-
I learned [Space Magic] and it's now level 2. I guess that having privileged knowledge about physics from Earth is not enough, I need to understand precisely how [Space Magic] works here and acquire practical knowledge of it to truly gain the skill.
I have an idea and I get Hana to help me with the test.
"So just defend, like really defend, it could end up using a lot of power so it might be a bit dangerous," I tell Hana while she readies her shield.
"Hah, did you become a dragon overnight? I find it hard to believe you could seriously hurt me with a wooden sword," Hana responds with a half-smile.
"I-I just can't properly control it yet so I'm not sure how much power it has.
"His concern means he loves you!" Roxanne yells from the window.
"Awn… I will use [Pain Conversion], so come at me with all you got!"
I sigh. I swing my practice sword to get the hang of it, it's a bit awkward but I think it's doable.
I charge my spell, I rush towards Hana and do a downward swing with all my power. I cast [Telekinesis] on the sword.
*DOON~*. The sword explodes and the shield reverberates.
"YAH!" Roxanne protects herself but with her quick reflexes Alissa stands in front of Roxanne.
"Ho-holy shit," I mutter.
"Okay, yeah, I get what you meant," says Hana lowering her shield, "It wasn't a really strong hit but if the sword was made of metal then it would reeeeally hurt. The fuck did you do?"
Hana is panting and looking at me with hungry eyes.
"I cast [Telekinesis] on the sword."
"Bahahah! Every mage must have done that once," Roxanne laughs with her hands in her belly.
"Uh… so why is don't people use it in combat normally?"
"You have to be a magic swordsman for it to be worthy. People prefer to specialize and hire a mage when necessary, you are a rare find these days," she answers.
"'These days'?"
"When the last hero was alive people wanted to copy him since he was a magic swordsman too but now that he's gone for a long time this trend has died. It takes way too long to learn how cast a spell chantless."
Hana crosses her arms. "Hm, I understand," she says while nodding, "Specializing would be better for me. I can use [Telekinesis] but there's no way I can use this amount of power, you need to learn [Mana Control] and [Mana Efficiency] for it to be doable in battle. Costs too many skill points."
"But for me this is the perfect skill to compensate my low strength," I say, "if I make [Telekinesis] part of my combat style then I could hit as hard as Hana. I have an incredible advantage since I don't chant."
"Hard as me? Please, mages are ridiculous. If you train you will crush a dragon's skull with ease, you will easily surpass me."
Heh, linear warriors, quadratic mages.
I bring out another sword and ask Hana to keep helping me practice. I broke 3 other swords but I'm getting the hang of it. It's quite mana intensive, I need to increase [Space Magic] quick so the efficiency of [Telekinesis] increases.
Time flies and soon enough it's time to stop. -.
Today is [Nature Magic], I get to the class and quickly find a seat before anyone mistakes me for the teacher. There aren't even 40 students on this class so there's plenty of free seats, I go by the window this time and keep observing the rows of trees outside.
"Good morning students. My name is Tanya, I'm your professor for [Nature Magic], I'm also a herbalist and potion-maker."
Tanya is a gloomy looking woman. She has simple long brown hair, droopy eyes, a tired voice, and a boring face. She wears a loose fitting black dress with very wide cuffs. The most interesting part of her are the 2 nature spirits on her shoulders, one is a mini koala and the other is a mini Plom, a rodent which looks like a green ball of fur with 4 arms that look like sticks protruding out of it and two small black beady eyes.
The koala hums a song and the Plom wiggles its legs to the rhythm of the song.
"A-are those nature spirits?!" Asks a surprised student.
"Yes. They are not from here, the Koala is from the Summer Isles and the Plom is from Gnomeria," Tanya says in an even more tired voice, "They are literally useless pets, they do nothing but be cute and follow me wherever I go. They don't accept petting from anyone else so there's nothing else to ask about them, all you can do is look."
The student sits down disappointed. That makes us 2, mate.
I want a pet too. I let a corgi along with the 2 clay golems in the house, I had to cut the touch feeling because the girls don't stop petting it, but when I pet it it feels weird even when I cut all senses. I miss my dogs.
Aside from glancing at me the professor wastes no time asking us our names. She immediately starts teaching us.
[Nature Magic] is crazy, it's just so fucking crazy even I am starting to blush alongside everyone here. The professor never stops, she keeps going on and on, saying crazy upon crazy phrases. I feel like my sanity will drop.
"During this moon cycle the ‘wickedness' aspect is hidden so you don't have to worry your lewd thoughts will be interpreted as bad influence by the nature spirits".
"During this moon cycle ‘irritability' aspect is hidden so kissing your vegetables on their mouths will improve yield during harvest but only certain parts of the vegetable are considered the mouth".
"Touching the petal of the flower carelessly is offensive since it's like touching the lower lips of a woman and arousing her, then leaving immediately after. Make sure you are ready to please the flower before touching it".
"The mating season is a time of pride for animals, as their master you have to watch them while they procreate to give them confidence otherwise their children will be born shy and weak".
"You can know if an animal is in heat by the smell, if you can't smell it then you have to put your finger inside the vagina of the female and taste the liquid that comes out, if it tastes like tart honey then she's in heat".
"Most horse hybrids like the hippocamp or the hippogriff are very mistrustful, to be able to mount them you have to stimulate their genitals in whatever way you can, after a few sessions they will end up trusting you".
The only interesting thing here is that griffins, hippocamps, and hippogriffs are animals and not monsters.
"Only have sex with a dryad at your own risk, they do not know the concept of stopping and they will turn you infertile due to their poisonous sexual organs if you do it too much".
"While the merfolk are capable of mating with most underwater animal species, anyone else who tries to mate with animals will likely have your innards ripped out. The evolution of animal reproduction after the introduction of monsters was very fast, plenty of monsters use animals as not only fodder but also used them as sex objects. Orcs are specially notorious for that. So with the millennia the only animals who survived the introduction of monsters are those who have incredibly vicious genitals that only work with other animals of the same species".
Why is everything revolving around sex in one way or the other!?
As the color returns to the world the bell rings and everyone runs away from the Nest of Depravity of the Gloomy Pervert. I immediately hug Alissa to clean the filth that has been dirtying me.
After the break, the flurry of background knowledge started to make a bit of sense, only a bit. The professor started talking about the soul of nature and I could concentrate enough to keep a very small [Regeneration] acting while listening.
Every plant, every tree and every animal has a soul, but it's not a complex soul like ours. Due to the plants nature of symbiosis, a plants soul connects with each other and they communicate, creating a huge network. Their communication is slow and their intelligence is nearly nonexistent, but they can communicate with the entire height and width of the hierarchy of beings inside the ecosystem.
Animals aren't as connected with nature as the plants are but they still have a good communication link. Animals are the "agents" and "feelers" of nature, if you want to be accepted in nature you need a good relationship with the animals. Nature is almost like a hive-mind while we are completely individualistic and animals are the middle term.
Some places nature acquires a higher "conscience", they are normally magical beings/animals that have enough power to deal with intruders or other people who want to destroy nature. The most common place where they are found are in forests or swamps, generally places with lots of plant/animal life but little humanoids. While very reclusive, they can also be reasoned with, possibly leading even to negotiations.
Now I wonder who's the guardian of the Sea of Trees.
It's on this that nature spirits are important. Once you start acquiring points in [Nature Magic] nature spirits are much more likely to appear before you. Since the spirits are a fusion of animal and humanoid souls they can somewhat communicate with both, so finding a spirit that could act as a diplomat is very beneficial to any Nature mage. It is better to use spirits because while animals are agents of nature they can be easily tempted and tamed due to their low intelligence, which is not useful for a diplomat, while nature spirits are much more independent and reliable due to their higher intelligence.
