6 out of 10,” Rave returned in an equally bantering fashion. “Can’t beat Romulus yet.”

“Of course you can’t,” Copernicus meowed and rolled his neck in the same way people rolled their eyes. “Point being, I just don’t like being one of the weaker people around. Not a paradigm my last contract shared.”

“Ya don’t talk about that one a lot,” Rave pointed out, barely even knowing that there was one.

“Because it wasn’t a great time,” Copernicus meowed back. “I mean, the weather in Germany is nice.”

“Eh, could be hotter,” Rave commented, remembering her own younger years in Europe.

“But,” Copernicus continued, “had I known that the idea behind the contract was to eventually meld with someone, I wouldn’t have taken it. I liked the guy, but I wouldn’t have died for him, and him then trying to figure out a version of the ritual that forced me to comply… not cool.”

“People that are mean to cats deserve a kick in the balls,” Rave exclaimed.

“Ah, there is my favourite girlfriend!” the Lightbearer heard John greet her once she had made it out of the arena’s innards and back up to the watcher’s area, particularly the area the Gamer had reserved for himself and those close to him. Not far below, a couple of news channels had put up their cameras filming the entire event. “And her attached sass cat.”

“We gonna be fine, right?” Rave asked, lowering her hand down in front of Copernicus’ face. After looking at it for a few moments, sniffing as if that wasn’t the same hand he had seen countless times before, he rubbed the side of his face along her hand.

“Like I would let this get me down; the alternative is breaking the contract and going back to that immensely boring elemental plane. Listening to Sol and Father Light bickering again. You’re momentarily obnoxious, but I can deal with that if it means I get to stay here.”

“You’re such a tsundere,” Rave giggled, pulling her hand back up as Copernicus turned to leave and stroll around the island on his own. “I’m gonna ask Aclysia for some tuna later, kay?”

“Good contractor,” Copernicus shouted back one last time before jumping down a few stairs and eventually vanishing from sight.

John evidently didn’t mind the momentary ignoring, as he was on the phone. “Who ya talking to?” Rave wanted to know when she sat down on his right. That side had been claimed by Salamander until a moment ago, the endflame elemental respectfully giving the Lightbearer her spot. The left side was covered by Aclysia, who was embracing the Gamer’s and snuggling up against him.

At this point, that had become the habit of almost everyone in the harem, so Rave followed suit. She hadn’t always been that touchy with him, although she was generally someone who liked physical contact. It was just that her boyfriend had changed so much for the better that constantly hugging him was just so satisfying.

For a start, the body under those clothes may still have been rather lanky, but she could feel muscles way more than bones, which had been dominant in the early days. It was immensely more satisfying to press against a body with that mixture of firm and softness of relaxed muscles. Then there was him looking way better, that eliminated any subconscious inhibitions she may have had towards being seen with him in public. Also, just the reputation they had by now making it so she didn’t care whatsoever. Obviously, there was the fact that she just kept loving him and her body was both trained and naturally inclined to just be happy when she was around him, the closer the better.

Last but by no means least was the fact that he smelled amazing. Although they still hadn’t successfully rediscovered that awesome cologne that Nathalia had introduced once upon a time, they had gone through numerous alternatives. By now, they had a number of different treatments. At least every three days, John was subjected to a full body oil massage by Aclysia. He showered every day, having high quality body wash rinse his body clean. His clothes were lightly perfumed, again by virtue of Aclysia. Lastly, the constant cuddles with all of the girls, who all had their own pleasing fragrances, be it by their own hygiene products or by nature.

It all mixed together, layered into an enticing scent of burning sandalwood, cinnamon, freshly cut oranges and just general sweetness that had probably seeped so far into John’s pores at this point that he would have serious problems would he ever want to get rid of it. Thankfully, it wasn’t so intense that it drowned out all other smells. Rave hated it when people smelled like they had jumped into a bathtub of perfume. There was such a thing as too much of the good.

“It’s Lydia,” John responded hastily before returning to his phone call.

Rave was suddenly happy that Copernicus had just departed. Whenever the suncat heard of Lydia, he felt the need to make a number of remarks about his distaste of the ritual. Given what Rave had just learned in such a casual fashion, she understood, but it didn’t help to get the two of them along.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s all going well… oh, seems like it’s my turn soon… No, not in the tournament,” he lowered his voice to make sure none of the reporters picked things up, “I need to make sure somebody has plenty motivation to do something stupid…” Rave faintly picked up an answer, while she took complete advantage of her situation, her fingers working not only on her boyfriend’s torso but also Aclysia’s arm. It was nice to have one pretty high quality specimen of the male side and a bunch of individually beautiful girls to play with. “…Hey, I’m not creating a traitor, I just encourage somebody who was a dick from the start to actually put his money where his mouth is!”

Rave couldn’t help but giggle when John was entangled into a little argument, in which he had very little to say that wasn’t a mere attempt at getting an answer in. Like anytime else, Lydia had her way around scolding John, even if he was probably way cleverer than her at this point. Eventually, they reached some sort of agreement and John shifted in those little ways that told Rave that he was about to get up.

“Gimme the phone, if ya don’t need it,” the Lightbearer said, before her boyfriend could end the call.

