So, I did say that I would be starting my research but a lot had already done. The bones and Ichor Pneuma are the only components I have to research together with the magic circuits. But I will leave those for last. All I need to do is get all the ingredients and synthesize these components. I already had most of the basic components and equipment from clearing out Rignef’s mansion.
I doesn’t seem that alchemy is needed yet so Greg can keep spending time with Elliana. I just have to mix ingredients and boil them with foxfire. Now about these ingredients… I own half and I have no clue what the other half even is.
Nothing is indicated as hard to get but this was written who knows how long ago. The names might also have changed. What the fuck is a Pferian Nais? Or a Trin Faux? I sent a clone to ask around.
At least the location and its function has been written down. Both the Pferian Nais and Trin Faux are responsible for elasticity. So, whatever this is, if it's elastic I know I’m on the right track. It also recommends Dewdrops for a pleasant smell. Mistflowers again. All of these things can be found near where Boshi town once stood, however. There might still be light corruption there so I will have to get close to Witchaven again.
I hope I won’t get abducted by the Misha… Besides that, there are some plants found here in the forest. Maybe Inna has them. I sent another clone to bother my new neighbor. I needed to get ready to go to the Lucidus mountain range. Maybe I should give Witchaven a visit. I will need to refresh on Azu’s research eventually for this. Might as well since I’ll be close.
No elf knew of any elastic substances named Pferian Nais or Trin Faux, I’m not surprised. My other clone got lucky. It got the plants that were needed and more.
Another clone got made. This one would write down everything I do. Well, anything of relevance. I might prank some Misha when I visit Witchaven but that’s irrelevant to my research.
I stepped outside and almost bumped into 2 elders. They were bandaged up like mummies.
Oh, you’re not charred anymore. But I don’t have any more bananas, they’ve all turned into ash.
“And where do you think you’re going? Out to cause more trouble I assume?”
Uh, you’re not wrong but this is for a good cause so I need to speak to the guardian.
“We will put in a request and in 5…”
Yeah, we might all be dead by then cya!
I teleported down and stepped into the big tree. Evading elders and cancelling their magic as usual and stepped into the ‘forbidden’ zone. These elves sure don’t learn.
“So, you have returned.”
I need to leave the village.
“For how long?”
Uhh, I will try to keep it short. A week or 2 weeks.
“2 weeks?! What could possibly take that long?”
Uhh, travelling takes a long time.
“And that applies to you because?”
Shit, I was hoping this spirit didn’t know I can move super-fast.
I also need to refresh up on some research which might take a while.
“I see, I will arrange for bodyguards.”
No bodyguards! The location of this research is ehm problematic more people will make this impossible.
“Very well, just know that if you go over the allotted time or you return injured, your next request will be considerably harder to be granted. There is no point in all this if you die.”
I will keep that in mind thank you.
I left the forbidden area and got surrounded.
“You know Agnis, there are rules.” Byron seemed quite annoyed.
You do know that the guardian is on a time limit, right? And I don’t know how long it takes to create this spirit vessel or even how long I can freely move around. Having to make me wait 5 days for everything is a sure way to get both me and the guardian kicked out of our vessels. Anyway, I’m busy, cya!
I tugged on the [Dimensional Anchor] and found myself in Azu’s house.
Realization set in. I had left Nilah behind. I was so accustomed to her being my sword, which I always had on me. But now that she preferred to stay in her fox form, I had left her behind several times to either watch the house or so she could explore or sleep.
I will have to do a [Transform] without Nilah as my hat. My Misha transformation will be so weak without Nilah…. I can’t use my normal transformation appearance. They know who Agnès Oures is and I obviously can’t go out like this.
It didn’t look like anyone had been inside Azu’s house since I last left here. Azu said she would grab all her research stuff but she didn’t. What is going on… Don’t tell me tomato bitch had found her and went for revenge. I shook my head. I’m sure we would notice a fight like that. Which reminds me.