Nature doesn't have the same principle of self-preservation that we do even though they were also created by the God of Creation so you have to be delicate when dealing with nature. Nature might put pride, duty, pettiness, or hate above their instinct of self-preservation, even though nature isn't fast acting or powerful they can still do much to hurt you in the long term.
With the world being filled with mana there's a large amount of plants that absorb mana and convert them to energy, I know Roxanne told me these plants are the basis for all mana potions. Eating these plants led to people acquiring the [Sense Mana] skill and with that they tried to copy the way plants manipulate mana, this became the origin of the magician profession and the magical tools.
Magic is manipulating mana in a way to convert it into something else, magical tools merely copy the manipulation of mana so all you have to do is feed it mana. By observing what plants do the very first spell created was [Manasynthesis], which uses mana and converts it into energy for the body, there are a few other uses for it, like using the sunlight to replenish your mana. It's an advanced spell since I can't see it yet.
With that another day ends and I snuzzle up to Alissa's fur as I ride her home.
"Wolfy, I think that the corgi was a bad idea, Roxanne barely worked the entire day," Hana says with her arms folded.
"Hanaa~… you traitoor!"
I decide to keep the corgi out only when we are all home. After my strength training, Roxanne pouts during the bath, so I give her extra attention and Hana melts her by brainwashing her with her fingers.
At night Alissa gives me a new set of scratches on my back and a hickey.
Today is the 3rd.
-
Today my [Space Magic] increased by 4 (now 0+6) and I learned [Nature Magic] with 6 points, I guess my experience using a lot of [Regeneration] in the past helped.
When we walk outside to continue [Telekinesis] training I see something that takes away my breath. It's a mini griffin rolling around on the grass, when he sees us he stops and stares. He tilts his cute little head and then dematerializes.
"Awn… I hoped I could at least approach it," I say.
"Ooh, train more [Nature Magic], I wanna touch a nature spirit!" Roxanne says while clapping the tip of her fingers.
"M-me too..." Alissa mutters bashfully.
This time I explode only 1 wooden sword. -.
For lunch Alissa brings a fish with a literal human face, it's a monster called Amabie. This one is a male with long black hair. After decapitating it the body is the same as that of a spadefish with zebra stripes. I didn't enter the kitchen until the face was nowhere to be seen. It tasted good, not too strong.
Today is [Electric Magic]. We meet Lyle and his friends while I'm giving a goodbye kiss to Alissa and I feel an angry gaze on my back. Hatara enters the building while Garanae continues to another.
The bell chimes and at the same time I hear the crackling of thunder. When I look up there's a thin man wearing body conforming red leather clothing in front of the blackboard.
"Good morning, children! My name is Nellan Berryson, I'm here to teach you all about lightning!" Says the professor with a dashing smile.
He folds his arms and moves his feet apart. He neatly combed his short black hair sideways and his clothing has yellow embroidery of thunder. He has a young face and sharp eyes, he's barely over 30.
Lyle opens his eyes wide and sits at the edge of his chair, he found his new hero.
"Thunder is speed! But not simply doing things fast, thunder is a 'path'. It's a way to find the shortest route to your destiny. It's the best route to your enemies heart or to the place your heart desires. That is thunder!"
He turns into lightning and moves to the back of the class at a speed nearly impossible to see, he leaves sparks crackling behind him.
"But thunder is not everything, thunder is merely a part of [Electric Magic], the true form of thunder is energy, pure, raw energy. It's not mana, mana is soul energy, electricity is physical energy."
He turns into lightning again and moves to the front of the class. He brings out an odd-looking round light bulb and extends his hand towards the class.
"[Shocking Touch]!"
Sparks come out of his hand and the light bulb gives out a faint light. The class looks astonished.
"Converting mana to electricity to then convert it into light is inefficient, but this is just one of the uses of electricity. The advantage of electricity is that it is much easier to manipulate it and measure it, electricity runs well in a variety of metals while mana requires expensive materials for it to work. Another advantage is how it is possible to preserve electricity on metals like this."
He brings out a cylindrical object, it's made by a pile of metal plates and has two metal ribbons coming out of each end. He connects each end to the bulb and a very faint light can be seen.
"This battery costs 1/10th of a mana crystal, or 1/100th of a mana potion, but it outputs less than 1/1000th of the power. This is the untapped power of electricity, perhaps one of you will improve our knowledge of it in the future!"
Although I have knowledge of electricity I have near zero knowledge of chemistry, only when someone invents the transistor will I be able to start an electronics revolution.
In here the Ohm's law is called the Law of Power, voltage is called speed and current is called strength. Charges are called "beginning" and "target" while the current is called "pathway". The idea of electricity is that there's "power" everywhere and when the differential becomes large enough a discharge occurs to balance the environment. A spell like [Lightning Bolt] is the transformation of mana on the world to the "power", creating a differential that discharges through the path you created once you release it.
In truth [Electric Magic] is the manipulation of electrons from the atoms, from stealing them to giving them. There's even magnetism manipulation, which is a bit mind breaking for me since I never understood magnets very well, how do they work?
After the eccentric introduction we started learning about simple circuits, calculating mana to electricity power conversions and magnetic fields. There's no way the students didn't learn a lot about algebra before these classes, things are moving way too fast and the math is not simple. Too bad I can't practice magic here without calling the attention of the professor.
Soon after the color returns to the world the bell chimes and I see Hatara steal a glance at me, then turns around immediately.
I approach her.
"Hey, Miss Hatara. Just to make sure, Alissa was joking that time, she just wanted to embarrass you guys a little. Sorry about that."
"Hm, I-I understand."
Lyle looks at Hatara with amusement.
"There's no worry about that, she will never take her eyes off Gara," he smirks.
"L-Lyle!" Hatara mutters with surprise.
I'm starting to feel somewhat more positive towards Lyle.
"Oh? Then go for it, someone like Mr. Taranoa should be easy to seduce."
"Why is that so?" Asks Lyle, raising an eyebrow.
"Seeing how easy it is to embarrass all of you shows how vulnerable and inexperienced you all are," I smirk.
Lyle and Hatara redden a little.
"A-anyway, she's a lost cause, she's too shy to make any move," Lyle shakes his head.
"Just be aggressive, you can still be shy and cute while aggressively seducing someone."
Hatara looks at me and opens and closes her mouth without any sound.
"If you don't do that he's gonna get stolen, you know? Isn't he a noble? Don't the arranged marriages start becoming a thing at our age?"
"True, even you are engaged," Lyle says.
"But mine wasn't arranged."
They both lose their voices. It's so easy to mess with them.
"Anyway, start by trying to grab his hand or hug him or something. Once you manage to get his attention then you push him into a bed and do what you can, that for sure will tie down any man," I wave and leave.
I can see them blush again.
I meet up with Alissa and she tells me a guy tried to intimate Hana and Roxanne when they went to check the requests at the guild. Since Hana has [Intimidate] the guy almost pissed his pants. The real danger of this town starts to appear when we gather enough attention, I really am living on the safe part of town.
The rest of class is more math, electricity is nearly pure math so it's harder than kinematics. When we get back home I spend some time wasting my mana by casting [Electric Magic]. At level 15 I can use [Rush] and move really fast but nowhere near as fast as the professor. At level 20 there's a spell called [Discharge] which throws electricity from my fingers in a cone in front of me, it has less power than [Lightning Bolt] but it has stronger stunning power, the bad part is that it's easy to cause friendly fire. I felt an urge to scream "Unlimited Power" while using [Discharge], though.
- I cuddle with Roxanne and she sleeps hugging a corgi I summoned. Alissa doesn't want to disturb us so this time we invert positions and she cuddles me.
Today is the 4th.
-
My [Mana Control] increased by 1 (now 0+7), my [Space Magic] increased by 3 (now 0+9) and I learned [Electric Magic] with 2 points.
