The next day Sai and Slither were exploring the Royal Palace ground.

In the morning, Sai took a stroll outside the many Palaces, observing the small but elegant buildings such as the Sunflower Palace, Rose Palace, Lily Palace, and Tulip Palace, each adorned with floral designs on the windows. Along with these palaces, there were barracks for knights and other functional sheds. Sai also came across small ponds with a flock of ducks swimming in them.

However, the most notable palace that Sai spotted was the Unicorn Palace, which was built for the King's favorite concubine. It stood out from the others due to its grander and more intricate design in comparison to the Tulip Palace. Additionally, there was the Queen Palace,which was built nearer to the main Royal Palace.

"I hate the fucking sun," Slither complained. "Why are we doing this so early in the morning?"

"We are looking for the library to get a map of the dungeon."

"We were walking in circles, we were going to have to ask for directions."

"Adding more people to my problems will make it more complicated."

"It sounds like you don't wanna talk to people. Why not ask the maid or the guards you hang out with."

"I kinda don't want to drag them into my problems. I basically feel like I'm committing a crime, I don't want to drag them down with me."

"Your dumb and far too sentimental. This is going to take forrrrevvverrr."

"You do know I'm doing all the work right?"

Rumble. Whoosh. Whirs.

A fire tornado appeared from the center of Royal Palace. It was a perfect flaming tornado that climbed to the sky. The fire tornado was then extinguished a full minute later.

Sai looked bewildered. "What the hell was that?"

"A very angry Princess. I knew I shouldn't have gotten up this morning."

Sai thought for a minute and decided to go back to the Tulip Palace. Finding the library was going to have to wait until the princess storm passed by.

----

Sai sat in his room. In front of him sat a bowl of pinkish liquid, known as the Mountain Frog Poison. Sai was practicing the Poison Magic Art, however today he was struggling.

He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, trying to clear his mind of any distractions. When he opened his eyes again, he tried to shape a weapon with the liquid using his mind, but only moving up and down.

He wanted to be able to shape the poison into whatever form he desired, to wield it like a deadly weapon.

Sai let out a frustrated sigh and turned to Slither, who was curled up on his lap. "What am I doing wrong, Slither?" he asked.

Slither lifted his head and flicked his tongue out, tasting the air. "It's either your willpower or your imagination," he said. "You need to have the willpower to control the poison and the imagination to visualize what you want it to do."

Sai frowned, it was far harder than it looked. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath, trying to focus on his willpower. He imagined that the poison would be shaped as a knife.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and gazed at the bowl in front of him. With a determined look on his face, he tried to manipulate the poison once again. This time, he felt a faint tingling in his skin, as if the liquid was responding to his touch.

He continued to concentrate, imagining the poison moving in different directions. To his amazement, the liquid began to rise up out of the bowl and swirl around in the air. To his dismay it couldn't be shaped like a knife.

Sai could shape the poison into a sphere, square, or a pyramid. But a knife was beyond his ability.

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Sai stretched his arms and yawned, feeling a bit drowsy after all the practice. He suddenly had an idea and sat up straight, his eyes widening with excitement.

"What if I tried to create poison bubbles?" he exclaimed, looking at Slither for approval.

Slither tilted his head, curious, "Poison bubbles? What do you mean?"

Sai explained his idea, "Imagine creating bubbles out of the poison that he could then use as a weapon in battle."

Sai concentrated on the bowl of Mountain Frog Poison. Closing his eyes, he focused on his imagination and tried to visualize the poison taking on the form of a bubble.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and gazed at the bowl. To his surprise, a small bubble of poison had. Sai grinned in delight, feeling a surge of pride at his accomplishment.

Slither hissed in confusion, "You are going to use this in combat?"

"Let's test if this has merits."

Sai spent the rest of the day practicing his new technique, creating poison bubbles of various sizes. Some popped as soon as they were formed, while others lasted for several minutes before dissolving.

As he worked, he couldn't help but wonder if he could use this technique in battle. A barrage of poison bubbles to defeat his enemies.

Slither then suggested. "Why not field test if this kind of attack works."

Sai's eyes brighten, "That sounds like a great idea."

He then proceeded to drink the poison from the bowl. He wasn’t going to waste good tasting poison.

----

Sai and Slither had been exploring the dungeon, carefully making their way through the dark and treacherous cave. Suddenly, they heard a growling sound from up ahead. Sai cautiously crept forward, weapons at the ready.

As they turned a corner, they saw four large Horned Dogs blocking their path. Sai knew that this was a perfect chance to test out his Magic Art. He reached into his basket and pulled out a pink vial of poison.

"Slither, let's test out my new move," Sai whispered to the snake. "If we can hit the dogs with them, it could weaken them enough for us to take them out."

Sai began to concentrate. In a minute a stream of pink bubbles from the vial floated towards the dogs. The bubbles burst on impact, releasing the poisonous liquid. But to their surprise, the Horned Dogs were unaffected by the attack. They continued to snarl and growl, advancing on Sai and Slither.

Sai cursed under his breath. He had hoped that his new move would be enough to take out the dogs, but it seemed that they were immune to poison. He drew his sword, knowing that they had no other choice but to fight.

With a couple swings of his sword he slayed the Horned Dogs.

Sai wiped his sword clean and then said. "I guess my new move wasn't as effective as I had hoped," he said ruefully. "But I'm glad we were able to take them out in the end."

"The poison isn't exactly the strongest. It will take time to affect the Horned Dogs. Rowana poison needles are far more effective."

"I could increase the dose. Maybe I can change the move to make it more effective?"

"Are you trying to master poison or bubbles?"

"I'm trying to make poison bubbles lethal."

Sai decided he was going to use more poisoned bubbles by making them bigger.

The next group of four Horned Dogs were easy to find. The group didn't immediately attack Sai and Slither only growled menacingly.

The two poison vials were ready and big bubbles the size of volleyball were shaped and floated lazily toward the Horned Dog. It took extra mana and willpower to keep the shape.

The four Horned rushed toward Sai.

Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

The Horned Dogs bulldozed through the big bubbles. The Horned Dog eyes were sprayed by the poison and immediately shaked their heads and howled in pain.

"It worked!" Sai immediately pulled out his sword and easily slayed the Horned Dogs.

A ring sound alerted him. 'Level up!'

Sai then said, "Blessing."

Level 8 Title Hero Agility 12 Durability 35 Mana 3 Mind 3 Strength 3 Remaining 3 Gift Sour Apples

Sai moved all his points to the attribute Agility. Then checks his Blessing Window again.

Level 8 Title Hero Agility 15 Durability 35 Mana 3 Mind 3 Strength 3 Remaining 0 Gift Sour Apples

Sai continued to experiment with his Magic Art. Sai killed a total of forty Horned Dogs by the end of the day.