"Did she tell you that?"

  "That's what she told me."

  In the Inferior Plane, Lawrence relays the words of Coldness Divine seeking aid from wives one and two.

  Sky Petal smiles and scratches her cheek, unsure how to help him. Wife two is useless.

  "Don't get me wrong, I know what kind of toy she's referring to. She wants me to be her slave, her servant. The problem is, can I benefit from this relationship to gain an advantage? Or by accepting, will she never see me as a man again?"

  Given her behavior, it’s expected that she’ll ask him to lick her feet or kneel before her. It's hard to get out of this relationship once you're in.

  It’s then that Serene Will makes a strange expression. "It can't be…"

  "Do you know something?"

  She pauses for a second and looks him in the eyes. "I've heard of a Coldness Divine before ascending to the Divine Plane, but the one you know and the one I know differ in a very important fact..."

  Serene Will searches for the right words before speaking, "She has a reverse harem, it's impossible for them to be the same person."

  Lawrence opens his eyes in surprise, then furrows his brow. "You're right, with her behavior towards men, a woman like that couldn't have had a reverse harem."

  "I know, but..."

  Serene Will leans on a piece of furniture and gets lost in her thoughts. She doesn't want to accept that they are the same woman, but something in what Lawrence said bothers her.

  "By toy, it doesn't necessarily imply that she will give something up."

  This brings a feeling of unease in Lawrence.

  Serene Will speaks again, "This information only reveals the outer layer of the Coldness Divine I've heard about, if it were another type of reverse harem..."

  Lawrence has a bad feeling. "You mean that..."

  "Not to mention being a slave, she will treat you like her pet."

  Lawrence falls back and rests his body on the couch.

  "That damn dragon bitch wants to add me to her collection!"

  If this is the case, then everything makes sense.

  She never saw men as the opposite sex, but as pets to play with and then discard when she got bored of them.

  "Coldness Divine wants to play with me, but I won't partake in her games!"

  "The answer is clear then, you will walk the difficult path. We can't count on her to challenge the Forbidden Area, keep that in mind, Lawrence."

  Both are aware that Lawrence wants to discover the secrets behind the Forbidden Area Cloudsea, but winning over a woman as arrogant as Coldness Divine will take years.

  Serene Will is on a tight schedule, if she wants to achieve her goal, she must gather strength before the ten-year deadline is up. Waiting for Lawrence's next woman to join them will consume too much time.

  She approaches and massages his shoulders, whispering softly near his ear. "Do as you said earlier, I'll handle the rest."

  "Tsk… pack your bags. As soon as I send them off, I can only bring them back once a week. I'll level up on my own, we must never be seen together."

  Lawrence stands up from the couch and sighs.

  They will have to challenge the Forbidden Area using brute force.

  +++

  Ice Petal City, Heavenly Path Kingdom. Divine Plane.

  "The books weren’t exaggerating, the city walls are huge ice petals that protect it from the outside. Despite this, the temperature is warm, what event gave rise to this extraordinary principle?"

  Serene Will is surprised to find that this city, far removed from the world, is far from rustic and primitive. It has an atmosphere filled with ice affinity mana, and its interior and exterior can only be described as a breathtaking landscape.

  Simply a fairy-tale city.

  "The flora here is welcoming."

  Sky Petal smiles kindly as she hears the voice of the plants. It has been a long time, she has finally returned to her home, the Divine Plane.

  "This house will now be yours. I must go, I will return in a week to see your progress."

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  Lawrence didn’t wait for a response, covering himself with a hood he leaves the house and blends in with the people outside. He once stole the portals that would be used for this city, but this does not mean that none of them exist. After paying for the trip, he returns to Agares City leaving them alone in this city.

  Just looking out the window stirs deep feelings in Serene Will.

  ‘I'm in the Divine Plane… This time will be different from the last.’

  Her fist clenches, damaging the window frame. After coming to her senses, she pulls out two veils from her storage ring, one for her and one for Sky Petal. These have a special quality, only from a distance of one meter is it possible to see their faces, beyond that, their faces become blurry.

  "We will only use these temporarily. In the future, I won't be afraid to show my face."

  Both leave the house and walk through the city streets. In all the cities of the Heavenly Path Kingdom, flying is forbidden, which helps prevent a variety of crimes. The law is enforced in such a way that the city is a safe place, unlike the outside.

  "It's unbelievable, the F-rank quests actually require a minimum of level three hundred."

  Quests are missions for hunters who don't belong to any faction, jobs that few are willing to take on, governed only by the outcomes. While F-rank quests are cataloged for the weakest hunters, A-rank quests are for experienced hunters, typically veterans.

  There is also an S-rank, but they are a double-edged sword.

  "The management of the quests is even more negligent than in the Inferior Plane, placing quests in bars and restaurants? Unheard of."

  At least in the Inferior Plane there are different organizations that manage them, although few of them are credible.