The nature spirit griffin is out again and he has a small cat with an oversized head besides it. They are both sitting on the wall and look at us curiously when we get out.
I wave at it and the griffin turns its head sideways. If cuteness could kill I would be dead. I pull out a plate and leave on it a piece of raw mutton I prepared just in case. Griffin's are carnivorous, though a spirit could basically eat anything.
I practice [Telekinesis] again and I don't break a single practice sword. With that Hana switches our swords to dull iron swords so we can properly spar. The cat spirit leaves but the griffin stays, I don't let Roxanne get anywhere near it.
- Hana and Roxanne have their fun since I'm tired today -. It's a weird feeling, I do feel a little jealous but it makes me happy seeing them happy together. They are like 2 old friends who keep sharing stories, my relationship with them is different, we are about our dependency and trust on each other.
The girls loved mayonnaise and I even added pieces of cooked egg to improve it. Alissa has been making a lot of roasted meat which goes well with the mayo.
When we leave for the university the nature spirit griffin is eating the meat while shaking his butt in happiness, oof.
Today is [Blessing Magic]. Less than half the seats are occupied, this school of magic is not that popular since it requires a shit ton of mana. It's powerful but very difficult to use so not that many people have a talent for it. Hatara comes and sits besides me this time.
"Good day, Mr. Ryder."
"Good day, Miss Hatara."
She seems much less shy today.
The bell chimes and soon a tall, blonde woman with rosy skin and blue eyes comes. Her skin tone seems a little odd to be human. She wears a yellow greek-style toga with thicker cloth, the weather is chilly around here so using the thin togas wouldn't be appropriate. Her hair is absolutely fabulous with drills all over and a large volume, her face is beautiful and gives an aura of kindness. An angel.
"Good day my children. I'm Alciel Angel, I'm an angel-type demon. I'm your professor for [Blessing Magic]."
I knew it. Her voice rings like soft bells on my ears, it's pleasant but I prefer my sex demon succubus over an angel.
Before this magic school existed the Humanoid Gods used to give simple powers to heroes when the time was right. The mages soon discovered that these blessings were simple spells and decided to copy them, the priests were concerned over copying the gods but when the skill [Blessing Magic] was discovered they realized it was a magic school actually created by the gods and gifted to us.
When a skill is created, be it magical or not, the qualifier of "(creator)" is added to the skill of the person that created it. For most schools the creators are known, but not [Blessing Magic]. Then there's the fact that all other magic schools require tons of theoretical knowledge before the skills increase in level, except this one. This discrepancy in skill growth and the lack of a known creator led credence to the fact that this was a magic school created by the Gods. Then after [Blessing Magic] was discovered and accepted the gods stopped these kinds of blessings and the permanent blessings like mine started to appear.
So in this class there's not that much theoretical knowledge to learn, it's mostly practical.
[Blessing Magic] is basically a mixture of already existing magic. Like how level 1 spell [Wind Armor] is part of the [Wind Magic] school but it's morphed into something different. The basis for [Wind Armor] is [Wind Wall] but morphed by willpower to follow the skin of the wearer.
Level 5 spell [Sharp Blades] uses [Manipulate Metal] to sharpen it in a temporary way.
Level 10 spell [Swift Foot] uses [Electric Magic] to create a "path" that makes it easier to walk.
Level 15 spell [Rainbow Shield] uses all the defensive elemental magic spells to create a single shield that's effective against most magic.
Level 20 spell [Rainbow Crystal] uses the principles behind elemental attack magic to boost nearly all types of magical attacks.
Level 25 spell [Reinforce] is an improved [Sharp Blades] that also improves magical defense, physical defense, and magical attack.
Level 30 spell [Warrior's Respite] is similar to [Filling Waters] but it recovers only stamina. [Filling Waters] conjures water that increases recovery of stamina and Mana Points.
Level 40 spell [Mage's Respite] is the mana-only version of [Filling Waters].
Level 50 spell [Haste] is the fusion of [Perfect Intake] (perfect breathing) and [Rush]. From then on the spells are original.
Level 60 spell [Reflection], reflects physical attacks.
Level 70 spell [Mage's Mirror] reflects magical attacks.
Level 80 spell [Unbreakable Skin] blocks all attacks.
Level 90 spell [Time Stop] stops the target in time, though this spell was added later to the [Space Magic] school as [Slow].
So there is time magic, I think "Chronomancer" would be an amazing title to have. I will ask the gnome professor the name of all of the known spells of [Space Magic].
Level 100 spell [Undying Flesh] is the ultimate spell that prevents death as long as a single cell of the target still lives.
None of the other magic schools are as well researched as this one. Though perhaps there's only one living person who can cast [Unbreakable Skin], the other spells have such an unbelievable high cost it requires dozens of rose coins in mana crystals to be able to cast it.
The bell chimes and the class breaks from the trance of her voice. As people prepare to leave I strike a conversation with Hatara, I know I'm a pervert but there's no ulterior motive here, I just prefer to talk to women than men.
"What are you going to do once you finish your courses, Miss Hatara?"
"Huh? Oh, I will join the knight's order like my father and join the subjugation squad."
"What role will you do?"
"I-I'll be the field healer and support. I'm learning Blessing, Light, Water and Wind, I'll likely be part of the long distance squad. What about you?"
"I'm going to look for a dungeon to conquer, possibly at the High Forest, I'll remain as an adventurer and explore the world."
"Ohh… that sounds nice, I always wanted to visit Goloria or Elaria. But I don't want to leave the Shore of Leaves, my family has a duty to this land."
"You wanna come with us? Lets have some tea," I ask her as we approach the exit where Alissa is waiting.
"S-sure…"
Alissa is curious why I invited her, I mostly want to leave a good impression since Garanae obviously dislikes me. She doesn't bring out the cupcakes, those are reserved only for me and my lovers, no exceptions.
"What kind of duty your family has?" I ask.
"One of my ancestors was the child of a fallen noble, to keep his life he swore allegiance to the lord and became a knight. Since then our family always trains one child per generation to serve the Lord as a knight and our family is taken care of by him. Because I have talent in magic I have been chosen as the inheritor of this vow. If I bring glory to my family then perhaps..." Her voice trails off.
"Perhaps…?" I prod.
"I could… marry a noble…"
"Ooh, and the one you are aiming for is Garanae?"
She blushes and nods.
"I see it now," Alissa says and nods to me.
"Like I said, you need to catch his eyes, you know who he's looking at?" I ask.
"What? Who?" She looks at me wide eyed.
I point at Alissa. Hatara drops her head, dejected.
I see Lyle walking about looking for someone, I get up and meet with him.
"Oh, Mr. Ryder? I see you are with Hatara."
"Yes, well no. Let's leave them both together for a while, Alissa has a bit of work to do."
"Huh?" He looks at me with narrowed eyes.
"It's not about me, but rather it's about her future with someone else."
Lyle looks a little confused but I believe he understood, somewhat. I bring my tea and the rest of my cookies and lonely eat them somewhere else. A few minutes before the end of the break I buy 3 little cupcakes and bring them to eat with the girls.
When I join them Hatara is nodding while blushing and Alissa has a bewitching smile on her face. After we eat the bell rings.
"T-thank you for the advice, Miss Alissa."
"Don't mind it."
The disciple of the Goddess of Love guides the first lamb.
We resume class and the professor teaches us about chanting. There's not that much depth to it, it's mostly about practice and increasing your mana capacity.
This is the first time I learn about chanting. Each school of magic has their own style of chanting, it starts as simple humming or sounds that help control mana and progresses to being songs or poems about the spells. Each person can develop their own chant but most mages will know what you are chanting if they pay attention, even if you are humming. The most advanced mages shorten their chants and end up not chanting at all, but it requires extreme control and efficiency otherwise the spell is lost and the mana is wasted.
