The next day, Liebe went to class as Helios. As he sat beside Alysa, they didn't talk. Alysa left early.
Helios thought, *Perhaps it's for the best.*
As he returned to the hotel:
Licht said, "Come on, Liebe. Working now? You are supposed to be getting ready for your big date. Even Fang is excited."
Liebe said, "Shut up. It's not a date. And not to mention, you and the dumbass will be there too."
Licht said, "Oh yeah. I will make sure he isn't distracting you too much."
Liebe said, "It isn't a date. It's just something I'm doing."
Licht said, "Sure, sure."
As Alysa arrived, she knocked. Licht opened and said, "Welcome, welcome."
Alysa said, "Thank you for having us."
Liebe said, "Let's go. It's getting late. It's already 11:25."
Alysa said, "Sure, sure. By the way, I brought lunch for everyone."
Licht said, "Uhh, you did? Thanks. Please do it every day for the rest of our lives. I know Liebe may seem like a brute, but he likes it. He is actually a good guy, just with a lot of bad ideas, arrogance, etc., etc."
Alysa said, "It's alright."
Eosian said, "Sure, whatever."
As they went to the terrace and climbed onto Fang:
Liebe said, "Fang, 45 degrees port. Accelerate from Mach 0 to Mach 10 and maintain steady velocity for 466 seconds."
Fang growled as he lifted off the ground and flew at high speeds.
Liebe said, "So about your father's magical power, Perception—it's quite unique."
Alysa said, "Wait, you knew?"
Liebe said, "Yes. It is very interesting indeed. But in combat, it may just be useless. Its only function in combat is interrogation efficiently, but not living up to its full power. But since he is a former diplomat, he was able to draw out its true strength. And not to mention, its only weakness: not being able to detect it if the person himself doesn't know. It can't be felt because diplomats are always well-knowledged, hand-picked by their nations to represent their homes. They can't be mass-produced easily, so the chances of him going against someone who is truly a fool is next to none. And that is why it truly shines. Not to mention, it turns knowledge itself into weakness. Truly a frightening power indeed."
Alysa said, "Wait, how do you know about it?"
Liebe said, "During our conversation last night, he was able to see through certain false informations in my words. That's why I decided to speak as little as possible. But it's interesting, isn't it? He has an ability to see the truth. Yet your power—the Gravity Magic attribute—is truly strong. A magic with endless devastating power, yet its only two weaknesses are: it is mostly an aerial type magic, so the user doesn't have the choice of hitting the enemy or their allies. Not to mention, its secondary weakness—it isn't mana efficient in the slightest. It must be quite demanding on the mana supply."
Alysa said, "Huh? How do you know my secret?"
Liebe said, "I know. I was watching the battle. Think about it. When fighting the Alpha, you were using the Gravity Breeze, but when it called for reinforcements, you used scatter formation. Yet each arrow contained the same amount of impact nonetheless. So why didn't you do that from the start? Because you were being smart. If you used it from the start, your mana would be drained by mid-battle, leaving you stranded. Yet in the battle, you were lucky the Alpha was giant, negating the aerial weakness, meaning no fear of hurting allies even if you misfired."
Alysa thought, *He is strong and efficient. What kind of a person is he?*
She said, "Your dragon—he seems well-trained, but he plays. Is he domesticated?"
Liebe said, "No, he is trained. I found him as an egg, hatched him, and raised him myself. He listens to orders, but he likes to play."
Alysa said, "I see. So what do you feed him? He must be quite expensive."
Liebe said, "He is trained, not domesticated. Our academy is on an island. I let him loose. He finds his own food in the ocean. He prefers whales. By hunting his food in the ocean and the Abyssal Zone, his true hunter's instincts can be drawn out. I feed him rare monster parts." As Liebe threw a piece of Quetzalcoatl meat, Fang ate it. Liebe said, "Rare, strong monster parts make him stronger. He is fundamentally different from your Death Gripper. He prefers ox, so I buy him 2 or 3 oxen a month as a treat, and he enjoys them. But I let him loose deep in the Abyssal Zone thrice a month so that he doesn't lose his edge."
Alysa said, "Wait, how did you know I have a Death Gripper?"
Liebe said, "Your smell. You have a constant smell of roses mixed with strawberries. Death Grippers excrete that smell to lower the guards of their prey to create an opening to attack. And their poisonous stingers are more than capable enough of making use of the opening. But again, even if you survive, those stingers are poisonous. But the poison is mostly useless since its acidic nature will burn you before you even know you are poisoned."
Alysa said, "You seem experienced."
Liebe said, "I know my basics."
Alysa said, "But how do you know the Death Gripper is mine?"
Liebe said, "Simple. Your father is a former diplomat. He doesn't have anything to do with the battlefield."
Alysa said, "But then why not Eosian?"
Liebe said, "Simple. What kind of a sorry excuse of a half-dead Death Gripper would take him to be their master?"
Alysa said, "I see. And also, sorry to say, mine isn't the predator you described. I unfortunately ended up feeding her too many strawberries. Now she doesn't really prefer meats anymore, even though Death Grippers are supposed to hunt for their own food."
Liebe said, "Easy fix. Change her diet a bit. Feed her three bananas and a handful of blueberries every day. It will make her poisonous stingers far more acidic. And the reason why I know—a close friend of mine used to have a Death Gripper. Her Death Gripper was basically Fang's older sister. When he hatched, she was a big help back then when I didn't know if I should give an Alpha Tyrant Dragon infant milk or meat."
Alysa said, "Oh, I see."
As Eosian screamed, "Let me down! Stop taking me by the claws like a damn sack of potatoes!"
Liebe said, "Sorry, but you are stuck."
Eosian said, "Let me down! This is too disgraceful for a godkin!"
Liebe said, "Fine then. I can fix that."