“Sure?” John was a bit confused, but after giving Lydia a quick warning, handed over the phone. “Love you,” he said and planted a quick kiss on Rave’s lips.

“Not sure if ya talking to me, the princess or your convoluted schemes,” Rave joked while putting the phone against her ear, looking at her boyfriend’s ass while he walked away. That had also definitely gotten more toned when he got more muscular. ‘Mine,’ she thought happily.

“Yes,” John gave the smartass answer, winking at her with a natural smoothness.

“You’re stealing my move!” Rave complained; they both laughed as he walked away, waving over his shoulder. Then she put the phone against her ear, “Hey there, Lylytina, what’cha wearing?”

“My underwear,” the matter of fact tone in which the always so stern woman presented her answer made Rave giggle even more.

“Not like ya to wear so little,” the Lightbearer pointed out.

“The summer is merciless.”

“Don’t you have air conditioning or something?”

“Weather here in Germany does not normally reach levels that such things are necessary. Therefore, no, I have nothing like that installed within my work room,” she retorted, sounding a bit nasal in her words. “I also have to take contention with you calling me a princess. I am either queen or empress, depending on which level of aristocracy you observe.”

“Well, excuuuuuse me, princess,” Rave answered immediately and had a genuine laugh at her own joke while Lydia groaned, having heard that joke way too often. “Sorry, but you walked right into that one.”

“I suppose I did.”

“Ya sound better though, sickness away?”

“The last few symptoms are sticking stubbornly around; I would categorize myself as recovered, however,” Lydia confirmed, adding in a sarcastic tone, “Who could have guessed that hearing good news of my overseas lover would contribute positively towards my wellbeing.”

“Yeah, things have gone pretty well recently,” Rave let out a bit of a sigh. “Which traditionally means something has to go wrong soon.”

“That is a fallacy,” Lydia stated. A chair creaked in the background, then piano music began to softly play as the queen did what she usually did when she felt like she had a minute to get away with it. “It is simply that life itself is made out of good and bad segments. Unless you do something that would lead to an accumulation of debt, there is no need to assume something will go bad though.”

Rave blinked rapidly for a few seconds, “Are ya trying to sell me some hopeful message right now, miss pragmatism?”

“Nein,” Lydia answered so quickly she accidentally switched back to German. “Hope is a bad decision influencer. I am simply stating that there is no universal law that dictates that good times must be followed by bad times or vice versa. It’s a misconception born from the way human’s think.”

“Jeez, yes, Lyly, I know,” Rave joked, “ya need to relax and not take everything people say apart on a fundamental level, my girl.”

“I suppose I could stop, but I find it hard to judge when you are genuinely wrong and when you are speaking in jest. I do apologize,” Lydia responded with a sigh. “While we are on the topic of me and lectures, please make sure John is not repeating plans like his current one too often. It’s a way to grow enemies.”

“Well, he calls it machia-whatchacallit.”

“Machiavellian,” Lydia stated.

“That’s the one!”

“Well, it most certainly is. I know he is aware, but with him it’s a constant struggle to find out if he is being extremely smart or simply arrogant at times.”

“He usually got things, so I don’t think we need to worry too much.”

“Last time he didn’t, he had the lucky outcome of only losing his eyesight,” Lydia’s iron tone sunk right into Rave’s chest, as if someone was pushing a frozen piece of metal against her. At the same time, the tune in the background turned to slow, deep notes. “I grant him that it wasn’t majorly his arrogance that caused that, he weighed the odds and came up short, but I want to keep the odds of repeating that as low as possible. Surely, you don’t need that preached.”

“I really don’t, no,” Rave answered in a serious tone. “Heavy stuff… yeah, I’ll keep an eye on him. In less serious but still unpleasant news, did ya hear about the birthday problem?”

“I am in the know and in the process of formulating my alternatives,” the queen responded swiftly, the piano picked up to a quicker, less damning melody. “Since I already took my schedule into account, I am flexible around the allocated time frame.”

“Ah, alrighty,” Rave hummed. “And did ya hear about that thing Salamander bought?”

“Is it something that doesn’t burn?”

“Pretty sure a couch can burn…”

“What would she require a couch for?”

“Apparently she and Siena have like some sort of plan? Don’t quote me on that, you better ask them yourself.”

“I certainly think that having agreed to Sylph’s proposal was already service enough to make good on my general cooperation willingness.”

“To be fair, it is a pretty hawt idea.”

“The way you pronounce that word offends me… oh, Mother Metal…”

“What?” Rave asked, confused as to why Lydia suddenly sounded so shocked. Even the piano stopped.

“I just realized I am currently engaging in idle talk and gossip…” Lydia mumbled into the phone, and Rave could just see her pinching the bridge of her nose. “What a waste of my time.”

“Aww, don’t be like that, Lydia,” Rave pouted into the microphone. “I can hear ya having at least some fun.”

“Do I sound amused?”

“No, ya sound not extremely annoyed, which is your version of amused,” Rave teased. A frustrated sigh came along with something that was almost a laugh. “Now you DO sound amused!” the Lightbearer exclaimed triumphantly.

“I am forced to admit that your antics are my social life,” the metal mage conceded. “I suppose I have another few minutes. Do inform me what else I have missed between the girls… and skip nothing that I could use to annoy Siena with.”