I looked through the house. No mistflowers. Makes sense, they would all have died by now. I did find some books about skincare. This is going to be important, isn’t it… I decided to archive these just in case. I used [Transform] and turned into a chick. I used illusions to get normal clothing, change my appearance and a hat, opened the door and checked if anyone was looking. I didn’t detect anyone so I got out and headed for the Misha academy. It was as easy as ever to sneak in and walk through the corridors. This is some nostalgia.
“Hey, you!”
Uh oh.
I turned around and to my shock saw the headmaster. “Are you skipping lectures? Please abide by the rules and follow them. Hmm, I haven’t seen you around.”
Ok Agnis, you can do this. You need to give a boring answer else you will get found out.
I had lent a book but I forgot to return it on time. Please, I don’t want another penalty!
“Oh, let me see your identification card first, you know the rules. We had to up our security since the last invasion.” I quickly made an illusion that made her see what she wanted to see.
I’m a first years student, what invasion?
I handed the illusion over to the headmaster.
“A nine-tailed spirit fox invaded our city…” The headmaster smiled. It seems it worked.
“Welcome back Agnis.” Her mana flared up.
Huh what? My name is Jenny, not Agnis!
“Nice try, I don’t know why you would give me an identification card that shows me what I want to see but it told me exactly who you are!”
Wait oh, I guess that could also happen… Any chance you can let this slide?
I dodged a [Flare] and attempted to steal her hat. I failed.
Ooh, you upped your hat security!
“I will knock you out and then we will go through a procedure to have you become someone's research partner!” I dropped my transformation and illusions since there was no point.
I can’t! I’m busy!
I used [Eternal Winter] and made magic useless. I slid through the corridors freezing every Misha that tried to catch me. Their robes got frozen to the floor as they didn’t wear pants.
1 minute and 13 seconds. That’s how long it took me to crack the new security on their hats. I have gotten a bit rusty. I cancelled [Eternal Winter] and stole all the hats.
“Ugh! Not again!” I could see the frustration on the Headmaster’s face but it was mixed with something else. An expression I couldn’t place.
I won’t be here for long so don’t worry.
“You’ve received my message, right? We need help in mastering [Hattrick]. We have several Misha investigating those ‘easy’ steps you mentioned and they have no clue what makes them so easy…”
I would love to help but I have something more urgent. You Misha are smart you will get there! And if not… just get Azu…
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I slipped into the corridor where Azu’s lab was and opened it. The door closed before the headmaster could enter. “Wai…”
I was back in a familiar environment. It smelled like mistflowers. I took several books off the shelves. These were books she had written to continue her research at a later date of for those who would pick up the torch. It had delved into mana runes that were unusual or highly uncommon. I had intentionally skipped these the last time.
There are only 3 books but I have the feeling that they will throw my knowledge about mana runes and circles upside down. I messed with the mana circle device while reading. I tried to create a magic circle with only these ‘exotic’ mana runes. She was missing a lot of these.
And there it was! Some exotic runes can act as a fully functioning mana circle just on their own. Others have been theorized by Azu to change the shape of magic circles. Shape? As in magic squares? That sounds interesting.
These books had to be reread because I didn’t understand what Azu had written down. Three-dimensional magic circles, which would make spheres? Ribbon-shaped magic circles? Azu you mad genius! But how are we supposed to do this? It seems Azu was unsure yet but she has put in some groundwork.
I am getting distracted. I archived this and looked at Azu’s setup to create magic circles. It didn’t seem to be suited for her other ideas in these 3 books. This is my chance to improve my skills at greater efficiency. I will also be able to find out how rusty I am and get rid of that.
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A week was spent rereading the same 3 books and also working on the efficiency of my most used magic skills. I made a version of [Hattrick] where I could use 4 hats and wrote 2 pages of pointers for the Misha to figure out how to use [Hattrick]. I am not going to tell them how; they have to find out themselves. Might make them appreciate Azu’s research more.