The professor sings a song with such a lovely and warm voice it gives me chills, she could be a choir singer with ease.
"Gentle breeze of the wind, give us your affection, stop the sword of the unkind, change the arrow's direction, [Wind Armor]!" She yells the name of the spell with a stern tone.
The entire class gains the [Wind Armor] spell. That's impressive, I haven't cast an area spell like this yet, I need to learn this asap. [Blessing Magic] drains too much of my mana, it's annoying to use with [Summoning Magic], I need every improvement I can get. Saying the name of the spell seems to be the cherry of the cake, it helps the mind keep control over the mana and not spill over any excess.
After casting it again a few times to the class she conducts us to sing as if we are a choir. Soon enough we are all singing in sync and she tells us to start focusing our mana. The air fills with such a strong mana it's almost suffocating.
"[Wind Armor]!" I yell and feel my mana draining.
On the 3rd time I manage to do it. I feel like all those times I cast the spell it was as if I was doing this procedure on fast forward.
Suddenly a new song appears on my head. I look at my stats and see that I immediately gained 6 points in [Blessing Magic]. This is actually the magic I used the most since I never fought without it, I don't even wanna know how my wounds would look like if I didn't use it.
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This time I don't know the words but I start humming another song, it's almost like I'm improvising a new song. I hum, fail to keep the rhythm, start again and move on. Then I get the note right, I fix my beat, and start to increase the volume.
"[Sharp Blades]!" I yell. I finished the spell about 4 minutes after I started humming.
"Ooh, congratulations, it seems you have a talent for this magic," The professor claps to me.
I notice the class stopped singing and they are all staring at me, I did hum a bit too loud. My cheeks redden and I force myself to maintain my poke face.
"I-it seems so, the song just came to me."
"That's always how it happens. [Blessing Magic] is the most beautiful magic school I have seen, it gives us such a desire to sing beautiful songs it's almost like the words come out by themselves."
The class continues singing and I decide to keep humming quietly, I manage to reduce the chant to 30 seconds. It takes less mana than doing it by the system but it still takes a huge amount of mana, I have to try casting it in an area in the next class.
The singing stops with the bell and I feel my throat hurt. Hatara waves goodbye to me and Alissa and we leave.
At home, I have to do the strength training -.
"How did you survive before you met me?" I ask Hana -.
"Huh..." - "Now that I think about it I was basically traveling around all the time escorting merchants and fighting every other day. You know, I actually definitely prefer riding dick than slashing throats. Maybe this is why our culture is to have children much later, we would get addicted to sex and stop fighting if we were like the other races."
"Seems you are all a race of extremes. At least you live without regrets."
"That's right, nobody lives prouder than the dragonkin!" -.
"I think the Tale of Creation tells us the dragonkin were responsible for repopulating the continent after the Age of Oppression," Alissa says.
"Hahah, I will agree that this makes sense," Hana nods.
"If it weren't for the Ring of Fertility you would have been pregnant since the first day you met Wolfy," Alissa says.
"I agree, there's no one more depraved than Hana," Roxanne says and she and Alissa share a smile.
"O-oi, I have a feeling I should deny this," Hana says.
"Pff..." I scoff.
"Wolfyyy!"
"Well, it's not like I consider it a negative, I love you as you are."
"Awn..." She kisses me -.
After dinner I play around with Alissa while she reads her book -.
Today is the 5th.
-
I got 2 points in [Space Magic] (now 0+11), 1 in [Sword Use] (now 9+6), 1 in [Blessing Magic] (now 0+7) and my MP increased by 30 (now 540). With this I can use [Gravity Crush] from [Space Magic].
My growth is incredible, the possibility of using spells before I have the knowledge required for them is a huge cheat. Even my physical abilities like [Sword Use] benefit from it since I know how the "better" way of attacking is, it's like I always have half the experience necessary to increase my skills.
Today Hana wants me to learn [Muscle Explosion] so she uses Alissa to give me super fast strikes. I put a point in [Muscle Explosion] and it gives me a lot of clarity in learning it.
At 10:30AM Roxanne appears on the window to the backyard.
"Wolfy, Ciel is here."
Oh boy.
A towel and a strong [Clean] is enough to remove the sweat and any smell. I go to the living room and Ciel is sitting by the sofa. She's wearing a dark red sundress with white flower embroidery, she really likes flowery dresses.
"H-hello, Mr. Ryder."
"Hello, Miss Ciel, good morning."
"M-morning."
Ciel is nervous. Alissa pulls out the tea and the good cookies.
"Oh my, these are always so delicious, thank you."
"So, what brings you here?" I ask.
"I have made my decision..." She looks me in the eye and speaks in a resolute tone, "I wanna join you."
We all smile. I look outside and the spirit griffin is eating meat again cutely, today is a good day.
"It really makes me happy that you agreed."
"Honestly, it should have been an easy decision to me but I was running away from it. Any priest would be happy to be able to accompany two people who have been blessed by the gods," she says while looking down.
I just hope this isn't the only reason you came.
"Then, Miss Ciel, welcome to Helios, this is your home now."
I stretch my hand and we share a handshake.
"Let's form the fellowship, Ciel."
"S-sure."
Her hand is very soft, softer than Alissa's and plumper than Roxanne's. Is she using [Heal] on her hands? She should have much rougher hands because of the hard work of helping in the orphanage.
"Do you need help bringing your luggage?" I say, regretting leaving the warmth of her hand.
"I-if that's not too much, it's only two trunks but I can't fit one on my [Item Box] so I have to carry it by hand."
"We'll go with our flying dinghy and then register you at the guild."
"Ok."
Me, Alissa and Ciel go flying to the temple. Over there the children notice Ciel and rush to hug her.
"Sister Cieeeel! I will miss you!"
"Cieeel!"
"Sisteeer! Come back soon!"
Good thing they are not asking her to stay, that would be heartbreaking. But this is the first time I saw Ciel interacting with the children, she gives such a heartwarming smile it tickles my heart.
I understand why me and the children like Ciel, she's a warm and lovable person, it's the kind you don't want to hurt but also know she will never hurt you. She's an angel on earth.
After a few minutes Ciel manages to calm the children. Alissa hugs my arm and I see jealousy in her eyes.
"That's a bit too soon for you but don't worry, our house will be much more lively one day," I whisper in her ear.
She shudders and I see her tail wag. I think that fox tails shouldn't wag like a dog's or am I misremembering it?
Ciel goes inside and brings her trunk, it's quite big and heavy so I just store it inside my "Items". She knows I'm a talented mage so I don't think I should bother telling her about it.
We go to the guild and I see plenty of eyes on us, most are curiosity, a few are lust, and the last bunch are hate. It seems Hana's intimidation worked, nobody dares approach us. After that we simply go back home.
Ciel immediately helps Alissa in cooking.
"Oh my, so many spices," Ciel says with wide eyes, "I'm afraid I don't know much how to use them, but I do know how to make food for a lot of people taste good."
"Wolfy taught me how to use each of these spices but I have been experimenting a lot with them," Alissa says.
"Wolfy…? Ah, Mr. Ryder is a gourmet then?"
"You can just call me Wolf, I'm just addicted to experimenting new kinds of food."
"Well then, Wolf, you can drop the 'Miss'. Anyway, I wish the children were like you then."
I was a picky eater as a child too so I'm not the best role model.
With the clay golems and Ciel, the 2 housework duties I had have basically disappeared. I'm feeling a little guilty about this, I have to find some way to help around the house.
"But this house is amazing, it feels so comfortable to live in, did you buy this?"
"No, it's a rental."
Ciel opens her eyes wide again, Roxanne looks a bit shy.
I feel somewhat guilty that our lifestyle is so much better than the one of the orphanage. The temple has the clinic so they are not starving for money but still they have to spend a lot just to sustain the children.
