Magic in this world is strange.

You can use it without being a Mage, like Elves and others do.

But if you have a Falna, that magic becomes much more powerful.

As Hestia explained to us what she learned, and how chanting itself gave the magic its strength I felt a change inside.

A Chant!

I began speaking from memory, and saw Lisa's eyes widen as she recognized my words.

"The quality of mercy is not strained;

It drops as the gentle rain from Heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed;

It blesses him that gives and him that takes"

Unlike an actor reciting the stanza of the Merchant of Venice, this chant had actual effects as the church filled with a blue rain, made of magic healing.

Lisa took my queue and continued the next verse, holding her spear out like a queen's scepter.

"It is mightiest in the mightiest;

It becomes the throned monarch better than his crown:

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty"

Her magic entered my muscles and bones, creating a buff of strength and energy as the Falna interpreted the words as meaning something about force and temporal power. Not that I minded, a magic buff would be useful anyways.

"What?" Hestia asked in a stupefied voice.

"Well done, my Goddess. Your divine words unlocked our first Magic slot. Now tell us what it does!" I exclaimed and lay on the bed.

Reading the excilia on my back, Hestia muttered something about the Nine Hells. Perhaps appropriately, considering how many Hellhounds I have bashed into mush just today. To be fair, Hellhounds are rather weak monsters, if you discount their fire breath. Weaker than the Orcs on Floor 10, for example.

"Mercy. A rain of healing magic falls from Heaven, restoring body and mind to the caster and his allies. The circle grows in radius with Magic power." Hestia spoke in awe.

Lisa took off her blouse and jumped on the bed beside me. "Mine now!"

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As Hestia read the excilia, her voice began to strain. "Might. Raw energy infuses the body of the caster and her allies. All stats increase with Magic power."

"Yeah! Killing that Dragon surely paid off!" Lisa shouted in victory.

"I can see that. You killed a Level 2 Dragon by yourself, in less than a second! And still only as a Level 1." the Goddess admitted in a sad voice.

I exchanged a glance with Lisa, and then jumped on our Goddess with kisses. Lisa joined us as well, and we made love for hours until Hestia was too spent to move.

Later, while sitting for tea in the kitchen I opened my game screen to observe my progress.

Pef - Level 29

Title: High Commissioner

Strength: 29

Speed: 29

Mind: 7

Magic: 21

Chi: 7

Endurance: 49

Free points: 27

Lisa also analyzed my screen with her Shard trained brain. I wasn't sure how much the Esper powers enhanced her mind, but she was obviously far smarter than I was.

"One of these stats is not like others. The Falna itself accounts for everything else, except Chi." Lisa pointed out as her finger passed through my screen.

"If my knowledge of Asian culture is right, Chi is the energy of the soul. My sword itself is also called a Spirit Weapon." I said while materializing the weapon and having it fly around.

"And if we add your ghost and immortality, I can sense a theme here. Plus whatever connects the two of us and grants me your own resistance as a buff.

It is the soul. You said so yourself, you wished for a companion so you won't be lonely." Lisa inferred with her giant brain.

I nodded slowly. "So I need to train my Chi more. Much more."

"Sleep or making money from bird eggs?" Lisa asked rhetorically. We both grinned and took off towards the Dungeon.

We had the chance to become billionaires easily, so why not? Plus I could train my Chi as well. Win-win.

I could sleep when I died. I mean, I could refresh myself by dying. Same thing.

A hundred eggs and 10 hours later we returned to the church, to find Hestia had gone on a spending spree and bought lots of food, utensils and clothes.

She also seemed a bit apprehensive. "I spent over 100 thousand valis...but you said it was fine. Right?"

I kept a quiet and serious face, letting the Familia Captain deal with this. But Lisa kept quiet as well, making Hestia sob and wave her hands around. "It was too much, I knew it! Back to eating potato peels...uwu...." she cried in despair. So cute!

I went to make myself some tea, while Lisa hugged and petted our Goddess.

My Chi had only grown by 1 point, even with training Chi specifically for 10 hours, but I knew it meant more than that. 100 Chi points would match the strongest monsters in the Dungeon, if Lisa was right. I believed she was.

A day or two of more training should push me to 10 Chi, and fill the bank as well. Then we could go buying a Grimoire.

We got a lucky break with the Merchant of Venice and the divine inspiration, but the second spell slot would be far harder. As for the third slot, I simply ignored it. It basically never happened.

And then we could plan our Level up. The SSS rank was close, I knew it. Hunting the Crystal Mantis was hard even for Level 2s, due to their crystal armor, but the Black Ghost simply ignored that armor. And if Lisa was right, as my Chi grew even the negative magic of a Dragon could be breached.

Things were looking good.