I am kind of upset that they haven’t taken her back in yet. I was currently looking at the magic circles of my foxfires. Even with Azu’s setup, I could make heads nor tails on what to do here. They have a lot of mana runes that I don’t recognize and Azu’s research has only identified 2 that my foxfire has. I sighed and looked at the desk.
I ended up writing another paper to increase the security of their hats. I am too nice to these Misha. I was refreshed on mana runes and mana circles and had even improved greatly so it was time to gather the ingredients I came for.
I cleaned up and walked to the door but I stopped. I had written some books and copies of papers and had left them behind in this lab the last time I was here. So that Azu knew that I appreciated her research. But that is quite impersonal. Maybe I need to leave something behind that’s more personal.
What could I possibly leave behind? I approached her desk and made a mistflower made out of frost magic. This will never melt unless I want it to so it will stay here. My magic circles have been polished and had changed a lot because of her research so she might not recognize it as mine but… maybe she will.
I walked out of the lab and instantly got caught by the headmaster and 2 professors.
Really? You guys have been camping here for a whole week?
“We won’t be able to catch you otherwise!”
How about a deal? I will give you these hints to using [Hattrick] and a new paper on hat security and I will let you go.
I waved the papers and they could see it was the real deal. They seemed conflicted.
The Headmaster however seemed sad, maybe even distressed. “Agnis… we can’t find Ayaru…”
Well probably because you have treated her like shit and abandoned her!
“I hoped she would at least hop by…”
I don’t know where she is, sorry, but as long as no strange big event happens then I think she is fine, even a god couldn’t kill her.
“That’s what I’m worried about. A lot of [Meteors] have been falling lately. I’m afraid she got into trouble again.”
Ehh, Azu is fine, those [Meteors] were mine.
“I see, in that case even more reason we can't let you leave, it seems the student is following in the footsteps of his mentor.” The Headmaster started to double down and got serious in attempting to catch me.
Oh, come on first the elves, and now you too? Give me a break!
I threw the notes and the paper which briefly distracted them and gave me time to tug on my [Dimensional Anchor] and get back to Azu’s house. I instantly ran outside, connected to the air leyline currents, used wind [Dragon], and flew off.
I made some illusions to shake the Misha off my tail. I landed on a mountainside and found a field of mistflowers. Vinny could use some of these. I can’t tell if they are going extinct but they only grow here and near Boshi town. But Boshi town is a big light-corrupted hole now so that area is out.
I stored a lot of mistflowers and had a special batch for Vinny to tend to. My 2 missing components could be found in a cave. I have a week as long as this cave adventure doesn’t take that long I’m fine. Any leftover time will be spent looking for Memory slimes.
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Aaand it was just a normal cave. Don’t see those often. I found a strange stretchy flower. I don’t know which of the 2 ingredients this is but this was easy. Now for the other one…
A magic attack hit me but I took 0 damage. Some extremely weak creature was spitting water magic at me. It was only making me wet. How does a creature this weak even survive? It looked like a slime.
I poked it and it doubled down on water magic. It felt like cold jelly. I tried to pick it up but it stretched and increased in volume. I let go and the creature was way bigger now. This property could be useful for skin so it's either this creature or its fluid that I need. I don’t think this is the memory slime.
How do I beat it without killing it? I sucked it into my dimensional pocket but that killed it and it just turned into water. Well, that is a first, a creature so weak that it's almost impossible to catch alive. Maybe the old king of Jarn is related to these.
I found another one. I made a cage of ice around it but the cold killed it.
I sat down. This is unexpectedly hard. It can stretch so maybe I just carry it? I got another cold shower. These things are weak but they are brave. Or stupid. I picked one up but it seemed impractical because of its stretchiness. It was too big to pick up with one hand so that was causing the problem.
My tail picked it up. Success! Now to teleport home! Or not. This thing died by just putting it in my dimensional pocket. Teleporting with it or running super-fast will kill it.
Do I have to walk? I tested this out. The fastest I could go with these things was actually quite fast. As long as I stayed under Mach 1, I could carry this thing.
