"That was so sweet!" Nik chimed, happy with his attack. Sure, he could try to compete against the monsters physically, but he would rather not take the risk out of excitement. If his ranged [Explosion] could work then Nik would ask for nothing. "That was... impressive!" Ray nodded. Meanwhile, Yar flaunted her debauched vocabulary as sensually as ever. With a lick of her lips, she uttered a needful moan, "That explosion... mmmghh, lords, how long have I waited for someone to treat my womb the same!"

Finally annoyed with the lustful bitch, Asmodeus snarled within his mind, slightly threatened by Yar to lose her position as Nik's Lustful Spirit! "Nik, show that bitch her place!" Agreeing without hesitation, Nik consoled Asmodeus, 'Aye, aye, captain!' Meanwhile, he diverted his attention from the phoenix towards Yar, "Hey! I thought you already got that treatment during the trip... oh, well, if you are still in need for more—" Before Nik could complete, Ray shouted in warning, "Branch! Look Out!"

Ray didn't have to warn since Nik displayed his master level insight in flying, something that mesmerized the succubus duo and easily slipped over the thick branch. While Ray probably had the same level of insight after being with Nie Li for long, Ray himself hadn't displayed capabilities of flying. Nik, in the back of his mind, always thought that Ray might have some super erotic transformation that he had never shown since the beginning. Even the first time when Ray introduced himself, the pair of short bat wings had been nothing more of a delightful cosplay.

"Anyway," continuing the conversation that made Asmodeus snort in displeasure as her commands were simply ignored, Nik gave Yar another invitation. He would always enjoy the night with a woman whose physical existence could bring the wildest side hidden within him, "I have mastered various forms of explosions. That particular one was the most basic."

'Master... I really, really want to continue,' feeling her master's annoyance, Yar took a sudden pause. Though her lustful side grew excited by Nik's presence, Yar's love and loyalty would always remain with Ray's existence. That, the pair of master-familiar knew. Nik had just entered into the equation of a long-running relationship that Brian had presented with the investment of Transmigration Hearts. And seeing Yar's and Nik's previous squabble uprooted did present a favorable outcome. With a reluctant sigh, unable to believe that he himself hadn't bagged Nik yet, Ray gave his permission silently when suddenly, he shook his head fiercely.

SCREEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!

The Phoenix's screech broke the flow of conversation. With a thought, Nik gave the lovely ladies the opportunity to take care of the bird since he wasn't keen on resolving every problem. Even if he did have the solution to the problem in the form of—

[Eternal Frost Manipulation: Lvl 22

Use: Allows the user to manipulate an extreme variation of natural frost.

Level 10 Boost: Freeze— Stuns the impacted target of the frost, or the part of the target impacted for 3 seconds.

Level 20 Boost: Grow— Instead of slowly defrosting in time, or high temperature, the eternal frost shall continue to freeze the target and grow in quantity by freezing the surrounding environment.

Nxt Lvl: 26 SP]

"All yours!" Nik snickered and continued flying. They didn't have the time to analyze the situation until the Phoenix left their tales and with the limit of one week, they needed to step their game up. Mumbling a groan, Ray and Yar displayed their tag game as they moved in tandem and breathed out an unrestrained fog of pink mist that pervaded into the surrounding. With a little twitch of his nose, Nik instantly increased his speed to get out of the range while the Phoenix let out a happy cry. Maybe out of Nik's visually pleasing performance or some other factor, instead of trying to control the mind of the beast, the aspect that Ray actually mastered, he turned to use a new skill in front of Nik. The fog had a hint of Ray's pheromones but largely constituted of muscle relaxants and other numbing agents, some of which Nik didn't sniff out at the first whiff, but he didn't indulge himself lest he ended up in Yar's arms and depend on her for his flight.

As the phoenix dived into the ground with a confused chirp, the trio finally put enough distance between the beast and themselves, they landed on yet another branch, but this time, Nik didn't push his hand into another crevice. Thinking for a moment, Nik used his skill [Purification].

[Purification: Lvl 29

Allows the host to purify anything deemed waste into ???.

Level 10 Boost: Selective Purification- The user can condense the rings of purification onto a single point.

Level 20 Boost: Cleanse- Provides a 'cleansing' quality to the waves of purification that refreshes substance purified. If this quality is added, the ENG would be doubled.

Maximum Range: 278meters, 2 ENG/seconds.

Next Lvl: 38 SP]

As the serene golden pulse of ring covered Nik, Ray, and Yar for a moment, only cleaning them as the effects of [Cleanse] was simply too miraculous to divulge without a proper reason, the trio finally breathed a sigh of relief. "So, can we just acknowledge that this plane just tried to get us killed for throwing a dirty tissue and me spitting on the tree?" Ray mused. A little mystified with such a situation but in the multiverse, nothing was too strange. "Well, we should just go with the assumption that the monsters that we accidentally 'formed' are called Transmigration Monsters and... they aren't fond of their 'creators' and if this plane really wants to get back at any host for dirtying the tropical forest, when the 'trash' even includes bodily fluids then..."

Before Nik could complete, multiple explosions and shrieks rang through the entire forest, a few of them quite close to the trio. "What about Undead Monsters then?" Ray traced his chin with an index, a ponderous expression on his face, "And... how do we even identify Undead Hosts? Surely, not all of the undeads are grey-skinned and moaning for brains..."