After lunch and praises from Ciel, Alissa is going to let me at the university and the girls are going to go buy Ciel's equipment. I made it very clear that the equipment defense should be between mine and Hana's, Ciel is likely to pick something cheap if we don't force her, I really don't want her hurt on our first mission.
We have a good amount of money saved and Roxanne's potions barely cover our living expenses but with Ciel we are going to have to look for jobs seriously now. I told Hana to look for one.
Before we leave I give a corgi to Roxanne to carry but soon enough Ciel manages to steal it from her.
At the university the class today is [Reduced Mana Cost], the classroom is full. Today Lyle, Hatara and Garanae appear, Hatara pulls Garanae to sit somewhere near me but she couldn't get a seat too close since Garanae pulled back.
After a while 2 researchers enter the class and sit. The first is an owl-type wereanimal, she has brown hair with white streaks, long spiky eyelashes and eyebrows, round yellow eyes, feathers coming out of the top of her hair that resemble cat ears, claws on her hand and a small mouth. She looks solemn and a bit cute, she looks to be in her 20's. The second one is a small and cute boy with a square jaw, green eyes and long black hair, he seems disinterested in everything. I bet he's a dwarf, his face is too oblong to be a halfling. He looks young but his eyes look old and tired.
The owl woman sits behind me.
"Hoo, Good day," her voice is high pitched and she speaks fast.
"Good day, first time I'm seeing another researcher here."
"Hoh? That's a bit difficult to believe? What classes are you taking?"
"Ah, it's just beginners, I learned magic by myself so I'm creating a strong base."
"I see, hoh. My name is Toroo, I'm researching [Illusion Magic], what about you?"
Illusion? Interesting, the spells that I can see on this school relate to aggro control like pacifying, enraging or disturbing the vision of enemies. But it's also an incomplete school of magic.
"I'm Wolf Ryder, I'm researching [Golemancy] and a skill I made, [Redirect Mana]."
"Ohoh, so you are the one with a blessing, fascinating. Tell me more about your skill later," her eyes stare into my soul but her kind voice and attitude makes me happy.
"Only if you tell me about illusions."
"Deal."
Straightforward, I like it.
"Do you know him?" I point to the supposed dwarf who sat at the opposite of the class.
"He's Gimbo Bombur. He's researching enchanting, I wanted to pay him to enchant a staff for me but he's a bit reclusive. It's a pity since the craftsmen of the university have much more interesting enchantments than those from the market," the way Toroo talks is full of grace, she's a lovely woman.
The bell chimes and a simple middle-aged man with black hair and a plain black robe appears. Is he gonna be the first professor that's not a complete eccentric?
"Good day, class. I'm Vareto Amvlyson. I'm the professor for [Reduced Mana Cost]," The man speaks on a monotone.
I guess a complete lack of flavor can also be considered an eccentricity.
Reducing mana cost is one of the core skills of mages, it reduces only the initial cost of the spell, which is good for single spells with a large initial cost or casting many spells in fast succession. Mana efficiency is another core that reduces the amount of mana spilled over from charging large or continued spells, charging large spells is different than just casting a spell with a large base cost. Mana control is the last core that allows you to cast larger or smaller spells and control better it's effects while active, like controlling the direction of a [Fire Arrow] during flight.
For me who has a ton of spells from different schools this skill is really useful, increasing the level of the magic school also reduces the base cost but only for spells you cast a lot. But even for mages who specializes in one school the reduced cost is very good for large spells.
The first problem is surviving this class, the monotone voice has a sleep-inducing effect and soon enough the class has a few heads bobbing up and down. The second problem of this skill is that it requires a deep understanding of mana and magic. The third problem is that the actual practice for it is something very abstract that requires deep concentration and lots of imagination.
Mana is the concept of power and life of this world. Mana lives and then dies and turns into something else along the cycle. Everything is made from mana on a deeper level, this is why we can conjure basically anything on this world and manipulate it. When we destroy something the law of conservation applies, it doesn't get destroyed it simply turns into the next mana type of the cycle, this is why something like [Summoning Magic] is so expensive, it turns mana into matter and when dismissed the remaining matter is turned into mana again, Unfortunately I can't reabsorb everything, the rest dissipates due to my lack of [Mana Efficiency].
The only things that are not made of mana are the gods, they are pure "consciences". The conscience of living beings is attached to souls and given a form on this world. The Gods and even the Humanoid Gods don't have a physical form, allowing them to look over us all the time, they only can't act due to the lack of power. Once a soul dissipates that person is truly "lost", if you can keep the soul together them maybe you can recreate a new vessel for the soul.
The matter of revival is controversial, there's research on it but nobody ever succeeded. The biggest problem is the moral question of forcing the soul to be bound to a new vessel. The soul is morphed into the vessel that is our bodies, so giving it a new vessel will have unknown effects on it. But this is getting off-topic for the lesson.
The source of mana is the sun and the moon, they are the 2 sources of energy for this realm, they take the mana from the outside of the realm and pour it here at a stable rate, before the God of the Sun ascended this rate varied wildly. The sun gives physical power that many plants convert either into chemical energy or into magical energy to survive. The moon gives pure mana but it focus on the humanoids.
Mana that spills from magic has a bit of a zero-gravity movement style, they keep moving until they hit something, but they are infinitesimally small so they can actually miss a solid wall and move forever in a single direction. Mana has also a bit of gravity in itself and tends to accumulate, if it gets too big it collapses on itself and creates a mana storm. In a way mana works like particles in the vacuum of space, it's just that not many things can interact with it. Spirits are the most sensitive to stray mana, making them actually very vulnerable to spells.
The bell chimes and I feel like I'm pulled out of a deep dark well into the light.
"Wanna have a break with me?" I ask Toroo.
"Hoh, sure."
"This is my fiancee, Alissa."
"Pleasure to meetcha. I'm Toroo."
"Pleasure to meet you too," Alissa answers with elegance.
We discuss [Illusion Magic] first, from what I understood it's a magic to read the part of the soul related to the connection to the brain and break this connection and mold it at your will. It's related to [Spirit Magic] but it's not the same since it works on the brain-soul connection instead of directly interfering with the soul.
For me [Spirit Magic] isn't that useful to learn [Sense Soul] because the spirit is actually a membrane made of mana that protects the soul. There's one spell that could be useful called [Soul Search] but I can't see it yet and it's more of a brain invasion than actual search of the soul since it focus on knowing the "intent" of the person instead of understanding what a soul is made of, which is what I want.
I explain the principles of [Golemancy] and how [Redirect Mana] works. The difficulty is explaining the way to move your own soul, it seems nobody has the "inner muscle" necessary to force the soul to change shape, perhaps because everyone chants instead of using my cheat "instant cast".
"Huh, to move your own soul certainly seems intriguing," Toroo taps her small chin.
She doesn't doubt the skill exists because of my blessing that guarantees my character and the fact that skills can simply be seen by using an Inspection Crystal.
"Think of how [Sense Presence] works, you can guess the size of a monster because the soul expands to try and cover the whole body. It's not that the soul is bigger, it's simply deformed."
"Hoh! I understand," her eyes open wider than I thought possible, "But to reproduce something that you achieved on a life and death situation sounds a little too difficult, what a pity."
"Indeed, just for me to improve this skill takes a lot of effort. I had to put training it on hold since I have a lot of other things to study too."
"What actually makes me excited is the damage from two souls touching, it's something never seen before. Imagine the possibilities, we have [Spirit Magic] but perhaps we can evolve it into something deeper and create [Soul Magic] and directly interfere with the soul of the living."
"I'm rather concerned with the ethical implications of it since this could be a dangerous weapon. I'm going to continue studying [Golemancy] but I feel I don't want to touch [Soul Magic]."
