The church bell tolled six times. Ouch. It was much later than I expected. I needed to purchase my mana potions before the general goods store closed for the evening! I remembered that normal curfew was ten. But given the fact that we had an undead raid on Tregome, I suspected that the curfew could be as early as eight. In other words, only two hours remaining!

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. After all, Bila was still looking at me. I didn't want my internal conflict to be expressed on my face. I was her Liege and I had to play the part! Thus, I gave the cat girl a bright smile. Yes, Larry, just like that! "Bila, can I trouble you buy more mana potions for me? I need five," I requested politely.

Her whiskers and ears twitched at what she just heard. "I'm not your errand girl," she grumbled but accepted my gold coin anyway. Bila was my bodyguard and this meant she needed to be near my body, right? The cat girl did NOT want to be seen as a mere errand girl. If I wanted one of those, I could easily toss a few coppers at a kid loitering on the street corner. That said, Bila understood the importance of the task and felt that she should handle it personally.

I fished out five silver pieces from my sack. "You can grab a meal for yourself at The Noble Lady while you're at it." I smiled again. I was cognizant of the other eyes on me in the room and I wanted to impress them with the notion that I was generous with my followers. The last thing I wanted was to develop notoriety for being a cheapskate!

Admittedly, my finances weren't bad. I had gold coins in my sack and even platinum safely squirreled away in my bank account. Furthermore, I was going to visit a dragon's lair tomorrow. And that meant more money coming down the pipe! Thus, it would be prudent for me to dangle a small carrot to convince a reluctant Bila to run this simple errand for me. And apparently, it worked!

The cat girl's eyes gleamed. "Aren't you going to eat dinner at that place, master? You'll get to see your girlfriend again," she teased me with an exaggerated wink.

I shook my head to hide my embarrassment. "Dinner at The Noble Lady is a busy shift and I don't want to distract her from her work," I explained. Besides, I already did a kiss-and-farewell thing in public with Amelica and I didn't want to ruin my exit with her. I was the hero and future king and that required me to create a proper exit with my lady! Wait! I did a mental retake on that last thought. Geez, I was starting to think like Lord Bane! This surprising realization gnawed at me more than I expected.

Van immediately raised his hand. "If you're offering dinner at that fine establishment, then I would like to go, too! Since there may still be undead lurking in Tregome, it would be ideal for me, a paladin, to accompany, my fine, furry friend." He grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes as I took out another five silver pieces and handed it to him. "Have fun," I said. And I hope you don't break another window at The Noble Lady.

I was astonished at how quickly Van had already forgotten what he did this morning. He threw me against a window, causing it to break, and then punched the wall. Maisen happened to be around and witnessed the incident. As a result, Van was arrested and detained. In the end, I had to use my "privilege" as the Town Judge overseeing this case to release Van into my custody.

Given this incident, I wouldn't be surprised if Vern threw the guy out if Van stepped inside the inn. However, the orc was very even-keeled and forgiving. Therefore, I was confident that the nominal owner of The Noble Lady would allow Van to dine at the establishment. If for no reason other than to show that Vern had buried the hatchet regarding the morning incident.

The paladin bowed to me and pushed Bila on her back. "Let's hurry before the stores close!" The two quickly walked down the stairs and soon the sound of the door closing could be heard.

Valatea smiled. "Nicely done," she praised me. The elf priestess turned her head toward Hleara, who was leaning her back against a wall. "Shall we start the meeting?" she asked and bowed.

The draco nodded and pushed off the wall. "First off, I will be the party leader for this mission. My childhood was spent inside the lair and I am familiar with its structure. Are there any objections?" Her red eyes scanned the room.

When they landed on mine, I quickly shook my head. While an argument could be made that I should take the lead, I had no interest in doing so because I was more than happy to foist the responsibilities and burdens of leading a party onto someone else. Besides, I agreed that Hleara was the best candidate for the role of party leader for this particular mission.

"I thank you for the trust you are placing in me and I will endeavor to meet your expectations." Hleara bowed politely. Then she did something unexpected: her eyes returned and landed on me again. "Pardon my intrusion but what offensive water spells do you know?" she asked.

"Acid arrow," I replied immediately. It was the only spell I knew which met her criteria.

The draco paused for a moment, expecting me to continue. Hleara frowned when she realized that was it. She raised her hand.

Suddenly, I received a pop-up notification: "Request to join Hleara's party. Yes or No?" I clicked on "Yes."

"Thank you," she smiled and called up my player status screen.

