Oz only smiled in response, neither confirming nor denying the assumption.
Isaac looked toward Emily with curiosity. "How is Ezekiel fighting? "
Emily’s expression turned a little cold. "He looted quite a lot of materials from Ki Beli and the Florathi prisoners. Then he used those materials to make himself some gear."
Isaac chuckled quietly. It looked like the Ancient Dwarf King had quietly kept some of the materials instead of handing everything over to him. Still, Isaac wasn’t particularly bothered because he was certain Emily would make sure Ezekiel heard a proper lesson later.
Just because she was understanding didn’t mean she would let her summons do whatever they wanted.
"Here, take this. I already took some of the materials for my territory, but the weapons should be more useful to you, or to Ki Beli once he starts listening," Isaac said, tossing Ki Beli’s storage ring toward Beroga.
Beroga caught the ring with one hand and lowered his eyes to it. He remained silent for several seconds, his expression calm but carrying a faint trace of melancholy that he made no effort to hide.
Isaac didn’t comment on it and instead turned toward Oz.
"Take these guys too," he said, pointing at the Florathi prisoners. Oz simply nodded before gathering them together.
One after another, the remaining Spirits returned to Emily’s Soul Space along with the prisoners. Before long, only Isaac and Emily—and an unconscious Third Priest—remained inside the Moon Dimension.
Isaac reached into his inventory and took out two Skill Rank Up Tickets.
"Here. Use these on whichever skills you want to improve," he said as he handed them over.
Emily accepted the tickets without hesitation and activated them almost immediately. The golden light faded a moment later, and she smiled before Isaac could even ask what she had chosen.
"I upgraded Phantom Parade and Spirit Weave," she said.
Isaac nodded with satisfaction before gently patting her head. "Those were definitely the best choices among your current skills."
Emily smiled happily and stepped forward to hug him. After the office work she had been doing since morning, the simple embrace seemed to refill her with energy.
The two of them left the Moon Dimension together and returned to Emily’s office. She looked much more refreshed than before.
Emily stood on her toes and gave Isaac a quick kiss before smiling.
"I’ll head back to work now," she said, waving lightly before leaving the office.
Isaac watched her leave before speaking to the System. ’System, share Emily’s upgraded skills!’
Phantom Parade (SSS Rank → SSS+ Rank)
Spirit Weave (SSS Rank → SSS+ Rank)
Isaac examined Phantom Parade first. Before the upgrade, the skill allowed him and Emily to summon three kinds of Spirits—Wisps, Zephyrs, and Embers—with very little mana cost.
Now, a fourth Spirit had been added to the list. Tenebrys was a darkness-aligned Spirit capable of applying minor debuffs, and each target could accumulate up to five stacks over time.
Isaac nodded slowly as he considered the possibilities. "This is a very useful crowd-control upgrade. Emily can summon hundreds of these at once and weaken entire armies before the real fighting even begins."
Next, he opened Spirit Weave and compared it with its previous version. This was the same skill that had allowed him to fuse two Spirits together temporarily during the battle against the Crimson Sky Wyrm.
Without that fusion, Isaac’s City and his people would have suffered devastating damage. Even now, remembering that fight reminded him how close everything had come to falling apart.
The upgraded version didn’t change the skill’s foundation but strengthened every aspect of it. The fused Spirit would remain stable for much longer, draw out more power from both component Spirits, and receive an even greater boost if the two Spirits possessed similar abilities or attributes.
"It’s a straightforward improvement. But straightforward upgrades like this often end up making the biggest difference," Isaac said quietly to himself.
Satisfied, he closed the System window and left Emily’s office building. There was nothing else keeping him in the city, so he headed straight toward the teleportation gates instead of flying across wilderness he had already cleared.
A short while later, he arrived back in his own city. Standing near the teleportation plaza, he spoke toward what appeared to be empty air with a faint smile.
"You know, you could just walk beside me. I’d rather spend time with you than pretend I’m traveling alone," Isaac said.
To everyone else, Isaac was invisible. Still, if one would see him, it looked like he was speaking to nobody because Catherine’s camouflage concealed her presence. Even so, he knew she was with him.
A moment later, Catherine wrapped her arms around him from behind while weakening her camouflage enough for him to sense her more clearly.
Resting her chin lightly against his shoulder, she smiled and asked, "Do you really enjoy spending time with me that much?"
Isaac laughed softly before answering without any hesitation. "Yes, I love spending time with you."
Catherine simply smiled back. Isaac inwardly clicked his tongue because she seemed to have grown accustomed to his straightforward compliments, making it much harder to catch her off guard.
The two of them got into a car and began driving toward the Great Dungeon. Flying would have been faster, but after everything that the battle with Beroga, Isaac didn’t mind taking a slower and more relaxing trip.
Partway through the drive, Isaac’s communicator vibrated with a new message. He glanced at the screen before smiling.
"Looks like we’ll need to make a small detour," he said.
Catherine looked over at him knowingly and asked, "Selene?"
Isaac nodded while reading the rest of the message. "Yeah, Selene and Celia. Celia is about to begin her advancement to Elite Rank, and since it takes a while, she wants to meet me before she starts."
He scrolled down a little farther before chuckling. "Selene also says she made some treats for us, so she wants us to stop by before we continue to the Great Dungeon."