"I agree. We could be touching into a new magic soon to be forbidden. Hohohoh, I will remain working with my illusion magic, no thank you."
Alissa has been interested in our talk but she can't chime in, she knows little about magic unfortunately.
The bell chimes.
"Well then, thank you for the tea, I also loved those cookies, I will repay you sometime."
"That's my own creation, I have been trying to copy the baker's but I ended up creating these instead," Alissa says with a hint of pride.
These cookies uses not-cinnamon, not-cloves and not-nutmeg, the strong taste goes well with a weak not-black-tea.
"My, how lovely, I wish I had a cook like you with me. Unfortunately our hired cook is too much of a meat head to work with sweets like these and my husband would likely set our house on fire," she smiles bitterly.
Alissa's tail wags. We go back to the class.
The professor moves us outside to a nearby magic range like the one on the hunters guild. The idea is that we have to cast a spell and meditate and look for ways to reduce the mana used. This is a really hard part since the skill system gives me no help, it just gave me a flat discount when I put points into it.
We aren't here to work on the mana spill that happens when you cast a spell, that's part of [Mana Efficiency]; we are not here to change the size of the spell, that's [Mana Control]; what we have to do is build more with less. Instead of building a spiral stair we have to create a ladder directly to the target, it's gonna be more fragile and more difficult to traverse but it's gonna use less materials. This is fine for a single spell but we have to understand the rule that lets us apply this method to every single spell to conserve mana.
The bell chimes and nobody makes any progress. I look behind and Alissa is nearby watching from afar. I wave goodbye to Toroo and Hatara and go back home.
The girls got Ciel's equipment. Another Grey Berserker jacket and pants, steel vambraces and gauntlets, she also has a light small-sized leather targe to protect against arrows, and a backup iron short sword. The glaive blade is a green dragon fang, not emerald, this one has affinity with wind so it helps her wind magic.
The glaive has a long wooden shaft, a single-edge blade at the top and a small hook at the back. It is a mid point weapon, slower than a spear but faster than a halberd, less slashing power than a halberd but more than a spear, less piercing power than a spear but more than a halberd. The range is also mid point, it definitely wins against a long sword so her advantage is still range and dexterity, she can use the sword for close encounters, though.
Ciel was pouting since the equipment is expensive but it's a gift from us, it's also quite literally the same quality as all our equipment so we are all even now.
Hana found a good request for us, a nest of dragons was found and now a merchant is offering a group subjugation request. When a dragon nest is found it's the responsibility of the local lord to subjugate it but since dragons are really valuable (considering our most valuable equipment comes from an emerald dragon) there's always a merchant who will post a subjugation request for it. This one is also an escort request since the merchant will extract the scales and meat on"site, a dragon corpse is too heavy to carry without enough space mages. The meeting to negotiate and choose from the interested fellowships will happen at the 9th.
"S-so… you all take a bath together?" Ciel asks.
"Yep, it's a tradition now, even during an expedition we all must take a bath together. Our bath is sacred," I say.
"Our bath is sacred," Alissa adds.
"Our bath is sacred," Roxanne joins and laughs.
"Our bath is sacred," Hana finishes with a nod.
Thank god even the bath has sound protection -.
For dinner Alissa brings out the premium Grey Berserker fillet steak and Hana opens a fine blue wine. Ciel is another lightweight with alcohol.
"Hohohoh, it's like I left one family and already joined another," Ciel says while wobbling her head about.
"Well… you did, quite literally, since these are all my fiancees," I say.
"Hm, yeah! Quite happy to join the hen house, hohoh."
"We are happy to have you here, as an equal," Alissa says, she's a bit flushed.
"Yes, as an equal," I say and smirk.
Ciel chokes a bit. Gotta be subtle.
We spend some time on the living room and Hana puts Roxanne to sleep with her brain massage. I teach Ciel how to massage Alissa's ears and with me working her tail she soon falls over her book. Ciel is very amused with this sight, she has to stifle her laugh not to wake up Alissa when she sees we all sleep on a huge bed.
Today is the 6th.
-
During morning practice Ciel joins too, she has quite a lot of dexterity and speed. It has been a while since she used the glaive so she's a little rusty but she's definitely gonna be able to defeat me, that is if we don't use magic, once she gets back in shape. Not that I'm implying she's fat, good thing she can't read my mind.
The griffin is watching us again and he brought a platypus with him this time. He seems particularly interested in Ciel.
"Awn, there's even a nature spirit here. They never come near the temple, there's way too many people there," Ciel says while pouting.
"I gained some levels in [Nature Magic], perhaps I could befriend him soon."
"Please do! They bring good fortune to people who treat them well," she pleads.
"We all wish the same, but here he is practicing the sword again," Alissa says smirks. Roxanne laughs and nods.
"Oh you…"
Ciel is quite excited so she and Hana go practice on the hunters training grounds. I secretly told Roxanne to look for a dress for Ciel, I want to reserve one to give to her on a special occasion.
Class is [Space Magic] again, today we learn how the chants for this magic school works. The chants are basically whispers that follow a cadence that increases in speed, for [Telekinesis] it takes 5 seconds to say the words, which normally makes it inconvenient to use in combat like I use. My style is to only cast the spell when I'm striking and then end it after the strike. Trying to swing around an object under the effect of [Telekinesis] is a quite odd since it's not under the same gravity as I am, so I have to adjust the force on it to match the environment after the strike otherwise it becomes a waste of mana.
I can also use [Gravity Crush] now but it's a rather destructive spell so I just practice my [Telekinesis] on the small block of metal we have been given. An object too light would be difficult to control, but I can easily do fine movements with the amount of [Mana Control] I have now.
"You were already practicing [Telekinesis] last class weren't you?"
"Dyuh~!" I let out a dumb noise in surprise.
The gnome professor is floating besides me and looking at me with curious eyes. I was concentrating so much on my spell I didn't notice him silently float towards me.
"Uh, yes, I was. How did you notice?"
"My [Sense Mana] is very high. Impossible for me not to notice, but I never saw you chant."
I try to not cringe while I force an innocent smile.
"I have a bit of a talent for [Space Magic], I never need to chant," I lie.
"Hmm, so are you aiming to learn [Gate]?"
"No please, the last thing I want is to be chained by the empire."
"Heh, it's not like they enslave you," he discreetly rolls his eyes, "You can get permission to walk free if you serve long enough or someone backs you."
"Backs me? Is the blessing of a god not enough?"
"Not really, but aren't you an adventurer? If you get enough achievements a lord is a good enough backer for exemption. I know a few of the famous fellowships around can use [Gate] freely."
Hm, that's a good idea, but I'm not sure Alaraste would give me such a favor, this exemption sounds like a much bigger thing than the town pass. Bypassing customs might allow me to bring illegal goods into town and such things but being able to freely use [Gate] means I can transport anyone I want nearly anywhere. I know there are ways to block [Gate] from being used but these countermeasures aren't so easy to use.
When I get back home I see Ciel with an exhausted face, she slowly walks around the house, it seems she won't be able to help with cooking today. Hana is beaming a smile -.
"How was training?" I ask while Hana massages my brain.
"Wonderful as always, but I'm having to spar with the instructors more, the other students aren't a match for me. Maybe I will fight those living-armors, they sound interesting. Oh, the best was Ciel though, people asked about her and if she was 'Mr. 'Good Luck's' new woman'. She was way too flustered to answer them properly so I just left it like that.
"Oh, that sounds good," I say. Except for the nickname.
"Ciel is a wonderful woman, I wonder why she was single for so long," Alissa says.
It seems Alissa and Ciel are getting along well.
-
After dinner I see Ciel cuddling Alissa and playing with her ears.
"Hm… I'm feeling envy," I say.
"Heheh, those ears are way too cute to let them alone," Ciel answers.
"That's not exactly the envy I feel.