I reciprocated and saw the following: The left column was a 3D replica of Hleara. However, it shifted between her human, draco, and red dragon forms! To my surprise, I saw this title: "Outcast of the Red Dragons." She also had these titles: "Dancer between the Twilight" and "Child of Legacy." Curiouser and curiouser.

The middle column read: "Name: Hleara Vitusen, Race: Draco, Alignment: Neutral Good, Profession: Arcanist (Master), Level 21, Experience: 228,535/231,000, Reputation: 12,308, Attack: 160, Damage: 5-8 (Unarmed), 6-16 (Staff), Critical Attack: 5%, Critical Damage: 200%."

The right column read: Health: 160, Stamina: 185, Magic: 365, Strength: 16, Intelligence: 40, Wisdom: 25, Dexterity: 16, Constitution: 20, Charisma: 17." At the bottom of the page, there were a bunch of tabs for her personal skills and spells but I wasn't able to gain access to them.

I was shocked by how powerful Hleara was. I did not expect her to be a Master level spellcaster. Her mana pool was ten times the size of mine. Her health was double what I had. Her critical hit and damage were at the baseline for a non-fighter. If she had any fighting skills, Hleara could easily become a dual-class fighter-mage. I reluctantly looked up from her status screen and asked, "What's an Arcanist?" I had a hunch but I wanted to double check with Hleara.

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The draco smiled. "It's a specialized class of spellcasters with spells similar to mages except that we don't rely on spell components to cast our spells," she explained.

"Will I be able to learn spells from you?" I asked. I remembered that during the battle with elder lich, she was able to fly using her wings and cast spells at the same time without reaching for any spell components.

"That depends on what you seek to learn. I can teach you the basic spells certainly as well as some spells that will be useful for our mission. But you won't be able to learn the specialty spells belonging to the arcanist class unless you choose to specialize in my field. Of course, that choice would mean that the Enchanter specialty will be closed to you," she explained slowly.

"I see." This was not a light decision to make. I turned toward Rijana. She was looking at me but kept a blank expression on her face. "May I learn magic from Hleara?" I asked her formally with a deep bow. Since Rijana was my official magic instructor, it was proper etiquette for me to seek her permission to learn from another. I remembered the glint in Rijana's eyes when I mentioned that I had copied Lightning Bolt from Delkon's spellbook back in Southampton.

Rijana nodded. "I give permission." She then turned toward Hleara. "I leave him in your care." She bowed deeply from the waist.

The draco waved her hand. "You misunderstand. I have no interest in replacing you as Lord Mulligan's magic instructor. I can only supplement whatever you're teaching him," she clarified.

The Enchanter smiled with relief. She was prepared to step back and allow Hleara to take charge of my magic instruction. She was glad to hear that was not going to be the case.

I raised my hand to draw Hleara's attention. "Why is your Reputation score so low?"

The elves and the half-elf in the room burst out in laughter.

"What?" I asked while looking at them with a stupefied expression.

Finally, Valatea came to my rescue. "How many Reputation points do you have?" she asked.

"38,000."

Someone whistled.

"Here are some helpful comparisons. A simple commoner living in the same town his entire life may have 1,000. A renowned tradesman may have 5,000. A person of authority, such as a mayor, may have 10,000. Only a king or a hero would have more Reputation than you," she explained.

"I see." I barely avoided dropping my jaw. I began to understand why the Gods were making me take up so many quests. They were helping me to build my Reputation so that no one could dispute my claim for Kingship. "So my name is known through the kingdom?" I asked.

The elves and half-elf nodded in unison.

"But don't worry! Relatively few people know your face," Roen said cheerfully and patted my back. "Yes, we could look at the caption above your head and check your name. But most people on the street are too busy with their daily lives to bother checking."

Valatea clapped her hands. "It is time for supper. You can continue your discussion afterward," she admonished. She walked over to the far side of the room. There were a fireplace and a pot over the burning flames. A table was leaning against the wall and there were bowls on the table and a basket. The hostess started dipping a ladle into the pot to distribute soup into the bowls. When she was finished, she said, "Let's eat!"

Each of us took a bowl and a spoon. I noticed some cornbread in the basket and took one. I dipped the bread into the soup and took a bite. The bread was soft and freshly made. I almost cried on the spot because I remembered how hard the bread was when I ate while traveling on the road. The soup was a mix of barley, carrots, and potatoes. I was disappointed to discover that it was vegetarian. Nonetheless, I finished the soup with my second piece of cornbread.

When we were finished with our dinner, Hleara wiggled her finger at me. She held a spellbook in her hand.

