After the dragon summoning fiasco, I took a week-long vacation, working on some light vanity projects. I sent Raleigh south, to Sadian and beyond, purchasing rare monster Cores.

I had no idea when the dragons would come, or even if. I had to decide what I should do. On one extreme I could actively hunt them. Go into the mountains, the deep forests, the dark caves, and hunt dragons. I couldn't for the same reasons that kept me from claiming Windemere's throne.

With the biggest mirror I had in storage in front of me, I looked at myself. I liked being Haru. Despite Nozmizla's tragic fate and the sadness of never even holding me in her arms, everything else in Haru's life was good. I was in Windemere, a place dear to me. I had a loving father, a rarity in my many lives. I had friends, a reason to be, a reason to live as just Haru, with no titles.

More importantly, I had the power to resist being pushed around by fate and other entities. The life Rose wanted but the Demon cultists and the Butt God didn't let her. I remembered Lorna. The fondness of the few moments we had together surpassed the sadness. Even the time we spent, with me, cursed to become stone caring for her during her twilight years, was precious now.

On the other, I could be careless and irresponsible and wait until they were upon us to act. That wouldn't work. I knew it would take months or even years to gather enough dragons to attack. The Broodmother knew what I could do and she cared about her children. She wouldn't make the mistake of sending only one or two dragons. I would laugh in her face if she did.

Prepare for the invasion, but don't let it consume my life. That was Haru's, my choice. Let's go one step further. I would only worry and work on the dragon invasion readiness only during the seven hours of extra time I have every night because I didn't need to sleep that much.

I woke up earlier than usual one day with a long notification from the System.

WARNING:You have the same Species perks from two different versions. The older one will be replaced by a random Perk of the same rarity in the same category.

The Perk, Elongate Tail (uncommon) was replaced by the perk, Combat Tail (Uncommon): Your tail attacks deal 2d10 extra base damage and gain 40% accuracy.

The Perks, Combat Tail (Uncommon), Prehensile Tail (uncommon), Dexterous Tail (uncommon), Multi-Tail Control (very rare), Multi-Tail Dexterity (very rare), Elongate Tail (rare), Tail Evasion (rare), Tail Deflection (very rare), Sacrificial Tail (very rare), Tail Bodyguard (rare), Improved Snake Fortress (rare), Regrow Tail (very rare), Hidden Tails (rare), and Elemental Tai (very rare) were fused into:

Damn. That was what I called a big-ass update. The iconic Snake Fortress was gone but the effect became permanent and automatic with no movement penalty. The life-saving effect also got a huge upgrade. Not only was the healing gained from sacrificing one tail greater, it now protected against all kinds of death effects, not only death by damage.

With my self-imposed vacation over, I had tons of errands to do everywhere but that could wait until after class. I've been absent for a few days to deal with hostile nations but I was eager for some normalcy in my life. The classroom seemed normal at a first glance. Marlowe was on his way but would take a good ten minutes to arrive. People often stopped him in the corridors to ask things. The reason why the cantankerous [Archmage] didn't use the teacher corridors baffled and eluded me.

Isengar was sulking, Euric looked at me hopeful for some of my time, Mirina wanted to catch up with the latest news, the girls likewise wanted to spread the latest gossip. But four sharp gazes bore holes in my skin. The reason was obvious. All the girls suddenly jumped in level and became elite third-rankers while they were nothing but forgotten.

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Should I help them as well? Maybe Euric too. But the decision was out of my hands as they took a leap of faith.

"Matriarch!" Steven Ashcleaner, the black-and-white striped badger-kin called me with hopeful eyes. Someone ratted me out. Let me use the {Scan Guilt} Perk I don't have. I found the culprit sitting in the geminated desk next to mine. Marisol avoided my gaze and stared at some stain on the far wall.

The other two silk-folk boys, Darriston and Remus, stood up. Only Nicollo, a half-dwarf-Eleon, stood in his spot, quietly staring at me with awe.

"What can I do for you guys?"

"Help us grow like you've been helping the girls!" Remus quickly grasped my hand and stared at me with puppy eyes. It was odd to see his patchwork and contrasting face but it had some uncanny beauty like modern art.

<I hope you gossips didn't rattle more than you should about our leveling methods. I'm going to be really pissed if you did,> I sent it to all the girls.

A quick psychic interrogation revealed that the girls (mostly Marisol, but Camilla and Melania also had loose tongues) just told them that I helped them get to level 120. I wouldn't help these leeches get a five-path fusion. It was too much of a bother. I also found it funny that they only approached me now, when the benefits of doing so are clear.