Is it harassment if I keep saying things like this? Ciel doesn't seem to dislike it, I can see her cheeks redden. I guess flirting on this world needs to be more straightforward.
Today is the 7th.
- I don't want these days to ever end, this is a small piece of paradise. -.
-
My [Space Magic] increased by 1 (now 0+12) and I learned [Muscle Explosion], Alissa's [Muscle Explosion] also increased by 1 (now 0+2).
Today I decided to look into the university's library for the first time. I want to look for a [Light Magic] book and see if there's at least a small introduction on it. There's light rain today so I don't feel like sparring, even when Hana and Ciel teased me about it.
The first part of the library is a large corridor where there's 2 floors filled with tables and chairs dedicated for study. The chairs here seem more comfortable than those on the classrooms.
After the large corridor there's a huge spiral staircase that goes up 10 floors, each floor has a long corridor that makes it impossible for me to even guess the amounts of books. There are no windows along the corridors of the bookcases, the light there is only a dim artificial light. In the middle of the staircase [Telekinesis] powered glass elevators ferry scholars around, looks beautiful if you are not afraid of heights.
The architecture here is quite grand, following the baroque style of excessive columns, twisting designs, gilding and, sculptures of famous figures everywhere. The ceiling of the spiral staircase is a large glass dome with stained glass with the symbol of the university and the heraldry of the lord, a black kite with a golden sword and rose crossed. I can hear the pleasant tip-taps of the rain on it.
With my ID as a researcher I don't have to pay to enter, but I will pay a hefty price if I damage the books. I walk past the study corridor and near the start of the bookcases there's a counter with the name "Reception". I go over it and there's a man with his back to me, he's bent over collecting some papers from archives.
"Excuse me."
The man raises his body and his head instantly turns 180º and faces me, large grey eyes stare into my soul.
"HYAH!"
"Oh sorry…"
The man turns his body and aligns it with his head. His large eyes look apologetic to me. He's an owl-type wereanimal with grey hair with white streaks and a small curved nose.
My ears are burning with shame, in this silent library my scream echoed around the entire building.
The man coughs," Sorry about that, I'm new among humans and I forget doing such thing scares them.
"N-no problem, I understand. A-anyway, I'm looking for an introductory book to [Light Magic], do you have any?
"Let me see… ," he brings out a large book and sifts through many pages.
"7th floor, corridor D, section 4, that's where the [Light Magic] books are," he says.
I say my thanks and take the elevator. I take the slow elevator and enjoy the view.
The nostalgic smell of old books makes this place so comfortable to be in. Next time I study monsters I think I will come here and bring Alissa too, this place is much more pleasant than the dungeoneering guild.
I find many books and treatises on [Light Magic], things like proposed new spells, research of known spells, diagnosis, epidemiology, psychology of wicked and evil beings, analysis of undead and how to fight them, beneficial effects of magic and pairings of potions with spells. Finally I find a small section with a few small books, it's "Teaching Light Magic to Children".
The book mainly teaches about child songs that stimulate the spell chants so a child can at least use [Clean] and stimulate the learning of [Spirit Light], for those who might have talent there are a few tests to see if the child can possibly learn [Heal].
For the parents there's some explanation on how to keep the house clean, it seems they have a basic notion that things like bacteria and viruses might exist since the spell [Clean] impedes wounds from festering and [Purify Body] can heal diseases and even drunkenness. It's possible they over rely on using the "Status" windows to identify wounds and diseases, the "Status Effects" window gives symptoms and treatment is based entirely on what is said there, even though I know there's times symptoms don't show, like the mind poison from the arachne. It seems [Diagnosis] is a rare skill and practical tests are not that developed. Magic is convenient but it's blocking the progress of technology.
I copy the chants and go to my office to practice them. The way you need to sing [Light Magic] is upbeat and with a fast tempo, it reminds me of nursery rhymes. So far I managed to cast [Clean], [Spirit Light] and [Heal] through chanting, it takes from 30 seconds for [Clean] up to 3 minutes for [Heal], the book says [Light Magic] is the one who takes the longest to chant.
Alissa brings lunch for me and we eat together at the office.
"Isn't it tiring coming and going all the time?" I ask.
"Not really, I feel that my stamina in the fox form is increasing, perhaps I will level my skill soon. Also… I really enjoy when you ride me…"
"I do too, you are so fluffy."
Alissa blushes and her tail wags.
It seems Hana and Ciel quit trying to spar in the rain and they are now drinking hot tea after a hot bath.
"Tease them in my name," I say.
"You don't even have to ask."
I spend the rest of my time until class cuddling with her. If the walls were soundproof I would definitely make love to her here, perhaps I can use the gag again, but it will have to wait for next time.
During class the Gloomy Pervert brings us to a place with lots of plants, since it's raining we use the greenhouse. There's plenty of dangerous and poisonous plants around so we are confined into the flower section. I see all kinds of flowers, from the common ones like lilies and poppies, to exquisite colored roses, and others with complex and mesmerizing arrangement of colors. There's even a few very precious flowers that glow, which we are not allowed to go near.
Chanting [Nature Magic] is almost whispering, it's very slow tempo but there are not many words so it's faster than [Light Magic]. The idea is literally whispering to nature and since the "conscience" of nature is not very complex you have to reduce the amount of words to the minimum possible to get your idea across.
I successfully cast [Entangling Vines] on a dummy in front of me and [Regeneration] on myself. Most people also achieve the same, being so close to nature helps a lot in casting such magic. At the end of the class I manage to cast a weak version of [Vine Weapon], it creates vines, manipulates them in a shape and hardens them. In a pinch it might be useful to have a vine sword or to create a throwing weapon, though I have no skill with it.
-
Today is the 8th.
-
Today my [Light Magic] and [Nature Magic] increased by 2 (now 9+4 and 0+8), my MP increased by 20 (now 560) and my "Magic Power" increased by 10 (now 235).
The backyard is muddy so Roxanne heats the ground and drains the water, with a magic skill high enough you start to be able to manipulate the elements at your will though it's much less efficient than casting a spell.
With that I train [Battlefield Perception] by being surrounded and attacked by the 3 girls. It was really painful, Hana massaged my brain during the bath to compensate me.
Under a covered magic range we learn how to chant [Electric Magic], it's basically fast rapping. I manage to chant [Lightning Bolt] but I couldn't chant [Shocking Touch] yet. Lyle was one of the few who completed [Shocking Touch], but after doing it once he cast the bolt repeatedly until he fainted, he was like a child during Christmas.
- Tonight I ask Alissa to put me to sleep with her hands. With the rain it got chilly so we turned on the fireplace and we are all around the living room cuddling.
"Every time I see you you are hugging or touching someone, it's like you are made of glue," Ciel comments to me.
"This is the dream of every man, to be able to be in touch with a woman you loved during all times."
"Pff, no wonder you have three women."
"And I couldn't be happier."
After I fall asleep on Alissa's arms Hana carries me to bed. I enjoy this, I have no shame anymore.
Today is the 9th.
-
Today my [Electric Magic] increased by 3 now (0+5), my magic progress is amazing.
Alissa and I go to the guild. A large room has been prepared for this meeting and a long line of interested parties waiting for an interview is on the way. It seems a dragon subjugation is really profitable.
I see Simon on the line, we trade a nod. I hope he doesn't participate.
We have been discussing negotiation tactics during our meals, Hana or Roxanne can't really give me advice during the talks or I will look weak so they have been guiding me. As the girls instructed me, I put 10 points into [Acting] and 10 into [Mental Resistance] temporarily. Hopefully it's enough to prevent people with high "Charisma" from messing with me.