"Maybe that is the real obstacle?" Nik presented. A little assured with his theory, "What if the real trouble is not the mindless monsters we accidentally summon in the beginning? Surely, despite the monsters' advantages, they are beatable by Rank 1 hosts. So, this trouble in the form of an unconscious act of trashing the surrounding and summoning monsters might be a way to weed out inadaptable hosts. Meanwhile, our rank-up quests can only begin once we think a way to identify the opponents."

"Ugh... even if we can think of a sophisticated solution," Yar grumbled, "Can't we just get done with any and every host in our way?"

"Exactly what I am gunning for," Nik grinned, looking at the direction he just escaped from. "And we are in luck. There's a host, and maybe, with enraged monsters around it... the host may need our 'assistance'."

Yar nodded with a gleeful expression while Ray shrugged. He had never been a person of violence either way. But if it gets the job done, then, a phantom clone is all Ray needs to suck the opponent dry. 

---

Desperate, Hunjiko could barely dodge the sloppy attacks of multiple life-threatening monsters using his instincts. The royal family of Arachne had bestial instincts capable of surviving the attacks nearing the speed of sound. But that is the peak of their cultivated instincts. Just a fledgling, Hunjiko, a little surprise by the speed shown by the bulky monsters, hadn't sharpened his mind to the level of his ancestors. His green hair disarrayed while the three pairs of beady eyes blinked with tears shimmering and threatening to drown the vision of his lower two pairs in a salty river. An inherent disadvantage. The moment he cries, the tears from the upper pair would itch his lower two pairs.

"Shit! Shit!" His short mandibles couldn't even click against each other with the gap of his lips. Truly, his father shouldn't have impregnated a human slave... he could barely reach the level of prince despite his anatomical disparity. Frustrated, all he needed was a clear call of Phoenix who only needed to open its molten layered beak wide, a fiery ball spiraling within.

"Oh... no..." he whispered. Hating his resemblance to the 'hairless' species that his mother belonged to more than ever when he felt his balls shrivel up quite literally. Truly, a water arachne should never breed a human. Never.

But still, before he could find the sun of a fireball reaching him and charring him to a corpse, he felt weightless for a moment. And then, he found his vision darkening while the feeling of falling down continued for minutes before his face changed as he finally realized the speed of his descent and the act of hurriedly stabbing his eight spider arms into the surroundings, wishing to find something hard and slow down.

Snap! Snap!

"Grraaaagghhhh!"

Before anything could emerge from the green blood leaking from two of the eight shattered limbs, a gentle pulse instantly covered him and finally, Hunjiko found himself sitting on the ground, his sweat being erased from its existence while an annoyed grumble with the language he couldn't understand echoed.

"Damn, Ray! See? I had to use purification on him due to your 'realistic' illusion..."

"Well, the good thing is that instead of killing, I can read the mind to some extent and figure out that the spider isn't an undead..."

"Good job in thinking about creating a cave, though," Yar whispered, "That's a handy skill you got there, darling~!" She purred, making Nik cringe.

"Stop that... acting all soft while being a perfect bitch..."

"Hey! That's no way to talk to a lady..."

"You fuck like a man for others, remember?" Nik retorted, completely composed as he gazed towards the confused, intact, spider-man. "So, do you want the kill or..." Nik inquired, completely intent on taking the kill.

"Eh," Ray shrugged, "What's the use? He will only drop a red medal. And, if a single drop of blood, or, sweat, or spit or anything for that matter, falls on the ground, in this enclosed cave," Ray whispered while looking around, "We'll be in a little trouble."

Furrowing his brows and looking around, Nik thought for a while. "Nah, I think we'll be all right. I can push up the ground by a few dozens meter." His words slightly surprising the duo while Nik looked at his skill in glee.

[Elemental Master

Use: Allows the user to gain master level insight in every element in affinity. 

Next Realm: 345 SP]

Now, officially being a master in various elements under his belt, all of his previous boosts had now simply become a little part of a greater whole. Not only he could nurture elements freely, being a master, he could also fuse the elements with greater ease and that alongside his already manifested skills for fusing and conversions of energy, but the title of Elemental Master also became one of his greatest trump cards.

Feeling the ground bellow his buttocks 'melt', a feat achieved by the fusion of 'fire', 'water', and 'earth'.

Gazing at the begging arachne-man, Nik shrugged plainly as the molten sludge covered the being completely, blocking off its cries and after a few moments, when Nik eased that heated swamp, in the place of the host was a glimmering red medal. A little uncomfortable, Ray turned his head. Meanwhile, Yar leaned onto the short master of hers, trying to comfort him a little. 

Grabbing the medal and placing it within his inventory, Nik turned and smiled at Ray, "Let's go."

With a stomp, Nik could bend the cave and create a way out without even reaching 10 points in the expenditure of ENG.

"Hey, Nik... remember when you told me that you grew softhearted after becoming a father?" Ray inquired, his tone a little jesting while Nik shrugged casually. "Oh, that... I was drunk... ah, how much I have grown easy. If I had my 'training' intact... I might have tortured the poor guy."

"Now that's the training I want." Yar nodded, enlightened.

"I am a pretty good trainer..." Nik smiled but before the two started their 'chemistry' once again and turn Ray into a third wheel, he barked, "Let's go!" Ray's annoyed hiss managing to pull the two sexually rivaling mates, "I don't want the two of you rutting only to fall unconscious once again..."

Of course, Ray's distress was greater than he let on. After all, the night the two of them fucked, Ray almost mutated into an unknown entity while even Nik agreed to this fact for the Lust Apostle had mutated by the slightest of margin, too.