There was no better way to learn than by doing. And with such an abundance of targets, Sable got plenty of opportunity for 'doing’.

Too much, really. Mana preservation became a priority. Doubly so because she couldn’t afford to run out. Regeneration came painfully slow, even with her wisdom stat less constrained by her hoard debuff. She wanted to stay at least a third-full in case she had to tap into her reserves for an emergency—and that didn’t include the [Orecruncher Hivemother], which would be the culminating fight of this adventure, and something Sable suspected would pose genuine difficulty.

So, needing to reserve as much mana as possible, she reduced how much of that resource she poured into each attack to a few times what a normal mage might use—that is, several points each. The attacks kept most of their efficacy, though the difference in their power was noticeable. Still, she had been too eager with her initial spells. If she kept a pace of fifty mana per enemy, she’d run out way before reaching the hivemother.

Which meant working in some of her natural talents. Not breathing fire—that took not much less mana than normal spells. Her [Horrifying Aura] seemed efficient from a resource standpoint, though, increasing the damage she dealt at a much smaller cost than boosting her spells with extra mana, so she utilized it liberally.

Her skill with spellcasting progressed quickly. Much faster than when she’d been fumbling through the process with Roman. Something about combat made it click. With her mind razor-focused on a charging enemy, sketching flowing lines of white-blue mana came twice as easily as it had in a sterilized setting like the earlier lessons. Three times as easily. She was born for it.

She’d make no claims to the title of Archmage any time soon, but by the end of the first few hours, she wasn’t scribbling in the air with the deftness of a crayon-wielding toddler. A proud step above … though possibly only a single.

The competency came with struggle, because it was an exhausting few hours. Each of the individual orecrunchers might not pose any enormous threat, but in the same way picking up rocks might be a simple task once or a few times, several hundred was a different matter. And using that metaphor, the rocks kept getting bigger. Each orecruncher was stronger than the previous, Sable persistently clearing the elemental pests and working deeper into the quarry. Toward the hivemother.

During the process, she tested a few things out. Namely, how much she could abuse the system. Monsters seemed to operate on certain rule sets, such as not swarming her while she picked them off one by one in plain sight, but that rigid system wasn’t only to their detriment. If Sable tried to ‘game’ the combat, the system had safeguards in place.

Namely, Sable was talking about flying out of range and pelting the monsters with spears of frostfire from a safe distance. Bizarrely, her spells became ineffective: they barely scratched the monsters. They still drew their attention, and sent the mobs into a frenzy, but Sable couldn’t lounge in the sky and farm them with total safety, either. She supposed it was only fair.

About halfway through, she started to worry for her mana—whether she had enough. If she could expel spells and dragon’s breath freely, then she would feel much more comfortable about tackling the hivemother, but not only did her mana dwindle, she still didn’t know how to regenerate it at a reasonable speed. Taking an overnight rest wouldn’t even get her mana pool where it needed to be for the final encounters—and dragging the event to tomorrow had been a fallback plan.

The solution—or a step toward one—fell into her lap in the form of a level-up, as if by providence.

***

[Path: [Frostfire Sorceress] advanced from Level 3 to Level 4.]

[Skill gained: [Recuperate]]

***

***

[Recuperate] - Bask in the glow of your hoard, increasing regeneration proportional to riches.

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***

So, good news and bad news. Because Sable didn’t have much riches to go around, which meant however useful and well-timed the skill, it might not actually provide much help, seeing how it was ‘proportional’.

She could raid Skatikk’s treasury—er, she meant, politely request an advance of the city’s taxes—but doing so after just conquering them felt unwise. Better to let it sit for a short time, and prove her strength in some concrete way, like clearing out this orecruncher infestation. But maybe the only way she could clear out the infestation was by gathering a larger hoard, then regenerating, and finishing it off the next day, refreshed.

Ergh. Sable had a feeling this was far from the biggest dilemma she’d face, but she found herself wavering between the two options.