I located 9, picked them up, and started running. The deadline is approaching so I might barely make it at this speed as long as I didn’t get interrupted. I was afraid of anything happening like a random god appearing but I arrived safely at the elven village.
It was midnight. the full moon should appear tomorrow or the day after. I had forgotten to continue to do [Moontalk]. I have too many things to keep track of. Coast seems clear, no annoying elven elders. I got home and I saw 2 elven elders frozen solid and Nilah sitting next to them.
Good job Nilah!
Nilah deserved some pets and I made some illusions to create a safe environment for these super weak slimes.
Nilah, please leave these slimes alone. I need them for my research.
I freed the slimes and went to mix some plants. The protocol required me to make some liquid with several of the plants I got from Inna, and then feed it to the slimes. It will cause them to toughen up and not die to almost anything. I will then be able to use them as an ingredient to create the skin.
I followed the protocol precisely. Rignef’s book described that the solution was supposed to be light orange but this was dark orange with bits of plant material.
Hmm, that’s not right.
I must be doing something wrong. I tried and tried and tried.
16th try and it looked perfect. So, I noticed something. This solution had to be stirred anti-clockwise not clockwise. Rignef might have been left-handed or stirred it with his tail. If this simple solution has quirky behavior like this then I might be in for a painful process.
I put the mixture in dishes and placed them in front of the slimes. They attacked me with cold water before slurping the orange mixture. It caused them to turn light orange. They were still transparent. I tested the mixture by zapping a slime. It was still alive and kicking. It was shooting a lot of water at me.
Hey! Just give up you will ever defeat me with this weak attack!
The slime didn’t care so I froze it and confirmed that it was still alive. The other slimes were behaving.
You can bully them now Nilah, just don’t kill them.
I started to put another mixture together. It was viscous so I had 2 of my tails stirring it. I threw in the stretchy plants while continuing infusing magic in the solution and keep pulling water out of it.
It turned into a solid after 30 minutes. I tried to pull out the spoon but this thing had claimed my wooden spoon. I ducked because Nilah was slapping a slime around.
Hey Nilah watch out!
I had to smash this solid and turn it into powder.
Nilah! Hammer!
Nilah jumped at my hand and used [Transform] to turn into a frost hammer. I kept hammering but it wouldn’t break. I am stronger than a human but my physical strength is nothing special outside of that.
Hmm thank you Nilah I think I will have to do something else.
I focused and used [Vacuum Punch] on it. The shockwave pulverized the block and turned it into powder. The powder wasn’t as fine as I would have hoped but it should be enough.
Heh, speed is king after all!
The powder got collected and put it in a large pot. I caught a slime Nilah was slapping around again and shoved it into the pot. Now they need to mix and the skin will be finished. Kind of. This slime kept spewing water in my face. It was a bit annoying. I connected to the air leyline currents and used [High Voltage] on it. It was ready now. The slime turned into a slimy liquid and I mixed it with the powder.
Nilah, 2 more slimes!
Nilah slapped 2 more slimes my way and I gave them the same treatment. I was soaked but I’m a water user so I don’t mind. In the end, I used 6 out of the 9 slimes. The result was a rubbery kind of substance. It had an orange-brown color though. I will have to do the special treatment now and boil it again with foxfire.
I had sent out a clone to sneak out of the village to collect the memory slime and buy resistance potions. It found slimes matching the description but these were just ordinary clear slimes… So they went from near extinct to be quite common. At least there is a race that seems to be doing well.
5 hours of boiling and mixing and it was done. I sat down and looked at the transparent rubbery mass. I had also added the ‘Memory Slimes’ and it seemed to be looking good. Rignef had advised me in the book to stretch it and cut it into squares with something very sharp.
Nilah, Sword!
Nilah turned into a katana and I cut the mass into thousands of squares. I stored them in my dimensional pocket except for 3 and tested the stretchiness. It seemed fine. It felt soft and skin-like. I will just have to soak them in mistflower extract in my dimensional pocket and apply the ‘skincare’ procedures from the book that I had found in Azu’s house.