"So, you agree that the planes look like they are set up to filter out different aspects of energy?"

  Dragon says "If the energy is moving from the bottom to the top, then yes that makes sense. However, no one has been able to detect this energy or find anything to prove this theory. If I were you, I wouldn't waste any time thinking about this kind of thing. You have far too much that you need to get done."

  "That is easy for you to say. It isn't like I intentionally think about things like this. Even while I am doing other things, thoughts like this roam around inside my head."

  Dragon says "And you claim to not be insane?! Anyway, what I can verify is that the planes are separated into three groupings. The upper, middle, and lower groups of planes. Moving within a group is fairly easy, but moving between groups is a lot harder. Your world is in the middle group, so you can gate to any plane in the middle group fairly easily. Trying to gate to the lower or upper group would be much harder."

  "That matches what I was thinking. I got the idea from a gate that kept trying to connect to hell. Question, is it easier to connect to the higher group than to the lower group?"

  Dragon says "I believe that it is a little easier, why?"

  "Because, moving with the energy, if it exists, would be easier than moving against it."

  Dragon says "Wait, wasn't there something like this in one of the manga that you gave me?"

  "Yes, there is. Like I said, I only steal ideas, not come up with them myself."

  Dragon says "So, does that mean you are not trying to understand so much as to match this reality to a manga?"

  "To an idea from a manga, yes. I know that there isn't a manga that will match up exactly, but there are a few ideas that are similar. Mainly, I just want to satisfy my curiosity so it will leave me alone!"

  Dragon says "So the answer itself doesn't matter, as long as you have an answer?"

  "Yeah, pretty much."

  Dragon says "Well, I am sorry to say that if there is an answer, I don't know it."

  "Don't worry about it. I am getting used to not being able to find answers."

  Dragon says "So, what's next then?"

  "Getting to the next soul level and evolution as fast as possible! Wait, no. I guess I should build my soul palace and visit Soul City first."

  Dragon says "You should definitely build your soul palace first. You need to see how much it can store and figure out how much you will need to expand it. Otherwise, you might spend soul coins on other things and then realize you need to buy materials."

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  "Are materials the only way to expand the soul palace?"

  Dragon says "No, but they are the easiest way. You can also expand it through time and hard work."

  "Hard work, I don't mind, but time is in rather short supply. So buying materials sounds like something I will need to do."

  Dragon says "Then I suggest that as you are working on getting your next soul level you find something that drops lots of soul coins. Nothing in Soul City is cheap, especially the good materials."

  "Yeah, I am probably going to need to farm a lot of coins. Either that or I am going to have to figure out how to get the materials myself. At the same time I am also going to need to get more armor. I don't suppose there is a trick to being able to pick up armor you already have?"

  Dragon says "Actually, there is. If you have a palace that is not completely full, you can store armor pieces there."

  "Does that allow me to pick up duplicate pieces, or do I need to store my current pieces in the palace?"

  Dragon says "It allows you to store duplicate pieces. You can then hold onto them until you can use them, or sell them in Soul City."

  "Are there people in Soul City who trade armor pieces?"

  Dragon says "Of course. There is an entire market dedicated to armor pieces. It is pretty easy to find what you need there."

  "Cool! In that case, I know what I need to do before heading to the city."

  Dragon says "Glad I could help. Have you remembered any more questions that you want to ask me?"

  "Nope. I think that is going to be it for this visit. Thank you for all the information!"

  Dragon says "You're welcome. Just try not to die out there and don't break your promise!"

  "Don't worry, I won't"

  After that, I quickly leave the dragon's soulscape and return to my body. The first thing I do is check on the kids, but they have woken up so I exit my meditation. I find out that the reason that they woke up is because Kechara has returned.

  So I get up to join them and have breakfast while I talk with Kechara to catch up. Once they are done eating, I have the rest of the kids go watch anime and keep Kechara with me. Once it is just the two of us, I ask her opinion on how the kids are and if they are getting enough attention.

  Her immediate response is to ask me why I am asking, so I tell her about my chat with the dragon. To my surprise, she is on the dragon's side and tells me that the kids are doing just fine. Since the dragon hasn't actually met the kids, I value Kechara's opinion much more.

  Kechara then goes on to tell me that not only are the kids fine, they are doing better than they would in the wild. She tells me that just the unlimited food alone makes me a way better parent than most beasts. Having enough food to develop properly isn't always possible out in the wild.

  Her words help me to feel less guilty about how little time I have for the kids. Talking with Kechara about it is way more effective than talking to the dragon. After she has eased my worries, I make sure to tell her how proud I am of her and how much I love her.

  Kechara responds by wrapping her entire body around me to give me a hug. That only lasts for a little while before turning into a wrestling match. Of course, when the rest of the kids notice, they run over and join in on Kechara's side.

  I quickly end up overwhelmed and pinned by my kids who then start licking and tickling me. It is almost enough to make me regret collecting so many kids, but only almost. I retaliate as much as I am able to, the kids are still winning, but I make them work for it.

  That probably would have been the end of the game, but Asuna suddenly turns on Kechara. The two of them have always loved fighting each other and it gives me room to fight back. I still can't beat the other six, but I can put up a much better fight and make it more fun.