We had to tell the girls about what happened in Lonid because the news would reach Windemere any day now.
"Lonid will recall Mirina. As the last known Royal, they'll want her to take the mantle of [Queen]," Jocelin remarked.
"We are aware of that," Mirina replied politely, "But I didn't get the title upgrade. I can use that as an excuse to refuse whoever calls me back. If the System didn't promote me to [Queen], an attempt to put me in charge is basically a coup d'etat."
"Marlowe won't allow anyone to forcefully take a student away," I added.
"And if they try really hard, they'll have to face the hidden boss of this Dungeon," Marisol sniped.
I couldn't let her sulk like that and spoil everyone's mood. I knew exactly who could help Marisol come to terms with the fact her childhood orphanage-mate was secretly... me.
"Marisol, I'm taking you back to Rosebush," I declared. "Talk to Wisteria, ask her how she became the [Saintess]. Then tell her I suggested you should have an audience with Zacheia. Your goddess and I weren't on the best terms but we are now working together on several projects, including Wisteria, and she's one of my allies amongst the Gods."
She babbled some intelligible sounds, "Talk to the Goddess? Me?"
"Yes. Now that you are in the known, you're part of this conspiracy to save Windemere, whether you like it or not. Tell her I'm granting each of you a few Perks and I think she should match from her side. After all, she's getting an art gallery and some serious space in the new cathedral."
Said cathedral was looking more and more like an ecclesiastic complex and cultural center than a big church. The allied deities were all getting some serious space, although we kept Vukdon as the centerpiece.
"Is that why we got all that space?" The [Priestess] conjectured.
I nodded. "It's because my best orphan friend needed it that I told Marlowe to make the modifications."
That hit her like a nail gun to the forehead. "It takes a whole day to get to Rosebush."
"Not when I'm the one doing the transportation. I'll be back in a couple of minutes, ladies. Now, Marisol, allow me."
I hugged the half-Eleon's waist and dragged her to the Ethereal. I returned ten minutes later because I had to explain to Wisteria what I wanted to do with Marisol. I also permanently sacrificed a hundred-fifty thousand Energy out of my sixty-something millions to grant them three Perks, plus the complimentary {Fairy Goddaughter}.
* Guardian shelter (very rare): Whenever you are a mile away from your guardian, they soak 50% of the base damage of all attacks that hit you on top of other effects. A guardian is a creature truly committed to protecting you with one of their relevant Perks.
* Guardian Aegis (ultra-rare): If you are hit with a debuff within a mile of your guardian, the debuff is instead transferred to the guardian. You and your guardian know each other's location, condition, and can communicate regardless of distance.
* Path Fusion (very rare): You can fuse two paths, increasing the rarity by one step from the average rarity. The fused path is 50% more expensive to level.
{Path Fusion} changed because of the {Surpasser} nerf. The System reduced the Exp cost of the fused paths to 50% per extra path to balance it out. Mine now read as follows.
* Path Fusion IV (ultra-rare): You can fuse all paths. The exp to level increases by 50% for every fused path after the first. Each added path increases the rarity by one from the average. Once five paths are fused, they no longer count as transient.
Now they could have effective bodyguards. While the utility of these Perks was limited, they were perfect for what I wanted to do with them. After that, I intended to assign one cloth golem to each one of them as a protector.
"I'm getting Marisol back before curfew," I inform the other girls. "The four of you, go get some rest. Tonight, we are delving."
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I couldn't leave the five stuck in the first rank if they were to get involved in this shitstorm. I could use some levels too. At night, with a permit from the Headmaster, the six of us slipped out of the Academy and into the Dungeon. Once we were at the fiftieth "floor" of depth, roughly about seven kilometers underneath the surface, I shifted us back to the Material world.
The monsters here were around level 150 ~ 180 but usually roamed further away from each other. The number of soul fragments and magical energy required to spawn a single one of these was prohibitive. Even with all my cost reductions, a single summon at that level would cost me 4.6 million Energy. And it would be a summon, not a real living creature. I had only two monsters permanently allocated for summoning out of the twenty-seven slots I had. The al'Mi-raj and the kythaurpódi. Maybe I will find another interesting one to add tonight.
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"Listen. You know why I brought you here. You need to put some levels under your belts. Our goal today is to put you all at the beginning of the third rank. You can rank up the Classes you have up to there but set your Exp allocation to manual so you don't gain a single level in the third rank. Also, don't spend your Perks or allocate your Attribute Points. You'll do it later with both Marlowe and I guiding you. Last, you cannot attack anything. If a monster hits you, let them."
I could be assigned as their guardian because of my defender Perks. I put them in the {Eye of the Manastorm}.
"To prove my point, let me summon a few level one al-Mi'raj. Check your damage notifications."
The al-Mi'raj kittens did no damage to them, basically. The horned rabbits were quickly captured by the girls and turned into fluffy murder-pets. They cost me exactly 1 MP (the minimum possible) per minute to keep summoned. I could sustain 29 level 1 summons with 1 MP per minute.
"Good, that should keep you girls entertained. Don't attack anything, I'm going to power-level you."