  "Ladies, has any of the quests caught your attention?"

  A middle-aged man approaches from behind, his gaze is sincere, and he speaks with a cordiality that makes it hard to believe he has hidden thoughts. His attire suggests he belongs to this bar.

  Serene Will narrows her eyes for a moment, then looks towards a certain table in the distance. Three men were drinking, but coincidentally their gazes met.

  "That it catches my attention is none of your business."

  "W- Wait, ladies, you can't take the notice."

  After removing the quest notice from the wall, she and Sky Petal leave the bar without looking back. This action can only be interpreted as arrogant, only high-level hunters have the right to take a personal quest.

  "If you fail to complete the quest, you risk severe fines! You will never be able to take a quest in this city again!"

  The man's shout is heard by everyone, passersby watch the two beautiful women continue walking as if such a threat were beneath their notice.

  Huffing, the man returns to the bar and makes a record of what happened.

  "Does it bother you that I acted that way?"

  Away from the bar, Serene Will asks Sky Petal. Both have different personalities, she understands that while her actions seem justified in her own eyes, they may convey the opposite meaning to others.

  Contrary to her thoughts, Sky Petal shakes her head. "The plants don't speak well of that person."

  "Does it have to do with that flower you stuck in your hair?"

  Over her ear lies a beautiful white-petaled flower, one that belonged to the garden of her residence.

  "Yes, it allows me to ask them questions more easily. I hoped you could wear one too, it would facilitate our communication."

  Serene Will thinks for a second, then understands her meaning.

  In the distance, a man is selling some flower bouquets, she just buys a purple-petaled flower and, after trimming part of it, tucks it into her hair.

  "That you chose that flower has many meanings, do you want to know them?"

  Serene Will shakes her head, "I'm more interested in knowing your ability, we're heading outside the city, we'll fight as soon as we find our target."

  Sky Petal looks around and then explains in a tone only Serene Will can hear.

  "My innate ability is Assimilation, I can assimilate the internal capabilities of the plants I've come into contact with."

  "Eh?"

  That single sentence makes a big impression on Serene Will.

  "It's not as incredible as you imagine. For example, if a herb has the capability to absorb large amounts of mana with the sole purpose of expelling a lethal poison around itself indefinitely, I could assimilate its mana-absorbing ability, but not its lethal poison. That restriction greatly reduces its value, don't you think?"

  "Even so…"

  Doesn't that mean she will acquire an ability for every plant she encounters? For Serene Will, that ability, with or without restriction, is priceless.

  +++

  Leaving the city turned out to be much easier than Serene Will originally thought. Despite the prohibition against flying, it is allowed when entering, so the accesses multiply allowing a greater flow of people.

  Considering that outside there are demonic beasts that can easily kill hunters, it is unlikely that an armed force would be able to enter through the borders. There is no need for so much caution, the strictest restrictions are carried out around the portals.

  "Sky Petal, ask them where the demonic beast Zephir is."

  "Yes."

  Communication with plants is a connection that only the chosen can have, no race by nature has this capability, only innate abilities can grant it. Sky Petal is an exception to the rule, as she does not belong to any of the previous categories.

  "Hm, I know where they are. There are different groups of them, any preference?"

  In just seconds, Sky Petal acquires the information firsthand-- from the stems of the plants.

  "Level 350."

  "That's too much! Even with your ability, 340 is the limit."

  Serene Will sees her reaction and smiles inwardly. She's read her mind, knowing that Sky Petal's words perfectly align with her own thoughts.

  Then she pulls out a storage ring from inside her storage ring. Normally, artifacts derived from spatial affinity repel each other, not in the case of storage rings. They are designed for that.

  From it, she retrieves four medicinal pills, two for herself and the others for Sky Petal.

  "Life Extraction and Mana Enhancement. Eonis Pavilion had interesting items."

  It's the storage ring that belonged to Eonis Pavilion! The same man she killed before Sky Petal's arrival!

  "Does Lawrence know?"

  Serene Will smiles openly. "It would be a waste on him, his enhancement wouldn't even be one, in our case it will be at least double. Take them with me, I'd rather ask for forgiveness than permission."

  "..."

  Knowing that Sky Petal is not reckless, she must set the example and be the first to consume them. After doing so, she immediately feels the effects.

  "The Divine Plane is fascinating, after reaching level two hundred, few were the medicinal pills that still had an effect on me."

  The materials required to refine pills increase depending on the target level.

  Above a certain level, higher-quality spiritual herbs and materials from dangerous demonic beasts are necessary. It's normal that after level 200, few pill refiners can acquire the materials and also have enough experience to succeed.

  "These pills are not so easy to come by, Serene Will, they far exceed the rest in comparison."

  While the first pill allows for faster leveling up by extracting more life from opponents, the second increases mana concentration, enhancing the attack.

  "Oh, is that so? That's why they tasted good."

  “…”

  Eating good items behind Lawrence's back makes them taste twice as good.