Everyone in this classroom was an adult by society's standards. However, they were all still kids. The phenomenon known as adolescence was very short-lived in Yznarian but still existed. Girls still matured mentally faster than boys but like some indigenous societies back on Earth, the rite of passage known as System Activation separated children from adults in a flash.

But girls still matured one to one-and-a-half years faster than boys. For our little classroom, it meant the males were still too hormone-addled, too immature to be interesting. No longer boys, not yet men. Mental and Spiritual Attributes accelerated this process by a lot. Willpower gave self-control, Mind, reasoning, Charisma allowed a better read of social cues, Ego stabilized the personality, Soul inured against the hard blows of life, and finally, Luck helped avoid these very blows. Since all of our classmates were spellcasters, they benefited from at least the former two.

"Okay. I'll help you five reach the third-tier," I glanced at Euric and he almost choked.

Isengar grunted. Somehow getting excluded from the "twink train" was the straw that broke the camel's back. He slammed his desk and came at me, fuming.

"You!" He was overbearing as ever. "You cursed me! Damned bitch!"

I used {Eldritch Aura} with a meter radius once he was spitting on top of me and nobody else was in range. Let me tell you, Isengar was more than seventy centimeters taller than me. I'd be hit in the face with his crotch if he got any closer. As expected, the guy had nothing in his Spiritual Attributes and became a vegetable inside my aura. Before he could fall down, I turned it off.

"We can do this all day, big boy. I suggest you be polite with your request. One, this [Queen], deposed or not, outranks you, little [Prince]. Two, I'm stronger than you in any capacity. Three, you'll be polite or you'll be without a tongue. Four, you owe me six hundred kingmetal coins. I have half the mind of getting you by the scruff of your neck and dragging you all the way to your daddy's throne room to collect. I hope I'm very clear as to where you stand."

Contested Charisma test won.

"You turned me into a werebear!" He whined.

I almost choked and sputtered, "Are you an idiot? Don't you think I pierced your {Status Forgery} on day one? You were born one-eight werebear. C'mon, tell me I'm lying to my face."

He didn't speak a word. I felt the need to give him a tongue-lashing, to vent my budding anger and keep from doing something more drastic.

"It is rare to keep were-kin blood this diluted but not unheard of. You should have become one-quarter bear-kin but that might be because you are also a one-eight elf. Since your father is just human, it must be from your mother's side," I continued. At the sight of his pitiful face, I asked, "Do you want me to continue?"

"No," he answered, completely deflated.

And here we had a textbook display of the issues with hybrid Classes. Their Attribute point allotment wasn't any bigger than the others, but they had to put points everywhere. Isengar could use some more Mental and Spiritual Attribute points, for sure.

I heard a squeal quickly suppressed by a slap and a grunt. Someone was fangirling too much and clamped her mouth with both hands, although her tail still swished as if it was trying to dust the classroom.

But this arrogant fool was way over his head. I wouldn't let him leave here without a good warning. "You should already know who I am, Isengar. I'll let it slide this time. Cross me again, irritate me the slightest, and it is not only your ass on the line. You represent Leondirac. When you came here, you crossed the ruins of Saegalla. Make sure your kingdom doesn't end the same way."

He turned around and mumbled under his breath, "So brave when an army is marching past your west gates as we speak."

That level of stupidity was beyond anything I could believe. He was Kin too, how can he think I wouldn't hear that? Was it some big brain move? Paranoia compounded on irritation and I kicked him in the back, sending him crashing into the far wall. I didn't use any damage boost Perks. Summoning {Force Tongs}, I lifted him and turned him around.

"You fucking idiot!" I crossed the classroom and took one corpse from my storage. "Do you recognize this man?"

He did. Isengar quickly understood what it meant. "It's To-Torgo!"

Back to the item box with him. I took deep breaths. Something inside me screamed to just rip off his head. I took a step back and felt someone hug me from behind.

"He's not worth it," Mirina said.

The words I wanted to say were, "Get the fuck off of my country." Instead, I remained still, my whole body tense. I didn't own Windemere. That was a decision I made and I still stood by it. Yet I couldn't take my eyes off of Isengar.

"You have a month to pay what you owe me," I declared. Yes, I already stole the money from his father's treasury, but a petty side of me wanted to see him squirm now that he knew that Mr. Dragon Hoard was no longer among the living.

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