The term became commonly used by nobles and other wealthy parties after I introduced it back in Rosewise's days. I set a picnic over a horizontal {Force Wall} and carried them around. I learned a spell that would refresh their minds and keep them from having to sleep. Although it could only be used every third day without some consequence that wouldn't matter much. Their increased Attribute values would take care of the strain.
We trained that way during our spare time and every third night. Once I found a monster, I'd resurrect and farm them until it wasn't worth any significant Exp. Doing as I did with the kythaurpódi, I removed their cores and other highly valuable materials before bringing them back, thus multiplying my loot. {Force Tongs} showed to be invaluable because I could rip off the monsters' bodies and take the parts I wanted effortlessly. Or by flexing my magical muscles, to be precise.
The first week passed. The boundaries between Royalty and commoners started to crumble as Mirina opened up to the other girls and they also lost the fear of committing a faux pas. That the highest-ranking person didn't give a shit to protocol when we were only among us also helped a lot. Once they broke past the barrier to the third rank and could accumulate Exp without the dreaded 1,000,000 divisor, I explained my plan to them.
"Now, I'll tell you one heavily guarded secret, you level 120 ladies," I announced. "You can get the {Fifth Path} Perk if all your levels in four paths and species are the same and a multiple of 20. It costs a grand total of seven species Perks, six in your case, but you'll get the strongest kind of Class possible. You'll also gain Class Perks retroactively so it pays off in the end."
The second biggest benefit was that the Class Attributes were added straight to the main values, making it easier to gain the {Pinnacle of…} Perks.
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But dire news stopped us from doing our escapades. One, a civil war broke out in Lonid. Envoys from several minor noble factions, the now big fish in a suddenly depleted pond came to cajole the last surviving [Princess]'s favor, and two, my immortal agent came back with dire news. Torgo stole the weapons shipment and pinned the blame on the lamias.
After Lakerta's days of almost extinction, the lamia species spread everywhere throughout Auvanini. Their magical affinities, natural talents, and exotic build were highly sought-after. Some retirees from the Nagini knights started schools to train lamia defenders for private work, and their reputation as fierce defenders, exquisite lovers, and deft elementalists became cemented in the hearts of the people.
It was easy to find lamia warriors for hire. Especially when you don't intend to let them survive after they were used. Fortunately, Raleigh had the presence of mind to come back and collect the burnt bodies in his ridiculously OP ring. I met him in one of Fat Felix's warehouses.
"You did well in getting me the bodies, Raleigh," I told him. Lingering resentment in these Lamias triggered their conversion to undead and bound the spirit to the body. It would take a few more days for them to rise, but that meant the souls were still bound to the bodies.
But that wasn't the most concerning thing about these corpses. They weren't burned by normal fires or even magical ones. These kinds of fire left soot and burnt remains behind. This was a fire that burned so thoroughly that matter just vanished.
I knew of something that could burn flesh like that. My heirloom spear. I had to test it.
"Raleigh, go to the market and bring me a live pig, sheep, or a goat. I'll bring these lamias back to life while you are away."
The blanket cost of the whole creature's HP pool existed because the whole body had to be repaired from scratch. Even if the tissue was undamaged, the cells were dead inside. There was also the problem of restoring the System data of the person, all paid by the caster. Fortunately, "death" was an intermediate state between "alive" and "true death", when the soul had passed away and the System Status reclaimed as divine energy.
I shapeshifted into Duchess Nagini, dressed, and adjusted my Status accordingly. It was bad that the lamias that could be brought back were the most resentful ones. They would surely give me more trouble than the mellower ones that died in peace. But I couldn't pick who got to keep their souls trapped in their bodies and who didn't.
I brought the first lamia back to life.
"Ah! Bastard!" She shouted, still shocked by the way she died.
"Relax, sister. You are safe here," I hissed at her and grabbed her wrists, wrapping my tail around hers to keep the poor lamia from thrashing around...
"Who? [Grand Duchess]?" She gasped.
"Yes. I'm [Grand Duchess] Nagini of Windemere."
She took a few minutes to recompose herself. Once she calmed down, we continued.
"I died."
"Yes, you died. Do you remember who killed you?"
"One of Torgo's men. He was too tall and thin, but his enchanted cloak and hood kept me from seeing any features," she belatedly recollected. "My sisters!"
"They all died. I'm bringing them back, one by one but some of them are beyond my ability to raise the dead."
She examined me, especially the unique color pattern of my tail.
"You… Are you the legendary lamia [Duchess]? The one that created the knights of Windemere?"
"Indeed I am, sister," I replied with a comforting smile.
She 'knelt' down, lowering her torso until it almost touched the ground, "I'm indebted to you, my Lady."
"You'll have plenty of opportunities to settle that debt and maybe even avenge yourselves. Would you help me calm down your sisters?"
We were almost done when Raleigh came back with a goat in tow. Of the twenty-something lamia corpses, he brought me, I could only bring back seven. Fortunately, Nagini's reputation and my social abilities made them quite docile.
"What are you doing with the goat, mistress?" He asked. "Test fire magic on it to see if the burns match?"
"Nothing, I just wanted you gone for a while," I giggled. "I could recognize these marks anywhere. Let me tell you. These lamias were killed by Dragonfire."
That explained Torgo's infinite funds, his obsession with destroying the Tabard and destabilizing Windemere.
He was a pawn of the damned fire-breathing lizards.