When it's my turn we enter and the first thing I see is an elegant woman with fiery red-hair, she has asian eyes and a delicate triangular face. She wears what looks like to be a red qipao with yellow roses embroidered near the bottom. Her eyes tell me she's bored and she lifts an eyebrow when I arrive. I still haven't fixed my image, even with a scar on the cheek I look like a baby who had an accident instead of a reliable an experienced hunter.
Beside her is a small girl with a pale face, droopy eyes, and straight black hair with bangs. She looks expressionlessly at us yet she still looks cute and feminine. She has a simple black dress with a bit of frills. On her neck is a black metal necklace with a tag, she's a traditional slave.
Behind her are two tall dog-type wereanimal women. They are wearing a simple hauberk, leather pants, and a longsword on their belts. They have a snout, square jaws, and a sharp gaze. One has black hair and long pointy ears of a doberman while the other has white hair and furry white ears, the doberman has a thick black tail standing upright while the other has a furry and curvy tail standing low.
"Good morning. My name is Wolf Ryder, I'm the leader of Helios, this is my fiancee, Alissa."
"Good morning. I'm Hildegard Roth, I represent the Armorer's Guild who's funding this request. This is my slave assistant, Lina."
The girl sifts through a stack of papers and then pulls out one.
"Helios, 5 members.
"Wolf 'Good Luck' Ryder, summoner, magic swordsman, possess the blessing from the Goddess of Knowledge.
"Alissa, blood slave, expert archer, possess the blessing form the Goddess of Love.
"Hanafuria, blood slave, experienced adventurer and merchant escort, skilled with many weapons, capable of dueling with the instructors of the guild.
"Roxanne, mage, experienced adventurer and potion-seller, posses an original and very powerful magic called [Explosion].
Ciel, former priest, experienced in polearms, wind mage and a main healer of the temple, also participated as warrior priestess in the past.
"Notable hunts: Grey Berserker, Orc Headhunter, Oodogloo in a single night, Symbol of Hate, Orc Chief," Finishes the girl, even her voice is cute.
"Symbol of Hate..." Hildegard mutters with eyes wide open, "So you are that one... well then, besides what has already been said, what else can you bring to us?"
"Alissa is an expert tracker and capable assassin, she can work as a scout or with us as the vanguard during the travel. I'm very versatile, I have some knowledge of Electric, Light, Nature, Space and Blessing magic. Roxanne's potions can enhance strength so it gives us a chance of standing toe to toe with a medium dragon for a short while."
Hildegard smiles.
"What is your price?" She asks.
"1 gold and half for each member."
Hildegard frowns.
"You should know killing the Symbol of Hate is not a small feat. We can protect you even if a large dragon appears but we are not specialized in killing dragons, so we can only protect."
"The Symbol was killed by your mage by a stroke of luck, her ridiculous magic is the only reason you are alive," Hilde says with a dismissive tone.
Pff, only now Roxanne gets the credit.
"And yet we killed a 200 years old creature. It wasn't just luck, I still have the scars on my body, my point is we are not gonna get scared so easily."
"I can get tons of squirts who are ready to throw their lives away on a bargain, bravery is cheap," she says and motions dismissively with her hand
"And bravery is not all we have. During the battle with the Orc Chief it was our versatility that saved the fiancee of the Lord's son, even the Lord himself showed his gratitude to us. My elementals became the stability points in both battles we had during that expedition."
"Such feats by a small man are hard to believe, you didn't even exist 3 months ago," she says and narrows her eyes.
"Then perhaps we shall test him," says the doberman woman with a grin, I can see sharp canines.
I summon a titanium skeleton earth elemental. The guards grasp hilt of their swords and the small girl gasps.
"I'm a very skilled summoner, my feats aren't a lie," I smile innocently.
"N-no chanting..." Mutters the white weredog woman.
"You can strike it with all your might and test his durability," I say and motion to the elemental.
Hilde nods to the doberman woman. She draws her sword and gives a savage overhead strike to the head of my elemental. A loud *ding* resonates on the room, the elemental didn't even flinch and the woman draws back her hand in pain. There's a chip on her sword.
Hilde and her attendant trade whispers.
"We will offer you the role of vanguard during the trip and protection during the hunt," she says.
"Sounds good to me."
"70 silver."
"1 and 30," I say with confidence.
"75 silver."
I narrow my eyes.
"1 and 30."
"85."
"1 and 10."
"90."
"1 gold, final."
"95 silver."
"Final," I repeat with hint of anger.
Hilde bites her lips.
"Deal."
I let a long sigh in my mind, I'm so tense. I just followed the script, first brag about our accomplishments, then assure our bravery, and finally show off since my magic is quite impressive. The price you want has already been set but you always aim higher to gauge the desperation of the other party, I almost buckled and accepted 95 silver.
"Half now, half after completion," she says.
The day of departure wasn't defined so I ask for it to be on the 11th. We will take a full day to reach the target and we will spend 2 days at the nest, then we return on the 14th. With this I have one last day of rest before classes start again, the lessons have been easy so I don't need a long rest.
Today I increase my [Blessing Magic] by 1 (now 8). After class I complete my knowledge of dragons up until late at night, it seems the library is a popular place for owl wereanimals after sunset. Alissa was like a small child looking at the grandiose of the library with wonder.
Dragons are a very smart race, depending on their lineage they can be as smart as humanoids and even hold conversations with humans. They still have the unstoppable need to kill humanoids whenever they meet but some are capable of temporarily suppressing it and allowing conversations to happen. Orcs are another race who are smart enough to talk and they are even born with innate understanding of Andraste and a few other languages, but they are incapable of controlling their bloodlust so hardly anyone ever talked to an orc. For the orcs there's no need to waste breath on someone who's about to die, either the orc or the humanoid is dying soon anyway.
For me it raises questions about the morality of killing and eating monsters, is it not cannibalism to eat orcs? Apparently there are monsters who are born without such bloodlust, because of that Dragolites were domesticated and there's even a dragon knight squadron on the empire using domesticated dragons, so is it fine to kill indiscriminately? There's barely any debate about "tamable" monsters, it's like people do not really care whether or not monsters can talk or that you could actually befriend them, monsters are monsters and they get killed and eaten if they are hostile.
In my obsession with trying new foods I ended up ignoring how human looking orcs and goblins are, it's like how easy it is to eat chicken but hard to watch how it's prepared. I'm not sure it's cannibalism but even if it is, it's not bad, is it? The whole world eats goblin meat and there are orcs in most places of the world. I guess in the Age of Oppression you had to eat what you killed or otherwise you starved, so it could have been then that the tradition of eating any sort of monster must have started.
While I think I feel something change in me, my "Wisdom" increased by 1 (now 16), with this I can see spells up to level 30. Fucking awesome!
There are a few interesting spells now, like [Gate] from [Space Magic], [Detect Evil] from [Light Magic], [Soul Search] from [Spirit Magic] and [Fly] from [Wind Magic]. Unfortunately the only 2 viable spells for me would be [Detect Evil] and [Gate], the others I have no trained levels in it so it would be a waste of my skill points and only [Gate] has immediate use. [Detect Evil] is interesting because I can use it to detect wicked people when I touch them or "feel" harmful intent from people around me.
I still don't understand how I "unlock" spells. My guess is that it's related to maximum MP, "Intelligence", "Wisdom" and soul level.
Today is the 10th.
I train [Battlefield Perception] again but I only increase my [Block] by 1 (now 8). Hana improved her [Tatesomu Style] and [Sword Use] by 1 (now 4 and 20) and much to her happiness gained [Oral Technique] with 1 point.
At the [Reduced Mana Cost] class nobody progresses. I have another tea time with Toroo, she's a magic craftswoman who's trying to create illusion magic tools. When I tell her of our expedition she asks for dragon eyes, if she studies them she might find out if dragons have a weakness for certain illusions.
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The first day-cycle of my school life ends up quite uneventful, it seems I have been reading too much manga and my expectations became quite warped.