She considered the two worst case scenarios. Fail to regenerate enough mana overnight, then clearing out the orecruncher infestation could become unreasonably difficult. Though, admittedly, still possible. If she saved her diminishing resources for only the most difficult monsters, and leaned heavily on her powerful physical body, then maybe she could win. But if she didn’t, then her loss—or delay—would diminish her reputation in Skatikk.

Though, she could claim she finished it the first day and simply hadn’t bothered to check in with the city. Would they buy that? According to them, dragons weren’t the most predictable sorts, beyond being egotistical and selfish.

Alternatively, the worst case scenario for bullying Skatikk into giving up a meaningful amount of their treasury was instant revolt. Sable would, of course, not burn the city to the ground, and thus her reputation would be demolished. A far worse outcome.

So, the rational path forward was to hold off on demanding taxes.

By her estimation, at least. She was new to this sort of thing. Hardly an expert. Her logic made sense in her head, at least, though she definitely saw the reasoning for the other choice, hence her wavering.

Thusly decided, Sable’s long day concluded, and she flew back to Lake Plateglass. [Soar] made the trip inconsequential. If her empire someday spanned the continent, then, based on how her stats were increasing and scaled with [Soar], she thought she would be able to watch over the entirety of it.

Aylin, who she had left with Roman, she picked up before heading back. The goblin girl had been practicing her class while Sable had been gone. She seemed miffed at having been left behind. Not that she said so. Half because of Sable’s authority over her, and half, she suspected, because Aylin knew she wouldn’t have been much help.

Arriving to the tiny island hosting her hoard, she saw Granite standing there, stoic as ever, surveying the surroundings for enemies. Nothing had gone wrong during her absence, then. Good. She still needed to improve defenses. More thralls might be in order. She’d considered subjugating an orecruncher, but had decided against it. With five slots, she wanted a better quality of candidates. Not sapients like Aylin, because of the obvious ethical issues, but powerful monsters to stand guard or run errands.

Sable set Aylin down onto the island, then settled into the grass herself. The goblin girl recovered quicker than usual, shivering, but shortly straightening herself out. Not a fan of flying, but growing used to it. She looked around the island, noting the hoard and Granite, then nodded to herself.

“So,” she said, turning to Sable. “How’d the hunt go?”

[Fair,] Sable said. [Mana is a limiting point.]

She caught the goblin girl up on her situation. She’d found an easy companionship with Aylin, though didn’t intend on letting the relationship become too casual. But she could trust her and accept advice. Their fates had been tied. And it might not be the best advice, considering who Aylin was, but not useless, either.

Granite stood solemnly during the brief talk, not interjecting his opinion. Sable appreciated the firm stone golem, even if he wasn’t the smartest. There were pluses and minuses to subjugating sapients versus monsters. Though, she was concerned about his advancement. Aylin seemed intent on leveling up and becoming a greater asset to Sable, but if Granite stood guard all day and never encountered enemies, then he would quickly grow outdated.

Sable could always ditch him and enlist another monster. The idea made her grimace, though. It seemed disloyal. Her dragon-half sneered at the sentimentality.

Sable didn’t want to treat people as disposable, but in the case of a half-sentient stone monster? Was it really that bad?

She put the issue off for later.

“Well,” Aylin eventually said. “I think you’re right. You’ve got them cowed, but push too hard …”

Sable nodded, though her pride did rear up. If they resisted, then she would demonstrate for them why they ought to fear her.

Except she wouldn’t. She didn’t intend to commit genocide because a subjugated populace fought back.

With the sun setting, Sable sprawled onto her meager hoard. With luck, she would recover the entirety of her mana pool over night, basking in the gemstones she’d raided from the Crypt of the Ancestors. Even viewing the situation cynically, full recovery was possible. Her wealth might not be anything impressive, but her mana was equally meager—she was weak in both hoard and levels, and that might balance out.

Nothing to do but find out.

And, admittedly, she was exhausted. It’d been a long day. Subjugating a city, training magic, then hours of combat. Curling herself on top of the gemstones, the rocks not bothering her tough scales in the slightest, Sable quickly drifted to unconsciousness.