My eyes widened with excitement as I walked over.

When I stood in front of her, she asked, "What spell do you wish to learn?"

I glanced at Rijana and she raised her chin encouragingly. "An offensive water spell," I answered.

The draco noticed the exchange between us and finally offered a suggestion: "Iceball. It is the Third-Tier, Water version of Fireball. It does 1d6 damage per skill level in the Water sphere and shatters on impact for additional damage. If you can learn Fireball, you should have no problem learning Iceball."

I thought that Hleara would make an excellent saleswoman back on Earth and chuckled to myself. When I saw her black brows raised, I said, "That sounds like a good spell to learn."

The three of us sat in a corner. Like an attentive student, I pulled out my spellbook and writing tools. I waited patiently for my new magic instructor to turn the pages of her spellbook over to Iceball. Once the book was in front of me, I started the intellectually rigorous process of copying the spell. Dice rolled inside my head briefly and then stopped. "Read magic SUCCESSFUL. +75 XP. Water spell LEARNED: Iceball."

By the time I had finished, over an hour had passed by. Bila and Van had already returned to the shop and they were leaning against the wall behind me. The two saw what I was doing and wisely decided to wait until I was finished copying the spell. When they saw my head rising back up, Bila immediately intervened. "Here are your mana potions, master!" she said cheerfully.

I turned around and finally noticed the two. "Thank you!" I said and took the potions. I carefully stored them in my potions bag and then turned back to face Hleara.

Since the draco was my party leader, she had seen the pop-up message and knew that I had successfully learned Iceball. While I was putting away my potions, Hleara was turning the pages of her spellbook over to another spell.

I looked at the spell before me. It was "Earth Spike."

Continuing her sales pitch, my instructor said, "Since you also have Lightning Bolt in your spell repertoire, you are missing only an offensive Earth spell. Earth Spike is ideal for you because it is another Third-Tier spell and therefore, your odds of learning the spell will be fairly high. It creates a sharp spike from under the target's feet and attempts to impale the target. If successful, the target will be immobilized. It does 1d6 impact damage per skill level plus additional impale damage."

I leaned my head forward and started copying the spell. A while later, I heard dice rolling inside my head. "Read magic SUCCESSFUL. +75 XP. Earth spell LEARNED: Earth Spike."

"Congratulations," Hleara said with a smile.

Suddenly, the bell tolled nine times. I turned toward Rijana with a request. "Can I learn Permanency from you?"

The brows of my two magic instructors rose in unison.

Rijana recovered first. "Your General skill is only at Level 4. Even with your high skill in Read Magic, your odds of success is maybe 1-in-3. Are you prepared for failure?"

"Yes, I am," I said calmly. Left unsaid was my willingness to advance my Character Level to make additional attempts.

The Enchanter accepted my resolve. She will not try to dissuade me again. She pulled out her spellbook and turned the pages over to Permanency. She placed it on the ground before me.

I took a deep breath and started copying the spell. It was by far the most sophisticated spell I had attempted to learn. The rune required for the spell varied depending on the element of the enchantment involved. The sample runes were intricate and time-consuming to inscribe. The positions of the moon, the sun, and the stars were also factored into the success of making the enchantment permanent. The entire spell took up ten pages. I lost track of time as I studied the spell in depth. Finally, I heard the telltale dice rattling inside my head. "Read magic FAILED. Reroll FAILED." Ouch. I raised my head and took a deep breath.

Bila gave me a waterskin.

I thanked her and took a gulp of water. I didn't realize how parched my mouth was. I advanced my Character Level once, to Level 8, and dumped the 5 attribute points into my Intelligence, which was now 30. I tried copying the spell again. This time, the explanation was clearer and I was able to follow it a bit more. But after the dice rattling stopped, I received this notification: "Read magic FAILED." I winced.

"Maybe you should try again later," Rijana spoke up.

"It's already past midnight, master," Bila added.

I looked around the room. Everyone else had gone to bed already. My eyes eventually landed on the two. "I'll give it one more attempt," I said stubbornly. I took another gulp of water, advanced my Character Level to 9, and added another 5 points to Intelligence, which was now 35. I tried to copy Permanency once more. After a period of time, I heard the dice rolling inside my head. When they stopped, I received this in-game message: "Read magic SUCCESSFUL. +150 XP. General spell LEARNED: Permanency. Level 5."

By now, I had a massive, pounding headache. My eyes could barely stay open. My body slackened. I slumped against the wall and lost consciousness.